Archives for October 2021

Focus Requires Escape

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Focusing is hard, especially when you’re trying to run a business. You’ve got so many things to do, so many things that need your attention, and yet you may have a hard time focusing on even just one of them.

“Focus is vital for any business leader who wants to be productive and keep their business running smoothly.” – Cameron Herold

Why is it so hard to focus and how do you do it?

Find the Perfect Environment

There is no doubt that being a CEO is hard.

Running your own business comes with a lot of pressure, and it’s crucial to take time to think and be away from the distractions of day-to-day business operations.

This involves finding an environment that refreshes your focus. Sometimes your office can feel stagnant and your work begins to feel just the same. Find a new environment in your building, or find a coffee shop, park, etc that helps you feel refreshed and switches work life up enough before it becomes tedious. You want to escape there once or twice a week to improve productivity, which in turn, will also improve the quality of your work.

Give Yourself Strict Focus Days

Dedicating ‘Strict Focus Days’ for yourself is extremely helpful (it’s something I still do regularly). Slowing down one a month or once a quarter so that you can sit quietly and obsess about the future helps to fuel more thoughtful decisions about your business (whether it is about the present or the future).

During your ‘Strict Focus Days,’ it’s good to think about the following questions:

  • Where could you be focusing more in your business?
  • Who could you be building better relationships with? 
  • Who are your biggest clients? How could you get more business from them?
  • Are you taking time to really focus without the trappings of day-to-day life distracting you (laptop, email, phone)? If not, you should think about taking more focus days to disconnect from the rest of the world and be alone with yourself and your thoughts.

“I like to carve out blocks of time that I’m going to be unplugged, which is sometimes frustrating to the rest of my team. But I find that it’s hard to do creative, thoughtful tasks when you are interrupted by emails and text messages. I like to carve out two to three hours, where I do a deep dive into writing a piece or working on a speech. That is the most effective hours of my entire day.” – Randi Zuckberg

Take a Focus Break

Once in a while, everyone needs a break, even and especially business leaders. These breaks will help regain your focus and start fresh when you return.

This type of break involves going somewhere far from work that relaxes you. This could be a chair by a fire in a lodge in the middle of nowhere. No people, no phone, no email, just you watching the snowfall outside the window.

Everyone needs an escape to regain focus. This involves escaping somewhere in your office to think once a week, to monthly ‘Strict Focus Days,’ to full-on escapes into the wilderness. Each one of those things is beneficial to you and your business, so give it a try!

Where do you escape to focus? Let us know in the comments below!

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!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in February 2010 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Video Beats Email

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Email and written notes are overused and can be destructive to productivity. You’re looking at a screen so often that it’s easy to brush aside an email. It’s also easy to brush aside anything written, be it email or notes. When they’re just words on paper or on a screen, they seem impersonal and seem to matter less. They’re just words.

That’s why, whenever possible, it’s important that you as a leader have face-to-face discussions with someone to communicate an idea, a feeling, or anything else you deem important and needs to be remembered.

But it’s hard to find the time for all of that. Of course, you can’t have face-to-face discussions for everything – there isn’t time for that! Still, you should do it as often as you can. Here are some tips for maximizing your opportunities to communicate ideas face-to-face.

Keep a List

Keep a list of items you’d normally email out to people. Then, at your weekly meeting, dedicate some time to going through each of the items on that list in person instead of wasting time sending the information by email.

When your employees hear these things directly through you, they’re much more likely to prioritize them. What feels more memorable; one email among the many you get every day or a face-to-face reminder from your boss about it?

Use Video Chat

One vital tool for communicating face-to-face nowadays is through video chat. It’s fantastic for building relationships with people who are both near and far away –  far better than email. These days, there are so many ways to do it as well. There’s Zoom, Facetime, GoogleMeets, and tons more.

If you can get a prospective client on a call using video chat, it’s much easier to build a relationship with them and close the deal.

When you can’t see people in person, or if they’re working remotely, don’t resort to email as if it’s the only option. You can use video chat for so many things in your business. You can use it to coach and mentor people, interact with clients, and communicate ideas with your employees. Not to mention, video calling is free! That is especially great when you have employees working from different countries. No need for expensive phone bills.

Be careful of buying into the lie and deception that ‘email can save time communicating.’ It’s not unknown for disasters to occur over a misunderstood email. Many companies fold because email became their main source of communicating, stripping them bare of culture, trust, and human connection.

