Why is marketing such a strange and elusive event? Why? Pure and simple....roadblocks.
Here's the 22 Roadblocks to Successful Marketing
Here's the 22 Roadblocks to Successful Marketing
Thinking youself to marketing more effectively
It is the mark of an educated mind to
be able to
entertain a thought without accepting
it.
Aristotle
Readers of this blog will recognize a similiar post in 2011.
A marketing strategy starts off as a theory of how best to organize, invest and put into action resources (weapons) in such a way they work together to achieve results.
Thinking analytically, systematically and executing while robustly evaluating and correcting is critical to being a successful and effective marketer. Notice that Aristotle did not say an "educated person" but rather an educated mind. Hence, a disciplined way of thinking. Disciplined, not stale. Thinking that moves to action.
Anything worth doing, is worth doing poorly
until you can learn to do it well.
Execute to Market Well: #7, Execute - Execute - Execute
The top THREE most important marketing things to do:
Execute
Execute
Execute
Execute with People
Execute with Operations
Execute with Strategy
Execute
Execute
Execute
Execute with People
Execute with Operations
Execute with Strategy
But........EXECUTE something! Make an IMPACT!
Execute to Market Well: #6
I use Marketing Weapons everyday. We all do. This blog is a Weapon. How I use this Weapon, how I "think" about this Weapon, impacts its effectiveness and power.
Here are a few of the Weapons I use on a daily (D), weekly (W), monthly (M) and sporadic (S) basis:
How many people have you been in contact with over the past week? The past month? Have you followed-up? Followed-through?
We have so many Weapons at our disposal and most are laying around unused.
For a broad list of Marketing Weapons, see Jay Conrad Levinsons 200 Guerrilla Marketing Weapons.
To download my list and worksheet, click here.
And to that end.............
Danny, (512) 773-6528
Here are a few of the Weapons I use on a daily (D), weekly (W), monthly (M) and sporadic (S) basis:
- Email (D)
- Service (D)
- Email signatures - (D) This is the probably the most neglected and easiest Weapon to use with greatest impact.
- Conversations - Face-to-face (D)
- Conversations - Phone (D)
- Facebook personal page (D)
- Facebook business page
- Twitter (D)
- Blog (D)
- My logo (D) - purposefully put it where I want, but not on everything
- My picture (D) - purposefully put it where I want, but not on everything
- Graphics and Pictures - especially in my blog (D)
- E-Newletter (M)
- Fusion Partners (D/W)
- Thank you cards (W)
- Taglines - (D) - I purposefully use different taglines in my signaures. These are sometimes built into graphics
- Missions and Charities I support (M)
- Answering the Phone (D) - IT's A GREAT DAY!
- e-newspaper (D)
- marketing plan (W)
- Video (S) This should be at least weekly and working into my process. I'll use Hurdie Burk to help me get started, again.
- Contact Relationship Management/CRM (D) - CRMs aren't about technology. CRMs are about managing the relationships you work at having with prospects and clients
- Flexibility (D)
- marketing calendar (D)
- company name (D)
- Target/Niche Marketing (S)
- identity (D) - if someone stole your marketing identity, what would they get?
- Gifts (S)
- business cards (D) - do you use this as a shotgun or a sniper rifle? I know, not a nice picture but I'm trying to make a point here.
- training workshop (S)
- 1:1 training (W) - do you meet people and use opportunity to train yourself about them, or them about you?
- online workshops/webinars (W)
- face-to-face networking (W) - how many of these meetings to you waste by not following through with more weapons?
- Networking breakfast or lunchs (W)
- Attire (D) - your physical appearance is 90% of 1st impression
- Flyers (S)
- Conversations around product/service questions (D)
How many people have you been in contact with over the past week? The past month? Have you followed-up? Followed-through?
We have so many Weapons at our disposal and most are laying around unused.
For a broad list of Marketing Weapons, see Jay Conrad Levinsons 200 Guerrilla Marketing Weapons.
To download my list and worksheet, click here.
And to that end.............
Danny, (512) 773-6528
Thanks Lynn and Kelly
If service is marketing's #1 weapon then the #1 evidence of great service is a Referral and a Success Story.
Lynn is a pastor and has bought and refinanced numerous homes over the last 30 years. After being referred to me by Kelly, Lynn was great to work with and here's his comment to me after the closing -
You have made the whole process fairly painless, the easiest
of all the
times we have done house financing. The closing went
smoothly yesterday.
Thanks again for your personal
attention.
To that end.........what's your success story? I'd love to hear about your impact.
Danny
Marketing's #1 Weapon: SERVICE
I've been writing about executing a marketing plan around the processes of People, Strategy and Operations. That writing has been stalled a bit though due to the "living" part of that execution - Service: Marketing's #1 Weapon.
Here's a great example of athe impact of that weapon being used well: Customer Service Lessons from "Taxi Terry" by Business Speaker Scott McKain
Actually, after listening to this again, I've picked out 8 other Marketing Weapons.
How many did you hear Scott mention?
