Fashion Icon Ralph Lauren Fights Cancer Globally

I have always loved what Ralph Lauren stands for. His clothing and iconic style have been a big part of my life for over three decades. As everyone knows fashion designer Ralph Lauren has become the epitome of classic fashion. His innovativeness along with countless other traits have made him the founder, designer and chairman of a $900 million company. He sells a lifestyle image of sophistication, class and taste. Behind the scenes he’s a crusader, with his Pink Pony line of clothing and home items which supports breast cancer awareness. Essentially Pink Pony’s 10th anniversary line of clothing and cashmere throws, are limited editions and customizable. The Pink Pony Fund has raised over $40 million to fight cancer in 13 different countries.

Companies define themselves as a lifestyle brand when their products promote a more than a product with key benefits and attributes. Lifestyle branding is more than just promoting “a way of life”. Think about a product or service that provides consumers with an emotional attachment to the lifestyle of the brand. With Ralph Lauren, and you notice that it is not about the clothes. Social media can provide a platform can showcase the attachment to an exclusive lifestyle. Emotional identification is where it begins.

For over 40 years, Ralph Lauren has cultivated the iconography of America into a global lifestyle empire. His line of clothing has seen reflections of the New England coast, Native American culture, or Hollywood glamour. Ralph Lauren embodies an expression of timeless style that is recognized and coveted around the world.

He’s somewhat of a contradiction of terms: a multibillionaire who dropped out of school. He’s also relentless. He is as generous as he is successful. Just for today I want to focus on his charitable efforts and the side of him that will hopefully inspire us all to do great things.

I have often wondered what motivated him to set up his philanthropic foundation: how does he pick the causes he donates to? One turning point was when he lost his longtime friend Nina Hyde, the fashion editor of the Washington Post, to breast cancer. He established the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research [the largest breast cancer centre in the world] in 1989. The Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research at the Lombardi Cancer Centre is located at the Georgetown University Medical Centre. Dr. Marc Lippman is the director of the centre and states “Our multi-disciplinary programme includes prevention, environmental factors, genetics, and novel therapies in an effort to find answers for women fighting breast cancer.” Medical researchers from all over the world have come together to focus on every aspect of the breast cancer problem due to the vision and tireless philanthropic efforts of Ralph Lauren.

He continues to be a driving force in raising breast cancer awareness both on a national and international basis. For Ralph Lauren it’s all about education and awareness. The Pink Pony line was created as a global year round effort to raise funds for Breast Cancer, and thankfully, has expanded to include all types of cancers. Its mission is now to help address the needs of the medically underserved bringing quality cancer care, access to cancer care, and early detection for those who need it most. Ten percent of the proceeds from Pink Pony products benefit the Pink Pony Fund.

In 2003, in cooperation with the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center [the world's oldest and largest private cancer center], he established the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care & Prevention in East Harlem, New York. One of the center's most innovative services is called patient navigators: a concept pioneered by Dr. Freeman, the center’s medical director. He’s the national authority on the relationships among race, poverty, and cancer. Patient navigators assist patients and family members to ensure that they are not lost in the complexities of the healthcare system.

It’s amazing how giving Ralph Lauren is. The Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention, was established by a generous gift from the Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation. This generous gift has offered the medically underserved, predominantly minority population of Harlem access to the highest-quality cancer screening and treatment services.

In his remarks, Ralph Lauren acknowledged the “efforts, the care, and the love of everyone who worked so hard to see that the center came into being. This is not the end, but the beginning of a long fight for all of us.”

Today I express my gratitude for your efforts. Keep fighting the good fight, Ralph Lauren. You have truly made the world a better place.

Spin Selling

SPIN Selling is considered to be the Bible of all sales books and was written by Neil Rackham. The book, published in 1988, emphasizes the importance of asking the right sales questions. Inspirational books on sales do not come along every day. This one forced me to come up with the best questions to ask customers so as not to appear so much like the dreaded sales person we all tend to run from. The word S.P.I.N. conjures up many images for me. As we all know putting the right S.P.I.N. into your business can change your attitude and improve your selling results.

With the acronym S.P.I.N. we can actually see the four pieces to the selling puzzle.

S = Shrug it off
Let’s face reality… most of the world's news is not positive. In the US the real estate market is really at one of it’s all time lows, the financial markets are in chaos, and gasoline prices are at an all time high. Shrug it off.
Making the connection to dismiss the bad news is key. If you don’t it will eventually overtake you in a negative way. There will always be bad news so to counteract that is to do something that picks you up. Common sense dictates that if you're an entrepreneur or a professional sales person you can't afford to be down and negative. When you're working with your sales prospects and customers you must project a positive and engaging attitude.
People by nature get stuck in the same routine… but it’s best to try to switch it up on a daily basis. Get out of the rut with exercise, reading motivational books, or get a book of inspirational quotes. The ones that have been most helpful to me are by the individuals who have overcome some type of adversity.
It’s best to stay away from negative people. Negativity can be contagious… is it something that you want to catch?

