Day 14 Blog, Blog, Blog, Blog (revisited – 2013)

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Les Adkins

So on Day 14 I discovered that LIFE is what happens when you are planning and working. This alone is the beginning of a brand new blog, but for time sake I will write that blog another day. So yes for those of you keeping track I missed yesterday so today we are looking at Day 14.

Several things have changed since the origination of this original blog. There are now numerous sites that allow you to host blogs and also to say it in video like Vine also Tumblr was just purchased by Yahoo and although thousands of bloggers are leaving Tumblr since the purchase it might be worth revisiting or hopping on board because you know that Yahoo is going to put some money behind this to promote it. As usual there was no reciprocation or endorsement by Yahoo, or any others platform to mention the above.

So here we go on Blogging. It is important to say that this has been around for quite awhile, blogging that is. But it is never too late to start so what are you waiting for?

Les Adkins is the CEO of Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Media Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn Join us on FB as well

Original Post – Posted on October 19, 2011

So if you are not blogging; why not?

If you have a business you should be blogging about the industry you are in and giving helpful information, that adds value.

What am I talking about? I hear you out there saying, shouldn’t I be selling my company on my blog? Well have you read a blog lately? Most of the good one’s give valuable information without asking for anything, and that is the way it is supposed to be. Yes you can mention your company but only in your bio at the end. Here’s why:

Home Depot was starting to lose sales to Lowe’s. They came up with a great idea. They decided to offer free workshops to the communities where they were and provided these workshops usually on the weekends. Amazingly enough most of the materials that they used in these workshops were also sold by them, but at the end of the workshop there wasn’t a “sales pitch”. They really didn’t care if you went somewhere else to purchase the materials needed. So what do you think happened? Well there sales went up because they became a trusted partner in the community.

That’s the reason. Here’s the how.

You can use a number of different free blogging tools here’s a couple.

WordPress

Blogger

Now there are a number of different free tools out there that tell you how to blog. Click on blog for a great site on “How Blogs Work”.

Your blog should be concise, short (as possible), and informative. But why should you blog and also why should you comment on other blogs.

Influence! When i write this blog it is networked and goes on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I then post it on Google + and a few LinkedIn groups that I participate in.

If you only blog and post but don’t interact then your missing the point. There have been many ‘Blogs’ written about blogging, but you need to understand that as an individual or business you need to engage with your audience and others and a ‘Blog’ is an easy way to do this.

Social media is about interacting. In order for you to grow your online influence you need to make sure you are initiating dialogue with others. Not just for the sake of selling, but to truly provide helpful, insightful, and inspirational information to others.

Happy Blogging!

Day 10: Develop 30 second Commercial (2013 – revisited)

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Les Adkins

So on Day 10 I developed a 30 second commercial and gave some pointers on how you can create and deliver your own 30 second commercial. My commercial has changed from 2 years ago.

We help mid to large size companies create a strategy around their digital presence and help them increase their reach using a Whole Brain Approach.

This short 30 second commercial opens up dialogue as to what is a Whole Brain Approach and how do we help them increase their reach which allows us to then qualify them as a possible prospect. See the rest of how to create your own 30 sec commercial below:

Les Adkins is the CEO of Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Business Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn Join us on FB and Google+ as well.

(Original Post - Posted on October 13, 2011)

Day 10: Develop 30 second Commercial

So on day 10, I am re-developing my 30 second commercial.

So what makes you unique? Who are you? What company are you with? And how do you creatively explain what you do?

Being a business development consultant that specializes in Social Media Strategy and Whole Brain Approach has been difficult this past year. (No, I’m not complaining just stating facts.) Every time I say what I do, someone inevitably states, “We do the same thing”.

When I first started working with “Social Media”, around seven years ago, there were very few people who knew what “Social Media” was. Let alone its value to business and how it would change the way companies do business. Or they only knew a few of the players and had no idea about Second Life or Kaneva. Virtual worlds that have become more conducive to business interaction in the last few years.

Anyway my point is that when I started the words “Social Media” were unique enough to draw interest. Now I’m just another fish in the sea and everyone has jumped on the social media bandwagon, from PR companies to Advertising and Marketing agencies.

So how do I set myself and business apart? I go back to the basics. Here is the exercise.

