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Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Carolyn Wilman: You Can't Win If You Don't Enter - Blog Business Success Radio
Contest Queen, and author of the fun and informative book You Can't Win If You Don't Enter: Canadian Edition, Carolyn Wilman describes the power of contests and promotions as marketing tools. She also shares secrets to holding contests the right way, and how to avoid the common mistakes that keep a contest from being a success.
Carolyn Wilman is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on Blog Talk Radio.
The show airs live on Thursday, October 30, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.
Contest Queen, and author of the fun and informative book You Can't Win If You Don't Enter: Canadian Edition, Carolyn Wilman describes the power of contests and promotions as marketing tools. You will learn:
* Why businesses run contests as a marketing and publicity tool
* How to run a successful contest for your company
* How to win contests as a professional contestant
* How the internet and text messaging have changed the contest landscape
Carolyn Wilman (photo left) is a successful professional with over twenty years promotion, event, marketing, sales and customer service management experience. Carolyn founded Imagination Edge Inc. in 1994 as a small-business marketing consulting firm. She created On-Demand and Relief Marketing services allowing small companies to obtain the experience and personalized services of a professional marketer without the financial commitment of a marketing department or adding additional full-time staff.
In 2004, after spending two years managing the back end of the business as well as being a stay-at-home mom, Carolyn took the love of her contesting hobby and combined it with her extensive marketing background. The result was the first Internet-focused contest resource book in Canada called You Can't Win If You Don't Enter: Canadian Edition. In conjunction with the book she launched the first contest resource website in Canada, Contest Queen with links to contesting sites, groups and forums, contest management companies, contesting software and more.
In keeping with her objective of teaching others how to have fun, she produces a free bi-weekly e-newsletter called The Winning EDGE that includes contesting stories, tips, tricks and links to new contests. Carolyn also runs workshops: How to Win Cash, Cars, Trips and More…Online and Attracting Luck for hundreds of people annually.
After being a featured speaker at several promotional events and US sweepstaking conventions she formed Canada’s first contesting clubs. Once several clubs had been firmly established, Carolyn co-founded the Canadian Contestors Association which runs the Annual National Contestors Convention. Carolyn and the convention were featured in the documentary Winning for a Living.
Carolyn has a unique perspective having "sat at both sides of the table", as both marketer and entrant, she is able to help her clients understand promotions from their customer's perspective and avoid the types of mistakes currently occurring in contests over and over again. She created Contest Auditing, Contest Pre-testing and Contest Education and Strategies services allowing companies to ensure a contest is designed to meet their objectives, and the promotion is operating properly, within government regulations, before public release.
My book review of You Can't Win If You Don't Enter: Canadian Edition by Carolyn Wilman.
Listen live on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.
If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.
To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832
Let's talk with Contest Queen, and author of the fun and informative book You Can't Win If You Don't Enter: Canadian Edition, Carolyn Wilman as she describes the power of contests and promotions as marketing tools. She also shares secrets to holding contests the right way, and how to avoid the common mistakes that keep a contest from being a success on Blog Business Success Radio.
Monday, October 27, 2008
You Can't Win If You Don't Enter by Carolyn Wilman - Book review
You Can't Win If You Don't Enter: Canadian Edition
By: Carolyn Wilman
Published: January 26, 2006
Format: Paperback 202 pp
ISBN-10: 1419613286
ISBN-13: 978-1419613289
Publisher: BookSurge
Contests are a way for for companies to attract and keep customers, pure and simple, writes professional contestant Carolyn Wilman in her fun and informative book You Can't Win If You Don't Enter: Canadian Edition. The author describes how to run contests to attract potential customers, and also shares very detailed techniques for entering and winning contests.
Carolyn Wilman calls herself the Contest Queen, and with good reason. She not only divulges her insider secrets to entering and winning contests, but also provides valuable insights into how a business can utilize the power of contests to build a customer base. The author doesn't win every contest she enters, but her success rate is quite good, as she writes about several of her major prize wins. She also talks candidly about her losses, and that strengthens the book and its concepts. Contests, even after applying methods of increasing the winning odds, are still a numbers game after all.
Carolyn Wilman (photo left) recommends several proven ways to win each type of mail, in person, or internet contest. She even includes techniques for success in text message and SMS based contests. While the book is about Canadian contests, there is also an American edition that shares secrets for would be American contestants. Many of the winning secrets are common to all contests, regardless of North American geographical location. Along with the advice for winning, are some valuable warnings about bad contests, scams, viruses, and spam avoidance. Knowing how to spot a scam may be even more valuable for many readers, than knowing how to win a major prize.
For me, the power of the book is its practical approach to contests for both contestants and for businesses utilizing prize winning as a marketing tool. The book contains many screen shots for entrants, and those techniques can be adapted for successful business contests. The section on contests as a customer building technique is especially useful. At the same time, Carolyn Wilman shares with her readers the fun and enjoyment, that everyone involved feels, when entering and winning a contest.
I recommend You Can't Win If You Don't Enter: Canadian Edition by Carolyn Wilman, to anyone considering becoming a successful professional contestant. I also recommend the book to business people seeking to use the power of contests, for marketing and publicity purposes, and for attracting customers to their company.
Read You Can't Win If You Don't Enter: Canadian Edition by Carolyn Wilman, and put yourself in the winner's circle whether your company is running the contest, or you become the lucky prize winner yourself.
