We are so blessed that our children attend what is what I believe is Canada's and fast becoming the finest Montessori program in North America. In working a few years ago with the principal and owner on the brand of the school we took one of his other passions "music" and developed an annual school fundraiser and over the years have had some amazing artists including Sarah Hamer, Kathleen Edwards and… Read More »When school feels like home
Knowing and setting your moral compass is one of the key foundation pieces for building and developing your personal brand. One way to address this is to complete a Values Exercise, its like setting your GPS for your career and life. Getting really clear on your values helps you to address times when an opportunity arises and it is so in line with your values that it becomes second nature… Read More »Build your personal brand foundation – define your values, take the test
This was the title of the breakout sessions I delivered as part of the London Economic Development Corporations Student To Business Networking event last week, as well as the keynote to over 700 students and local company employees and it was interesting to note how many of them came up to me afterwards and admitted that they had not been paying as much attention to this as they obviously needed to as… Read More »Do you exist on Google and why should you care?
"I wonder why some people have an issue with the concept of Direct Selling, Network Marketing or MLM..? I personally would prefer to buy from a Consultant who can be rewarded for sharing a better quality product they love, rather than buy from a company who invests millions (even billions!) in seductive advertising while paying celebrities to endorse something they never use…!" – Maria Elita Lots of excitement at my… Read More »And the Mercedes goes to………
The news yesterday that Steve Jobs will taking another forced health leave of absence from Apple again had a negative effect on the company share price. The US stock market was closed for a holiday and the company is announcing latest results today, so you can be sure the timing of this was not coincidence, more a hope that good results news will counter the bad to some extent. That was… Read More »Why Steve Jobs personal brand damages Apple
Just before winter started (or at least was meant to start) we ordered some new winter jackets and ski pants for the kids and we ordered then via L.L. Bean. A few weeks earlier we switched our TV to Bell satelite. The L.L. Bean order arrived promptly and one pair of pants was on back order and one jacket was the wrong size. A replacement was sent out the… Read More »Why Bell Canada Will Never Be Successful – and L.L. Bean will continue to be.
In my presentation yesterday at the Promotional Product Professionals International Conference, one of the challenges that promotional product professionals face, especially with access to global supply, is that many are able to source the same products at similar prices. So when competing in the market how do they differentiate? The usual answers for many facing similar challenges are: Drop the price my reducing margins or offer discount plans Quicker turnaround by holding… Read More »The Ultimate City of Promotion
As part of the continuing theme "Review Your Year With No Fear", there is still time to review 2010, just e-mail me paul @ charlesb32.sg-host.com and I will send you the first three lessons. The final lesson comes out in a few days and is more about looking forward to 2011, so I thought that this article, written by colleague Jamie Broughton of Footprint Leadership, was a great lead in… Read More »Resolutions Schmezalutions
The running has probably started, but perhaps not in the right direction. You may have come back to work with a heaviliy loaded in box, requests, meetings etc – very soon you might be wishing you were back on vacation. So take a moment to consider how you might get running in 2011 in the right direction. Take 5 minutes to listen to these tips from Alan Weiss, The Million… Read More »Getting 2011 off to a running start
So the first day of a new year what steps should you be thinking about first? Well to save your brain (as you may be nursing a headache!), my good friend and colleague Doug Emerson – The Profitable Horseman had these words of wisdom in his recent e-zine – equally applicable if you are a horse business owner or not. 1. Buy A Full size Year at A Glance Wall Calendar. Time… Read More »Three Tips to Get 2011 Off to a Great Start