Adapted from Jeffrey Gitomer, “Sales Bible”

Instructions: Fill out this exercise below. Read it from top to bottom. Add a few personal pronouns. Time it. Practice it. Study it. And voila!

My Name:

My Company Name:

These first two are pretty self-explanatory.

What I do:

Now don’t make the mistake of saying you print materials or you provide business development consulting. I love what Timothy Ferris from “the 4-Hour Work Week” says when asked this question, “I’m a drug dealer”. This is usually a conversation ender but I thought I would share it anyway because I love the answer. Go read the book and find out why he answers that way.

OK, so what should you say? You should say something that involves action items and makes the person look at what you do differently. I’m still working on mine but it goes something like this:

We help companies draw new talent and new customers by creating a Whole Brain Approach to their business development strategy.

Notice I am getting away from the words Social Media. Although what we do in the message above is help them with their Social Media Strategy as part of the business development strategy.

My Power Questions:

“When formulating your power questions for your commercial, ask yourself these…questions.”

What information do I want to get as a result of asking these questions?
Can I qualify my prospect as a result of the question
Does it take more than one question to find out the information I need?
Do my questions make the prospect think?
Can I ask a question that separates me from my competitor?

You need to ask questions to be able to close your 30 – second commercial with a call to action. Make sure there is a closing statement or question that ensures another contact.

I personally am not a big fan of lists of questions, I prefer a guide to be able to respond to the person’s answer from my previous question. So here is a quick guide:

Situation - What is the current situation (of their business related to what you do)?

Objective – What are their objectives? (Usually it is to better the situation, this can be more sales, more talented employees, larger sales, better communication, and so on.

Challenge – What challenges are they having in reaching these objectives?

Impact – What impact is this having on them? (Make sure you ask about the impact to them. The answer they give will tell you a lot about the person you are speaking to.)

Trial – So in order to reach your objectives you need to (fill in the blank) Example: So in order to gain new talent you need to improve the current employee environment of communication to the Executives?

There is a lot more that goes into the above guide, but it is a good place to start.

My Power Statement:

How Can I Help?

Why Should The Prospect Act Now?

Have a call to action statement that gives the person a reason to act now.

Example: I specialize in reaching new talent and helping businesses communicate to their employees, vendors and customers in a way they want to be communicated with. I know you can’t afford to be sending out messages that don’t reach your Whole audience in these times. So let’s meet for breakfast and discuss your latest objectives and how you are communicating those objectives to your customers. If I think I can help you, I’ll tell you. If I don’t think I can help you, I’ll tell you that too. Fair enough?

I know this is getting too long-winded, but I want to end with How to Deliver the 30 – second commercial:

Be brief
Be to the point
Be remembered
Have power questions and power statements ready
Get the information you need
Show how you solve problems
Pin the person down to the next action
Have Fun!
Time’s Up – (When you have delivered your message, made your contact, and secured the next meeting or action – move on.)

Lot’s of information to digest. Sorry for the lengthy Blog.

Day 7 Review, Review, Review – 2013 Revisited

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Les Adkins

I find that going through this 30 day journey for a second time has given me some additional insights into what I need to do to be successful and the things that I am doing that are hindering me from that success. One of the main things, is that I need to review at the end of each week or another way to say it is to Reflect on my last weeks activities.

Enjoy your weekend and I’ll see you all on Monday! I’m looking forward to also posting another blog regarding the ”4 Hour Work Week“ and “Sleeping Your Way to the Top” this weekend. So enjoy!

(Original Post - October 12, 2011)

So my Day 7 was actually on October 7th, which was a Friday. If you are following this 30 day journey, I believe I mentioned that I’m only writing articles/blogs to support the journey Monday through Friday. My daily log/diary can be found on my business page “Orange SMS Consulting”

So Review, Review, Review. I recommend doing this every Friday, or weekend, or at the end of your week. Here are the things you should be reviewing for your weekly activity so far:

Do you have an organized environment?
Did you look at your goals, everyday, Mon-Fri?
Did you make 10 to 20 new contacts per day?
Did you follow-up with the contacts you made to set up a meeting, or offer advice that may be helpful to their job, business or life?
Did you read, or listen to material that motivates you?
Did you try to live without worry?

