Acting in a new way

We never know the truth of anything, what we know is the story we receive. We can tell a story or not, either way, there is going to be a story told. Marketing is the art of telling a story that you are proud to make true on behalf of someone who’s going to engage with you. I don’t think that marketing by its nature hurts society, in fact, I can think of many examples where it helps.

 

Here is a list of questions I will ask during the discovery phase:
·      Who are your customers and what are their needs and expectations? 
·      How is your marketing strategy going to deliver on your business strategy?
·      What unique value are you providing? 
·      How do you support it with content?
·      How will you actively place your message in front of the right people? 
·      Why should anyone care or take notice? 
·      How do you communicate about your product and services? 
·      What is your customer journey? 
·      What data do you need to support your marketing?
·      How can I help you improve?
Contact me via e-mail for a meeting about measuring and optimising your marketing performance?

A reduction in price

Human beings in general are allergic to change, regardless of whether it’s in their best interests. Strategic optimisation is more important than ever, especially in these turbulent times. The word, optimise is derived from the Latin word “optimus”, which simply means 'best.' Optimisation doesn't mean doing more for the sake of doing more, it means doing less, so what you do is full of care and attention. Strategies are designs based on the operating model, so when the operating model is outdated because of internal or external factors, execution will fail and not yield the desired results. Therefore, optimisation isn't the problem, we are. Two of my children have their birthday’s this week, so I am giving you or your organisation a gift. Contact me via e-mail for a free one-hour discovery session, use the discount code: “birthday”.

Divide and conquer

Problem solving is the process of identifying a problem, developing possible solution paths, and taking the appropriate course of action to solve the problem. Problem solving is an essential skill in both your personal and professional life. When framing a performance issues, I think it makes sense to break them down into smaller problems and ask yourself the following questions:
1. Is it a skill problem? 

2. Is it a hill problem?
3. Is it a will problem?
Contact me via e-mail for problem solving training.

Unlocking internal barriers

Today is Monday, so I feel it necessary to write about mindset, motivation, and methods. Do you really want to know about these topics? There is a lot of sacrifice, especially at the beginning if we are going to achieve our goals. We can understand it intellectually, and then we need a system to act on what we know. Accountability feels like an attack when you’re not ready to acknowledge how your behaviour harms others. I have seen brilliant creative ideas die very quickly when they don’t have a proper execution structure behind them. Personally, I’m not impressed by vanity metrics, like likes and views. I think that we can only drive through effective campaign execution with thoughtful communication strategies and architectures.

More food for thought

Any relationship that doesn’t have trust isn’t going to work, and I mean neither romantic nor professional, as I think trust is the most important part of any relationship. When the economy breaks down, it usually breaks down because there’s no trust in the markets, for example, banks that think the economy is going bad don’t trust consumers and don’t loan money, and subsequently, consumers who don’t trust their economic futures will not go out and buy things. Corporations who don’t trust consumers to support them won’t make investments or hire anybody, and this breaks down an economy. It’s the same thing in relationships, if I don’t trust that you are going to love me back then why will I love you?

Making things better

What is marketing and what can we use it to achieve?

Marketing is about making things better by making better things. Marketing isn’t about hype; marketing isn’t about hustle and marketing isn’t about selfish short-term narcissists seeking to maximise profit in a misguided capitalistic sort of way. My mission is to continue narrating and guiding other people do the heavy lifting of persistently and consistently making things better. And because I am not shouting from the rooftops about what I am doing or how I helped this or that organisation, it appears that I don’t do anything. Metaphorically speaking, I know how to step by step put a stake in the ground, so they fit in an arc and not necessarily in perfect order.

What is the solution?

There is an illusion of inclusion, but in reality, we are all born into a world which is separated by class, religion, and race. Behaviour never stands still, it always getting better or always getting worse. I think the basic laws of behavioural psychology are as follows:

1.        All behaviour is a function of the context that it takes place,
2.        And then it is the function of the consequences

““Above all else, focus on acquiring knowledge and skills. Knowledge and skills are like gold - a currency you will transform into something more valuable than you can imagine. With knowledge and skills, you will become a magnet for opportunities.””
— Robert Greene

Follow your nose

I have a beautiful life today because I have chosen to put giving in front of getting, and weirdly the more I give the more I get. A massive part of my work is to help people re-connect to who they are given the life they’ve built, and that’s about authenticity. Being true to who you are, dropping the mask, not listening to that external criticism. Our culture teaches us to grab, grasp, get and compete, that’s all fear-based stuff. I have made giving my number one priority and the more I have given to life the more it has given to me. If you trust that life will give you what we need, I recommend that you focus on giving.

