"...keeping you great"
HEADLINES:
Chet Holmes 4-hour LIVE (and archived) Video Webcast -- over 1300 of you listened to Chet's 30 minute teleconference and given the response we're going to broadcast Chet's 4 hour presentation LIVE from the Sales & Marketing Summit, Tuesday, April 21, 8am -- Noon CST (9am -- 1pm EST) -- the same as we did with Tom Peters at the Growth Summit -- details below.
Why do you call them "Rocks" -- referring to the quarterly priorities on the One-Page Strategic Plan, it's a term borrowed from Stephen Covey. Cameron Herold, founder of BackPocketCOO, pointed me to a YouTube video where the term is explained in less than 2 minutes by the Franklin Covey organization in a nice demonstration -- go to www.gazelles.tv and scroll down the right hand column -- you'll see the video. Worth showing at your next weekly or monthly management meeting.
Alignment Starts with the Company Name -- and this note from Scott Nash a couple days ago "Yep- we all looked at ourselves quite puzzled when you said to write our (company) name on the top of the 1-page plan." Like Federal Express changed their name to FedEx; My Organic Market was known by its customers as simply MOM. So this week Scott announced that they had formally changed the name of their company to MOM's Organic Market (nice image anyway) including a change of their URL to www.momsorganicmarket.com. It's a hundred little things like this that drive brand and alignment. Using Post-It Notes to Reinforce Core Values -- David Hauser is co-founder and CTO of GotVMail, a leading provider of virtual phone systems for entrepreneurs. In an earlier blog he shared how they use a very non-tech tool -- Post-it Notes -- to reinforce their core values -- here's a link to his short description/blog on the topic. And thanks to Les Rubenovich, their Gazelles coach, who brought this to my attention. Absolute Tile and Stone is the latest "Makeover" company for Fortune Small Business magazine. Sander Coovert, President of this St. Louis-based firm, had seen the announcement to apply in my insights and was chosen. Here's a link to the article outlining his challenges and advice he's already received to drive revenues and reduce costs (the one-two punch we all must focus on). If you have ideas for him, please contribute -- there's a link in the article and your thoughts might be published as FSB continues to follow Sander's progress. There's also a short video about his firm (a real benefit from being chosen as a Makeover candidate). India Leads Needed for FSB Article -- Malika Zouhali-Worrall, a reporter with FORTUNE Small Business Magazine, is looking for interesting for-profit social enterprises partly- or wholly- based in India (or with a large customer base there) to visit during an upcoming trip to India. "By 'for-profit social enterprise' I mean a company that is aiming to create a social impact and/or environmental impact as well as generate a financial profit. Given that we're a U.S.-based magazine, I'm looking for a company that has some connection to North America -- it would be ideal if one of the founders is North American or has spent a lot of time in the U.S. or Canada. If you know of anyone who does, please contact me ASAP at malika_worrall@fortunemail.com Don't blame Capitalism -- the free market system has been taking a huge hit from this latest financial fiasco. I've ALWAYS seen the financial sector as a separate entity from entrepreneurs -- they are two different beings. And contrary to what our politicians would like us to believe, it was their co-opted support that caused the mess. This CNN article makes a great case for why Capitalism is not to blame. Details -- Chet Holmes LIVE Webcast April 21, 9am -- 1pm EST -- you and your team can watch it live or later in archived form -- a way to partially attend the Sales and Marketing Summit without leaving your office. Price: This is our continuing push to bring first class executive education right to your desktop or conference room. Here's a link to sign-up for Chet's webcast or the entire Growth Series