Danny
512-773-6528
Danny@DannyLSmith.com
Here's a great example of athe impact of that weapon being used well: Customer Service Lessons from "Taxi Terry" by Business Speaker Scott McKain
Actually, after listening to this again, I've picked out 8 other Marketing Weapons.
How many did you hear Scott mention?
Danny
512-773-6528
Danny@DannyLSmith.com
Goals, and the matter of Values
I originally wrote a post with this title back in February and considering the controversy surrounding Dan Cathy's statement about his company's values...well, here's an updated re-post with my weigh-in on the matter.
Goals. Deep subject, and wide. Setting goals is one part of achieving good results. Achieving good results is about a matter of habits. Habits come about when we align values with our actions. We can then go about setting good goals, establishing plan and strategies, determining measure points, putting forth the work and having a robust evaluation and correction process.
Goals. Deep subject, and wide. Setting goals is one part of achieving good results. Achieving good results is about a matter of habits. Habits come about when we align values with our actions. We can then go about setting good goals, establishing plan and strategies, determining measure points, putting forth the work and having a robust evaluation and correction process.
I'd be willing to bet Mr. Cathy's dad, Truett, began developing those values, actions and habits a long long time ago. The results of those values, actions and habits have a daily impact in Chick-Fil-A's actions.
Goals are rarely achieved because of numerous reasons and the #1 cause is a lack of alignment to a person or company's T.A.S.K.S. (see below): Chick-Fil-A is probably well aligned.
Seth Godin's Circles of Marketing
I saw this post of Godin's this morning and thought about Ken Fudik w/TeamLogicIT and his marketing strategy...service, service, service. Ken can be reached at kfiduk@teamlogicit.com, 512-351-9340.
Seth Godin's Circle of Marketing; click here for entire article but in essence....most people think marketing is the outer circle. When that doesn't work, work inward.
Thanks Ken for practicing such good marketing!
To that end.....
Seth Godin's Circle of Marketing; click here for entire article but in essence....most people think marketing is the outer circle. When that doesn't work, work inward.
Good stuff. When hype, spin and clicks don't work, drive your GREAT product or service.Thanks Ken for practicing such good marketing!
To that end.....
Execute to Market Well: #5
A bit of rambling in this post. I'm a big picture type of
person and have extreme difficulty focusing on ONE part of my marketing
strategy.
Actually, after having wrote that last statement, I realize it's not true. I could stay engaged in the Weapons all-day-long-every-day. But that's not good. To continue.....though I'm might regularly engaged one particular area, everything else is close-at-hand.....more-or-less, maybe.
And, there many times accomplishments (business) comes from the fact I'm just doing something!
Actually, after having wrote that last statement, I realize it's not true. I could stay engaged in the Weapons all-day-long-every-day. But that's not good. To continue.....though I'm might regularly engaged one particular area, everything else is close-at-hand.....more-or-less, maybe.
It's hard to imagine, that I
get anything really accomplished with such a practice. But it
has generally worked well for me when I don't stay in the details too
long. When I get bogged down in the details I'll get lethargic and over
think things way too much. The accomplishments typically come from
engaging people and strategy into my operations.....using the resources I have
available to get the little, minute things that MUST get done.
And....working/executing from a plan.
And, there many times accomplishments (business) comes from the fact I'm just doing something!
Execute to market well: #4.....Nail down your Purpose
Duct Tape Marketing gives this as a good example of a marketing purpose statement: "we're Crestwood Custom Home Remodelers and we want to be known as the no-mess, no-trash, we'll-make-your-neighbors-happy contractor." I like that. It doesn't say anything about themselves as contractors, but it gives purpose.
While there will be specific purposes defined by project or timeline goals there has to be a BIG purpose defined. For me to trust my marketing, it must have focused meaning, worth and intention. My marketing purpose is defined with THREE purposes. This is then followed-through with an operations ACTION. Without operations and action, or it becomes trivial (see post).
#1 - the purpose of my marketing is designed to capture the attention of my target market(s), and then
#2 - the purpose of my marketing is designed to give my target market information to facilitate their decision-making-process when they are ready to buy, and then
#3 - the purpose of my marketing is designed to keep the risk of buying as low as possible and is easy-to-take action on.
The 1st Purpose of my marketing is....
....to help you produce more by
giving away value in exchange for your attention.
giving away value in exchange for your attention.
To that end......be purposeful.
Execute to Market Well #3
As I've mentioned in previous posts, a small business must execute very well in order to WIN. This starts, at least in my world, with 3 processes: People, Strategy and Operations.
Marketing strategy starts with a plan. Here's the beginning of our plan's mindmap (Austen and I use SimpleMindTM) -
Achieving good results from this plan will require building and living it out continuously. Not only are we responsible for marketing, but originating, processing and working with our lenders to get loans underwritten, closed and funded to meet borrowers and Realtors time lines.
We'll achieve results in direct proportion to using all 4 cores of credibility as we practice smart-trust.
To that end....
Who do you trust with your mortgage referrals?
