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Business ideas worth sharing

Planning Ahead & Thinking Big: The Bill Gates Technique

By Meny Hoffman // Business, Leadership, Let's Talk Business // 5 min read

I spent this past week in Arizona – and it wasn’t for vacation or relaxation purposes. Rather, it was to take part in a special mastermind group.

People flew in from across the USA to attend. The group seemed to be made of entrepreneurs of all ages… and in similar growth stages of business. We sat together in a big room and got right to work. Everybody spent hours learning, analyzing, discussing and strategizing how to go about advancing their business goals and career objectives.

Perhaps you think that leaving the office for nearly an entire week might be a little bit too intense. “Was the whole trip really necessary?” you may be asking yourself. To say it was productive would be an understatement. Truthfully, it baffles me as to why every single businessperson in today’s marketplace doesn’t spend just one week out of a whole a year attending a mastermind group to focus on planning ahead.

Of course, when I talk about planning ahead, I don’t only mean technical things like crunching numbers or crafting contingency plans.

I’m talking about thinking big.

Black Friday Is Not Dead: 7 Funky Ideas To Rejuvenate It

By admin // Creativity // 5 min read

The reports of Black Friday’s death have been greatly exaggerated. I’ve borrowed Mark Twain’s famously derisive line to challenge the media’s contention that Black Friday is losing its luster.

Yes, I know that folks are claiming Black Friday sales were down 11%. But I don’t buy it (no pun intended). Take a closer look and you’ll see these numbers are skewed. While the value of an average online order did indeed drop by 1.8% compared to last year’s figures, actual online sales increased by a whopping 9.5%.

So you tell me: Is Black Friday a failure? Hardly!

Let’s Stop the Negativity!

By Meny Hoffman // Productivity // 5 min read

I like posting inspirational quotes on my twitter feed. These quotes often give me a quick boost of enthusiasm and I enjoy passing along that feeling to others.

So it should come as no surprise that I recently posted the following line: “Far too many people have no idea what they can do, because all they’ve been told is what they can’t do.”

It did come as a surprise to me, though, when a prominent media publication reposted the above quote. While I was pleasantly amazed, I was also slightly perplexed. Why would they feel the need to repost a quote from Meny Hoffman? But after thinking about it for a few moments, the answer became obvious.

The Big Idea: My Little Secret

By admin // Creativity, Uncategorized // 5 min read

The campaign was a knockout. Accolades pour in from all sides. People call to congratulate our marketing agency, rave about how intrigued they were by the theme, and of course ask the inevitable question I’ve heard so many times over the years: “So how’d you come up with the big idea?”

This ostensibly innocent little inquiry irks me to no end.

As if I pulled a furry pink Energizer Bunny out of a magician’s top hat. As if I snapped my fingers at the mustachioed maître d’ in a snobbish steakhouse and the big idea was ceremoniously carried in on a gleaming silver tray, resting neatly alongside a fresh mound of mashed potatoes and steamed artichoke. As if I sat down at my desk, gave my pneumatic chair two swift pumps, rolled up my shirtsleeves, and knocked out the idea in five minutes flat.

Wouldn’t that be sweet.

The LTB Video Library Is Now Open

By Nathan Weill // Business, Let's Talk Business

There’s a bewildering question that is often asked by business owners, employees, entrepreneurs – people of all backgrounds and industries. The inquiry is:

“What’s the one thing I can do to see a positive change my career?”

I know that’s a loaded question. But it’s one that our good friend, Charlie Harary, answered beautifully at LTB 2014.

After viewing the above video of Charlie, be sure to check out the entire LTB Video Library.

You’ll get access to powerful, content-driven, ready-to-use topics from North America’s top corporate experts. So many businesspeople have already benefited from the LTB Video Library. Will you be counting yourself among them?

Can You Donate Your Brain?

By admin // Creativity, Marketing // 5 min read

I’m always getting requests from people.

Will you take out the garbage already? When can you buy me that shiny toy? Could you get this new project finished before tomorrow’s deadline?

The requests arrive hard and fast, throughout the day and without letup. At home or at work, while eating, reading, showering, dressing, typing, snoozing.

You get the idea.

So Tell Me, What’s New?

By Meny Hoffman // Uncategorized // 5 min read

I just came across a fascinating article on CNET that I wanted to share with you.

Formally known as The CNET 100 Leaderboard, this eye-opening commentary chronicles the 100 hottest hi-tech products sold this month. A quick look at some of these items – ranging from the HP OfficeJet 8600 printer to the Samsung Galaxy S5 phone to the Nikon D5300 digital camera – really got me thinking.

Why are these objects selling so quickly? Don’t people already own printers and phones and cameras? What’s with the remarkably high demand for so many clone-like products already owned by nearly every human on the planet?

The answer, of course, lies within ourselves.

Generating Warm Leads With The Ice Bucket Challenge

By Meny Hoffman // Creativity, Marketing // 5 min read

Would you enjoy having an ice cold bucket of water dumped over your head? Apparently, there are thousands of people out there who actually do. Or so it seems based on the many viral videos circulating of people dumping water on each other in support of something called the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Conceived by the ALS Association – an organization dedicated to the research of Lou Gehrig’s disease – this inimitable challenge requires participants to have a bucket of ice water poured on their head or donate money to the cause. Those participating can nominate others and post a video online showing how they joined the movement.

Although you may be very familiar with the Ice Bucket Challenge and have already laughed your way through dozens of clips showing people getting drenched in all sorts of hilarious ways – from former president George W. Bush and Mitt Romney to celebrities, camps and sports teams, you may not be as aware of the serious debate this campaign has caused in the world of marketing.

Articles in The New York Times, Fox News, Yahoo, and dozens of other media outlets are all dissecting the outcome of this seemingly successful campaign to establish if it indeed was a winner.

Let’s have a look at the hard facts.