Vision

Hall of Fame

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Hall of Fame

When I mentor young entrepreneurs, I endeavor to give them a war chest of skills that will help them long into the future. One tool that I ensure each of them has is a Vivid Vision. I’ve talked about these invaluable documents a lot in other blog posts. They are one of my hallmarks. Your own hall of fame so to speak.

And why am I such an advocate? Because time after time, I’ve seen them work.

Over the years, I’ve worked at creating a Vivid Vision with dozens of organizations, from small boutique firms to $100 million enterprises. In this post, I thought I’d share a little detail about what some of these companies did to their Vivid Visions that really made them pop.

Red Balloon Days, an online retailer that sells exceptional experiences to Australia and New Zealand, had a graphic designer give their Vivid Vision the royal treatment. Bright colors, cool fonts, funky images—the document grabbed the reader’s eyeballs and refused to let go.

So often, companies fear injecting life into their documents or presentations lest they appear ‘unprofessional’ or ’amateur’. Sure, there are times for somber, professional presentations, but I strongly support adding flair when the opportunity presents itself. I stop short of cheesy cartoons or using Comic Sans font, but believe that bright, colorful annual reports, proposals and Vivid Visions are far more effective (and more fun to read).

Nurse Next Door went multimedia with their Vivid Vision. This provider of in-home health services for the elderly of the US and Canada combined the written aspect of their document with a voiceover recorded by its cofounder.

I loved how the visuals really brought their vision to life. It’s one thing to talk about TIME Magazine profiling your company in your Vivid Vision, but it’s another altogether to have a mocked up magazine cover graphically displaying it.

The company was pretty happy with it. So much so, they put it up on YouTube where nearly 2,000 people have viewed it.

What do you do when you are a global organization with offices in 25 countries and you want to introduce the concept of a Painted Picture to all of your employees? If you’re Sebastien Tondeur, the CEO of MCI (a global event management firm), you film a slick, professional introduction that explains exactly what a Vivid Vision is, and how it relates to the company’s future.

His charisma is obvious, and his introduction gets his employees excited about their role in making the Vivid Vision come to life.

I could go on and on, but what’s important to remember is that any Vivid Vision is exceptional. You don’t need flashy graphics or CGI visuals , you just need to take the time and effort it takes to visualize your company’s future. Who knows, you might end up in my Hall of Fame.

Click here to get more inspiration on your own Vivid Vision.

World Class Culture & Leadership at 100MPH

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Building a World Class Culture and Leadership at 100MPH.

Have you ever observed an athlete just before a competition? Perhaps you should look at the high jumpers during the Olympics next time, you’ll see many of them standing very still before they start running towards the bar, and then they’ll close their eyes and you’ll see their head bobbing up and down as they imagine running up to the bar- but they haven’t even moved!

They then open their eyes with their eyes fixed on the bar, and begin to recreate in real time whatever they just visualized, even downhill skiers do this too by using their gloved hands by responding to physically imagined objects on the snowy hills.

Whatever the sport, these athletes are using visualization to achieve their desired results, and because they imagined these obstacles that they may face on the track or field; they prepare themselves mentally and physically for the challenge.

I’ve had enormous success with the process after learning about it from an Olympic coach and sports psychologist who worked with several high performance athletes to help them better visualize their task beforehand. He then showed us a variety of examples where athletes were using this process of visualization that would deeply ingrain the success and actual performance of the event into their mind, and when completed; they’ll simply recreate the vision they had burrowed in their memory.

Imagine your company running itself smoothly and growing at 100 mph. Learn more on cameronherold.com.

Pull Your Employees Into The Future…

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31bRemember when Marty McFly from the movie Back To The Future, got into a time machine and traveled into the future.  He looked around at what he saw, then went back to his current day and told everyone what to expect down the road.  They were excited.

Well that future was yesterday…

It leads me to think… Have you gone 3 years into the future, looked around, and come back to tell your employees what you see.  If you do this, and write a Vivid Vision (formerly Painted Picture), then the employees will be completely inspired to make it happen.

I describe in step-by-step detail here in Chapter 1 of Double Double, just how to write your own Painted Picture.  Get a copy of it free here.

AWESOME Tips To Creating Your Vivid Vision !!!

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32b1. Get out of your office. When creating a Vivid Vision (formerly Painted Picture) for your company you must leave your office.  If you sit at your desk or ‘hide’ in a boardroom, you’ll get dragged back into your typical routine and your mind can’t wander into the future.  Working from an office tends to put specific constraints on your mind, and that’s the antithesis of this exercise.  Forget current metrics, daily tasks and obligations, and the looming question of ‘how?’ and simply let your mind wander.

I have found that the best way to start your Vivid Vision is to sit by the ocean, go up into the forest, find a spot in the mountains, or even do what I did when I wrote the Vivid Vision for BackPocketCOO: lay in your backyard in a hammock and just start sketching or writing.  Chapter 1 FREE here gives you more tools too…

2. Abandon your computer. In this specific instance, your computer is considered a negative device that will suck you into the vortex of daily emails and tasks. Get a sketch pad with unlined paper. Initially, it was hard for me to think abstractly because I’m so left-brained.  I turned the sketch pad sideways so it was in ‘landscape mode’ and I started mind-mapping.  I just began writing down my ideas about what my business would look like three years in the future.  Once I had put on paper all of the ideas in my head, I was then able to write a three page description of all of my thoughts.

