Don't Eat the Steak

Simple Business Transformation Guides For Every Business

We are all Modern Magellans making our way in the world. I believe everyone has a very important business - life. Your life and everything you are responsible for is your business. Many people believe that they cannot run a business but I know two things -

(1) You can. (2) You will have to.

I recently finished writing my first book, Maps for Modern Magellans. It's about leadership, entrepreneurship, and business transformation. Other ideas or concepts would occur to me as I was writing. Many of these concepts do not require a whole chapter to explain them. So, I will share a few of them here in a brief 5 point format. Every day or so I will add one and once this gets too long I will move one off to the archives on the book site www.mapsformodernmagellans.com

I will also be changing the video now and again so you may want to subscribe to the RSS feed to be made aware of changes. You are welcome to visit often but you should be too busy to just drop by.

This lens is getting quite long but I continue to receive compliments on all of the sections so I hesitate to move anything off. I will begin adding new material just after the video so that it is easier to find. You can also use the index to the left for the first 5 items.

The 5-Fold Way

Positioning a Company for Success

This is a 5 minute collection of clips from a 30 minute presentation on the 5-Fold Way. This was presented at a book signing in Yorba Linda May 31, 2007

The 5-Fold Way for Modern Magellans

Company positioning is not how you think your company is seen, it is how you want others to see your company. The value of the 5-Fold Way is that it helps you determine how to be seen as the company that your target market customers are looking to see.

Runtime: 299
167 views
0 Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Dos and Dont's for entrepreneurs to improve their chances for success

This 4 minute presentation was given a few years ago at a Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum. The video has been updated recently since I am trying to get away from Power Point whenever I can. I also use it to let people know I wrote a book on similar topics.

Don't Eat the Steak

Mistakes entrepreneurs make that can kill them or their opportunity

4.3333335

Runtime: 259
2853 views
2 Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Squidoo How-To Lenses

A list of lenses that you can use to help you make your lens better

You can also find great lens tips by searching the site using the word "Squidoo" and then narrow it down from there.

Simple HTML tricks to use with Squidoo

Squidoo has a nice editor for your lenses, but things can be improved. This lens will show you some simple tricks to include more than possible with simply using the editor. These tricks should be used in modules like the link list, or the write modu...

Basic HTML for Squidoo

Before you start reading all this, you may want to open Advanced HTML in a new tab, because you'll be wanting to check it out as soon as you've finished this! You can use basic HTML in a few of the lens modules. Mostly used to create hyperlinks (the...

Advanced HTML for Squidoo

The techniques shown here aren't much more advanced then what's in the Basic HTML tutorial. The code being used isn't any more special. But the results and presentation can appear to be more sophisticated. Hence it being the Advanced HTML tutorial. F...

GreekGeek's Squidoo Tips: How to Get Your Lens Found

So, you want to learn how to build successful Squidoo lenses (or any sort of webpage), attract web traffic, and get your Squidoo lens found by Google! This three-part tutorial covers: Part I: Ten Steps to Build an Appealing (and Effective) Lens Part...

Squidoo Marketing Strategies: Help To Develop and Market Your Squidoo Lenses

This lens is designed to provide resources to improve your Squidoo marketing and increase your Squidoo lensrank. Here you will find articles, tips, strategies, tools and techniques that will develop you as a Top Squidoo Marketer. Subscribe to my...

How a Blog Can Be Bad for Business

1
Spend too much on SEO, and not enough on content
2
Become obsessed with blogging
3
Too personal
4
Trolls
5
Start, then abandon after just a little while
6
Do it badly (Spelling, Links, Categories, Layout)
7
Reveal too much
8
Fight online with customers
9
Lie
10
Whine

You can read the fully annotated version on the Modern Magellans blog. Complete with links and comments.

How a Blog Can Benefit Your Business

1
It can be a daily Press Release
2
You can demonstrate expertise
3
Make your own Engadget like site
4
Improve the dialog with your core customers
5
Share appropriate information - FREE ADVERTISING!
6
Hold contests to win products
7
Trial balloon ideas
8
Let your customers design things
9
Run Polls
10
Find new revenue streams

You can read the fully annotated version on the Modern Magellans blog. Complete with links and comments.

Brand You - 5 Reasons to work on this important brand

No one else can do it for you

1 You are a business Your career, what you do, and why you get paid are your business.

2 Your competition is The people who have the job or position you want, the people who are competing for your position, and the owner of your competing business is.

3 It takes time You cannot rush this. It is more than polishing a resume. You need to build some brand equity. You do that with every action, word, or promise. It is easy to forget but hard to fix if it goes untended for too long.

4 Not everyone is Fortunately, few people do it right, if they do it at all. This is where you can have an advantage. It does not even require that you put in extra hours. You just have to take a little more thought about your actions.

