Dawud Miracle @ dmiracle.com http://dmiracle.com Let Your Business Succeed Sat, 17 May 2008 09:58:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en The Dangers of Local Warming http://dmiracle.com/video/the-dangers-of-local-warming/ http://dmiracle.com/video/the-dangers-of-local-warming/#comments Sat, 17 May 2008 09:58:44 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=428 While I don’t usually cover social issues on my blog, I do care about them.

And with so many people today talking about global warming, I thought it important to touch on a subject that affects each of us who spend our days in front of the computer. Bloggers, business owners, web and graphics designers - all of us can take something of value from this video…

And, it’s hilarious…

Please, don’t thank me for the public service announcement. Just doing my job as a steward for humanity.

But really, this video could open a whole interesting discussion, huh? Let’s just see where it goes…

]]> http://dmiracle.com/video/the-dangers-of-local-warming/feed/ Is Email Marketing Dead? http://dmiracle.com/marketing-your-business/is-email-marketing-dead/ http://dmiracle.com/marketing-your-business/is-email-marketing-dead/#comments Wed, 14 May 2008 17:47:41 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=426 According to some, email marketing is dead because of beefed up spam filters. Others say that interruption marketing - where you’re life is interrupted by some marketing pitch has reached the end of its effectiveness. Email marketing is definitely a part of interruption marketing.

But what’s the truth? Have we reached a point where we should dump our email lists and find other channels to market through? Or is email marketing still as viable as it always has been?

My own thoughts are that email marketing is still alive and somewhat well. There are lots of business owners today that are making quite a nice living from the revenue they generate from their ezine lists. They continue to get new subscribers weekly, which just reinforces that email marketing is working.

I do think, however, that email marketing is dying - however slowly. And I’m willing to concede that email marketing may just be evolving rather than dying. But of course evolution means a slow death of one so that something new can take its place. And that’s where I feel email marketing is right now.

I mean, let’s face it, we just don’t have the time to read all the stuff that comes to our inbox. So what does come in front of our eyes better either be expected, interesting or useful to my specific needs - whether personal or in business. If I subscribe to an ezine, I’ll likely give it a few issues and if the content isn’t either highly valuable or doesn’t help me solve a specific problem I’m facing, I’ll unsubscribe.

What are your thoughts? Is email marketing dying? Is it evolving? Is it static?

And how effective is your ezine list, if you have one?

(note: image from sean dreilinger on Flickr)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/marketing-your-business/is-email-marketing-dead/feed/ SOBCon08: Chris Garrett Asks ‘So What?’ http://dmiracle.com/general/sobcon08-chris-garrett-asks-so-what/ http://dmiracle.com/general/sobcon08-chris-garrett-asks-so-what/#comments Mon, 12 May 2008 13:08:07 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=421 What does it take to have a successful blog for your business?

Denise Wakeman of Blog Squad fame asked that question of Chris Garrett. The conversation that grew created a bed of blogging tips. Watching the interview (5 1/2 minutes) Chris makes it pretty clear that a successful blog, like a successful business, is built on planning, focus, clarity and knowing your audience.

Whenever a client or prospective client ever asks me about marketing, I always begin my answer by finding out what they’re clear (and unclear) about in their business. I’ve learned the hard way of the years that you can only market, hence you can only sell, that which you’re clear about. And the greatest clarity I’ve found has come through understanding what problems my prospective clients face.

From the interview…

“If you actually concentrate on the audience and you’re talking to people and actually communicating and you focus on people, then you’re going to attract better attention and you’re going to actually produce something worthwhile. Because it’s all about your audience; it’s all about all about people.

A lot of people think it’s about just broadcasting your thoughts but if those thoughts don’t make meaning to people then you’re going to fail. So you have to give people what they want, how they want it and keep learning and keep promoting.

Another big aspect as people say is content is king. Well, content IS king. But what is a king but a guy in a funny hat? If he hasn’t got an army behind him, if he hasn’t got people saying, “your the king,” then you’ve got nothing - you’re just a guy in a funny hat. So you to make great content but you have to promote it as well.”

Take a watch.

Near the end of the interview Chris talks about the ’so-what’ test. Does your blog stand up to it? What about your business? In other words, are people able to truly care about what you can do for them?

]]> http://dmiracle.com/general/sobcon08-chris-garrett-asks-so-what/feed/ SOBCon08: What Did Everyone Else Think? http://dmiracle.com/tools/sobcon08-what-did-everyone-else-think/ http://dmiracle.com/tools/sobcon08-what-did-everyone-else-think/#comments Mon, 12 May 2008 06:54:30 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=422

You already know my experiences at SOBCon08 - at least those I could get down in a reasonable amount of time.

But aren’t you curious what others have been saying about it?

Well, I’ve done my best to compile all the posts I could find about the event. While extensive, this is likely not a complete listing. So if you have a post you’d like to add, please do so in the comment box and I’ll add it to the post below.

Did I read them all…no. But I did read most of them and commented on those I had something to add too. What always intrigues me most is that people often report more about their time getting to know someone then then they do the event content. Is there a little business secret tied up there? What do you think?

So what’s the marketing secret I mentioned above? Any idea?

And for SOBConers and non-SOBConers alike, just one question: what’s one tool you’ve most recently started using that’s changed the way you use your blog or social media? How has it affected your marketing and your business?

(note: image from Tojosan on Flickr)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/tools/sobcon08-what-did-everyone-else-think/feed/ SOBCon08: Recap - Live Blogging and Reports From The Event http://dmiracle.com/conversation/sobcon08-recap-live-blogging-and-reports-from-the-event/ http://dmiracle.com/conversation/sobcon08-recap-live-blogging-and-reports-from-the-event/#comments Sun, 11 May 2008 08:03:31 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=423

Most of us at SOBCon08 are bloggers, right? So you had to know that we blogged the event. Now I say we collectively as I was too busy jotting notes to live blog and too engrossed in conversation to blog at the event.

