Successful Blog

Social Media Book List: Managing Sales People & Social Media 101

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A Weekly Series by Teresa Morrow

I’m Teresa Morrow, Founder of Key Business Partners, LLC and I work with authors and writers by managing their online promotion. As part of my job I read a lot of books (and I love to read anyway!). I am here to offer a weekly post about one book author I am working with and one book I have put on my reading list. This week I will be highlighting ‘A Business Owner’s Guide to Managing Sales People’. and ‘Social Media 101’ by Chris Brogan. The books will cover topics such as social media (Facebook and Twitter), organization, career building, networking, writing, self development and inspiration.

A Business Owner’s Guide to Managing Sales People

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This book is divided into 6 main chapters: hiring, training, managing, motivation, telemarketing and sales.

Here are few key points highlighted in the book:

~Just because a salesperson is likable, he or she does not necessarily meet the key criteria for success.
~Intangible sales are in the mind and tangible salesare in the hand.
~A service is always intangible, even if you make a presentation with a brochure or an agreement.
~Many scheduled appointments will be no-shows.
~Not hiring a salesperson is better than hiring a bad salesperson.

About the Author:
Philip Gerber talked the talk and walked the walk for over 40 years. The knowledge he acquired from selling to small organizations as well as to Fortune 500 companies has translated into his ability to train salespeople all over America. Phil has owned over a dozen small businesses ranging from one employee to over 75.

His company, Bottom Line Consultants, has successfully trained salespeople and sales managers for over 15 years.

You can purchase a copy of ‘Managing Sales People’ online at ThinkAha books or at Amazon.

This blog post is part of a virtual book tour done by Key Business Partners and I have received a complimentary copy of Managing Sales People by the author.

Social Media 101 by Chris Brogan

Now I would like to highlight a book on my “review” reading list–Social Media 101.

Here is some great information that Chris shared on Amazon about the book:

100 ways to tap into social media for a more profitable business

In Social Media 101, social media expert and blogger Chris Brogan presents the best practices for growing the value of your social media and social networking marketing efforts. Brogan has spent two years researching what the best businesses are doing with social media and how they’re doing it. Now, he presents his findings in a single, comprehensive business guide to social media.

You’ll learn how to cultivate profitable online relationships, develop your brand, and drive meaningful business. Brogan shows you how to build an effective blog or website for your business, monitor your online reputation and what people are saying about your business online, and create new content to share with your customers.

* Presents specific strategies, tactics, and tips to improve your business through improved social media and online marketing
* Looks at social media and the wider online universe from a strictly business perspective

About Chris:
Chris Brogan is President of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency. He works with large and mid-sized companies to improve online business communications like marketing and PR through the use of social software, community platforms, and other emerging web and mobile technologies.
*courtesy of Chris Brogan.com

You can purchase a copy of ‘Social Media 101’ on Amazon.

I truly hope you will check out these books and please comment and let me know your thoughts on them.

21 All-Star Entrepreneurs’ Best Decisions to Grow Their Business

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2009 … We couldn’t get it far enough behind us. Who wasn’t ready for the calendar year to turn? We were ready to be back on the winning team again. Many of us revisited our thinking, our our strategies, our resources, and our work styles to be on our best game.

What Was the Best Decision You Made to Grow Your Business in 2010?

I asked 21 entrepreneurial All-Stars (add me and you get 22) to share in a few words what was the best decision they made in 2010 to keep their businesses growing. The answers sorted easily into five major ideas — best practices for sure.

Here’s what we all said. [I’ve included the links to their blogs and their twitter streams. If you subscribe to them, you’ll have your own online entrepreneurial advisory board.]

Have a strategy

Strategy is a practical plan to move forward over time. Great strategy is based on a solid foundation based on who we are, where we sit in the overall picture,the current conditions and the unique opportunities that are ours.

Sheila Scarborough, @SheilaS jumped on this with her thoughts …
My best move this year was to embrace the realization that even as only one person, I have as much ability as a “big agency” to attract quality clients. Why? Because in 2010 I saw that my supposed weakness (being one lone person) is actually my strength. As a solo operator, I don’t have to deal with time-suck meetings, clients that are assigned to me, having to go through a bunch of committees to get things approved, etc. I can organize my time, smarts and effort to be more nimble, more responsive, more knowledgeable and quicker-on-the-draw than anyone else. That rocks!

