And So It Begins Again!

Soooo, I'm baaaack. It's great to be getting back in the saddle again. I've been away from reading and blogging for too long. With a little inspiration from the right person, here I am, diving back in. I've had a great time in the past connecting with everyone and hope to be able to continue.

For my first entry I'm going back . . . a number of years, to one of my first book reviews. This in honor of Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, who gave me the opportunity and who also passed away this past week. What a big loss for the business/customer service industry.

This week I’m breaking with “tradition” a bit in order to write a review of a new book. Like I’ve mentioned before, I received an advance copy of Tony Hsieh’s (CEO of

Zappos.com) upcoming book – it’s actually released today – Delivering Happiness: A Path To Profits, Passion, and Purpose. Let me just tell you this – it’s a must read. Many books on business jump right into the business at hand without a lot of early background. Tony takes us on a journey from his early childhood entrepreneur beginnings to the billion dollar success of Zappos.com. He tells us about his money making ideas as a child, including making buttons (which he advertised in Boys Life) and selling greeting cards. He manages to take us “mid-agers” right down Memory Lane. We get an inside look at how Zappos grew, following Tony’s sale of LinkExchange (to Microsoft) in 1989 for $275 million dollars. Eventually all of the money would be gone as a bunch of friends tried (and succeeded) to keep afloat a company they dearly believed in. During that time, Tony would grow a relationship with a friend that may be seen accompanying him, to this day, to “breakfast, lunch, and dinner”. That friend being a little drink called Red Bull. The ups and downs that the Zappos team went through prior to becoming a real success story would have been enough to cause most mere mortals to give up. Not so here. Zappos has a close, family-like, relationship that embraces every employee. They work together, play together, drink together, and basically have fun together. Zappos’ main focus has always been on customers. The customer experience is literally number one on their list. I challenge you to find another company that allows returns, with free shipping - for an entire year. Do any of the internet companies you work with automatically upgrade to next day shipping? Free of charge? Sure Tony and friends have made mistakes along the way. But they learned valuable lessons with each one of them. Most notably was that you “never outsource your core competencies”. If you want the best warehouse – run it yourself. If you want the best customer service – take the calls yourself. Probably the best example of all of how important and transparent the customer experience is, is the Zappos Culture Book (I have one). They put together a hardbound culture book that includes comments from employees, customers, partners and even vendors. Included are the good AND bad comments. Again – how many companies do you know that would do that? Needless to say, most comments ARE good. The book is described as a short-term expense for a long term investment. Get one for free at www.zapposinsights.com/main/culture-book. Now I could go into so many more examples and stories, like the 10 Core Values, or the leadership training available to everyone, but I don’t want to take anything away from your reading experience. If you’re interested in employee motivation, leadership development, corporate culture, or just Zappos in general, do yourself a favor and head out to your local bookstore (or go to www.amazon.com/deliveringhappiness) and pick up a copy. Then grab a Red Bull, sit back, and enjoy.

Wind In Your Sails

I like reading good books about leadership, business, and entrepreneurialism.  I also like sailing.

 Wind In Your Sails, by David Greer is right up my alley.  The thing is, the book doesn’t just have things I like, David puts them all together in an interesting and extremely informative manner.  It’s a new favorite.

Wind In Your Sails takes you through ten strategies for entrepreneurial success.  This includes vision, goals, innovation, sales, products, and people.  Did you catch that last one?  People.  There’s a common thread throughout the book.  Like David said, “People buy products and services. People deliver them. People create products.”  In order to be successful, you must know how to “attract, retain, and motivate the people in your business”.

This book doesn’t rely on a bunch of theories someone threw together in order to get their name on the cover of a book.  David Greer shares his 35 years of experience along with case studies of a number of other successful entrepreneurs.

Each of the chapters include said case study, lessons learned, and action challenges.  So it’s not a book you’re going to just read and put down to attract dust.  If you really want to be successful, you’ve got a great big helping hand right here.  Action - produces success.