So what about the evenings…well, if I was getting to bed before 2am, perhaps. But I wasn’t.

Yet plenty of people either wrote reports from SOBCon08 or were live blogging as it happened. We even had a Twitter feed going at one point. The conversation behind the event didn’t stop - even during it.

So if you missed something or lost your notes at least you can find what you need from the vast resources below.

And if you couldn’t make it to SOBCon08 this year, you’ll find a great list of content that was written during the event. Having gone through all of these posts, photos and videos, there’s enough content here to make it feel like you were there - just without the smiles, hugs and handshakes.

So, if you were there, what was the biggest (I know it’s hard to find only one) highlight of your weekend. Doesn’t have to be something Brian or the Chris(es) said. Could be a meal, a conversation or a relationship.

So I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours…in the comment box.

(note: image of (left to right) Stephen Smith, Clay & Jared Goralnick from Wendy Piersall on Flickr)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/conversation/sobcon08-recap-live-blogging-and-reports-from-the-event/feed/ SOBCon08: Christine Kane On Blogging, Marketing and a Musician’s Future http://dmiracle.com/general/sobcon08-christine-kane-on-blogging-marketing-and-a-musicians-futures/ http://dmiracle.com/general/sobcon08-christine-kane-on-blogging-marketing-and-a-musicians-futures/#comments Sat, 10 May 2008 07:23:49 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=414 First off, I love Christine Kane - the person and the musician. Though, truthfully, they really seem to be one and the same.

Anyhow, I find Christine’s music full of witty lyrics (free song download) and tons of emotion - like she’s singing from her soul. I’ve only seen her play live twice - once on a rocking boat. And each time at least one of her songs has brought tears to my eyes (no kidding). Spending time with her it’s obvious she’s found an inner peace and a grounded depth that gushes through her personality.

Yeah, I could go on. But let’s leave it at - she’s quite a lovely person and an excellent singer/songwriter. If she’s playing near you, it’s worth a evening to see her play.

Beyond Christine’s music, however, you’ll find a savvy and knowledgeable a niche marketer. She’s learned over the years that she can serve an audience’s needs while maintaining a music career. And like any niche marketer, she’s had to learn how to position herself correctly to reach a market who’s interested in her. In other words, she makes is more possible for people who like her type of music to find her.

At SOBCon08 last weekend, she sat down with Paul O’Flaherty from FuelMyBlog to chat about music, blogging, business and new opportunities for musicians using social media.

From the interview (below): “…blogging for me has enabled my creativity to reach people who wouldn’t in a hundred years go out to a club.”

I’ve posted the interview (less than 15 minutes) below so business owners - musicians and otherwise - can see a successful niche blogger share what she’s learned about social media that’s made her successful. The beauty is I hear a marketer as much as I do a blogger or a musician.


Christine Kane - Broadcast your self LIVE

At SOBCon08, Christine gave away her latest, live 2-CD release titled, Christine Kane: A Friday Night in One Lifetime. It’s great. Includes her ever interesting storytelling between songs. Check it out.

Tons of great stuff came out this video. What did Christine say that you could use in blogging your business? And how can you see applying her experience to your own blog (and business)?

Let’s talk about it.

]]> http://dmiracle.com/general/sobcon08-christine-kane-on-blogging-marketing-and-a-musicians-futures/feed/ SOBCon08: Is Your Blog Serving Your Business? http://dmiracle.com/general/sobcon08-is-your-blog-serving-your-business/ http://dmiracle.com/general/sobcon08-is-your-blog-serving-your-business/#comments Fri, 09 May 2008 14:18:01 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=412 SOBCon08 - Biz School for Bloggers… A report, part 2

Amazing that it took a whole blog post to cover the first day of SOBCon08, but it did. Friday was great. The boat ride stellar. And the conversation even better.

Seeing Lorelle first thing Saturday morning started the day off right. Got a chance to speak with Easton Ellsworth a bit, catching up on family and the like. Truth is I talk to Easton almost weekly. I did get to have breakfast with David Dalka and Phil Gerbyshak. We mostly talked shop - not blogging shop, but business shop - niche marketing and expert positioning. In other words, what problems do you solve for whom.

Business School was the theme of SOBCon08. The idea was born from watching lots of bloggers getting traffic and tons of comments, but making no money. This year’s SOBCon was going to bring business people and bloggers together so that business owners could learn about communities and using social media while bloggers could learn solid business practices.

Anita Bruzzese of 45Things kicked off the morning. She gave a great talk about managing your online reputation. Her advice: Remember “whatever you write has your name on it and you must be willing to stand behind it.” Her talk sparked a great conversation afterward that I was really getting in to. If only more time.

Next up was the Copyblogger himself - Brian Clark. Brian opened with “forget blog. be an entrepreneur rather than a copywriter.” He had me with forget blog.

What Brian did really well was remind us that a blog isn’t in and of itself a business. What we actually do to make money is our business. So he encouraged everyone to consider a business model showing us that a business model is not:

  • Your revenue source
  • Your traffic strategy
  • Your blog

What a business model is, rather:

  • The right product or service (for) the right target market (at) the right price.

That sentence above is the key to having a successful business. Brian knows it which is one of the reasons why Copyblogger and Teaching Sells is doing so well. There’s more, of course, but this was the key point that I felt was most important to take away form Brian’s talk.

One note on Mr Clark, somehow he managed to leave Chicago without us having a good chat together. Not sure how he managed that, but he did. That’s all right, I’ll pin him down next time.