So you should review at the end of every week, whether that is Friday or Saturday for you.

The above is just a short list that we will expand as our 30 day journey continues. URGENT NOTE about the week review: “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”!

What that means is – Don’t worry about what you didn’t get done or if you missed a follow-up, or you came up short of 50 to 100 new contacts. There is always next week. At the beginning of your new week, always start fresh! Don’t carry things over (with the exception of the follow-up). Start at 0 for new contacts.

I am explaining how to start fresh, because for me it has become overwhelming to carry certain things into the new week and at some point you freeze. We are trying to help you avoid being overwhelmed, stressed and then freeze. This way you can live outside of the Comfort Zone!

Just remember at the end of each week,

Review, Review, Review!

Day 4 Follow Up – 2013 revisited

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Les Adkins

So today a couple of crazy things happened. Apparently I published a blank blog that said “Day 4″ Not sure how that happened. I did go to WP to start this blog but I didn’t hit publish so not sure what happened there. I’m blaming it on technology or as I tell my dad it probably was user error. I’ll tell you that story another time.

The second thing happened while I was asleep. I had an epiphany regarding this 30 day journey. I come from a learning background so I should have realized this earlier. The only true way to accomplish this 30 day journey is to spend a week to 21 days on each task until it becomes a habit. So my recommendation is to take each of these tasks or suggestions and implement them one at a time for a period of time that allows you to add this to your routine. Then and only then will you be able to create the life style of living outside the comfort zone.

Below is the original blog and this one is vital to any successful business strategy!

(Original Post)

So what do we mean when say “Follow Up” The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines “follow-up” as:

1. to follow with something similar, related, or supplementary

2. to maintain contact with (a person) so as to monitor the effects of earlier activities or treatments

3. to pursue in an effort to take further action

Yesterday we talked about making 10 to 20 new connections per day Monday through Friday. Or at least making sure you are making 50 to 100 new connections per week. One last quote about connections.

Your mother taught you everything you need to know about connecting before you were 10 years old: Make friends, play nice, tell the truth, take a bath, do your homework. –Jeffrey Gitomer “Little Black Book of Connections”

So you’ve made all these new connections and now what do you do? Well the answer is “follow-up”. Here are a few ways you can follow-up.

Connect with them on Social Media (LinkedIn is the easiest way for business)
Follow up with a phone call to schedule a coffee or lunch
Follow up with an email saying how much you enjoyed meeting them.
Follow up with a text asking to meet for coffee or lunch

Will Corente has 5 Rules for Building Successful Connections. These are worth repeating here regarding follow-up.

“It’s about each of you. Whether you are connecting with one person or a group of people, it is important to consider the needs and objectives of each person or party involved and to seek win-win solutions. Effective connecting at its core is about is about helping each other seize opportunities, entrepreneurs and business people are more apt to help you reach your goals if they know you will do the same.”
“Follow-up Within 24 Hours - If you enjoyed making a connection or see potential for a relationship to develop, show the connection that meeting them was important to you by reaching out within 24 hours via phone, email or text. I find a simple note saying it was great to meet them, offering next steps of communication and an offer of to be of assistance if they need it is a great relationship builder.”
“Once in Touch, Stay In Touch – Every successful relationship in your life is built over time and through multiple interactions and communications. Once you have made the initial connection it is imperative that you follow up, stay in touch and check-in to keep the lines of communication open. If you live or work close by, a brief coffee meeting is an excellent relationship builder with your connections.”
“Be a Giver – People who excel at connecting give advice or assistance first and ask for assistance second. Offer your advice, counsel or assistance on a matter, offer an introduction to a friend or business associate who can help them as a way to show you care about their future success as much as your own.”
Have a Long Term View – Great connectors know that the next great partnership, introduction or synergy could be just around the corner and that developing relationships with everyone they meet regardless of the immediate benefit is the key to long term success and relationship building. Some of my best connections and synergies have been 20 years in the making.

So it is important to be persistent. I can’t tell you how many times my persistence has paid off in landing a client or developing that business relationship that provides the next big step for my business. Also what do you do if you have not contacted them within 24 hours. Well 2 things:

Start now with every new connection contacting them within 24 hours.
Go ahead and start following up with past connections that you may have lost contact with. Even if it has been over a year. Remember you are starting fresh.