5 You are doing it anyway What you do. How you do it says something about you. Each action, every word, and how you behave creates an impression in those around you. That is your brand. You can control it or let it go untended.

A great source of information on this is Krishna De
I also posted an article on this topic.

5 Ways To Be Professionals Anywhere - from The Reasoner Blog

This is so good I had to include it here

For the full text and explanation go to The Reasoner. Be sure to add any comments you might have.
1. Be honest
2. Do what you say
3. Focus on both your and other's well being
4. Be respectful
5. Do not get too personal

I would add:

6. Watch your Language
7. Manner of Dress - sloppy is not casual
8. Give a day's work for a day's pay
9. No gossip
10. Build don't destroy - people, places, and things.

5 Things Best Kept Private.

If you would like to add to this please visit the blog

Often people feel compelled to share insight into their life that is not appropriate.
Such as:

1. Grooming habits
2. Diseases you have had
3. Cute baby bodily function stories
4. How much you over-indulge
5. What you keep in your freezer

You will find a more detailed explanation on the Modern Magellans blog.
Should you feel inclined to share similar information - save it for your MySpace page, YouTube video, or blog...

I have received some other input on this topic and I'll list it here for your benefit.
Refrain from telling and re-telling pointless stories about your children. - Amen to that!

I have set sail upon the Web 2.0 ocean

(I have a blog now)

My new blog - Modern Magellans

Since this lens is getting long I will be using the blog to explain some of the 5-point lists in greater detail. If there are any that you would like to see first please leave me a note or send me an email.

If you just came from the blog then you know all this and you can skip it.

Modern Magellans Blog Feed

Fetching RSS feed... please stand by

The Modern Magellans diagram of John Kotter's 8 Steps

His concept - my diagram

Step 1 - Have a Compelling Vision
Step 2 - Create Urgency, Use Leverage
Step 3 - Establish A Change Team
Step 4 - Get Message out - Act Accordingly
Step 6 - Create & Celebrate Milestones
Step 7 - Reinforce, and Recommit to Goals;
Step 8 - Lock-in Change, Fight Regression

I swapped 1 and 3 because I believe few small companies have enough people to form a change team to discover a vision. The leader has to have the vision and then get everyone to see it.

A larger version of the diagram is available here.

The Modern Magellans Manifesto voting is closed

Each month ChangeThis! receives manifesto proposals - they publish the most popular

If it is approved you will be able to see the Modern Magellans Manifesto at ChangeThis!

To see all of the Manifestos, including ones by Jay Conrad Levinson, Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin, and Tom Peters - go here One of my personal favorites is by Gaping Void creator Hugh MacLeod - How to Be Creative.

Who or What is ChangeThis!?

ChangeThis is creating a new kind of media. A form of media that uses existing tools (like PDFs, blogs and the web) to challenge the way ideas are created and spread.

ChangeThis was built in the summer of 2004 by Amit Gupta, Catherine Hickey, Noah Weiss, Phoebe Espiritu and Michelle Sriwongtong. The original idea behind ChangeThis came from Seth Godin. You can read about him on his website.

In the summer of 2005, ChangeThis was turned over to 800-CEO-READ. In addition to selling business books, they keep ChangeThis up and running with their love and tender care. To learn more about 800-CEO-READ, read their daily blog.

Maps for Modern Magellans - Sample Chapter: The Introduction (ScribD iframe)

If you can see the little icon in the upper right (above slider) - that will open a fullwindow view

Since iFrams are no longer allowed on Squidoo - you will need to go to ScribD to see the chapter as a PDF that you do not need to download to read!

Introduction

5 Things I try to teach every entrepreneur

If they would just read the book I would not have to repeat myself.

#1) Perception is reality - It is not what you say, it is what others think you said that matters.

#2) Focus is not narrow-mindedness - Some unimportant things become VERY important if they are ignored for too long. Family, taxes, and common courtesy to name a few.

#3) Just because you can, does not mean you should - The singing fish, the AMC Pacer, and Warren Buffet running for President.

#4) A map must be usable to be useful - Clarity is not automatic. Just because your "map" makes sense to you does not mean it will make sense to anyone else. (See points on Presentation below).

#5) Charge more than it costs - The sum total of the effort should be worth the investment.

If each one is not immediately clear to you that is not a big problem. It will only be a big problem if each is never clear to you.

Mr. Boffo iFrame (Sunday gets a little squished)

Joe Martin creates over 1300 comics a year earning him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Most Prolific Comic Strip Artist.

Maps for Modern Magellans - Now Available at 800-CEO-READ

Maps for Modern Magellans is written for people who feel frustrated after starting a business and then realizing they need help but believe they do not have time to read a business book to get that help. Every chapter of this series can stand on its own. The reader does not have to finish the entire book to benefit from it. The maps, charts, and diagrams are designed to help business owners, and managers, better grasp and communicate important business principles.