After Brian, Lorelle VanFossen led a discussion and exercise to help everyone find the ten words that would describe what you do as a business owner. That was her main point - you have to be able to describe what you do to people who may be interested in language they understand. I’d go a bit further and say that you need to concisely show that you can solve their problems. That’s why the conversation can be so valuable before you get to talking about what you do.

Next came Chris Garrett of chrisg.com fame. Chris and Darren Rowse just released a book called Problogger: Secrets of Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. Haven’t finished it yet, but from what I’ve read it’s really good. Make sure you get a copy.

Chris’ talk called, More Bang from Your Blog, covered a lot about workflow. He says, “you have to have a work structure” to be successful at blogging (and at business). His workflow consists of Learn / Create / Communicate / Promote. Workflow - both for you blogging and your business - is something I spend a lot of time with clients working on so I couldn’t agree more. There’s so little time, why not make the most from it.

Somewhere in here we had lunch and I spent a nice time talking with Stephen Smith from Productivity in Context and Jared Goralnick from Technotheory. Jared and I shared in great converation around business building, marketing and business growth. Then we mingled a bit chatting with a number of people - most whose names I just can’t remember. Sorry.

Back to the presentations…I next got my socks blown off by David Bullock. Obvious this guy knows what he’s doing when it comes to business development, business growth and metrics. David was one of the business owners who was there to learn about social media. And boy did he get a dose of it. His S.T.A.R.T. Formula is a solid business development model:

  • Strategy - what’s the overall story and how does your overall story match the overall story of the marketplace?
  • Tactics - planning - how are you going to do what you need to do to grow your business
  • Action - doing the plan - you’ve gotta actually do something to make the tactics work for you.
  • Results - you’ve gotta know what results you want from your actions and whether or not your site or business can gain those results.
  • Tracking - pay attention to what’s going on - most often missed by small business owners. It’s more than just site statistics. It’s knowing what you expect from your marketing, for instance, and being able to measure effectiveness.

David also had what may have been, for me, the most power-packed quote of the whole event: “I want to own a space not own a channel.” He and I talked about this afterward. Be a great conversation piece in the comment box.

Funny thing is that Chris Brogan followed David - which was a perfect blend. Following David’s business-minded presentation, Chris offered an opportunity to for us to think of businesses as being people (sound familiar?). His overall message was to differentiate your community from your marketplace. In community it’s about the people and how you connect with each other. Ultimately it’s about people doing things freely for each other. Marketplace, though, is where you sell things. Chris suggest keeping them separate. How, invite community into your marketplace, just don’t turn your community into the marketplace. Let people have both.

We started running long on time so Liz Strauss’ presentation was cut a bit short. The key element I took from her was, “Know the difference between traffic, readers and customers.” I’d say know who each are, why they’re at your site and how you can meet each of their needs.

Wendy Piersall ended the day with an emotional, spirited and high energy presentation challenging each of us to be great; great as bloggers, great as people, great as business owners. As she says, “what right do you have not too?”

That ended Saturday’s main events. There was still Sunday to go - and don’t forget Saturday night - which I’ll write about later in a piece about selling.

Reading through all this, are you beginning to get the idea that blogging is not, in and of itself, a business? Rather, blogging is a way to interact with your audience, increase your reach and inform about your business. In other words, a blog is a method for marketing.

I see way too many business owners confusing their blog for their business. Perhaps it’s because they put so much time into it - I’m not sure. Yet it’s important to consider that a blog is something that serves an overall business, helping the business reach its goals.

So how is your blog serving  your business? Are you selling products and a landing clients from your blog? If so, what have you done to make yourself successful?

(note: images from bjmccray, ChrisCree & DWakeman on Flickr)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/general/sobcon08-is-your-blog-serving-your-business/feed/ Boat Rides, Indian Food and Great Conversation at SOBCon08 http://dmiracle.com/conversation/boat-rides-indian-food-and-great-conversation-at-sobcon08/ http://dmiracle.com/conversation/boat-rides-indian-food-and-great-conversation-at-sobcon08/#comments Thu, 08 May 2008 08:08:39 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=411 SOBCon08 - Biz School for Bloggers… A report, part 1

Liz and Terry sure nailed it this year. Not only in concept but in execution. Their goal - create an event where business owners and bloggers come together to learn from each other - both about social media and about running a business. In my opinion, much needed and only scraping the surface of what’s needed around social media. The weekend was great…here’s my experience.

The flight to Chicago on Friday was quick and uneventful. We landed just before a storm rolled in that delayed a number of SOBCon-ers, including Chris Cree and Gorgeous (his name for his wife). I jump on the orange line out of Midway which deposits me, 40 minutes later, a block and a half from my hotel - in a downpour. Cab it or walk…I chose to walk. And when I stepped into Hotel 71 I was drenched.

I get to my room, dry off, unpack and out comes the laptop. I was thinking of a short nap before the afternoon’s festivities, but turns out Chris Garrett was looking for a lunch date. Sonia Simone and I join Chris for a stroll down Michigan Ave, a nice chat and a great lunch lunch at Carmine’s. Thank God the weather cleared up.

Back at the hotel we walk into a cloud of bloggers. Liz, Terry and bunch of old friends from last year’s event. Hugs go all around. I’m overjoyed to meet Joanna Young for the first time. To David Airey: she flew all the way from Scotland.

Lots of faces, new and old. Too many to remember. But I did get a huge hug from my dear friend Wendy Piersall (tell Dave it was great to meet him). Had a great talk with Tammy Lenski - she and I need to do some work together. Then, finally, after months of phone calls and emails, I got to see the communicatrix - Colleen Wainwright in the flesh. She’s shorter than I thought thought she’d be - AND big bags of fun. We spent much of the weekend hanging out. Loved her before, love and adore her after. She’s a friend for life, I think.

