Saturday, May 29, 2010

Control Your Tail!

Great post from Seth:

The Distraction, the Tail and the Dog

Your business has a core, a goal, a challenge and a deliverable. There is probably one thing that would transform your project, one success that changes things, one hurdle that's tougher than the others. What's difficult, what would respond to overwhelming attention? That's the core. Getting from here to there involves making sales, delivering on promises, overcoming the Dip and shipping. Along the way, there are supporting tasks you can engage in, things you can do to make the goal easier to achieve. A popular blog might gain attention and then trust and ultimately help you sell more widgets. A lot of followers online might give you permission to tell a story that gets you better employees. A vibrant party at SXSW can create buzz that gives your salespeople entree to important meetings. These aren't trivial activities. In fact, they're part of what marketing means today. But...But if they give you and your team an outlet to avoid the difficult work of achieving your goal ("I can't go to that sales call, I'm busy uploading pictures of last night's party to the blog and then tweeting out the url") then you're not building, you're hiding. Rich calls this playing with turtles. The thing is, the turtles are alive, and they're going to demand a lot from you. There's a huge downside here: once your side activity gets going, it will lead to crises (we have an urgent email we have to answer), to feelings of abandonment (hey, you haven't been on the forum lately!), to irresistible offers to have the CEO speak or get people involved. There will always be a feeling of sunk cost, of opportunities missed and of things on the verge because these are human movements, not paid ads. Two choices: 1. find a way to make your goal completely aligned with the tactics you use to achieve it. What's good for your blog is good for your business. or 2. Now that these approaches are working, and working incredibly well, it's time to come up with boundaries so the tail doesn't end up wagging the dog. •

Julie Gordon White, President
Business Team / BTI Group, Inc.
www.business-team.com
www.btigroupma.com
Cell 510.812.2233
License 01347013

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

A message from your friend Julie White

Hello,

Your friend Julie White has forwarded you an email with this personal message:
I need to take a lesson...

Click here to view the email.

Thank you,
Larrybroughton.com

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

At a GREAT #vistageallcity presentation on the economy w/Alan Beaulieu of www.ecotrends.org. Bottom line: Sell your business by 2017!!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Watermelon Diet?

Just read that 1 slice of watermelon has a WHOLE glass of water (9.6 ounces)! Tastes yummy, fills you up and makes your skin glow!!


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

RT@WomenPresidents: Families are demanding; companies built like families will succeed. Demanding but caring and work better with support.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

So true Bob! RT@BestSellerBob: Success is not who gets the bigger piece of pie, but who brings more pie to the table.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

RT @IncMagazine: Why LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman loves Facebook's new "like" button. http://ow.ly/1Hlp6

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

;) RT@8secrets: "In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back." Charlie Brown - Steven Hilferty Blog

Monday, May 3, 2010

To business sellers & buyers: If you put yourself in the others shoes, the best solution for all will magically appear.