Connie Burke from GMC hands over the keys to a new Terrain to Mark Horvath

We recently attended SOBCon 2011 – a conference for people with businesses like ours. The organizers, Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker, are two of the most amazing people you could ever hope to meet.

They manage to put together an exceptional experience every year. There’s the term…

Experience

Listen to George & Mary-Lynn share this experience on The BIGG Success Show podcast. Click the player to listen

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Many small business owners forget they’re in the business of delivering experiences. You don’t sell products or services; you sell experiences. You deliver those experiences through your products and services.

An unforgettable experience
We experienced something at SOBCon this year that we didn’t think we would ever experience first-hand. Before we get into that, a little history:

Last year, we met Mark Horvath from InvisiblePeople.tv. It was one of the non-profits we all put our heads together to try to help.

Mark was just trying to get traction. He’s doing great work and, like a lot of entrepreneurs, he often doesn’t get much recognition.

It was great to see Mark back at the conference this year. But that was just the beginning…

GMC was one of the sponsors of the conference. They gave a Terrain to Mark and his organization!

It was a very Oprah moment.
We never thought we would see something like that in person.
It was incredible.
Mark was speechless.
We all were!

So we’d like to thank Liz and Terry as well as the great people from GMC – Connie Burke and Hugh Milne – for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

But experiences aren’t enough
SOBCon is THE conference for open hearts and brilliant minds (and yet they still let us in the room!). The experience Terry and Liz delivered was true to the way they wear their brand.

How do you wear your brand?

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If you’re a long time reader of this blog, you know that I am a BIGG fan of the Rat Pack. So we couldn’t resist twisting Frank Sinatra’s song “The Way You Wear Your Hat” for this post.

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It seems only fitting: Terry often sings to get things started. And of course, there’s the now annual karaoke outing.

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In case you’re not familiar with the song, it’s a love song. More specifically, it’s a lost love song. The point is that you can take everything away except for the memories.

It’s also true for your business. We’ve talked about creating experiences before. But here’s something that we hadn’t thought about until this event:

Experiences can be forgotten.
Experiences are ubiquitous.
Positive memories are precious.

You have to do something BIGG now and then to create happy, lasting memories for your customers, your employees and all the people your business serves. It’s the key to BIGG success!

What are you doing to create happy, lasting memories in your organization?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
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Our title is not an original to us. It came from Liz Strauss, who along with Terry Starbucker co-founded SOBcon – the premier conference for Successful Online Businesses. We highly recommend it!

Listen to the podcast version of this post. Click the player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show.

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Are you amazed by some of the things some people say on social media? It’s bad enough when it’s John or Jane Doe.

But do you ever find yourself shaking your head in disbelief when an entrepreneur complains about a customer or talks openly about cash flow problems?

You can be yourself without revealing everything. A little mystery makes your business sexier.

Don’t bare it all to funders

A small business owner came to us because he was experiencing cash flow problems. We determined he had
a timing problem, not a money problem. He was growing too fast for his capital base.

We introduced him to an investor. Unfortunately, all the entrepreneur talked about was the cash flow problem and the issues it was creating.

People don’t invest in problems; they invest in opportunities. If you can’t see the opportunity in your business, neither will your potential funders.

Don’t overexpose yourself to customers

Customers don’t want to hear it either. If you aren’t doing well – and they know it – they may get nervous. They wonder if you will continue being a dependable source of supply. So they start shopping. Overexposure opens the door for competitors.

The opposite is also true. You may be doing great. You brag about it. Your customers may question whether they are paying too much for your goods and/or services. They pressure you for better prices.

Don’t take it all off

All of your employees don’t have to know everything either. Completely open-book management requires a certain level of maturity. If that maturity isn’t there, employees tend to focus on the negative.

It makes them nervous. Nervous employees start looking for work elsewhere. Your best employees are the first to get hired away.

At least keep your hat on

Even your spouse or significant other doesn’t need to hear it all. Deal with the entrepreneurial terror yourself so your spouse can keep supporting you, the entrepreneur.

How can you be authentic without getting naked?

• Be yourself while simultaneously being true to yourself.
  

  You may occasionally modify your real opinion to avoid hurting someone else’s feelings. Do the same for yourself.
  

• Filter what you say and to whom you say it.
  

  Think need to know. Obviously, you have a duty to keep certain people in the loop. Why does any single person beyond that group need to know?
  

• Frame it in a positive way, unless there’s no other way.
  