Dinner time was approaching so Adam Kayce and I round up a few people for Indian food at Kypher Pass on East Wacker. Pretty nice food. Nothing, though, like Tandoor Fine Indian Cuisine which Adam and I found last year. It’s out in Park Ridge near O’Hare (map) - like Indian food, gotta check it out.

Anyhow, Todd Jordan along with Shashi Bellamkonda & Randy Windsor from Network Solutions joined us. I learned much about Shashi over the weekend. One thing is he loves to take photos. And did you know he was once a chef?

Chicago Cruises and the Chicago Skyline provided the backdrop for our evening. The entertainment…by a hundred bloggers on a boat, Jim Beam (who sponsored the Friday night) and the amazing music of Christine Kane. If you don’t know Christine’s music - you should. But more on that later. Becky McCray has some great shots on Flickr of Chicago at night. As does Wendy.

Had a great walk and chat back to the hotel with Ruth Marie Sylte. We could have stayed up all night talking politics, spirituality and fixing the problems in the Middle East. But sleep called - especially since I missed that nap (thanks ChrisG).

I’ll continue with my in depth report of SOBCon. For now, I’d love to know your SOBCon experience. If you were there, what was one highlight. And if not, what’s one thing you would have liked to have taken away from the event if you could have come?

(note: image from bjmccray on Flickr)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/conversation/boat-rides-indian-food-and-great-conversation-at-sobcon08/feed/ A Business School for Bloggers http://dmiracle.com/general/a-business-school-for-bloggers/ http://dmiracle.com/general/a-business-school-for-bloggers/#comments Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:46:15 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=407 Are you coming to SOBCon08?

I’ve been set on coming ever since I left Chicago last May. The event in 2007 was great. Lots of great people. Lots of great information. And, of course, lots of of great conversation. But what would I expect from an event that was partially the brainchild of Liz Strauss, Miss Conversation herself (now, that’s my opinion and she would probably deny it even though it’s the truth)?

That’s why I was so excited last fall when Liz and Terry Starbucker started planning for SOBCon08. This year’s theme - Biz School for Blogging. Notice the title closely. It’s not blogging for businesses. Rather, it’s  business school for blogging. In other words, bringing sound business principles into the blogosphere.

This year’s speakers are top-notch. And I can’t wait to see the presentation format - which centers around masterminding. The plan is to bring what’s talked about into a working model to actually use in your business. As I said, pretty sweet, huh?

Check out who’s beginning the conversations:

And, of course, the sweet sounds of Christine Kane.

And, like last year, this year’s event isn’t about the speakers. Rather, it’s about all the people who are there - speakers, attendees, organizers, sponsors - everyone. As we saw last year, everyone had something valuable to add to the conversations during the sessions.

Below is a list of everyone else I could find who’s going to be there. Small, simple, people-focused event. Find some of these folks on Twitter. The rest, just link with below.

So are you coming? If so, say, “Hi” in the comment box. And definitely look for me this weekend.

And if you’re not on the list, you’ve gotta ask yourself why - especially if you have a business - blogging or otherwise. Get here. Meet some great people and join some amazing conversations that will help you focus your business online.

What do you have to say?

]]> http://dmiracle.com/general/a-business-school-for-bloggers/feed/ What Rocky Balboa Can Teach You About Business http://dmiracle.com/your-business/what-rocky-balboa-can-teach-you-about-business/ http://dmiracle.com/your-business/what-rocky-balboa-can-teach-you-about-business/#comments Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:28:41 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=405 What does it take to be successful in business?

I’m guessing you can begin listing a dozen things right off the top of your head. I know I can - clear vision, business plan, marketing plan, metrics, proper positioning in a highly refined niche market, branding, marketing message, growth strategies, solid business structure, etc. The list just goes on and on.

But one thing is missing from my list - and maybe yours. Rocky Balboa knows what it is. It’s what made him successful as a boxer - and yes, I know he’s a fictional character. That one thing…perseverance - steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

In the movie Rocky Balboa (Rocky VI), he gives a speech to his son who’s struggling with finding his own identity and success in the world. I won’t bother setting up the scene because the movie isn’t the point. But what Rocky says to his son is a pretty remarkable way to look at business and life…(UPDATE 4/28 - VIDEO LINK FIXED)

…I don’t care how tough you are, It’ll (life) will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winnin’ is done.

Now if you know what you’re worth, go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits and not point fingers saying you ain’t where you want to be because him or her or anybody…

Okay, so it’s a little overdramatisized, but the message is solid.

When you’re building and growing a business there will be setbacks (hits) - plan on it. Know they’re coming. Because success doesn’t come in trying to avoid the hits. Success comes in being able to take the hits you can’t avoid and continue on. “That’s how winnin’ is done.”

What hits have you taken in your buiness and what have you done to overcome them? Or, if you’re stuck a bit, what have you tried to do that hasn’t kept you moving forward?

(note: image from MSN UK, Ask The Expert series)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/your-business/what-rocky-balboa-can-teach-you-about-business/feed/ Why You Should Give Your Business A Chance To Succeed http://dmiracle.com/conversation/why-you-should-give-your-business-a-chance-to-succeed/ http://dmiracle.com/conversation/why-you-should-give-your-business-a-chance-to-succeed/#comments Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:56:32 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=403 I have a friend who’s been self-employed in one way or another for more than ten years. She’s brilliant, caring and a really good communicator. Anyone who works with her immediately sees her huge range of gifts.

But this friend of mine - whose name I’m not going to mention - hasn’t made much of her business. Well, I should say businesses.

You see over the past twelve years or so she’s had, maybe, eight businesses. All have focused on providing some array of services based on her varied background. Each one has taken a somewhat unique approach to helping people overcome various problems in their lives. And each one could have probably been quite successful.