Danny 512-773-6528
Austen 512-773-6729
Marketing strategy starts with a plan. Here's the beginning of our plan's mindmap (Austen and I use SimpleMindTM) -
Achieving good results from this plan will require building and living it out continuously. Not only are we responsible for marketing, but originating, processing and working with our lenders to get loans underwritten, closed and funded to meet borrowers and Realtors time lines.
We'll achieve results in direct proportion to using all 4 cores of credibility as we practice smart-trust.
To that end....
Who do you trust with your mortgage referrals?
Danny 512-773-6528
Austen 512-773-6729
 |
| www.ImpactMortgageGroup.com |
Neglecting Operations/Not Delivering Great Service: A Roadblock to Good Marketing
You can't market well if you can't deliver your product well; good operations is an essential part of your marketing.
I was approached by a businessman (I'll call him John) that had come to a Guerrilla Marketing workshop. We engaged in a relationship and through the process of understanding where he is "now," I realized that his business would probably implode if he brought in any more business.
John has had great success in the past and comes up with a new idea at least once a day. He is the epitome of "entrepreneurial seizures." He would be a dream account for a good marketing coach. Except...John is wearing himself out and I believe I've convinced him that he needs to improve his ability to deliver his service before we can work on his marketing.
Cases like this are far too common. Most small business are started by people that have great ideas but don't know how to run a business, understand and handle the processes and they end up ignoring the operations.
Thus, the operations become a competitive disadvantage to marketing.
Are your operations, you ability to deliver great service, a competitive advantage?
To that end....
When is go-with-the-flow nothing but trivia?
In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely
loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.
- Robert Heinlein
How do you work your daily routines? The planned and not planned events of your day? Do you plan, set goals and prepare for changes? Or, are you in the more common camp of “go-with-the-flow.”
I call this the “ready-shoot-aim” method and actually know a few people who seem to do well in spite of themselves. That doesn’t work for most of us though.
To be effective, we know we need goals and a plan of action, but we’ve set and missed so many that it’s gotten us down and we’re scared to set them again. In default we’ve taken to the go-with-the-flow or ready-shoot-aim methods and we’ve failed.
Experts say that by far the #1 reason goals are NOT achieved is this..
Executing to Market Well - #2
To get good results, the small business person and/or single contributor salesperson must be smart with his marketing. For me....I need to take it up the levels of leadership. Leadership is 1st about leading yourself. Marketing myself "well" takes a purpose self-leadership style.
In Saturday's post Get marketing done well by knowing how to execute I quickly summerized the 3 big points of Bossidy/Charan's Execution: The Disclipline of Getting Things Done. Instead of business management, I've applied the processes to marketing....Marketing-Smart.
With subsequent posts over the next few weeks, I'll journal, outline, lay-out and generally write about how we're re-branding and marketing Impact Mortgage Group. And......the results.
Other books/blogs I'll undoubtedly mention in this series will include Platform, Speed of Trust, QBQ, Couragous Follower and Guerrilla Marketing.
Note: my marketing is geared 100% towards Guerrilla type marketing; marketing-smarter-not-harder; hard-core low cost and high impact.
This is a "living" document and I'm looking forward to what I learn in the process.
The 3 processes I'll apply:
To that end.......think differently!
...and comment below on what you do to stay engaged in your marketing. Or..comment on how you've used processess. Did they work?
Danny
In Saturday's post Get marketing done well by knowing how to execute I quickly summerized the 3 big points of Bossidy/Charan's Execution: The Disclipline of Getting Things Done. Instead of business management, I've applied the processes to marketing....Marketing-Smart.
With subsequent posts over the next few weeks, I'll journal, outline, lay-out and generally write about how we're re-branding and marketing Impact Mortgage Group. And......the results.
Other books/blogs I'll undoubtedly mention in this series will include Platform, Speed of Trust, QBQ, Couragous Follower and Guerrilla Marketing.
Note: my marketing is geared 100% towards Guerrilla type marketing; marketing-smarter-not-harder; hard-core low cost and high impact.
This is a "living" document and I'm looking forward to what I learn in the process.
The 3 processes I'll apply:
- People Process: myself, Austen and others in my sphere of incluence that choose to help us market...more on that later but no one can get good results without help from others.
- Strategy Process: our marketing plan itself: the standard 7 step Guerrilla Marketing plan with a robust evaluation and correction 8th step (big part of Operations Process). Plus, WEAPONS, WEAPONS, WEAPONS....strategy must include the weapons you'll be using.
- Operations Process: getting it done. The actual work; how it is practiced...the operations to get the markting done. Note: this is the hard part - weaving the planning and people into the practice.
To that end.......think differently!
...and comment below on what you do to stay engaged in your marketing. Or..comment on how you've used processess. Did they work?
Danny
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|
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Get marketing done well by knowing how to execute: #1
Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan wrote Execution: The Discipline of
Getting Things Done in 2002 and brought together three important process:
people, strategy and operations. The authors don't talk about these processes
in realtion to marketing, but I've found they’re an ideal fit for Guerrilla Marketing
and MarketSmarterNotHarder.
