Chuck Brady

I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about a wonderful course I am taking and the effects it is having on me. I am taking a personal development course called Achieving Excellence through a local organization called Focused on You.

One of the exercises did was doing a complete who am I, I must say it was probably the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. Though it was quite tough it was also the most rewarding thing I have done as well. It caused me to take a long deep look inside of myself and look at every aspect of my life both personally and professionally and identify what is truly important to me and where I want to be moving forward.

It also really showed me just how important to me my values are, in particular how strongly I feel about keeping my personal life and professional life in harmony. I must say that thanks to the wonderful help of Donna Willon I am achieving this wonderfully.

I have seen it written many times over how important it is to have a coach in life and this is me saying I completely agree and echo those sentiments. Even if you think you know where you are going, the smallest tweaks can make a huge difference in your long term results. Take the time to know yourself and who you become will amaze even yourself.

Cheers,

Chuck

One of the areas that make blogs really unique and revolutionary is that plagiarism is actually encouraged. It is not necessary that a company creates all its blog material from scratch. Doing your research and collecting useful data from other sources is highly encouraged.

One point of etiquette is to make sure you reference and link back to your source. If you do this, it is flattering to the original author and a source of pride for many bloggers. This is another change from the tradition business mindset of what’s mine is mine.

A good business person today is one who is seen as a body of knowledge who can help many people. We live in a world where solution selling is King and whoever has the most solutions to offer sits atop the throne. So in the world of blogs, don’t be shy to share what you have learned. Pass along the wisdom of other and you just may get yourself a seat in the palace.

Cheers,

Chuck

I found this article written by Marshall Kirkpatrick to be very interesting. It is just another example of how blogs are working their way into all the things we think of as our traditional media.

The Washington Post is now using a two pronged approach to get full coverage of its news stories. For those of you who are still wondering just what a blog is or if it is something meaningful, this is just another example of the power of Blogs.

Cheers,

Chuck

One of the things about blogs that I don’t think too many people realize is just how prevalent they have become in a very short period of time. Blogs now account for over 40% of the sites and traffic on the net and they are still in their infancy.

I am of the belief that by the end of 2006 they could be up to 70% of our internet usage. For anyone in business who thinks blogs are not significant it is time to think again, AND QUICKLY.

In this high paced world that we live in, ignorance is not bliss. There are numerous examples in the past of once hugely successful companies who didn’t adapt with the marketplace and suffered tremendously because of this. Today we don’t have to look any farther than GM.

If your company does not want to suffer the same fate as GM, make sure you are aware of what is going on in the market place. In the market if your customer’s change their buying habits and you are not proactively changing along with them you will be left out in the cold. Blogs are here to stay so the time to embrace them is NOW.

Remember, you heard it here first folks,

Cheers,

Chuck

With the winter Olympics starting in Turin, the eyes of the world are on our wonderful athletes. Having spent a good portion of my life in competitive sports I have a deep appreciation for the type of commitment it takes to achieve such a high honor. I think one of the most impressive elements of the Olympic experience is that the athletes are competing for national pride, not money.

I think there is much that can be learned from this mindset of excellence. If an average person could harness just a small portion of the energy and ambition our Olympic athletes have, just think of the positive changes that could be made in the world we live in.

I think the underlying commonality between our elite athletes and the elite members of society is the focus of a goal. Think of aspects of your life as the medal podium and find ways in which you can strive to be at the top of that podium.

Like in the Olympics your motivation can not be money. If you aim for a higher purpose and strive for it selflessly you can’t help but be a success at whatever you choose to do.

Cheers,

Chuck

One of the features of the blog world that most people seem to gravitate to is the search feature, which allows someone to run a 24/7 search and have new results instantly delivered to them. For instance, I have a search running on my name, Chuck Brady. Anytime anyone uses my name on the net I am instantly notified and see what they wrote and in what context.

