I was just trying to add a little personal excitement to a lengthy Disney World trip with three really little children.  From there, things just sort of snowballed for the next year or so.  But I’m still here to tell the story so all’s well, right?  Oh, and be sure to check out part two of this one because “the best way to erase the memory of a stupid stunt is to do something even stupider to overshadow it; at least that’s my theory.

So, I very narrowly avoided death and possibly even decapitating myself, which would have been really embarrassing; you’d think I’d be satisfied and go home to park myself on the couch for the rest of day/evening but I was far from done.  Feeling rather cat like I surely had several more lives to play with before I called it a day.

Social Media & the Real Marketing Professional

March 17, 2011

A Non-Expert Take on Social Media Social media is not a replacement for marketing, but it is something you should understand so that you can integrate it into your marketing plans. One of the biggest benefits is that it helps people know more, quicker. Here are 5 other ways social media is valuable. Dialogue and [...]

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Muvendi.com – The World of Music NEEDS This!

March 14, 2011

Here’s a business that will bring more music to our world in so many  different ways.  I rarely get as excited about a business as I am about this one.  Ideally it could function as a Facebook app but may need some stand alone components.  This one initially occurred to me they same way most ideas do; out [...]

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YoungMindsForRent.com

March 14, 2011

I’ve spent countless hours trying to find competent affordable help for all sorts of projects around the home and office. I have worn Craigslist out and posted more ads on sites like elance.com and guru.com than I can count. Then I realized that a college student I knew could find me unbelievable talent for anything [...]

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What Your Customers Really Want

March 13, 2011

Everyone thinks they know their customers inside and out.  Really, just ask any business person how well they know their customers and they ramble on about their expertise on this subject.  In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.  Unless, that is, there is some strategic angle to knowing your customer and then ignoring [...]

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GoodShiz.com

March 11, 2011

This is another project that I was forced to create because I couldn’t find a service to accomodate my needs. I must have wasted hundreds of hours viewing and reading lame content on the web, I know there are hundreds of tools out there that are supposed to help me find the “Good Stuff” but [...]

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Make Your Startup Bullet Proof!

March 9, 2011

Ever noticed how the laws of physics often parallel the laws of business?  One law of physics states that an object in motion will stay in motion unless something specifically acts against it due to the objects kinetic energy. When putting together a business plan, I look for kinetic businesses- ones that are hard to [...]

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5 Step Strategic Planning Process

March 6, 2011

To determine ‘the highest and best use’ of strategic assets and resources, we utilize our five-point “FIRST” Step Strategic Planning Process: Fact Finding – The fact finding mission is the idea catalyst for your strategy. We begin by identifying the core values that your products/services bring to customers along with an investigation into your target [...]

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AppointmentShare.com

March 2, 2011

No-show and cancellation rates for doctors run as high as 58% costing the  industry, and us, many billions of dollars each year and causing the 6 week wait times for an appointment that drive us all crazy.  No matter how many businesses pop up offering new forms of reminder services and other gizmos and techniques [...]

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Strategy Begins with Discovery – Always

March 1, 2011

The first step in the strategic planning process is gathering in all of the relevant facts and information.  Don’t panic, this is not a questionnaire you need to fill out, but it is a sample of what you will be asked so please take the time to read through it to identify any areas that you [...]

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MiaNotes.com – Making Information Actionable

March 1, 2011

I Wish this Business Existed so I could Use it Myself! Just for fun, do a Google search for today’s date and the word “webinar”.  Now try it with “webcast” and “online workshop” and add all of the unique hits together and you’ll realize than there are many, many thousands of online events taking place [...]

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The Key to Success is Mastering Failure!

February 26, 2011

Some people think that if they are going to be successful then they must avoid failure at all costs, but nothing could be further from the truth.  If you want to be successful, then you have to fail and be really good at it! Failure only comes from taking risks and without risks there is [...]

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Trade Association 2.0

February 26, 2011

Can you think of anything that needs to be brought into the new economy more than trade associations? Seriously, think about it. Church’s, charities and even unions (well, maybe not unions) have done a better job at transitioning into the new Google/Facebook/Social Media/Internet world we live in. Here’s a very simple way that trade associations [...]

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So You Think Your Company is Consumer Centric?

February 22, 2011

If you want to know the true value of something, imagine your world without it. Seriously, do this with a number of things and you’ll be surprised how many thing wouldn’t be missed by the world at all and how often the world would ev en be beter off without something.  Now to really tie [...]

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Success Doesn’t Come From Doing More

February 18, 2011

The biggest enemy of “great” is “good”. Being “good” in a thousand different areas doesn’t lead to greatness or success; however, focusing on just a couple or even one area will. If you were to categorize the tasks you completed in a day by “great”, “good” or “waste of time”, which category would fill up [...]

