But nothing ever happened because nothing ever happened.

They intended to live a great life. But they missed a critical component:

They failed to transfer intention into action.

However, even that’s not good enough. Action only spans part of the gap:

Your actions have to be intentional.

You have to make the right choices on how you invest your time and your money – two of the five elements of BIGG success. With every dollar you spend, with every hour you plan, ask:

Will this investment take you closer to life on your own terms?

If not, don’t do it.

If so, go for it now! It will lead you to BIGG success!

On our show today, we were thrilled to chat with Terry Starbucker about leadership. Terry has been a leader for over 27 years, including a gig with a pro football team!

Along with Liz Strauss, Terry co-founded SOBCon, the premier conference for successful online businesses. It’s also our favorite!

Listen to the show to hear the whole interview!

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Podcast Summary

Terry has a great e-book, Leadership from a Glass Half-Full. It’s FREE on his site! He offers five lessons for new leaders.

One of them is to be a full spectrum leader. Too many leaders get stuck in what Terry calls the “comfortable middle”. The problem is everybody’s unhappy – from the star performers to the under-perfomers.

He also shares a leadership insight he’s gained from his experience with SOBCon. Leaders must create an environment where great minds are stimulated and people feel free to step outside their comfort zone. Then they ask harder questions of themselves and of others. They’re also more willing to help.

If you want to build a successful online business, check out SOBCon Colorado (September 17 & 18) or SOBCon 2011, in Chicago.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00625-090210.mp3

(Image in today's post by Terry Starbucker)

Scene

A building on a busy street. The police are there in full force. They have blocked off the street but a BIGG crowd has gathered.

We arrive after being summoned by the police. They tell us that our blog is holding our podcast hostage inside the building. Our blog has a list of demands.

Listen to the show for the rest of the story!

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Summary

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Since we started BIGG Success, our blog and our podcast have been two-of-a-kind. We did a podcast. Our blog post was a transcription of it.

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We were probably a little podcast-centric because Mary-Lynn is a veteran radio broadcaster. She’s passionate about audio and, if I do say so myself, she’s one of the best at it!

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So here’s our announcement: We’re going to separate our podcast and our blog.

We will still do podcasts with a summary like this one. But now we will also do “pure” blog posts. It was one of our blog’s demands!

Pairing the two has served us well. However, we’ve learned some lessons about blogging, podcasting and business over the last two-and-a-half years. Among them:

1. Some messages fit one medium better
We’ve heard it again and again: Deliver your content however the audience wants it. So we did audio and text. However, sometimes a message – or a method – works better with one medium than another. Today’s show is the perfect example!

2. Remain flexible while delivering what your community wants
We didn’t want “readers” to miss the post. We didn’t want “listeners” to miss the podcast. However, we missed opportunities to share great information with you. We can produce an even higher quality product if one medium isn’t constrained by the other.

So we’re not going to be so rigid. Uh hmm … we meant to say we’re going to be more flexible. We want to bring great information your way in the best format, whatever that may be. Most of all, we want to help you reach BIGG success!

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00624-083110.mp3

(Image in today's post by garageino )

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Today, we want to talk about two terms – ability and capability. According to the dictionary, these two terms are essentially the same.

We disagree.

Ability is about your present. You have the ability right now to do certain things. Your abilities are manifested by action.

Capability rests on both sides of ability.

Capability on the negative side

On the negative side, you may be capable of doing something already, but aren’t doing it because you’re not taking action.

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George, let’s say we’re talking about hiring a virtual assistant for a specific project. I suggest Sally.

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I ask if you think she can handle it.

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I say, “She’s able to do it.”

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I’m satisfied. But let’s look at capability. I ask if Sally can handle it.

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I say, “She capable of doing it.”

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I might have some reservations if that’s the answer.

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It’s a subtle difference. The first one – “She’s able to do it” – implies she will do it. She currently has the necessary qualities to get the job done.

The second one – “She’s capable of doing it” – implies the potential exists for her to do it. But the overriding question in my mind is: “Will she do it?”

On the Knowing – Doing spectrum, this sounds like a “doing” issue. It’s sad when people have the potential but don’t act upon it.

Capability on the positive side

The other side of capability is the positive side. You may have the potential to do something but it needs to be refined or developed further.

So capability is about your future. Capability is worthless unless it is converted into ability. Just like ability is demonstrated by our actions, capability is converted into ability by action.

The bridge from capability to ability

It’s all about growth – one of the five elements of BIGG success. BIGG success is about entrepreneuring your life – taking full control to create the life of your dreams.

Two critical terms of entrepreneuring are resources and opportunities. Entrepreneurs apply resources to an opportunity to create value.

When we break down the five elements, we realize that two of them – money and time – are resources. And two of the five – work and play – are opportunities.

Growth is the bridge.

It begins as an opportunity to which you must commit resources. When you do this, you grow. You learn. You become more proficient. You develop new skills.

You can convert capability into ability. Then your new wisdom and your new skills become a resource. You can use this new resource to speed your journey toward BIGG success. 

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00623-082710.mp3

Management is about efficiency; leadership is about effectiveness.

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Customer service is about interaction. So the focus should be on effectiveness, not efficiency.

That’s how you can gain a competitive advantage. You super-serve your customers by making it:

Personal
Serve the customer as an individual, not a “market segment”. Entrepreneurial firms should be able to do this much better than a large company.

Easy
Design your systems to make it easy for your customers, even if that makes it harder for you.

It should be easy for customers to get more information about you, your products and your services.

Make it easy to ask questions, easy to buy from you, and easy to offer feedback or follow-up after the purchase.

Simple
We live in a complex world. We’re inundated with choices.

When you know your customers well, you can filter information for them. You can screen options so they don’t have to deal with them all.

Don’t just be yet another person trying to sell them something. Instead, become their Purchasing Agent:

Take everything out there and narrow it down to their three best options. Let them decide which of those three is the best one for them.

Clear
Use plain language, not jargon from your industry or business. Don’t talk above their level. Don’t get too technical. Speak in terms your customers understand.

Right
If you’re doing any significant amount of business at all, you will occasionally make a mistake. Tell your customer you’re sorry but realize that an apology isn’t enough. Find some way to do something extra special for them.

Businesses are built on the front line. Make sure you give it the attention it deserves and you’ll be a BIGG success!

How do you super-serve customers?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00622-082510.mp3

(Image in today's post by clix)