To nest in the gale

c/o Getty Images

Among the writings of Henry David Thoreau, I came across this statement: “Many an object is not seen, though it falls within the range of our visual ray, because it does not come within the range of our intellectual ray.” In other words, there are many things that exist in our world that we don’t see because we are not looking for them or perhaps not even capable of looking for them. So, in the largest sense, the world we see is only the world we look for. If you show two people, the same picture each will see a different scene. Each will extract from what he sees that which he happens to be predisposed to look for. The world presents to us every day that which we seek. Opportunity is only limited by the viewpoint of the inhabitant, joy and excitement can be found un our daily lives when we learn to look at our world as Thoreau looked at his. Surrounded by miracles and limitless opportunity, whereas some people manage to find only boredom and insecurity.

“Many an object is not seen, though it falls within the range of our visual ray, because it does not come within the range of our intellectual ray, i.e., we are not looking for it. So, in the largest sense, we find only the world we look for.”
— Henry David Thoreau

The next level

Via Corporate Visions

There are no shortcuts, how do you skip years of learning in sales?

When you are struggling to deal with a problem or a pain point it can be tempting to try and find a quick fix. The bottom line is that there is no such thing as a quick fix, all you are doing is deferring, putting off the inevitable decision or action that needs to be taken. If you want to get better at sales it makes sense to have a curated step-by-step process, that is a written and proven best practice. You must learn from experienced professionals who really want you to win.

Personally, I hate to waste time! Time is all we have, money is nice, and we can always earn more money, but we can’t earn more time.  I’m really competitive and love to win. I’m extremely passionate about my profession. I think if you really want to become great at sales, you have to have a system in place which consistently provides you with feedback. Contact me via e-mail for a meeting if you want guidance to find an edge in order to get to the next level.

 

A full understanding

Today is my father’s 85th birthday and to mark the occasion I would like to recognise some of his good qualities:
Appreciate the people who tell you the truth.
Appreciate the people who expand your mind.
Appreciate the people who forgive you first.
Appreciate the people who open doors for you.
Appreciate the people who make you laugh.
Appreciate the people who inspire you to grow.

Sounds obvious

I think clarity comes from engagement not thought, as we learn best by action not through theory. I have observed many great marketeers throughout my career and the advise would give to anyone aspiring a career in marketing would be to study consumer psychology and focus on the following:

• Cognitive biases
• Objections
• Struggles
• Emotions
• Behavior
• Triggers
• Beliefs
• Desires

Fighting for attention

Digital marketing is an excellent way to reach a large audience. Influencer marketing is a type of social media marketing that involves endorsements and product placement. An influencer is someone who has a large following on social media and can influence what people buy or where they go. When a brand partners with an influencer, they usually receive payment, free products, or services from the brand in return for posting favourably about their experiences. Linking up with influencers that align with your brand is a relatively simple way of boosting your social media marketing strategy. And this is a wonderful way to gain exposure on platforms you may not have a huge following on.

The old adage

What makes your brand stand out from the crowd?

To stand out from the crowd, you need to know what your audience expects and wants. Being relevant means being personal, joining your audience's conversations, meeting them where they spend time, and talking to them through people that they trust. I think people are attracted and loyal to brands because they form emotional connections to their products or services. I have seen far too many brands spending money trying to get people to like them instead of getting people to want them. It’s important to market your brand with hardcore discipline and core values to people who are committed to your mission and vision. Hire new people who are not like you but complement you. Hire people who have high self-discipline and are passionate about leaving their mark in the world. Keep the people around you who want to help you succeed and have the ability to guide you through difficult transitions with sound experience.

Being in motion

Cultural consistency stresses adherence to a code for the business and cultural fit emphasises an aspect of the culture that will attract employees and partners who are similarly inclined. Cultural diversity focuses on promoting inclusiveness and celebrating employees and partners for their differences as much as their similarities. I specialise in going into companies and seeing the existing culture, then fine tuning it to ensure that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet. Every business has to find their own protocol as the company structure and culture will determine what feedback loop approach works best. And I think the way a company designs their feedback loops will make a difference as to whether the responses actually get incorporated into actionable actions. Contact me via e-mail if you would like some help with this process.

Words have consequences

When you are a young company, your story will define your valuation and as a founder the words you use to describe your business can be the difference between finding an investment partner or not. With mature companies, it’s your numbers that will drive your valuation as the older a company the more the numbers drive the valuation. Start-up companies need “Steve the visionary” as CEO. As they become a young growth company they will need, “Bob the builder” because they have to start building a business. When they become a mature company, they will need “Don the defender” as CEO and when they are in decline, they will need “Larry the liquidator”.

The keys to the world

Some businesses have low barriers to entry and are easy to enter and scale-up in where it doesn’t require infrastructure investment or decades of building up. Other businesses take much longer to build up, where going from start-up to maturity takes decades. When I have my business consultant hat on, I go into companies and explore their existing culture. My speciality is looking into work-flow systems and processes to see whether companies are optimising their economic potential. In my experience, it doesn’t matter what top line metric an organisation uses; the crucial fact is that they have a system they follow consistency. Contact me via e-mail if you would like some strategic guidance. Please note that there’s no specific thing that I can tell you that will make your customers or employees trust you.