Encourage Your Employees to do the Same

Get your employees to communicate with each other face-to-face whenever they can rather than just communicating through email. When your employees interact face-to-face it helps to build company culture as well as encourages a better work ethic. Your work feels so much more important when there are real people attached to it and relying on you.

“Building connections with colleagues ensures that employees feel part of something. Even a quick conversation at lunch can help staff feel closer to their colleagues, more comfortable, and therefore more engaged in their work.” – Work Life

Don’t be one of those companies! Dedicate the time to do things face-to-face, be it in person or on video chat. It’s definitely worth it in the long run.

Do you communicate face-to-face with your employees often? Do you think that helps your business? Let us know in the comments below!

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!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in June 2010 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Communicating Feedback

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Feedback is vital for improvement for anyone, be it an employee or a leader, but, to get the most out of feedback, you need to know how to communicate it well. As they say, communication is key. They’re not wrong.

So, how can you communicate feedback well?

Make Sure They Want to Learn

Whoever is receiving feedback needs to want that feedback and have a desire to learn from it if it’s going to be of any use. Communicating feedback to employees is all about learning, but the receiver controls the learning environment. This means that they have to want to learn how to take feedback in order to be successful.

The receiver must perceive a need for feedback. If the receiver already thinks they know it all, then they won’t be ready to learn from you. Let them create their own need by failing a couple of times first.

It’s your job to make sure they’re in this mindset when you give them feedback. If they’re not, giving them feedback is just a waste of time. Wait until they’re ready to hear it.

Give the Feedback in Multiple Forms

Feedback can either be written or verbal. It can be very effective to use both. You can give them a mix of clear and concise written feedback while verbally communicating comments about where they can improve along with areas they should continue as they are.

That’s just one way to do it, though. You need to figure out what works best for you while tailoring it to the needs of the receiver. That’s how you make the most out of feedback.

Clarify With a Scale

Scoring each area of your feedback with a scale also works well to communicate and clarify the feedback to the receiver.

Make sure you’re sure of your scores here. They have to be thought out and chosen wisely. Feedback has to be accurate, showing how you observed them closely and made good written mental notes. Otherwise, no one is going to take your feedback seriously.

Make Your Feedback Exact

Describe what happened, but don’t make only general comments when giving feedback. It is much better to say exactly what was done well, or what could be improved upon. By providing specific examples, the receiver knows exactly where to focus their efforts in order to improve.

Don’t just assume people know what you’re talking about or that they’ll read between the lines. You have to be clear, even if that means you’re being blunt. People much prefer knowing exactly what they did wrong rather than being aware that you’re upset with them without being sure what, exactly, it is that they did wrong.

Give Positive Feedback, Too

As a general rule, people enjoy getting positive feedback and don’t like hearing too much negative feedback. Providing positive feedback shows support of their efforts and fosters more open learning.

Often, when you address someone’s strengths, the flip side is a weakness that they then notice on their own. Start your feedback with positive statements. Once they hear that, they’ll be much more inclined to actively listen to you.

A good rule to follow is, for each negative, give them two positives that they should maintain.

Ensure It’s Understood

When communicating feedback, keep in mind that the message delivered isn’t always the message received. Check in with the receiver to ensure that they understood you correctly, even if this requires them to repeat their understanding of what you said.

Not only does all this ensure that you are both on the same page, but it also helps make sure the feedback sinks in. When the receiver states that they agree with your feedback, you know they’ve absorbed it. If the receiver disagrees or is confused with any of the feedback, discuss it further until they are clear on it.

Great leadership knows how important communicating feedback is. Without it, your employees, you, and your company are at a standstill. Communicating feedback correctly is the key to improvement!

Do you have any tips on giving and receiving feedback? Let us know in the comments below!

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!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in June 2011 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Building a Great Culture Starts at your Front Door

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A truly great workplace culture is composed of many different facets, from the way you hire to the coffee you serve in the lunchroom, but, the most important aspect is the workplace itself.

In many ways, your workplace defines your culture. It’s the physical embodiment of your beliefs, your standards, and your theories on how to treat your employees and run your business. Your company’s culture truly does start at the front door of your workplace.

Keep Things Clean

Imagine you walk into an office and see boxes everywhere, stacks of files falling, drab colors, and scratched and dented furniture. You’d be shocked – and not in a good way. That is not the kind of environment people are compelled to do their best work in.