Confidence coach

Everyone who knows me will tell you that I love a good analogy. Why?  Because an analogy can unlock understanding like a key opens a door. Coaching a team can be compared to gardening: the fruit will be at its juiciest and sweetest, or the flower is at its most fragrant precisely at the moment before it begins to rot. A coach's job then becomes almost to shield the plant from the sun, to delay maturation to prolong the flowering for as long as possible. Do you understand?

Spice of life

If you love someone you don't have to prove yourself or change for them. Giving and receiving gifts is a legitimate love language, however, material items should never be the main source of stability and communication in a relationship. I think the most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling, and what’s even more beautiful, is knowing that you are the reason behind their smile. If you appreciate this message, please share it. You may touch someone's heart today and forever. Enjoy your day with a heart of gratitude.

Atychiphobia

Image c/o Very Well Mind

Atychiphobia is the scientific word for the fear of failure. Atychiphobia is a constant, overwhelming feeling of dread that accompanies the undertaking of projects or pursuit of life goals. We all have different definitions of failure, simply because we all have different benchmarks, values, and belief systems. A failure to one person might simply be a great learning experience for someone else. Our fears tend to paralyse us, holding us back from taking constructive action in the direction of our dreams  and goals. When we are scared, we hesitate, we become indecisive and procrastinate, we make excuses and find reasons to delay. Finally, we feel frustrated when caught in the double knot of  “I have to” but “I can’t” or vice-versa.

Please note that when you say, “I can’t”, then I consider it to mean you have a fear of failure. And when you say, “I have to”, it means that you have a fear of rejection.

Be inspired by nature

What sparks creativity, and how and where do you seek it?

When you invest philosophy and attitude in disciplines then you produce results. Wisdom uninvested is labour wasted, faith uninvested is wasted and produces nothing. The name of the game is to put faith and philosophy into disciplined activity. I can get it from films, museums, nature, everywhere has the potential to inspire the creative process. I think it’s important to have the right mindset and a strong spiritual practice which revolves around the ability to suspend judgement, seeing things for what they are and trusting your instinct.

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Sharing experiences

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What is essential to you, and who are the persons who have helped you become the person you are?

We just don’t get to be competent human beings without a lot of different investments from others, people who have loved you, encouraged you, and wanted what was best in life for you. I know that you have had at least one person who has believed in you. As human beings we are all intimately related, so it will never be the honours, prizes or fancy outfits which will nourish our souls. It’s the knowing that we can be trusted and that we never have to fear the truth. This is the bedrock of our lives from where we make our choices, deep down we all know that what really matters in life is more than winning for ourselves. What really matters is helping others win too, even if it means slowing down and changing direction now and then. I think you don’t make change for others; you make change for yourself.

““It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eyes.” ”
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Dropping gems

It’s just about bridging the gap, sometimes the gap is money and sometimes it’s experience. In his book "Black Swan," Nassim Nicholas Taleb introduced the theory that a significant and highly unexpected event (e.g., COVID, war in Ukraine, etc.) could have a huge and detrimental impact on society. The prevailing business model is to push both natural resources and people to their absolute limits. Maximum profit requires maximum exploitation and I think this will result in maximum collapse. Therefore, you should identify your motivation and passion, in other words, find what you are good at and become excellent at it.

Solving problems

Everyone experiences problems at work, but how we approach these problems makes all the difference in how well we resolve them in an efficient manner. In fact, just like there is a process for solving mathematical problems there is a process for solving business and life problems as well. It requires that you approach the problem systematically and in an organised fashion.
Here are a few steps you can follow:
1)    Clearly define the problem,
2)    Identify the causes of the problem,
3)    Gather all the facts relating to the problem,
4)    Review the options available for solving the problem.

““We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.””
— Albert Einstein

Just be kind

It’s been scientifically proven that people who are curious are happier. Knowledge is not only information it’s also instructions to execute from. I think you can motivate a person with words, but you’ll inspire them with your actions. When I tell you a story that sounds good, that’s motivation, and then I’m giving you a motive to do something. When I tell you about what I did or if I’m leading by example, that’s I’m leading by example, that’s inspirational. When I’m telling you about how I did it, that’s educational. Now you have an actual foundation to build from, most people do more motivation than inspiration. So, when you grade yourself from a psychological perspective, it’s all about what you know.

““It is a little embarrassing that, after forty five years of research and study, the best advice I can give to people is to be a little kinder to each other.” ”
— Aldous Huxley

Buy less and buy better

Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. Aristotle said great communication comes down to three things:
·      Ethos – Ethics, values, the credibility of the person speaking, for example, “Am I worth listening to?”
·      Logos – Evidence, facts, the logic, or apparent logic of what they are saying, for example, “Am I right?”
·      Pathos – The emotions of the audience, for example, “Do I care?”

 

Aristotle also said that you could not win an argument with just one of these things, to win an argument, you will need each of the three to be always present. And as soon as you think about communication from the receiver’s perspective, you can see that he was correct.