5 Ways to Use Twitter on Purpose

A lot of people see me, you and others “Tweet” and wonder why they should get involved. I am asked this question at least once per week. Twitter is a great, great platform that we can all use to make a big difference in our lives if use it well. Here are some ways that I use Twitter to help me that you can use, too, and become a much happier person and more productive person and professional! 1. Tweet to help people that you would not otherwise...

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Learn How to Get Published from Michael Hyatt

Greetings and Happy Monday! Here is a link to the GET PUBLISHED Tele-Seminar replay with Michael Hyatt: http://michaelhyatt.com/get-published-teleseminar-replay With Michael's permission, you are more than welcome to listen online, download the MP3 and share the replay with others. During the 60 minute call Michael shared several publishing tips and answered many questions from listeners that I know you’ll find of great value. To your success! Mark...

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Social Media & Marketing Success (for Leaders, Coaches & Experts)

How can you as a professional speaker, coach, expert and business leader use social media and traditional marketing approaches to effectively and profitably monetize your online presence and market position? Why should you as a professional want to learn the strategy and tools of social media? It’s very simple: LEVERAGE! Social media isn't going away and more and more, if you aren't taking advantage of the best tools, techniques and approaches,...

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Stories Sell!

All good stories have the same elements: (1) a hero (2) the hero's driving desire (3) a big obstacle or opponent and (4) resolution (either happy or tragic). That's it. That's all. If the resolution is happy, it's considered a comedy. If the resolution is sad, it's considered a drama. You will be more effective as you get better an better at telling stories and incorporating them into your work and speech. "Facts are forgotten, but stories are...

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"If they're laughing, they're buying."

"The #1 trigger of human laughter is surprise." ~Jerry Corley Set up their expectations... shatter their expectations... surprise them... equals laughter. Incongruity creates humor. Without incongruity, double-entendre and surprise, there is no humor. The best comedians incorporate these into their acts smoothly, but they are still using these basic formulae. What does this have to do with you? "If they're laughing, they're buying." ~ Jeffrey...

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Entrepreneurial Advice from the Front Lines!

Here are some of the great tips shared by my friends last week!  I posted this graphic (I'm so sophisticated that I wrote these on a whiteboard!) and asked my Facebook friends for feedback.  Here's what they had to say: "Listen to your gut. Listen to people who are successful at what they do and what you do. Don't give people more credit then what they are really worth. Listen, listen, listen...evaluate. Follow your gut."  ~LaShonda...

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How's Your Follow Up?

Are you aware of these Follow Up Statistics? McGraw Hill did a study and found those businesses that boosted their marketing and advertising during a recession grew 275% over the 5 years proceeding. However, those businesses that cut back, if they were still in business, only grew 19%. 48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect 25% of sales people make a second contact and stop 12% of sales people only make three contacts and stop 10%...

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"No more buried talents."

You ever get your hands on an article that really makes you think differently?  I ran across this one talking about how every company needs a mantra.  It hit home with me in a strange way.  Meaning I actually thought about it for two or three days before I came up with mine.  Very different from the all-too-common "I already know that" response I cop when I pick up stuff like this. But I'd been thinking anyway...  back...

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The Lolo Lesson and the Teachings of Tebow

Lolo Jones has haters now.  Some of her teammates.  Some of the media.  Random people.  Maybe even you?  Her teammates in particular are upset that she gets television interviews, endorsement deals probably in the millions and the love and adoration of fans worldwide... and doesn't have the gold to show for it.  In fact, in the London 2012 100M hurdles - the event for which she is "famous" she didn't even medal.  She...

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You can make more by giving it away!

‎ "The best way to market yourself is to give yourself to the market." ~Jeffrey Gitomer, Sales and Marketing Expert, Multiple Time Bestselling Author, One of the Nation's Leading Keynote Speakers, Multimillionaire Expert Juggernaut, Aggressive Giver of Himself (I think he knows a little bit about the topic.) The last time I posted this, there was feedback from the other side of the issue. There were a few people suggesting there was no way they...

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Use This Little-Used Method to Increase Your Business Dramatically!

Want to increase your business for little to no out-of-pocket cost to you? Drum roll, please...Talk to people.  People still do business with people, and your business is still based mostly on trust.  When I get on the phone and when I take meetings, I make money.  When I try to run my business from my laptop, I don't make as much money.  This means that I need to answer my phone, make meetings and return correspondence quickly....

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Learn How to Hear Silence

Most of the clients who put up an abnormally high amount of resistance to giving you information, providing financial records, paying for third party reports, signing your fee agreement, or otherwise putting money into their business deal should be passed over. They probably know something about their situation – to their detriment – that they are not communicating. Whatever is causing them pause will probably kill their deal or make it extremely...

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All Money Isn't Good Money...Not All Clients Are Good Clients.

All of us, no matter the field of business, have experienced the regret of taking on business that doesn't seem worth it. It's frustrating, maddening, infuriating and head-scratching all rolled together. Here's what I've learned: never do business with anyone who makes your head hurt or your stomach hurt. If you have qualms, steer clear. It will be worth it because all money isn't good money and not every Client is a good Client. There are a number...

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THINKING ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING?

Information from book publisher, Ken Whitman of SideKickPrinting.com, for those interested in some rough numbers on the self-publishing business. I get these questions quite often regarding what people should expect. From Ken Whitman: "I produce a lot of books for self-publishers. There seem to be three types. Type 1: I print 100 books for them and they never come back. Type 2: I print 100 books from them and they come back 2 to 4 times over...

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"DIY is for Weekends and Hobbies"

You can probably tell by the title that I'm not a huge fan of trying to do everything alone. Not anymore. Business and life are challenging enough already. I've learned to seek out every advantage I can find. There are some who do not agree. They consider themselves proud do-it-yourselfers. I guess? As to the matter of whether and what people can do for themselves, that's an interesting topic for me. It gets into many issues that touch on...

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The Nine Most Powerful Words You Can Utter

"Where do you feel like you are right now?" When you are working with a new prospect or just following up on a lead, once you have let them talk and tell you all about the deal or their situation, ask them this question. It might seem redundant - like they just finished telling you the answer to this question - but I assure you you'll get more from asking this question than just more details about the loan request. When you ask someone where they...

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Stop Being Such a Rookie.

Back when I worked in VC, we considered the people who were overly obsessed with "protecting" their ideas to be rookies. It was laughable. In fact, asking someone to sign an NDA was enough to get the meeting cancelled right on the spot! It wasn't that anybody wanted free reign to "steal" ideas... it's just that good ideas are a dime-a-dozen. Literally. We used to call it the "San Francisco Rule" meaning this: any good idea has eight people...

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Duh. Pinning!

Great article suggesting that "Pinterest now drives more referral traffic than Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn combined." Oh, yeah... here's mine! I have to admit. I think it's pretty cool so far! http://pinterest.com/markmccray I must admit that two days there has done more for me than months on Google+ or LinkedIn. I'm not alone in my thinking. Here is an article showing major brands are closing their Facebook stores and taking up on Pinterest...

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The Art of Giving Advice

You know how you can tell a judgmental person? Their language includes a lot of "should" and "ought" statements. It's just something I listen for when I talk to people. It doesn't bother me personally. It just lets me know the kind of person I'm dealing with. But do you know who cares? The people listening to you!! A lot! Professional "counselors", "advice-givers", "teachers", "coaches", "pastors" and other "experts" might want to be careful...

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