August 2010

Color me amazed

I seemed to have lost a whole month! What happened to July?

It's gone!

And with it, any chance to make anything else happen in July... at least for this year. How seriously do you take your calendar? The more driven I am to accomplish throughput, the more often I find myself reviewing my calendar. You?

—ski

P.S. Recall that I define "throughput" as more money in your pocket now, and even more money in your pockets in the future.

The List (revisited)

I awoke early this morning... Who knows why we awake at crazy hours of the day (or night)? Certainly not me. But I do have a guess: when I have a goal or mission that demands my attention, I am eager to make progress. So this morning, all of a sudden, it's "up time" (or is that "go" time?) and I am on my way to McD's for coffee and a few minutes in a good book. When I read this chapter on "The Power of the List." Wikipedia offers a couple of suggestions, and my favorite is there: "a list of tasks to be completed." But this morning, that ain't "The List" in question It is the Mailing List Wow. Does that ever bring back memories. Like 1980s memories! Yea, I know. Some of you were not yet here on planet Earth when Ronald Reagan took back our country and restored our faith in our Faith. But I digress... In marketing, one must define a small number of Jeromes (target customers) before one can define a target market. An important tool for Sales and Marketing of any idea: business, political, or personal requires a mailing list of leads. The ones that raise their hands and say, "Tell me more" become prospects. Those prospects that acknowledge a want or need for our offering become qualified and stand just inches (we hope) from becoming customers. Paying customers. So, what does your mailing list look like this morning? Need help adding names to it? Call me. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah (330) 432-3533 www.throughput.us ©2010 Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. All rights reserved.

Entrepreneurship anyone?

So, how inviting is your backyard for entrepreneurs? What if an area, say Northeast Ohio just as a "what if" statement, said "We want to encourage job creation." Where would you begin? Helping a GM expand? Or maybe help them rehire some of those thousands laid off? Maybe. Me? I don't know how to help a publicly traded company. Why? Too often, it is all about hitting the quarterly numbers. Which shows the wrong focus (short term vs. long range). As Tom Hanks said, "What's the fun in that?" This video helps explain why the America I grew up loving and supporting (and defending) is (yet today) the greatest business environment on planet earth. I have real concerns, but I won't digress at this juncture. I love Moah's quote about MIT:

"We will figure out the money later."

How great is that? Need help getting your business idea off the ground? Let's talk. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah (330) 432-3533 www.throughput.us P.S. Thanks to the Scobleizer for yet another outstanding post. ©2010 Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. All rights reserved.