Frank DeRaffele Jr., host of the Entrepreneurial Excellence radio show, has been a good friend of mine for years and his show is a great tool for entrepreneurs everywhere.  He recently brought on a “dream team” of CEOs, authors, coaches and consultants to join his show to help the small business entrepreneur, and I am privileged to have been asked to be a part of the team. I’ve spent the past 25 years of my life helping small-business entrepreneurs grow their businesses through the referral process...

I’ve always said that I “refuse to participate in a recession,” and I just co-authored a new e-book on business and success that helps people learn how to go about doing just that.  The book was co-authored with 11 of the world’s foremost authorities on business. It’s called The Way Out!–Your GPS “Guided Path to Success,” and it is a road map for how to steer clear of the recession and drive toward success and prosperity. It was published by iLearningGlobal with the go...

Some months back, I posted a blog entry telling people about a website I’m affiliated with called NetworkingNow.com.  In that blog post, I encouraged people to check out the site and try out the service for free for 30 days.  Quite a few people took me up on the free offer, and I got a lot of great feedback from people saying they planned to continue using NetworkingNow.com after the trial period.  Because of that, I have decided to extend the offer again. NetworkingNow.com is a site where you can gain inst...

There seems to be a new trend in keeping appointments that I was completely unaware of until recently. You see, I’ve always operated under the assumption that when I set an appointment with someone for a meeting, a lunch or some kind of face-to-face engagement, it is presumed I’m going to be there unless I notify them otherwise.  However, it has recently come to my attention that I’m apparently no longer safe in assuming that this is the case.  Just last week, I received a frantic call from a man...

While I was in Stockholm giving a presentation on networking recently, a European newspaper reporter with a major publication arranged to do an interview with me. Upon arrival, he really started putting me on the spot about online networking, telling me it is replacing the face-to-face process. He was almost militant in expressing his point of view and was essentially telling me that traditional networking is going the way of the buggy whip. Honestly, I was surprised and a little annoyed at first that this reporter ...

My friend Jan Vermeiren has a new book out called How to Really Use LinkedIn and, put simply, it’s a must-read for anybody who wants to grow a business through networking. Even if you’re already a member of a referral or network organization, Jan offers powerfully advanced strategies on how LinkedIn can help you get even more out of your membership. The fact is, it’s vital in any economic situation–especially a bad one–to have a network to fall back on or build upon. New opportunities ar...

It’s fascinating how information can get distorted in the minds of the public and turn into urban myths.  Just think about Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny (Kris Kringle–I know you’ve written me to let me know you are real but . . . work with me here). A classic example of the process that breeds urban myths is the idea that everyone on earth is separated by just six degrees of separation from everyone else.  It’s a popular piece of “conventional wisdom” and was the basis for a f...

Sales training often teaches that customers make buying decisions based on 1) their emotions and 2) the value the product or service brings to them. Customers choose a product or service based on its benefits, not its features. The features are simply the bare-bones facts–the elements or significant parts–of the product or service. The benefits are its value to the customer–how it will solve their problems, eliminate their pain and make life better. Unfortunately, most businesspeople tend to talk in...

I just spent time in Kiruna, Sweden–home of the legendary ICEHOTEL and Ice Bar.  It was an amazing experience that I recommend to everyone. A large portion of the hotel facility is completely made of ice. Although there are normal hotel rooms at this location for the faint of heart, the truly brave live big and stay in the amazing “ice accommodations.” This portion of the hotel is a completely different set of buildings and has about 90 rooms along with a truly unique Ice Bar (seen here to the...