• Find a mentor or a coach with whom you can let it all hang out.
  

  We’ve walked a thousand miles in your shows. Maybe we can help. E-mail us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com or leave a voice mail at 888.455.2444.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00686-040511.mp3

Image in this post from obyvatel

‘Cause they’ve got personality … walk!

Personality … talk!

Personality … smile!

Well you get the idea! So ends our tribute to Lloyd Price and the song You’ve Got Personality. Back to our regularly scheduled program …

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You know they could be a bigg success, but they just can’t stay focused. They start a project but then something else captures their attention. Kind of like the interruption we just had with the song.

Bright, shiny objects

Liz Strauss calls it Shiny Object Syndrome. It’s easy to succumb to bright, shiny objects. We must overcome these distractions if we want to reach bigg success and live our lives on our own terms.

It begins by creating a vivid image of what you want your life to be. With this long-term vision in mind, you’re ready to break it up step-by-step and set a due date for each step.

That’s called a milestone. It’s our exclusive focus day-to-day. We develop a plan to get to the next milestone. It’s helpful to break that milestone down into terms – a quarter or a month.

Then begin each week by thinking about what you need to accomplish this week to reach your goal for the month. Now that helps you determine what’s most important to get done each day of this week.

Then all you have to do is everything you can every single day to get there!

Today is all that matters

It begins with a prioritized list – what must I do today to hit my goal this week?

By having this focus, it keeps us from being distracted by those bright, shiny objects. Here’s how we do it:

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I love spreadsheets so that’s what I use. I divide my tasks every day by priority – “A priorities” are those things I must do, “B” are what I need to do, and “C” are things I want to do. Then I order the tasks within the categories. So the first thing I work on is my “A1” item.

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Sounds like a steak sauce, George! I like the old-fashioned pen and paper. For me, it works better to write out everything on a legal pad. Then every day, I pull off the most important things I have to do from that paper and put it on a sticky note. I have everything on my main list but I put the most important things front and center. Another thing that I really like about this is getting to crumble up those sticky notes when I’ve finished these important tasks.

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I’m glad you pointed that out, Mary-Lynn. I highlight each item in my spreadsheet as I complete it for the same reason. As the day goes on and I see more and more lines highlighted, I get a tangible sense of accomplishment.

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Avoid bright, shiny objects so you can focus on the bigg prize. Start with your vision of what life on your own terms means to you. Then focus today on what’s most important to get there.

Doing the right things leads to bigg success!

How do you keep yourself on task?

Share that with us by leaving a comment below, calling us at 888.455.BIGG or sending us an e-mail at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com.

Thank you for sharing your time with us today.

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Next time, we’ll discuss how opportunity is like a flower. Please join us! Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
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Seriously, though, we want to take this opportunity to say one simple thing …

Thank YOU!

We couldn’t do this without you. There would no reason to keep doing it if you didn’t visit us. So whether you check in every day or every now and then, we thank you so much.

It wouldn’t be any fun to do this if you weren’t here. We feel fortunate that more people are discovering Bigg Success. From site visitors to subscribers – in iTunes, in Zune, our newsletter, and our RSS feed – we’re seeing more people every month in every category. We thank you so much for sharing Bigg Success with your friends and business associates!

We also check page views and show downloads and we see that you’re consuming our content faithfully. We’re just thrilled that you take time out of your busy schedule – and we know how busy you are – to check in on us like you do.

You got here early so you’re a leader in the Bigg Success community. We appreciate everything you’ve already done to help us build this community of bigg goal-getters. We just ask this one thing – if you have any feedback, if you have any questions – please reach out to us. If you want to keep it private, send us an e-mail (bigginfo@biggsuccess.com,) or call us on our toll-free number (888-455-BIGG). If you can share it with everyone, just leave a comment. We want to get to know you better in the days and months ahead.

Special thanks

We would be remiss if we didn’t take the time to thank those people who have been a bigg help to us as we launched Bigg Success and throughout our first year.

Chris Brogan You helped us build our confidence when we didn’t know if we could put out content worth anything to anybody. You have also generously shared time with us that we know you didn’t have.

Liz Strauss You helped us think outside the box and develop a framework for Bigg Success in the coming years. We so appreciate your guidance.
 
Jim Bouchard You have unknowingly been a model for us and you continue to be an inspiration. Our conversations with you always make us think bigger!

Shwen Gwee Is there anyone you don’t know? You’ve been so helpful in introducing to people who have made such a difference in how far we’ve come.