As a small businessperson, or individual/single contributor sales person, you must Execute your marketing well.
Weaving and blending these process into your practices into your strategy (you have to have a purposeful strategey) and your opertations (you have one whether you purposefully do or not) is the direct results of the impact you get.
And finally, a robust evaluation and correction process. More about these processes on Monday.
What do you do to stay keyed-in on your marketing efforts? (Comment button is bit small, but I'd love to hear what you have to say..or read)
To that end.....practice, practice, practice....MarketSmarterNotHarder.
Danny L. Smith | 512-773-6528 | Danny@DannyLSmith.com
As a small businessperson, or individual/single contributor sales person, you must Execute your marketing well.
- People Process - link all the people involved in your marketing to the strategy and operations
- even the smallest of organizations have people outside the employee realm that can/do participate. I'll talk more about this in a later post
- included vendors and fusion partners in the thought process of People
- if you have an HR department, be sure they are involved
- continuously think about improvement in the People Process
- Strategy Process - link your marketing strategy process itself to the people and the operations
- everyone involved in the execution of the Marketing Plan must be involved in constructing and owning their part of the strategy
- a strong strategy for executing the Marketing Plan will address the following questions:
- what is the assessment of the external environment?
- how well do you understand the existing customers and markets?
- what are the best ways to grow the business profitably? (see Guerrilla Marketing)
- what are the obstacles to growth?
- who are your competitors?
- can the overall business execute this strategy?
- what are important milestones for executing the plan?
- are the short-term and the long-term balanced?
- what are the critical issues facing the business that need to be addressed?
- how will the business make money on a sustainable basis?
- Operations Process - link the process of implementing the actual operations of your marketing consistently to the people and the strategy
- all the moving parts have the same common assumptions
- embrace trade-offs
- have contingency plans
- have a robust evaluation and correction system in place
Weaving and blending these process into your practices into your strategy (you have to have a purposeful strategey) and your opertations (you have one whether you purposefully do or not) is the direct results of the impact you get.
And finally, a robust evaluation and correction process. More about these processes on Monday.
What do you do to stay keyed-in on your marketing efforts? (Comment button is bit small, but I'd love to hear what you have to say..or read)
To that end.....practice, practice, practice....MarketSmarterNotHarder.
Danny L. Smith | 512-773-6528 | Danny@DannyLSmith.com
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| www.ImpactMortgageGroup.com |
Who do you trust with your mortgage referralls?
Staying on Purpose - A Daily Marketing Plan
Looking over my shoulder and reviewing the day's events (I visualize myself turning my head)....I see I accomplished some of what I'd intended, but not near everything. Part of the start to my day is reviewing my marketing plan, evaluating and making any changes and focusing on the main event.
My personality is high D/I (from the DISC assessment) which means I have great intentions and will set out to accomplish something, even if it's wrong (D), but I can sure get distracted (I) by texts, people calling, a new idea (brainstorm), shiny objects....(oh look at that kitty). It really is amazing that I get anything done while at the same time I continue to be dumbfounded by the fact it happend AGAIN!
The Power of Words
Be mindful of the words you use when you talk to others and yourself. The words matter, and in the words of my friend John P. Griffin...YOU MATTER.
To that end.....
Dreaming through T.A.S.K.S. Based Goal Setting
This has been a fast and furious (no pun) year; lot's of movement and changes that I never would have expected. But....that's why I should continually re-cast goals.
Note 1. this is an updated repost from 2/2/2011
Note 2. I've added comments about "dreams" in August, 2013
Note 3. Personally, I don't do goals well in the typical "goal-setting" sense. My goals are very short-term (rarely do I set a goal past this Friday). What I do though, and I'm very driven, is DREAM.
One generation ago, we were a society that feared and resisted change. Now many accept change as unavoidable and do little to prepare for the consequences. Instead, most people I know flow with the times, struggling to make the necessary adjustments life throws at them.
How about you….how do you engage in the changes in your business, your life? Do you plan, set goals and prepare for changes? Or, are you in the more common camp of “go-with-the-flow.” How about dreams? Do you still have dreams? A few people seem to do well in spite of themselves with this “ready-shoot-aim” method. But that doesn’t work for most of us.
To be effective, we know we need goals and a plan of action, but we’ve set and missed so many goals that it’s gotten us down and we’re scared to set them again. In default we’ve taken to the go-with-the-flow or ready-shoot-aim method and we’ve failed.
So, how does one properly set and stay engaged in achieving goals? And what do dreams have to do with anything?
First, there needs to be a dream. You might call it a passion, desire or purpose. I call it a dream and define a dream as something I want real bad and when things get tough and rough, I can think about my dreams (a dream) and it will get me through the moment, the day...the event.
Whether your role is as a leader, manager, follower, single-contributor or combination thereof, you'll get better results from your goal setting by having a dream and practicing and staying engaged in T.A.S.K.S. - Based Goal Setting.
• Time
• Attitude
• Skill
• Knowledge and
• Style
In order to achieve a goal you must align the goal with your capabilities. If you don’t have the Time, Attitude, Skill, Knowledge and/or Style needed to accomplish that goal, then you’ll need to gain those particular capabilities.
