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Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on January 1, 2012 at 11:56 pm
I started following Chris Brogan about 3 years ago. Since about 2006, instead of resolutions, he has been posting his 3 words that are the basis for his goals that year. I have never been good at resolutions. I always have good intentions, but after time those resolutions loose their luster and “life” just gets in the way. So, I have adopted Chris’s three words technique because it allows me to build many ideas off my words for this year.
Last year, honestly, I just didn’t pick the words. I let a lot slip by in 2011. I could tell that I needed something, but I let everything else get in the way. I didn’t blog. I didn’t write. I really didn’t do much of anything except read. I read a lot last year from blogs to books, on every subject I could think of pertaining to marketing online and off-line. So, while I didn’t have the focus to anything outwardly so all of you could see it, I was growing inside. This year, it will be different. I am going to blog again and start putting some of my ideas to work.
So, here we go. Here are my three words for 2012:
Start: A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. - Lao Tzu. Every journey or idea has an origin. So many times, I have had a great idea but didn’t start the project or carry through the idea because I didn’t know what to do first. This year, I am going to do something every day, little or a lot, I am going to just do something. Starting anything can be difficult, but not impossible. This year I am going to force myself to look past the start, then focus (my second word) on the process and end results.
Focus: Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear. – Anthony Robbins. Sometime, I honestly think I have a touch of ADD. I have a tendency to begin something or get a great idea, then a shiny object comes along and takes away my attention. I try to focus on the task at hand, but something either draws my attention or I just fear that I won’t do it right, so I just avoid the idea all together. This year, I am going to focus on what is important. My first and most important focus will be my family. I realized last year that I really have precious little time left to truly enjoy my family being together. Before we know it, they are grown and leave home. I want to focus on my family first. My next focus will be on business. I am going to continue working hard at my job, but I am going to pursue my other business interests as well. I have the education, experience and knowledge to do so much more than I am now. I am going to focus on learning more about internet marketing and how to supplement our family’s income. I want to make sure they have the life they deserve. So, “focus” is my second word and pivotal to my 2012 success.
Inspire: Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others. – Plato My first two words this year were a given. I need to start and focus on the tasks at hand. My third word was tough. In the end, it’s not all about me. In order to succeed, I need to inspire those around me to be successful. I have a lot of knowledge in me that I want to share. I want to inspire those around me to do more. My plan for 2012 is to lead by example, especially when it comes to my health. I used to be well over 300 lbs, then lost almost 100 two years ago. I have managed to keep most of it off, but need to continue my journey and set the example to my children. I also want to inspire people through teaching. My goal is to use my knowledge to help other people get to their goals.
So, there you have it. My three words for 2012: Start, Focus & Inspire. Now the fun begins. It’s time to put these words to work. What are you three words for 2012? I would love to hear your comments.
Happy New Year!
Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on January 4, 2010 at 11:42 pm
I guess we have all heard the old saying, “Don’t dwell on the past”, but I think in order to move forward, we sometimes have to look at where we have been. It goes without saying that 2009 presented many challenges both on an individual level and from a business owner’s prospective. The economy seems to be the topic of choice when talking with most people. Whether you own a business or work for one, the economy has had some affect on your year.
As a business owner, we were not untouched by the economic woes of 2009. Sales were soft, vendors were often short of products, and we found ourselves constantly adjusting and readjusting our marketing and business plans. Still, the year proved to be better than 2008. We sold 5 new franchises in the U.S. and many more in Canada. So even with the touch economic times, we still saw growth. We also picked up many new customers and managed to secure more market share in our region.
Working for AT&T Advertising Solutions in 2009 was also filled with challenges. Since many businesses were having a tough year, it goes without saying that we saw a decline in advertising revenues. This decline forced the company to make some very tough choices, which resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs. Many of these people were personal friends, so it was not an easy to watch this happen.
Last year I made a commitment to become more involved with our Gulf Breeze Chamber of Commerce. I took over as chair of the Small Business Development Committee and was picked for the 2010 – 2013 Board of Directors. I was also nominated for 2009 Emerging Leader of the Year and our business, THE original basket boutique was nominated for 2009 Small Business of the Year. So despite the challenges, I will still look back to 2009 as a good year.