Carol Roth, @caroljsroth added foundational wisdom to support what Sheila laid out …
Let myself take a few steps backwards in order to build a foundation to make leaps and bounds forward. In concrete terms, this meant not taking on a few very lucrative clients and projects in order to invest more time and effort in a foundation that will allow me to achieve the next level of goals for my business. As difficult as it was to let the proverbial bird in the hand (or should I say “Benjamins” in the hand) go, the potential ROI from the investment more than makes up for that risk.

Turn Decisions into Action

We can strategize ways to grow our own food and cook it, shop for salad, order in, or dine out. But if we don’t decide, execute on a plan, and eat. We’ll be dead.

Michael Martine, @Remarkablogger has decided …
The best decision I made was to decide to grow it instead of just wishing it had already grown, setting goals, then creating and following a plan to reach those goals.

Britt Raybould, @britter moved to action on a long-term plan …
Attending SOBCon helped me kick off a long-awaited project to add knowledge products to my business, creating an additional income stream separate from my hourly and project-based work. The time investment now in creating these products will pay off huge during the next five years. It’s will also add some much-needed balance to my business.

Jason Falls, @JasonFalls decided focus is crucial….
The best decision I made in 2010 was to eliminate distractions and really focus. The flood of messages, requests, things to do and what-not that social media brings will drown you. Prioritize, eliminate the unnecessary and focus on the important parts and you’ll see a noticeable difference in moving your needles.

Pamir Kiciman , @gassho has put his strategy to work in new venues to get new results …
I opened a personal Facebook account. This has helped engage my audience much more directly. For instance, people who weren’t subscribing to my blog via email/rss, did start following it via NetworkedBlogs. This also attracted others on the periphery. And many more people are voluntarily promoting my content. This, and starting a YouTube Channel have put me on the map in new ways.

Stay a Learner

A growing business needs growing leadership to move it forward. Leaders listen, learn, and reach out to others who are finding new solutions, who are testing new ideas, and who have been where we’re trying to go.

Christina “CK” Kerley, @CK says is moving outward …
The best decision I’ve made in 2010 to grow my business is, consequently, the best decision I’ve made in other years, namely: to keep breaking new ground through learning new methods, new media and new solutions around which I can build new practice areas for my business. In 2010, it’s ‘B2B mobile marketing’ just as in years past it’s been around B2B social media, Speaking, Training, Strategy and more.

Terez Howard , @thewriteblogger learns from the best …
The best decision I’ve made this year is to follow the advice of seasoned professionals. I look to successful freelance writers and bloggers to give me the guidance I need to succeed.

Jyl Johnson Pattee, @jylmomIF is getting uncomfortable …
The best decision I made in 2010 to help my business grow was to go outside my comfort zone and do things I didn’t know how to do—things that were necessary to take my business to a new level. This has required putting fear aside, asking for help, listening, and being willing to shift directions. Ultimately, it has helped me grow my skill set, increase my knowledge, and form amazing relationships. It has helped me see that the path to business success is made up of opportunities that require dedication and pushing forward, even when that forward motion is, at times, foreign and/or difficult.

Sally Hogshead , @SallyHogshead is using her beginner’s mind.
I aspire to be the dumbest person in the room. I surround myself with people who are smarter than I am: people with knowledge, experience, skills, network that’s greater than my own. If I’m intimidated by a certain person or group, all the better — these are the people who can challenge and inspire and push me to the next level.

Hank Wasiak, @HankWasiak isn’t holding back …
“Embrace Risk, make a mistake and then fix it better than anyone else. This is the first time in history that how we address and correct a mistake or deal with an issue is perhaps even more important than the mistakes themselves. I see it as a way to put my values and commitments on the line and an opportunity to create a distinct advantage and leapfrog competition.”

Enlist Reinforcements

A person who walks solo is limited by what one person can do, see, perceive, learn, and know. Great businesses are build on relationships that align goals to build something greater than anyone person can alone.

Barry Moltz, @barrymoltz explains how is investing in others …
I invested money in smart people to help me evolve my business thinking and execution.

Janet Fouts, @jfouts deepening relationships ….
I decided not to go in for the conventional business promotion ideas like yellow pages and print ads and trust my instincts. i know that almost all of my business is word of mouth referrals, so I dedicated more time to deepening existing relationships on and off line to encourage the people I know and work with to help me promote my business. I got more speaking opportunities which led to more business as well as a second book!

