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Business Items for Success, including book reviews, leadership posts, and cool tools that can help you save time and money

The Four Burners Theory

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I ran into an interesting life planning concept over the weekend, called The Four Burners Theory.

four burners theory

Four Burners Theory

Imagine it this way. Your life is represented by a stove with four burners on it. Each burner representing one major quadrant of your life.

  1. Burner one represents your family.
  2. Burner two is your friends.
  3. Burner three is your health.
  4. Burner four is your work.

The Four Burners Theory says that “in order to be successful you have to cut off one of your burners. And in order to be really successful, you have to cut off two.”

The ultimate work/life balance conundrum.

I’ve seen this concept espoused by a number of writers lately, each with a slightly different take.

At first, I thought it would make sense to simplify things. I could easily lump my friends in with my family. Many of my family members are friends, so in many cases that would be easy. For work, I could easily get a standing treadmill with an elevated desk for my office, combining the health and work burners. [Read more…] about The Four Burners Theory

Creating a Mini One-Sheet

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A few weeks ago, a friend of mine from Toastmasters invited me to a local small business group mixer. The meeting was to be held at a small wine bar in town, and would be a great way to meet fellow entrepreneurs and business people. She said in passing, be sure to bring lots of business cards and some information on your business.

young-business-team

Wow, I thought to myself, I have business cards but I don’t really have anything about my speaking business that I could share with someone. Since there are hundreds of people in this organization, I knew there would be a lot of opportunities to promote myself… but how?

I needed something that I could share with people in a small, informal setting, that would let them know what I speak about and have contact information. My business cards were informative, but they had very limited information, even though they were double sided. I needed something more.

I thought about speaker Sheryl Roush, and her popular full page one-sheets, that she has helped hundreds of speakers create. While this sounded like a great tool, a full 8.5 x 11 sheet would be a little overkill in a small restaurant setting. I needed something I could put in my pocket.

As the day approached I looked at different options, but nothing seemed to resonate. I asked myself… how do other people promote themselves? I looked around my office for some ideas. As I looked down, it hit me. There, sitting on my desk, was a postcard from a writing friend of mine, with all of her business information in a handy 4 x 6 card. Voila… I’ll create a mini one-sheet template. The perfect solution.

Unfortunately, I only had a day until the event. Not enough time to get cards printed by a traditional publisher. I was frustrated and thought about printing them out on my inkjet printer. While this was a workable solution, I remembered that I needed a couple of colors of ink for the printer. At $14 apiece for the cartridges, these simple cards were suddenly going to get very expensive.

I was really getting frustrated now. The perfect opportunity would surely pass me by… there just had to be a way to do this. I looked down again, and believe it or not, the perfect answer was staring me in the face. Right there, on my desk, was a package of photos from Costco.

Here was the answer I was looking for. It might actually work. If I could create a ”photo” with the information that I needed on it, I could get it printed in less that an hour at Costco. I fired up Photoshop, created a 4 x 6 inch graphic at 300 dpi, and started creating.

Within minutes, I had a framework setup. I put my logo at the top, and put my three top speaking topics below. I kept it simple, using black, red, and grey as my colors, and using a nice clear sans serif font for the text. In under an hour, my mini-one-sheet was ready to go. I saved it as a Tiff and also as a JPEG, not knowing for sure what format Costco would take. I saved the 300dpi picture to a USB stick and also a SD card used in cameras.

The next night, after work, I took my photo to Costco, and inserted the memory card into their machine.  My “one-sheet template” showed up on their screen and I ordered 20 cards as a test. I did some shopping and came back 45 minutes later to pick up my photos… I wondered…

Would the text be sharp?

Would the colors look good?

Would the photos work as a marketing tool?

Costco charged 13 cents apiece for the edge to edge glossy prints so the whole total for my marketing efforts came to a whopping $2.60.

I was apprehensive…

I slowly opened the envelope… arrghh,  I thought… would they be formatted properly…

As I pulled back the flap, my beautiful marketing materials shined under the bright fluorescent lights. I pulled out the prints.

YES… they looked incredible.

YES… they fit in my back pocket

YES… they had all my information on them.

I headed out to the mixer with my new marketing prints ready to go. It turned out to be a rather large group in a small setting. As I met new people, they would hand me a business card, and I would hand them a print. Almost everyone was impressed with the glossy, bright and colorful “photo” cards. Many people asked me about them.

one-sheet template

For two dollars and sixty cents, these were by far the best marketing materials I had ever created. The edge to edge printing made them look awesome! Costco had come through!

One-Sheet Template

Here is a tutorial of how you can create cards like this yourself with my one-sheet templates that are ready to go.…

Mini One Sheet Tutorial

Five Minute Outliner

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five minute outlinerI am an outliner. I love to outline speeches, stories, and just about any project that I’m starting on. An outline is a starting point and having a good tool for creating one is very important. I usually outline in Microsoft Word, which allows me to move things around and put my thoughts in any order I wish. I usually put down the main points first, and then fill in the sub-points and substance of the project.

The power of MS Word is flexibility. I can see my thoughts and then put them in order. But how do you outline when a computer is not available? I’ve tried paper, but I find myself erasing more than writing. There must be an offline tool that offers flexibility and speed to get your ideas on paper fast but with the ability to move things around.

Enter the Five Minute Outliner. This little tool fits in your pocket and you can take it anywhere. The tool works simply. Grab a Sharpie and put a project title on the title card. Put your main points on the main subject cards provided and lay them out on your desk. You now have a starting point. Move them around if necessary. When you get the proper flow and order you are ready for step two. Grab your fine point Sharpie and start writing down sub-points on the sub-point cards. Put the cards down on the desk below the main points.

five minute outlinerThe sub-point cards are flexible. If you are working on a project with lots of changes put one sub-point on each card. If the project is rather static you can put multiple sub-points on one card for easier visibility. The Outliner is flexible and is great for group collaboration. You can pass out a main subject card to a small group and then give each team member a sub-point card. The ideas will come fast and furious. The cards allow the group to arrange points quickly and easily. Within minutes a complex project can be outlined in a group setting.

