This morning I had the privilege of attending an Executive Breakfast that focused on employee engagement and what that actually means. It was a timely discussion because I hear the phrase employee engagement in just about every explanation of what’s wrong with an organization. But what is it really? What does employee engagement mean and why is it important to your business? … [Read more...]
Rethink the Value of Each Customer for Efficient Growth
Guest Post by Elizabeth Dillon of Digital Marketing NOW (Learn more about Elizabeth at the end of this post) Do you know how much your customers are worth? If not, you could be throwing away significant money on ineffective marketing initiatives. To maximize your marketing and, ultimately, your revenue, you must understand your customer’s lifetime value (CLV). The … [Read more...]
Why are you important?
As we create our businesses more often than not we get caught up in the day to day firefighting strategies. What we don’t do because there isn’t enough time in the day, no one has figured out how to clone ourselves and/or we don’t see the immediate value is define a future strategy. It’s easy to spend so much time in our businesses that we don’t work on them, so here are a few … [Read more...]
What Marissa Mayer should bring to Yahoo
Marissa Mayer is a 37 year old executive of a technology firm that alone should create energy and excitement around leadership potential. She is joining Yahoo from Google and to be frank some rigidity is needed at Yahoo. So as we wait with bated breath to dissect her every move as CEO, here are things that I would like to see her bring to the troubled company. Well rounded … [Read more...]
What’s Your Worth?
Yesterday I had the good fortune to have lunch with an established mentor and the question floating around the table was 'how do you know your worth as a consultant'? I thought the answer rang true for any business owner and here’s what I got from the conversation. When you’re not sure of what you know, you charge for everything This is true for all industries, when you … [Read more...]
When the Student is Ready, a Teacher Appears
As I listen to the stories of the business world and how many mistakes CEO’s make, I think about how no one talks about the lessons that they learned on the way to that success. There is a tendency to hold out successful business owners as gurus, when the reality is that they were blessed with good teachers and the ability to learn from previous failures. For some of us no one … [Read more...]
Women, Food, and Being GUTSY
This is the perfect time of year, when food is front and center in our minds, to honor a woman who has been in the food services industry for several decades. Yet, it’s not about her relationship with food that we’ll discuss; it’s about her relationship with women. Victoria Vega is the National Director of Business Development, Corporate Dining for CulinArt Managed Dining … [Read more...]
Project Management 101: The Stages of Project Management
I remember when I picked up my first project management book. I was working as a low-level retail manager and thought it would be helpful. I picked it up, glanced through the table of contents, got terrified and immediately put it back on the shelf. The book was full of technical jargon, extensive charts and graphs, and appeared to be designed for someone who had a Ph.D and … [Read more...]
Still holding on to “life’s leg warmers?” What would Jane Fonda say?
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey on October 27, 2010, Jane Fonda astutely said, “Wisdom is knowing what you don’t need anymore.” So how many pairs of “life’s leg warmers” are you holding on to since the 80s, 90s, last year, or yesterday? Do yourself a favor and start clearing out the clutter! Whether you are clearing out personal or professional clutter, they go … [Read more...]
Killing Your Competition with (Client) Kindness
Five Core Principles for Turning Clients and Prospects into Raving Fans Once upon a time customer service meant more than pressing 2 to wait (and wait and wait) for “the next available representative.” Companies valued those who bought their goods and services and went the proverbial extra mile to make them happy. Today we’re more likely to hear about a company that’s … [Read more...]