A New Way of Asking

From my Certified Networker training, I know that the best way to succeed in business is to be willing to help others first. In fact, in the CN training course, there is a whole chapter on possible ways you can help other people other than just passing them business. After all, you'd like to be able to help people right away, but it's kind of hard to pass them business when you don't know them at all yet, right?

So one of the challenges I've run into, especially when I first meet with people, is asking the question "How can I help you?". OK, just to be clear, for those of you who, like my good buddy Dan, enjoy interpreting things literally just to get my goat, I am capable of vocalizing the question and, in fact, have no moral or ethical qualms about asking it. The problem is that I am perpetually misunderstood.

Everyone assumes I am asking "Do you have work for me?"

Today, over lunch, I was reading Jeffrey Gitomer's "The Little Black Book of Connections" and came across a better way to say this simple phrase: "What are your needs in the coming year?" (which, of course, could be followed up with "How can I help you with them?").

I'll be attending a few Chamber networking events in the coming weeks. I'm looking forward to trying out this new approach.

I'll let you know how it goes.

How would you ask this question?

OK, Now I Don't Feel So Guilty

When I was updating the Cyber Data Solutions website, I decided to "go cheap" and whip up my own logo. I thought that, maybe someday, I could afford to have a professional do a better job.

Then I read Seth Godin's post today.

Seth just wrote up a great piece about the nature of company logos. Some of the most powerful corporate images in history are among the simplest and cheapest and have no real inherent meaning to them (how does the Nike "swoop" represent athletic shoes?). His advice is that if you must come up with a company logo, don't try to make it mean anything, don't pay a ton of money, "Just Do It".

Then make the brand into something special.

So, I've decided to stop feeling guilty about my home-grown logo. Now maybe I'll just stick with what I have and make my company into the best in the world!

Thank you, Seth!

So, what do you think of my logo?

Quick Extra! Extra!

Just a quick note: I sent out the most recent issue of the "Clearing Up the Confusion" e-zine on Tuesday. If you'd like to check it out (and you haven't already subscribed) you can read it online at the Cyber Data Solutions website.

Questions on Retreat

So, here I am up in beautiful, sprawling Traverse City. My hotel room looks out on Grand Traverse Bay. The sun and blue sky as I pulled in this evening filled me with excitement of the possibilities of the days to come.

I'm here, in my room by the bay, on a self-directed business retreat. No seminars, no gurus, no group team-building exercises. Just me, my laptop, and plenty of time to consider questions like "How do I want to grow my business?" and "What sort of products can/should I create which will serve my target market?". Oh, and don't forget the ever popular "Just exactly who is my target market anyway?"

I did bring along a few business books, for those times when I want to just relax on the beach. In fact, I just finished Seth Godin's "The Dip: A Little Book that Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)". It has raised a few questions which I'll be adding to the list for consideration over the next few days:

Under what circumstances am I willing to quit? Obviously, I can't continue trying to build this business if it starts causing hardship for my family. What other conditions might be valid reasons for quitting? Deciding now will go a long way toward helping me stay in the game when the going gets tough.

In what market will I be the "best in the world"? This falls back on some of my old Certified Networker training: Picking a tightly specified target market is likely to make us more successful.

What tactics can I use to influence that market? How will I know when they are working? Is continuing to attend the Chamber networking events going to make a difference to my target market or should I be looking elsewhere?

How much effort can/should I invest to influence my market? Will it be enough? This ties in with specifying my target market. If the market is too big, then I won't have enough time or energy to become the number one website superhero in their world.

Do I want to do the best I can, given my constraints, or do I want to be the best in the world? This one should technically be a no-brainer.

So that's just my short list courtesy of Seth. Mix that in with all the other things that I want to work on and I'm beginning to think I should have scheduled a full week instead of just a few days.

Ah, well, wish me luck!

So, what significant questions have you been pondering in your life and career?

I Are Smart

OK, I was reading one of my new favorite blogs tonight, TechCrunch. They report on all sorts of cool developments in the world of technology (my only complaint is that I sometimes have a hard time keeping up!).

Anyway, one of the articles tonight was about a site called Lumosity, a creation of Lumos Labs. What does it do? It provides a series of "brain games" supposedly designed to help improve your cognitive health.

For a person like me who loves puzzles and used to spend hours playing Tetris back in college, it's like crack cocaine.

The games aren't particularly difficult. The trick is just to beat your own score. I only cleared the first session (so far), in which I had to complete three different games. In one, the computer presented me with a grid representing a garden. Briefly, I saw a series of monsters hidden in some of the grid cells. I then had to walk my little gardener character through the cells without stepping on one of the monsters. When I succeeded, I could earn bonus points if I could remember which monster was where.

I know, not exactly "Halo 2", but I still had fun.

Lumosity is currently in beta and therefore free. I only noticed one small bug: In the Spatial Speed Match game, I couldn't turn off the annoying sound effects. Other than that though, the game play was pretty smooth.

You might want to give it a try, if your afternoon Sudoku is starting to get a little old.

It's good for your brain, too!

So, what is your high score in "Speed Match"?