Posts Tagged ‘success’

Here is an article written by Ken Davenport – who is a Musical Producer based in New York…who raises some interesting points about a lot of things including web design…

‘For years after its initial release (remember when you had to be invited?), Gmail was in “beta”, or the software equivalent of “previews”.  It was years before Google stripped the beta moniker from its logo on Gmail, Calendar and a lot of its other products.

Could a consumer have told the difference over the last 5 years?  Not likely.  Beta was just Google’s way of protecting itself, yes, but also its way of saying, “We are committed to changes on a daily basis until we make our product  better, and then we’ll figure out even more stuff to change until we can better it still.”

Not a bad way to think about any product, don’t you think?

I heard a Web Marketing Guru speak about how to design a website, and he said that websites are never final; great websites are in a state of perpetual beta.

He was right, of course. By studying analytics, conversion rates, etc. we should be making constant changes to our designs to make even the smallest of improvements (increasing an surfer’s time on the site, whether they sign up for email lists, etc.).  A small improvement a day adds up to a monstrous improvement in a year.  Your website will be a conversion machine!

But why not apply perpetual beta to other things as well?

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You can blame the weather, the economic climate, the other person who cut in on you on the way to work, or even the family member who hasn’t tidied up after themselves for your lack of progress in your business or  your life. But what does the blame game ever achieve?

Absolutely nothing!

It all comes back to taking full responsibility for your own future – by taking the ‘bull by the horns’ as it were, and pushing through whatever opposition is standing between you and success.

It has nothing to do with feelings. Because if you’re living a life dominated by how you feel – nothing will ever get done.

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This is the edited transcript of the LIVE CHAT which was conducted by:

Peter G. James Sinclair ( www.motivationalmemo.com ) with fellow Motivational Experts:

Mike Litman ( www.mikelitman.com )

Josh Hinds ( www.GetMotivation.com )

The chat was scheduled for one hour and the subject was:

“THE AWESOME POWER OF HAVING A DOMINATING PURPOSE”

Peter Sinclair : Hi Mike & Josh. I want to welcome you both to our LIVE CHAT event. It’s going to be fantastic. The first question I would like to put to you both is this. How important is it to have a dominating purpose? Mike would you like to lead us off?

Mike Litman : Yes Peter. I believe that our dominating purpose is closely tied to our self-esteem. When your ZEST for life mirrors your DESIRE for breath, that is when you will see rapid advances in all areas of your life.

Josh Hinds : Great analogy Mike.

Peter Sinclair : Thanks Mike. Wow. “Zest for life mirroring your desire for breath”, that’s profound. Josh. What are your thoughts?

Josh Hinds : Peter, without a doubt the key to life’s riches is to have a dominating purpose. I think without a larger dominating purpose, a person might find himself or herself moving in all sorts of directions. For instance, the goals I set for myself keep me moving in the direction I want to head.

Peter Sinclair : Excellent Josh. Mike, returning to your last answer. You draw the comparison for us that it’s a bit like the difference between life and death. Serious stuff. Perhaps you would like to elaborate a little.

Mike Litman : It all depends what one WANTS in life. If you look at history you will quickly see that everyone who has accomplished something major has had an EAGER, BURNING desire for its accomplishment.

Peter Sinclair : So Mike, just continuing on, if you were to help someone to define their dominating purpose, how would you direct them?

Mike Litman : Peter, it is my contention that we all have SLEEPING POWERS inside us just waiting to be AROUSED. All these POWERS are only unleashed through the DESIRE that comes with a dominating purpose.

Peter Sinclair : What if someone doesn’t know his or her dominating purpose? How can you help them define it?

Mike Litman : To define it? Hmm. First, one must know that their life HAS a purpose to it. Not everyone does. To me, and in my experience, FINDING your purpose comes through keen INTROSPECTION. This is one reason so many people feel “lost.” They never introspect.

Peter Sinclair : So by defining it they would get a wake up call Mike? Can you explain it a little further?

Mike Litman : Sure. They would begin by asking themselves POWERFUL questions. A good place to start is by serving others.

Peter Sinclair : On the subject of powerful questions – what questions have helped you personally, Mike, to get to where you are and to take you where you’re going.

Mike Litman : Peter, it is critical that we must FIND what we TRULY want and go after it with PASSION. This can be arrived at by asking ourselves important questions.

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I know that it has a lot to do with my personality, but there is one thing that really annoys me, and I need to vent it in this blog.

Just maybe, by writing this, I can help others to understand how they can show respect to others by showing a little more respect for another’s  time – particularly when it comes to phone etiquette.

When you make a call and are required to leave a message, this is what you shouldn’t do:

‘Hi. It’s so-and-so here. Call me.’

Here is what you should do:

‘Hi. It’s so-and-so here. I’m calling about such-and-such, and when it is convenient could you please either call, text or email me in relation to this matter.’

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Many years ago Heraclitus wrote ‘There is nothing permanent except change.’

Nothing much has changed.

So when my friend and respected mentor, Peter Irvine, who is the Co-Founder of Gloria Jean’s Coffees, author of “Win In Business”, business consultant and speaker wrote the following article, I couldn’t wait to share it with you.  Peter explains in five easy steps how we in business need to ‘Stop And Change When Necessary’.

Enjoy!

One of my favourite sayings is: “If the horse is dead, dismount”

There are people in business and life everywhere who find it hard to recognize when the horse is dead!

The current economic market either stalls companies or they make changes. This is a great time to market differently or stand out in a different way.

I have experienced many difficult times but have seen the businesses that make changes succeed, then grow and accelerate in the good times that follow.

People have asked ‘How do I know whether to persist or stop and change?’

1. Go back to the original vision and purpose

If your original vision is the right one, don’t throw it out – look at what you are actually doing to fulfil that vision. The purpose does not change, however the methods we use do. In advertising when a retail promotion for McDonald’s did not work we did not persevere we made changes and moved on, the character of McDonald’s family restaurants did not change, just the one promotion.

2. Change is inevitable – so GET USED TO IT!

If you want to build anything to last – a business, a strong family, a company department, a powerful life-testimony – it will need room to grow, to change and evolve in the process. If you don’t change your work practices as you grow –e.g. if you keep the same products and packaging, the same programs or services without variation, stifle people in their jobs by not allowing them to grow and develop, then things will either stagnate and die, you will lose customers, or you will lose your most promising staff to other businesses where they can grow.

If you want a bigger business, you will need to look at constant ways to change and improve, nothing stays the same forever.

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