Monthly Archives: February 2012

Feb 29 2012

Finish What You Start!

Finish what you startIt’s been 2012 for a little over a month and a half now and I already feel that I’ve accomplished so much more than in the entirety of 2011.

Every January instead of a making a New Year’s resolution, I opt to do something a little more useful with my time, a process which can make not just one positive change in my life, but potentially many.  I recap all of my accomplishments from the previous year.  This includes reviewing each week’s summary on my “to do list” and highlighting my most significant successes that were accomplished and then highlighting the most significant tasks that still were incomplete.

In doing so I noticed that I had put a lot of my priorities on hold because I was starting too many new projects and so I’ve made a commitment now to simply finish what I start.  This forces me to prioritize the options in which I choose to invest my time in and has already made a significant positive impact on my productivity.  How so?

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Feb 24 2012

When Maximizing Profit Can Destroy Your Company

Maximizing profitsWe’ve all witnessed it – companies who maximize their profit at all expense – regardless of the potential consequences.  No matter what anyone says, maximizing profits should not be any company’s highest priority.  While it’s a vital lifeline within any company, often times it’s maximized at the expense of increased potential for long term success.

Because this article will touch on a number of real life instances, I will refrain from using these companies’ names to protect their identities.

After I publish this article, I fully expect a number of my trusted partners, colleagues and clients to call me, I know that I’ll hit a chord and well… the truth always hurts.  So here are the most common scenarios where focusing on the maximization of profits tend to erode a company’s potential for long-term success.

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Feb 13 2012

25 Easy Ways to Increase Profits on Your Ecommerce Site

ecommerce

Many of these businesses started out with brick and mortar locations and have since closed their physical presences as a result of higher revenues and profit margins from their online sales.  Unfortunately, many other businesses started to execute our mutually created game plan and then got busy and put it on the side burner.

What’s the result?  Their ability to grow their business, stay ahead of their competitors and truly reap the rewards of their competitive advantages has not yet been realized.  Ironically, many of these companies should be sitting in a far better situation today than they are, but, they continue to struggle because they’ve got caught up in the day-to-day operation of their business and put aside the most important activity that’s vital to any company’s long-term success – following a game plan.  We’ve all heard the old adage, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

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Feb 8 2012

When It Comes to Websites, Content Is King… But Only Once Earned

Content Is KingEverywhere you turn, there’s another individual that’s touting the same old expression “Content is King”.  If you’re in an industry that works with publishing in one way or another, you probably hear this almost as many times each day than the number of spam messages you receive!  But what does it really mean?

I’ve witnessed hundreds of companies massaging this expression to fit whatever message they’re trying to convey.  The term is used so frequently because it creates a sense of authenticity for whatever words follow.  The fact of the matter however is that the words itself means very little without further explanation.

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Feb 6 2012

A Dozen Tips About Using Twitter Effectively to Gain Customers and Increase Profits

Twitter

This week I thought I’d put together a few tips for users who are trying to learn to effectively use Twitter in order to engage an audience and create new connections.

The most common reason that Twitter isn’t working for many companies is because they simply haven’t taken the time to learn how to use it effectively.

I’ve put together a brief list of the best tips that will help get you on your way to successfully leveraging the power of Twitter in your social media marketing efforts.  What’re you waiting for?  Let’s get started and start creating some real buzz around your brand!

Here are the tips:

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Feb 3 2012

Get Your Priorities Straight

Priority All the time people ask me how I get so much done each and every day.  There are a lot of weapons in my arsenal that you’ll learn about if you follow my blog, this is most definitely one of them.  I call it my “super-secret, no bullsh*t priority management approach” but you can call it the “common-sense well thought out approach” if you wish… I just think my naming choice sounds cooler.

Every week or two I intend to reveal another one of my weapons used to battle the obstacle-laden horizon of productivity.  If you want to take your business to the next level, with no cost other than the time you take to learn from and implement the strategies that I’ve honed over the last decade and a half, you too will become a powerhouse to be reckoned with in your own respective industry.  After all, what do you have to lose?  More importantly, what do you have to gain?

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Feb 1 2012

Keep Thy Strengths Close and Thy Weaknesses Closer

Want to try something interesting?  Take a minute and identify your top 5 weaknesses right now.  Go!  If you’re like most business owners you’ve discovered that you have only identified one or possibly two.  The reason for this is simple, your focus is too narrow.  You simply haven’t taken the time to widen your focus so that you can see the entire picture.  Don’t worry, you’re not alone.  So many business owners get caught in “the daily grind” by focusing on the tasks at hand and moving from one to the next, they forget to take a look at the whole picture and to maintain a longer term plan can be worked towards.  Strengths

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