But here she sits, more than a decade later, struggling to make ends meat. She keeps wondering how she’s not successful when she has all these great ideas of how to help people and make money doing it. Yet she never sticks long enough in one business concept to see it become successful for her.

Can you relate? Early on in my work, I could. I used to bounce from idea to idea thinking this was the next great one - the one that would build my empire and let me retire at thirty. But thirty came and went and I was still just meagerly successful in the work I did. And now, meeting the woman I would marry, I knew I’d have to be responsible for a family.

Then I decided to take a long look at where I’d been and why I wasn’t successful. Like my friend, I felt I was pretty intelligent, honest, kind and had a good mind for business. I also knew how to run a successful business - how to organize and structure my time, create a clear marketing message, and reach people who I could help.

What I was missing was the commitment to a single business. I liked being able to change what I did on the spur of the moment. And like my friend, I’d be jazzed as I started with a new idea. This would last a few months and I’d get tons done toward my new direction. Then I’d enjoy a few months of the challenge of trying to make money off my new direction. And then, when the real work was needed, I’d get bored of my business and begin thinking of something new.

The problem, however, wasn’t that I was bored with my business. It was more that I hadn’t made the commitment to being successful. I could do all the preliminary work and begin making a living - that was easy and fun. But when it came to rolling up my sleeves and do the work it took to be successful, I’d turn to a new business idea. So, like my friend, I was always in the start-up mode and never engaged in the work it took to really be successful.

I’m so grateful that I figured this out. And I’m even more grateful that I chose a business and began building it with the idea of long-term success. What’s interesting is that in my commitment to one business idea, I’ve been able to be just as creative as when I was bouncing around. But now I have a successful business and the revenue to show it. And I have plans for a huge expansion in the coming months (stay tuned).

Unfortunately, my friend hasn’t understood that she needs to commit to a business idea yet. She continues to struggle financially as she scrambles month-to-month with the work she’s doing. There are probably many reasons for where she is. Even though I know her story well, I don’t want to be presumptuous.

And, just like everyone else, at some point she’ll either have to find one business concept and commit to it or stop being self-employed. Of course, she could always marry into money.

What I’ve taken away from all these years of business experience is that you have to give your business a chance…a chance to succeed. Some will succeed more, some less, some not at all. But it takes time to find out which ideas you have will. So commit to the one you feel has the best chance and go after it. Make the commitment. Put in the work. Get really serious about seeing it through. And see where it takes you.

And if you get stuck, ask yourself what’s one thing inside me and one thing outside me that’s holding my business back from being successful?

Do these stories sound familiar to you?

Are you watching a friend go through the same experience?

So, then, what is that one thing for you - for them? And what’s your strategy to overcome it?

Let’s talk about it…

(note: image from PhotoLab XL on Flickr)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/conversation/why-you-should-give-your-business-a-chance-to-succeed/feed/ Did You Know You Can Break the Internet? http://dmiracle.com/general/did-you-know-you-can-break-the-internet/ http://dmiracle.com/general/did-you-know-you-can-break-the-internet/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:54:48 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=402 Yeah, it’s possible. You really can break the internet. Want to find out how, just watch this simple 30 second clip below and you, too, and break the internet.

Go ahead, try it. See what happens.

Pretty funny, huh?

]]> http://dmiracle.com/general/did-you-know-you-can-break-the-internet/feed/ The Absolutely Best Advice About Being A Coach or Consultant http://dmiracle.com/conversation/the-absolutely-best-advice-about-being-a-coach-or-consultant/ http://dmiracle.com/conversation/the-absolutely-best-advice-about-being-a-coach-or-consultant/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:31:36 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=400 If you’re an educator, coach, consultant or advisor you usually want one main thing for your clients - that they use your advice.

That only makes sense, right? They’re paying you fees, sometimes large fees, to help them either change something or accomplish something that they just can’t manage on their own. It doesn’t matter whether you’re hired to give advice, as a consultant might do, or be more hands-on in helping with change as a coach might - the desired outcome is still the same.

This sometimes leads to pressure to help our clients get results. A little pressure on the client to change is good. After all, change is seldom easy and often requires a little push to get started (okay, and sometimes a big push).

Yet any good coach or consultant knows that we have to manage our clients and how they progress with a bit of skill. Sometimes we can put it all out there and people get it. Other times we have to pull back a bit and offer change in small steps. So we give each client what they can handle in the way they can implement it best. As I’ve seen it, this is the art to being an effective coach or consultant - and even to being an effective teacher, parent, spouse, or friend really.

In the years I’ve been a coach / consultant / advisor (I’m still uncertain what to call myself) one piece of advice has stood out from the rest. It came from the most interesting of sources.

Hannah Whitall Smith was a Christian speaker, author and women’s rights activist in the late 19th century. She was an active speaker in the Holiness Movement of the 1800’s and was active in Women’s Suffrage and the Temperance Movement in the U.S.

Years ago I found a quote which she wrote and tucked it away with thousands of others I have. Then a few years back, I ran across it again. Now as a website designer who was also coaching and advising my clients on how to use their websites to grow their business, it made me stop and consider how I approached my coaching work.

The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.

- Hannah Whitall Smith

Stop and think about it for a minute. How would your coaching practice or your consulting business change if you took this approach? How could it change the relationships you have with  your clients? And moreover, how could it enhance the results your client’s are getting?

What changed in me was the understanding that it’s not my responsibility to create change. It’s only my responsibility to offer the opportunity. So rather than feeling like I had to create change in someone’s business, for instance, I could be more effective by meeting my clients where they are and giving them the space and time to come to change themselves.

