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Category Archives: cool people from around the web

Lessons from 2011 – Lesson 1: Letting Go

Written on January 6, 2012 by Jerry in choosing the truth, cool people from around the web, Letting Go

For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been doing a new podcast with my good friend, Jackie Dotson (AKA Captain Awesome). Jackie is an all-around badass business therapist, and doing the podcast with her has been a lot of fun. Click here to check it out…it’s called “The Powder Keg of Awesome”. I’d love to hear your feedback on the show and to have you call in to share some ideas, if you’re so inclined…the call-in number is listed on the show’s page.

Anyhow, the reason I bring it up is that this past Wednesday, the show was all about the lessons from 2011 that we planned to carry into 2012. 2011 was a pretty epic year for me, and for a lot of others I think, too. There were some really shitty parts (getting divorced, some major financial setbacks, the end of a couple of very close friendships), some really amazing parts (new friendships, new directions in my business, new partnerships, a new relationship), and some really incredible learning that happened along the way.

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I’m There for You Baby – An Entrepreneur’s Journey

Written on March 24, 2011 by Jerry in attitude, beliefs, cool people from around the web, entrepreneur, entrepreneurialism, great books, passion, Small Business Success, transparency

Neil Senturia is not your typical…well, he’s not your typical anything, at least as far as I can tell from his new book I’m There for You, Baby – The Entrepreneur’s Guide to the Galaxy, Volume 1 (WARNING: affiliate link). What I can tell you for certain, though, is that Mr. Senturia knows how to tell a story.

I haven’t had this much fun reading a book since I was a kid reading They Shoot Canoes, Don’t They? by Patrick McManus (yep, another affiliate link…sorry, but it’s just easier than logging out of Amazon). I don’t often laugh out loud when I read business books, but this one had me chuckling, snickering and, occasionally, guffawing (I may have just made that word up…sorry about that). Even better, I learned a thing or two along the way.

The book is a series of stories built around The Baby Rules, a set of entrepreneurial truisms culled from Senturia’s experiences as a real estate mogul, venture capitalist, Hollywood writer and all around deal-making addict. But don’t make the mistake of believing everything you read; Rule #109 states “Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.” Senturia’s grasp of the ridiculous, his razor-sharp wit, and his blunt-force-trauma style of truth-telling make for a great read.

One of my favorite lessons, and one that made me stop and think about my own journey, is Rule #19: “Entrepreneurs do not do it for the fame or fortune – they do it for revenge.” I’ve been thinking about that one ever since I read it; it’s been dogging my steps, haunting my sleep, and generally driving me nuts for weeks.

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Stratospheric Success? Follow these Five Laws – Part 2 – Guest Post by Todd Pillars

Written on February 10, 2011 by Todd Pillars in activity, attitude, cool people from around the web, Guest Posts, sales, Small Business Success

In Part 1 we talked about Law #1: The Law of Value and proposed that there are five primary categories: Excellence, Consistency, Attention, Empathy and Appreciation, that you can use to increase the value you deliver to your clients and customers. (These are covered more in-depth in “Go-Givers Sell More”, Bob Burg’s and John David Mann’s second installment in the series, although that’s getting a little ahead of ourselves.) The main point is that we discovered giving doesn’t necessarily mean giving away for free.

The second Law, the Law of Compensation, states; “your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them”.

In January I had the privilege of attending Bob Burg’s Big Event 2011, with speakers such as Dr. John Maxwell, Les Brown, Carrie Wilkerson, Randy Gage, and Paul Martinelli and came away with a new appreciation for the seminar format. I’ve been to quite a few seminars, mostly motivational in nature, and I always left all fired up and ready to take on the world – for about 72 hours. Then for the following week I would have that adrenaline letdown, like you get after a minor fender-bender. You may have experienced the same thing. This time was quite different, though.

The six speakers, and all the sponsors, applied the Law of Compensation so expertly that a week later I’m still going strong. AND I’m a Personal Walking Ambassador for each of them, and a customer, for life. Why? Because I came away with so much Value that I’ll be nurturing the ideas and connections for a long, long time. I came away feeling I could put into action one idea from each of the speakers. Most importantly, I came away feeling that I can do it too.

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It’s 2011…Now What?

Written on January 3, 2011 by Jerry in attitude, cool people from around the web, focus, goals, Motivation, passion, Positive Mental Attitude, Small Business Success

For weeks now, all I’ve been hearing is people talking about how they can’t wait for 2010 to be over and a brand new year to begin. In fact, I joined in that chorus a time or two. No doubt, 2010 was a rough year.

But it’s over now.

We’re officially three days in to 2011, and from the looks of things, it has the potential to be a truly amazing year. Personally, I’m excited to be kicking things off in style with the International Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas, NV. This will be my first CES, and I can’t wait to get there.

It also rocks because I’ll be making the trip to Vegas with my friend and fellow blogger, Ryan Snethen. Ryan is a very cool cat who knows his music and movies, and the more obscure, the better. His “Did You Miss It?” blog is chock-full of movies you might have missed. He’s also a writer and an entrepreneur. We’re making the 10-hour trip by car, so we’ll have lots of time to brainstorm new ideas. Can’t wait!

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Changing the Conversation – Guest Post by Gary Klaben

Written on December 6, 2010 by admin in beliefs, cool people from around the web, entrepreneur, great books, Guest Posts, Motivation, Positive Mental Attitude, Small Business Success

Gary Klaben

Today, there is a strong pull between the profit maximizers and the purpose maximizers. It is not that working on Wall Street or Main Street for large companies is all about profit maximization, or that starting a small business is all about purpose maximization. It is about the tide turning towards purpose, while maintaining profit.