Shelly Kramer, @ShellyKramer is including others and herself in her business plan …

I’ve made two strategic decisions thus far in 2010. First, I follow Hank Wasiak’s advice and collaborate more instead of less. Today’s business world is about collaboration, not competition, and the people who get that are, in my opinion, strategically positioning themselves for growth and prosperity. Secondly, I consciously try and pay myself first. That means that instead of always letting others’ needs (including my clients) come before my own, I make a concerted effort to pay myself first. That means writing blog posts for MY blog, doing press releases about MY business, and never forgetting that I’m the only one responsible for growing and maintaining my business.

Lorelle Van Fossen , @lorelleonwp gives herself over to the team.

Collaboration. I realized a long time ago that I couldn’t do it all alone. In order to make my business dreams come true, I needed to throw off the mantle of “I am the only one who can do it all” and realize that it takes a village.

Coming on board the incredibly creative team of a few years ago brought home this thought of the joy of teamwork actually ingnited by my work with on Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference (SOBCon) and other projects. She taught me how to “play nice” again with others, something I abandoned years ago when I left the corporate world with intent, an atmosphere of “if you can’t step on them, fire ’em.”

Last year, I solidified my investment in with the innovative thinker and rule breaking producer, Dave Moyer, and Kym Huynh, the Aussie surfin’ lawyer. With their help, I’ve put passion back into my work and my life. Working with people who challenge you to be you all the time, call you on your ignorance, and make you sit up straight, pay attention, and think harder and faster than ever, as well as produce better and with greater quality – it’s so exciting.

I’m now bringing this same energy and enthusiasm – okay, call it passion – to all of my work, with all of the customers, clients, and companies I work for, to my training programs and workshops, keynotes, and every part of my life. All because I changed my thinking. You cannot do it all alone. Reach out. Connect. Share. And mean it.

Let Go to Create!

Holding tightly to what once worked or to what might earn some currency or credit can also make it hard to grab hold of the opportunity that will take us to our ultimate dream.

Tammy Lenski, @TammyLenski
“I decided to stop offering peripheral services that took time and energy away from work that’s at the core of my value to clients, even though the peripheral services were bringing in income. The new doggedly focused approach has been substantial growth.”

Oded Noy, @SocialApproach adds a measure of awareness …
Have the discipline to let go of those aspects of the business that don’t work.

Toby Bloomberg, @tobydiva points out that to grow it’s important …
To take more chances to color outside the lines.

Rajesh Setty , @UpBeatNow chimed in with a similar thought …
Letting go of deals that were not there in the first place. Just that one action saved a lot of time that I was able to put to use more productively.

Nurture and Feed Your Purpose

Tending the dream fire and keeping the resources that ignite it could be the most important idea of all. Building a business takes energy, passion, and a willingness to work when the work isn’t always fun.

Becky McCray , @BeckyMcCray added something that we often overlook …
I took time away from my business, in order to grow my business. After three days at a terrific business conference, I took three days of quiet reflection with only a few friends. The result is a better focus, renewed purpose, and many new ideas, and now I’m sure I’m on the right course to grow in 2010.

Live the Person You Want to Be

More than half of any business success is showing up with all that you have — integrity, consistency, competence, confidence, and compassion.

@LizStrauss
The best thing I did for my business this year is decide to “kill off all other options” to be known for the unique, strategic, innovative, community builder I am. I am showing up fully, entirely, and living my abilities and passion full out. I am focused on my priorities, with a clear vision of where I’ll be when the year is done and where I’m going after that.

To keep me on that path, I’ve built the following model on which to test everything that comes up.

  • How can I incorporate this idea, action, or plan onto the path that moves me to my destination? If I cannot, who would could gain traction from this great idea, action, or plan?
  • Does this offer to speak, work, or volunteer move toward my goal?
  • Is there a way to partner with others with similar goals so that we all benefit at the same time?

What about you? What is the best decision you made for growing your business in 2010?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Get a Great Deal When You Join Third Tribe Before June 1, 2010. I’m a proud affiliate.