Someone once told me that it’s not in our nature as human beings to want to share what we know and not see it utilized. It was suggested that it shakes us up inside a bit when people don’t do what we advise them. Whether that’s true or not is an interesting debate of its own.

Yet what I’d like to know is how this quote might change the way you do business? How might it affect your conversations, relationships and approaches with your clients - even if you’re not a consultant or coach?

And maybe the more interesting question of all, if you so choose to consider it, is how could Hannah’s advice change your relationships with your loved ones?

Let’s talk about it…

(note: image from ambergris on Flickr)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/conversation/the-absolutely-best-advice-about-being-a-coach-or-consultant/feed/ Are Your Readers Morons? http://dmiracle.com/conversation/are-your-readers-morons/ http://dmiracle.com/conversation/are-your-readers-morons/#comments Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:55:41 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=398 I was thinking this morning about what makes a great relationship.

According to James from Audio Mecca, it’s necessary to accept “that the other fellow is not a moron.”

I keep saying again and again that conversation leads to relationship and relationship leads to business. No matter whether we’re talking about clients and customers, referrals and affiliates, partnerships or friends - it all begins with building relationships.

That’s why I find James’ comment so interesting. It’s true! We need to believe that the people we get into conversations with, and ultimately building relationships with, are not idiots. Don’t they have a point? Aren’t their comments, perceptions and ideas important in some way?

If they’re not, why are we in the conversation with them in the first place?

When I think about all of you who have commented on my blog, for instance, I can’t think of any instances when I thought someone was an idiot or a moron. Really, I’m not just saying that. But that doesn’t mean every comment I’ve seen has been a highly intelligent one.

Yet I know that people (read: me) sometimes say things that are off-beat a little bit with how they feel or what they think. I know that sometimes in trying to explain something we can just get way off track and start sounding like an idiot. But does that make us one?

Maybe it does…What do you have to say?

Let’s be honest…do you think the readers of your blog are morons?

How about the people your customers and clients? Why/why not?

(note: image from judemat on Flickr)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/conversation/are-your-readers-morons/feed/ When Can Word of Mouth Marketing Get You In Trouble? http://dmiracle.com/general/when-can-word-of-mouth-marketing-get-you-in-trouble/ http://dmiracle.com/general/when-can-word-of-mouth-marketing-get-you-in-trouble/#comments Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:01:06 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=395 You know I love word of mouth marketing. I find it to be one of the purest, simplest and most rewarding ways of getting my business known.

But did you know that word of mouth marketing can be illegal?

According to Andy Sernovitz there’s a new bill (pdf) being introduced in the U.K. which will make some marketing practices illegal. The bill is meant to stop false and misleading marketing practices. Of course, word of mouth marketing could easily fit into that category if marketers were deceptive about their campaigns.

So what makes word of mouth marketing illegal?

In Andy’s post he lists a few examples where the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has made this clear. And from what I read in the U.K.’s new bill (pdf), it seems to agree.

  • Asking buzzers to recommend your product with disclosing that they are part of a campaign or are receiving an incentive.
  • Falsely representing your employees as consumers.
  • Asking buzzers to claim they like your product when they don’t or have never tried it.

Now I, personally, don’t know anyone who’s doing these things purposely to promote their business through word of mouth. Yet to me it seems like there might be a gray area here. Gray in the sense of what we, as business owners feel is deceptive versus what consumers would feel is deceptive.

Please hear me clearly, I’m not talking about lying to yourself so you can scam the public. I’m talking about places where we might not realize we’re bending the truth in order to gain an advantage. When we talk about blogging, one of the things that comes to mind where this could happen is with being paid for posts.

Think about it, if someone wants to pay you either to write a post on a topic or to review a product, couldn’t that skew your judgement a bit? I’d like to think it wouldn’t skew mine. Yet it’s because I know it’s possible that I post very few ads on my blog. And you’ve never seen a product review that I’ve been paid for. It’s likely you won’t - at least not on this site (though I have a secondary blog in development where you may see my wife and I do product reviews, etc).

Do I think that we shouldn’t be paid for our writing? Of course not. I just think it’s important to keep the blogging crede in the forefront of our minds whenever we are paid for writing posts or reviews - be authentic, be transparent.

In Andy’s post he lists a few points from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association’s Ethics Codes that can help us stay honest without ourselves and our consumers:

  • Honesty of Relationship: You say who you’re speaking for
  • Honesty of Opinion: You say what you believe
  • Honesty of Identity: You never obscure your identity

And if you have any questions about the ethics of a campaign you’re either wanting to begin or are being pitched, use the WOMMA’s 20 questions to identify any potential trouble spots.

So what are your thoughts? When do you feel word of mouth marketing crosses into the gray areas of deception?

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a deceptive campaign? What was that like?

(note: image from macmiester on Flickr)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/general/when-can-word-of-mouth-marketing-get-you-in-trouble/feed/ You Are What You Share http://dmiracle.com/conversation/you-are-what-you-share/ http://dmiracle.com/conversation/you-are-what-you-share/#comments Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:06:04 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=393 I get asked all the time why a business owner should be blogging or engaged in social media.

The answer I give almost always revolves around creating relationships. If you’ve been reading a while, you know one of my favorite statements is people don’t do business with businesses, they do business with people. So relationships become key to business success.

Before the internet, before social media, much of the business world seemed to focus on producing and selling. You’d produce a product or create a service and do everything you could to get people to buy. In other words, marketing was about peddling what you had.

Today, however, and especially with the explosion of social media, the business world is changing. No longer is business just about producing something and selling it. Now, business is more about communication, relationship, community and innovation. And all this is being driven by the conversations happening all over the blogosphere.

As business owners, this means we need to rethink how we go about doing business. We need to consider and engage in the conversation with people who need what we offer. It means we need to be more concerned with customer service - even before the person becomes a customer. It means that what you share in your business is just as important as what you do.

