General business related things Jeff Cassman cares about
Professional Writers’ Manifesto: 10 Pillars of Disciplined Creativity 18&63,h=A>>12&63,n=A>>6&63,o=63&A,u[l++]=i.charAt(a)+i.charAt(h)+i.charAt(n)+i.charAt(o);while(d 
‘ + data.settings.title + ” : ” }}} ]]>
]]> {{{ data.label }}} ]]>
Continue reading here
Warren Buffett said, “The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say ‘no’ to almost everything.” But there is a danger.
Saying no is a dead-end when you don’t have a BIG YES.
People who fight-against end up empty unless they have something to fight for. Don’t-want is energizing but dissatisfying unless you have a compelling do-want.
Know what you want before fighting what you don’t want.
“The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It’s very easy to say yes.” Tony Blair
I’m tired of people saying, “I need to learn to say no.” What’s your BIG YES? One BIG YES enables a thousand nos.
You can’t say no because you’re saying yes to the wrong things.
Things you don’t want motivate change, but they’re never enough. What’s your BIG YES? Leaders worth following might begin with fighting-against, but they always focus on fighting-for.
Don’t-want leaders fight against.
It’s easier to fight what you don’t want than to pursue what you want.
The next time an angry person comes to you with a complaint, ask them, “What do you want?” They’ll tell you what they don’t want.
A don’t-want life is energizing, but dissatisfying. It’s exciting to fight against. Enemies energize, but don’t-want is a dead-end if you don’t have a BIG YES.
Leaders who fight-against are always disturbed, offended, or angry about something.
Think clearly because a BIG YES calls for commitment.
What’s your BIG YES?
Saying Yes is Harder than Saying No
The Ability to Say NO is the Power to do What Matters
Say Yes + Other Tips for Accelerating Your Career
Like Loading…
Episode 1666 Scott Adams: The Only Original Thoughts About Ukraine, Goes Well With a Beverage
Content:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
This debate seems to be as old as the concept of sales…and many things in life, but we will keep it to sales and marketing for the purpose of this article.
Many I speak with will fall solidly in the “quality” camp. In fact, I guess that for many of you reading this, your answer might be quality. Some of you might answer “both” just because you know me and how I like to set up a topic.
But, deep down inside, we probably think about quality as the winner of the debate.
…and to a large extent, there is truth to this.
That said, if you’ve “grown-up” in any serious sales environment, you may sit on the other side of the equation. And while you may not agree with anything else he ever said, you might think that Joseph Stalin was onto something when he stated, “quantity has a quality of its own.”
When I started my sales career 25 years ago, I worked for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. In that environment, you were handed a phone book, sat down in front of a phone, and told to start dialing—often with no training other than what you picked up during licensing. If you’ve ever seen the movie Boiler Room, you have a good sense of my early days. The premium was on quantity, not necessarily quality.
This, too, was a practical approach. That was then. What about now?
The debate about quality versus quantity is wrong. You can’t possibly decide on one versus the other in the discussion. Ultimately, as you may have suspected, you need both—and one other element I’ll mention shortly.
So, why do you need both quantity and quality?
Many of you have worked with some sort of email marketing. How effective is it to send just one email to the database? Not very. What if it is a perfectly crafted email written by a resurrected Ogilvy or Collier? Still not very successful. And, realistically, how many of us consistently maintain an open rate of 100%? One immaculately constructed email simply isn’t going to reach everyone.
You could say the same about our approach to content on social media. What are your chances of going viral with one post and suddenly putting yourself on the map? It could happen, but I wouldn’t bet on those odds, no matter how good the video is—even in a world where a 10-year old makes $55 million a year on YouTube.
So, let’s apply this to your sales efforts. What if you were to reach out to a handful of people every few months with a top-quality value-laden message? Either you get lucky, or more likely, you end up with nothing. And yet, for many agency owners and solopreneurs I speak with, this is their “sales plan.”
Here is what I see frequently happen with salespeople and business owners alike. You put some effort…
3 Mistakes Leaders Make When Delegating – Michael and Megan ]]> Continue reading
People with these three personality traits tend to have stronger immune systems.
Outgoing, sociable people have the strongest immune systems, a study finds.
Those who are the most careful, though, are more likely to have a weaker immune system response.
The research found no evidence, though, that a tendency towards negative emotions was associated with poor health.
Optimists have healthier hearts than pessimists, a study of over 51,000 adults has found.
Optimists tend to have stronger immune systems, which may be part of the reason.
Professor Rosalba Hernandez, who led the study, said:
“Individuals with the highest levels of optimism have twice the odds of being in ideal cardiovascular health compared to their more pessimistic counterparts.
This association remains significant, even after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics and poor mental health.”
Optimists also had healthier body mass indexes, were more physically active and less likely to smoke.
Researchers found that the more optimistic people were, the greater their overall physical health.
The most optimistic people were 76% more likely to have health scores that were in the ideal range.
Men with conscientious personality traits and those who are open to experience live longer, a study has found.
Consciousness has repeatedly been linked to a stronger immune system.