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Social Media Book List: #PARTNERtweet and Endless Referrals

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A Weekly Series by Teresa Morrow

I’m Teresa Morrow, Founder of Key Business Partners, LLC and I work with authors and writers by managing their online promotion. As part of my job I read a lot of books (and I love to read anyway!). I am here to offer a weekly post about one book author I am working with and one book I have put on my reading list. This week I will be highlighting ‘#PARTNERtweet: 140 Bite Sized Ideas for Succeeding in your Partnerships ‘. and ‘Endless Referrals’ by Bob Burg . The books will cover topics such as social media (Facebook and Twitter), organization, career building, networking, writing, self development and inspiration.

#PARTNERtweet

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#PARTNERtweet is written by Chaitra Vedullapalli.

Here are few of the tweets from #PARTNERtweet:

~Smart Partnering helps you to deliver functional solutions.
~Smart Partnering provides you access to valuable resources (technology, money, and education).
~Smart Partnering provides you the arsenal to compete on an ongoing basis.
~Smart Partnerships provide a gateway for international expansion.
~Your relationship to the customers does not end with the sale of your product. It begins there.
~The best way to know what your customers want from your products is to ask them.

About the Author:
Chaitra Vedullapalli is the Senior Director of WW Sales and Marketing Communications, where she oversees the information workplace for Microsoft Sales Force. Past work includes shaping the Microsoft Customer and Partner Self Service Experience which touched over 10M Customers & 1M Partners. She was also an integral part of creating the Service Culture at Microsoft and an architect of the Microsoft-IAMCP (International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners) innovation program. Chaitra has also served as Director of Licensing and PartnerNetwork at Oracle where her projects drove licensing simplification and enabled state of the art innovations in Partner Self Service Experience.

Chaitra holds a Patent in WebMethods and Bachelors of Electrical Engineering from RVCE, Bangalore, and is currently active in community efforts to help children in need.

You can purchase a copy of #PARTNERtweet online at ThinkAha books or at Amazon.

This blog post is part of a virtual book tour done by Key Business Partners and I have received a complimentary copy of #PARTNERtweet by the author.

Endless Referrals by Bob Burg

Now I would like to highlight a book on my “review” reading list–Endless Referrals.
I have to admit before I go any further. I have read some of this book and I enjoyed what I have read so far.

I would like to share a bit of this book that I feel has great points (and believe me there are many more in the pages of this book) about the six essential rules of networking etiquette.

1) Don’t Ask for Immediate Repayment – Yes, so true. Don’t go into a networking event with expectations of getting (or asking) for something in return.
2) Treat a mentor like a mentor – When I see this, it reminds me of “do to others, what you would like done to you”.
3) Keep an eye on the clock – Don’t overstay your bounds…with the people you are getting to know. Be sure to allow yourself to meet people within the event you are attending.
4) Follow through on your promises – If you offer to send an email or offer to someone, do it.
5) Be extra careful not to offend a referred prospect – Don’t offer to refer someone to someone else without knowing it is a good fit.
6) Say (and write) a Thank You – still one of the greatest and simplest ways to create lasting connections.

About the Author:
Bob Burg shares information on topics vital to the success of today’s business person. He speaks for corporations and associations internationally, including fortune 500 companies, franchises, and numerous direct sales organizations.

Sharing the principles contained in his bestselling books, Bob has addressed audiences ranging in size from 50 to 16,000, sharing the platform with notables including today’s top thought leaders, broadcast personalities, athletes, and political leaders including cabinet secretaries and a former United States President.
*courtesy of Amazon.com

You can purchase a copy of ‘Endless Referrals’ on Amazon.

I truly hope you will check out these books and please comment and let me know your thoughts on them.

What if FDR’s Ideas Ran the C-Suite and Your Social Media?

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These Times Ain’t So Different

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As part of a my quest to move outside my dad’s story, to learn from it as a business case of a growing business in a bad in economy, I’ve been studying the climate, conditions, and character of the people who lived through the terrible economy after World War 1 through the 1929 Stock Market Crash and the Great American Depression.

One hero, a pivotal leader in changing the world, was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, the only president to serve more than two terms, the man married to the famous Eleanor Roosevelt, also called FDR.

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He’s of particularly interest because he was elected in 1932, at the height of the depression and took office in 1933, the year prohibition was repealed and the year that my father opened his saloon.

What if FDR Ran the C-Suite and Your Social Media?