Tags: You Can't Win If You Don't Enter: Canadian Edition, Carolyn Wilman, contest marketing, business book reviews.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Jonathan Salem Baskin: Branding Only Works On Cattle - Blog Business Success Radio
Marketing expert and author of the landmark book Branding Only Works on Cattle: The New Way to Get Known (and drive your competitors crazy), Jonathan Salem Baskin reveals how modern consumers are harder to find, more difficult to convince & almost impossible to retain. They make decisions based on experience, so what matters isn't how creative, cool, or memorable the advertising is, but how companies can directly target consumer behavior. He describes how companies affect behavior & whether via marketing communications, distribution strategies, or customer service; that is how branding is being reborn.
Jonathan Baskin is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on Blog Talk Radio.
The show airs live on Tuesday, October 28, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.
Marketing expert and author of the landmark book Branding Only Works on Cattle: The New Way to Get Known (and drive your competitors crazy), Jonathan Salem Baskin reveals how modern consumers are harder to find, more difficult to convince & almost impossible to retain. You will learn:
* Why branding doesn't matter like in the past
* How an anti-brand revolution is taking place
* Why empowered consumers can bypass brand marketing messages
* How social media has changed the importance of brands
Jonathan Salem Baskin (photo left) is the principal of Baskin Associates. He has led some of the most successful marketing campaigns in recent history, working with Nissan, Blockbuster, Apple, and GE. He speaks extensively on marketing panels and runs the highly popular marketing blog, Dim Bulb.
My book review of Branding Only Works on Cattle: The New Way to Get Known (and drive your competitors crazy) by Jonathan Salem Baskin.
Listen live on Tuesday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.
If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.
To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832
Let's talk with marketing expert and author of the landmark book Branding Only Works on Cattle: The New Way to Get Known (and drive your competitors crazy), Jonathan Salem Baskin as he reveals how modern consumers are harder to find, more difficult to convince & almost impossible to retain. They make decisions based on experience, so what matters isn't how creative, cool, or memorable the advertising is, but how companies can directly target consumer behavior. He describes how companies affect behavior & whether via marketing communications, distribution strategies, or customer service; that is how branding is being reborn Blog Business Success Radio.
Tags: Jonathan Salem Baskin, Branding Only Works on Cattle, brands and branding, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Branding Only Works On Cattle by Jonathan Salem Baskin - Book review
Branding Only Works on Cattle
The New Way to Get Known (and drive your competitors crazy)
By: Jonathan Salem Baskin
Published: Sept 1, 2008
ISBN: 9780446178013
Format: Hardcover, 272pp
Publisher: Business Plus
Branding doesn't work anymore." With that provocative statement, marketing expert Jonathan Salem Baskin, turns conventional wisdom about brands and branding upside down in his landmark book Branding Only Works on Cattle: The New Way to Get Known (and drive your competitors crazy). The author challenges marketers to consider the unthinkable concept that branding is useless, and wouldn't be missed if it disappeared entirely.
Jonathan Salem Baskin asks new, and often uncomfortable questions, about the emphasis on branding that takes place in most companies. With the loss of media and message channel control, marketers are discovering that people are returning to personal interaction and referrals to purchase products and services. Jonathan Baskin points out that in the real world people buy things, even if the company believes mistakenly that the brand image was the actual purchase. The actual behavior of the buyer is seen by branders as less important than some vague emotional impact.
Jonathan Salem Baskin (photo left) recognizes that consumers are not asking for more branding. People don't trust advertising and tend to avoid it or tune it out. In the rise of what the author considers an anti-brand backlash, the real proof of a brand is in consumer behavior, and that is often frightening for marketers. Control of the message is lost to the highly empowered consumers who no longer needs brands to express themselves. The internet and social media have replaced brands as identity, making most of what takes place online within internet communities irrelevant to any brands.
For me, the power of this must read book is the powerful challenge made to conventional wisdom and mythology surrounding brands. Over time, the myth of brand importance has overtaken research into real world consumer behavior. Customers judge a business by its products and customer service, not by what is often perceived as a false brand image. The author's recognition of the the empowered consumer, with an unlimited number of choices in their own hands, is important to understanding the decline of branding. The modern informational age has created a post-brand economy, where customer behavior is more important than a vague product image.
I highly recommend Branding Only Works on Cattle: The New Way to Get Known (and drive your competitors crazy) by Jonathan Salem Baskin, to any business people serious about marketing in a post-branding world. By challenging what marketers thought they knew about the value of brands on consumer behavior, the book is an eye opener into how consumers really make those all important buying decisions.
Read Branding Only Works on Cattle: The New Way to Get Known (and drive your competitors crazy) by Jonathan Salem Baskin, and you will never believe the old and outdated ideas about branding again. Instead, you will escape the trap of conventional branding thought, and enter the new anti-brand world with confidence and success; and the sales to prove it.
Tags: Branding Only Works on Cattle, Jonathan Salem Baskin, brands and branding, business book reviews.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
John Tanner: The Hard Truth About Soft-Selling - Blog Business Success Radio
Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, and co-author of the no nonsense and eye opening book The Hard Truth About Soft-Selling: Restoring Pride & Purpose to the Sales Profession, Jeff Tanner critiques the soft-sell revolution that saw a shift from traditional selling to simply consulting and how the emphasis on relationship building has lessened the focus on business-building. He describes why a persuasive selling approach is often appropriate and expected from buyers.
John Tanner is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on Blog Talk Radio.
The show airs live on Thursday, October 23, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.
Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, and co-author of the no nonsense and eye opening book The Hard Truth About Soft-Selling: Restoring Pride & Purpose to the Sales Profession, Jeff Tanner critiques the soft-sell revolution that saw a shift from traditional selling to simply consulting and how the emphasis on relationship building has lessened the focus on business-building. You will learn:
* Why the promise of soft-selling didn't deliver as expected
* The different types of sales people
* Why sales people really sell and their motivation
* How intention based selling is more honest and effective
Professor John F. (Jeff) Tanner, Jr. (photo left) is Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business.His research interests include exhibit marketing and customer relationship management (CRM). His sales management research has won numerous awards, resulting in invitations to speak and teach around th eworld. He and his family live on a farm near Waco, Texas, where he breeds thoroughbred race horses.