I found this great little video on YouTube that illustrates just that. It was put together by Charles Leadbeater who’s a leading authority on innovation and creativity. Charles’s website says he’s currently involved in research which “focuses on how mass, user driven innovation is reshaping organisations.” If you’re in the UK, you may want to check out Charles book, We Think, The Power of Mass Creativity.

One of the quotes from the video that I found so interesting was this:

Communities don’t just want to make money, they want to socialize and gain recognition for the work they do.

Would you agree?

Take a look at the video. It’s about four minutes long. And at the end, I’d love to hear what you think.

So, are you what you produce or are you what you share? Or both? What are your thoughts?

(note: image from Marcio Ruiz on Flickr)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/conversation/you-are-what-you-share/feed/ Get The Most Out Of Your Monday Morning http://dmiracle.com/productivity/get-the-most-out-of-your-monday-morning/ http://dmiracle.com/productivity/get-the-most-out-of-your-monday-morning/#comments Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:45:46 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=391 What do you do with your Monday mornings?

So many people I know sit down at their desks and mess around for an hour or two - reading news or catching up on email. Others grab a cup of joe and jump right into the project they left on Friday.

If you’re in business for yourself, mornings are often crucial to your workday. A well-spent morning can often mean the difference between a productive workday and not.

But what about Mondays?

Over the years I’ve tried lots of ways to get the most out of Mondays. I’ve tried to do first things first or focused on getting done that one thing that’s most important. I’ve taken a relaxed approach to Monday and have jumped right into working. I’ve even used techniques like visualization or meditation to try to set the tone for my week.

Many of the things I tried were helpful. Sometimes I’d jump right into the most important project of the week and try to get as much done as I could. This would be great because it would set up the week for me to make lots of headway on a project.

But nothing I tried was really setting me up for success - either for Mondays or for my week. So I sat down one Monday morning and forgot about getting things done. Instead, I decided to focus on how I wanted my days and my weeks to look. How did I want to manage my client’s needs, their projects, their communications with my needs to continue to develop and grow my business?

I looked in many directions. What I realized was that I’m most effective when I’m clear about what I need to get done. I keep a pretty good log of where I am on each project and where my client’s are in their process so that’s seldom been a problem.

What was a problem was decerning when to do what.

So I decide that every Monday morning I would take the first 60-90 minutes of the day and lay out my week. I started by looking at deadlines and comparing the progress on each client’s work I was doing. Then I started placing what needed to get done for the week into which days I needed or wanted to accomplish the next pieces for my clients. Then I leave those project parts attached to those days - and move on (I organize the day for 15-30 minutes each morning).

After I have a rough roadmap of my week, I then turn to Monday in general. Monday’s I seldom schedule calls with clients. I use Mondays to do various task that are important to my business - like accounting. I also use Mondays to working directly on my own business - where my business is my client. While I do work on my business throughout the week, I often don’t have as much time to work in blocks as I make on Mondays. This way, I make time for my business to grow and develop.

So for me, Monday mornings are all about setting some organization for the week. This has been so effective for me that I’m wasting less time and getting more done each week - which means more client work getting done - which overall means generating more revenue.

So how do you make your Monday mornings most effective?

(note: image from Teo on Flickr)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/productivity/get-the-most-out-of-your-monday-morning/feed/ Are You In Business To Make Meaning? http://dmiracle.com/marketing-strategy/are-you-in-business-to-make-meaning/ http://dmiracle.com/marketing-strategy/are-you-in-business-to-make-meaning/#comments Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:42:47 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=388 A couple of years ago John was laid off from his job working in the assembly plant for Ford Motor company. He’d been there 15 years and came to work on a Tuesday to find out he was being laid off.

John had worked at some sort of job since he was nine. He had a paper route, then three. When he was eleven he started mowing lawns for neighbors. That quickly grew to raking leaves and shoveling snow.

John never much liked school and so as many of his friends went off to college after graduation, John landed a job with Ford assembling dashboard parts on the assembly line. Good work - and great pay - for a eighteen year-old.

Now, at thirty-four John found himself out of work. John hadn’t married yet - though he was dating the woman who would become his wife. And living a simple life in a modest house he managed to sock away a nice little nest egg.

It wasn’t money that drew John to look for work a few weeks after being laid off. He just wanted to be doing something.

He started by dropping fliers in his neighbor’s mailbox offering handyman services, lawn maintenance and landscaping. Here and there the phone would ring and he’d get odd jobs doing work for people. And soon he was back mowing lawns every week. Since most of his neighbors had mowers, he often used theirs - saving himself the trip with his own.

John took great pride in mowing lawns - as he learned to when he was a young boy. His lines were symetrical and straight as an arrow. He could even manuver around trees in a way that didn’t curve the cut lines the mower left on the lawn - something he’d worked out the summer he was fourteen.

And when John was finished with the mower, he cleaned thoroughly, filled the gas tank, checked the oil and put it back neatly in his neighbor’s garage. Then he’d leave a little note of some sort, thanking his neighbors for giving him something to do while he was laid off and letting them know that he’d only be available until the plant called him back.

Every week the phone would ring and someone new would ask John to mow their lawn. A the next week another; some weeks two or three people would call. Each one John would manicure their lawn as he cut it, clean the mower, place it back and leave a small note of thanks.

This went on for a few months until John realized that he was back running a lawn service business just as he was when he was a boy. In three months he had gone from cutting his neighbor’s lawn to cutting the lawns of 28 people a week. And at $20 a lawn, he was making a nice bit of change. He wondered how he’d done so well with no effort at all.