In Daniel Pink’s recent book, Drive (2010), he identifies and discusses three types of motivation. Motivation 1.0 is the basic need to survive. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors spent nearly all their time fulfilling this need. Motivation 2.0 involves seeking rewards and avoiding punishment. From the time of antiquity through the 20th century, this was the primary motivator after achieving survival. Finally, motivation 3.0 seeks internal, intrinsic satisfaction — the fruit of personal freedom, challenge and purpose. What we like to call MVP (meaning, value & purpose).

Ours is a motivation 3.0 world. The unexpected and unpredictable will increasingly occur. Change is the only constant. Continual surprises! Microsoft’s digital Encarta encyclopedia — a profit maximizer — lost out to tens of thousands of online hobbyists writing and editing topics in Wikipedia’s open-source, interactive encyclopedia without pay — a purpose maximizer.

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Why Do So Many Blogs Fail? The Same Reason Businesses Do!

Written on August 30, 2010 by Jerry in Blogging, cool people from around the web, mindset

Last week, I signed up for what looks to be a cool new service called SeededBuzz (I saw that a few of my friends had “liked” their ad on Facebook, so score 1 for the effectiveness of Facebook ads). The basic idea is that you can submit your best blog posts (called “planting a seed”) , and other bloggers can pick up on the theme and write posts of their own based on your “seed” post (otherwise known as “buzzing” your “seed”). Once you get a handle on the goofy terminology, it can be a great way to meet, connect with, and befriend other bloggers. And it works!

Meet Tia Peterson, creator of BizChickBlogs. Tia knows her stuff: she’s been designing websites and messing with WordPress since graduating college, although she won’t tell us how long ago that was. Her tips and advice for bloggers are spot on. I met Tia via (heh…that rhymes) SeededBuzz, and this is why I love blogging: it’s all about the connections!

Anyhow, a few weeks ago Tia wrote a post that considered the question of why so many blogs fail. I think that’s an interesting question, especially considering my new Blog Whisperer project. The reason I started MyBlogWhisperer.com was the fact that so many of the blogs I was setting up for people were left vacant once they were completed. When I would ask the owners of said blogs what was going on, I’d get different versions of the same answer: they felt like they didn’t have anything worth saying.

And I think that’s the number one reason most blogs fail: FEAR. So many of us have been filling our heads with negative self-talk for so long that we refuse to believe that anyone would want to hear anything we have to say. I’m here to tell you, though, that they do! Believe it or not, there are thousands of people just like you who are looking for someone to give voice to their thoughts and feelings. That someone can be you, if you’ll just get out of your own way.

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5 Mistakes That Are Killing Your Marketing – And How To Stop Making Them

Written on August 26, 2010 by Jerry in 5 Deadly Marketing Mistakes, cool people from around the web, interviews, Small Business Success

First of all, I have to say a big “Thanks!” to Dave Navarro of Copyblogger fame for his great article today about how to write headlines. That’s one thing I’ve never really paid attention to, but I’m going to start. Thanks Dave!

So…are you curious? Wondering what these five evil mistakes are and how you can stop making them? Well, I’m going to be recording a podcast with SMB technology guru, noted speaker and award-winning author Karl Palachuk on his Cloud Services Roundtable Podcast next Wednesday at 9:00 AM.

If you want to listen to the podcast interview for free, you’ll have to register and listen live; otherwise, you can sign up for the membership and download it at your leisure. After the podcast, I’ll be diving into a 5-part series on this topic here on the blog.

And for those of you who are curious, here are the five mistakes we’ll be talking about, the five mistakes that are killing your marketing campaigns:

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The Secret to Ultimate Satisfaction: I’m Just Going to Be Me… – Guest Post by Dan Waldschmidt

Written on August 10, 2010 by Jerry in beliefs, cool people from around the web, Guest Posts, mindset

Guest Blogger Dan Waldschmidt

I’m just going to be me.

I am tired of being the person that you think I should be. I’m just going to be the best “me” possible.

And isn’t that what you really want from me?

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A Quick Update

Written on August 8, 2010 by Jerry in cool people from around the web, General Interest

You may have noticed (at least I hope you did) that the frequency of posts here has dropped off a little in the last few weeks. I thought I should drop a quick line to let everyone know that I’m still here. I’ve immersed myself in a new project that’s kept me pretty busy (more to come on that later this week), but I’ve almost got it finished so regular posts will resume soon.

In the meantime, I’ve arranged for guest posts from a few of my favorite bloggers; I hope you enjoy reading them. In fact, I’m planning on making this a weekly feature, so if you’d like to make a contribution to the Motivation 101 blog (or if you know someone who would), please drop a quick email to jerry@jerrykennedy.com with your name, blog URL and a brief description of the post you want to write.

Well, that’s it for now, other than a quick shout-out to my friends, the Nomad Canfields. If you haven’t checked out Joel and Sue and their daughter Fiona chronicling their attempt at running away from home (they’re in Vancouver, BC, right now), you should have a look at their blog, Canfield of Dreams. You might recognize Joel as an infrequent contributor to this blog or as the other guy in the legendary Business Heretics videos (actually, it was all his idea). Anyhow, have a look and tell them I said you should stop by.

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