Now that 2009 is behind us, we need to look forward to 2010. I truly believe this year will build on the successes of the past and I expect 2010 to be another year of recovery and growth both personally and professionally. In order to make 2010 a great year, we have to add some structure around our plans. To be honest, it is January 5th and I really hadn’t thought about any plans for 2010 until I read a January 1st post on Chris Brogan’s blog. (A big thanks to my friend Betsy Wuebker of www.passingthru.com for introducing me to Chris Brogan!) I really like Chris’s approach to goal setting. He selects three words to guide his goal setting and keep him on track to his objectives. I think this is a very good way to plan your year and it is easy enough to keep you focused.
As I started to ponder on my three words, I realized that this wasn’t as easy as you might think. I was having trouble with one word, let alone three! Chris describes his three words as something that would take more than one sentence to describe. His word sits upon his actual goals and acts as his guiding principles. These words need to have meaning and life to them and not just be a description. In the past, like many people, I have set resolutions for each new year but like many years previous, they didn’t have any solid goals or structure to back them up. By the 2nd quarter of the year, many of my resolutions were already just a memory because life has a tendency to throw new challenges in your path which takes the focus away from your “new year resolutions”.
After some careful deliberation and a little soul searching late into the night, I came up with a list of words that had some meaning to me, but I still needed to narrow them down to three. Growth. Flexibility. Vision. Bend. Flexible. Change. Stretch. Expand. Teach. Spread. Time. Fix. Course. Tack. Tool. Path. Plan. Gift. All of these words have some meaning to my goals for this year, but when I narrow it down, my three words are: Expand. Tool. Bend.
Expand: This year, my personal growth plan is to expand my horizons and education. I want to become better at online marketing & business strategy. I order to achieve this goal; my strategy will be to become better educated by reading more expert blogs and books. As a business goal, Expand means that I am going to increase our business footprint, regionally and nationally. This goal will be achieved by my increased knowledge of online marketing and business strategy.
Tool: You can’t build a house with out a hammer. In this decade, you can’t build a business with out a website, blog or social marketing. These relatively new marketing tools have become the norm in business. This year, my goal is to build more tools for our business. I plan to develop more sites, better email marketing and increase blog posting. I am also going to start pod casting, twittering and an online video blog. My strategy for “Tool” builds on the “Expand” goal to become better educated on alternative marketing.
Bend: You might have figured this one out. I need to learn to bend, be flexible and embrace change much better. The only constant in this day and age is change. Bend means that I need to be ready to change on a moments notice to capitalize on opportunities. My goal is to be flexible and open minded to new ideas. I will look at challenges as opportunities for growth and development. I will bend, but I won’t break in 2010.
Well, there you have it, My Three Words for 2010. I hope that my three words help you to come up with your own so you can effectively plan your 2010 to be one of the most successful years of your life. Good Luck & Happy New Year!
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Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on December 3, 2009 at 10:13 am
I read an article called “Secrets of Success in Daily Practice” on a friend of mine’s blog, www.tamiross.com that got me to thinking about my goals and dreams. I think everyone had dreams when they were kids. Some of us wanted to be a firefighters, others doctors or maybe a sports celebrity. During my teens, I really didn’t have a career in mind, but instead I focused on life goals. I set these goals young and they have been the driving focus in my life today, even though I might have lost a little focus on the overall dream for my life. My goals were simple:
- Education – I wanted to have my undergrad before I was 26, my graduate degree before I was 40 and my PhD before I am 50.
- Travel the world
- Marry my dream girl
- Have 2-3 children
- Be successful enough to live comfortable.
Out of all of my goals, I have achieved all but one. I checked them off as I went through each one.
- I finished my undergrad at 30, my MBA at 41 and I have planned on starting my PhD before I am 45. So I feel my education goals are on track or close to completion. Check.
- I traveled the world thanks to the Army. I met that goal even though my military career delayed my education, it was still worth it. Check.
- I married my dream girl Sheri and I have 2 wonderful children with her. Check. Check.
- I have a very good career and business. Plus I can’t complain about our life style. Check.
So, I have achieved all but one of my goals, I’m done, right? No, it isn’t that easy nor should it be. What I have realized is that while I pursued by goals, I lost sight of my dreams. Your dreams may or may not come true, but they are your driving force to get you to the next hurdle. When I was in college, I had big dreams. You could go in my office at my house and see pictures of cars, homes, vacations, and a host of other “lofty” dreams or dream items hanging on my wall and bulletin board. I always kept those dreams in front of me because I knew that if I believed it, I would achieve it. Everything I did in my life was working toward achieving my dreams. I listened to motivational tapes, read books, attended seminars and met with people who I looked up to and aspired to be like. I did all this because I had dreams. You could walk in my house and see what I dreamed of.