P = Preparation and practice
It’s best to inject a little Preparation and practice into each and every selling day. When planning sales calls for the next day, you can prepare several questions in writing. Practice the questions you want to ask, if you don’t you end up practicing on your sales prospects and customers. That’s a disaster that’s just waiting to happen
• Prepare and practice how you will present the benefits of your products.
• Prepare and practice how you'll deal with the price objection.
• Prepare and practice how you'll ask for the appointment.
• Prepare and practice how you will ask for the business.

I = Initiative 

S.P.I.N. selling includes "Initiative," personal initiative. Professional selling has its ups and downs. When the going gets tough the tough get going.
Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t follow the crowd. Take the initiative to learn more about personal salesmanship and selling skills. Notice how I use the word “personal”, you are unique and your prospects and clients are too.
Those to take the initiative to cross sell and up-sell whenever possible are the ones who ‘get it.’ Do everything imaginable to help your customers solve their problems, that’s just one of the ways you show initiative. The trick is to exceed your sales prospect's and/or customer's expectations.

N = New
The forth and final piece to S.P.I.N. selling is the word "New." Did you know that the two most popular words in the English language are "New" and "Free?" Many sites give away stuff that’s free. Free e-books, free assessments, contests to win free tickets to an event, etc. always focus on “what's new.”
When prospects and clients ask "What's new?" you must be ready to show them new products, new technology, new methods to solve old problems, new programs. So, ask yourself do you have anything that's new?

When you get excited when you're talking about “what's new” to your sales prospects and customers, it’s contagious! When you're excited, they'll become excited, too. Try not to talk about issues that are problematic… it’s a turn off and you will turn off your prospects before you’ve had the chance to turn them on.

When you have new attitude about everything your world begins to change. I don’t need to remind you about the economy and the debt crisis, we hear it every day. As sure, as I’m writing this, Warren Buffett is seeing many buying opportunities right now.

Foreclosures are at an all time high, the real estate market has not rebounded, and the future looks bleak for many. On the other hand, there are many shrewd investors who enjoy buying properties at bargain basement prices. They know, that at some point the market will go back up, after all, as we all know the real estate market is cyclical.

At times it will be tough to remain positive when the news is so negative. You have the ultimate control over your thoughts. Choose optimism over pessimism, positive over negative, sunny versus gloomy, and winning over losing.

Here’s what sets you aside from everyone else. Tell your prospect right away that it's ok to tell you No, that you will not be offended. By giving your prospect a way out you are going to save yourself a lot of grief.

Your goal is to learn how to build a long-term relationship with this prospect, so make sure that you are selling to the right person.

If you pretend that your independently wealthy and you don't need their business you will not come across like a salesperson, and people will like you. What’s most important to remember – people buy from people they like.

Growing your business, increasing your sales, and making more money is a lot easy when you put the right S.P.I.N. on it. Don’t you think?

Live In Mindfulness

Over the last twenty years I have met many people who want to learn how to live in mindfulness. The rules are simple. Mindfulness has been described as a way of life, a journey in self-discovery and an education. For me it has been all about living deliberately and purposefully. Mindfulness is about being in the present moment at all times. To life a spiritual life is not about any theories, we have to be able to live that life one day at a time.

Mindfulness is a practical way to live. For many who are just beginning to embrace some of the concepts the following are suggestions to enable you to make it a reality.

1. One Day At A Time The idea of this can be baffling to some initially. It is not a new concept… sometimes you have to be able to live one minute at a time. Problems tend to arise when we are getting too far ahead of ourselves into the future, or thinking too much about the past. It is the only sensible way to live. But it takes practice.

2. Do One Thing at a Time Multitasking is toggling between one task and another. When you are cooking a meal, just try to cook the meal. The same goes for when you are eating the meal, just try to concentrate on the one task, eating. Keep it simple! The image that comes to mind when I am multitasking is the women who looks like an octopus with the eight arms all doing different things at once. Did you know that your brain can actually only handle one cognitive function at a time? Multitasking gives the appearance of efficiency but in essence slows down our thinking, and messes with our attention. In addition it causes stress, depression and limits our ability to connect with others on a meaningful level.

3. Be Mindful of Your Thoughts and Feelings From time to time we all have negative thoughts or feelings of anger or resentment. The trick is not to identify with them. Think of them like thoughts that run through a passing stream, you are merely observing them. That is all they are… thoughts and feelings, nothing more, nothing less. Try to discover what is going on and gain some insight into what is really happening. When you impersonalize both the thoughts and the feelings you destroy the power that they have over you and you begin to gain awareness.