Whatever you do, don’t give up and think that they won’t be interested in hearing from you because it has been too long. The majority of sales people fail because of poor follow-up. Whether you are building a business, a non-profit or just trying to make connections “Follow Up” is the most important aspect of next steps. (We’ll go into more detail on Next Steps in the following weeks)

Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way! You need to Lead with meeting people, Follow up with them quickly and consistently and Get Out of the Way of your success to live outside of the “Comfort Zone”

New Quote not in the original blog: Wake Up, Show Up, Follow Up or in other words Get off your Ass and Do something!!!

Day 3: Make 10 to 20 New Contacts Per Day- revisited 2013

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Les Adkins

So today I’m writing about Day 3 in this 30 day journey revisited. As I go through this journey for a second time I do see where I could have done better on following my own advice. There is some value in revisiting a plan and making adjustments or committing to follow through. And this time I am committing myself and my business to follow through. The original post was written on 10/5/2011. You’ll notice the shout out to Steve Jobs family. I find through my consulting business and personal life that if we look at what doesn’t seem to work it is usually because we are leaving a step out or trying to find a short cut due to our perceived lack of time. Thank you again for joining this journey with me. May we both find success in 2013. Oh and here are my 2013 goals that I promised from my last Day 2 blog “Goals”

Les Adkins Business and Personal Goals for 2013

(Original Post)

So today I am talking about Day 3: Making 10 to 20 new contacts per day Monday through Friday

I first want to wish Steve Jobs family my personal condolences and use his passing as an example for the reason to make new contacts daily and with whomever you want to.

I am currently writing a book regarding Social Media and how it is changing the business environment and the world. I wanted to have two interviews in the book and one of them was Steve Jobs. Unfortunately I personally will never get his innovative and creative opinion on how Social Media is changing the world. This is my fault. Several months ago I thought about adding these interviews and I have been procrastinating trying to contact him. Now I might have never gotten the opportunity, but I did not even try.

What does this have to do with making 10 to 20 new contacts a day. Just to let you know that contacts can be anyone and your imagination is your only limitation as to who that contact may be.

There are several helpful resources in helping you make those 10 to 20 New contacts per day.

1. LinkedIn

2. “Networking Like a Pro” You can also purchase the book by Ivan Misner, David Alexander and Brian Hillard.

3. Networking Events. No matter where you are there are many Networking Events taking place. If you have trouble check out your local Chamber of Commerce or just google “Networking Events (put your city or neighborhood here)”

4. FB, Meetups, Twitter, Google+ (Hangouts)

OK so why do you need to make 10 to 20 new contacts per day? Just imagine that at the end of each week you have 50 to 100 new contacts and if you only get 1% of those to introduce you to your next client or become a client you end up having 1.5 new clients per week. So you can’t have 1/2 a client (although I have had some) so let’s say 1 or 2. At the end of 6 months you would have 12 to 24 new clients. Now it is up to you to determine the dollar value of that new client but you get the picture.

Some of you are saying that you have too many people to follow-up with so how do you make 10 to 20 new contacts per day. Well, let me tell you. I know we live in a busy world and some days you just can’t make 10 to 20 new contacts. So instead of not making the contacts at all, make it a weekly goal. Usually you can get 50 to 100 new contacts by attending 2 Network Events a week.

Hope that helps. There are several tools and companies that would also help you do this if you have the resources. But if you don’t, in this new technological world you can do it yourself and usually those contacts you make yourself will be more value than if you are paying a company to push leads to you.

So in order to live outside the “Comfort Zone” you have to do things a little differently than the rest of the Population. If it was easy and didn’t involve some work. Everyone would be doing it.

One last note: Make sure you contact anyone you think of. By trying to contact those you think are unreachable you may be surprised by your results.

