Archives for May 2020

How to Live More Authentically

Authenticity is a vital quality in many brands, leaders, companies, and employees. It helps build strong relationships and trust—whether it’s between you and your team or your brand and your customers.

In today’s world, authenticity is what many customers look for in a brand so it’s important that you bring it into your business—and it begins with you. What some people do not realize is that authenticity isn’t something that you can fake—it seems like common sense but you’d be surprised.

Here is how to start living a more authentic life.

Observe Yourself Objectively

It’s important to take the time to notice how you react in different situations. Authenticity is about being aware of the difference between your emotions and your actions.

“Learn to observe yourself like a fly on the wall. Watch yourself as you live in the present moment, observing how your “Adaptive Self” behaves, what it believes, how it reacts under pressure, and how it responds to challenges.” – Psychology Today

As a leader, it’s important to be careful about disclosing everything you think and feel especially if it’s unproven. Consciously observing your emotional response to pressure will help you learn whether acting on those emotions is about being productive and authentic or about being right just for the sake of it.

Make Transparency a Habit

Authenticity requires you to be open to yourself and the people around you. It can be easy to brush aside your feelings on a bad day under the idea that you need to ‘be professional’ but being open about those feelings will actually benefit everyone.

“Being open and honest is always in everyone’s best interest. Openness creates a sense of loyalty and makes your business stand out as one that employees want to work at. They feel like they can turn to you for support and you, in turn, can rely on them for guidance – it’s a win-win!” – Cameron Herold

By consistently making a point of being open and honest it will eventually develop into a habit. It’s already a mentality that’s ingrained in many people, that in order to be professional you need to remove any emotions that could get in the way. When in fact, by removing those emotions you remove your most authentic self.

Do Things Your Own Way

People who are truly living authentically won’t try to fit into a mold. They’ll go about a job the way they feel they can do it best, not the way everyone else is doing it. Authentic people aren’t afraid to break the status quo.

“Authentic leaders go much deeper than their life story, what they have been through, or the issues they have. They embrace their true self and their ethical values along with their weaknesses and use their strengths to their advantage without worrying about what others think.” – Inc.

People living authentically know their values and act based on those, not based on other people’s opinions no matter how common they may be. Make sure you understand what you value most in yourself, your life, and your work.

Focus on Self-Reflection

Self-reflection is the most important way to understand who you are—which is what authenticity is all about. You need to be able to look inside yourself, not just at the people, behaviors, and values around you.

“Self-reflection puts you in a state of personal harmony, causing you to experience less anxiety. You aren’t worried about another person’s position because you’re confident enough to focus on your own. You have nothing to hide, which allows you a freedom to be yourself that followers do not experience.” – Business Insider

It’s nearly impossible to be authentic without truly understanding and being comfortable with yourself  All you’ll be worrying about is the opinions of people around you, which will make you unfairly devalue your own.

Living authentically is important for everyone to work on, especially leaders. People are drawn towards authenticity because authentic people are the foundations of a successful company that everyone wants to work at. So practice authenticity every day—it’s just as important to you as an individual as it is to your business.

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Grounding Your Vivid Vision in Reality

A Vivid Vision is a document, roughly three pages in length, describing what a company’s highest-ranking executive envisions for that company in vivid detail. It describes what the future holds for the company but not how it’ll get there.

Your Vivid Vision should have people saying “There’s no way.” You should have goals so big that they make you imagine technology that doesn’t even exist today. By letting your imagination free on your Vivid Vision it might seem impossible to see it become a reality, but it’s not.

Grounding your Vivid Vision means doing the following things.

Make a Three-Year Vision

Make your Vivid Vision wild, but don’t make its timeline that way. The perfect timing can help your massive goals become a reality⁠—that perfect timing being three years. But why three years?

“The reality is that if you venture too far into the future, the vision becomes very foggy. The further out you go, the more chaos is thrown into the mix, and it becomes very difficult to see your company with any degree of clarity.” – Cameron Herold

Rather, if your timeline is too short⁠—only one or two years⁠—you don’t have time to have a big enough goal that will inspire you. Three years allows those big goals while also giving a tight enough time frame that it inspires innovation.

Share Your Vivid Vision

It is very important that you share your Vivid Vision with your employees. When your employees know exactly what is envisioned for the company in the next three years, especially all the minor details, they know that their work will have an impact.