Making sure your office is always clean can seem unimportant compared to all the things you have to do. You’re busy running a rapidly growing business, but keeping it looking nice is more worthwhile than it seems. That messy office isn’t going to get and keep great employees. It’ll barely even keep okay ones!

“You better have a crazy compensation package on your dreary, white table if you think you are going to attract any top talent to your little, beige office. These top talents read enough blogs and watch enough TV to know what kinds of environments the best, cutting edge, start-up companies are offering” – Cameron Herold

Work Together

You want people to know you have a great company culture from the moment they walk in, meaning things must be clean and stay clean. This doesn’t have to be a difficult or boring task. Instead, try doing something to encourage everyone to work together to keep the office clean, such as picking one day a week for everyone to contribute to keeping the office neat and tidy.

Working together to do this also improves the company culture. It makes everyone care about keeping things tidy and also works as a team building exercise. With teamwork and tidiness, the energy in the building is much better. What’s not to love about that?

Take a Look at Your Desk

They say that a clean desk is the sign of a sick mind, but that saying is entirely untrue. Who can think clearly and efficiently when they are trapped on all sides by stacks and stacks of looming files?

Not only is it visually unpleasant, but it has a subconscious effect of adding pointless mental clutter. Most brains are wired to desire order and cleanliness and yours will likely add tidying the mess to its unconscious “to-do” list. It won’t remove itself until it’s been done!

This isn’t to suggest that you put on a glove and spend hours scrubbing your desk. The idea is simply to keep your desk, your office, and the entire building free of unnecessary clutter.

People should get an instant idea as to what your company is like the second they walk through the door. A messy, disorganized space sends the wrong message about your company’s culture.

What do you do to ensure that your office stays clean? Let us know in the comments below!

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!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in December 2013 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Culture is King

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One of the biggest, most important questions that any business leader can ask themself is, “What’s the most important thing to do to grow my business?”

The shortest answer is this: To grow your business, you have to develop a world-class culture. A commitment to building an awesome culture is also a commitment to making all aspects of your business better.

Culture and Employees

Think about it, you need top-notch employees to build a successful company. You’ll never recruit the kind of people you want if your company’s culture is too uncomfortable or rigid. Young, ambitious types of people feverishly avoid this kind of environment. If you have a culture that they want to avoid, you’ll end up with average applicants just looking for a paycheck.

If you build a culture that nourishes and inspires people, entrepreneurial applicants will flock to your company. Who wouldn’t want to work in an environment that encourages everyone to work their best and feel good while they’re doing it?

Culture and Cost

A lot of companies shy away from building a truly great culture. They think it’s either too expensive or not important enough. Well, companies that think like that are probably doomed.

Truly great companies look at the money spent on benefits and perks as investments in their culture and therefore investments in their people. For this, they can expect to be paid back tenfold in the quality of work they will receive from their employees in return.

“You better have a crazy compensation package on your dreary, white table if you think you are going to attract any top talent to your little, beige office. These top talents read enough blogs and watch enough TV to know what kinds of environments the best, cutting edge, start-up companies are offering.” – Cameron Herold

Culture and Success

Look at Google, one of the biggest and most successful companies on the planet. Their offices are bright, colorful, and packed with nap pods, pinball machines, and similar paraphernalia. Now, is Google staffed by slackers and goof-offs? Of course not! In fact, it basically has its pick of the top candidates in any field any time it hires.

“By creating an outstanding reputation, Google gets to pick and choose from the cream of the crop when recruiting. Then, as these innovative new hires inject new ideas and create new revenue streams, the company is able to sweeten their recruitment package even more. It’s a self-sustaining spiral of success.” – Cameron Herold

Some argue that it is high compensation and stock options that create the opportunity for great recruiting for Google. That simply isn’t true. Google’s rich culture is responsible for attracting the kind of talent that allows it to offer such rich packages.

It isn’t just video games or funky furniture that creates a great culture, though. It’s things like vacation time, how you encourage ideas, and even what you stock in the fridge that go far in fostering an environment of success. In other words, there is no blueprint for creating a winning company culture. Companies that get this are the companies that are built for success. Emulate them and you’ll see your business take off.

What do you value in company culture? Let us know in the comments below!

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!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in January 2013 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

double-double

Double Double: How To Double Your Revenue And Profit In 3 Years Or Less​

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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.