My book review of The Hard Truth About Soft-Selling: Restoring Pride & Purpose to the Sales Profession by John F. Tanner and George W. Dudley
Listen live on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.
If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.
To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832
Let's talk with Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, and co-author of the no nonsense and eye opening book The Hard Truth About Soft-Selling: Restoring Pride & Purpose to the Sales Profession, Jeff Tanner as he critiques the soft-sell revolution that saw a shift from traditional selling to simply consulting and how the emphasis on relationship building has lessened the focus on business-building. He describes why a persuasive selling approach is often appropriate and expected from buyers on Blog Business Success Radio.
Tags: John Tanner, The Hard Truth About Soft-Selling, sales techniques, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.
Monday, October 20, 2008
MaAnna Stephenson: The Sage Age - Author interview
Your book is titled The Sage Age: Blending Science with Intuitive Wisdom. Is there common ground between the worlds of physics and metaphysics?
MaAnna Stephenson: There is an amazing amount of common ground between physics and metaphysics. Many collaborative studies have been conducted ever since the discoveries of electricity and electromagnetism in the 1600s and especially since experimentation by Michael Faraday in the early 1800s. The advent of quantum physics in the early 1900s spawned a renewed interest in blending science with intuitive wisdom simply because the early founders of quantum physics lacked an appropriate context for the philosophical underpinnings of their discoveries. Many of them began consulting ancient texts such as the Vedas for perspective.
Another blending occurred in the early 1900s during the debates concerning light as both a particle and a wave. It’s important to remember that this particular debate originated among ancient Greek philosophers and was taken up by both Arabic and Chinese philosophers during that time. Galileo, Newton and Einstein all grappled with it as well. But it wasn’t until the twentieth century that technological advancements allowed for direct experimentation. It was found that light was both a particle and a wave and that you find what you set up the experiment to find. This duality and the role of the observer in quantum level equations demanded that physicists take a philosophical interest in the wisdom of metaphysics derived by intuitive practice to explain how these things could be so.
How important is education to these two long isolated communities to sharing and learning about one another, and how their ideas can be united?
MaAnna Stephenson: It’s not only important, it is mandatory. Now is the time of the Da Vinci’s and those willing to value all ways of knowing. Science, as we now consider it, is a relatively new invention of rational thought. It is mainly a construct of Western thinking. Humans lived by intuitive practice for far longer than they have adhered to the known laws of physics.
If we consider the advancement of human intellect to be like the swinging of a pendulum across a continuum, we lived for eons on the side of intuitive practice and only a short while on the side of rational science. To move forward, we must stop this dualistic motion and go together in a new direction. We can no longer value one way of knowing to the exclusion of any other way.
History is as much about our future is it is about our past. It’s important to remember how these communities became isolated. Religions and religious leaders rose to power from eons of intuitive practice. The emergence of science threatened that power structure and was effectively squelched by threat of death or excommunication. One of the greatest gifts to science was given by the acts of Kepler and Newton, who were both very religious men, and who found a way to use their knowledge of the religious power structure to lift the heavy hand of the church off the throats of Western scientists.
Today, the pendulum is swinging the other direction. Science facilities are now in a state of power. Although researchers who wish to incorporate an element of intuitive wisdom to their findings are no longer put to death, they are still threatened by excommunication from academia or loss of their profession. Finally, enough scientists have come forward to slow this trend and are willing to meet with intuitives to learn their culture and language in an effort to combine that knowledge with scientific research and findings.
Western thinking has long been compartmentalized into different and often very siloed disciplines with little contact or common ground between them. How is the modern age taking a more holistic approach to thought?
MaAnna Stephenson: Both Eastern and Western thought sprang from a common source, which was ancient Mesopotamia. This common root developed into two ways of thinking. Western tradition was greatly affected by Hellenistic thinking, which was an either/or mindset. Eastern philosophy held to a both/and way of thinking and perceiving. Mainly due to its closed door policy to outsiders, China has remained truer to its root. This allowed both ways of thinking to expand without influence of one another and come to fruit. The politics we see today are a reflection of a much bigger shift toward combining these matured elements into a new way of perceiving, knowing and being.
Western science is a reflection of the either/or mindset and the compartmentalization of thinking. Da Vinci (self portrait shown left) was willing to investigate everything. He brought the knowledge of multiple disciplines to every project. Today, western science encompasses a broad field of specialized disciplines. The left hand doesn’t even know that the right hand exists, much less what it is doing. Many higher education facilities focus solely on technology and give no credence to the value of the liberal arts.
In the early 1900s, Heisenberg, who was one of the founders of quantum physics, lamented this trend by stating, “I believe that certain erroneous developments in particle theory…are caused by a misconception by some physicists that it is possible to avoid philosophical arguments altogether. Starting with poor philosophy, they pose the wrong questions. It is only a slight exaggeration to say that good physics has at times been spoiled by poor philosophy.”
In many ways, the advancement of modern science has caused as many problems as it has solved. Because of this, there is an urgent need to bring philosophy and intuitive wisdom to the forefront to balance the trend. In the very near future, breakthroughs in physics, biology, and chemistry will be so revolutionary as to be ethics shattering. We must begin now to think holistically. For example, what burden will be placed on countries and governments with limited resources if we suddenly find a way to all live to be 200 years old?