4. Relax At Intervals Throughout the Day Learn to be still by taking periods of calm and quiet throughout the day. Take note of any tensions that have arisen in your mind and body. Imagine it passing down through your body, through your feet and right into the ground. Learn the art of how to prefer quietness to noise. Inhale and exhale three long, deep breaths at regular intervals throughout the day.

5. Empty Your Mind to Let Go Of Negative Thoughts And Feelings Something I have learned how to say is “I am now emptying my mind of all anxiety [or fear/anger/resentment].”
Try Not to Carry The Day Into Night, or identify with anything. Suffering stops when you refuse to identify with anything negative. A combination of insight and understanding, coupled with a sincere desire for positive change, will destroy painful negatives.

6. Meditate for at least 15 minutes once a day. Some prefer to meditate in the morning and others in the evening. Only you know what works best for you. Let experience be your guide.

7. Accept the inevitable. Challenges will arise in your life, and life itself can be hard at times, not to mention unfair. Those who have learned how to overcome adversity are the ones who tend to lead a happier life.

8. Happiness is a choice. “we manufacture either our own happiness or our own unhappiness by the thoughts we habitually think ... regardless of what happens to us! ” Norman Vincent Peale. One spiritual truth states – it is impossible to be unhappy in the present moment, for all unhappiness is rooted in either the past (in the form of memories) or the future (in the form of anticipations and fears). Clearly, mindfulness is the way to freedom.

9. Get Your Mind Off Yourself. Do you ever find that many problems disappear when we focus on others rather than ourselves? It’s everywhere you look: self-centredness, self-obsession, self-absorption. These are the maladies of mind and our body results from all of these things! Get out of your way! It will do you a world of good.

10. This Too Shall Pass. Things are constantly changing and evolving. Many spend too much time working and not enough living. Life is short. So, go ahead, seize the moment!

Good to Great

If you want to explore what goes into a company's transformation from mediocre to excellent ‘Good To Great’ Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t is the truly the book to read. It is based on hard evidence and volumes of data, Jim Collins and his team uncover 
timeless principles on how the good-to-great companies like Abbott, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo produced sustained great results. But it’s not about great results but rather the story about how they achieved enduring greatness. The evolution of these companies were 'Built to Last' and showed many valuable insights.

Bear in mind that a lot has changed since the book’s launch in 2001, however, there are still valuable learnings to be had. It’s best to start with what Jim Collins team selected: 2 sets of comparison companies:

a. Direct Comparisons – Companies in the same industry with the same resources and opportunities as the good-to-great group but showed no leap in performance, which were: Upjohn, Silo, Great Western, Warner-Lambert, Scott Paper, A&P, Bethlehem Steel, RJ Reynolds, Addressograph, Eckerd, and Bank of America.
b. Unsustained Comparisons - Companies that made a short-term shift from good to great but failed to maintain the trajectory, namely: Burroughs, Chrysler, Harris, Hasbro, Rubbermaid, and Teledyne

Wisdom In A Nutshell:
a. Ten out of eleven good-to-great company leaders or CEOs came from the inside. They were not outsiders hired in to 'save' the company. They were either people who worked many years at the company or were members of the family that owned the company.

b. Strategy per se did not separate the good to great companies from the comparison groups.

c. Good-to-great companies focus on what Not to do and what they should stop doing.

d. Technology has nothing to do with the transformation from good to great. It may help accelerate it but is not the cause of it.

e. Mergers and acquisitions do not cause a transformation from good to great.

f. Good-to-great companies paid little attention to managing change or motivating people. Under the right conditions, these problems naturally go away.

g. Good-to-great transformations did not need any new name, tagline, or launch program. The leap was in the performance results, not a revolutionary process.

h. Greatness is not a function of circumstance; it is clearly a matter of conscious choice.

i. Every good-to-great company had "Level 5" leadership during pivotal transition years, where Level 1 is a Highly Capable Individual, Level 2 is a Contributing Team Member, Level 3 is the Competent Manager, Level 4 is an Effective Leader, and Level 5 is the Executive who builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.

j. Level 5 leaders display a compelling modesty, are self-effacing and understated. In contrast, two thirds of the comparison companies had leaders with gargantuan personal egos that contributed to the demise or continued mediocrity of the company.

k. Level 5 leaders are fanatically driven, infected with an incurable need to produce sustained results. They are resolved to do whatever it takes to make the company great, no matter how big or hard the decisions.

l. One of the most damaging trends in recent history is the tendency (especially of boards of directors) to select dazzling, celebrity leaders and to de-select potential Level 5 leaders.

m. Potential Level 5 leaders exist all around us, we just have to know what to look for.

n. The research team was not looking for Level 5 leadership, but the data was overwhelming and convincing. The Level 5 discovery is an empirical, not ideological, finding.

o. Before answering the "what" questions of vision and strategy, ask first "who" are the right people for the team.