FDR was faced with a jobless population and a world that was preparing for a second war. I don’t wish to devalue the power or gravity of what he said then, but as I read his speeches and his conversations, I can’t help to think his words and wisdom might serve us all now as we look for leaders — not dreamers — to change the world and get growing again.

1: Try Something.

To the students of Oglethorp College, he set this challenge in 1932, but every commencement speaker knows the audience is more than the graduates and as a presidential candidate he was speaking to the country as well as to those before him.

The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.

2: Don’t Wait.

The millions who are in want will not stand by silently forever while the things to satisfy their needs are within easy reach.

3: Connect with Young Hearts — your own and others

We need enthusiasm, imagination and the ability to face facts, even unpleasant ones, bravely. We need to correct, by drastic means if necessary, the faults in our economic system from which we now suffer. We need the courage of the young.

In his first inaugural address , FDR laid out the challenges we face and pledged himself to leadership for change in ways that resonate to this day.

4: Speak the Truth

This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.

5: Fear paralyzes.

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

6: Confidence requires deep commitment.

Confidence… thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.

7: Achievement and creativity are joyful and thrilling.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.

And from his speech at the Citadel in 1935 …proof in his relentless, fearless, strategic leadership.

8: Our strategy will save us.

Yes, we are on our way back— not just by pure chance, my friends, not just by a turn of the wheel, of the cycle. We are coming back more soundly than ever before because we are planning it that way. Don’t let anybody tell you differently.


9: Leaders embrace change and value social justice.

Throughout the world, change is the order of the day. In every Nation economic problems, long in the making, have brought crises of many kinds for which the masters of old practice and theory were unprepared. In most Nations social justice, no longer a distant ideal, has become a definite goal, and ancient Governments are beginning to heed the call.

In his speech before the Democratic National Convention in 1936, he summed up our mission.

10: Leaders rise to the call.

There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.

It’s good to have heroes. It’s good to learn from them and carry their wisdom forward with us.

The tools may change. The speed of connections may get faster.
But the values that move and motivate people to great things are unchanging, authentic, and core to our species.

These new social tools are only as good as the leaders who pick them up and the strategies and cultures they choose to bring to them. This new reach, this new speed the tools offer can help us, our friends, our clients, and the people we meet grow our businesses to get our economy rolling again … we are the difference in whether that happens.

What if FDR’s Ideas Ran the C-Suite and Your Social Media?

How will FDR’s words guide you to grow your business? How will you his wisdom to enlist those around you to join you to bring the economy back?

Start small. Raise a barn. Don’t build a coliseum.

We can change the world … just like that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

I’m a proud affiliate of

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Cool Tool Review: Dabbleboard

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Todd Hoskins Reviews Tools for Small Business

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Todd Hoskins chooses and uses tools and products that could belong in a small business toolkit. He’ll be checking out how useful they are to folks who would be their customers in a form that’s consistent and relevant.

Cool Tool Review: Dabbleboard
A Review by Todd Hoskins

The dreaded dial in . . .

I had a colleague who referred to virtual meetings as “pajama business.” It is only within the last few years that we have gained the luxury of clipping toenails during a CEO update, or making egg salad during a development team scrum. The gain in freedom has often been offset by a loss in engagement. When I can’t see your smirk, or feel your trepidation, or witness your enthusiasm, I am less connected to you, my client or co-worker.

A few weeks ago I reviewed Prezi, my favorite tool for visualizing a presentation. There are plenty of collaboration tools out there for bridging the visual divide in virtual meetings, from screen sharing to video conferencing. This week I want to highlight a simple digital whiteboard called Dabbleboard that can encourage participation, and aide the visual learners and thinkers among us (like me).

The visual component of any meeting is important. Dan Roam received considerable attention a couple years ago for solving problems and selling ideas in pictures in his book The Back of the Napkin. Dabbleboard provides the necessary functionality to place a blackboard or napkin in front of anyone with whom you want to share.

For a sales pitch, a site redesign, a strategy meeting, even reviewing financials – all of these situations improve with pictures and shapes. A different part of our brain gets activated and you’ll keep the attention of your people or prospects.

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I have also tried Scriblink, which worked fairly well. Both tools offer chat, real-time sharing, and phone conferencing. I like Dabbleboard’s personal image library – you can reuse graphics you’ve made. I also like their commitment to their users, evidenced in their blog and the creation of a toolkit.