It was mild Sunday afternoon and John was sanding the deck off the back of his house when he heard two of his neighbors taking. As he went over to say hi he heard them mention his name and his lawn mowing. He paused for a moment wondering if he’d done something wrong. Quite the contrary.

You see, John gave meaning to mowing a lawn. He cared about how the lawn looked more than how quickly he could get it done. He took such care as to clean, fuel and replace the mower. And they talked about those little notes he left.

John paused and thought. Every lawn he was mowing was because one neighbor talked with another. He’d done nothing to get 28 lawns except put his caring and pride in his work. He wondered what could happen if he started a professional lawn service with the same intentions.

John was never called back to Ford. But today he runs a lawn service. He works from April to November and then takes most of the winter off to spend with his wife and their newborn son. Everyone who works for him is asked to take pride in their work. John’s taught them how to mow straight lines and how to make that special curve around a tree. And when every job is completed, a small note is left that meaningfully thanks the customer for their business.

Last year, John had a waiting list - both for crew members and for customers. He’s thinking about expanding this year. Funny thing is, he still doesn’t market himself. He doesn’t even have a website I can link you too. All his business has been through word-of-mouth.

John’s care for his customers brought meaning to something as simple and mundane as mowing a lawn. In the meaning came the way for John to make money. The beautiful thing is that he focuses on making meaning and lets the money follow. Great lesson for any of us buiness owners.

Make meaning with your business and the money will follow.

Are you making meaning with your business? I’d love to know how.

And if don’t feel like you are, what’s one thing you can do to add meaning to the work you do?

(note: image from Sarcas on Flickr)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/marketing-strategy/are-you-in-business-to-make-meaning/feed/ Why You’ve Got To Quit To Be Successful http://dmiracle.com/marketing-strategy/why-youve-got-to-quit-to-be-successful/ http://dmiracle.com/marketing-strategy/why-youve-got-to-quit-to-be-successful/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:50:21 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=385 Have you ever considered quitting?

Neither had I. But since hearing Seth Godin speak about his book, The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches you When to Quit (and When to Stick), last year it’s constantly been on my mind.

In The Dip, Seth suggests that all successful people know one thing before they become successful - they know when to quit. They know when to recognize when what they’re doing isn’t going to generate success. So what do successful people do? They quit. They quit doing what’s not leading them toward success so they can put their efforts into things that can lead to success.

As with Seth’s usual approach, he uses The Dip to talk about how to become the best in the world. This seems to be his new way of saying do something remarkable. But the core message is the same - be great to those who think you’re great. In other words - find your niche and become known as being great to those who you interact and work with.

So how do you know if you’re doing something you should quit? Well, according to Seth you need to know when your business is in The Dip - “the long slog between starting and mastery.” It’s in The Dip that you decide whether it’s worth the effort and reward of climbing toward success or whether you should quit.

Now this doesn’t mean that if you’re a business coach you need to stop being a business coach. It could, but doesn’t need too. Rather, it means deciding if what you’re doing as a coach, your approach and your marketing, for instance, are going to be worth pushing hard through The Dip. If so, continue. But if not, consider quitting so you can take a different approach.

I’ve been working with this idea of quitting for the better part of a year. What I’ve seen in my own business is that I’m much more focused toward what will bring me greater success. Now, when I find myself in a dip whose slog isn’t worth the effort, I quit. Which means I quit a lot. And I’m more successful because of it.

I’m sure not everything you’re doing in your business is worth the slog. So have you ever considering quitting? Why or why not?

Let’s talk about it.

(note: image from Gabba Gabba Hey on Flickr)

]]> http://dmiracle.com/marketing-strategy/why-youve-got-to-quit-to-be-successful/feed/ Are You Alone In Your Tower? http://dmiracle.com/productivity/are-you-alone-in-your-tower/ http://dmiracle.com/productivity/are-you-alone-in-your-tower/#comments Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:09:09 +0000 Dawud Miracle http://dmiracle.com/?p=382

I’ve found a lot of business owners have one thing in common - they think they can do everything themselves.

Feel that way? After all, you’ve built your business from the ground up. That didn’t require much help, right?  Sure, you may have gotten some marketing help or worked with a web designer. And it’s likely you’re using an accountant. But basically, when it comes to the daily workings of your business, you probably go at it alone, right?

Yet running a business requires you managing and completing a whole bunch of tasks that have little to do with your expertise.

For instance, if your a business coach shouldn’t your time be spent working directly with prospects and clients? Or even better, planning how to increase your business to reach your revenue goals?

Yet if you look at your daily workload, how much of it is spent doing things that have little or nothing to do with either growing your business or working with clients? Likely quite a bit.

Let’s see, most business owners push around paper, set appointments, do their own billing, sort and answer all their own emails and phone calls, manage content updates on their website, act as a editor for their marketing message, do their own promotion, manage their own marketing campaigns - and the list goes on and on.

Aren’t these the tasks that business executives hire assistants to do?

Why should you be any different? If you own your business, you’re the executive. So why don’t you have an assistant? Why aren’t you working with an assistant who can take some of the daily work off your desk and out of your computer so that you can be freed up to spend more time developing and growing your business?

That’s where a virtual assistant can help out. Virtual meaning they don’t have to come to your office to do work for you. Rather, they can sit hundreds and thousands of miles away and take some of the load out of your workday.

A virtual assistant is not an employee but rather a contracted worker. That means you don’t have many of the expenses of hiring a someone into your business. Instead, you get all the benefits of having an assistant with minimal costs. Often, you can find a good virtual assistant for $15-$40 per hour.

So what can a virtual assistant do for you? Just about anything. I’ve found virtual assistants often have more than office skills. Some are accountants, web designers, graphics artists, copy writers, and have marketing backgrounds. They key is to find a VA who has you can build a relationship with and wh