p. Comparison companies used layoffs much more than the good-to-great companies. Although rigorous, the good-to-great companies were never ruthless and did not rely on layoffs or restructuring to improve performance.

q. Good-to-great management teams consist of people who debate vigorously in search of the best answers, yet who unify behind decisions, regardless of parochial interests.

r. There is no link between executive compensation and the shift from good to great. The purpose of compensation is not to 'motivate' the right behaviors from the wrong people, but to get and keep the right people in the first place.

s. The old adage "People are your most important asset" is wrong. People are not your most important asset. The right people are.

t. Whether someone is the right person has more to do with character and innate capabilities than specific knowledge, skills or experience.

u. The Hedgehog Concept is a concept that flows from the deep understanding about the intersection of the following three circles:
1. What you can be best in the world at, realistically, and what you cannot be best in the world at
2. What drives your economic engine?
3. What are you deeply passionate about?
v. Discover your core values and purpose beyond simply making money and combine this with the dynamic of preserve the core values – stimulate progress, as shown for example by Disney. They have evolved from making short animated films, to feature length films, to theme parks, to cruises, but their core values of providing happiness to young and old, and not succumbing to cynicism remains strong.

w. Enduring great companies don't exist merely to deliver returns to shareholders. In a truly great company, profits and cash flow are absolutely essential for life, but they are not the very point of life.

"If you’re doing something you care deeply about and if you believe in it, it’s impossible to imagine not trying to make it great.”

Mindset of a Millionaire

There have been endless articles written about the “mindset of a millionaire.” I could just spend weeks researching all the theories, reading all the success stories, and getting all fired up about the endless possibilities. So what exactly is this quality, and why is it so heavily sought after?

Actually the concept is incredibly simple. There are seven easy-to-follow steps – the ingredients you need to have the recipe for success. The instability of the economy has caused many to lose their jobs in corporate America and start their own home businesses. It does not matter about your background, your education, your career or your starting point on the entrepreneurial ladder. What matters is that you start somewhere. If you decide follow these steps to achieve the millionaire mindset you will surely set yourself on the path to riches.

1. Self-Belief
It’s not so much about having the potential, what sets people apart is the belief in oneself to achieve greatness. You can achieve this by telling yourself you can do it. Write it on a post-it note, write it on the wall, do whatever it takes to keep reminding yourself - and never stop believing it.

2. The Idea
When you start with an idea, a dream, or a vision. You need to write it down and not just think about it.

3. Make a Plan
What good is a plan if you don’t set goals? Short-term goals are steps you take by the end of the day or the end of the week. Medium term goals and long term goals need also to be a part of the equation and should be specific and realistic. It’s best to write them down and devised a timeframe to accomplish them. It’s crucial to review them on a regular basis. Many small steps equate to big successes.

4. Take Action
Many think that developing your millionaire mindset is about reading, learning, or goal setting. Rather, taking action and jumping in, and get your hands dirty are practical suggestions. Over the years you may have met many people who think about becoming rich. They toss around ideas but then fail to follow through with solid, tangible action. If you make an honest effort to apply them you will give 1% each day you will be living life at a very different level, 100 days from now. Every day your actions will move you in the right direction – towards your goals.

5. Failure is not an option
Remember the old adage "If at first you don’t succeed try, try again". In working towards your goals you are likely to encounter failure, setbacks, disappointment and rejection. What are the secrets to having the millionaire mindset? Those with the “mindset” take a look at the setbacks, and learn from them. But they also get back on their feet again. The millionaire mindset is a positive mindset. What goes without saying: to achieve this mindset you must first believe in yourself. You have the right to be successful.

6. Passion
Do you know what will drive you to achieve greatness? Passion! Passion for your product, for your business, for your idea and for the path you are on. When you change your situation, it will change your life. It’s not about having that 9-5 grind, or even about working to live, or being in a dull job, day in and day out in the office. When YOU take control of your destiny and believe it, get excited about it, you will feel the passion!

7. Grow and Learn
The secret to those who have the millionaire mindset is that they associate with others who have the same mindset… the ones who are on the same road to riches that they are. People who are open to ideas, suggestions and feedback are the ones you’ll best learn from. There are many who have come before you and are willing to share their success.

Have you got what it takes?

Dorothy Hamill Raises Awareness for Breast Cancer

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but it’s March right now and I can’t wait that long to get the word out. A few years back there was new Cancer Project public service announcement, by none other than Olympic figure skater and breast cancer survivor Dorothy Hamill. Many remember her as "America's sweetheart." when in 1976, she was the vivacious 19-year-old who won an Olympic gold medal for her dazzling figure skating at the Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria.

These days Dorothy’s focus has taken quite a different spin as she encourages people to eat a plant-based diet to protect themselves from the deadly disease of breast cancer. It’s a proven fact that a lifestyle change to a low-fat, vegetarian diet actually fights breast cancer and other forms of the disease.

