Posts tagged consultants

Enter the matrix

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Do you, or have you operated in a Matix Organization? 🤔🤓

I have seen, recommended, and used the matrix approach in several organizations over the past 30 years.

Most recently, I led a team of process Improvement experts and, although they worked for me, they were matrixed out to support different clients. This gave me the flexibility of economies of scale, but also deeply embedded them with clients (product lines).

I’ve found that a matrix approach is very effective in many but not all situations.

If you’ve been in a matrix organization, can you share your experience?

What were the benefits?

What were the challenges?

Was it a success or failure?

If you’ve never seen a matrix environment before, let me know too. What are your thoughts about one?

How are you organized now?

If you’re a professional in organizational design, what experience have you had creating matrix orgs?

What are your thoughts and cautions on them?

Thanks for your discussion. Very excited to hear from everyone.

#success #incubator #business #coaching #consultants
Crosscutter Enterprises
www.crossctr.com

That’s your marketing plan?

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🤔 Are you considering writing a book? 📖 Start with marketing it! 📢

On Facebook, this morning, I saw someone post, “I just published my book, can someone tell me how to market it.”

Too late! ⏰

If you are considering writing a book — I mean it’s a twinkle in your eye — start marketing your book first!

If you wait…your too late!

The first step is to define and hyper-focus on your audience — write the book for them.

Build your social media connections around that audience and develop qualified leads as you write.

Close to final draft, start building excitement with updates, videos, and snippets. Pull pre-release readers to test your book. Send it to someone influential for the Foreword.

Have a pre-release party and make the book available for pre-sale and become a bestseller prior to release.

Have big social fanfare, public service announcements, presentations, and book signings at final publication.

How do I know all this? I did the same as that person in 2012 when I published One Dead Marine, my first book.

#success #incubator #business #coaching #consultants
Crosscutter Enterprises
www.crossctr.com

Success takes time

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True Success … for most of us … takes time! 🏅⏰

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” Vincent Van Gogh

This is not a brag fest email–just sharing a personal success story. It’s about being consistent and constant, while focusing on things bigger than yourself.

For 30 years, I’ve been building my knowledge, skills, and experiences in business improvement. For 16 of those years, I’ve been following a personal 20-year strategic plan.

Three years ago, I had great conversations with a company that was doing incredible things and was faced with incredible opportunities. Our timing wasn’t right.

However, I followed this company for the past three years, watched their progress, and stayed in touch.

Two months ago, the company reached out — they had been watching me on LinkedIn too. Our conversations three years ago made more sense now — they were ready.

This week, I started working with them on a strategic engagement and it is so incredibly exciting! My 30-years’ experience is coming to bear on a company that truly appreciates me and what I have to offer.

I am looking forward to huge successes with them!

#success #incubator #business #coaching #consultants
Crosscutter Enterprises
www.crossctr.com

You have no competition!

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What if I told you that, “You have no competition?” 🤠🥳🤓

Well, that’s what 3Sixty Integrated CEO, Will Duke, shared to a full house recently at a recent ACG Central Texas luncheon.

I found this an intriguing statement.

Do you feel as if your company has competition? Or not?

If you do, how would you change your paradigm to think otherwise?

What would the business world be like without competition?

What are your thoughts?

#success #incubator #business #coaching #consultants
Crosscutter Enterprises
www.crossctr.com

What’s going on here?

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⁉️ Why don’t more people employ a content marketing strategy? 🧐🤔

If content marketing is so effective, why doesn’t everyone use it? 🙉🙈🙊

⏰ Time!

🏋️‍♂️ Work!

📜 Knowledge!

Let’s face it…content marketing takes a lot of time, work, and knowledge!

Someone can easily put together a sales AD LinkedIn message in about the same amount of time it takes me to craft this one LinkedIn update.

Then, they can cut and paste this advertisement, sending it to 100s to 1,000s of connections on LinkedIn in the amount of time it takes me to write another couple content pieces.

The AD route was simple. This is why people do it.

Content Marketing requires:

1️⃣ A great deal of time. Providing great content that engages an audience is built over several months of consistent and constant sharing.