This is the true essence of having long and short-term goals and the time in which you set to achieve them. Achieving good-meaningful-goals is a daily practice that with a few modifications to traditional goal setting rules you will achieve results.
Here is how to practice TASKS - Based Goal Setting:
1. Dream big, dream small, but dream and Put Your Dream To the Test (check out John Maxwell's book: click here)
2. Start growing by associating with what it's going to take to move towards your dream. Zig Ziglar said "you'll be the same 5 years from today as your are today except for what you listen to, who you associated with and what your read." Make the decision to grow.
3. Set short-term goals that drive you to grow towards your dreams
4. Evaluate and correct (learn) the Time, Attitude, Skill, Knowledge and Style you’ll need to accomplish each of your dream, your growth and your goals.
5. Increase your capabilities one-day-at-a-time.
6. Evaluate and correct your growth and goals on a continuous basis. Goals should be “living documents.” Things (life, lack of capabilities, etc) will get in the way that will cause you to not achieve many of them. But, you must be in a constant practice of evaluating, correcting and re-implementing the goal setting process. When it seems too tough, too rough, pause and reflect..think about your dreams. Let your dreams replenish your energy.
Brad McCoy, football coach and Dad to pro-football quarterback Colt McCoy, explains how he coaches football and takes on life; “prepare the player for the path, not the path for the player.”
So, with that in mind, continuously prepare yourself and you’ll do much better on the path you find yourself on. Don’t let your tolerance for change cause you to give up on something prematurely – focus on the dream and depend on the growth to help accomplish the minor goals that require minor changes that lead to big results.
To that end…..live purposefully.
Note 1. this is an updated repost from 2/2/2011
Note 2. I've added comments about "dreams" in August, 2013
Note 3. Personally, I don't do goals well in the typical "goal-setting" sense. My goals are very short-term (rarely do I set a goal past this Friday). What I do though, and I'm very driven, is DREAM.
One generation ago, we were a society that feared and resisted change. Now many accept change as unavoidable and do little to prepare for the consequences. Instead, most people I know flow with the times, struggling to make the necessary adjustments life throws at them.
How about you….how do you engage in the changes in your business, your life? Do you plan, set goals and prepare for changes? Or, are you in the more common camp of “go-with-the-flow.” How about dreams? Do you still have dreams? A few people seem to do well in spite of themselves with this “ready-shoot-aim” method. But that doesn’t work for most of us.
To be effective, we know we need goals and a plan of action, but we’ve set and missed so many goals that it’s gotten us down and we’re scared to set them again. In default we’ve taken to the go-with-the-flow or ready-shoot-aim method and we’ve failed.
So, how does one properly set and stay engaged in achieving goals? And what do dreams have to do with anything?
First, there needs to be a dream. You might call it a passion, desire or purpose. I call it a dream and define a dream as something I want real bad and when things get tough and rough, I can think about my dreams (a dream) and it will get me through the moment, the day...the event.
Whether your role is as a leader, manager, follower, single-contributor or combination thereof, you'll get better results from your goal setting by having a dream and practicing and staying engaged in T.A.S.K.S. - Based Goal Setting.
• Time
• Attitude
• Skill
• Knowledge and
• Style
In order to achieve a goal you must align the goal with your capabilities. If you don’t have the Time, Attitude, Skill, Knowledge and/or Style needed to accomplish that goal, then you’ll need to gain those particular capabilities.
This is the true essence of having long and short-term goals and the time in which you set to achieve them. Achieving good-meaningful-goals is a daily practice that with a few modifications to traditional goal setting rules you will achieve results.
Here is how to practice TASKS - Based Goal Setting:
1. Dream big, dream small, but dream and Put Your Dream To the Test (check out John Maxwell's book: click here)
2. Start growing by associating with what it's going to take to move towards your dream. Zig Ziglar said "you'll be the same 5 years from today as your are today except for what you listen to, who you associated with and what your read." Make the decision to grow.
3. Set short-term goals that drive you to grow towards your dreams
4. Evaluate and correct (learn) the Time, Attitude, Skill, Knowledge and Style you’ll need to accomplish each of your dream, your growth and your goals.
5. Increase your capabilities one-day-at-a-time.
6. Evaluate and correct your growth and goals on a continuous basis. Goals should be “living documents.” Things (life, lack of capabilities, etc) will get in the way that will cause you to not achieve many of them. But, you must be in a constant practice of evaluating, correcting and re-implementing the goal setting process. When it seems too tough, too rough, pause and reflect..think about your dreams. Let your dreams replenish your energy.
Brad McCoy, football coach and Dad to pro-football quarterback Colt McCoy, explains how he coaches football and takes on life; “prepare the player for the path, not the path for the player.”
So, with that in mind, continuously prepare yourself and you’ll do much better on the path you find yourself on. Don’t let your tolerance for change cause you to give up on something prematurely – focus on the dream and depend on the growth to help accomplish the minor goals that require minor changes that lead to big results.