“Your body is an instrument of expression—and mine still has a lot to say.” says Hamill. There’s Cancer Project’s The Cancer Survivor’s Guide available free of charge and it’s all about putting healthy foods to work fighting cancer. The most important discovery I personally made researching this article was that the Women’s Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) has shown that breast cancer survivors who cut their fat intake and increase their fruit and vegetable intake reduce their recurrence rate by 24 percent. For survivors with estrogen-receptor-negative tumors, the reduction is 42 percent. And those in itself are pretty impressive statistics.

Inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame and the Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2007, Dorothy was diagnosed with breast cancer, thankfully she recovered and has returned to her life’s passion, skating.

Did you know that plant-based diets promote cancer prevention and survival? The Cancer Project two new resources are contain life saving information: the second edition of Healthy Eating for Life: Food Choices for Cancer Prevention and Survival has great sections on “Food Choices for Cancer Prevention and Survival,” “Building Your Strength Against Cancer,” “Surviving Cancer,” and “Making Healthy Diet Changes,” as well as recipes and references.

There is an Educational Alliance Program that offers organizations and institutions support to bring the message of the value of a healthy diet for cancer prevention and survival to your community. The Cancer Project’s innovative resources and the proven nutrition education and cooking class curriculum is incorporated into their institutions’ existing programs, classes, or service offerings.

charity: water: The Campaign to Watch

When I first caught a glimpse of Scott Harrison, the founder of charity: water on stage he struck me as someone who was very humble and the guy who always had a big grin on his face. I recently listened to his speech online, it was the one that he’d delivered for Big Omaha 2010 almost two years ago. These are the speeches that inspire, educate, and connect entrepreneurs, and appeal especially those with an interest in the tech industry. The Silicon Prairie News said it was one of the most powerful talks from the event. And before Scott’s arrival the small community had already raised $5,000 towards his clean water cause.

Scott talked about his childhood and his life before charity: water and taking care of his sick mother who had been affected by carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a faulty furnace. At 18 he rebelled. He’d been overly responsible for too long and decided he needed to look after #1, joined a band and moved to New York City. His aspirations included becoming rich and famous, which ultimately lead to becoming a self-centered and self-absorbed young man. Next stop on the agenda? A career in nightlife; he started an upscale event planning and nightclub consultancy company. Although a lot of fun initially, it would be a career that after some thought and reflection, would clash with his values and make him question his life. Bigtime.

And then it happened. The bubble burst right in the middle of a party on a beach in Uruguay. At 28 years old, he had surrounded himself with all the cool people, recreational drug users, and heavy drinkers he had an empty feeling that this was not really the life he was meant to live. “I was chasing all of the wrong things - materialism and money -- and I was selling a lifestyle of decadence and escapism for a living.” said Scott. So he turned to theology books and re-explored his faith as an antidote to his dilemma. Ultimately, the conclusion he arrived at was that he wanted to serve God and help the poor. Just how he would achieve that would turn out to be the most important part of his journey.

Mercy Ships out of Texas is an organization that brings a hospital to the people who are sick and can’t afford medical treatment. Scott was hired become their photojournalist in West Africa and thus began the foray into volunteer work. The contrast of NYC and Liberia produced a culture shock: no public electricity, no running water, no sewage, and no mail. His job was to take pictures of children with facial tumors, flesh eating disease, facial reconstruction and clef lips and palates, and burn patients. The amazing surgeons were also volunteers who had given up their vacation time to help these people begin a new life.

The miracles were the transformations that took place between doctor and patient. Although drastic facial reconstruction was the reason for their visit an inner transformation took place as well. Scott was overcome with joy. To be able to see the children go home with a new face a few weeks later was defied words. Two years had gone by and he’d taken 50,000 photos. The sinking feeling Scott had never left him. It was not so much the patients that had been helped but rather the ones that they couldn’t. There were just too many.

After a two-year absence he returned to NYC he saw an opportunity to try to make a difference to raise money to help pay for the surgeries, bring about a better quality of life, provide access to clean water, and a better education. He formulated ideas to cultivate his dream. He was well connected to the right people in the world of nightclub consultancy and he saw how they could potentially help his cause. There was also the miracle that happened when Scott was in Africa; his mother recovered from her illness 28 years later.

Scott shares “I spent a year and a half volunteering for Mercy Ships and then I came back to New York and did a big exhibition in Chelsea, showcasing the photographs that I had taken on the ship. We raised about $96,000 and the idea of starting a charity came out of that experience - using photos to tell peoples stories and stimulating smart giving, and using the camera to prove how the money really made a difference in people's lives.”

