Copycat
In the information age, the ability to copy is convenient and tempting. I have seen an array of imitators who think nothing of taking ideas, content, images and intellectual property to further their own agendas. It’s easy to track them and fun to watch what typically unfolds. The copycat is always a follower. They do not conceive; they merely scavenge. They don’t pay the price that a true artist does. Thus, they miss the nuance of what makes great art. The nuance comes from understanding. If you have written thousands of hours of content or set up countless business systems, the nuance ...
One-Way Spin
Have you seen the commercial with the offer that is good only for the first 100 callers in the area? Yes, that one! The one that has been playing for months on end and displays a counter of the calls coming in. This is what is called product-focused one-way spin. It is intended to interrupt what you are doing with a loud advertisement and spin a one-way message about a product. The idea is simple: to get you to pay attention. This is one example of advertising that doesn’t work. It has lost its credibility. We don’t believe it; therefore, we ignore ...
Have Tool . . . Then What?
Your tools are commodities. Everyone can get access to them today. In fact, everyone does access the tools. The case, more often than not, is that they are underused, misused or irrelevant in most people’s business. The tools are a lot like sports equipment. There is a lot of hype to get someone to buy a workout machine, tennis racquet or bike. Visit the typical person in 6 months, and you find them as artifacts in de facto storage. We live in an age of abundance. Tools are cheap and ubiquitous. If tools were the answer, then everyone would be wildly ...
Professionalism
Everything in business today is fraught with peril. The opportunities for failure are many. For success, they are much fewer. There are many who are paralyzed by the thought of failure and, therefore, do the best they can to minimize failures in their life. In the end they limit their own success in the process. There are a few who embrace their failures, having the confidence that it is not the end of the world. The obvious difference between the two is a mindset for what success is. In the movie, Pretty Woman with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, there is ...
AscendWorks Featured Articles
Copycat
In the information age, the ability to copy is convenient and tempting. I have seen an array of imitators who think nothing of taking ideas, content, images and intellectual property to further their own agendas. It’s easy to track them and fun to watch what typically unfolds. The copycat is always a follower. They do not conceive; they merely scavenge. They don’t pay the price that a true... [Read more]
One-Way Spin
Have you seen the commercial with the offer that is good only for the first 100 callers in the area? Yes, that one! The one that has been playing for months on end and displays a counter of the calls coming in. This is what is called product-focused one-way spin. It is intended to interrupt what you are doing with a loud advertisement and spin a one-way message about a product. The idea is simple:... [Read more]
Have Tool . . . Then What?
Your tools are commodities. Everyone can get access to them today. In fact, everyone does access the tools. The case, more often than not, is that they are underused, misused or irrelevant in most people’s business. The tools are a lot like sports equipment. There is a lot of hype to get someone to buy a workout machine, tennis racquet or bike. Visit the typical person in 6 months, and you find... [Read more]
Professionalism
Everything in business today is fraught with peril. The opportunities for failure are many. For success, they are much fewer. There are many who are paralyzed by the thought of failure and, therefore, do the best they can to minimize failures in their life. In the end they limit their own success in the process. There are a few who embrace their failures, having the confidence that it is not the end... [Read more]
Obsess About The Idea — Not The Tool
Tools come and go. What is popular today will soon become obsolete tomorrow. Despite this fact, most people become obsessed with the tools of the trade rather than the ideas that create the success. So rather than becoming obsessed with your tools that are likely to change, how about becoming obsessed about the creation of ideas that make you remarkable? A good example is a company called Little... [Read more]
Technology Is Not A Bad Word
We are never going back. We would rather download music or stream it than build up our CD collection. We watch movies on demand. We read our newspapers via the net. We have digital devices to serve our instant gratification needs for what is happening. We are fully in the information age. The industrial age is over. Perhaps this perspective could parallel the changes that occurred during the Industrial... [Read more]
Why Do You Spend So Much Time Doing The Wrong Thing?
Do you remember recommending that attorney? Or how about that family doctor? Or that mechanic at Leonard’s in Austin? Before making your recommendation, did you do a complete evaluation and check with the bar association regarding how many cases the attorney won or lost? How about the doctor, did you do compare treatments versus other physicians. And for that mechanic at Leonard’s that you tell... [Read more]
Gratitude In Your Business
Traditions and festivities help us do what the relentless pace of modern society does not afford. We can reflect. As Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Reflection is critical for achievement and success. It is what helps us to be strategic and not merely reactive in the way we live and do business. While most of our time is spent in reaction and execution-mode, we must be... [Read more]