Each step of my life from the time I as a teenager was outlined in the goals that I hoped helped me achieve my dreams. Now truthfully, my dreams changed many times as I grew older, but my goals never changed. I adjusted goals on occasion to make them more achievable but I never changed them drastically because I used them as my life’s map. Until yesterday though, I had truly forgotten about my “dreams”. Sure my goals are there and I have achieved all but one, but for some reason I lost sight of the dream. When I lost sight of the dream, I stopped setting goals. For all intents, I was done.
Today, I woke up with this thought on my mind. What are my dreams? What do I really want to do with my life? Where do I want to be in 5 years? All of sudden, I am starting to dream again! As I started to consider my dreams, I began thinking about my goals. I need new steps to guide me toward the dream. At 43, my dreams are a little different from when I was 23, but they all have the same premise and focus.
My plans have changed, but my life’s decisions or dreams really haven’t. My dreams now include my family and our lives together. What I want for them is part of my new and improved dream. Life today is too hard to just go through it on cruise control. Your dreams give you power and hope for a better life or at least a different life than what you have now. Your dreams should be achievable but should be just far enough out of reach to make you stretch and achieve the next goal.
What are you dreams? Write them down, cut out pictures, and then put them in your office or your special book. Look at them often. Ponder or “dream” about them. Now, set your goals. What do you need to do in order to achieve your dreams? Take a good look at your life. Have you lost sight of where you want to be and what you want out of your life? Give this some thought. Sleep on it tonight and tomorrow, write it down. I think it can change your life or at least give you greater purpose than you have today.
Whatever you do, don’t stop dreaming. Where would we be today if people didn’t dream or stretch themselves to go beyond their current situation and reality? Don’t stop dreaming. Reach for the stars and you won’t be disappointed if you only get the moon.
David Beckham
MarketProMBA
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Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on May 16, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Today in church, I heard a message that really struck me. It was the story of Elijah and the widower with her two sons. Most of you are asking why church has anything to do with business and marketing. As I listened to the sermon, I asked myself the same question. I found this story unique because it struck me that this message has a great deal to do with our businesses.
In a nutshell, II Kings 4:1-7 is the story of the widower who was about to loose her two sons to the tax collector to become slaves. She was left with nothing to pay her debts. Elijah asks her “what do you have in your house?” The widower says she has oil. Therefore, the story goes that Elijah asks her to go to all her neighbors and ask for all the jars she could get. The woman did and as she started pouring the oil, it filled all of the jars she had collected until they were all used. Elijah said to her to sell the oil and pay her debts.
The story was about looking inside your house to find what you need in order to get past your problems. It also talks about going to your neighbors and asking for help. So how does this relate to business and marketing? We all have something inside of us and “in our house”. Too often, we overlook some resources because we consider them insignificant. We all have skills and resources that we need to use to our advantage in our personal lives and businesses.
As I was thinking about this story, I asked what was in my house. Right now, the economy is in the toilet, business is slow for most everyone and every dollar a company has needs to be spent with the highest efficiency. In order to survive, we need to either find the opportunities around us to save money or make money. Too often, business owners look to cut marketing and advertising when times are hard. Don’t cut your advertising, it is like committing business harry carry. Look “inside your house” to find other alternatives to cutting your marketing budgets.
Look at your current business, what do you have that is not being utilized which could be used to improve your business situation. Instead of cutting your marketing budget, perhaps you can sell unused equipment. You could also cross train your current employees to do other jobs instead of hiring new or temporary. Look for low cost or no cost ideas to market your business. Are your employees doing all they can to help promote your business? Talk with them and get their buy-in on promoting the company. It keeps them in a job and helps you gain market position.
As the story goes, Elijah tells the widower to ask her neighbors for jars. In the business world, I associate this asking other business owners or acquaintances for help. Perhaps another business owner has a need for your skills and is willing to trade services. This saves budgets and helps your business at the same time. Our “neighbors” are willing to give, as are we when asked. We all have something to give and the hope is we will receive in return. Trading services can be a low cost or no cost way to get your business additional resources.
Our company, The Original Basket Boutique, trades out gift baskets for radio and newspaper advertising. Trading our baskets serves our need for cheap marketing and the advertising medium’s need for customer appreciation gifts. What products or services do you have that can be traded? You can also trade or offer your skills and knowledge to businesses. Maybe finance or marketing is your strength. You can help other business owners some assistance in return for their services or goods.
