
August – The month to go “ALL In”
I absolutely love this from Gary Vaynerchuk. Are you “All In”? Let me know in the comments below.
I absolutely love this from Gary Vaynerchuk. Are you “All In”? Let me know in the comments below.
If you’ve ever tried to use a smart phone, or a website, you’re using a user interface. If done well, this interface has been designed to help you do what you want: check your messages, read an article, find information, get stuff done.
Our lives have interfaces too. We just don’t often think about it.
And just like with badly designed websites, a bad interface for your life can be frustrating, grating, full of friction and confusion.
The good news is … you’re the interface designer of your life! You can redesign the interface.
Let’s think about a few examples:
Obviously these are just a few examples, a few abstract ideas. The actual implementation depends on your goals, on the experience you want to create for yourself. But these are good to think about.
In truth, we can never control everything about our experience in life, nor should we try. But spending some time thinking about a smarter, simpler, more lovely interface for your life is about rethinking the unconscious, and living more consciously.
As always, thoughts, comments and sharing are strongly encouraged!
I’ve never been a huge fan of dwelling on the past. What’s done is done. However, I am a big fan of learning. I’m a huge believer in learning in order to grow. Life is about growth. Growing mentally, spiritually and emotionally are not things most focus on. The crux of personal development comes from evolving who we are as leaders, fathers/wives, entrepreneurs. Sometimes we need to reflect on the past to continue that growth. However, there is a big difference between reflecting and dwelling. Those that dwell on the past unfortunately tend to get stuck there.
So, how do we reflect on the past without getting stuck there? A few years back I came across the concept of the “Debrief” at business conference. The concept involves taking a recent experience, and examining the good/bad/ugly from it. What did we do right? What did we do wrong? How can we improve? Since then, I’ve tried to implement this in most areas of life. This has been especially useful in my business and personal life. It has led to exponential growth both personally and professionally.
Two years ago today I issued a press release announcing the sale of my IT business, Network Logix. It was a bittersweet day to say the least. The 10 years of blood (sometimes literally), sweat, tears, sleepless nights and many cups of coffee had finally culminated to a conclusion. At least for this chapter. It was on to the next chapter. The next chapter for growth.
Many of you reading this were likely in the room back in April for Robin Robin’s Boot Camp. During one of the presentations, the question was asked whether anyone in the room would like to eventually sell their business. Nearly the entire room raised their hands. This got me thinking.
I’ve always attempted to be as efficient as possible. Learning from others allows me to expedite the process, and possibly side-step any pitfalls along the way. Learning from coaches, mentors and peers has led to exponential growth for myself and many others.
After selling my business, I did a Debrief of what I learned. Boiling this down to just a few items was pretty difficult, as you can imagine. 10 years is a long time, and I could almost write a book about all the adventures. (Stay tuned for that, it’s in the works.) Below are the 7 lessons I learned along the way. I’m happy to share them with you.
I sincerely hope that there is at least one thing that you can draw from my debrief. I’d also love to hear how you use past experiences to further your growth as an entrepreneur, parent, father or any other roles you are privileged to play. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Feel free to share this with your network too. I’d be eternally grateful. Have an awesome day!
LinkedIn isn’t just a social network for job seekers and recruiters anymore. Over the past few years, it’s evolved into a powerful lead generation tool for many businesses. Its features, like Pulse and Groups, lend themselves well to connecting businesses with prospects. Furthermore, the Company Page feature can be developed into a one-stop-shop for anyone looking for information about your business. With so many great features, it can be quite challenging to figure out how to use the ones that best fit your needs. To help you navigate your way through LinkedIn, we’ve put together some easy-to-follow tips and best practices to make the most of your LinkedIn company page. In this eBook, we’ll show you ten things MSPs should be doing on LinkedIn right now to establish your company presence, attract and engage followers, and generate leads for your business.
About the Author
I’m a serial entrepreneur who has launched and run several successful businesses of my own since age 8. After running a successful MSP of my own for 10 years, I founded Orange Nomad to help MSPs, small businesses and entrepreneurs bridge the gap between strategy and execution. I enjoy the challenge of working with the smaller firms. All my life I’ve had to build something from nothing, and that’s what I’ve gotten really great at – scrappy, creative and really, really smart strategy coupled with hard work.
I love helping the ’underdog.’ When a client comes to me with a story about how I’ve helped them finally get the financial success they so desperately needed, or that I’ve helped their business grow, I’m totally fulfilled. That gives me far more personal gratification than helping a $20 million dollar firm generate an increase in sales. I’ve built my business from nothing and know how hard it can be to start and grow a business when you’ve got no money, no help and the world on your shoulders. I’m proud to be that “guiding force” to help my clients enjoy the same level of success I’ve been able to achieve myself.
Andrew Moon
Founder, Orange Nomad and LinkedIn For MSPs
The Profit is a show that airs on CNBC Prime about struggling businesses finding a “savior” in the person of multi-millionaire Marcus Lemonis.