For women, those who are more agreeable and emotionally stable enjoy a longer life.
This means that for women the best personality traits for a long life are:
Whereas for men, the best traits are:
The kicker is that it’s your friends — not you — who are better at judging these personality traits from the outside…
…and consequently predicting how long you will live and even how strong your immune system might be.
Dr Joshua Jackson, the author of a study on the subject, said:
“You expect your friends to be inclined to see you in a positive manner, but they also are keen observers of the personality traits that could send you to an early grave.
[…]
Our study shows that people are able to observe and rate a friend’s personality accurately enough to predict early mortality decades down the road.
It suggests that people are able to see important characteristics related to health even when their friends were, for the most part, healthy and many years from death.”
With the rise of social media and digital technologies, marketers and businesses were expected to evolve from email marketing.
However, email marketing is still a reliable tool. Various researches show that email will become some of the most widely used and popular communication platforms in the future.
But before you utilize these free email marketing tools, find out how email marketing is used to interact with users and if it will remain a viable strategy in 2022.
Here are a few stats to prove email marketing’s dominance in marketing strategies globally:
But if you want to derive maximum benefits from email marketing campaigns, you have to take an all-inclusive approach towards making the right and fitting email marketing strategies.
Luckily, there is a range of credible, effective, and free email marketing tools you can use to organize and schedule various email campaigns.
What’s more, they even provide analytics to ensure success.
And if you needed more convincing, here is why you should stick with email marketing:
Email marketing enables marketers to create customized content for customers according to their buying patterns, journeys, behaviors, and other factors.
Utilize data trackers and analytics to know what interests consumers have. Plus, what sort of products or content do they like most.
For instance, if your consumers like a particular clothing design from your catalog, you can personalize emails by including related products.
Essentially, you can use email automation software tools to view where your consumers lie in a sales funnel stage and create content accordingly.
Believe it or not, email marketing gives the highest ROI (return-on-investment) than several other marketing means.
So for every one dollar spent, email marketing produces more than $40 in ROI.
In addition to that, it provides improved conversion rates. Various studies show email generates 66% of conversions. It’s 40-times more efficient and successful than other social media channels.
To get the best results, regularly monitor the metrics of your email marketing campaign, such as click-through rates, engagements, bounce rates, etc.
Compared to conventional marketing approaches, email is both cost-effective and straightforward.
To begin with, you don’t require a huge budget to advertise, produce, or print the ad. Therefore, it avoids the associated expense of hiring a digital and video production crew.
In email marketing, all you’ve got to do is hire a professional graphic designer to create appealing visuals along with excellent content, and you’re all set.
Additionally, as people increasingly rely on mobile phones now, email is an effective way to…
Lousy managers are anchors. Successful managers are wind.
The first step in filling people’s sails is setting an intention to energize people.
After time with you, you want people …
Frivolous cheerleaders drain energy. Everything ISN’T good! Some things DO need improvement! Some people ARE underperforming! There ARE too many things to do!
Frivolous cheerleader-leaders give the impression that they just don’t get it.
Don’t overwhelm people with your excitement. Make space for the enthusiasm of others.
Turn conversations toward humanity.
When people give answers about projects or results, ask about humanity. What did you do? How did you feel when …?
How might managers energize people?
4 Questions the Best Managers Answer to Energize Employees
4 Practices Guaranteed to Energize Tired Teams
How to Have a Fun Conversation Again (NYT)
Like Loading…
Every manager wants to know how to challenge people.
Competitive business environments require greater productivity and efficiency. High expectations are table stakes.
But how might you challenge people and create an environment where they thrive?
When Julie Winkle Giulioni asks managers about their growth experiences, she often hears about being thrown into the ‘deep end of the pool’ and learning how to swim.
It’s hard to imagine growth apart from challenge.
Think of your growth experiences. How many of them involved challenge?
Don’t randomly challenge people. No one wants to improve today if tomorrow you simply demand more. We’re all sick of the lousy managers who constantly pressure people for more. Exasperated employees think, “It doesn’t matter what I do, it’s never enough.”
Any fool can yell, “Work harder.”
Connect challenge to something relevant to an employee.
Everyone wants to grow. If you can help someone get better at something that matters to them, you’re a hero. People who don’t want to grow belong in jobs where growth doesn’t matter.
Effective challenge is a two-sided conversation, not a one-sided command.
“Even your best managerial intentions aren’t transmitted telepathically to your employees.” Julie Winkle Giulioni from, Promotions are So Yesterday.
“Make challenge feel like an invitation, not an imposition.”
“Greater velocity, volume, and accuracy isn’t squeezing more work out of people. It’s squeezing more development out of work.” Guilioni
How might managers challenge people and help them thrive at the same time?
In her own words:
Author’s note: This post is based on Julie Winkle Guilioni’s new book, Promotions are So Yesterday, and our conversation.
Like Loading…
Episode 1667 Scott Adams: What Happens Next in Ukraine. And Welcome to WWIII. You’ll Be Fine
Content:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
