Kent Blumberg

Don't wait!

In four years, I lost three jobs…and discovered my calling.

The first 25 years of my post-college career were high speed, high excitement and high growth. At 27, I was supervising a crew of 41 men, all of them older than me. At 37, I was running a $200 million paper manufacturing plant. And by 42, I was COO of a $350 million division of New Zealand’s largest forest products company. I was flying high, living large, and certain that I was indestructible.

I spent my days striving for excellence in

my current role, and looking up the ladder at the next opportunity. When I felt any nagging doubts about my industry, or my career, I let the excitement of the moment burn those doubts away. When I wondered about my future, I remembered the retirement statement I received six months into my first job out of college. The statement told me how much money I would get each month after working 41 years for that company. In those days, 41 years at one company would not have been surprising.

I cruised along like that for a quarter of a century.

Until I lost my job in early 2002.

Paul Chaney on maximizing your marketing dollar via the web

Just a quick link to a recent post by Paul Chaney on Five Ways to Maximize Your Marketing Dollar Via the Web.  I heard Paul speak on this topic last Thursday and loved the simplicity of his approach.  Great stuff here for any business in 2009.

Air Force Blog Response Assessment

Through Twitter, I found Joey deVilla's post on "The Air Force's Rules of Engagement for Blogging."

7 alternatives to New Year's Resolutions

Everybody's talking about resolutions today.  My search of Technorati turned up more than 76,000 posts using the word.  However, resolutions often don't work, and they may even be bad for your health.  This is particularly true when we focus on trying to fix some perceived shortcoming (being overweight, for example).

It doesn't need to be that way.  Here are seven alternatives to the resolutions tradition.

Class: Networking for the shy and the not-so-shy

You have heard that referral marketing – networking – is the most powerful way for entrepreneurs and small business owners – like you – to build business. But you just can’t bear the thought of all those meetings, all those strangers, all those phone calls.

What are you to do?

Join us for a six-week teleseminar with Kent Blumberg and learn the secrets of networking for the shy and the not-so-shy. Learn why you might want to become a Comfortable Networker. Re-frame the goal of networking from Get to Give. Gain five key networking skills, learn how to bring your strengths to the party, practice spotting and using personality styles, and make it all happen in real life. Try out your skills in a safe class environment, and then put them to work out in the world. Turn your fear into Excitement about networking. Learn to Initiate encounters, rather than just respond.  Move from “could do” to “am doing.”