A Pro (paid) version is available that includes customization, permissions, data portability, and security. If you’re going to create highly confidential drawings, you may want to pay the monthly fee. Discounts are also available for not-for-profits and educators.

Summing Up – Is it worth it?

Enterprise Value: 3/5 – Adobe and Microsoft lack the whimsy of Dabbleboard

Entrepreneur Value: 4/5 – excellent, though the UI could be better. AlmostMeet in beta (Please, please change the name).

Personal Value: 2/5 – great for school projects

Social Media Book List: Book Outlook on Seth Godin

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A Weekly Series by Teresa Morrow

I’m Teresa Morrow, Founder of Key Business Partners, LLC and I work with authors and writers to manage their online promotion efforts. As part of my job I read a lot of books (and I love to read anyway!).
I decided to change things up a little this week and do a book “outlook” on two of Seth Godin’s books: ‘Linchpin’ (his latest) and ‘Meatball Sundae’ from 2007.

Lately the buzz around Seth Godin has been surrounding his latest book ‘Linchin’. As you can see here is an example: one where he was Skyped in to a university classroom to talk about the elements of this book. In the video, the highlight I caught was how Seth was talking about people wanting to be around you (or tweet with you, or befriend you on Facebook) because of “how you make them feel”.

That is one thing I have always admired about Seth, is his ability to make people stop and think. And most of the time the concept is very simple. Because most of the time he is right on point.

Think for just a moment, why do you listen to certain music? Because of the words and the voice of the person singing, right? Why do you read certain books? Because of the emotions the words on the page touch your heart, right?

Well, that is what Seth is talking about here—-you can become a “want” to other people because they can’t (or don’t) wish to be without you and your services.

And while ‘Linchin’ has been all the buzz lately, I have picked up one of Seth’s earlier works, ‘Meatball Sundae’, to take a look and share some ideas I found interesting in this book about marketing and how it has changed over the last decade. Because the subtitle to this book is “Is your Marketing Out of Sync?

Meatball Sundae

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Here are few concepts I would like to explore with you:

The first concept I would like to discuss is the difference between “old marketing” and “new marketing” and driving innovation deep. On pages 22-23 Seth talks about how some companies found “new” ways to market their products and did so successfully.

Did you know that Cafepress.com (they sell promotional products) sell millions of dollars of imprinted items each month? I figured they were doing pretty good, but I didn’t realize they were that popular. They took a concept (personal promotional products) and found a way to do it on a bigger scale by allowing the individual person customize their promotional products. Then they took it one step further and allowed people to set their prices for their own products. And to top that, it is all done over the web and the person doesn’t have to have inventory. What a great concept, right?

Also, did you know Audible.com carries more books on tape than any store or library….all on the web without needing to set up a physical location.

My point here is (well, really Seth’s point is) the way you are able to set up your business and get it to other people has changed drastically and you can thrive with it.

Next concept is realizing how the technology has changed the environment but human nature hasn’t. Seth offers this—(page 48)
“Marketing has always been about discovering what people want and need and telling the story about how they can get it (from you). It’s easy to jump to the conclusion that the list represents a change in what people want and need. Human nature hasn’t changed a bit. What has changed is the environment we live in. The combination of technology and competition has lead to a world where many people can get what they want, when they need it…what we’ve wanted all along is to be treated with respect and to be connect to other people.”

Again, he made me stop and think. Because when I first read this I thought, “No, Seth human nature has changed!” But we have just adjusted as a result of the environment around us.

Another concept he talks about his offering your clients a way to receive what they want (from you) in a way that allows you not to break the bank either. One example he used was Lulu.com. You can work with Lulu to get your manuscript turned into a book. They will offer you a online storefront to sell it from and will give you an ISBN to allow you to sell your book from any bookstore in the word. Of course, now their are more than just Lulu.com to do this, however, the concept is the same.

There are many more great concepts in this book and you can pick up a copy for yourself at Amazon and from his website.

You have more possibilities and opportunities for marketing and to get out to those who will want and need your services and products more than you have before. And it is your ability to find your own UNIQUE way to be authentic that will get you connect with those who will want to network, buy and share with others about you.

I hope you have enjoyed this “outlook” on Seth Godin and two of his books.

How do you keep you marketing in sync with the ever changing technology?

I truly hope you will check out these books and please comment and let me know your thoughts on them.