Guest Blog Post by Jerry Posner 1/28/12

1. Keep goals right up front. Review daily.

2. Appreciation, forgiveness, compassion: excellent options.

3. Aim for no regrets.

4. Increase awareness of stress triggers and disconnect ‘em.

5. Inspire yourself … inspire others.

6. Inspire others … inspire yourself.

7. Simple acts of kindness – superb cost/benefit ratio.

8. Keep a “to-do” list and a “not-to-do” list.

9. Great daily choices create great habits, that’s what we want.

10. Increase emotional intelligence. Make a list of feelings you’d like to experience more frequently. Put your attention on your list once a day. Edit and revise as you see fit.

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Guest Blog Post by Deb Bixler 1/27/12

In the direct sales business, you gain a positive reputation with your professional demeanor. That is why a smile should be considered one of your most important marketing tools. The next time you head out to a vendor event, you want to make sure that you bring your smile with you.

There are several reasons why a genuine and persistent smile can be very powerful in the direct sales business.

Direct Sales Confidence

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Guest Blog Post by John Di Lemme 1/26/12

Let’s talk about words. It’s important to understand that the words that you speak predict your results. If you say that you are depressed, then you will reap those results. If you say that you are a champion, then your results will be life-changing. You automatically take ownership of your words, and things start to occur in your life because of those words – good or bad.

Now, I’m going to give you seventeen focused words that will radically change your results and terminate fear out of your life forever.

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Guest Blog Post By Hank Moore 1/25/12

1. Core Operations.Trim inventory. Convert to a “just in time” concept. Discard idle equipment. Re-think your production processes. Prioritize core operations to see which costs and expenses are necessary and which may be reduced or curtailed.

2. Administration. Exploit hidden assets. Rent idle space. Shrink shrinkage. Buy better. Get relief from the landlord. Cut insurance waste. Determine which assets to buy, lease or outsource.

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Guest Blog Post by Jeff Vankooten 1/16/12

Things have been a bummer lately. The economy is tight, change is disruptive, and our lives uncertain. Mood and Morale are low. How does one persist in hope when things seem so hopeless? Here are my suggestions based on the acronym H.O.P.E.

H: Hone your mental fortitude. This is a way of thinking that lead us to respond in patterned ways to the everyday demands of life. Research shows that how or what we think directly affects our moods and how we feel. Events or circumstances do not determine your mood. How you think about them does. Keep your thoughts in check.
Remember, you are responsible for your own emotions and actions. Your harmful actions or dysfunctional behavior are the product of your irrational thinking. Take responsibility for your distress.

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Guest Blog Post by Hank Moore, 1/15/12

Hank Moore has advised 5,000+ client organizations in (including 100 of the Fortune 500, public sector agencies, small businesses and non-profit organizations). He has advised two U.S. Presidents and spoke at five Economic Summits. He advises companies about growth strategies, visioning, strategic planning, executive leadership development, Futurism and Big Picture issues which profoundly affect the business climate. He conducts company evaluations and Performance Reviews. He creates the big ideas, mentors the board members, reorganizes the corporate culture and anchors the enterprise to its next tier. The Business Tree™ is his trademarked approach to growing, strengthening and evolving business, while mastering change.

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Guest Blog Post by Bob Littell, 1/14/12

It’s been proven that the number one indicator of success in sales is one’s ability to be referred by others. And yet what most persons in sales forget is that the best way to BE referred. . is by referring others.

That’s what the IRREFUTABLE “NetWeaver’s Law of Referral Reciprocity” (NWrsLoRR) is all about – the more you refer others, the more you will be referred.

But as you will see if you read on, there are three conditions which must be met in order for the law to be operable. Violate any one of these and the law of reciprocity – ‘what goes around, does come back around’ – fails to work.

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Guest Blog Post by Mike Wittenstein, 1/13/12

Friend and Thunderbird Alum Chris McGinnis (@cjmcginnis), a travel consultant who writes The Ticket, recently spotted a new service by Delta Air Lines that picks up top-tier fliers right on the tarmac and whisks them to baggage pickup then to their parked cars. What kind of ride do these pleasantly surprised passengers get? A ride in a Porsche Panamera. Not too shabby.

Let’s see what this means for passengers and for Delta from several key perspectives.

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Guest Blog Post by Dave Hubbard, 1/12/12

The quote-machine, and king of common sense, Yogi Berra, once said, “Predictions are very difficult, especially when you’re talking about the future.” Many years ago, Thomas Edison made the following prediction; “The doctors of the future will prescribe no medicine. Rather they will concern themselves with the maintenance of the body and prevention of disease.”

It obviously made perfectly good sense to Mr. Edison as he predicted the evolution of medicine and health care in America. He believed the intelligent approach to good health, would be to do everything possible to prevent potential health problems from ever occurring in the first place. Certainly everyone knows that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

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Guest Blog Post by Kita Szpak, 1/11/12

I have recently seen both “The Tree of Life” and “Melancholia” – two of the top cited movies of 2011. Though they are excellent and worth seeing for the value of their artistic treatment, excellent acting, imagery and superb soundtracks, they are bleak in their depiction of people – yup, that means us. A bully of a father and abuser in one, and uncaring, utterly careless parents as well as a gravely troubled individual in the other leave one with little moral sustenance upon leaving the theatre. It is a universal truth that conflict is a necessary ingredient perhaps even the main focus for great art. However, one must also remember that goodness and its mate, happiness are a great part of life, too.

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