Business owners across America are looking for ways to survey this economic downturn. Our history has seen this before and in time, our economy will pull out of this and business will be good again for a while. Our economy is cyclical and always has been. In order to keep our businesses afloat during this time, we have to think outside the box and look for opportunities wherever they exist.
You don’t have to be religious to appreciate this story. It is more about helping those around you and finding help when you need it. We all have resources that we have yet to tap. You just need to figure out what those are. Look inside “your house” and you will find opportunities and resources you never knew existed or have overlooked.
David Beckham
B.BA, MBA Marketing
MarketProMBA Consulting
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Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on May 16, 2009 at 5:17 pm
As a marketing and advertising professional, I have asked this very question many times to customers that I consult with. “Are you in business or a business person?” It isn’t meant to be rude or cut a business owner down, but rather to help them think about how they are currently managing their business. Too many people enter the world of small business ownership blindly without really having a good plan and the means to execute that plan.
In order to know if you are a Business Person or just in business, we need to break down some very simple principals that apply to small business ownership so you can decide for yourself.
1. A Business Person has a plan. Someone in business just wings it.
This doesn’t mean you need a long drawn out business and marketing plan. If you are a new business person, you may not even have an idea how to start. Your plan doesn’t need to be elaborate or detailed at first. It should be detailed enough to describe your business and how you are going to run it for the first year.
As you begin your new business venture, take the time to write down some ideas about your business. You can break down your business plan with a SWOT analysis, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Your strengths are typically internal attributes. A weakness is any type of shortcomings your business might have. It is also considered an internal attribute. Opportunities are external forces that can affect the success of your business. Threats are external forces such as competitors or anomalies in the marketplace that could have an adverse affect on your business.
A simple business plan gives you some direction and guidance in starting your business. A business plan is a path that you can use to get off to a strong start and help you on your way to being a successful small business owner.
2. A Business Person has a plan to market their business; a person in business tries some ideas and hopes the customers will show.
Every business has to market itself in one way or another. Customers are an essential component of your businesses success. (Thanks Captain Obvious, right?) How do you get the customers to come to you? You have to market your business. There are a number of ways to market your business. So many in fact that the average small business owner doesn’t always know where to start. If marketing isn’t your specialty and your business requires a unique clientele it is always my recommendation to hire a professional to help market your business. A marketing professional can help you design a plan that will get your business off to a strong start and bring the customers to you.
If your business plan doesn’t include the initial funds to hire a marketing professional then at least have a plan. Look around, what are your competitors doing? Are they using yellow pages, billboards, TV, radio, personal sales or other out of the box marketing ideas. It is not always a given that your competitors are doing the right kind of marketing to attract customers. It could be they are lost in marketing as well.
Have a simple plan to market your business. Don’t overlook anything. Write down your ideas, analyze your competitors, and act on your plan. You will learn as you go what works and what doesn’t. Act on the ideas that work, refine and tweak them, then put them out there again. A simple marketing plan truly makes you a Business Person.
3. A Business Person works smarter, not harder. A person in business works hard, but doesn’t always succeed.
I know many small business owners. Some of them are incredible hard workers who don’t seem to have any time other than to work on their business. I admire their dedication, but I am sorry they don’t have more time to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Working smarter is as simple as analyzing what works well in your business and doing more of that. Outsource when you can’t do it all your self. Perhaps having a commissioned sales person could bring your more business without really hurting your profit? It could free you up to spend more time in other areas of your business or just give you some time off.
Working smarter could be as simple as analyzing the most tedious parts of your business to find a better way to complete them or outsource them to save you time. If you are drowning in paperwork, hire a part time bookkeeper. If you don’t have time to answer every call, hire an answering service. There are probably countless ways to work smarter and not harder in your industry. You need should carefully analyze your business
to find those activities to tighten up and make your business run smoother.
If we sum up the few principals that we just learned, we can state that Business People operate businesses with a plan of action. A Business Person looks beyond today and sees their business for what it could be. A Business Person analyzes their competitors and business environment continually to capitalize on opportunities and avoid pitfalls.
This blog article was not intended to upset anyone, but to make you think. Are you a Business Person, or just a person in business? We will explore more of this subject down the road. In the mean time, I would like to hear your ideas on this subject. I wish everyone continued success and prosperity in your business.
David Beckham, B.BA, MBA Marketing
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