self improvement

How to Eat for Energy: Personal Energy 101

 

1) No Sugar

Stay away from sugar and white flour.  Remember this mantra “The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead”.  Eat greens instead.
2) Eat Protein

Eat protein as much as you can especially for breakfast and lunch.  Eggs, poultry, nuts, beans, lentils and seeds.  Think slow carb.
3) Eat Organic

Pay the farmer or pay the doctor!
4) Eat lots of greens

Spinach, broccoli, kale, and collard greens.  Fit these in at least once a day.
5) Drink Water

Drink lots of water.  Most people get tired and fatigue because they don’t get their 8 glasses of water a day.  Spread it out and don’t try and catch up.

 

How to Build a Better Brand: Branding 101

If you want to build a powerful brand, you have to be deliberate about it.  You can read a million business books about branding from “theorists”, but let’s just sum up all those books into a simple top ten.  Understand your positioning, plan ahead, do your homework, then get to work.  A brand isn’t just a name; it’s about how you are different.  Remember as a brand, you are providing something your competitors are not.

Make sure what you are providing has a demand built-in or you are catering to a market that doesn’t exist.  Branding is about establishing competitive attributes, culture, and precise strategy regarding those attributes.  Once you have that, then you must project it out to your audience.  Here are some silver bullets to consider when building a better brand:

1. Competition

Know your competitors.  Don’t obsess over them, but look at their numbers.  More customers? More eye balls than you?  Know the gaps and understand them.  Find an opportunity and exploit.

2. Strengths

What are the one or two things you are really good at? Validate those with peers and customers.

3. Customers

What do your customers value? Ask them and listen…Remember the Marketing mix checklist (Price, Place, Promotion, and Product).  Your competition is under serving one or more of these values.  Your job is to find out which ones(s).

4.  Match

This is about brand compatibility.  You have to know your customer.  What are their attitudes? Lifestyle? Environment? Media & purchase behavior? Geo-demographic attributes?  Put it in excel, because here is where the valuable data resides.

5. Change

Rearrange your business activities around the customer and revenue generation.  Everything else is a waste of time.

6. Positioning

Keep positioning your brand around the customer.  Ensure you are perceived as such.

7. Communications

Ensure the DNA of your brand is in all your communications. Logo, Mantra, emails, tweets, etc

8. Feedback

Measure through customer feedback!

9.  Reception

Put the right feedback channels in place and adjust accordingly to your core customers and not fringe concierge requests.

10. Practice

Repeat steps 1 – 9 over, and over again until you fine tune your brand.

7 tips to live life without fear

1) Do what you feel is right, no matter who may criticize you

2) Take well informed calculated risks and don’t be afraid of failure. Failure is the key to success

3) Admit when you have made a mistake and learn from it

4) Say ‘no’ without feeling guilty

5) Accept compliments graciously

6) Think positively and avoid anything that can create a negative response

7) Spends time with people that are comfortable with themselves

How to make an impactful presentation. Top 10 silver bullet tips:

1 – Body language:  Focus on your posture and stay even while talking, so no slouching, pacing, etc

2 – Speak with enthusiasm and conviction.  Get pumped or don’t present

3 – Know your presentation, so you don’t depend on your slides for content

4 – Tape yourself and play back to catch “uhs/ums” and all other mistakes

5 – 10-20-30:  No more than 10 slides, less than 20 minutes, and no less than 30 font.  Insert photos to spice up, but leave out all clip art.

6 – No more than 8 words across and 6 lines down for your bullets.  For detailed information, hand out those documents afterward to not distract your audience.

7 – Ensure your bullets roll in one click at a time.  No flashy effects and use a remote clicker with a timer.

8 – Know your audience.  Tell them what you are going to accomplish through your presentation, tell them, and recap.

9 – Make eye contact and project yourself.  Inject humor where appropriate.

10 – Save time for questions and record what could have been better.