Find Your Platform

Last week I reviewed a new book by my friend Michael Hyatt, one of the top bloggers in the world and Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers. I don't usually publish multiple posts about products, but this is a book that I believe has great potential to really change some lives.

Michael has just released - today - an amazing new book for anyone with something to say or sell. It’s called Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World.

John C. Maxwell said about Michael - "I have watched Michael Hyatt build his own platform from the ground up to become one of the largest in the world. And he has done so with the strategies and tips he outlines in this very practical book. Any author, speaker, or business owner who wants a blueprint for getting the attention and visibility they want, needs to read this book."

To be successful in the market today, you must possess two strategic assets:

• a compelling product and
• a meaningful platform.

It's never been easier, less expensive, or more possible than right now to build your platform and Michael Hyatt will show you how.

Platform offers a step-by-step guide with proven strategies, practical tips and easy-to-replicate formulas. Whether you're an author, pastor, public speaker, entrepreneur, musician, or small business owner… developing your platform is critical for your success.

CHECK OUT THIS BONUS OFFER: To celebrate the launch of the book - this week ONLY, Michael is giving away $375.98 worth of FREE bonus content for those who purchase the book between May 21 and May 25. Complete details are available at http://michaelhyatt.com/platform.

Bonuses include:

• Platform Video Jumpstart Program (six sessions),
• How to Write a Winning Book Proposal (two e-books and two audio sessions),
• Why NOW is the Best Time Ever to Be an Author (hour-long video),
• Digital Versions of Platform (audio and eBook),
• and more!

Seriously - get this book today - take advantage of Michael’s bonus content and start building or expanding YOUR platform - now!

Get Noticed In A Noisy World

Recently, I had the honor of being chosen as one of 100 people (out of 800 candidates) to be a part of the Launch Team for Michael Hyatt’s new book, Platform: Get Noticed In A Noisy World.


Michael Hyatt is Chairman of Thompson Publishing, the 7th largest publisher in the U.S. His blog, called Intentional Leadership, is ranked #1 in the leadership category.

Anyway, back to the book. The premise of this book is that just having a good idea for writing a book, getting a record contract, gaining funding for a startup business, or anything creative for that matter, is not enough. Just having a good – even great – idea doesn’t get you in the door anymore. What a life changer this book could be to a lot of people. Now I’m not just saying that because I’m on the Launch Team. The Launch Team is formed, in part, to get good honest feedback.

These days you need to have a “platform”. Michael gives you a step-by-step guide on how to build that platform. He shows you how to use an online presence to build your brand and gain connections. If you want to be heard, people have to be listening. “People like you and me can get noticed and win big in an increasingly noisy world.”

Many books on similar subjects give you a lot of fluffy page fillers. Platform gives you the to the point information that you need. According to Michael, there are three things that building your platform provides:

• visibility,
• amplification, and
• connection.

In order to be visible, you have to have a stage – Blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc. In order to be amplified, you need to be able to be “heard” above the crowd, especially through social media. In order to be connected, you have to be able to engage your fans, customers, and supporters.

I could go on and on about all the great – and usable - information that’s in this book (personal responsibility, elevator pitches, online media kits, building your home base, generating online traffic, brand monitoring, etc.), but you’ll get more out of it by reading it yourself.

Just remember, whatever your “product” is, it has to be good – it has to WOW. One of Michael’s favorite quotes, by David Ogilvy, is, “Great marketing only makes a bad product fail faster.”

Platform will be released on May 22nd. But don’t order the book prior to that! That's an odd thing to say, isn't it? But if you wait to order the book the week of May 21st he'll give you $375.98 worth of extra FREE products. You can sign-up to be notified here: http://michaelhyatt.com/platform.

Delivering Happiness

This week I’m breaking with “tradition” a bit in order to write a review of a new book. Like I’ve mentioned before, I received an advance copy of Tony Hsieh’s (CEO of Zappos.com) upcoming book – it’s actually released today – Delivering Happiness: A Path To Profits, Passion, and Purpose. Let me just tell you this – it’s a must read.