Marketing 101

Marketing campaigns are sets of strategic activities that promote a business’s goal or objective. A marketing campaign could be used to promote a product, a service, or the brand as a whole. To achieve the most effective results, campaigns are carefully planned and the activities are varied. And I think marketing campaigns are most effective when they are the offspring of a corporate purpose rather than originating from one. Remember when you take responsibility for your beliefs and judgments this will give you the power to change them.
Now ask yourself the following questions:

1.          Why your company?
2.          Why your product (or service)?
3.          Why should they choose you?

“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation”
— Arthur Ashe

Vision drives everything

Whenever you are the first one out of the gate, you will have to break through that metaphorical plate of glass. I mean you will have to go through deep scrutiny and answer questions, for example, “What does this mean? Why did you say (or write) that? Are you insulting us? etc., etc.” Selling a service is vastly different than selling products, and the main difference is that a product business sells physical, tangible objects, whereas a service business provides value through intangible skills, expertise and time. Image and message are sometimes more important than execution. Even though I think that if you can show your products in a picture, illustration or in real life, it will help your presentation. Vision drives everything and without one, you will get lost.

It matters

All first impressions are non verbal, for example, when you walk down the road, your subconscious mind will automatically begin to categorise the people you see in your preconceived frameworks. I think that first impressions are when we become a blip on other people's radar not when we open our mouth. It's an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises but only performance is reality.

“Before you talk, listen.
Before you react, think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.”
— Ernest Hemingway

The first law

The first law of thermodynamics is that energy is neither created or destroyed, merely transformed. This means that humans are bundles of energy and transform at death, we don’t just disappear. I think with the smallest investment in the right places, you can radically transform the quality of your life. Contact me via e-mail if you don’t understand and we can have a meeting.

“There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.”
— Derek Jeter

Don't hold back

Most people crave simplicity, and beyond simplicity is complexity. I’m interested in the simplicity on the other side of complexity. There’s an inextricable link between leadership and communication because those who lead are those who clearly speak about what they believe. I think communication is the most important skill in the world, and simple communication skills should be taught in schools. Communication is both words and emotions but what’s really powerful, are words loaded with emotion. Words filled with emotion can move nations, they can help people change directions and establish good or bad ideology. The stronger and wiser you become, the more caring you become shows up in your language and manner of communication. Would you like some help with that? Contact me via e-mail and we can arrange a meeting in person or online.

Tribes and scribes

The most basic human desire is to feel like we belong, it’s so powerful. Everything you say and everything you do has to prove what you believe. When you are in an environment where you don’t feel you belong, you seek out anyone who may share the same values and beliefs as you so that you can start to form trusting relationships. This is why I think this cannot be recreated over our computers, it’s our biology as human beings that gives us this ability, and it’s this ability to read each other which has enabled us to evolve. I don’t believe you can replace these human experiences and human feelings over the internet. Contact me via e-mail and let me know your feelings around this topic.

Never admire quietly

Leadership is not a natural by-product of career progression, it’s a skill that takes time, patience, and practice. Mental toughness is often portrayed as determination and persistence, but it can also be viewed by your flexibility and adaptability. When you build a habit of appreciation and gratitude into all you do, you will see a positive impact on team members' motivation, idea generation, and enthusiasm. I think that when your employees feel valued, they are more likely to be more engaged and be satisfied in their work. Remember the best doers won’t always be the best leaders, and the best leaders won’t always be the best doers.

Stating the obvious

I think that marketing and innovation are basically the same thing. This was confirmed after attending “The Great Wine Experience” opening event in Copenhagen, where jazz music, photography (The Uplift Sessions) and delicious wines were in focus. There are hundreds of wine bars in this city, so in reality there are only two ways where you can add value in the marketplace:
a)    You can either find out what people want and work out a clever way to make it, or
b)    You can work out what you can make and then find a clever way to make people want it.
The money you make is the same regardless of which option you choose, therefore, it’s not necessary to reinvent the wheel and spend thousands of kroner on creating a new concept. Another way is to take an existing concept and this case a wine shop, and then presenting, pricing, positioning and framing it in a completely different way. Natalie and Wilfred have done a wonderful job, and this is just the beginning.

Recognising the agenda

Business leaders are under pressure come up with a corporate purpose and defining your purpose is equivalent of being able to define your organisations North Star. I think to qualify as a “North Star,” a metric must do three things: lead to revenue, reflect customer value, and measure progress. Finding the right answer involves identifying the most authentic and motivating basis for alignment among key stakeholder groups on which the success of the business depends. For example, climate change, workplace safety, diversity, employee well-being (whistleblower platforms), etc. Contact me via e-mail to discuss the possibilities for your organisation to incorporate the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals into your strategy.

Throwback Thursday

I wrote this back in November 2017 around data.
Big statement as an analogy: “Data is the new oil; analytics is the refinery for the data and intelligence is the fuel.” Data for data’s sake is interesting, with good hypothesis in you’ll get some great information out but with the volume of it, there is no way to go through it without some form of analytics. And there is no way that you can do something unless you are actually the mindset that is willing to think differently from what the intelligence tells you to do, and this may be counter intuitive to what you would have thought. Then you argue with the data and try to get the data to tell the story you want it to tell.