Get back together and layout the whole project. In minutes you can fine tune the project. You can discard and consolidate ideas easily. Soon you’ll have a workable solution. The best part… stack the cards in the order of the outline from top to bottom. Put the title card on top and clip them together making an outline walleteer. This will fit easily into your pocket or purse and allow you to take the project intact and in order back to your computer.

five minute outlinerGrab some mini clips and stack your outline on your desktop tower. You can now input your outline quickly and visibly into your computer. The desktop tower is easily made with a clothes hanger dowel and a large clothespin. This tower is great for computer input or visual feedback. I use the tower when I practice a speech that I have outlined.

When you are done with your outline and you need a synopsis use the “jogger” card. This is a vertical aligned card with lines for your major and sub points. This card is very useful for speeches and meeting prep. Put it in your pocket or purse and take it with you. The card is small enough to fit easily on a podium or lectern for quick reference. Never forget your place in a speech again. The card is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand so it will be less distracting to an audience when using it for notes.

Five Minute Outliner: Instructions for use:

  • Download the Five Minute Outline Template for MS Word
  • Open the template and modify as necessary
  • Print out on Avery business card stock (10 Card)
  • Break cards apart
  • Fill in a title and main points
  • Fill in sub-points
  • Arrange as necessary
  • Fill in the jogger summary card
  • For portability stack cards in order and clip together with mini clip
  • Transport easily in pocket or purse

This tool has made speech and meeting planning much faster and easier for me. In a few minutes I’m able to get my main points down and try different sub points and project order. The flexibility of this tool makes outlining quick and fun.

Try it today!

Other Five Minute Tools you may enjoy…

Five Minute Flowchart
Five Minute Organizer
Five Minute Motivators

Special Keywords That Will Rocket Your Sales

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Secret Long Tail Keywords

What if I told you that I had secret keywords that would drive search traffic to your website, Facebook page, or Twitter account. These magic keyword phrases would not only drive traffic, but it would bring qualified customers for your product, service, or idea. Your phone will ring, and your cash registers will click.

Then I would add the kicker…

You can find these keyword phrases today and it won’t cost you a cent.

“Tall order, John,” you would say…

“Can’t be done.”

“Been, there, tried that.”

“Too much competition.”

“Only the guys with lots of money can rank for my keywords.”

Guess what… you’re partially right.

You probably can’t rate for that so called ideal keyword, but you can actually find a better one.

“No way, Richardson,” you scream. “There isn’t anything better than my ideal keyword.”

And this is where I will beg to differ…

Because a truly magic keyword phrase is one that uniquely identifies you.

One that brings qualified buyers and leads. This keyword phrase will work on Google, Bing, Yahoo and business databases like Amazon and LinkedIn.

Here is the added kicker…

You can find numerous magic keywords that will drive traffic for each product, service or location that you have.

The secret is to [Read more…] about Special Keywords That Will Rocket Your Sales

Three Dry Erase Productivity Boosters

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I discovered a great productivity perk a while back for my speaking audience that use dry erase markers on glossy photo paper. I just create easy to use tent cards that serve a dual purpose for my students. On one side of the folded tent they can write their name with a dry erase marker. The other side contains login information for my class. As a trainer, this has helped me get people logged in quicker and build rapport by visually learning peoples names as I walk around the room.

dry-erase-planner
Taking the next step with this idea, I created three larger dry erase boards that work well for planning, decision making, and storyboarding. I’d like to make these available to you for free. These all print out on a sheet of glossy 8 x 12 photo paper, which is available at most one hour photo shops. I use Costco for my photo printing and I noticed that the 8 x 12 size prints better than 8 x 10 as it is a standard cut size. I suggest you experiment with one print first to make sure it works with your photo store. I’ve included 8×10 and 8×12 sizes below. In the U.S., Costco, Walmart and Walgreens stores all offer one hour photo printing at reasonable prices. Alternately, there are many online only photo stores that will work as well. [Read more…] about Three Dry Erase Productivity Boosters

Who Will Replace Michael Hyatt?

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michael hyattYesterday was a milestone for longtime blogger, Michael Hyatt. His month long Best Year Ever launch closed down, with over a million dollars in sales. It was an overwhelming success. By tying in with Joint Venture partners, like Jeff Walker, Sally Hogshead, and Amy Porterfield, he was able to leverage their social media power and email lists to sell over 7,00o programs, priced from $197 to $497.

As part of the affiliate launch, I saw the numbers roll in day after day. It was amazing to see who was on the leaderboard and how they each promoted the program. Since I follow most of the players on social media and subscribe to their newsletter lists, my email was full of offer emails. It was a real study in how the big players work, and how much money a great offer can bring in.

That being said, yesterday was another milestone for Michael. He decided to remove comments from his very popular blog at MichaelHyatt.com. He didn’t just turn off the ability to comment, he removed all the comments from years of posts. As a long time follower of his, and someone who commented on many of his articles, I was very dismayed to see years of conversations gone in the flick of a switch.

Comments were the one thing that set Michael apart from so many other bloggers. Michael’s community was very engaged, with many leadership and business players having deep conversations on each insightful post. I met many different personalities over the years, and spent hours some days commenting and engaging, not only with Michael but many other professionals. Now that content is completely gone. Michael’s posts are still there, but the helpful insights on each one are no longer available. [Read more…] about Who Will Replace Michael Hyatt?