At 30 years old Scott had picked an issue, the issue of clean water. Clean water was the root cause of disease and the reason why some children weren’t able to get an education. Idea of charity: water was born. He wanted this to be a different kind of charity. After doing some research he came to the conclusion that there are one billion people who don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. In the spring of 2006, he launched the charity: water on his 31st birthday and invited 700 people to in a nightclub in NYC and charged everyone $20 to get in. He raised $15,000 and took the money to fix three wells in Uganda and build three wells. After the party he sent pictures and the GPS coordinates to show people how their twenty dollars or their money had made a difference.

The message is clear:
Right now, more than 1.1 BILLION people in the world, mostly in developing nations, do not have access to clean, safe drinking water.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation causes 80% of all sickness and disease, and kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Many people in the developing world, usually women and children, walk more than three hours every day to get unclean water. Those hours are crucial, preventing many from working or attending school.

Charity: water believes access to clean water is a fundamental human right. And they are doing something about that.
Since charity: water was founded and began activity in August 2006, we have funded the development of 200+ wells in 6 African nations through the work of exemplary humanitarian organizations like Living Water International, Concern Worldwide US, Healing Hands International, and Water For People. When completed, the wells will serve 100,000 people with clean, safe drinking water.

Charity: water’s brand is unique. The strategy connects the donor to the recipient through $20 e-cards for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, Hanukkah, Christmas, Thermos allowed then design their products with charity: water’s branding, Toms shoes, free advertising through bus space, Financial Times home page, sold pictures in Chelsea Market, the PSA included Jennifer Connolly and American Idol debuted it in a million dollar time slot and was seen by 23 million people. The ad also appeared on the home page of YouTube, Hulu and RCN and Time Warner Networks. Corporate Sponsorship is a huge part of the organization with 100% of Public Donations going towards water and water projects.
In 2008 the organization ran out of money, and Scott boldly pitched to Facebook, MySpace and Bebo asking if the founders would be willing to give up their birthdays. Michael Birch of Bebo stepped up to the plate with a one million dollar donation to allow Scott to use the money as he saw fit.

The presentation I would like you to watch is not only emotionally moving but it was Scott’s convincing call to action to get involved that was so inspiring. He’s someone that’s found a solution to a world crisis that can be solved.



Please visit charity: water to learn more.

The Harboring of Resentment is Fatal

I read the catch phrase ‘harboring of resentment is fatal’ more than twenty years ago and have come to understand that it’s something that the world needs to pay attention to, especially now. Resentment according to Wikipedia’s definition is as follows: Resentment is the experience of a negative emotion felt as a result of a real or imagined wrong done. Etymologically, the word originates from French "ressentir", re-, intensive prefix, and sentir "to feel"; from the Latin "sentire". The English word has become synonymous with anger, spite, and bitterness. Therefore one can only conclude that a life that includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. Doesn’t sound very appealing when you put it that way now does it?

I can honestly tell you over the years that the hours I allowed futility and unhappiness in my life was not time well spent. They were issues that I had no control over. Resentments have been a waste of time. They have robbed me of joy. They have held me back. I’m not proud of it, but it’s the truth.

When I have resentments it has shut me off from important things, like learning new things, or meeting a new friend. I started tackling my list of them years ago. I wanted nothing to hamper the maintenance and growth of my spirituality. They say that having numerous resentments gives you the feeling of being unwell and unloved. It is that insane thinking that just leads to more insane thinking… I think you get the picture.

There were many moments in 2009 when I went to see my high school friends at a reunion. More than thirty years had passed and with it came much joy and laughter. The flipside however, was not looking so good. You see resentment had created somewhat of a physical poison in my body, and there was someone in particular I didn’t especially want to see there. I went as far as wanting the committee not to invite him even though I’d been told he had really changed. Yeah, right. Who’s really changed? Most of the changes take place on a physical rather than an emotional level. Or could I be wrong?

When I think about what I’ve learned over the years about resentment I know that the first lesson is that they cannot be cleared up until we know we have them and why. What’s the second lesson? I have made myself vulnerable to the outside world to an extraordinary extent. Our entire self-concept has been molded by the opinions and actions of others. It’s also our old way of thinking as to what we ought to be and what we were.
It was necessary for me to be willing to let go of the resentment in the first place. And timing is everything. I must forgive the person I had resented for all these years. I merely accepted the fact that right now that I was going to have to do it!

I live my life now on a different basis and it is one based on trust. The changed that happened inside me was that of looking at others with a kind and tolerant view. The art of forgiveness is putting out of our minds the wrongs others had done and looked instead at our own mistakes. I had to think if I had we been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking or frightened? No situation has been entirely my fault, but I needed to look at my part, not to take someone else’s inventory.

The question of how to approach the person we had problems with can be a tricky one. Sometimes they have done me more harm than we can imagine. Now when I think about the reunion that night it was there I encountered the junior high school bully. I came face to face with him and he kissed me on the cheek as if we were old friends. I had no idea what to do, so I avoided the confrontation altogether. Many had a field day with him at the reunion how he had hurt them, what a jerk he was... I thought, why join in on the lynch mob? It wasn’t worth it to me. I had more important people I wanted to see, to get caught up with and I did.

