The death of “real” books?

My favorite pastime is undoubtedly reading. I read for education, enlightenment, entertainment, escape, distraction…

So in doing some reading today, I followed a couple of links to check out the progression of e-book technology.

Kindle books outsold “real” books on Christmas day. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/amazon-kindle-books-outsold-real-books-this-christmas/ I was happy to see that this just meant that this was just on Christmas Day. (As people got their Kindles, they bought books – most people probably were NOT on Amazon on Christmas day.)

Still, though, over 9.5 million items for the Kindle were ordered on Christmas day according to the company’s press release. This means that the idea of the “physical book” is beginning to be less important to us as consumers.

I don’t know. I don’t have any ebook technology yet. I’m not sure that I’ll ever simply replace physical books with ebooks. I enjoy the tactile experience of books too much. Even down to dog eared pages and bulky hardbacks…

The one place I think I would really see ebooks being a huge add is when traveling. I tend to take 2-3 books on even short business trips, and I’m sure the weight isn’t great for my spinal health. Having a reader – would be great for that. At home, however, I like the idea of my bookshelves and browsing them just fine.

I like the info on Kurzweil’s platform called Blio… Blio “actually lays out the “pages” as they would be seen on paper, with typography and illustrations copied across. It also supports video and animation. In some ways, it’s reminiscent of the interactive magazine applications (also meant for upcoming tablet devices) shown off by the likes of Time Warner, Popular Science publisher Bonnier and Wired’s parent company Conde Nast.”

In the end, I’m going to be watching this technology closely. I hope to see some cool advances as this progresses, and yes – this WILL be my next electronic toy purchase.

Now to decide which one…

What do you use? Any pointers on picking a good technology? What has been your experience? Do you see ebooks replacing (in whole or in part) your ownership of physical books?

Let me know… It’s my first pressing question of the New Year!

 

Motivational Quote video from Rick Weaver

 

On Proposal Writing

I spend a tremendous part of my time writing and/or proofing proposals, as well as building new offerings with other strategic members of my company.  A proposal is one of the best and most comprehensive ways of being able to articulate (when you’re not there to do it) the value you can bring, as well as the process you will use to do it in.

In my mind, a proposal is made up of a few key elements:

• A summary of what your prospect or customer needs
• A summary of your qualifications to perform the work
• A summary of the work to be performed
• Pricing / cost analysis
• (Sometimes) a brief ROI
• Assumptions
• Statement of terms, or a reference to terms on file

These can range from a one page simple quote, to a complex, verbose document with sample timelines, requirements and appendices.

The better you know your customer or prospect’s culture and expectations, the better prepared you will be to win the deal.  Knowing what they want and need, and articulating and communicating it is the key.  Showing your value against what may be cheaper solutions.  Delivering what they asked for.

I read a great article on fedmarket.com that I thought I’d share with you.  I’ve included an excerpt, but I’d encourage you to go out and read the whole thing.

One or Two Pages May Do It

By Richard White

“Proposal writing is both an art and a science. The art part is the solution that the customer believes will solve their problem with minimal risk. Often several pages of creative solution content will swing a win. It doesn’t matter if the solution is information technology, management consulting, program support, or a product. They are looking for:

• Risk aversion, risk aversion, and risk aversion; the three R’s of proposal writing
• Feasibility and practicality of solution (their perceived solution, not yours)
• Speed of implementation
• Speed of staffing
• Uniqueness of staff
• Proven capability to solve the problem
• Nearness to customer
• Special facility
• Unique features and benefits
• Unique management capabilities”

Until next time.

 

Importance of daily motivation

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

—Zig Ziglar

Fill your mind each day with things that support your greatest goals and desires.  Daily work towards the prize.  Keep on reminding yourself of your primary aims.

 

More Jack Welch – on Mistakes

Still from “Jack: Straight from the Gut” page 29, paragraph 3.

“When people make mistakes, the last thing they need is discipline.  It’s time for encouragement and confidence building.  The job at this point is to restore self-confidence.  I think “piling on” when someone is down is one of the worst things any of us can do.  It’s a standard joke during GE operating reviews that if one of the business CEOs is getting heat and someone in the room jumps on the bandwagon, the staff team will typically pull out the white hankerchief, toss it in the air, and flag the person for piling on.

Piling on during a weak moment can force people into what I call the ‘GE Vortex’.  It can happen anywhere.  You see the ‘Vortex’ when leaders lose their confidence, begin to panic, and spiral downward into a hole of self-doubt.”

I saw this in practice recently.  I made a doozie of a mistake – one of the biggest in my career.  My CEO, instead of coming down hard on me, actually came out in defense of me, and supportive of my track record and character.

