Don’t bore me with your 5-minute speech about what you do for a living if I don’t ask you. Give me a 6 second intriguing intro about what you do and let me ask questions if I want to. But don’t be offended if I’m not interested or don’t need your services right now.

My point is, develop a 6-second branding statement for yourself. If it’s interesting enough, people will ask questions… questions they want to know the answers to, and they’ll listen.

Your personal branding statement is not your job title. It’s not a 5-minute, 3-minute or even 1-minute speech. It’s the essence of who you are in a nutshell.  Mine is: “I help businesses gain market share through marketing and advertising.” That’s simple, short, and it’s enough of a teaser to get a response like: “Exactly how you do that?” That’s your invitation to elaborate more about what you do.

But don’t stop there. Be genuinely interested in what they do by asking them questions. It’s how healthy relationships begin.

You can’t focus on a conversation without looking at your phone every time it buzzes?

Smart phones are awesome. But it would be dumb to lose a friend, a client, or an order because you’re looking at your smart phone during a conversation or meeting.

Looking at your phone in the middle of a conversation tells the person there with you they are not your priority right now.

Wait til the conversation is over and you’ve moved on. Then you can actually use your time more efficiently by answering and/or reading more than one text or email at a time.

Shape up, think positive, enjoy life, stay sober, don’t hold your breath, take care of your own yard…

…maybe your 2011 leaf hasn’t fallen from the tree yet.

We say we want one thing, then we do another. We say we want to be successful but we sabotage the job interview. We say we want a product to come to market, but we sandbag the shipping schedule. We say we want to be thin but we eat too much. We say we want to be smart but we skip class or don’t read that book the boss lent us.

The contradictions never end. When someone shows up and acts without contradiction, we’re amazed. When an athlete just does the sport, or when a writer just writes the words, we can’t help but watch, astonished at the purity of their actions.

Why is it so difficult to do what we say we’re going to do?

- Diligence in your workplace brings added responsibility.
- Added responsibility brings promotion.
- Promotion brings more cash flow to you.
- Cash flow to you brings more responsibility.
- Responsibility requires diligence & accountability.

If you truly deserve the “promotion” in your workplace, consider this:
- Don’t seek the title. Be great at what you do and the title will seek you.
- Make your position great. Your position won’t make you great.
- Let your title come as a result of your work.

So, why is it so easy to find reasons to gripe, complain and moan 364 days a year?  Then Thanksgiving Day rolls around and we muster up our best attempt to spend a few hours thinking of things we are thankful for.

Thanksgiving Day is barely over and we’re standing in line at 3:00am on black Friday griping, complaining and moaning about the 87 people who pitched tents to be in line before you.

Instead of one day a year for Thanksgiving, I propose we turn one day a year into Gripe, Complain and Moan Day. That would give us 364 days to talk about everything we are thankful for, including what Thanksgiving Day actually symbolizes.  Sounds like a good idea for a Facebook group.

How exactly do you spend your “one day of thanks?”

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m thinking this is the same scenario for social media.

Has anybody else noticed the social media ‘experts’ and the social media sites are the only ones making money on social media?

I’m not downplaying the effects social media has in our society. Facebook has made an undeniable impact on the way people interact. Twitter… well, it’s fun, but most people don’t really understand what use it has. LinkedIn is really helpful as a business connection tool.

Social media is an important piece of the pie in advertising… but remember, it’s just a small ‘piece’ of the pie, not the whole pie. Traditional advertising (direct mail, television, radio, newspaper, etc.) still works better than social media.

You’ll find the people who are succeeding, achieving higher goals, pursuing their dreams…  aren’t listening to either of these pieces of advice.

Don’t choose dreams based on what you’ll know is going to happen.  Choose dreams that are improbable, then take one step at a time to begin making the changes you want to occur around you.

Make it happen.

How you start is how you finish.
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Every day I get up and look at the Forbes list of the world’s richest people.  If my name is not on the list, I go to work.
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The will to win is important.  The will to prepare is vital.
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Rich people have money.  Wealthy people have time.
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The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.
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There’s no easier money to make than the money money makes.
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Goal begins with GO.
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It’s easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t.
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I hope one or more of these inspirational sayings helps motivate you in the right direction today.  Have a successful day!

A solid vision keeps everyone on track; chaos takes over wherever the vision lapses.  Having a vision not only points everyone in the same direction, it also creates motion.

While motion in any direction is often better than no motion at all, motion with vision creates synergy.  Synergy inspires a team to work together to produce an overall better result than working individually.