failure...the meaning of.

what's your opinion on today's business definition of failure?

for instance, my position on failure as a business owner...you must not fear it, embrace it in your history because should you look to avoid it at all costs you're probably missing some of the largest break-throughs you'll ever have...

my definition of failure is in alignment with seth godin...failure now means never failing.

the bean counter will disagree, the ultra conservative will disagree...however, in order for a business to break new ground and be innovative sometimes failure will be the result...embrace it, learn from it and just don't make the same mistake twice. Planning is a key tool, however, planning alone will not cover off every contingency you'll encounter...fail forward fast....and don't forget to have fun.

stress relief...

life is simply too busy, stress levels remain at all time highs for us in this technology driven speed of thought business life.

so what do you do to claw back some much needed time for decompression?

you call one of our clients - Details Plus Lifestyle Management

www.dplifestyle.ca

they specialize in taking care of the little details in life that can sometimes be yet another drain on an already crazy day of endless tasks...

imagine that you come home to a clean house, laundry done, groceries put away into a freshly cleaned fridge, the table is set with a bottle of wine ready to go, the sheets are fresh and turned down with a mint on your pillow...

think your dreaming? not if you call Details Plus you're not.....

if you're in the Greater Edmonton area, check them out.....

30-day challenge....

when you look at many lives close up, revealed under a busy business persona is a tired, exhausted and even dejected spirit...unwilling to take on new challenges for fear of failure...

call it fear or being risk adverse...ultimately you can call it limiting.

this message is to those of you who are limiting yourself. (and you may attempt to deny you fit in this category but take a good hard look)...

time to take responsibility for your inner dialogue and the walls of negativity and skeptism you put up around you.

here's a 30-day challenge...

for the next 30 days starting right now...focus on pushing yourself into new areas of positive action, notice i didn't say "thought." in order to move your body into action a thought must occur, however, instead focus on taking action...without hesitation.

this is about focusing on the desired new outcome...while changing the current limiting thought pattern.

what you focus on you'll get more of so why not make it positive?

i don't care how successful you consider yourself to be, there's new ground to break...

take action...if you want to form a plan to take action keep it to one page and break the action into prioritzed steps...knock off each step until you've accomplished your goal and then start on the next set of steps...just keep it simple for now.

be brave, be confident and keep your mind focused on the positive outcome as a result of your positive actions.

spice the challenge up by tackling the toughest challenges first...

also, each time you take action, write it down or record it somehow that makes sense to you...track your actions...then review how many actions you took over the course of 30-day challenge that changed your business outcomes for the better, how much more opportunity you've generated over the previous month...

no one said you had to be perfect and yes you're going to make mistakes but it won't be the one you may be making right now which is to not even get off the launch pad by manufacturing excuses to avoid the responsibility of victory...

go do it...go do it right now.....

metacafe, your first day on the job...

imagine you're the new ceo of metacafe and it's the first day on the job....what is your first official act?

secondly, how would you propose to turn this company around?

a recent article at gigaom regarding the changing of the guard at metacafe serves as the background for these questions. things were not all that rosey at the streaming video youtube wanna be....and Erick Hachenburg of Electronic Arts fame was brought in to turn things around...

global opportunity...

"there has never been in the history of human kind such an opportunity to reach out to the masses as we are living right now." i'm certainly not the first one to say this statement, however, my point here is not to be the first but in fact to remind people...

as a business owner you've no doubt attended your fair share of networking events at your local business club or chamber of commerce, i know i have.

my point is that many of these small business owners who are out there religiously networking (some of the them poorly) are not balanced in their marketing approach. by balanced i mean

1.) follow-up with the people you meet.
2.) learn about how to market online.
3.) familiarize yourself with the term "social networks"
4.)understand what hugh mcleod calls "unique currency"
5.)be brave and try new things --- change is not only very good, it's absolutely required.

to understand what an advantage you would have over your local colleagues go into the next networking event asking these questions....

do you blog? while watching many a blank stare come back at you...ask another one...do you know what "youtube" is? (and that it was just sold for over a billion dollars) have you heard the term "podcasting" and do you know what it is? there are definitely more small business people every day becoming more familiar with this terminology, and many who would clearly out pace me with their knowledge ...

yet there is still a void of business people who are able to use these mediums effectively to build steam...let alone those who are working towards building a "global microbrand"

i'm speaking about the topic of global micro branding in a presentation april 5th by the way....

the truth is i believe you're already ahead of the crowd just be being able to navigate here are read this...yet this is simply a small start. get out there try new technologies, explore new methods of reaching a global audience, learn the technology and put together a plan for 2007...

start a blog, do some podcasting, create a squidoo page as i just did here...or go write articles at helium, share your photographs at flickr

there are many ways to get out there and build your brand and now by going to many of these links you're much more familiar with who i am, the people around me including my family and my general outlook on the world...

how often have you wanted to do business and had to have countless meetings before you were comfortable with who you were talking to before you would be willing to buy or partner up?

some of my work and musings have allowed you to understand more about the man behind the brand...that's valuable.

in some cases this means that i'm too radical, aggressive and or too focused on change...for others who want a breath of fresh air, it means that you view fusedlogic as precisely what is needed to drive your business to the next level and beyond...(sorry couldn't help it)

...so in addition to networking offline think about all of the opportunity online to exploit as well, there are definitely ways to build business and your brand.

it's as easy as left foot...right foot....

superbowl forty-one...

prediction: indy wins by 14.

what i'd like to see is the chicago bears win by a field goal on the last drive...i guess because chicago stinks at all professional sports in my opinion, they could use a win...the bulls haven't been the same since jordan left, the blackhawks...well they haven't been a serious contender since makita, the cubs, whitesox and bears all mediocre or worse year to year...if i live in chicago, i'd go absolutely crazy with a win today...you've got to hand it to the sports fans of chicago...they're fiercely loyal...definitely something i admire.

in reality no one thinks grossman's got the juice to pull it off. i say maybe he rises above the predictions...along with the rest of the team and they put on a clinic. somedays it's like magic and nothing can go wrong, it's their day...stranger things have happened when all cylinders are firing...

in sports as in business ----- it's all mental. if you're head and heart aren't in it...everyone knows it's all over. it's amazing to me though how many business owners go through their daily lives completely unbalanced and don't realize it. too much logic not enough heart, too much heart and not enough common sense. huge imbalance makes for a poor business recipe...and even worse results.

well anyway, go chicago! here's to the underdog!

helium...

surfing from my squidoo lens, i stumbled across helium and joined up. the result of which was my introduction to the community where i talk about what it is i love about business, fusedlogic and what we do.