To that end…..live purposefully.
Margins....must have margins, more margins. And clarity.
My daughter, Sunne, texted me one Sunday morning in 2009 that "you have to listen to Tim's sermon series" about margins." I did, and re-listened this past March.
Since that text I've also read the book Tim Hawks recommended "In Search of Balance: Keys to a Stable Life." Those lessons have been instrumental in practicing and living out God's plan these past 2 1/2 years.
In essence....like water in a glass, if I'm too full, I'll overflow when as the day and week builds. Eventually, something's going to get wet and it's rarely a good thing. I need margins.
Michael Hyatt wrote a piece yesterday about margins and mentioned "clarity." Clarity's another big thing for me (one of those trust behaviors)...being clear about my purpose. That purpose isn't just a big holy audacious goal purpose, but today's purpose, this morning's purpose. The type of purpose I need when one-day-at-a-time is too long and I need to just be purposeful about putting one-foot-in-front-of-another type purpose (and being purposeful about where I'm stepping purpose).
Margins are a big deal. Clarity gives what fills my glass focus.
To that end.....
Since that text I've also read the book Tim Hawks recommended "In Search of Balance: Keys to a Stable Life." Those lessons have been instrumental in practicing and living out God's plan these past 2 1/2 years.
In essence....like water in a glass, if I'm too full, I'll overflow when as the day and week builds. Eventually, something's going to get wet and it's rarely a good thing. I need margins.
Michael Hyatt wrote a piece yesterday about margins and mentioned "clarity." Clarity's another big thing for me (one of those trust behaviors)...being clear about my purpose. That purpose isn't just a big holy audacious goal purpose, but today's purpose, this morning's purpose. The type of purpose I need when one-day-at-a-time is too long and I need to just be purposeful about putting one-foot-in-front-of-another type purpose (and being purposeful about where I'm stepping purpose).
Margins are a big deal. Clarity gives what fills my glass focus.
To that end.....
Godin, Trust ....and not being lazy!
As do a few hundred thousand others, I enjoy reading Seth Godon's Blog, and today he hit home with a very short post titled Where does trust come from?
Godin nailed it right up front with a hint.....it never comes from the good times and from the easy projects.
This week I've had the pleasure of working through some good times, projects, files, conflict. In some of it I was a sounding board, some good, some not-so-good, but all of it included people and/or processes.
And through it all, I came out with a bit of knowledge of who and what I can trust, and at what level I need to be checking on what I'm expecting. I know if I get lazy about trusting, I'll get burned...that's just the way it is. BUT, as Godin eludes...it's those engaged well in the battles we stand with.
To that end....tell the truth in ways in can be verified!
How about you....what causes you to trust?
Godin nailed it right up front with a hint.....it never comes from the good times and from the easy projects.
This week I've had the pleasure of working through some good times, projects, files, conflict. In some of it I was a sounding board, some good, some not-so-good, but all of it included people and/or processes.
And through it all, I came out with a bit of knowledge of who and what I can trust, and at what level I need to be checking on what I'm expecting. I know if I get lazy about trusting, I'll get burned...that's just the way it is. BUT, as Godin eludes...it's those engaged well in the battles we stand with.
To that end....tell the truth in ways in can be verified!
How about you....what causes you to trust?
With Baited Breath
Returning a colleague's call today, I left a message and laughingly said I was "waiting with baited breath" to hear back what he was calling about. Hanging up, I thought about how often I'm "waiting with baited breath!"
Being a mortgage loan officer and processor, one tends to always be
To that end...
It's a great Day!
oh...I and like the baited versus bated.
Being a mortgage loan officer and processor, one tends to always be
- waiting for something to happen
- in a stage of restrained anticipation
- waiting anxiously, or excitedly, or great suspense!
To that end...
It's a great Day!
oh...I and like the baited versus bated.
Communicate Well by Deluting the Junk!
It is the mark of an educated mind to
be able to
entertain a thought without accepting
it.
- Aristotle
I'm a bit hung-up on the talking-to-yourself lately and don't apologize. How I communicate with myself is important to having a propensity to trust myself and others. And it's important to have that propensity to trust (trust well, but trust!...I'm reminded of Ronald Reagan's trust but verify).
Almost a year ago I wrote a post about strategic thinking leadership and this post connects in many ways with that...
Notice that Aristotle (above) did not say an "educated person" but rather a trained or educated mind. Hence, a disciplined way of thinking,
As we think, we're talking to ourselves - as we're talking to ourselves, we're thinking about how good or bad we....(you get the picture). We have to pay attention to the noice, the talk, going on in our heads.
Hint....it's many times better to have some "easy listening" music going just to drown out the thoughts going on it our heads. Can't sleep at night? Plug in a good sermon and let your pastor put you to sleep.
Heck, I can't wait to get to heaven for a number of reasons. And when I do, I look forward to eventually running into some pastors (McArthur, Piper, Keller, Hawks, Chan, Carter....) and let them know how much I enjoyed their teachings and how they even helped me sleep.
To that end.......discipline yourself by deluting the junk!
