“Every no gets you closer to a yes.”

Permeating the human science (or art) of sales is this fundamental idea: sales fail all the time. Continue Reading…

Difficulties arise. Mistakes happen. Reputations become tarnished — this is the way of the world, particularly when an error occurs after a company brand achieves a leadership position or a human being becomes famous.

As we’ve seen time and time again, when a problem is avoided or “hushed up,” the blemish becomes more pronounced. But when the setback is embraced, reputation damage can be ameliorated and in some cases, even reversed.

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I grew up in the family business…My father was a veterinarian and my mother ran the practice. She always told me, “Once you own a business you can give up the idea of taking regular vacations or time off.”
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If you ask people if they want to be successful, almost unanimously, they will say yes. But if you watch what people do, you’ll see that they are neither interested in nor committed to doing the things that are required to become successful.

Most people look for ways to “succeed” by investing the least amount of effort possible. That’s why the lottery makes so much money for the government. One dollar can make you extremely rich. If you’re extremely lucky.

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To truly see opportunities within social media requires viewing the consumer landscape through a different lens…

Social media is enjoying yet another gust beneath its wings. Google Plus is rekindling the love affair of social networking among the early adopters and mavens who friended their way to higher Klout scores and also social network fatigue. The numbers of social network users are soaring well past 10 figures. Even celebrities such as Bono, Justin Timberlake, Ashton Kutcher, Lady Gaga et al, are not only living social, they’re putting their money where their cliques are by actively investing in emerging social technologies.

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Foursquare is an emerging mobile network that connects people and places through mobile phones. While it isn’t the only player in the space, Foursquare does appear to be the game to beat. The 800 pound gorilla is Facebook Places but other geo-location nicheworks are also growing including Loopt and Gowalla. Each equally bring together the real and virtual worlds, unlocking the world around consumers through checkins and supporting gaming mechanics and social effects integrated into the experience. Foursquare has blazed the trail and as a result, it’s rewarded with escalating consumer adoption and engagement.
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How much time do you spend worrying about the name/url of your company?

I think we tend to place an inflated amount of value on a name because it’s such a long term position.  When it comes down to it, I don’t think it matters that much.

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Any entrepreneur running a small business knows the to-do list is neverending, while the hours in a day are finite. So unless you intend to work yourself to the bone forever, at some point you really need to start getting things off your plate.

You can absolutely do this by outsourcing (learn more at http://getstartedoutsourcing.com/). But maybe you don’t have the budget quite yet.
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If you’ve got a business, then chances are you have trouble achieving balance between that business and your personal life. We’ve all been there. Every entrepreneur knows just how easy it is to let your business take over your entire life. Because there’s always more on your to-do list than any human can get done.

But if you want to be both successful and happy as an entrepreneur, you have to find a way to achieve a bit of that elusive balance. To help you on your quest, I recently solicited tips from more than 100 experts on productivity, time management, business/life balance, mindset and more. Below are a few more I thought were worth sharing. Enjoy!

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I hear it all the time from clients… “I’d love to start a blog or ezine, but I don’t have time”… I really should call and check in with my clients, customers or patients, but I don’t have time”… “I know I need to create a marketing plan, set some goals, create process docs and get organized; but I don’t have time”…

The same refrain echoes when it comes to personal life too. I hear people say all the time… “I want to start working out, but I don’t have time”…”I’d love to spend more time with my family, or have time to start a family, but I don’t have the time”… I’d really like to make more home-cooked meals, but I don’t have the time.”

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