I had a vision for posting short video tutorials on MS Excel topics. Frankly, I couldn’t imagine demonstrating a software program without incorporating video! It would be too dry and dull.

Of course, most of the things that we do today on the Internet are incredible. Technology advances so quickly. What I accept today as “state of the art” will be considered “old school” in just a few months.

So, dear readers, I will start to add some video and audio posts to this blog. The written word will remain in place. I am simply going to add a few new media elements when appropriate.

Meanwhile, I invite you to visit the two Video Blogs that I now have up and running:

• The Company Rocks Excels
• The Company Rocks PowerPoints

Thank you for your continued patronage. I welcome your feedback.

But what if you don’t have a dentist or a plumber? Who would you call? Why would you call them? How would you know if they were reputable? That they could do the job?

Would you call a friend and ask for a recommendation? Would you consult an on-line service such as Craig’s list or Angie’s List?

If you have the time, yes. But if your tooth aches badly enough…? Or if your drain is overflowing and you are knee-deep in…?

Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters?

Seth Godin has, as always, a very good post on this topic – “My tooth doesn’t hurt.”

Plumbers and dentists usually don’t have trouble attracting customers – as long as there are lots of “aching teeth” and “overflowing drains.”

“…On one hand, dentists have no trouble whatsoever getting business from people with toothaches. They hardly have to try. Just show up, I’ll find you. On the other hand, when my teeth don’t hurt, you’re invisible. No amount of signs, service and wonderful marketing is going to get me to pay you to drill my teeth when they don’t hurt. ” – Seth Godin

 

Increase your visibility

Are you invisible? If you sell a product or offer a service, how do you gain visibility? How do you let potential clients know about you and what you offer?

• How do you gain “top of mind share” with your target audience?
• How do find ways to stay in front of customers and clients when they don’t need you?

If you are visible enough, you will increase your value.  And the probability that customers will call you when they need you. But… your visibilty must offer value. Visibility, alone, is not sufficient.

• Billboards and radio ads? – Not enough value. Recognition, perhaps.
• Yellow Page ads? I doubt it. I throw mine into the recycle bin as soon as they are delivered.

Can you create new products or services – for those times when your customer’s teeth don’t ache? Or when their drains drain? Seth Godin cites the “Teeth Whitening” services that dentists now offer. 

What additional services can you offer? 

What services can you offer? How can you get clients to come into your store or to visit your website? At times when they don’t need your products or services?

Blogs are one way – to get customers to learn more about you. And for you to offer something of value to your customers and potential customers.

As I develop my training and speaking business, I am finding that offering short, free, and focused video lessons is a great way to build awareness of what I offer – and how I offer it. I have also started posting these Excel video lessons on YouTube. I’ll also open up MySpace and Facebook sites soon.

People ask me, “Why are you giving away something for free?” Because I believe that by doing something good to others (offering something of value with no expectation of repayment) you will end up doing good for yourself.

Increase your value. Increase your visibility!

Communications / Body Language

• “Don’t Point Your Finger!”
• “Learn to control your finger pointing”
• “What is your speaking rate?”

Career

• “The Best Career Advice – Ever!”
• “How to move forward in your career”

Thank you for visiting my blog!

I invite you to visit my new website offering “Tips and Time-savers for MS Excel”

Communications / Body Language

• “Don’t point your finger!”
• “Learn to control your finger pointing”
• “Learn to speak with your handshake”
• “What is your speaking rate?”

Customer Service

• “Empathy – serve it to your customers”

Music / The Arts

• “Why study Music?”

Thank you for visiting my site!

I am down here training a client for a few days. Right now, I am enjoying a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean from my hotel room. I’ll be back posting tomorrow.

Hasta la Vista!

Do you remember those “iconic” commercials from the early 70’s with Ella Fitzgerald? We would witness Ella’s “live” performance being recorded on to a Memorex cassette. When she hit a high note her voice actually shattered a Champagne flute. And then we would hear the playback from the cassette tape and – “miracle of miracles” – another glass would shatter!

With Memorex tapes there would be no loss in audio quality. Transfer your music from one physical medium – the vinyl LP record – to another physical medium – the Memorex audio tape. You would minimize audio degradation – the more you played your LP record the greater the loss in fidelity. And … you would minimize the “generational loss” from transferring the sound source from one medium to another.

Not to mention portability and accessibility – you could now listen to your Memorex cassettes in your car or in a portable audio player. And… the sound quality would be so good. “Is it Live? Or is it Memorex?”

I was reminded of these commercials when I read Pogue’s Posts: “Are Digital Orchestras a Sign of the Times?”in the NY Times. David Pogue is a terrific writer and this is a thoughtful article. This particular posting has received over 75 comments from readers so far. Click here to read the full article and comments from readers.

Are live musicians actually playing tonight? Or am I listening to a digital recording of a live musician? Often, it is nearly impossible to tell. Can you?

Let the debate rage on. And… at least on the NY Times website it is quite lively in response to David Pogue’s article.

Did audio cassettes cause the demise of the vinyl LP record? No. Did it help to change our listening habit? Definitely!

We can argue in a similar vein about how the Compact Disc changed both the music industry and our listening habits. Then on to how digital downloading music (both legally and illegally) have altered the sound-scape in our lives.

Do you prefer to listen to music at home or to attend a live performance? If you are like me, I enjoy both – each for different reasons.

Do you prefer having a DJ program the music at your event or do you engage a live band? That is your choice. There are pros and cons to accompany each decision. Take your pick.

As technology evolves so do we. Albeit, some more relutantly than others. Technology does not replace human effort. Technology enables humans to have more options. Technology allows us to develop that wich makes us human – the ability to make choices. Both rational and emotional. The choice is yours.

What are your thoughts on this topic. I invite you to take a few minutes to share your opinion in the space below.

Meanwhile, thank you for your patience. Please explore my archive of articles. Just use the handy SEARCH box to access an article of your choice or topic.

Thanks!

Danny

I will not be posting for a few days. It is time to perform some necessary updates to my blog and website.

Enjoy your weekend!

Danny

This is why I found it interesting:

1. The article was originally printed (yes, old media) in the May, 2005 version of Business Week Magazine.
2. It was also published on-line. The editors say that they continue to see this article downloaded by thousands of visitors.
3. The article is now fully “annotated” with updates, corrections and extensions to the original article.
4. For me, this reveals the true promise of electronic publishing. No longer can we say, “It is set in type.” Dead media comes alive!

For anyone interested in a quick, informative introduction to the world of “Social Media” – and how it may impact your business, your products and your customers – this is your starting point.

If you enjoy the article, share it with your friends. And… tell our readers what you think. Add your comments below.

- Ernest Hemingway

Great advice! Difficult to achieve. But I am working on it.

I am making a concerted effort to write in a more compact style. One that is better suited for blogs and for reading on-line. It requires a lot of work – just as anything worth achieving does.

As part of my study, I have been researching a variety of blogs.  One of the best is “Seth Godin’s Blog.” Simple, direct, compelling.

Click here to read his post on the difference between “urgency” and “importance.”

I mean no disrespect to Stephen Covey – he devoted 50 pages to explaining and illustrating this concept – but Seth captured the essence in just these few words:

“Add up enough urgencies and you don’t get a fire, you get a career. A career putting out fires never leads to the goal you had in mind all along.

I guess the trick is to make the long term items even more urgent than today’s emergencies. Break them into steps and give them deadlines. Measure your people on what they did today in support of where you need to be next month.

If you work in an urgent-only culture, the only solution is to make the right things urgent.”

Brilliant!