Great Loan Officers as are Great Team Builders
The best leaders are those most interested in surrounding themselves with team members smarter than they are. They are frank in admitting this and are willing to pay for such talents.
Amos Parrish
(This is an update of a post from 2011)
Great Loan Officers and Great Team Building
Great Loan Officers -
- know that Great Loan Officers have Great Teams
- are Level 5 Team Builders and work for companies that appreaciate and support Level 5 Team Builders
- believe that the key Sales and Marketing Person is the one delivering the product or service at any given moment
- know that good customer service is the sign of a good hire and bad customer service is the sign of a bad hire
- practice, practice, practice at being a Great Loan Officer and a Great Team Builder
- work hard at all Top 10 Characteristics of a Great Team Builder
- are passionate about being a Great Team Builder
Please don't confuse this list with a complete list of characteristics of a Great Loan Officer; this is just about Great Loan Officers building Great Teams.
Supporting the loan officers that want to build and do their part in building great teams is an incredible purpose to have. This isn't easy and support goes both ways; it isn't just about the LO, nor is it just about "support staff." It is about the TEAM, about the "I" in wInning.
To that end....
Where Rubber-Meets-the-Road: Living Out the "Levels of Leadership"
I had the privilege of speaking to three different groups this week about some of my favorite topics: Trust, Asking Good Question, Levels of Leadership and Talking to Yourself.
Practicing the disciplines of these topics myself and watching how they naturally play out in life is another privilege. One of those "played-out" settings I've pondered has to do with a non-profit. The leader of this very important organization, Larry, is the epitome of living WELL Maxwell's "five levels of leadership."
While those on Larry's board are all following him at levels 2, 3, 4 or even 5, there are undoubtedly those he is attempting to gain favor and assistance from who are at a distant 1, if at all.
When we're not leading someone, they're not following and we could actually be chasing them. Being led in this way is not always an enjoyable form of following. But many times extremely necessary.
As I thought through and prayed for Larry's struggles (struggles are part of doing something well), I was reminded how important it is to lead "ourselves" well as we chase our passion, wants and dreams. My thoughts further carried me to:
- How important it is to talk-smart to ourselves.
- How talking-smart means, in part, to have a "propensity to trust" ourselves and others.
- Trusting-well means I must practice a good balance of evaluation and correction.
- Trusting-well and talking-smart means always asking-smart-questions.
And.....I must always remember I'm leading at all 5 levels at all times.
To that end....talk-smart to yourself FIRST!
Danny
Talking To Yourself
I had the privilege of speaking to a group this week about "how" we talk to ourselves and "what" that talk can do. Getting ready for that talk I re-read much of Shad Helmstetter's book "What To Say When You Talk To Your Self." ( This is the first book my wife saw me purchase back in 1986). My talk focused on Trust. In particular, how we trust ourselves (or not), and the impact the words that come out of our mouths have on our trust. How much we trust our self, and others.
Three other books were used to illustrate factors in that 45 minute presentation - John G. Miller's "QBQ," Stephen M. R. Covey's "The Speed of Trust," and God's "Bible." The Bible references came from John Maxwell's "Leadership Bible."
The application I left everyone with was pure QBQ (the question behind the question) -
1. Don't ask questions that start with When, When or Where and/or contain Who or They.
Danny
512-773-6528
Who do you trust with your mortgage referrals? I use my 28 years of experience to lead you through the home loan minefield: www.ImpactMortgageGroup.com
Notes from the book "The Talent Masters"
Notes from Conaty and Charan's book "The Talent Masters" -
1. An enlightened leadership team, starting with the CEO. We find that such leaders invest at least a quarter of their time in spotting and developing other leaders; sat companies such as GE and P&G, it's closer to 40%.
2. Meritocracy through differentiation. Warning....differentiation breeds meritocracy; sameness breeds meritocracy. Talent masters dig into the causes underlying performance so that they can recognize and reward leaders according to their talents, behaviors, and values.
3. Working values. By whatever name the values are called, masters repeat and repeat and repeat their values, and reinforce them by linking recognition and rewards with them.
4. A culture of trust and candor. A company can develop its people only if it has accurate information about their strengths and development needs.
5. Rigorous talent assessment. Talent masters have the same goal and results orientation in their people processes as they do in their financial systems.
6. A business partnership with human resources. Talent masters use human resource leaders as active and effective business partners.
7. Continuous learning and improvement. Talent masters recognize that a fast-changing business environment requires constant change and updating of both their leaders' skills and their own leadership criteria.
A couple of my thoughts - Conaty and Charan's background lends their writings to experience, not opinions (this is good). As I read this book, I'm taking notes and underlining (as I do in most books), but I'm finding that I'm tending to correlate much of what they have to say with others.
This is also good and gives credibility. I'll bring those out in coming posts.
Good stuff!!!
To that end.....
1. An enlightened leadership team, starting with the CEO. We find that such leaders invest at least a quarter of their time in spotting and developing other leaders; sat companies such as GE and P&G, it's closer to 40%.