{Be Sure to Visit Tomorrow for Day 4 “Follow Up”}

Living Up to Your Potential

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Les Adkins

So what books have you read lately on helping you to live up to your potential?” 4 hour work week“ by Timothy Ferriss “sleeping your way to the top” by Ben Angel those are just two of the books I am currently reading. What does this have to do with Social Media you ask. Well if you think about it everything. The main thing everyone seems to say is they don’t have time to do Social Media with all the other things that they have on their agenda for the day. Getting new customers, keeping customers, working with employees, marketing, and so on, and so on…. One of the things these two books talk about is creating your own goals and living a life that is productive yet simplistic. I am still reading but thought that I would try to put into words what I believe this means to Social Media. YOU ARE MAKING IT TOO DIFFICULT! There are people, consultants and agencies out there that will help you, but most important, Social Media needs to be put on your agenda as something you need to do internally and strategically. More than just a FB page or followers. In 2011 I spoke about how to pick a Strong Social Media Consultant or Agency more recently I put this link as one of my daily Twitter #socialmediatip /s. Yes it is two years old but still very relative. So I am going to try to help you live up to your potential using a few of the methods in these books specifically in regards to Social Media. (I have not been paid by either author or organization for using these two books) So put your thinking caps on and get ready for action. As they say in the movies, Ready, Quiet on the Set, ACTION!

In 2011 I created a 30 day blog series that was meant to help myself and others improve their lives and reach their personal or business goals. In conjunction to the above new series I will be posting this series again. For myself to refresh my memory and also for those of you who need a gentle or BIG kick in the butt. It’s time to pick it up and move to the next level both in your personal life and in pursuit of your business goals and dreams.

Happy May Day!

10 Reasons to Use Social Media

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Les Adkins

So it’s 2013 and Social Media is everywhere. I have even started a daily tip on Twitter @mysylbert Apologies for the shameless plug but I had a goal of 2000+ followers in 90 days which has turned into a little longer so I need all the help I can get. Thanks for the follow if you are so inclined.

Working with businesses here in the US and Internationally I hear this statement a lot “Well we are using Social Media but we are not seeing the results we would like to see”, which keeps me in business by the way, but I always ask the question WHY? Why are they using social media and you would be surprised at the number of directors and CEO’s of large well-known companies that can’t answer that question. So below I have decided to state the Top 10 Reasons to Use Social Media (in my humble opinion). For business or for individuals.

10. To Get Noticed: Whether you are a business or an individual and you want to get your name out there the best way to do this is through Social Media. Search Engines love Social Media.

9. Marketing: There has been a lot written and said about Social Media Marketing and although you should never look at Social Media as a new Marketing channel (it doesn’t work) you should enhance your marketing through Social Media. “Content is the Fire, Social Media is the Gasoline” Jay Baer

8. Real Time News: Now you have the ability to have real-time news with video from around the world without having a large group of paid journalists and travel expenses. (and I studied journalism-so journalists don’t hate). Anyone with a smart phone can report the news. Look at all the news related items coming out of the Middle East, US and literally every major country in the world. The ability to get news right away has never been more easy than through social media.

7. Relationships: Finding long-lost friends and family. Reconnecting with old school friends or work colleagues. We live in an age where, if they are on social media, you can reconnect with them and develop close ties again or just keep in touch. This is great for sales and also if you are looking for a job.

6. Innovation: I believe this is one of the biggest breakthroughs that social media has allowed companies, that use it correctly, to accomplish. You can now innovate your products and services by asking the users what they want and adapting to their wants and needs rather than guessing or holding expensive focus groups.

5. Collaboration: Business, Science. News and Education are just a few of the industries who are now using social media to collaborate with others on projects that normally might have been done in a vacuum. Two minds are greater than one, with social media you can now have dozens, hundreds, thousands or more all working toward a common cause or project.

4. Sales: If your sales team is not using Social Media to gain new leads and find new business then you are missing out on a great opportunity. Social Media allows you to find new business opportunities, who the decision maker is, and what companies are looking for. If you don’t believe me Google Social Media Sales. “You can really get to know his or her needs through social listening. It’s a great way to research a market and initiate conversation leading to a sale.” Janet Fouts

3. Finding the Right Talent: Although there are a lot of people in the job market it is still hard for companies to find the right people that will move their organization forward. With social media you can search in specialty groups and also have a broader reach when you need to fill a position. Finding the right person for the job is right at the tip of your digital fingers.

2. Information: Causes, Companies and people in general have always wanted to get information out to their peers, prospects, and the general public. We always tell anyone we are working with that the information has to add value to their audience. This works for businesses, organizations and everyone who is putting out information. Including my blog. But now with one click you can send out information to millions of people around the world. Just be careful that it is the right information. (Your audience will decide this for you).