Six months later, as fate would have it I ran into him, it was a one in a million chance and it would never come again. An awkward moment to say the least, and we discussed what happened years ago and I apologized for not talking to him when I saw him, and promptly forgave him. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, either. As a matter of fact, it was easy. The timing was perfect. Life’s too short to keep carrying around the baggage… so I just dropped it off, never to be opened up or brought up again.

The bottom line was I had acquired a better attitude toward him. Many are not keen about admitting their faults, mine that day was to merely forgive him and not get into the why and what was the reason behind his thinking. It was a mutually beneficial experience, and one of the most gratifying experiences I’d ever had. I had a forgiving spirit that day. Under no condition did I want to criticize him or argue. I simply had the conviction to just let it go. And it felt good.

Diveheart helps Disabled Veterans Put Their Lives Back Together

There’s an Illinois Diver named Jim Elliott whose organization has got a lot of heart. I guess that why he named it www.diveheart.org. The ability to be a mentor to his daughter began when she was very young. You see, his daughter Erin was actually born blind. And she didn’t feel comfortable being teased in school about it either so much so that she insisted that she could see. She tossed the cane aside not to mention the fact that she refused to learn braille.
"She struggled with being blind, and when she got to be about nine years old, I got her involved with downhill skiing, and all of a sudden, it was "Erin the skier," and not "Erin the blind kid." It built up her confidence and changed her whole life," said Elliott, 53. Little did he realize that the transformation that took place in her life would translate into a thriving business and one that’s truly rewarding.

Being a driven business owner is one thing but being able help other disabled people to move past identities defined by disability is quite another. Elliott’s passion for scuba diving combined with his love of teaching disabled people to overcome their physical limitations translates into a unique business that’s got a lot of heart.

Jim Elliott is the president and founder of Diveheart and his nonprofit organization, is based in Downers Grove, Illinois. He’s the scuba teacher with programs around the country. In addition, he has also helped establish disabled diving programs around the world. And there’s no one else quite like him.

Learning how to swim and learning how to dive are quite different, and diving is actually easier to learn. Among his students: children born with disabilities to veterans with traumatic brain injuries. They learn how to experience a kind of weightlessness and freedom.

Imagine if you will for a moment when he takes a person out of wheelchair and puts them in the water. That’s zero gravity, weightlessness. Imagine for a moment if you can the look on their face when they start to realize that if they can dive, they can do anything.

One of the most inspirational stories is that of U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Greg Rodriguez. He suffered incomplete paraplegia in a car accident right before he was due to deploy to Iraq. Greg told Chicago T.V. station WGNTV: “Doctors refer to it as [a] traumatic brain injury, but I refer to it as my nightmare.”
"At that time in my life I thought that I was useless, you know, good for nothing because I had to depend on everybody," said Rodriguez, 27.
What changed his life and after he learned how to dive? He felt like he could do anything. And thanks to Jim’s help he’s also now a part of the organization.

Jim’s passion is Diveheart and I’m happy to announce that it recently received a grant from the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs. The organization is looking for veterans working through injuries, and post-traumatic stress disorder, who want to learn to scuba dive for free. What an incredible gift he has and his heart is in the right place when Jim says "There's a real need to reach out to these guys and gals and get them in the water and turn their lives around."

Jim’s love for diving began in college in 1976, and he continued on by becoming instructor in the 1980s. He actually left a six-figure salary in ad sales and started teaching people with disabilities to dive in 1997, and launched Diveheart in 2001. Diving is a physical therapy that can be very accessible: "The real progress that we see can be done in swimming pools, and there's a pool in every community," says Jim.

One final note: the Diveheart team of instructors and dive buddies introduce young adults with autism to scuba diving April 16th as part of the Diveheart adaptive scuba training. New scuba enthusiasts will be learning skill sets as part of an academic and life skills curriculum. This will result in a life changing trip to Cozumel, Mexico in July 2011.

Government Crack Down on Marketing Unhealthy Foods to Children

This morning I read something that made me smile. It contained some important information about how the government is actually pressuring companies to cut back on marketing unhealthy foods to children. The guidelines will affect advertisements that are shown on TV, in store marketing and Internet marketing. It is something that I hope that many companies will give serious consideration to.

The voluntary guidelines will see to it that companies marketing food to children ages 2-17 with products that are low in fats, sugars and sodium. Over the years there has been a lot of lip service regarding what constitutes healthy ingredients. But all of this is about to change. This proposal sets parameters that are strict, but heck, it’s the day and age of accountability, and thankfully one that has been almost a decade in the making.