2. Meritocracy through differentiation. Warning....differentiation breeds meritocracy; sameness breeds meritocracy. Talent masters dig into the causes underlying performance so that they can recognize and reward leaders according to their talents, behaviors, and values.
3. Working values. By whatever name the values are called, masters repeat and repeat and repeat their values, and reinforce them by linking recognition and rewards with them.
4. A culture of trust and candor. A company can develop its people only if it has accurate information about their strengths and development needs.
5. Rigorous talent assessment. Talent masters have the same goal and results orientation in their people processes as they do in their financial systems.
6. A business partnership with human resources. Talent masters use human resource leaders as active and effective business partners.
7. Continuous learning and improvement. Talent masters recognize that a fast-changing business environment requires constant change and updating of both their leaders' skills and their own leadership criteria.
A couple of my thoughts - Conaty and Charan's background lends their writings to experience, not opinions (this is good). As I read this book, I'm taking notes and underlining (as I do in most books), but I'm finding that I'm tending to correlate much of what they have to say with others.
This is also good and gives credibility. I'll bring those out in coming posts.
Good stuff!!!
To that end.....
The Power of Habits, by Guest Blogger Blair Ball
thanks to Guest Blogger Blair Ball
www.prepare1.com for incredible
social media workshops
| Do you ever wonder why you do what you do?
Why others do what they do? HABITS 95% of everything that you think, feel, do and achieve is the result of habits.
Are you wanting better health?
Are you wanting to be more successful?
Are you wanting to have better
relationships?
The good news, if you change and replace your bad habit's with
good habit's good things will happen in your life!
This
process within our brains is a three-step loop.
1. The Cue -
A trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to
use.
2. The Routine - Which can be either physical, mental, or emotional. 3. The Reward - Which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future. |
Experts say 60% of Our Marketing Efforts Should Be...
Experts say we should spend 60% of our marketing efforts and dollars with current and former clients.
Yet, how much should you market to current and former clients?
In reference to the circles above, how do you draw people from the "everyone else" to Permission Prospects?
First....be sure you're marketing to present and former clients. Most do not. Never, never and never.
Second...use spaced repetition to market to everyone. You can word search this blog to find other postings on spaced repetition. You can also buy the book "KNOW CAN DO" by Ken Blanchard.
Third..to reach the rest of the universe, meet/great/smile/dial/advertise....and use social media, or hire someone that does social media well. Done correctly, social media will soften your market and add credibility just through name recognition. I've met people at business function, and I've called to introduce myself, and people have said "your name is familiar, where have we met?'
Forth...and this is really the foundation; have a real live living maturing Marketing Plan. Experts say that writing this down, even in the simplest of manners, will put you head-and-shoulders in front of your competition.
To that end....Market Smart, Not Hard
Danny L. Smith
Sr. Loan Officer
Executive Coach
512-773-6528
Danny@DannyLSmith.com
Developing a Niche to Differentiate Yourself
Dan
Klopp, owner of Sign
Satisfaction, was interviewed recently by Dag
Nybo at Austin Business
Journal. Here's a quick summary of the 4 ways Dan says to develop a
niche and differentiate yourself from your competition:
1. study your competitors, figure out what they do well and where there's room for improvement,
2. focus promotional efforts (I assume the article is referring to all marketing), and stick to that message, and
3. resist the temptation to lower ethical professional standards
You can read the entire article at http://tinyurl.com/7dgrghm
1. study your competitors, figure out what they do well and where there's room for improvement,
2. focus promotional efforts (I assume the article is referring to all marketing), and stick to that message, and
3. resist the temptation to lower ethical professional standards
You can read the entire article at http://tinyurl.com/7dgrghm
Question...do you know someone who doesn't believe they can refinance their
house because they owe too much?Many people have interest rates over 6% and owe more than the appraised value of their home.
Yet, many can still refinance their home.....even if they owe more than their house is worth.
Have your friends contact me for a free qualification and loan decision (no credit or appraisal costs).
Danny L. Smith
Phone: 512-773-6528
Fax: 512-551-0006
On Leadership: The Five Dimensions of a Couregeous Follower
Undoubtedly, if we've communicated much at all, you've heard me talk, or write, about following well. Much of what I teach on this subject, besides my own personal experiences, comes from Ira Chaleff's book, Courageous Follower.
http://youtu.be/K1dkfN1XBuE
Related articles can be found by inputing "follow" in the upper left search box.
Make it a great week, be purposeful.
Danny L. Smith 512-773-6528
This subject, following well, is one of the most important conversations in leadership training. To help us understand the dynamics, here's Chaleff's YouTube video (4 minutes) on the Five Dimensions of Courageous Follower.
http://youtu.be/K1dkfN1XBuE
Related articles can be found by inputing "follow" in the upper left search box.
Make it a great week, be purposeful.
Covey's Speed of Trust: the 2nd Wave - Relationship Trust
Relationship trust is all about behavior..consistent behavior.
It's about learning how to interact with others in ways that increase
trust and avoid interacting in ways that destroy it.
- Stephen M. R. Covey
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