Go DEEP Before You Make A Move

Before every major financial, professional or romantic move, I recommend using the DEEP method:

• Decide - All progress starts with a decision to take action. You must resolve to do something that will get you closer to your goal. Without commitment, you simply become like the millions of dreamers who "would have", "could have" or "should have."
• Educate - After you've made the decision to move forward with your goal, educate yourself.  Read up, talk to people, and listen to experts. This stage helps build your knowledge base so that you have a better understanding of what you are trying to achieve and how to achieve it.
• Evaluate - Now that you have more information, evaluate your initial decision (goal/desire) and the level of effort required to get there. Then evaluate yourself and be honest. Are you really ready to continue down this path based on everything you now know?  
• Proceed - The conclusion of yourself evaluation will lead you to proceed in one of three ways:  1) Move forward with your original goal 2) Change it based on the new information or 3) Scrap it because you are not ready to take on the challenge. 

The DEEP process can take days, months or years depending on the complexity of your goal, your stage of life or business, and a variety of other factors.  If you use the DEEP method as a guide, it will help you evaluate big decisions. 

Pastors of Mega Churches Understand Viral Marketing And So Should You

Viral marketing has been around forever. Before social media, word of mouth from friends, family, and coworkers created a enough buzz to fill up movie theatres, make a restaurant impossible to reserve, and keep a hairdresser booked for weeks. No computers or websites were necessary--just the blab factor.

The digital era has introduced delicious new mediums like Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and Google than can make content go viral in seconds. Unlike word of mouth, which requires some human interaction, you can touch your keyboard or smartphone to share content with thousands for people instantaneously.

Pastors of mega churches are definitely leaders in leveraging viral marketing and here are three key reasons why they have been so successful:

• Followers - Pastors have a congregation filled with followers who support them and attend their churches regularly.  
• Content - What's more engaging and relevant than someone telling you how to better your life, live right or get through a rough patch?  Of course, people want to hear that message, so it spreads.
• Evangelism - Most faiths have some evangelism component or a mandate to spread the word. If the word is now on Youtube.com, it is easier to share.

Just browse a few stats on some of the leading pastors:

• Joel Osteen - About 900,000 Facebook likes  and close to 290,000 Twitter follower
• T.D. Jakes -  Over 400,000 Facebook likes and 1.3 million views on Youtube
• Joyce Meyer - Youtube sermon with over 600,000 views and her Facebook page has 1.5 million likes

Take a lesson from these pastors.  Create relevant and engaging content, leverage your followers, and evangelize to build momentum.

WARNING: Globalization is a Factor in Your Business So Play Big

Look at how much the world has changed in 10 years. From a business perspective, we are moving at light speed and I often wonder if U.S.-based small and medium businesses really get it. Globalization has impacted every continent on the planet and it is impacting your business too:

• Most large companies with big customer service operations have call centers in India, Mexico or the Caribbean. Just call your service provider after hours and listen to the accent of the person answering the phone.
• I get regular solicitation emails from web designers, app developers and other IT professionals--all of whom are from India and China. The U.S. is a delicious market for them because they have a desirable value proposition: do the same work just as well as a U.S. firm for less.
• Need T-shirts or giveaways? Go to www something and order personalized gifts from the guy who has a store 10 miles away or the factory that is an ocean away.
• And why is it that a tsunami in another country slows production in the U.S.? It is because we need the parts they make for so many things, ranging from automobiles to electronics.

The world is getting smaller, more competitive, more connected and more agile, which presents a great opportunity and challenge for entrepreneurs, marketers, and employees alike.  We are now global players and world citizens. Open markets, advances in technology, growing economies and the pursuit of profits have pushed the doors of the world open.

Your challenge is to see your opportunities beyond this country and understand how to plan, compete, and win. Because of logistics, language barriers, tariffs, marketing, nationalism and a bunch of other factors, figuring out your place in the world’s business ecosystem may not be easy but when you do the potential is unimaginable. If you decide to play beyond city, state, and country borders, you could be the next Mark Zuckerberg ( Facebook ), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Carlos Slim Helu (Telmex), Lisa Price (Carol’s Daughter) or Oprah (OWN television and O Magazine).

Play big because the world is at your finger tips.

Success Starts With....

Vision.  The ability to see where you want to go combined with the belief that you can actually achieve your goal is the key to being successful in any aspect of life.

One of the biggest challenges we face is balancing our immediate needs and daily tasks with our future plans.  If you can keep your mind and heart focused on your aspirations, then you will stay on pace to achieve your goals.

It may sound trite, but success is a journey.  There will be hills, valleys, twists and turns, but concentrating on your vision will help you to achieve it (despite the obstacles). 

Tips to help you stay on your vision track:

• Add a weekly vision calender reminder to your BlackBerry or smartphone.   In a concise phrase, write what you desire to achieve. When the reminder pops up, read it, say it aloud, and then think about what your vision means to you. 
• Get a vision partner. This person is someone you trust and someone who believes in you. The vision you have for your life is not for everyone's ears.  You should only trust it with people who will offer constructive feedback and real support.  
• Keep a diary that tracks your progress.  Write down your journey to success, so that you can see how far you've come. Make weekly entries--even if you have done nothing.
• Remind yourself that life is not perfect and that you may not achieve everything you set out to do, but that you are much better for trying.

Remember whether you believe you can or whether you believe you can't, you are right.  Choose to believe you can.  Here's to your success!

Five Types of People That All Successful Businesses Must Have

In the land of super hero entrepreneurs who spend 50+ hours a week growing every part of their business, I am here to tell you that it is impossible for you to be all things--and all people--to your business.  To ensure future success, an entrepreneur needs to quickly find key people to help build and sustain an enterprise.

Five People All Successful Businesses Need:

• Visionary - Someone in the business, preferably the owner, must have a wild imagination about where the business can go and what it can accomplish.  For an entrepreneur, living too much in the weeds can stifle growth.  The visionary is the person who sees a bright future and encourages everyone to stay on course and charge ahead. 
• Tactician - Tacticians are needed because they have very specific skills that will strengthen the business.  Plus, they do the assignments better and faster than the owner. To cut corners and save money, many entrepreneurs attempt to do tasks that should be handled by a consultant, expert or skilled worker. This is a big mistake. For the business to take flight, the entrepreneur must have an arsenal of tacticians who can handle everything from marketing to finance.  
• The Leveraged -  All strong businesses leverage people and resources to create a sustainable model. If you are a business owner and you make all the decisions and do most of the work, what happens when you get sick or if you get a huge contract?  Your business slows down or stops. You must have employees, partnerships and other people resources that you can use to make sure your business runs with or without you.
• Counsel - Every business should have at least three advisors.  As the scope and value of your business grows, you will definitely need more.  One advisor should be a person who can keep the owner encouraged.  Another should be someone who understands your industry and market.  And the last should be a guru who understand how to make and manage money.  You'll need other counsel as well, many of which can be found in the leveraged and tacticians. 
• Customer - Last but not least, you need customers. People have to buy from you to stay in business. However, many business owners make the mistake of rushing to get customers without thinking about their people support infrastructure first.  Before an entrepreneur asks a person to buy any service or product, he/she needs to have the visionary, tacticians, leveraged resources and counsel in place to help ensure that they maximize each sale and engagement.

Whether you have a start up, a non-profit or a growing small to medium business, find all these people and watch how your business blossom and gain momentum.