Picture by javierCit0

Have you ever had a situation where you needed to coordinate with a group of people and something came up at the last minute?

Maybe you were meeting a group somewhere and the plans changed at the last minute.

Maybe you’re the coach for the kids soccer team and the game gets canceled an hour before the game starts – yes the other parents are supposed to check the website or their email, but you know at least 1/2 of them won’t.

Maybe you’ve got a group of employees that are all working on an urgent project and something new comes up and they need to hear about it right away.  Sure you could email, text or IM them, but sometimes they need to hear what you’re saying!

You need to ShoutNow – a new voice messaging application that lets you send a voice message out to a group, quickly, easily and cheaply.

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The stockings were hung from the fireplace with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there.

To my friends, family, clients and readers from all over – Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

2008 has been a challenging year, but there’s good reason to hope that betters days are in the future and we’ve certainly all had plenty of opportunities to learn and grow – and really isn’t that the point?  Enjoy some time with family and friends, relax, recharge and get ready for what’s sure to be an exciting 2009.

Best Wishes to all…and to all a good night!

Shawn Kinkade

I was just on a great call with Verne Milot, Owner of Growth Associates and a colleague of mine through the Professional Business Coaches Alliance (PBCA).

Verne was doing a presentation on how to grow a professional services business and shared some of his personal experiences when he was just getting started a few years ago.

Although he covered a lot of great stuff, one of the things that really stood out to me (in a Made To Stick kind of way) was a quick story he told about a Tiger.

It’s been said that if you meet a Tiger in the jungle and you can calmly and confidently look it in the eye, the Tiger will move on and not attack you, unsure whether you are a fellow predator or prey.  However if you show fear, avert your eyes or stumble…you are going to be eaten!

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photo by geckoam 

The clock’s running down
The team’s losing ground
To the opposing defense
The young quarterback
Waits for the snap
When suddenly it all starts to make sense

He’s got all kinds of time
He’s got all kinds of time

- Fountains of Wayne, All Kinds Of Time

Although the song is about football, the idea that things are coming at you fast (trying to tackle you) also applies to owning your own business.

You’ve got clients / customers asking for help…you’ve got people asking you for money…you know you’ve got to pull together a marketing plan, a strategic plan, something to make 2009 better than 2008. 

You’ve got employees that don’t show up – or do show up, but don’t do what they’re supposed to do.  You’ve got a family that would like to spend some quality time with you.  You’ve got prospects that want to buy from you, but you haven’t had the time to follow-up with them.

You’re being bombarded and everything is just moving too fast!

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There’s an old management adage – “You can’t manage what you can’t measure”. 

This can be overstated (and make things way too complicated sometimes), but in general it’s hard to make improvements, in fact it’s even hard to know how you’re doing if you’re not measuring some key things.

As an example, one of the points that came up in discussion in a peer group advisory board meeting this morning was an issue that several people were having about not knowing how they were spending their time or how much time a lot of their activities were taking.

Can you handle adding more customers into your pipeline?  How much time do you spend getting them sold?  How much time do you spend actually providing your product or service?  Are you using your time productively?  Could you prioritize your time and increase your productivity?

If you’re like a lot of people, the answer to the above questions is…”I don’t know…!”

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