How do you solve the age old debate of the separation or the union of mind and body?
MaAnna Stephenson: We exist as mind, body, and spirit simultaneously and we cannot escape that fact. Although he is not the originator of the idea, Plato’s writings solidified this notion in Western thought and it has been exploited by science ever since. However, experiments like those at the PEAR lab at Princeton demonstrate that the intangible component of intent has a quantifiable effect on the physical realm.
Armed with that evidence, as more people lose faith in a purely scientifically based health care system, due to a perception of greed and incompetence, they are more willing to take responsibility for their physical well-being by seeking alternative care that focuses on how they actually feel, not just the response their body is having. This trend alone reinforces the fact that they can change their body by how they think.
Advancements in the philosophy that underpins quantum physics is also contributing to this turn of events. The research suggests that there is an invisible realm of energy which upholds and manifests the visible realm. Our mind and spirit are part of that invisible realm that directly effects the body.
How is the body really an antenna to both the rational and scientific world and to the metaphysical world?
MaAnna Stephenson: The body is a multi-faceted antenna system that consists of the physical body, the subtle energy bodies and various processing centers. The first four chapters of the book cover these topics in detail including the physical body antenna, the mind-body antenna, the subtle energy bodies and thought.
The human body is a crystalline lattice that forms a dipole antenna, similar to those used for Ham radios. Piezo crystals, which convert electrical energy into mechanical energy and vice versa, are found in the bones, intestines, ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. The body is also full of liquid crystals and minerals that make up the lattice. Placing the body in different positions, such as those used in the ritual postures of prayer, yoga, and Tai Chi, changes how the crystalline lattice is oriented to the Earth plane, affecting which frequencies it transceives. Changing positions also affects the length of the antenna, which is an important parameter in frequency selection. These are the same principles used for the design of broadcast and receiving antennas in telecommunication.
Cell membranes are liquid crystal structures. A single cell in the body is a very small, very short antenna. Because it is so short, the frequency it transceives is very high and loaded with energy. Individually, each cell is either acting as a broadcast antenna and transmitting its status or acting as a receiving antenna to obtain what it needs. Collectively, similar cells transmit their own unique signal. For example, liver cells differ slightly from spleen cells. Individually, each liver cell would transceive its own signal, but collectively, all liver cells transceive as if they are one large antenna operating on the same frequency. This is the basic principle used in acupuncture.
In ancient Chinese medicine, the liver is not considered to be just one specific organ located in just one place inside the body, as Western anatomy would picture it. In ancient Chinese medical philosophy, “liver” is considered to be a specific energy, or vibration, radiating within and through the entire body system.
Some of the subtle energy bodies provide an energetic template for the physical body. Other subtle energy bodies provide supersensory perception of frequencies which the physical body cannot interpret directly but are loaded with information the body can use. Perhaps an analogy will help clarify this idea. Visible light is only a small fraction of the entire electromagnetic (EM) spectrum.
Radio broadcast signals are carried on a higher frequency of light that is beyond our ability to see or interact with directly. We must have a device outside our physical body to receive those signals and translate them into something we can perceive physically. In other words, a radio receiver converts high frequency light waves into sound waves that our physical body can perceive. Several of the subtle energy bodies provide this same function by transceiving signals beyond what our physical body can interpret directly.
Your book includes sections on quantum physics, relativity, chaos theory, and string theory. How are these sciences connected to the intuitive thought process?
MaAnna Stephenson: In recent years, many books and articles have surfaced which attempt to explain the philosophical implications of advancements in quantum physics and related disciplines to ancient tradition and thought. This trend has been very helpful to establish a bridge for dialogue between the two cultures. However, there is a lot of confusion about terminology and a lack of perspective from a holistic point of view. For instance, the term dimension is used very differently between the rational sciences and the intuitive arts. In science, the word dimension refers to a plane of measure, such as length.
In the intuitive arts, the word dimension describes a realm of existence. So, some of the literature draws conclusions that don’t actually exist. For instance, a point on a Cartesian grid is described by the two dimensions of length and height, or x,y coordinates. To describe the momentary position of a jet flying through the sky, a minimum of three spatial dimensions is necessary and four dimensions are needed to describe its changing position.
String Theory requires a minimum of ten dimensions to be described and eleven dimensions for the equations to be truly understood. String Theory, which is now a subset of M-Theory, does not suggest that there multiple universes running parallel to our own. That is described in another theory that was devised to eliminate the necessity of an observer from quantum equations.
Many folks don’t know that relativity consists of three separate theories that impact science and intuitive thought in different ways. Most also don’t know that chaos theory is not about chaos, but an underlying order to a system that is too complex to comprehend. So, the book demystifies and clarifies these concepts with easy to understand analogies in order to give the reader a baseline of knowledge to help them truly understand the concepts and discern the truth in whatever else they read.
There is also a chapter on alternative medicine practices for those who come from a more scientific background to help them with confusing terms, like why you don’t actually get touched during a Touch Therapy session. All of these chapters include a bit of history on each topic because it gives a holistic perspective to the progress of human thought. An advancement in one discipline opens doors to advancements in all other areas.
Are we seeing a blending of the rational scientist and intuitive practitioner as the holistic science of the future?
MaAnna Stephenson: To move forward together, folks from the rational sciences and intuitives sciences must be willing to learn each other's culture and language. To do that, we must first quit pointing fingers at one another and saying, “You don’t know what we are talking about”, or worse, “You don’t know what you are talking about.” When that issue, and the ensuing power struggle is resolved, yes, I think that we will be able to have a holistic science that values all ways of learning and knowing.
