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Teddy Roosevelt: Just Do It – The Sunday Snippet [7.17.11]

Sure, Nike made the “Just Do It” slogan ubiquitous, but the essence of this simple phrase is age-old wisdom that’s been handed down since the beginning of time. A bias for action is a character trait of the most successful among us, accomplished by deliberate practice, calculated risk-taking, and trial and error. Almost 80 years …

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Cheerleading alone not effective – The Sunday Snippet [7.10.11]

The Enterprise Council on Small Business recently uncovered which types of owner recommendations are most effective at influencing other owners’ purchasing decisions. They tested different recommendations, two of which are below to give you an example: •Stories: These were from owners who framed their reviews/recommendations in a story about what happened to them, which included …

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Fundamentals never go out of style – The Sunday Snippet [7.3.11]

Inc. magazine, one of my favorite periodicals, recently asked world-class (and world-size) business owners about the secrets of their productivity and success. From Richard Branson of Virgin, to Arianna Huffington of Huffington Post, to Larry Page of Google, the answers are surprisingly simple: sleep, work out, keep your own calendar, and work a little on …

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Make meaning to make money – The Sunday Snippet [6.26.11]

I was reminded by smart clients (and new acquaintances) several times this week that great entrepreneurship is about making “meaning.” When you start with meaning, the money usually follows. Without meaning, the money rarely follows – or if it does, it doesn’t last long. Guy Kawasaki, renowned entrepreneur, investor, and author, talks about “meaning” and …

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Four in the morning – The Sunday Snippet [6.19.11.]

The world’s best storytellers gather at TED – the series of conferences on Technology, Entertainment and Design where you’ll find “riveting talks by remarkable people.” And the TED site is a fantastic and mesmerizing YouTube-like collection of presentations on everything from nanotechnology, to poetry, to data analytics, to medicine. Storytellers both professional and provisional use …

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Less Is More – The Sunday Snippet [6.12.11]

One of my favorite Mark Twain quotes is “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” What a great reminder of the importance (and difficulty) of brevity and careful editing. It’s so easy to email, blog, Facebook, and Tweet that we sometimes forget the time constraints of …

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