Welcome, Geoff Kirkwood!

If asked this question many of us would say yes. Yet when faced with real change we often resist simply because it is that – change.

We suddenly think of all the reasons why an idea won’t work because change moves us out of our “comfort zone” and into unchartered territory. Suddenly we are in areas where we have no reference point, no statistics and research, no proven assumptions.

Yet it is in these places that startling things happen and often, real progress is made.

Consider the rep… Continue

When new members join my networking group one of the questions we ask is “how are you different from your competition” and it is amazing how many people give you answers like “we provide great customer service”.

I am sure that if we asked their competition they would say exactly the same thing. So where is the difference?

In today’s marketplace giving your customer things like “great customer service” just doesn’t cut it anymore. In fact, if you think about it, that is what the customer paid f… Continue

I was asked recently what value I brought to a meeting and the question caused me to think about the topic of the value of meetings.

You may remember the brilliant John Cleese video “Meetings Bloody Meetings” where Cleese and his team send up the concept of the Monday morning meeting in a medium sized business. Hilarious as it is… Continue

Jay Abraham is the world leader in marketing advice. So when he speaks I listen.

In re-reading a summary of his “Strategy of Preeminence” I was struck by his first lesson - that of the need for… Continue

A recent newsletter caused me to ponder how open many small to medium business people are to change to be creative.

The newsletter quoted the example of a menswear store in New York who adapted the US car campaign of “cash for clunkers” by saying that anyone who bought in their old suit would get $100 off any new suit AND the old suit would be donated to charity.

So m… Continue