“Employees naturally want to perform well and feel good about the work they contribute. They want their company to be a success.” – Cameron Herold

Without showing your employees your Vivid Vision you’re holding them back! Motivated and innovative employees are the people that are going to help make your Vivid Vision a reality.

Mind Mapping

When you’re beginning to write your Vivid Vision you have to let your creative side run free. Do this through a technique called ‘mind mapping.’ Write down whatever ideas pop into your head and let each idea inspire another. What you write might look seemingly random, but don’t worry about that.

“After a while, I am left with a sheet of paper covered in haphazard, seemingly unconnected notes. But when I dig a little deeper, patterns begin to emerge. They are ideas or directions I might not have been actively thinking of, but my creative subconscious certainly was.” – Cameron Herold

Don’t let yourself ask ‘how’ as you write your goals and ideas. That question will keep you from having the truly inspired ideas that will help your company thrive no matter how impossible they seem at the moment. By ‘mind-mapping’, your subconscious will find the connections and help you build a road to actually get there. The ‘how’ happens organically.

Breaking it Down

Three years is a long time and your Vivid Vision is big. It can seem daunting at times, that’s why you have to take it one step at a time.

“See your grand ambition not so much as a single entity but as dozens of smaller entities linked together to form something singular.” – Cameron Herold

The end goal might be hard to see realistically, but the smaller steps that form are the things that keep it grounded and achievable. By breaking your Vivid Vision down into small pieces you’ll be able to overcome each obstacle as it arises.

A Vivid Vision is filled with massive goals that might seem impossible at first glance, but that’s why there are ways to keep it grounded. That doesn’t mean it has to seem grounded. In fact, people should look at it and think it’s impossible—when in reality, it’s not. Not if you’re doing it right.

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

The Importance of Passion in Business

Passion is THE thing that turns an okay business into a great one.

Leaders who want to be successful need to be passionate about what they do, what they want to do, and why they want to do it.

Here are the biggest reasons why passion is so important in business.

Passion Drives Success

It’s been said a lot, but that’s because it truly matters; you need passion in order to succeed. It will drive you towards a goal even when it seems impossible, but it’s only impossible for someone without passion.

“Passion is what drives you. Passion keeps you going despite the difficulties that your business will inevitably come across. I had many opportunities to throw up my arms and simply give up, but my passion caused me to keep going. I couldn’t think about anything but making my business succeed.” – Forbes

The road to success is crowded. It’d be impossible for everyone there to succeed – that’s why only the passionate ones do.

Passion Gets Other People on Board

People will want to work with you if they can see your passion for the job. The types of people that you want on your team are those who know that passion drives success.

Entrepreneurs have a passionate way of communicating ideas that gets other people on board. They don’t just come up with ideas, they also know how to lure investors, assemble teams, and inspire the public.” – Cameron Herold

When there is passion in what you are saying, people will listen. And when you can get people to listen to you, then you can also get them to genuinely care.

Passion Makes You Persistent

Passion makes you persist even during the hardest times. It is the thing that keeps your business going when it seems like it’d be a lot easier to just give up and try something else.

“What makes an entrepreneur excited about their work is not as important as the passion they feel, because this helps them persist when they face hardships like long hours or tight budgets.” – Monster

Passion will drive you to work hard for your business no matter what. It is a key component to differentiate between a successful entrepreneur and someone just getting the job done.

Passion is Contagious

When you’re passionate about your business your team will be too. A passionate team is a strong team and that starts with a strong leader with a passion for their vision.

“When employees truly believe in what they’re doing, they tell everyone they know. They’re proud of their work and want to see the company succeed. When someone asks, “What do you do?” their response is energetic and excited.” – Recruiter Box

The most successful businesses know how important it is for everyone involved to be passionate about the company’s vision. Employees in these businesses don’t just work hard because they have to, they do it because they want to. Passionate employees are also your best advertisers. They will be excited to talk about what they do and share your vision with others.

Passion is the foundation of a strong business. It gives you the momentum to keep going even when times get hard and builds your business even higher when times are good. Never underestimate a person with a vision and passion for it.

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

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Meetings Suck: Turning One Of The Most Loathed Elements Of Business Into One Of The Most Valuable

We all know that meetings suck, right?

You hear it all the time. It’s the one thing that almost everyone in business can agree on.

Except it’s not actually true… 

Meetings don’t suck.

We just suck at running meetings.   

When done right, meetings not only work, they make people and companies better.