2️⃣ A great deal of work. Every week or every day, you’re continuing to build and share valuable content and you’re engaging with your audiences.

3️⃣ A great deal of knowledge. Let’s face it, if you’re going to provide a lot of great value, you need to really know what you’re talking about.

It’s no wonder why so many people choose the quick and easy route over the hard.

#success #incubator #business #coaching #consultants
Crosscutter Enterprises
www.crossctr.com

Winner Takes It All!

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Does winning matter … sure. I can’t dispute that. But how? 🙉🙈🙊

‼ This update is going to piss a few people off that I know. 🤬 Oh well…

People, who don’t want you to win, care how you did it.

People, who want you to win, don’t care how you did it.

Those, who don’t want you to win, see how you’re winning, how you’re getting away with it, and also how you’re being recognized for it.

So, they start doing it as well.

Case in point: “Amazon Best Seller” 🔖

This garbage started before 2010. Forever, I thought it meant that your book simply out sold every other book in its category and was number one on Amazon … for a day or so.

That category could be very obscure. But, it doesn’t have to be. Because, I learned the many ways authors were convincing a lot of people to buy their book (often a $0.99 ebook) in one day — they game the system.

I have been told many times, by both authors and friends, I should do it too.

Recently I learned that some authors are calling #2 on Amazon a Best Seller … as is #14. Basically, if someone says it’s a Best Seller, then it is. Mainly, because there is no way to disprove it.

This is what people consider “Winning.”

Not me…

Crosscutter Enterprises
www.crossctr.com

Nobody’s watching your videos!

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If you think your videos are being watched … You’re wrong!

I did some analysis on Video Performance on Facebook. Business Pages on Facebook provide a great deal of data on their Insights tab.

Below are the deeper insights of just one video post, viewed by over 250 people. However, I researched several videos from multiple Business Pages and the trend was the same.

Guess what…

The average time someone spends watching your video is between 5 and 8 seconds! You heard me right — SECONDS!

You lose close 50% of your audience a measly 3 seconds into your video!

Are you trying to get your videos below 3 minutes? Try harder! If you’re over 30 seconds, you’re too long!!!

This was very enlightening for me … is it enlightening for you?

In the comments, leave your thoughts and discussion on how we possibly deal with this short attention span trend.

Crosscutter Enterprises
www.crossctr.com

It’s time to smile

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What’s in a smile? 🙁❓🙂

I never smiled!

In 1988, I entered the Air Force and spent the first 10 years of my 21 as a cop. 👮‍♂️

For about five years, I was unapproachable. There I would be, at an event, crossed arms, dark eyebrows, and a “Don’t you dare talk to me,” look on my face. I never smiled.

In fact, I had taken the Myers-Briggs Type Assessment several times and always came out as a strong Introvert.

I noticed that no one ever talked to me, but could see others that were always approached by others — the life of the party, so to speak.

I made a bold move…I started to smile.

The effect was almost immediate. Not only was I approachable, but now I test as a strong Extrovert.

Do you smile? Are you approachable? Try it…

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Are people wasting your time?

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What do you do if a speaker goes over their allotted time? ⏲

How valuable is your time? What do you think about people that abuse it? What if they’re a speaker/presenter?

In my mind, one sign of a professional speaker is that they stick to their time window, even if that window changes at the last minute.

Those that can’t, in my mind, are unprofessional.

Last night, I attended a monthly meeting with a professional association. Every meeting has a keynote speaker and this one was no different. Normally, the speakers keep to their time — last night was different.

The meeting ends at 8 pm, which means the speaker should finish by 7:45 or so for questions and close out.

At 7:58, the speaker looked at his watch (was about halfway through his presentation), and said, “I’ll hurry up and finish up, since I’m out of time.” He finished and asked for questions at 8:30 pm!

For me, I lost interest in his subject at about 7:50 pm and I stopped listening altogether when he realized he was taking too long and refused to care. The way I look at it, he felt his material was more important than the time of the 60 or so people in the audience.

What are your thoughts?

Crosscutter Enterprises
www.crossctr.com