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Corporatedojo #8
Do The Cover Tunes
My business. My way. I have some funky business practices and early on it bothered me. I spoke too much. I listened too little. I told too many personal stories; I used bad language, etc. I never really considered changing because I can’t really get away with it. I yam what I yam. I’d rather find clients who extract value on what I give them rather than what I look like or dress like or whether I say fuck a lot. I consider all my clients enlightened individual and we are lucky to have each other. So raise your pirate flag of your company and revel in your rock n’ roll rebellion but…
You better have done / do the cover tunes. When you’re in garage band, before you can play the weak – ass love song you wrote, you as a band better make sure you can play Layla. Doing the cover tunes gives you a foundation and maturity to then go off and be creative.
My company and my career have one valuable asset. Experience. I’ve seen and done it all. Two hundred plus individual and thirty-five corporate accounts… believe me I’ve done the cover tunes. The cover tunes in business are the basics. Take a particular aspect of business… the agreement. I once read that you only do work on a handshake. I personally don’t use contracts and I’ve never sued or have ever been sued. But I earned the right to do that because after closing X amount of deals, I’m a good judge of character. I’ve had good and bad experiences, with and without contracts. I’ve played the cover tunes.
Same thing holds true for your corporate kit, brochure, and resume. No one gets hired based on these things. “Gee Bob, what a cool folder with information about this guy’s company, we have to hire him.” It doesn’t work that way, but when it comes to corporate kits, brochure, web site, bio, resume, business card… you better dam well have one! Do the cover tunes in order to rebel.
Corporatedojo #7
Never ignore red flags
I like to refer to this as business tip #1. If it looks like a
Bad deal, and sounds like a bad deal, it's a bad deal.
Entrepreneurs need to develop a fine tuned sense of people.
You have to be able to sum someone up. You have to be
able to seek out and find people of character to work with.
Quickly correct miscommunication when they occur. Trust
your gut! Trust your gut! Trust your gut and hold to your
terms. Anytime I've altered my terms (the way I do
business), I've gotten screwed. Some red flags are blindly
Obvious. Create a rhythm in which you enroll someone to
hire you, do the actual job and complete the relationship.
Don't deviate. In other words: I run my business my way. I
sell the perfect product/service at the perfect price. This is
how we begin our relationship (negotiate and close the
deal), this is the way I do the job, this is what it looks like
at the end of the relationship (we're both happy). If you are
being asked to or find yourself doing anything different,
and especially if it's not to your choosing; then you will
probably end up in a bad work situation.
So, choose your clients wisely, make sure they are in
sync with how you like to work and then you're free to do
what you do and do it well for the client so that he shakes
your hand at the end and says,” Thanks".
That’s why looking for, or at least paying attention to red
flags (things that don't sound, smell or feel right) will save
you heartache. Finally, I'm not suggesting you be paranoid
and create evidence against a potential client, but in your
discussions, just keep in mind that if it looks like a duck,
and quacks, then it's probably a duck.
Again, and as always I encourage you to come back to this blog, Contact me at kiproth@yahoo.com if you are interested in working with me, leave comments ( givers gain) and tell your friends and loved ones. Building a community of like minded people is like eating an elephant...you do it a spoonful at a time.
Dojo #6
The customer is not always right
The customer is always right…….Says who? Sometimes they are wrong and in fact you are probably being paid to let them know they are wrong. If they were always right, they would not need you. If you are in personal service business and you tread lightly and not speak the truth…then all you are is yes man. Do you really think that is what is best for a client? I should say not. I do not think the customer is paying you to kiss there ass. I may be wrong…but ever hear the expression: “It is better to be loud and wrong, than quiet and right”?
I am fortunate in that I get to choose whom I want to work with and I choose carefully. I have two secrets of success that I’d like to share: 1- Return 3x the value of what you are paid and 2- guarantee your work.
If I take a client on and I deliver three times the value of what I am paid and I guarantee my work, you better believe that I am very clear that before getting into bed with this person, job or project that is something I want to do. The project /job has to be, for me, as well as the client, fun and adventurous.
Dan Pink in his book The Free Agent Nation, talks about the “My Size Fits Me” School of Business. I work when I want, with whom I want, on the project I want, for the money I want. I look for clients and projects that are going to challenge and inspire me to do better and better work. I do not take on a job because I know I can easily get it done. I play a bigger game. Customer care is giving the client more than they paid, more than they expect.
Customer Service is not just about making him or her right. You have to listen carefully and collaborate but don’t acquiesce because he or she is the customer. This hold true especially if your opinion is different from theirs. A truly enlightened client will always appreciate candor. Each client or project that you get involved with is going to require your absolute best. If you are a Rock Star in business then you also put your ass on the line. If you are not nervous before going on stage, you might want to check the humility meter. Confidence is good but hard work and humility is better. Just please do not confuse giving your client your best, at the expense of “looking good”. Give and do your best but do not be a people pleaser or a brownoser or yes man. It serves no one.
Again I thank you to all those who have read my material. I again urge you to tell a friend, come back again and again, contact me at kiproth@yahoo.com and make no distinction between work and play.
Business is Personal….Make it So
MR
Dojo #5 The death of the middle class
Welcome back to Corporatedojo. Today our discourse is taking little turn from the normal syllabus to discuss a topic which is extremely important to the landscape we are involved in. The great gap between the have’s and have not’s. There is no more middle class or maybe the first time in history, our children are not guaranteed a better future than the previous generation. Now here is the startling fact that no one wants to admit. I will share it with you, for again, I get paid to tell the truth. Not only is the middle class dead…but it is our fault! Not the government, not outsourcing jobs, not our failing educational system... But us. Most of us think this is a dress rehearsal and are more interested in diversions…like self help programs and silly reality television, etc
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Corporate dojo #3: IMB (I Mean Business)
Again, I welcome you back to the dojo and today is the day your training begins. Let us start with the basics. Just as there is a finite amount of training and transformational technology available, there is also a finite amount of areas of skill a successful businessman and/or entrepreneur must learn. Time Management, Prioritization, Sales, Marketing, Networking, Controlling your emotional states (away from panic and toward calm), Overcoming bad habits and obstacles (procrastination), Organization, etc. These are skills and habits you must learn to master or job out or attract those who can do it for you…but ultimately you cannot succeed without handling these things. Most of my clients usually start of with all or a combination of problems
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Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. This being entry #2 I have decided to continue to share with you the structure of this classroom. Ergo the Rules. The ‘what we can expect from each other. In fact, the definition of Standards is …an agreement of how we are going to be with each other. Since this is my dojo, I have written these rules. I call them…The Rules of Me.
1- I do not preach dogma. Use what you like; do not use what you do not like. Simple. What I won’t do is argue, discuss or debate whether the technology is good or bad
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Bog 1
This is a modern weekly discourse on the essence of being in or of business. Whether a mid to high level executive (or aspire to be) or an entrepreneur here is a very unique place to be
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