Business Cards – Pros and Cons
Why I haven’t bothered with Business Cards Ah Business cards! They are one of the essential promotional tools every professional needs in their bag. Well, not quite. Personally, I haven’t used them for almost two years. There are two main reasons I haven’t bothered with business cards: Most of my work comes from referrals and […]
How to Create Great Slides
I’ve been working with a couple of speakers and trainers recently to help them with the creation of their slides for their upcoming presentations. And, having worked with a number of people in this area I can now see some of the core principles that I consistently use to create great slides. Here are seven […]
Helen Macdonald, Corporate Optimist
In this episode of the Ideas Architect Podcast, we talk with Helen Macdonald, the Corporate Optimist about her plan to create an international community of one million optimists. And, she has just launched the Optimist Foundation. We discuss the challenge of doing what pays the bills and doing what you love. Whilst Optimist is her […]
Brand Metaphor
One of the struggles of being in business for yourself as a business expert, subject matter expert or thought leader is to establish your reputation and ideally, create a unique market position. By being unique you: Give yourself a greater chance of standing out in a noisy marketplace. Can charge more for your services because […]
How to Write Better
Recently, I’ve had a few people comment on my blog writing. And, mostly it’s been favourable. Generally, the comments suggest that I write in a comfortable, casual and friendly way. And, the ideal compliment, ‘It’s like you’re talking to me’. This is usually followed up by the question, ‘How can I write better?’ Here’s seven […]
Six Keys to Deliberate Practice
What are the key things that separate the best from the rest? If you said ‘practice’ then you’re half-right. In his brilliant book Talent is Overrated, Geoff Colvin suggests ‘Deliberate Practice’ is the difference between the top performers and the also-rans. It’s not random practice. In fact, it’s the opposite. It’s a life-long pursuit of […]
The Gift Culture
The Obama Poster When Shepard Fairey created the Obama Hope poster he set out to make some money and support his political beliefs. From his initial print run, he sold 350 copies and gave away another 350. By October 2009, he’d printed 300,000 posters and sold only 2000 of them. The rest were given away. […]
Everyday Declarations
One of the core elements of a manifesto is the power of the declaration. When I share this with people I’m often asked what do we really mean by a ‘declaration’? The key to understanding declarations is to consider it as a creative action. They literally create the future. One of the best ways to […]