If you’ve ever seen an episode of Star Trek you’ve likely seen a device called a tricorder. It reads the energy signature of things without physically touching them. We are much closer to having that device than most may realize. I am dedicated to being a bridge builder that fosters a community of cooperation through education because it will take a rational scientist to build the device and an intuitive to calibrate it.
MaAnna Stephenson (photo left)
What is next for MaAnna Stephenson?
MaAnna Stephenson: Having The Sage Age: Blending Science with Intuitive Wisdom published required me to take a crash course in marketing so, I’m putting my technical writing skills to use by creating eBooks detailing the basics of using online marketing venues such as blogs and websites. They are written for the non-techie with no geek-speak and will be published in late 2008.
My wood carvings will be featured in two national magazines in late 2008 as well, and I have been asked by the publisher to write a book on the carving technique. That project will begin in spring of 2009. My illustrator is drawing up the slides for a class on acoustics for energy workers that’s already written, which I will begin presenting in early 2009 and hope to develop into a webinar format so folks from all over the country can attend without traveling. Publishing the book also required me to postpone recording a new music CD of melodic New Age material. I hope to return to that project sometime in 2009 and record a smooth jazz CD right behind it.
My book review of The Sage Age: Blending Science with Intuitive Wisdom by MaAnna Stephenson
Tags: MaAnna Stephenson, The Sage Age, science, philosophy, author interviews.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The Sage Age by MaAnna Stephenson - Book review
The Sage Age
Blending Science with Intuitive Wisdom
by MaAnna Stephenson
Published: January 2008
ISBN: 1933449632
ISBN-13: 9781933449630
Format: Paperback 356pp
Publisher: Nightengale Press
The technological and spiritual evolution of the human race is progressing very rapidly, writes MaAnna Stephenson in her landmark book The Sage Age: Blending Science with Intuitive Wisdom. The author's powerful achievement is her awareness of the interconnectedness, of the natural sciences and the human mind, leading to an emerging paradigm shift in scientific thought.
MaAnna Stephenson moves beyond New Age thinking about body harmonics and combines her intuitive analysis with hard scientific research and evidence. Instead of the usual polarization lack of discourse between the scientific community and the New Age practitioners, MaAnna Stephenson provides a bridge between the two modes of thought. The result is a synthesis of scientific reason with intuitive feeling. By traversing this seemingly infinite chasm, the book describes a new framework for science and for intuitive sensation.
MaAnna Stephenson (photo left) approaches the latest research in cutting edge sciences including string theory and chaos theory with relativity and quantum physics with an eye to understanding them in a holistic way. Rather than the compartmentalized thinking that has dominated science in recent years, the author provides steps toward bringing science to the personal level. By demonstrating how the body is in tune with the universe, using the language of physics, biology, and chemisty, MaAnna Stephenson develops her idea of the body as a finely tuned antenna.
For me, the power of the book is its groundbreaking combination of hard science with intuitive feeling. Like the long standing philosophical debate of mind and body unity, science and New Age thought have existed in separate realms. MaAnna Stephenson reunites science with both Eastern and Western philosophical schools, and then reconnects science with the inner self. She provides clear evidence that everything in the universe is part of its grandeur. The various scientific explanations and intuitive experiences are merely different approaches to the same age old puzzle.
I highly recommend The Sage Age: Blending Science with Intuitive Wisdom by MaAnna Stephenson, to anyone seeking answers beyond those provided by the separation of science, religion, or New Age thought. In this remarkable book, MaAnna Stephenson achieves a holistic reunion of the self, with its place in the universe, through education and understanding.
Read The Sage Age: Blending Science with Intuitive Wisdom by MaAnna Stephenson, and follow her thought from the body and the inner self to the formation of the universe with the Big Bang, and back again. The book carries you through every branch of scientific and intuitive thought, to reach across the bridge that separates these two solitudes, and unites them once again in the self.
Tags: The Sage Age: Blending Science with Intuitive Wisdom, MaAnna Stephenson, science, philosophy, book reviews.
Joel Zeff: Make the Right Choice - Blog Business Success Radio
Improvisational actor, humorist, and dynamic speaker Joel Zeff, author of the humorous, outlook changing primer Make the Right Choice: Creating a Positive, Innovative, and Productive Work Life helps employees, managers and employers tap into the power of choice and initiative with his humor-driven focus on happiness and passion at work.
Joel Zeff is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on Blog Talk Radio.
The show airs live on Tuesday, October 21, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.
Humorist and speaker Joel Zeff, and best selling author of the humorous, outlook changing primer Make the Right Choice: Creating a Positive, Innovative, and Productive Work Life helps employees, managers and employers tap into the power of personal choice. You will learn:
* How humor and fun will boost workplace productivity
* How games can build team work and working toward a common goal
* How to get rid of time wasting meetings and conference calls
* How to enhance creativity and innovation within the organization
Joel Zeff (photo left) creates energy. His spontaneous humor and vital messages have thrilled audiences for years. As a national speaker and humorist, Joel captivates audiences with a unique blend of hilarious improvisational comedy and essential ideas on work and life. Corporations and organizations nationwide seek him out to motivate and energize their employees on such topics as creativity, communication, teamwork, passion and fun. His first book, Make the Right Choice: Creating a Positive, Innovative, and Productive Work Life was just published by John Wiley & Sons.
A former newspaper journalist and public relations executive, Joel started his own consulting business in 1994. His business initially focused on helping technology and telecommunications companies with marketing, advertising and public relations. As he came in contact with so many corporate cultures, he noticed the glaring need for employees to have more fun and re-energize their creative spirit.