Best and Worst Sales people

That I have encountered

The best - well there are several but the one that stands out the most called on my lab when I was I was a grad student at CalTech. He never interrupted a discussion or an experiment. He kept track of what we worked on an seemed know what items we used most frequently. He left a business card each time if you were not there. Just a hello, I was here. Sorry I missed you. No pressure at all. If we needed something he made sure we got it ASAP.

The worst - No names to protect the guilty. I was in the middle of an experiment that required a lot of concentration. For 40 minutes I had to have my hands above my head repeatedly for this task. It was tiring and the sooner you finished the better. Just after I had started this individual enters the lab and begins to talk to me about how he can get me a better deal on the materials I use. I am a very meticulous shopper so I doubted he could. In fact I knew he couldn't. I told him I was busy but he just sat on the desk by my workbench and started to tell me how much he hated his job. This was in 1992 and he was thinking about going into shrimp boating. After that all I could think of was Forrest Gump. "Forrest" did not leave until I finished and was able to concentrate on explaining how he would never ever sell anything to anyone I knew again.

The lesson - be there when you are needed and don't be there when you are not.

5 Rules for gifts to bring home

Empty hands are not acceptable

1 Easy to carry on - Swords, Large hats or stuffed animals might seem cute in the store but they can be expensive to transport home.

2 Show thought - Don't buy it in the airport gift shop. Somehow they always find out.

3 Easy to tell where it comes from - Has country, state or city name on it. It can also be something very characteristic of the place.

4 Not embarrassing to recieve - Naked hula dancers are out. T-shirts with corny slogans will never be worn. The more you like it, the less your kids probably will.

5 Something they will treasure - A smile on your face that says you are happy to see them!

It helps if you can find a theme to go with. I have two sons so I brought back little baseball bats from the games I would attend. My wife liked thimbles and they are very easy to transport but it was hard to find touristy ones in Japan.

5 Important Letters

There are more and that you will find on another Squidoo Lens - The Business Alphabet

T) - Team, Timing, Totally (Committed)
M) - Money, Market, Moxie
P) - Product, People, Position, Property (Intellectual)
L) - Leadership, Love, Luck
E) - Enthusiasm, Energy, Eloquence

Please visit the The Business Alphabet and add you words and definitions. I'll move the best ones for each letter hear as they are voted on.

5 Rules for Networking

See an expanded description of these points on the Modern Magellans Blog

Do it! Why spend money and go to meetings if you come home with nothing but notes?
The more you give the more you get. Be helpful and not one-sided. What goes around comes around. If you get a reputation for being helpful people will seek you out.
5 minutes. Be effective, polite, move on. After 5 minutes you may be boring them anyway.
Business cards are for sharing and for note taking. (See Gaping Void or better yet click the link near the top of the right hand column.
Learn to say excuse me in multiple languages - it helps start and end conversations.

5 Points for Elevator Speeches

Also good for taxi stands, food lines, and networking events

Say your hook first - you do not know how much time you will have. Their floor could come soon, they could get a call. You could be uninterrupted at any second.
Don't Pounce - if you are lucky they will only be suspicious of you and what it is you want. (Most likely they will wonder what you were on if you blow the pitch.)
If you are lucky the power will go out - This will allow for a lot of conversation time. Don't just talk about yourself. Try to ask a few questions about them.
If you are unlucky the power will go out - Who wants to hear about your business when they are stuck in an elevator unless it has to do with preventing further episodes like this.
Practice - When the moment comes there will be no second chance to do it over again. Ask any veteran and they will tell you how many times they blew a fabulous chance by getting flustered.
more on this can be found here.

5 Things you need to speak in public

Added May 5th 2007

1) Something to say Anyone can talk but few people can present well. The best speakers do not need slides or music to be successful.
2) Demonstration or promotional video Preferably a recent video that includes a positive audience response.
3) Referral List People who have heard you speak that can recommend you.
4) Collateral materials A book, white-papers, audio or video file samples.
5) A press Kit Program description, topic, biography and a photo.

Presentation Rules

These will get you heard not just listened to

1 Use Flash or PowerPoint slides on timers
-- You don't worry about hitting the wrong key, you don't add off-track comments, you don't have to ask for "Next slide please." If you tell people the presentation is on a timer they hold questions until the end, and you finish on time every time! (Even Vcs!)
2 Be Early
-- Make sure things work and you know who can help if they do not. Bring a thumb drive, a CD, and hard copy if you can - just in case.
3 Be Focused and Be the Focus
-- If the power went out did you make your point? Can you be as good without the slide show? Slides should add to what you say and not be the show.
4 Use One Transition
-- If you must use a transition make sure it is not a distraction. Use only one of the following: Slide from left, fadeout, slide from right. Anything else is distracting and you want the audience to hear you.
5 Don't Distract
-- Let go of the podium, don't tap the mike as you talk, and be normal. The audience should be listening to what you say not thinking about what may be wrong with you.