In Meetings Suck, world renowned business expert and growth guru Cameron Herold teaches you how to use focused, time effective meetings to help you and your company soar.

This book shows you immediately actionable, step-by-step systems that ensure that you and everyone in your organization improves your meetings, right away.

In the process, you’ll turn meetings that suck into meetings that work. 

In life, we always hear about people who’ve made huge decisions from their gut – without data.Today, I want you to make a decision, not only from your gut, but also from some data.  A decision that is only $12 per employee but will be priceless for your business.

Right now, your gut is telling you something is wrong with your company’s meetings.  You KNOW everyone complains about meetings.

People HATE going to them, they HATE running them, and they really have NO idea which meetings are truly necessary but they hold meetings simply because they think that is what they SHOULD do.

Even some of the smartest CEOs in the world complain about meetings – Elon Musk publicly told employees at Tesla & SpaceX to walk out of meetings if they weren’t being run properly.

I sent Elon a message saying that wasn’t going to fix anything – the key is to fix the root of the problem – NOT continue to ignore why meetings suck.

A Meeting is – Any phone call, video call or occasion where 2 or more people meet to discuss or work-through office topics.

Most employees on average spend 1-2 hours per day in meetings.

And likely, none of those employees – front-line staff or leaders – have had any training on how to attend meetings or participate in them, LET ALONE How to RUN THEM.

Consider this…

If the Average employee spends just 1 Hour per day in meetings – that’s 1/8th of their time.

If the Average employee earns $50,000 per year.

And they’re spending 1/8th of their time in meetings, that means you’re paying $6,250 dollars per year for just ONE employee to attend meetings.

The reality is, employees spend 1/8th of their time – and 1/8th of your company’s payroll – doing something they have literally NO idea how to do.

The Reality is…

95% of employees are booking & leading meetings – and they have NEVER been trained on how to run them.

95% of employees have had NO training on how to show up and participate in the meetings they attend daily.

And 95% of employees and companies have no idea what meetings are even necessary to hold.

Meetings CAN be hugely effective – IF you know how to run them

Meetings don’t SUCK, we just SUCK at running meetings. 

Investing $15 per employee – to help ensure the $50,000 a year you spend on them is an obvious and easy choice.

This could be the most impactful $15 you’ll ever spend and will save the company’s money, time and resources instantly.

Buying a copy of Meetings Suck for 100% of your employees and having them read it this month will have a huge impact on your company’s success.

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Free PR: How To Get Chased By The Press Without Hiring A PR Firm

Public relations has always been an essential part of doing business which is probably why you’re shelling out big money to an outside PR firm. But the truth is that you don’t need them. You already have all the necessary tools in-house to do as good a job as the so-called experts. 

Cameron Herold and Adrian Salamunovic have taught thousands of company execs how to exploit free media coverage and ditch these expensive, often ineffective outsiders. 

Cameron & Adrian have also built in-house PR teams, spent decades learning how to generate Free PR and how to leverage public relations to complement their sales and marketing strategy. 

In Free PR, you’ll learn how the media world operates while you gain invaluable insider knowledge and actionable advice on how to: 

  • Build your own in-house PR team
  • Provide effective interviews
  • Score great media coverage for free with just a few easy steps 

Landing public relations coverage for yourself and your company is a powerful tool to help elevate your personal brand. PR is easier to generate than marketing, PR is easier to leverage than marketing and PR is more cost effective than marketing. In other words, Public Relations is more critical than ever in growing your brand and your business. 

You’ve got more passion, commitment, a larger stake, and a deeper understanding of your business than any outside PR firm could ever have. So stop wasting money and take the reins yourself.  Learn the secrets to landing TONS of Free PR for your company.

What they’re saying:

“I think PR is the core for promoting any business. Public relations acquires customers! That’s what’s cool about this book.”

– Kevin O’Leary,  Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank

“The ultimate guidebook for those looking to get press, grow their brand, and get in front of the masses. Free PR is the roadmap you’ve been looking for.”

– Peter Shankman, Founder, Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

“Adrian and Cameron will show you the secrets of getting massive exposure for your business. This book is packed with actionable insights from two guys that actually know how to to do it.”

– Dan Martell,  Serial Entrepreneur & Investor (Intercom.io, Unbounce)

“I told Cameron to write the book on generating free PR. I’m excited to see that he’s finally sharing his secrets with the world. This is a must read for any entrepreneurial company and marketing team.”