In each episode, Marcus, the CEO of Camping World and Good Sam Enterprises will find a business in dire need of help and radically change its’ core while investing a hefty amount of his money to save it.
What I love about the profit show is that since it is very real, sometimes the deals work and sometimes they don’t. That’s life isn’t it?
Being a life-long entrepreneur, I absolutely love the show. Marcus Lemonis is an incredible business man, and seems to have a heart. I came across a video interview with Marcus the other day.
This interview really got me thinking. “I wouldn’t know if someone is BSing me.”, was his best quote. If someone like him will not invest in tech companies because he’s outside his element, how does the normal business owner make an educated decision about which IT company to choose to support them? The short answer…they shouldn’t be. At least not by themselves. Let’s face it. The average business owner has no idea whether they are being BS’d either. They usually start looking for another IT company when something is on fire and they need it fixed right away, or their current guy (assuming they have one) has royally screwed something up. After jumping on Google and calling down the list of names one by one, they finally get someone on the phone.
That’s where you as an MSP come in. Most IT companies go in and start talking about the tech. After a “Free Network Assessment”, they drop a RapidFire report on them (which might as well be written in a foreign language to the business owner), and kindly point out all the things that are wrong with their systems and network, and how they are going to be their savior for the low price of $xxx/month.
The business owner has no basis in which to make a decision. They have no idea whether that IT company will suck as bad as the last guy. They have no idea whether they are being BS’d. The only basis they have to make a decision is whether they like the sales guy, and the price. A decision based upon either of these two alone will never be a good choice. You already know this.
If I have just described your sales process, PLEASE change it! You will always look just like all the other IT companies to the business owner, and they will always make the decision solely on price. Even if you win the account initially, you will lose in the end. I’ll bet you already know this too.
In this episode, I break down what the Microsoft buyout of LinkedIn means for MSPs, IT Service Providers, Application Developers and any other IT related business. There is a HUGE opportunity. Are you ready for it?
I recently had the opportunity to be a guest on my friend Rick Coplin’s podcast. Listen to my extremely candid interview about what being an entrepreneur is really like here: http://www.rickcoplin.com/sts006/
Just in case you hadn’t heard…..Microsoft is buying LinkedIn for $26.2. What does this mean for you? Stay tuned……
I have a confession to make: I haven’t been single-tasking lately.
I’ve returned to multi-tasking and distraction.
I’d like to blame my smart phone (I long for the days of my sweet dumb phone), but in all honesty I constantly switch browser tabs too. I’ve been pulled by the allure of so many interesting things to read on the Internet, email, Slack, always something to check or read or respond to. Not to mention the ultimate time-suck…..FACEBOOK!
As of today, I’m returning to single-tasking.
Why? Because I think giving in to constant switch and distraction is a way to run away. It feels busy and productive, but it’s an avoidance. Not just an avoidance of important tasks, but of whatever boredom or bad feelings I might be having in the moment.
So here are the rules I’m going to try to follow:
These aren’t hard and fast rules, but things to shoot for. I will fail at them often, but I’m going to try to follow them for at least a week, and hopefully longer.
I’m not doing this to be more productive, more focused, more disciplined, more perfect. I just want to explore mindfulness and consciousness, and not avoiding by distraction. Wish me luck!
If you have the same issue, or have more to add, feel free to leave me a comment below. [I know I’m not the only one out there ;-)]
Here’s a funny video on the subject too. Enjoy!
Credits: Photo from sharazza.com
I fail at things much more than you might imagine, given that I’ve started and run numerous businesses since age 8.
I’ve had businesses that were unsuccessful, and it feels just as horrible for me as it does for anyone else as a serial entrepreneur.
I get down on myself, feel guilty, try to avoid thinking about it, and would rather hide it from everyone else.
Failing at things can really suck.
And yet, I get back up and try again.
I fail at eating healthy on a regular basis, but I keep trying again. I’m pretty good these days at sticking to a sleeping plan, but I failed and tried again, regularly, for years and years. Not getting enough rest as an entrepreneur is highly detrimental.
I’ve made several attempts at writing the book I’m writing now, and scrapped it all each time because it didn’t feel right. And yet, I started again, and I still continue to work on it.
I fail at being content. But I don’t give up on that.
I fail at being a good dad, seemingly multiple times a day. But I continue to try, and sometimes I succeed.
When I try over and over again, once in awhile I succeed.
So what’s the secret? Well, there isn’t one. You just have to keep trying.
That said, here’s what I’ve found to work:
I realize that I’m far from perfect, and that the guilty secrets I hide inside myself are no different than anyone else’s. You guys are just like me, in the inside, and while we all share the commonality of failing to live up to our better nature, we also share the bond of being able to start again.
So start again.
I would love to know how you have dealt with failure in your life and/or business. Leave me a comment below.
If you know someone who might be struggling, and just needs an extra jolt, please feel free to share.