And drummmm rollllll please!!!!!

1. To Stay In Business: Socialnomics and Infographics have stated that 40% of Fortune 500 companies will no longer be in business in 10 years. This is due to their inability to adapt to the new consumer, business or audience. So whether you are a business, church, nonprofit or individual you need to be using social media if you want to still be relevant and viable in the next 10 years.

Email Is DEAD…

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Les Adkins

So yes this is a shocking headline, but amazingly enough after googling, (yes that is a word), “Is Email Dead” there were several articles, blogs and even research papers stating both that yes email is dead and no, when used in a certain manner, it is not dead. So why the headline “Email is DEAD”?

Well lately I have been seeing several emails from email marketers stating why email is better than social media. There was a recent tweet by Chris Brogan that stated “Email marketing is the #1 conversion and revenue tool for my business. I have 10x the followers and blog subs, but I get 10x MORE sales via my smallest channel, my newsletter. Email is FAR more responded to than just tweets. He also stated in a tweet…”When people tell me kids don’t read email, first, bullshit. That’s how FB tells them they were tagged in whatever…” Now I am a big fan of Chris. I met him right after he came out with his co authored book ‘Trust Agent’. And I do value what he has to say.

But based on my own research and working with Universities email is changing. There is still a place for it but it is changing. A few stats for supporting the theory that email is changing.

Boston College Will Stop Offering Incoming Freshman Email Accounts

Many students don’t even want a college e-mail address these days because they already have well-established digital identities before they arrive on campus. That’s the conclusion that officials at Boston College came to in a recent review of their online services. So the college recently decided to stop offering full e-mail accounts to incoming students starting next fall.

EDUCAUSE’s annual survey of 930 higher-education institutions showed that about 10 percent of respondents are considering getting rid of student eMail accounts. For doctoral institutions, the number is 25 percent.

So you might ask yourself where are the student’s getting their information? They are still checking their current emails like gmail, hotmail and others but on mobile devices. Universities are allowing them to move university emails to one of these services or getting rid of emails all together and creating text messaging for important notices. The point is they are not trying to change their behavior they are trying to reach the students where they are already spending time. This is on platforms like FB, Twitter, Bebo and yes folks, MySpace is coming back. So whether it is a text, a post on one of these platforms or an email account forwarded to another service the message is clear that our email world is changing.

So why are email marketers and others promoting email? Well it is my belief that corporate america changes slowly. I’m not disagreeing with Chris and others that email is still a valid marketing tool, but that the climate is changing. I sat next to a gentleman that works for one of the email providers at a conference not too long ago and this topic came up. His response was that email will always be around, I’m not so sure. But his argument was that once Gen Y get’s into the workforce they will be forced to work on email. Guess what folks…he’s wrong. Gen Y will choose where they work and what they do based on their current behaviors not the behaviors of corporate america. If you don’t believe me ask Readers Digest why they are going bankrupt; well it is because they did not adapt to the new marketplace and the new consumer. Email companies are trying to adapt and change. But I hold to the belief that Email is not Social Media…Period. No matter how loud these companies keep yelling and saying that it is.

I’ve put off writing this blog because I know it will ruffle some feathers but those feathers are due to be ruffled. The bottom line is that behavior’s have changed and corporate america must change with these new behaviors. The status-quo is no more and email is just a small piece of how the new customer, employee and vendor is changing the way they want to be communicated with by companies. Think about how much of your email you don’t read because you consider it spam. Now think about the last few texts, notifications and posts you’ve actually read from platforms you are already on.

Just something to think about…

My Toughest Challenge Accomplished! Tough Mudder

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Les Adkins

So this past Saturday I ran a 12 mile, 24 obstacle course called the Tough Mudder. If you are a friend of mine on Facebook or a Social Media Connection you have seen some of the pictures of our event. So I have been traveling non stop for the past three weeks and this was the finale of my 3 week travels. I started in North Carolina facilitating an Elite Consulting Course for NetApp then spoke at a Sales Conference in Vegas to 100 sales people, managers and operations for Peak Campus Companies. Flew back in town, Atlanta, and then woke up and drove to Society Hill, SC to participate in the Tough Mudder with the High Achievers Muddervation team. I tell you all this not to impress you but to show you that you can do anything you put your mind to. I went from NO EXERCISE 20 weeks ago to exercising every week including doing a month of Operation Boot Camp.

