Why Being Different Can Kill Your Business
Being different for the sake of being different is a losing proposition. So how do you stand out from the crowd? Find your true differentiator. In Atlantic City, New Jersey, a tourist destination known for its boardwalk and beach, you’ll find dozens of t-shirt shops, restaurants, massage parlors and palm readers. Each store offers pretty […]
The Real Power of Purposeful Tangents
In a blog entry of mine last year, I discussed the concept of “Purposeful Tangents.” (if you’ve not read it, I encourage you to do so) In that article, I mentioned I was going to take a class with master magicians. Well, I just completed the training, and it was beyond my expectations. I felt like […]
Discovering Your Blindspots
Here’s a video I recorded for “The Art of Sales” event in Canada. In it I talk briefly about two common innovation blindspots, and how to shine a light on them.
Your Customers Don't Value What You Think They Do
One week after starting my speaking business a dozen years ago, I met with the owner of a speaker’s bureau in London to discuss representation. In the meeting he expressed serious interest. So much so that a few days later he called me about a potential gig. The call came to my mobile phone as […]
Two Email Productivity Life Savers
I am always looking for ways to make my life simpler. I’ve found two that really seem to keep my inbox clean. Sanebox FollowUpThen Both work with any email client or operating system (as far as I know). Sanebox Sanebox scans incoming mail and decides if it is important or not. If it looks like […]
Continue Buying Those Lattes
The way you ask a question will have a profound impact on how you answer it. This is a fundamentally critical concept in the world of innovation. If you are working on a problem/opportunity, changing just one word can influence the types of solutions you get. I’ve discussed this concept extensively on my blog. But […]
The Danger Of Being Too Controlling
If you want to grow your company, you’ve got to learn to let go of any task that doesn’t set you apart from the competition. *** I recently spoke at an event where attendees were mainly small-business owners and solopreneurs. One of the points of my talk addressed the need to “innovate where you differentiate.” […]
Don’t Confuse Popularity with Value
A technology expert friend of mine just started blogging. We discussed which topics should be the focus of his articles. He told me that he recently read about another technology blogger whose most popular blog entries (as measured by tweets, comments, and Facebook likes) were in fact the least technical topics. My friend wondered if […]
Diversity Doesn't Work
Imagine two groups of problems solvers. Group #1 is homogeneous. That is, everyone has similar personalities and areas of expertise. Group #2 is diverse and comprises a blend of different styles and experiences. Which group will perform better? In times of crisis and on simpler tasks, Group #1 will always perform better. They “speak the […]
When You Hire on Price You Pay For It
Red Adair, the oil well firefighter, once said, “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” Over the years, I’ve learned this the hard way. When I’ve hired freelancers based primarily on price, the quality suffered. I paid dearly in terms of iterations and […]