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Questions are more Important than Answers

February 14, 2011

We always obsess over finding the right answers but the real key is finding the right Questions, the rest is easy.

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SmarterInterview.com

February 7, 2011

The only thing as messed up as the job search process is the candidate screening process.  You know that theperfect postion you is out there if only you could find it, or only if you could get your resume on the top of the stack  and get the stupid interview, that’s all.  Well, you aren’t alone [...]

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This Insecurity Drives Success?

February 4, 2011

Insecurity is one of our biggest psychological drivers, so how can we use it to benefit us in the business world? Be insecure about criticism- things that drive you to be better and better. One of the most creative ways to use insecurities is to move yourself into an entirely different category from your competitors. [...]

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Nothing Drives Behavior like “Feedback Loops”

January 25, 2011

How do your really get people to do things?  Better still, how do you get yourself to do the things you really wish you would do?  There are many answers to that question and this is one of them that I found to be particularly effective.  It came from my father when I was a [...]

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Overplanning -The Most Common Startup Mistake

December 29, 2010

Also referred to as the Proof of Concept phase for a 3.0 startup, the adaptive launch is the key to multiplying the probability of success and virtually eliminating the risk of total failure. The old way – write a three year guess plan and hope like hell that you are right on all 137 key points, [...]

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The Blank Check Marketing Budget

December 21, 2010

… a blank check. Be more concerned with the margin of a sale than the numbers themselves. First figure out what the margin is. Then figure out what it costs to generate a sale.  If the cost to generate a sale is less than the margin on the product, then it is a good marketing [...]

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A Simple App to Offer the Cheapest Airfares on the Planet

December 17, 2010

I know it sounds stupid, as I love Southwest Airlines but here’s a 3.0 venture that fills a specific niche that even the greatest airline ever couldn’t touch. No, I am not talking about starting an airline! These are 3.0 ventures, remember – crazy low overhead, pure variable expenses, and almost impossible to kill once [...]

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Wanna Win? Change the Rules!

December 16, 2010

Have you ever played a game with a little kid, and somewhere in the middle of the game, the kid changes the rules? This gives them the upper hand and makes you realize you don’t have a chance of winning at all! This can be applied in business- if you change the rules, you win! [...]

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Once Greek, Always Greek!

December 15, 2010

I got a call from an innovative young entrepreneur who was implementing his lessons on “observing personal frustrations in order to find startup opportunities”. Robert is deeply involved in his fraternity and his recent experiences have left him longing for a better way to experience the extended Greek network and with graduation right around the [...]

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Every Company is an Internet Company!

December 6, 2010

In less than 2 decades, the Internet has changed the entire face of business.  Over half the population is under 30 and can’t even remember life with without the Internet.  Hellooooo – every business is in Internet business!  The HVAC guy that just fixed my air conditioning might claim otherwise but if I started a [...]

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Real Estate and Mortgage Lead Strategies

December 1, 2010

I hear over and over that people in real estate just want more leads. But do you really want more leads? Or do you want more sales and orders? Your aim should be turning leads into sales. What is your system for those leads?  Ask them questions, be interested in and involved with their lives; [...]

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Marketing Momentum is Critical

November 29, 2010

Everyone thinks everyone else could use their products. But because they are targeting too big of a market at once, they aren’t meeting their goals. Don’t think big numbers- think momentum. What is the smallest group that could love your product? Find groups, forums, organizations, lists and Facebook friends, and find your target. Begin with [...]

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I Want a Real Estate Marketing Company

November 28, 2010
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Why Most Marketing Messages Suck!

November 28, 2010

It is natural for us to talk about ourselves and promote our own business and products. We cant help it! However, doing this is like talking “at” our customers and we need to be wary of that. People preferred to be talked “with”. Create a dialogue with your customers, learn their wants and needs. Even [...]

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Help the Economy by Giving Your House back

November 26, 2010

This is my unfiltered opinion (not legal advice as i am not an attorney) for distressed homeowners.  I only wish that everyone understood what is really going on in the banking industry and the real economics of our distressed real estate market.  Almost daily, I encounter homeowners who are in serious trouble, who have no [...]

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Pixona – The Missing Piece in Video Marketing

November 20, 2010

Pixels are the red, blue and green dots that our computer screens use to create the pictures we see while personifying something is to bestow an inanimate object (like a pixel) with human characteristics so Pixona.com exists to bring life to the web via a strategic use of video. Video on the web is hotter than [...]

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Real Estate 3.0

November 19, 2010

So how many homes have you sold in your lifetime?  For me, the answer is too many and yet I can’t remember one in which I felt I got my moneys worth from the agent or that I thought was really “marketed”.  What I wanted was some sort of marketing advantage (the same thing I [...]