This is a very powerful tool for business owners for a number of reasons. The first of which is market research. How would you like to track every move your competitors make without having to do anything? The RSS or Atom feeds attached to blogs allow you to achieve this.

The second reason why this is such a great feature is because it allows you to get information to your target market all the time. Many companies use internet marketing techniques like email newsletters to spread their information. The problem with this approach is that the content is only delivered to people in your data base, and you have no idea of knowing whether or not this is content they are interested in reading. With a blog entry your content is instantly delivered to your target market, and what is more IT IS NOT SPAM because it is information they have requested. Your information actually goes looking for your audience on your behalf.

I realize this is a lot of information to take in, this is not meant to be a how to manual, just an eye opener of the possibilities.

Happy Blogging,

CB

Yesterday I had one of the most remarkable conversations in my life with a friend of mine. She said something to me that has been resonating with me all day. We were talking about some of the remarkable people in the world who find happiness and success despite all the obstacles and tribulations that are throw their way. She told me about her sister who suffers from cystic fibrosis; and yet never complains, nor asks “why me?” She then said to me, isn’t it interesting how often time the people who get these challenges in life are often the ones who are able to cope and handle such severe adversity?

This really got me thinking to many of the other admirable people in this world. Our recently elected mayor of Vancouver is a wheelchair bound quadriplegic. Here is a man who could come up with so many excuses, but he doesn’t. He is the mayor of one of the premier cities in the world because he made a choice to be successful regardless of what circumstances were thrown at him.

I really believe these people are a blessing to the rest of us and we should heed their achievements. So often we come up with excuses for not achieving our success, but others around us receive more adversity than I can fathom and still come out on top.

My hat goes off to these heroes, and I hope I am not the only one learning from the experiences of others. As a healthy citizen of the best country in the world, I can not be thankful enough for the opportunities in front of me. I truly feel lucky and blessed and motivated to make a difference. I hope you will join me in making this world a better place.

These are my thoughts on the day,

Cheers,

Chuck

One of the things that often scares people about blogs is the vulnerability that is felt. There seems to be a common misconception that because blogs are uncensored, having a blog would make a company susceptible to an attack. The truth of the matter is actually quite alarming and the opposite of what most people seem to perceive.

I find myself explaining many times per week that a company not following blogs makes them MUCH more vulnerable because it will leave them unaware if an attack were to take place.

I like to use the analogy of a fire. Think of the difference between a small campfire and a burgeoning forest fire. The camp fire is contained in a small area and can be put out quite quickly and easily. The forest fire however, burns out of control and can take weeks or months to put out. Often nothing can be done to save things in its path.

The same thing is true in the blogsphere. If something derogatory is said about you or your company and you spot it right away you are easily able to set the record straight and provide information to the contrary while only a few people are aware of it. However, if bad information about you is allowed to spread with no retort from you, how is the general public supposed to know the information they are reading is incorrect.

The underlying lesson I am trying to stress is that when it comes to blogs, ignorance is not bliss. Get the real information and you will protect yourself from future problems.

Cheers,

Chuck

“Many years ago a retiring executive gave me an old pamphlet he had carried throughout his career. It was entitled, “Take Time Out for Mental Digestion.” He told me that this little pamphlet had been one of the most helpful things he had ever read in his business life. At the time I spoke to him he was the president of a corporation with more than 10,000 employees.

The message of this pamphlet was simple. It said that people always resist new ideas and new courses of action, even if the ideas are good for them. However, if they have an opportunity to think about them for a few days, very often they will come around to the new way of thinking with both agreement and enthusiasm.

The pamphlet said that an individual needs about 72 hours to absorb a new idea. Effective executives are those who present their ideas in very casual way, rather than as a decision or a fact engraved in stone. They present their thoughts as ideas for consideration. Effective executives encourage the other person to take the new idea or new way of doing things and think about it for a few days. They say that “we can discuss this later” and they just leave the idea with the other person.”

I just wanted to share this, I found it to be very insightful,

Cheers,

CB