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Why It’s Good to Destroy Some Things

Friday, November 4th, 2011

www.liamalexander.com

I have a three-year old son. He likes to destroy stuff. He collides bad guys into good guys and knocks over towers. It must be innately ingrained in boys this desire to crash and bash things. Watching him though, it got me thinking about why it can be good and even healthy to embrace destruction.

Trying to build on top of a bad foundation is dangerous and a dreadful long-term solution…because it isn’t a long term solution. You’re forever trying to hide the dents, the leaks the weaknesses. You are polishing rust. It may seem like it’s the cost-effective and most productive idea at the time, but consider how much more it costs to bring in a repair person every month or how much time is wasted regularly with the quick fix.

Even in a controlled environment, destruction is loud and messy. It attracts attention and can inconvenience both the destroyer, the consumer and the casual passers by. It takes patience, timing and a plan for what will replace it.

Embracing destruction, however, clears the way for a new foundation, a new opportunity, new materials and new life to be born into the world of your business, your marketing and your strategy. It takes commitment and it shows your market that you care enough to start fresh with new eyes, new usefulness for them and are not willing to cut corners to do so.

The next time you have a problem in your business or marketing, step back and think about whether this is something that needs a Band-Aid, a new perspective or just downright needs a wrecking ball taken to it in order to be re-built anew. I find it usually helps to have Hot Wheels, Megatron and The Green Lantern nearby in case you’re stumped.

Posted in Uncategorized | 951No Comments »Why+It%27s+Good+to+Destroy+Some+Things2011-11-04+16%3A24%3A58admin

Desperation vs. Inspiration

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

When you are starting your business and you’re trying to pay the bills and get your name out there…but mainly trying to pay the bills, you feel you have to take anyone who wants to work with you.

That’s desperation…and it shows.

It shows in how you chase the calendar, and how you chase the phone calls, and how you chase the emails to try to close a sale.

When you decide to set standards and only work with those people who know the value of investing in themselves, who are committed to nothing short of excellence in their work and for their dreams, and who want to change the world with their gifts, you feel like you can move mountains.

That’s inspiration…and it shows.

It shows in what you post, in what you blog, in the conversations you engage in on and offline. You shine and lean back into the work…your purpose.

Notice how I didn’t say that everyone has to be the “ideal” client. “Ideal” can me misinterpreted as “perfect.” And, it’s a fact that you’ll learn more from high maintenance clients than you will from the ones who sprout daisies from their tush.

However, you do decide. You ultimately get to choose how you represent yourself, and you get to choose which clients you want to represent your world and your body of work.

I am lucky enough to have learned this lesson out of the gate. I hired a coach who taught me this immediately, and I listened to the coaching. It’s that simple.

I am attracting exactly the kinds of clients I dreamed about when I started this crazy adventure. I get to work with design and branding superstar, Michelle Ghilotti, body and business transformation coach, Amanda Moxley, best-selling author and all around bad ass, Jen Sincero. I get to help shape campaigns that I know are going to change the world, like Natalie Kling’s Eat & Grow Rich.

I seriously have to pinch myself sometimes when I think back to the days when I thought I’d have to take just any client because I needed the money. It isn’t true.

Go for the gold, and you’ll shine brighter yourself.

Tags: get clients, get leads, grow list
Posted in Advice, brand, Coaching, goals, guru, marketing, Start-up/Entrepreneur, Uncategorized | 8571 Comment »Desperation+vs.+Inspiration2011-10-20+14%3A06%3A39admin

The Slippery Slope of Facebook Phonebook

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Did you know that you have a Facebook Phonebook in your personal profile? Before you decide that you’ve hit the marketing jackpot, beware. Most of those people don’t know they are in your Facebook Phonebook, nor have they given you permission to start marketing to them on their phones just because you have their number now.

First off, let me show you where the Facebook Phonebook is.

Log into Facebook.

Click on Account in upper right of your screen.

Click on Edit Friends.

Click on Contacts (there’s a phone icon next to it). Yours will look similar to this…

Not everyone you friended will have phone numbers listed. This isn’t everyone who you have put into your phone either. Yet you’ll see on the right that Facebook says you imported the numbers from your phone. What’s more accurate is that when you synched Facebook with your phone, other people who also synched Facebook with their phone and who are also your friends, were then added to your Facebook Phonebook.

Facebook claims that this is to improve the quality of Friend Suggestions. Really, Facebook? Are you sure? I thought my friends suggested friends.

This list of contact numbers represents those people who have either entered their phone numbers into the mobile section of their profile, or they have opted to sync this feature, probably unknowingly, thereby giving their digits to their “friends” on Facebook.

I think this would have been safer back when that’s really who we friended — friends and family. However, now we friend potential clients, partners, employees, colleagues, etc. So this is where the slippery slope part comes in. Will your so-called friends abuse the privilege and start sending you mobile messages through Facebook? My guess is that some will try, but you still retain the power over your account, your phone and who your friends are.

You have a couple of options.

You can remove the numbers from your contacts list. This can be done by clicking on “this page” link, which can be seen in the picture above in the right-hand column of your Facebook Phonebook Contacts page.

When you click “this page” you will be sent here:

Remember that this does nothing to protect your number, though. At this point you’re really just doing your “friends” a favor by removing their number. You could always ask for permission from them, though, to send them messages to their mobile through Facebook.