Since 1993, he has performed with Ad-Libs, one of the country's premier improvisational comedy troupes. Joel performs with Ad-Libs at the troupe's theater in Downtown Dallas and across the country for corporate events. As an improvisational actor, Joel studied for a short time at the famed Second City Conservatory in Chicago, Illinois.
Joel fuses his knowledge of improvisation and his experience with the corporate world to create presentations that make a difference. His humor and style create a positive and comfortable environment for his audience that allows them to take risks and explore their creativity. His funny and poignant presentations have been met with roaring approval from hundreds of companies and organizations and thousands of audience members. Joel makes audiences laugh, but he also makes them think. Participants discover for themselves how to apply his messages to become better people and better employees.
When he is not speaking, Joel explores his own creativity and communication skills as an actor and writer. In Dallas, he was co-host of The Movie Zone on UPN 21. He has appeared in commercials for Harrah's Casino, Mydiscountbroker.com, Time Warner Cable, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Eagle Country Markets, and Extraco Bank. He has also appeared in corporate videos for Pepsi, Pier One, Hewlett-Packard, EDS, Nortel Networks, and J.C. Penney's.
My book review of Make the Right Choice: Creating a Positive, Innovative, and Productive Work Life by Joel Zeff.
Listen live on Tuesday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.
If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.
To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832
Let's talk with improvisational actor, humorist, and dynamic speaker Joel Zeff, author of the humorous, outlook changing primer Make the Right Choice: Creating a Positive, Innovative, and Productive Work Life as he helps employees, managers and employers tap into the power of choice and initiative with his humor-driven focus on happiness and passion at work on Blog Business Success Radio.
Tags: Joel Zeff, Make the Right Choice, improved workplace, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The Hard Truth About Soft-Selling by George Dudley & John Tanner - Book review
The Hard Truth About Soft-Selling
Restoring Pride & Purpose to the Sales Profession
By: John F. Tanner, George W. Dudley
Published: June 30, 2006
ISBN-10: 0935907084
ISBN-13: 978-0935907087
Format: Paperback, 200pp
Publisher: Behavioral Science Research Press
In Real World 101, in addition to meeting your customer's objective, your professional objective as the seller must remain the same: to close the sale. If it's not, you're wasting your time, write sales experts John F. Tanner and George W. Dudley in their no nonsense and eye opening book The Hard Truth About Soft-Selling: Restoring Pride & Purpose to the Sales Profession. The authors dispel many of the myths that have grown up around the soft-selling approach, and provide the real facts about sales as a profession.
John F. Tanner (photo left) and George W. Dudley pull no punches as they critique the concept of "no sell" sales. The authors believe that salespeople have been taught to build relationships and develop friendships over their real purpose of sales. The result is a loss of direction for sales representatives, as well as a more insidious belief that sales must become more professional. Salespeople have become almost apologetic for their career, in the opinion of the authors. The book reminds sales representatives to sell with honour, pride, and intention.
George W. Dudley (photo left) and John F. Tanner outline how the promises of the new relationship sales phenomenon has not always been met in the real world. The authors point out quite bluntly, that sales reps are not paid commissions on the number of friends acquired, or relationships built. Instead, sales employee compensation is based on the resulting sales completed. The no sell theory creates a group of visitors who close few sales, and the result is an even further decline in the reputation of sales as a career.
For me, the power of the book is its straight forward and honest discussion of what sales mean in terms of intention and results. The authors explain why ethics and honesty are often missing, from the often inflexible theories, of no sell type sales programs. In its place, the book outlines a more honest approach to closing the sale, based on intention. The sales rep must understand their intention when contacting a prospect, so as to close the sale. Ironically, this direct intention based approach is less manipulative, than many of the purported no sell and soft-sell techniques, currently in wide circulation.
I highly recommend The Hard Truth About Soft-Selling: Restoring Pride & Purpose to the Sales Profession by John F. Tanner and George W. Dudley, to anyone seeking an alternative selling approach to the widely promoted soft-selling theories. Instead of apologizing about the intended sale, the book honourable choice to call yourself a salesperson proudly.
Read The Hard Truth About Soft-Selling: Restoring Pride & Purpose to the Sales Profession by John F. Tanner and George W. Dudley, and stop being afraid of what might happen if your sales intentions are understood clearly. Honesty will help solve a customer's problems and meet their needs better and more quickly, than spending time attempting a relationship building process first.
Tags: The Hard Truth About Soft-Selling, John F. Tanner, George W. Dudley , sales techniques, business book reviews.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Make The Right Choice by Joel Zeff - Book review
Make the Right Choice
Creating a Positive, Innovative, and Productive Work Life
By: Joel Zeff
Published: Aug 10, 2007
ISBN: 9780470099292
Format: Hardcover, 208pp
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
We all crave opportunity and positive support to fuel us to accomplish our goals, writes best selling author Joel Zeff in his humorous, outlook changing primer Make the Right Choice: Creating a Positive, Innovative, and Productive Work Life. Fun, passion, and happiness are choices that can improve workplace teamwork and productivity, while enhancing the appreciation of the company's employees.
Joel Zeff understands that people choose to be happy at work, while others choose to be negative and opposed to change. That difference in attitude is one of choice. Instead of catering the naysayers in the organization, and falling for myths that fun is not productive, the author sets out the value of games and of play for strengthening an organization. Change is constant, and how people meet and embrace that change will often determine a company's success.
Joel Zeff packs the book with humor and running jokes as he tackles serious workplace issues. The challenges include developing stronger teams, running more productive meetings, creative problem solving, and discovering new ways of rewarding and thanking employees for a job well done. In the end, the author recognizes that happiness is a personal choice made on the individual level. The person can choose to do the job in the best possible way, and help others succeed at their tasks as well. That personal choice to enjoy life, and to have fun at work, will also create a more productive employee.
