In a town somewhere,
does it matter where?
You can find Hope Street.
I walk down it in my mind.
A knowing look shines on the faces of the people I see.
Most can’t say how they found their way to Hope Street.
I can say that I don’t go there as often as I might.
What would you find on a street called Hope?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Image source: sxc.hu
When we talk about clients or customers, we often mention them as if customer means “one who buys.” But not all customers are equal. Look at the depth and breadth of consumer offerings. Take in the business services and products. You’ll soon realize that customers come in more than one kind.
You can fly Southwest. British Airways, or take a private jet. You can buy M&Ms in all sorts of special packages and colors. You can turn almost anything into a refrigerator magnet now. But if you go to “In and Out” in California, you’ll only get a burger.
Traditional business models outline three:
When you decide on your product or service, think about which customer you serve. If you’ve already got an offer out there, should you be looking more closely at the customers you are reaching?
Not all customers are equal — which are yours?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Models and Masterminds starts the week of June 16.
One of the most exciting things about teaching young children is the creativity they bring to problem solving. It’s almost contagious what they see when you throw out a question that might have an ordinary answer.
Some of it is plain physiology, the abstract-thinking frontal lobe of our brain develops last. So until age 9 or 10, we not adept at separating real from make-believe — our thinking can range wildly through, in, and out partially real, partially fantastic solutions.
After age 10 or so, we understand what can be and what cannot. Some of choose to leave the fantasy far behind at that moment.
That doesn’t mean we’re no longer creative. We still are. Like recapturing another language we used to know, creativity is a skill that we can regain. We can even become highly fluent with a little practice at stretching ideas into new solutions — changing the ordinary answer to something “extra,” extraordinary.
Let’s do that. See these balloons?
How would this solve problem: You need to get them from Chicago to Joanna Young in Edinburgh by tomorrow.
Can you invent, stretch, or devise an extraordinary solution to the problem?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Check out Models and Masterminds too
Questions, questions, who’s got the questions? Oh, it’s me! Wondering what the new economy is going to look like if it’s built on the conversation “How are you?â€
This is just a tiny teaser snippet of an interview with famed bloggers Liz Strauss, Terry Starbucker, and Lorelle VanFossen. I caught up with them while they were preparing for the second annual SOBCon . . .
Click the title logo below to see what we’re talking about.
Thanks!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Check out Models and Masterminds too
This morning as about to write something, I came across Suzie’s Beach Notes photo. Soon, I was walking beaches I’ve walked in Oz. I was thinking thoughts of the people I know there.
A beach walk is like grand music that fills me with space, light, and meaning. The feel of the sand under my feet, the expanse of the sky over the water conspire against any need to control things. Even wild stormy beaches make the world seem far more in control than I’ll ever be. It’s a reassuring, peaceful freedom.
Space to breathe, no noise, even the sailboats are made for sea — not for the people who sail them.
Every beach I walk gives me hope and calmness in my soul. It’s hard not to think that the world will keep turning when the water keeps returning. Sky, water, land . . . build a beach fire.
Last week Suzie walked this beach thinking about getting out of your comfort zone.
This week, I’m asking, Will you try on that comfortable beach feeling?
Image: Suzie Cheel
Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,
I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.
They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.
I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.
Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.
If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.
–ME “Liz” Strauss