James Dyson looked at the vacuum cleaner and gave people a different way to do things – no bags. Simple. EasyJet looked at international flights and gave people a different way to fly – no thrills affordability. Simple. Sony looked at video games and gave people a different way to view gamers – cool mass appeal chic. Simple. We don’t always have to build something brand new. We don’t always have to spend millions on research when the audience is…

Whether you like it or not, you already have a digital footprint that you can’t fully control. People are talking about you; dissecting you; and making decisions about you every day of the week. You don’t even have to be online to have a digital footprint – people and businesses that don’t have an active web presence are being talked about. By their customers; their clients; their past and futures. So if all this talk is going on and you’re late…

I’m always interested in how big corporations look after their employees, and how they foster loyalty and relationships with them. At a small business, it’s relatively easy to build strong ties between employer and employee, just from the size factor. Yet larger businesses can be guilty of missing the personal touch that family businesses or smaller-sized ones can focus on. I know this only too well from my time at British Telecom back in the UK, where it was a…

For some reason, I’ve suddenly started to get a few pitches from PR agencies and companies regarding business and marketing books. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but as I like to read I’ll take it as a nice bonus. Going through the pitches, though, I’m beginning to wonder if the authors themselves should start composing the pitches to go with them. Maybe that would stop some of the less-than-impressive ones getting through. Here…

Be fearless. Be bold. Be new. Be exciting. Be inspired. Be passionate. Be different. Be crazy. The world is full of normality but who wants to stop at the world? Be fearless. Be you.  

Instead, I’m currently traveling to Florida to meet up with the likes of John Haydon, Stacey Monk, Jen Lemen and a whole bunch of other cool folks. This is for something very special coming your way this November. So, instead of a normal post here, I’d like to ask you a couple of favours, if that’s okay? First, I’d like to introduce you to some really cool bloggers you may not be aware of. These are the guys and gals…

Who inspires you to be a better person? Makes you want to read more, learn more, and put actionable ideas and plans into place? Who makes everything fall into place, and because of that increases your knowledge and awareness? I’m incredibly fortunate that I’m part of a great community, both here at my blog and on the likes of Twitter and LinkedIn. Some great minds wander these social hallways and impart some immense wisdom every single day. Today, I want…

600 years ago we thought the earth was flat. Just over 100 years ago we thought it was impossible for man to fly. Just over 50 years ago we still thought that steam powered was the way to travel by train. 40 years ago we hadn’t put a man on the moon. Every day we’re faced with impossibilities. We’re told, “You can’t do that; it’ll never work.” But you know… an impossibility is simply a problem that we haven’t conquered…

Down in Gainsville, VA, near the Manassas National Battlefield, you’ll find the Smith Family Farm. A fifth generation farming family, the farm has been owned and operated by the Smith’s for more than 100 years. They’re a traditional farm in every sense. Their meat is all grass-fed, as is their dairy produce, and they’re also USDA-inspected (United States Department of Agriculture). They pride themselves on their values – all beef under 24 months of age, humanely raised animals, and family-friendly…

Yesterday I had the good fortune to chat with Chris Brogan about his and co-author Julien Smith’s book Trust Agents. We talked about why it’s important for businesses to become trust agents (and enable their employees to do so); the changing nature of the web and its effect on HR; how to deal with clients that break trust agent rules; and a heck of a lot more. Through the wonders of technology, if you missed it yesterday you can now…