For me, the power of the book is the combination of humor with practical techniques and games for developing happier employees. Instead of an organization where internal competition or lack of creativity stifles teamwork, the games help overcome barriers to working together toward a common goal. Instead of the time wasting activities of endless meetings and conference calls, Joel Zeff proposes creative problem solving, accepting change, and building a happier team. The result is a more productive and profitable organization, as well as more satisfied customers.
I highly recommend Make the Right Choice: Creating a Positive, Innovative, and Productive Work Life by Joel Zeff, to anyone choosing to have more fun at work. Anyone seeking to develop a happier and more innovative work life will benefit from this book. Instead of letting the negative types who shoot down every new idea get in the way of change, forge ahead with passion and play, creating a new type of fun workplace.
Read Make the Right Choice: Creating a Positive, Innovative, and Productive Work Life by Joel Zeff, and change your attitude from unhappy and disgruntled to happy and fun loving. Work is much more fun when it's turned into play.
Tags: Make the Right Choice, Joel Zeff, improved workplace, business book reviews.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Jamie Showkeir & Maren Showkeir: Authentic Conversations - Blog Business Success Radio
Consultants Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir, authors of the groundbreaking book Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment, show you how to change the conversation to create cultures of widespread accountability and commitment. They describe how conversations lead to an engaged and energized workforce, or to one that is alienated and uninspired. They will show that if you want to change the culture, you must change the conversations.
Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir are my internet radio show guests on Blog Business Success; hosted live on Blog Talk Radio.
The show airs live on Thursday, October 16, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.
Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir, authors of the groundbreaking book Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment, show you how to change the conversation to create cultures of widespread accountability and commitment. You will learn:
* The unseen influence of everyday conversations on workplace culture
* Typical workplace conversations—the good, the bad, and the ugly
* Why open, honest conversations are a scary prospect in most companies
* The 12 most common manipulation techniques—and how to avoid them
Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir (photo left) are workplace experts and
co-authors of Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment(Berrett-Koehler, 2008). Partners at Henning-Showkeir & Associates, a business consultancy specializing in workplaceculture, they advise organizations such as 3M, HP, Kaiser Permanente,
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and The Nature Conservancy.
They enjoy yoga, cycling, music, traveling, and the genuine satisfaction of authentic
conversations.
My book review of Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment by Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir.
Listen live on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.
If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.
To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832
Let's talk with consultants Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir, authors of the groundbreaking book Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment, as they show you how to change the conversation to create cultures of widespread accountability and commitment. They describe how conversations lead to an engaged and energized workforce, or to one that is alienated and uninspired. They will show that if you want to change the culture, you must change the conversations on Blog Business Success Radio.
Tags: Jamie Showkeir, Maren Showkeir, Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment, workplace empowerment, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Authentic Conversations by Jamie Showkeir & Maren Showkier - Book review
Authentic Conversations
Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment
By: Jamie Showkeir, Maren Showkeir
Published: 2008
Format: Paperback 215 pp
ISBN 9781576755952
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
"We hope to create in you an awareness of how daily conversations create, reveal, sustain, or change organizational culture", write co-authors Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir, in their groundbreaking book Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment. The authors' premise is that true and lasting changes to an organization's culture can't be made, unless people understand how traditional conversations prevent growth, and work to destroy commitment to the organization.
Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir recognize that conversations are part of every organizational culture. Those conversations range far beyond the boardrooms, meetings, and the water cooler. They move outside of the workplace and into the very fabric of people's lives. The nature of those conversations reflect the company culture regardless of the level on the organizational charts. The right kinds of empowering conversations, found in healthy organizations, develop personal commitment and personal responsibility. In dysfunctional organizations, those conversations take on a tone of blame, care taking, and making others accept responsibility.
Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir (photo left) understand that dysfunctional conversations take on the character of a parent and child relationship. Instead of a adult based collaborative discussion, that works to solve problems and to take personal responsibility for those decisions, the tone becomes one of avoidance of truth, paternalism, and removal of personal responsibility. Instead of working with employees to institute change and improvement, employees are left out of the decision making process. As a result, staff people become cynical about change, less committed to their work, and ultimately, the company becomes less productive.
For me, the power of the book is its direct approach to changing the conversations within an organization. The authors demonstrate how to recognize dysfunctional and traditional paternalistic conversations. Once those conversations are seen to fit the parent and child relationship pattern, the authors provide techniques for re-framing the conversation into discussions between adults. The resulting honest talk builds personal responsibility among management and staff. Instead of seeing the organizational responsibility as resting with others, all members of the company take ownership of the solutions.
I highly recommend Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment by Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir, to anyone seeking to make real change in their conversations within their organizations. By recognizing that everyone in the company makes their own choice to be empowered or become a victim, the authors provide the tools for positive change.
After reading and applying the principles, described in the must read Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment by Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir, and you will never look at the conversations within your company in the same way again. Instead, you will understand that changing the talk holds the key to building a stronger company with a dedicated and responsible employees.
Tags: Authentic Conversations, Jamie Showkeir, Maren Showkeir, organizational behavior, business book reviews.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Grapevine by Dave Balter - Book review
Grapevine
Why Buzz Was a Fad but Word of Mouth is Forever
By: Dave Balter
Published: June 24, 2008
ISBN: 9781591842286
Format: Paperback, 224pp
Publisher: Portfolio
"Like every other marketer in the world, I thought I knew what word-of-mouth marketing was all about", writes BzzAgent CEO Dave Balter in his paradigm shaking book Grapevine: Why Buzz Was a Fad but Word of Mouth is Forever. The book describes the author's discovery that conventional wisdom about word-of-mouth marketing is fundamentally wrong, and how that powerful marketing force really works.