This made all the difference.  I ended up winning the deal, and delivering an exceptionally strong quarter.

 

The Cook’s Thesaurus

The Cook’s Thesaurus is a cooking encyclopedia that covers thousands of ingredients and kitchen tools.  Entries include pictures, descriptions, synonyms, pronunciations, and suggested substitutions.

 

Self-Confidence and Leadership

I just started reading “Jack: Straight from the Gut” which is the Autobiography of  Jack Welch.

In the first few pages of the book (page 5 paragraph 4 to be precise) I found something I had to share.  He’s talking about his mom’s early influence on his life:

“Perhaps the greatest single gift she gave me was self-confidence.  It’s what I’ve looked for and tried to build in every execitive who has ever worked with me.  Confidence gives you courage and extends your reach.  It lets you take greater risks and achieve far more than you ever thought possible.   Building self-confidence in others is a huge part of leaadership.  It comes from providing opportunities and challenges for people to do things they never imagined they could do – rewarding them after each success in every way possible.”

 

Characteristics of a qualified prospect

I’ve been reading a really cool series (4 books) on strategic selling by Patrick Henry Hansen.  The book I’m reading right now is called “The DNA Selling Method“.  Quite a bit of great historical stories are used to show sales best practices.

In discussing qualified prospects, he gives a pretty great succinct definition on page 89.

“A qualified prospect in any industry has four general characteristics:

1. Ultimate decision maker(s)
2. Available Funding
3. Acceptable Timeframe(s)
4. Matching Needs

If any one of the qualifying components is missing, the probability of closing the sale is diminished.  By asking simple qualification questions, sellers identify all four qualifying characteristics, and enhance the probability of working with clients likely to purchase.”

 

Two of my favorite business travel sites

I just got done with a ridiculous road trip.  I met with 6 customers and prospects yesterday, and drove (in less than 48 hours) from Detroit to Toledo, Columbus, Cincinnati, Lexington.  Business travel always takes it out of me.  What electronic / web based tools do you use to help you travel more efficiently?

Here are two I’m using as a key part of my business travel strategy.  I’m in to time savers.  I’m road tired, so I cheated and took their descriptions.  Bottom line?  I can’t live without them:

TripIt – http://www.tripit.com

With today’s myriad of travel sites, even the most experienced traveler has their hands full managing all the details of a typical trip. Booking airline tickets, hotels, rental cars and restaurants leaves you with lots of separate pieces of paper. Throw in maps, directions, things to do, and weather and the chaos multiplies.

TripIt turns chaos into order by making it easy for anyone to:

• Organize trip details into one master online itinerary — even if arrangements are booked at multiple travel sites
• Automatically include maps, directions and weather in their master itinerary
• Have the option to book restaurants, theatre tickets, activities and more right from within the online itinerary
• Safely access travel plans online, share them, check-in for flights, or print an itinerary

RideCharge – https://www.ridecharge.com

RideCharge completes the online travel booking puzzle, by giving travelers the ability to book taxis and sedans online.

RideCharge allows corporate travel managers to control ground travel costs with electronic booking, payment, and expense management for taxi, sedan, limo and shuttle services throughout the US.

RideCharge gets rid of paper receipts, eliminates the need to carry cash for taxis, and allows travelers to find reliable service in unfamiliar cities, all with a mobile phone.

Check out these sites… well worth it.  What travel tools are “can’t live without” for you???

 

What’s a social media guru anyway?

Lisa Wilberding posted a great post last week. Intimidation from the Alleged “Social Media Expert” that really got me thinking.

What IS a “Social Media Expert” anyway?  I know some who I’ve really enjoyed reading and learning from.  Some, I’ve started not to pay as much attention to.

Social Media is, and should be perceived as, simply another mechanism to hear and be heard. An extension of yourself as a human with human relationships. Just like any other format, there are good and bad things about the genre, and good and bad things about the interaction processes, and people who communicate better than others.

Personally, I think it’s rude to talk on a cell phone while at a table, but I know plenty of people who do it, and think it’s perfectly fine. (Example of differences of opinion on a communication methodology.)

I happen to be someone who uses networking events to meet new people and establish RELATIONSHIPS, but I know plenty of people who use those times as simply an ad.

My feeling is that as people become more comfortable with new communication mechanisms, that they will continue to gravitate towards people they like, or people that they can easily communicate with, people that they need, or that need them. Doubtless we ALL will break some china while we’re at it. And in the end, it will be interesting to see what happens next. It’s all transitory.

Keep communicating. It is, after all, part of what makes us human.