The Tough Mudder Pledge:

I UNDERSTAND THAT TOUGH MUDDER IS NOT A RACE BUT A CHALLENGE.

I PUT TEAMWORK AND CAMARADERIE BEFORE MY COURSE TIME.

I DO NOT WHINE, KIDS WHINE.

I HELP MY FELLOW MUDDERS COMPLETE THE COURSE.

I OVERCOME ALL FEARS.

I have been amazed at what I have accomplished in the past 20 weeks. I have done more business, I am in the best shape of my life, and I feel great overall. When I was on the course it was a great experience to see everyone helping each other. It did not matter your age, fitness or lack their of, everyone helped everyone through the challenges, with encouragement, support and even lending a hand through the mud, dirt and water. People who had never met before that day, and didn’t even know each other’s name, all were helping each other get through this challenge. I thought to myself, and then said it aloud to friends and family, that if life worked that way everyone would definitely be better off.

Everyone was working together to complete the same goal. To finish the challenge. If we helped out everyone to finish the challenge of life, life would be better for all.

There wasn’t anyone just asking to be carried to the finish line, and everyone in the challenge was muddy, dirty, and tired with some skinned knees and injuries along the way. Just something to think about the next time you say you can’t or you wish someone would do it for you.

I’ll end with another great quote from the Tough Mudder:

NO QUIT IN HERE!

I don’t know what your “In Here” is; maybe work, maybe circumstance, maybe marriage, maybe LIFE. But the next time you are looking to Quit, remember the Tough Mudder Quote! And remember that you need a team around you to complete the challenge regardless of what that challenge is.

So if you are wondering where I have been and what I have been up to since my last blog from Brazil in September now you know. My company has been invited to Istanbul, Turkey at the end of November for CeBIT. Life is Good!

Next blog on “Email is Dead”

Les Adkins is the CEO of Orange SMS Consulting and an International Social Business Strategist, speaker, consultant and author. Bringing strategy and whole brain thinking to creative campaigns and social media through his work. Please follow @mysylbert and connect on LinkedIn Join us on FB and Google+ as well.

Are You Too Busy To Blog?

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Les Adkins

Are you familiar with the story of the children whose father was a Cobbler and they went without shoes? Well there are several people who own or run businesses that use this story. It’s a great story but at the end of the day it’s just an excuse. I can say this, because I have been using this story myself and realized that it was a Gigantic excuse.

There is some truth in this because business owners are busy and they sometimes neglect their own business working with customers/clients. But it is still an excuse. Doug Grady writes in his book “The Ripple Effect” that one of his statements his dad taught him was “Do It Anyway” even if you don’t think you can or if you don’t have the time.

I realized recently that the last Blog I wrote was on June 20th. For you mathematically challenged that was a little over 2 months ago. This week I was facilitating one of the training’s I do for NetApp in Brazil and a few of them said that the information they were getting may not be relevant for their country. I went into explaining why this is an excuse to do something outside their comfort zone. The course helps technical people move from the technology conversation to the business conversation. Moving from speaking technonese to speaking business strategy. They were trying to use “it may be different in my company” as an excuse as to not use the information they were learning. (It worked itself out when I said just use the information but in your style). But I digress…

I use the example above as a case to show that all of us find reasons and excuses for not doing something new or not doing the things we know to do that will make us successful. My company helps organizations grow their business by providing guidance using social media and how to create a “Social Business Strategy” customized to their organization.

The point or the “So What” for this Blog is simple. I am no longer going to allow myself or anyone in my business to use the story of the Cobbler as a reason for not doing what we need to do, to allow our business to grow. In other words:

So the next time someone tells you the story of the Cobbler and his children with no shoes because he was busy making shoes for other children. Just smile and remember that from this day forth. You and I are living by the motto “No More Excuses”.

Important Note: No one is saying this will not be hard, anything worth doing is.

Be on the look out for more blogs from me on a more consistent basis.

Greetings from Sao Paulo Brazil:

Orange SMS (Social Media Strategies)

Integrating Social Media into Business

Category Archives: Business Development