Dave Balter understands that people exchange recommendations about products and services as part of their daily conversation. People are many times more likely to trust the word of a friend or family member, than they are an advertisement, about the relative merits of a planned purchase. The analogy used by the author is one of the grapevine. There is no prediction possible about the exact path a conversation takes, or how it connects people together, but in the end all of the people in the grapevine share the information. Dave Balter emphasizes that the results of a word-of-mouth campaign can be forecast, but the paths taken by the conversation are unpredictable.
Dave Balter (photo left) recognizes that word-of-mouth is not the same as viral marketing, event marketing, and creating a buzz. The book shows how well known examples used in support of these marketing concepts did not work as well as thought. In fact, the author points out their weakness at creating any sustainable word-of-mouth relating to the actual marketing of the product. In the place of these well known marketing techniques, Dave Balter describes the power, more importantly the process, of word-of-mouth marketing. He even demonstrates how negative reactions to a product or service will generate spontaneous support from product users.
For me, the power of the book is the presentation of the psychological background to word-of-mouth marketing. People want to discuss their experiences, and those daily experiences include many products and services. For marketers, however, it's essential to understand that word-of-mouth is not a message that can be controlled. Instead, it's a process that must be left to work of its own accord. That letting go of control is a very big step for marketers, but as Dave Balter explains correctly, it's a step that must be taken towards success.
The recognition in the book that word-of-mouth is at its core storytelling is crucial to understanding the power of the process. People love to tell stories about their experiences, both good and bad, to each other. As a result, both pleasant and disastrous events will be relayed around each person's network. The power of negative product reviews to generate positive responses from quiet product supporters is an essential part of word-of-mouth marketing. Any attempt to stifle, and not respond in a positive manner to negative replies will harm the word-of-mouth marketing effort. Letting people talk about experiences, good or bad, is vital to word-of-mouth marketing success.
I highly recommend Grapevine: Why Buzz Was a Fad but Word of Mouth is Forever by Dave Balter, to anyone who is serious about employing word-of-mouth marketing in their company. Even more importantly, the book provides the reasoning for using word-of-mouth in the right way, and for letting the grapevine connections do the work properly.
Read Grapevine: Why Buzz Was a Fad but Word of Mouth is Forever by Dave Balter, and let the power of word-of-mouth marketing work its magic for your own products and services. You will never listen to a conversation in the same way again.
Tags: Grapevine, Dave Balter, word-of-mouth marketing, business book reviews.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Jerry Simmons: Author Success in a Down Economy - Blog Business Success Radio
Former New York publishing executive Jerry Simmons, author of essential book What Writers Need To Know About Publishing, returns with advice for authors in a slow economy including book reviews, tips on getting a book published & how working with your publisher will really help your book sales.
Jerry Simmons is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on Blog Talk Radio.
The show airs live on Thursday, October 9, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.
Former New York publishing executive Jerry Simmons, author of essential book What Writers Need To Know About Publishing, shares insider secrets about book publishing in a down economy. You will learn:
* About marketing and promoting your book in a down economy
* What you need to know about publishing industry distribution and marketing
* What questions you must ask your editor and what numbers are crucial to know
* About the power and importance of book book reviews and interviews
Jerry Simmons' (photo left) career in publishing began in the fall of 1977 as a Sales Representative for Random House. In 1979, Jerry joined the book division at Warner Communications, where he spent more than twenty-three years in sales and management. During that time the company expanded to become The Time Warner Book Group (sold in 2006 to Hachette Book Group USA, a French Company). Their sales team distributed over a thousand titles a year from a number of large publishing houses including Little, Brown; Warner Books; Hyperion; Miramax Books; Bulfinch; Back Bay; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; and Disney.
Jerry sold books to some of the largest independent booksellers and mass merchants in the country as well as managing a sales force nationwide. Jerry Simmons retired as Vice-President, Director Field Sales in 2003.
Over the years, Jerry Simmons worked on books written by such bestselling authors as:
David Baldacci
Michael Connelly
John Feinstein
Robert Kiyosaki
Alice Sebold
Anita Shreve
Scott Turow
Jack Welch
Sandra Brown
Nelson DeMille
Malcolm Gladwell
James Patterson
David Sedaris
Nicholas Sparks
Robert James Waller
Tiger Woods
Jerry also worked on such multi-million copy bestselling titles as:
The Bridges of Madison County
Simple Abundance
The Lovely Bones
To Kill A Mockingbird
The Celestine Prophecy
Presumed Innocent
The Notebook
The Lion King
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Scarlett
Megatrends
Catcher in the Rye
Along Came A Spider
Absolute Power
Kiss the Girls
The General's Daughter
Jerry Simmons spends his time writing, teaching, and speaking with writers about the importance of understanding the marketplace for selling books and the business of publishing.
His commitment is to provide essential information writers need for achieving success. His goal is to help writers become successfully published authors by educating them about the business of publishing and revealing the secrets of the largest booksellers and publishers in the world.
Jerry Simmons appears on Blog Talk Radio at The Publishing Insiders with co-host Penny C. Sansevieri.
My book review of What Writers Need To Know About Publishing by Jerry D. Simmons.
Listen live on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.
If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.
To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832
Let's talk with former New York publishing executive Jerry Simmons, author of essential book What Writers Need To Know About Publishing, as he returns with advice for authors in a slow economy including book reviews, tips on getting a book published & how working with your publisher will really help your book sales. on Blog Business Success Radio.
Tags: Jerry D. Simmons, What Writers Need To Know About Publishing, book publishing, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.