Too Old To Learn? Hogwash. You’re Never Too Old To Learn Something New It never ceases to amaze me the number of times I’ve been told that erroneous quote, “I’m too old to learn”. It is utter nonsense for anyone to think, let alone actually say to themselves or outloud, that they’re too old to learn something new. What’s even more odd is the age range of people who’ve been saying they’re too old to learn things, to educate themselves and grow or expand their knowledge once they’ve reached a certain age. Men and women (mostly women) saying they’re too old to learn new things when they’re only in their forties, fifties, sixties and so on. Hogwash. That ridiculous quote has got to be one of the biggest cop-out’s of all time. Over the last few months, that cop-out excuse has been used more times than I care to remember by parents struggling with “ empty nest syndrome “, where their children have grown up and moved out on their own for one reason or another. “If you don’t like something, change it. Look, life is what you make of it. Be Sociable, Share!
Naive or professional? The naive farmer farms as his parents, grandparents and great grandparents did. She plants, hopes and harvests. Anything that goes well or poorly is the work of the gods. The professional farmer measures. She tests. I didn''t use the word amateur, because money isn't the point. Mostly, the professional asks questions... [By the way, it's possible to be naive and happy. I spent the last week working with Western Seed and Juhudi Kilimo, two vibrant companies that are helping small-plot farmers in Kenya (and beyond) dramatically increase their yields, their income and their well-being. Before you can sell a service, a product or an insight to the naive, you need to sell them on being professional.
Back to the Basics...How Do You Define Success? - SUCCESS magazine In my previous columns, we've discussed getting "back to basics." If you have been following along, you have upgraded your thoughts, cleared your clutter, gotten organized, and decided what you want and why. In this last column in the Back to Basics series, I want to challenge you to get clear about what success looks like for your life. Write down your answer to this question: How do you define success? Society, in general, tends to equate success with material wealth and possessions. A successful life should encompass far more than your work or finances, although they are a part of the big picture. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Rather than allowing others to define success for you, take time today to create your own definition. Get great articles like this planted in your inbox every week.
FranNet Offers “Entrepreneur’s Checklist” to Reveal Aptitude for Small Business Ownership Louisville, Kentucky (PRESS RELEASE – January 11, 2011) - As the economy continues to struggle toward recovery, the opportunity presented by franchise ownership continues to grow in appeal for many with an entrepreneurial spirit, according to the franchise experts at FranNet. “Small business ownership isn’t for everyone,” said Jania Bailey, President and COO at FranNet. “But, for the right type of person, in the right circumstances, owning a business can bring financial and personal rewards far exceeding those offered by more traditional job paths.” For individuals interested in exploring the idea of small business ownership, Bailey offers this short “Entrepreneur’s Checklist” to help evaluate their readiness and aptitude for taking on this challenge. Understand your own motives. “This checklist is designed to help individuals begin to develop their own entrepreneur profile,” said Bailey. About FranNet
Opt In - Nerd2Offer Hey you, It’s Nerd #2. Today I’m showing up with gift in my hand (as usual)and an opportunity you may or may not have been waiting for... that you probably shouldn’t take advantage of unless you’re the perfect candidate. In my journey to fuel my writing with uniquely familiar elements that lead to higher conversion for myself and my clients, I’ve come across a cutie named Pilar Alessandra. She’s a screenwriting instructor / script consultant who has helped hundreds of writers finish their screenplays, win major writing competitions, and make script sales to studios such as Disney, DreamWorks, Warner Bros. and Sony. It's her business to turn writing into money. People Spend Big Cash & Big Time In Pursuit Of Entertainment... Today, I’m letting you in on how I adapted one of her awesome story telling formulas for writing movie scripts and converted it so it directly ties to cultivating an engaging story that you can use for any salesletter or a video script. This wasn’t easy. Great question. P.S.
Selling nuts to squirrels In All Marketers Tell Stories, I argue that most organizations shouldn't try to change the worldview of the audience they're marketing to. Worldview is a term popularized by George Lakoff. It's the set of expectations and biases that color the way each of us see the world (before the marketer ever arrives on the scene). The worldview of a 45 year old wine-loving investment banker is very different from that of a fraternity brother. One might see a $100 bottle of burgundy as both a bargain and a must-have, while the other might see the very same bottle of wine as an insane waste of money. Worldview changes three things: attention, bias and vernacular. It's extremely expensive, time consuming and difficult to change someone's worldview. There's an exception to this rule, and that's the necessity of changing worldviews if you want to become a giant brand, a world changer, a marketer for the ages. Or consider Facebook.
James M. Lynch: You've Got Your Own Story, But is it TRUE? This weekend was a family event for us and a lot of family members came in from out of town. That means a lot of stories got told and repeated. Stories of childhood, embarrassing moments, funny anecdotes and, well yeah, more embarrassing moments. One of the stories I overheard being told about me was innocuous enough, but it was wrong. That's the way it is with stories; they depend on the vantage point, if not the memory, of the story teller. So today I wanted to try a little exercise out with you and ask: What's your story? How about stopping right now and spending 5 minutes writing out on a piece of paper "the story of me," who you are, how you got that way and include all of the judgments you make or have made. Write out the story of you as you are and don't be afraid to complain a bit. Start with "Once upon a time there was a (girl/boy) who . . ." and write it out for at least 5 minutes without editing yourself or holding back. Now ask yourself: Does this story work for you?
How to Score Press Coverage Making Your Voice Heard as a Small Business Owner Politics has been on everyone’s mind lately due to the recent midterm elections. In California, where I live, there was much debate (as always) about whether certain propositions on the ballot would actually help citizens—or were simply smokescreens for big businesses to profit. And two of the candidates, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, touted their former experience as corporate CEOs as a good reason to vote for them as politicians, though neither one won. We all know the role that big business plays in politics and the influence large corporations have on government via lobbyists and donations. Of course, one small company cannot hope to wield the influence of a massive global corporation. Making your voice heard can start as small as working to get a zoning variance so you can run a business from home. Local governments are hurting for money these days, which means they’re thinking more creatively and are more willing to listen to solutions proposed by business owners.
Double Your Income In the spring of 1999, when I was halfway through my Master’s degree, I started sending out my resume in an attempt to land my dream job. At that time in my life, it meant writing to the General Manager of every single team in the National Hockey League (NHL) because my number one career goal was to become an NHL Strength and Conditioning Coach. I scoured the Internet for their mailing addresses, made a list of the GM’s I had contacted, and sent out twenty-eight resumes along with a follow-up letter four weeks later. Months went by and, miraculously, some of the GM’s even replied. Each time they did I would mark off the communication in a spreadsheet. That was my first experience with building a contact list and while I never did get a shot at working in the big leagues, I discovered the value of having this simple little networking tool. This is the list you need in your life. The premise of the list is simple. Read those three steps again. Start building your contact list today. [Ed.