Slides should add not be your presentation. If they are, maybe you can just add a soundtrack and sit down. You are the presenter, and you should be the one of the most important things they remember.

Seth Godin's Riff on ppt
Guy Kawasaki's 10/20/30
PresentationZen has some useful comments as well.

See my experience May 31,2007 to see why you need to over prepare.

5 Unique Things About Maps for Modern Magellans

More reasons you should buy the book

1) The "One Thing" Arnold Beckman said is the most important thing a company can do that Marcus Buckingham did not include in his book "The One Thing You Should Know" and why it may be more important than anything else you do.

2) A column missing from the table on page 126 of the "Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki that makes the table more useful.

3) The 3 very important steps beyond Everett Rogers' 5 "Diffusion of Innovation" steps. Everett Rogers is considered the originator of the famous adoption curve.

4) How to launch a cow (Purple or not), product, brand or company so that it travels the greatest distance, stays in the air longer or has the optimal flight path.

5) A Mr. Boffo cartoon by Joe Martin that helps you see why you may need to change your focus.

You can order "Maps for Modern Magellans: Charts for Captains of Commerce" by visiting the book website, or buy it now at 800-CEO-READ. (The listing on Amazon.com should appear in a few weeks. ISBN: 978-0-9794789-0-1)

Free Books - A good idea?

Seth Godin says that free books = more sales

Recently, Seth Godin suggested that people write books and give them away as ebooks.
There are dissenting opinions - such as this from Peter Shepherd

Here is more information about my book Modern Magellans.

Loading poll. Please Wait...

Share this poll
- Stumbleupon
- Facebook
- MySpace
- Twitter
- Digg
- Delicious
- Email

Don't Eat the Steak - If You Are Not Buying Dinner

Simple Business Transformation Guides For Every Business

The 5-Fold Way

Positioning a Company for Success

The 5-Fold Way for Modern Magellans

Don't Eat the Steak

Dos and Dont's for entrepreneurs to improve their chances for success

Don't Eat the Steak

Squidoo How-To Lenses

A list of lenses that you can use to help you make your lens better

How a Blog Can Be Bad for Business

How a Blog Can Benefit Your Business

Brand You - 5 Reasons to work on this important brand

No one else can do it for you

5 Ways To Be Professionals Anywhere - from The Reasoner Blog

This is so good I had to include it here

5 Things Best Kept Private.

If you would like to add to this please visit the blog

I have set sail upon the Web 2.0 ocean

(I have a blog now)

Modern Magellans Blog Feed

The Modern Magellans diagram of John Kotter's 8 Steps

His concept - my diagram

The Modern Magellans Manifesto voting is closed

Each month ChangeThis! receives manifesto proposals - they publish the most popular

Maps for Modern Magellans - Sample Chapter: The Introduction (ScribD iframe)

If you can see the little icon in the upper right (above slider) - that will open a fullwindow view

5 Things I try to teach every entrepreneur

If they would just read the book I would not have to repeat myself.

Mr. Boffo iFrame (Sunday gets a little squished)

Joe Martin creates over 1300 comics a year earning him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Most Prolific Comic Strip Artist.

Maps for Modern Magellans - Now Available at 800-CEO-READ

Best and Worst Sales people

That I have encountered

5 Rules for gifts to bring home

Empty hands are not acceptable

5 Important Letters

5 Rules for Networking

5 Points for Elevator Speeches

Also good for taxi stands, food lines, and networking events

5 Things you need to speak in public

Added May 5th 2007

Presentation Rules

These will get you heard not just listened to

5 Unique Things About Maps for Modern Magellans

More reasons you should buy the book

Free Books - A good idea?

Seth Godin says that free books = more sales

Thanks for voting! Now invite your friends to vote.

Important Phrases and Words to know when you travel

1

Thank You

2

Excuse me

3

Hello

4

Bathroom

5

Good-Bye

Please pick your widget size and display. Then click "Make the Widget" to get the code that's just right for you.

Voila: Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

Oopsey! Please login to Squidoo in order to add this module to your lens.

Rules for hiring

If you cannot work alone you need to learn to have tough conversations

1

Hire smart not fast

2

Don't hire friends you can't fire

3

Trust other people's opinions

4

Office morale is critical

5

30 days - no questions

Please pick your widget size and display. Then click "Make the Widget" to get the code that's just right for you.

Voila: Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

Oopsey! Please login to Squidoo in order to add this module to your lens.

Save Money During the Start-up Phase

Ways to conserve cash without looking desperate