Chris Christensen You’ve always been willing to take time to answer our questions, especially when we were as green as green can be. You’ll know never how much your advice has meant to us.

Denny Birt You’ve been helpful for years in other businesses and now you’re helping us make Bigg Success a bigg success.

Liz McMillen We feel so lucky that you share your graphic design genius with us to give Bigg Success the right look and feel. You’re incredible!

Michael Bailey What would we do without you? You’ve always been there when we faced technological challenges that we didn’t know how to handle. You’re amazing!

Keith Kravitz You’re a fantastic marketer and you’ve helped steer us through the rough waters of launching a site. We just wish you had a little more energy!

Lon Ray That bigg voice. Thanks for introducing us on every Bigg Success Show!

Jerome Ritchey You’re one of the most talented people we know. We love all of your character voices and are so glad you share them with us. This one is our favorite.

Dana Mancuso You’re so good at taking great lessons away from real life situations. Thanks for sharing your gift of writing with us.

Jake Novak You’re one of the funniest people we’ve ever met. We know you’ll make it bigg in Hollywood someday. Thanks for the laughs!

Paul Faraci You were there when this was just an idea. We thank you so much for all the promotion you’ve given us. You’ve also shared so many resources that have been great show topics. Keep ‘em coming!

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Pat Drake Mary-Lynn and I can’t thank you enough for both your moral support and all of the advice you’ve given us. We always know you’re listening. I couldn’t find a better sister if I picked her out myself!

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Sue Foster You’re not just my sister; you’re my best friend. Thanks for encouraging in my bigg step from the corporate world to life as a business owner. George and I are so grateful for all your help this year, including your great work on our soon-to-be released DVD.

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We’re very happy with the results of Year 1. We look forward to Year 2 and many more to come. We’d like to virtually share a piece of birthday cake with all of you. It’s totally non-fattening!

Join us next time as we look at a natural experiment that shows how isolation impacts innovation. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

(Image by PinkCakeBox, CC 2.0)

A mentor is an informal advisor. A coach also offers advice, but in a more formal way because you’re paying for their services.

We’ve both had a number of mentors and coaches in our lives. Both have been immensely valuable! That’s what prompted our discussion.  

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Going where you haven’t gone before

However, since we don’t pay for the services of our mentors, we don’t talk to them as much. After all, we don’t want to abuse the privilege. We’ve talked with our coaches much more frequently, usually every week in fact. It’s part of the agreement we had with them when we signed on for their services.

We love the quote by Bill McCartney, former coach of the University of Colorado. He said,

It seems that behind every great athlete is a great coach – from Michael Jordan to Michael Phelps and a bunch of other outstanding performers not necessarily named Michael!

What a coach can do for you

In this age of personal branding, a coach can do the same for us – take us where we can’t take ourselves. We’ve found that our coaches save us time – we get where we want to be faster because they help us identify what’s most important.

Bigg Success is our baby! We’re very close to it. Our coaches bring us that outside, objective point-of-view that is necessary to help us move forward intelligently.

We work for ourselves. A coach gives us someone to whom to be accountable. We’ve found that it keeps us on our toes. We work ON our business more than we would otherwise because we’re forced to prepare for our weekly sessions. It’s like having homework!

Our coaches also ask us questions that we’re not asking ourselves. We’ve found ourselves looking at our business and careers in new ways – ways we wouldn’t have uncovered on our own to go back to the quote.

How to find a coach that’s right for you

Along the way, we’ve learned a thing or two about finding a great coach. Now we look for someone who has reached a level we want to reach. For example, we recently attended a convention for people with online shows like The Bigg Success Show. We met a man who is very successful with his show. We’re talking with him about coaching us so we can understand how to replicate his success.

Another coach we’ve had, Liz Strauss, was referred to us by a mutual friend. We started following her blog and saw that she was hosting a conference. We attended her conference and got to know her more. We hired her to coach us. She’s been incredibly helpful in pushing us to a higher level. 

Mentors are valued advisors that contribute to your success. Coaching is still catching on. Athletes figured it out a long time ago. Now the rest of us are getting it. It takes a small investment to hire a coach, but there are BIGG payoffs for those who do! 

Get the tips and tools you need to be a BIGG success. Subscribe to the Bigg Success Weekly – it’s FREE!

Next time, with the Republican Convention wrapping up, we’ll talk about elephants. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

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(Image by terren in Virginia, CC 2.0)