OPTIMIZING YOUR IMPACT: Eliminate Clutter; Increase Response

Optimizing Your Impact with Jeff Schomay

Clutter = Attention killer.

Look around. It’s the information overload age. We have more clutter in our lives than ever, attacking us from without and within. Like water or lightening, we humans will tend to follow the simplest and most direct path. Will that path lead to you… or away from you?

Just because you have lots of information to get across doesn’t mean you should put it all out there in front of your audience. The more there is to look at, the less the viewer sees. A simple, well organized presentation of your core information can catch, hold, and build attention better, and lead the viewer to a stronger, better directed response.

Everything can use some de-cluttering. How about the space around this article - is it cluttered? How does that affect you? How about your own newsletters, websites, blogs, advertisements, elevator pitches, package design, etc, etc? I bet you can cut half the clutter there and still get across all your important points. And I bet you get a stronger response too.

It sounds simple, but the impact is significant. Now go de-clutter!


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Jeff Schomay
Want to make a better impact on your audience? Let’s talk.
jeff@inspire-your-buyer.com


For more information, please visit Jeff's TNNW Bio.

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OPTIMIZING YOUR IMPACT: Eliminate Clutter; Increase Response

REAL ESTATE...AND OTHER THINGS OF VALUE: What Have We Learned?

Real Estate...and Other Things of Value

with Yossi Feigenson

It is now one year later. One year from when the first tremors of what has turned into our latest and greatest (not literally) financial and economical malaise made their presence felt. Lehman Brothers, a giant, century old, investment bank was allowed to fail. Others, such as AIG, Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual and Citibank were spared this death sentence and were bailed out by us; the tax paying public. I don’t even want to speak about them, because, they are SO last year. Or, are they? Has the destruction they have wrought on our economy, on the real estate market, and all the heartache their collective stupidity has caused taught us anything at all? Is society at large and us individuals any different from a year ago? If not, all I can is: It’s a crying shame; an opportunity for learning, for growth and a positive shifting of our value system completely wasted.

Have things changed on Wall Street? From my vantage point; not a tiny bit. All you read about is how Richard Fuld, ex CEO of Lehman Brothers is complaining that he can’t get a fair shake. Everyone is down on him. The concept of taking responsibility has entirely eluded him. Bonuses are up and flying again among upper management types. The surviving few super banks (surviving with our help, of course) are right back in the game taking risk and churning out profits like it’s 2007.

But, Wall Street we be Wall Street, so enough about them. For those of us who are not CEO’s of major banks, have we experienced and change? I believe that we are in a time where some good old fashioned values can trickle their way back into the consciousness of our society. They may be small things but they make a big impact: I have had many real estate brokers tell me that now more than ever their expertise and ability to be a real educator and facilitator to their clients is their greatest asset, instead of merely being out there to make “another deal”. As my good friend and author, Douglas Castle, (he’s a long story) has said to me: “it’s time we become educators not salesmen”.

People are not beginning to listen to their inner voice and their intuition with regards to business and investment decisions. The monkey-see-monkey-do attitude that has prevailed upon our psyche for so long is waning just a bit. There is much more scrutiny and in depth analysis in today’s transactions. It sure makes it tougher to make a sale or sign a lease, but it’s the right way, and in the long run will engender more long term relationships between provider and client.

Now I get to the fun part of the discussion: Have people changed in their outlooks? Have they had a paradigm shift as to the important things in life that have lasting value? Have people begun to see money for what it is and what it can bring, but, equally importantly, for what it is not and what it can’t bring?

The Importance of Human Relationships

Throughout history they have always been crucial in the forming of countries, signed treaties, big business mergers. But in our world of simply looking for the next sale we have forgotten that a sale today will do nothing for you in five years, but a relationship can yield dividends for years to come. Adam J. Kovitz, Chairman of The National Networker, has written extensively about this concept called relationship capital. That there is an investment and withdrawal system and a mathematical push and pull equation of relationship capital. The more you do for someone, the more likely it is you will get something in return. This brings me to my next idea; actually doing something for another, without the promise of getting anything in return. In some crazy, cosmic counterintuitive way, in a world where we want-want-want , it is actually thrilling to refer to a friend a piece of business or to be helpful with your resources.

Have we learned how to have a great conversation; about ideas, thoughts, philosophies, stuff that is outside of the daily business grind?

Have we learned how to enjoy the simple pleasures of a run in the park or a bike ride across a bridge?

Have we learned that it’s not the price tag on something that gives it its real value?

Have we taken the opportunity to discover a hidden talent that may have been lying dormant for many years?

Have we found some new friends and reconnected with old ones?

Have we recommitted to reading, exercising and studying?

The events of this past year have presented us with an opportunity to see the world in a different light, and possibly our own place in it. I only hope that we take advantage of this gift and continue to grow in all dimensions.

For more information, please visit Yossi's TNNW Bio.

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REAL ESTATE...AND OTHER THINGS OF VALUE: What Have We Learned?

WORKING WITHIN: The Unknown Talents Within

Working Within with Leanne Hoagland-Smith

Do you know your talents specific to working with others? What I have found to be true is these 3 facts:

• Many individuals do not know their talents
• Many individuals do not leverage their talents (think strengths) within the workplace
• Many individuals turn their non-talents into weaknesses and then focus on these weaknesses even if they are not related to their current role

Part of the reason is due to conditioning from the K-16 experience. People are almost trained to focus on what they do not do well. Remember all the emphasis in school about improving your weaknesses? How much time did your teachers invest to reinforce your strengths? Probably not as much when compared to the amount of time devoted to the development of your weaknesses.

This emphasis on weaknesses is truly backward. Let me ask one question: Why do winning sports’ teams win?

Do they win because of the collective weaknesses of their team members? Of course, not! They win because of the collective strengths of each team member.

Another reason for the lack of emphasis on talents is because many companies do not have:

• Current written job descriptions with written job performance benchmarks
• Process from which to close the gap between benchmarks and performance
• Proven assessment that looks to the talents instead of the personality
• Plan supported by written goals to align employee’s performance to the overall strategic action plan
• Understanding how employees make decisions and how those talents are involved in that decision making process

Imagine the possibilities if your employees and you as the CEO or business owner could isolate specific core talents or attributes ranging from Accountability for Others to Using Common Sense? Then be able to build effective team where decision making styles are balanced.

For example, how many times have you heard one employee complaining about being the only one doing anything on a seven (7) member team? The attitude of this employee could be potentially affecting the overall team’s performance. Then you learn through an assessment that this employee is truly the only one focused on getting things done while the other 6 members are busy thinking and feeling. Their decision making style is necessary for the team to work effectively yet the team is unbalanced results potentially in negative productivity. You bring the team together to discuss this information. Then you ask the team what do they need to do to improve the teams’ performance?

Human capital when not leveraged to its full potential is a significant waste and drains the bottom line. When companies begin to help their employees build stronger networks based upon each employee’s individual talents while understanding their decision making styles, the results can be truly amazing.


For more information, please visit Leanne's TNNW Bio.

Published by THE NATIONAL NETWORKER Newsletter. All rights reserved. Subscribe Free - Click HERE.
The National Networker Companies
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WORKING WITHIN: The Unknown Talents Within