– Verne Harnish, Founder of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and author of Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0)

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Vivid Vision: A Remarkable Tool For Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision of the Future

Many corporations have slick, flashy mission statements that ultimately do little to motivate employees and less to impress customers, investors, and partners. 

But there is a way to share your excitement for the future of your company in a clear, compelling, and powerful way and entrepreneur and business growth expert Cameron Herold can show you how. 

Vivid Vision is a revolutionary tool that will help owners, CEOs, and senior managers create inspirational, detailed, and actionable three-year mission statements for their companies. In this easy-to-follow guide, Herold walks organization leaders through the simple steps to creating their own Vivid Vision, from brainstorming to sharing the ideas to using the document to drive progress in the years to come. 

By focusing on mapping out how you see your company looking and feeling in every category of business, without getting bogged down by data and numbers or how it will happen, Vivid Vision creates a holistic road map to success that will get all of your teammates passionate about the big picture. 

Your company is your dream, one that you want to share with your staff, clients, and stakeholders. Vivid Vision is the tool you need to make that dream a reality.

miracle-morning

The Miracle Morning for
Entrepreneurs: Elevate Your SELF to
Elevate Your BUSINESS

READY FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND ACCELERATED SUCCESS IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

A step-by-step guide to enjoying the roller-coaster ride of growth — while getting the most out of life as an entrepreneur. A growth-focused approach: The book is divided into three sections, which cover planning for fast growth, building a company for fast growth, and leading for fast growth. Each topic the author covers — from creating a vision for the company’s future to learning how to generate free PR for a developing company — is squarely focused on the end goal: doubling the size of the entrepreneur’s company in three years or less. A down-to-earth action plan: Herold’s experienced-based advice never gets bogged down in generalities or theory. Instead, he offers a wealth of practical tips, including: How to design meetings for maximum efficiency; How to hire top-quality talent; How to grow in particularly tough markets; How to put together a board of advisors — even for a smaller company; How even the busy entrepreneur can achieve a work/life balance.

READY FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND ACCELERATED SUCCESS IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

Hal Elrod’sThe Miracle Morning has helped redefine the mornings and the lives of millions of readers since 2012. Since then, careers have been launched, goals have been met, and dreams have been realized, all through the power of the Miracle Morning’s six Life S.A.V.E.R.S.

THESE SIX DAILY PRACTICES WILL FUEL YOUR EFFORTS TO CREATE AND SUSTAIN POSITIVE CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE.

Now The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs brings you these principles in a whole new light—alongside the Entrepreneurial Elevation Principles and the Entrepreneur’s Elevation Skills. These are essential skills that you need to create a successful business and personal life. Cameron Herold— Bestselling Author and a widely-respected expert on entrepreneurial mindset—brings his wisdom and insight to you using Hal Elrod’s powerful Miracle Morning framework.

DEVELOP A VISION FOR YOUR BUSINESS, AND BECOME THE INFLUENTIAL AND INSPIRING LEADER YOU WERE ALWAYS MEANT TO BE.

The principles and skills you’ll find in this book will help you to channel your passion and achieve balance in a remarkable new way. – Learn why mornings matter more than you think – Learn how to master your own self-leadership and accelerate your personal development – Learn how to manage your energy—physical, mental, and emotional – Learn how to implement Hal Elrod’s invaluable Life S.A.V.E.R.S. in your daily routine – And much more… You’re already an entrepreneur. Now discover how to take your success to the next level by first taking yourself to the next level. The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs is your roadmap to masterfully building an empire with a powerful vision, utilizing your areas of personal genius, with the right team at your side.

Start giving your business and your life the very best opportunities for success, right now.

A step-by-step guide to enjoying the roller-coaster ride of growth — while getting the most out of life as an entrepreneur. A growth-focused approach: The book is divided into three sections, which cover planning for fast growth, building a company for fast growth, and leading for fast growth. Each topic the author covers — from creating a vision for the company’s future to learning how to generate free PR for a developing company — is squarely focused on the end goal: doubling the size of the entrepreneur’s company in three years or less. A down-to-earth action plan: Herold’s experienced-based advice never gets bogged down in generalities or theory. Instead, he offers a wealth of practical tips, including: How to design meetings for maximum efficiency; How to hire top-quality talent; How to grow in particularly tough markets; How to put together a board of advisors — even for a smaller company; How even the busy entrepreneur can achieve a work/life balance.