I love my barber. I love getting my hair cut because I get to sit and talk with Morris. He’s been cutting my hair for five years and although I moved a few months ago and he’s now 30 miles away, I still make the trip to see him. He and I were talking this morning about gaining and keeping our best clients. He and I are in two very different lines of work, but not really. We were talking about how little it takes to be above average. You do realize that just about everyone is average, don’t you? (that’s sarcastic, Jersey humor – which is redundant). Yes, you need to be technically competent in your chosen profession. But that’s just admission to the game. If you don’t have that, you won’t be in the game for long. Buh-bye, thanks for playing. By taking a sincere interest in your …
The Most Positive Day Of The Year
We all have so much to be thankful for. It’s great that we have a holiday like Thanksgiving to remind us to count our blessings. By definition, it’s the most positive day of the year. If you were to continually watch television news, read newspapers, and listen to talk radio hosts, you’d probably come to the conclusion that we’re all going to hell in a hand basket. We’re not. And there’s a lot to be thankful for, even in this economy. Having an attitude of gratitude serves us all in so many ways. Being thankful has been clinically proven to help people live longer. It’s just healthier to be thankful than to be bitter. It’s better for us emotionally also. So many aspects of our lives are affected by our emotions and being thankful is a great coping mechanism in good times and bad times. Knowing that gratitude is a …
Give It Away
When I was a kid and my Mom took me to the butcher shop when we lived in Germany, I remember that the butcher would slice off a few pieces of deli meat and give them to me and my brothers. He would give samples. This is a smart business practice. As I get to know my clients around the world in all different industries, I notice that some of them give samples and some of them don’t. And a “sample” could be a meeting, a consultation, a product or anything of value to the potential client or customer. There was a time not too long ago, when people and businesses were very concerned about intellectual property. Intellectual property rights should be observed, but as we become more interconnected, I believe there’s good reason to loosen up a little bit. Being tight-fisted regarding your content and services will not serve …
You Can’t Afford The Luxury Of A Negative Post
Life moves pretty fast and if we really understood the impact that our words and actions have on other people and ultimately on ourselves, we’d probably be a little more selective with the things we say and do. Every interaction with another person is either a deposit or a withdrawal from that particular relationship. Be smart and make deposits. Negative comments and attitudes are withdrawals. There’s an old saying that goes, “You can’t afford the luxury of a negative thought.” I agree with that. That doesn’t mean that you have to become a superman of positivity and beat yourself up if you have negative thoughts. Everyone has negative thoughts. The question is: do you dwell on it, let it fester and then spread it like a virus, or do you choose to change your thoughts and focus on positive things? Take this line of thinking to Social Media. Everything you …
I Noticed That You Viewed My LinkedIn Profile
On the right-hand side of your LinkedIn homepage is a very interesting button called “Who’s Viewed Your Profile”. Depending on how a person’s LinkedIn settings are configured you can see with some limited visibility who’s been looking at your LinkedIn profile. Huge door of opportunity alert. Many people spend a lot of mental power trying to think up clever back door ways of doing things and getting people’s attention when they could just walk up to the nine-hundred-pound elephant in the middle of the room and hug it. I check this LinkedIn feature everyday and send a message to the people who’ve viewed my profile. Here’s my standard message: “Hi Bob, I noticed that you viewed my LinkedIn Profile. I’m all about paying-it-forward and adding massive value and I’d like you to make me prove it. May I help or serve you in some way? To your massive success, Kev” …
The Gray Hair Wins
Sometimes people with a little gray in their hair get nervous about the whole Social Media thing. They tell me that the younger generations are more suited to Social Media and feel that it’s a younger person’s game. Actually, a younger person may be technologically ahead of their older counterparts, but the older person is in a better position than the young punk. The younger person may know which buttons to push, which apps to load and so on, but they don’t have the life experience, business acumen or battle scars of the older person. They haven’t had the successes or been kicked in the teeth by life and business, haven’t seen markets rise and fall and have a limited view of the world and business for the simple reason that they just haven’t been around as long. Folks with some years on them know that long-term business and life …
Get Real
People often ask me, “Kev, how should I be on Social Media?” I get a kick out of that question, because it’s similar to asking me, “Kev, how should I be on the telephone?” Let’s change the word “on” to “through.” You’re not “on” the telephone anymore than you’re “on” Social Media. You communicating through the telephone and through Social Media. So my answer to their question is usually, “Be however you would be face to face.” You should be yourself because everyone else is already taken. The words “authentic” and “transparent” have almost become clichés, but they make sense. People are going to figure out who you are anyway, so you may as well be authentic and transparent. But even those words are a little too “marketing speak” for me. I like a simpler word. Like “real”. Be real. Because people will figure out whether you’re real or not …