3. Look at the road in front of you. Don’t focus on how you’ll make it happen.  Even with 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, I was by choice never a part of the process of creating the Vivid Vision because I was the ‘how’ person.  I was able to attract the people and figure out the systems and processes that were scalable for implementation once everyone had conjured up their ideas.  In contrast, Brian was the ‘where’ person—he could look at the road ahead and see where he wanted it to go.  If I’d been involved in crafting the Vivid Vision for that company, I’d have gotten in the way by constantly thinking about how we’d make it happen.

4. Get Creative – YES YOU ARE! Creating a Vivid Vision requires you to get out of your comfort zone, and I encourage you to do so. Everyone is creative, so don’t even utter those words.

To ensure you’re getting creative, think about crazy stuff—maybe something too outlandish to share at a meeting or really spend too many ‘work hours” thinking about. I like to use a technique called ‘mind mapping,’ which allows you to plop down thoughts on paper without having to provide explanations of strategies for achieving the desired goal. Here’s a good rule: if what you think about during one of these sessions seems bizarre or unlikely, then include it in your Vivid Vision.

5. Enlist support. When you finish your Vivid Vision, share it with your employees, suppliers, bankers and lawyers. You’ll then start to see people align with your goals, and the picture will become a reality. It’s incredibly beneficial for your employees, who will use your Vivid Vision as a means to understand their role in the grand scheme of things. I’ve even seen business areas within a company form their own version of a Vivid Vision that then dovetails into the overarching one. Overall, sharing your Vivid Vision with staff will prompt them to make decisions subconsciously in alignment with your vision.  Others with whom you share your Vivid Vision will also consciously help you make it happen because they are energized by the clarity of your vision.

Here’s my Vivid Vision.  I don’t care if competitors see it.  I want the whole world to see it because then I get everyone working for me for free!

6. Stick to a three year Vivid Vision. Sometimes an entrepreneur I coach shares with me their frustration upon returning from vacation to find that their employees made ‘ridiculous’ or ‘bad’ decisions in their absence. Employees don’t wake up in the morning to make bad decisions.  They WANT to do the right thing, but if leaders don’t share company goals, then what do they base their decisions on? Employees can’t read your mind.

In order to create an effective Vivid Vision, you need to keep one foot firmly planted in the present, while the other reaches out and taps on the soil of the future.  If you go much further than three years into the future, you’ll lose your balance and fall over.  Stay about three years out and then write down what you see.

Chapter 1 FREE here gives you more tools too… Make it happen!  The results will change your company and your life.

For more information on this topic, check out: Building a World Class Culture and Leadership at 100MPH.

Vivid Vision Hall of Fame

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35bSome companies I have coached on creating a Vivid Vision (formerly Painted Picture) have done an amazing job.

Red Balloon Days in Sydney, Australia, did a great job with their Vivid Vision.  They made it jump off the page by having a designer use creative typography–cool fonts, animation, colors and varied type sizes–to keep the reader engaged and excited.  Email me if you’d like to read it.

Nurse Next Door in Vancouver, Canada, did a brilliant job constructing their Vivid Vision. They brought it to life by creating a simple PowerPoint slide show complete with audio where co-founder Ken Sim reads out the Vivid Vision while it’s being highlighted with photos and graphics. The visuals are an excellent feature, and get the reader engaged while anchoring ideas. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Tina Turner song they used (Kidding! Sort of) – but loved when they shared their Vivid Vision on YouTube.

Sebastian Tondeur, the CEO of MCI based in Geneva, filmed a fantastic introduction to his company’s Vivid Vision.  He stood in front of a green screen, and then had company graphics inserted.  He explained what the Vivid Vision was and why he’d written it.  Sebastian’s company was operating in twenty-five countries when I helped him write the Vivid Vision. Afterwards, he brought me to a company meeting to meet with the leaders of each country’s division so I could explain the idea behind the concept of a Vivid Vision to them.  It was a great way to introduce the idea and instantly start to trickle it down to all eight hundred employees.

All of the Vivid Vision Hall of Famers did exactly what you’re supposed to do with the exercise: they pushed beyond the drab corporate-speak and confining metrics, and answered the simple question, “What’s really possible for our company?”

See your Vivid Vision as the ultimate opportunity to make your company shine.

What’s Unwavering Vision Mean?

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36bA great example of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?’s Vivid Vision (formerly Painted Picture) in action was when one of our amazing marketing managers Andrea Baxter said, “Can you imagine our company name on Starbucks cups?” I thought she was kinda nuts for suggesting such an idea, but I didn’t say anything.  When she said, “Don’t worry about how it’ll happen. As long as you can see it three years from now, I’ll make it happen,” I knew she was nuts, but I loved her passion and conviction.

A few months later Andrea told us we’d soon be on ten million Starbucks cups across North America–for free–with a quote and the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? name on it.  Nice!

Here’s the cool part:  Starbucks told Andrea that they’d put a quote from our founder on the cups but not the company name. In response, Andrea told Starbucks, “No, you have to put the company name on the cup!  That’s part of our vision.  It says so on our wall!” She sent Starbucks a picture of the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? ‘Can You Imagine?’ wall and convinced them to include the company name. Her belief in the idea helped the company achieve our goal of getting 1-800-GOT-JUNK? on ten million cups of Starbucks coffee.

Brian’s quote on Starbucks cups:  “It’s difficult for people to get rid of junk. They get attached to things and let them define who they are. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this business, it’s that you are what you can’t let go of.”  Brian Scudamore, CEO, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?

Make your Vivid Vision stick.  An unwavering vision that comes to pass will be celebrated 100 times more than something you’re willing to compromise on.

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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.

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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.