Many books on business jump right into the business at hand without a lot of early background. Tony takes us on a journey from his early childhood entrepreneur beginnings to the billion dollar success of Zappos.com. He tells us about his money making ideas as a child, including making buttons (which he advertised in Boys Life) and selling greeting cards. He manages to take us “mid-agers” right down Memory Lane.

We get an inside look at how Zappos grew, following Tony’s sale of LinkExchange (to Microsoft) in 1989 for $275 million dollars. Eventually all of the money would be gone as a bunch of friends tried (and succeeded) to keep afloat a company they dearly believed in. During that time, Tony would grow a relationship with a friend that may be seen accompanying him, to this day, to “breakfast, lunch, and dinner”. That friend being a little drink called Red Bull.

The ups and downs that the Zappos team went through prior to becoming a real success story would have been enough to cause most mere mortals to give up. Not so here. Zappos has a close, family-like, relationship that embraces every employee. They work together, play together, drink together, and basically have fun together.

Zappos’ main focus has always been on customers. The customer experience is literally number one on their list. I challenge you to find another company that allows returns, with free shipping - for an entire year. Do any of the internet companies you work with automatically upgrade to next day shipping? Free of charge?

Sure Tony and friends have made mistakes along the way. But they learned valuable lessons with each one of them. Most notably was that you “never outsource your core competencies”. If you want the best warehouse – run it yourself. If you want the best customer service – take the calls yourself.

Probably the best example of all of how important and transparent the customer experience is, is the Zappos Culture Book (I have one). They put together a hardbound culture book that includes comments from employees, customers, partners and even vendors. Included are the good AND bad comments. Again – how many companies do you know that would do that? Needless to say, most comments ARE good. The book is described as a short-term expense for a long term investment. Get one for free at www.zapposinsights.com/main/culture-book.

Now I could go into so many more examples and stories, like the 10 Core Values, or the leadership training available to everyone, but I don’t want to take anything away from your reading experience. If you’re interested in employee motivation, leadership development, corporate culture, or just Zappos in general, do yourself a favor and head out to your local bookstore (or go to www.amazon.com/deliveringhappiness) and pick up a copy. Then grab a Red Bull, sit back, and enjoy.

The Home Depot - Building Family

A fellow employee (we'll call her Reaper - from the TV show) recently took on a part-time job at The Home Depot (THD). After a few days of hearing her talk to different people about her early experiences I thought, 'hey, this sounds like a place that cares'. So, I had to check it out. From what I found, I wish more companies would take a cue from THDs Values http://corporate.homedepot.com/wps/portal/Values.

The number one Value on a list of eight is Taking care of our people. The thing that really intrigued me is that this goes right along with the things that she's been describing. THD doesn't just talk it - they walk it. The description begins by saying, "The key to our success is treating people well." I'll say a million times over - if you treat your employees well, they WILL provide better customer service. Excellent customer service is number five on THDs list of Values. It can be that low because of the focus on their own people. Excellent customer service will come naturally.

The second part of Taking care of our people says, "We do this by encouraging associates to speak up and take risks, by recognizing and rewarding good performance and by leading and developing people so they may grow." I'm getting excited here. Encourage employees to be a part of the company, not just a warm (for most people) body to put on the sales floor. Allow them to develop. Reaper told me about the incentives they get for learning about the different areas of the store. The more areas they learn about, the more they get. In this case it's monetary, but incentives come in an abundant amount of possibilities. Check out Incentives Magazine http://www.managesmarter.com/msg/publications/incentive.jsp.

Another Value that caught my eye - actually made me go oooooo - is number seven, Entrepreneurial spirit. "The Home Depot associates are encouraged to initiate creative and innovative ways of serving our customers and improving the business and to spread best practices throughout the company." This is the epitome of employee empowerment. THD has specific overall guidelines, I'm sure. But to be able to do your job without the constant fear of being told 'you're wrong, it should have been done this way', employees can be more open and service oriented with customers.

The whole theme here is to make employees part of the company. With that comes happiness, dedication and sincere customer service.