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Strategy to Achieve the Impossible

November 15, 2010

What would perfection look like from a consumer’s perspective? Find needs not being met and meet them. Create new products or fix ones you have. Identify the impossible and figure out how to make it possible. For example, “X is impossible unless X happens,” or “X is impossible until X happens”; then creatively find ways [...]

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Going Beyond “Stretch Goals”

November 15, 2010

What would perfection look like from a consumer’s perspective? Find needs not being met and meet them. Create new products or fix ones you have. Identify the impossible and figure out how to make it possible. For example, “X is impossible unless X happens,” or “X is impossible until X happens”; then creatively find ways [...]

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Referrals Come From “Systems”, not Asking for Them

November 11, 2010

Just having good intention is not enough. Without a plan, success will not occur. Give people a reason to pass your information on to their friends, family and customers. Make sure that the value of your products and services heavily outweighs any risk associated with it. If there is too much risk, people aren’t as [...]

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The simplest time management system ever, from Khai McBride

November 10, 2010

Seriously, thanks to business coach, Khai McBride for this brilliant, yet unbelievably easy to implement, tip. All the greatest ideas, observations and epiphanies seem to be quite elegant in their simplicity. Otherwise, people like me will never follow through on them (though we do attend the seminars and buy the books).

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Database Marketing – Step 1

November 7, 2010

It is important when doing business to change people’s status one step at a time; when you do this, it help you stay more focused. Here is what I mean. When you have a lead, he is just a suspect, just a person. Your job is to turn them a prospect, someone who’s information you [...]

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An App for the 3.0 Restaurant- RefiningDining.com

November 6, 2010

RefiningDining.com $183

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Housing Recovery Advocates

November 4, 2010

Whether they are right around the corner form their sale date or still in denial trying to hang on to their underwater home, there are about 10,000,000 homeowners who need real help.  Real estate agents offering their help as short sale specialists and repurposed mortgage folk claiming they can help with a loan modification are simply not [...]

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Don’t Do Your Marketing Alone

November 3, 2010

Think of who someone who has brought you customers but is also not a competitor. How could the two of you benefit from each other and other businesses? How could you help customers receive a better product? How can your product be good for not only your customers, but customers of other businesses? Help other [...]

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Bait and Switch – When it’s a good thing

October 30, 2010

Highlight other people’s weakness competitively. Find specific knowledge that is not commonly known or common misconceptions. Share unexpected information with them. Try to find ways to get clients or customers to believe that you are better than the competition without bragging about it. One of the best ways to do this is by asking your [...]

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MyExpertAdvocate.com

October 27, 2010

When you are about to spend a sizable amount of money for some service or another, wouldn’t it be nice to know you are always going to get a good deal from an quality provider with no games ore grief?  I spent months researching and collecting bids from my last pool contractor and still ended [...]

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Working With you on a 3.0 Business Plan

October 26, 2010

Hiring consultants is a very hit and miss endeavor. Sometimes the fit is there and sometimes it is just a distraction from your core functions. We love consulting but only if it is going to be fun and productive. Also, I can’t stand the thought of ever being a waste of someones money so here [...]

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Relationship Marketers Never Leave Meetings Without…

October 26, 2010

When you do business, you should either be building your database or nurturing it. If you want to do business with someone, you have to create a positive expectation for future interaction. How? Each time you meet with someone, you will earn things about them- something in the beginning stages, something progressing or something about [...]

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BashfulShopper.com

October 24, 2010

Introverts rejoice – this one is for you!  If 83% of consumers are introverts and a quick research study found thousands of items that they are embarrassed to buy, it doesn’t take a lot of research to realize that a way to accomodate the bashful shoppers among is a much needed service. I came up with this [...]

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What is a 3.0 Venture?

October 22, 2010

The concept of a 3.0 Venture is all about capitalizing on the new business paradigms to optimize venture “upside” while dramatically lowering capital needs and the probability of catastrophic failure plus a bunch of other stuff that sounds irrational or impossible.. The V3.0 approach: Projects are broken into 4 distinct phases and projects must make it through each [...]

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ShareholderCity.com

October 19, 2010

Communication with shareholders has always been a major problem.  Lots of companies were beginning to focus on it enough to do a decent job but in this world of social media and transparency, a whole new kind of investor communications is called for.  This idea began as a specific plan for one publicly traded company [...]

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Using “Pattern Interrupts”

October 18, 2010

What is something your eyes are used to seeing? Perhaps a red stop sign. You see them on every corner, so you won’t remember each specific stop sign, and you probably won’t tell your friends and family about it. This is because it is a normal, everyday item that you see multiple times a day. [...]

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