In the past ads targeted at children have been colorful cartoon characters and these gimmicks are used to draw their attention to the brand. The guidelines are actually setting a precedent. In order for these companies to advertise their products they will have to alter the products to reduce the unhealthy ingredients in their products. It’s an idea whose time has come and given the devastated stats on childhood obesity may prove to be a game changer as well.

Although unknown at this time whether government pressure will produce the life changing results it desires there are some companies that have joined an initiative to limit their marketing to children. The Better Business Bureau’s created a set of standards are similar to the government’s, but less stringent. Nonetheless it sees McDonald’s General Mills, Kraft Foods Global and PepsiCo Inc. embracing the change in a big way.

The number of TV ads aimed at children in recent years has dropped significantly, but unfortunately moved elsewhere to the Internet, ranking high in social media and other digital platforms such as the smart phone. What is clear to me is that the industry’s self-regulation is not enough and it is the public health sector that has put pressure on the government to set the wheels of motion for change.

What types of food ads do children actually see? Product placement in video games and celebrity endorsements top the list and are believed to a large extent to be a contributing factor to the nightmare of childhood diseases, with childhood obesity leading the pack. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s statistics state that obesity now affects 17% of all children and adolescents in the United States – triple the rate from just one generation ago. And sadly, in some racial and ethnic groups this statistic is higher.

So what’s the answer? The at home solution is simple: reduce time watching television and other sedentary behaviors, and build more physical behavior into your regular routines. The in school solution is to make sure that the cafeteria’s breakfast and lunch programs meet nutrition standards with foods that are low in fat, calories, and added sugars. Place more of an emphasis for children, from prekindergarten through grade 12, to have daily physical education that is one of high quality. But when will this change actually take place? I hope before it’s not too late.

Having a marketing environment that is supportive is ideal, but getting the parents to actually get children to eat healthy is and always has been a challenge. I guess many don’t understand the severity of the problem. I know I didn’t I’m starting to understand what first lady Michelle Obama is actually trying to accomplish with her “Let’s Move” campaign. Her efforts at combating childhood obesity are simple. She has pushed for better school lunches, healthier restaurant meals, more physical activity and other healthy lifestyle changes. She’s made great strides with this initiative, and although she speaks to all companies it will be the companies that are progressive that will follow suit and reap both the benefits and rewards set forth.

The movement is geared towards adding more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk products, fish, extra lean meat, eggs, nuts, seeds or beans in our children’s diets. As a part of the marketing guidelines, the foods containing certain amounts of trans-fat, saturated fat, added sugars or sodium per serving would not be eligible to be marketed to children. Top offenders in this category are breakfast cereals, carbonated beverages, restaurant foods and snacks.

If companies are targeting less children where has the ad focus shifted to now? Moms! Afterall, moms are the primary shoppers in the family household, the ad spend is targeted to blogs directed at mothers and recipe sites.

Scott Faber, who is the lobbyist for the Grocery manufacturer’s association states: “The number of food ads on children's shows has fallen by half since 2004,” and "The number of ads for cookies, candy, soda and snacks has dropped even more dramatically." Kudos go to the companies that use advertising as a teaching tool. But, that my friends is that’s something that will materialize in the future!

The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life

You may know Ivanka Trump as one of the most recognized and influential business woman of our time, but what she shares in The Trump Card is positive advice for any generation. She’s the Executive Vice President of Development & Acquisitions, and in charge of the domestic and global expansion of The Trump Organization’s real estate interests. Her extraordinary talents include; one time fashion model, jewelery designer [Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry], world famous media personality, NBC’s Emmy nominated, globally syndicated “The Apprentice” as an advisor and now one of the stars of NBC’s widely successful “Celebrity Apprentice,” and author who is focused on doing the right thing, and presently involved at with three different charities.

In March 2010, Ivanka announced her involvement in the U.N. Foundations Girl Up initiative. The campaign’s aim is to recruit young women to support U.N. programs for girls in developing countries. And you can bet she’s in good company, too. Partnering with well-known social activists: Elizabeth Gore and Queen Rania of Jordan, the program hopes to bring awareness and career skills to young women around the world. “Ivanka is a natural role model to young women worldwide and her dedication to adolescent girls and UN issues made her a natural fit for the UN Foundation’s Girl Up Campaign,” said Kathy Bushkin Calvin, Chief Executive Officer of the UN Foundation. “Working together, we can give girls in developing countries a chance to live up to their potential as the bright, talented girls that they are and set them on the path of becoming the strong, independent and healthy women of tomorrow.”

In August of 2010 The Ivanka Trump $30 Girl Up Bracelet made it’s debut in InStyle magazine. One hundred percent of the proceeds from this bracelet will provide the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls with basic needs such as access to school supplies, clean water, life-saving health services, safety from violence, and more. It is a cause Ivanka is deeply passionate about!

Ivanka also devotes time to her younger brother’s charity, the Eric Trump Foundation [St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital] and NYC Police Foundation [whose goal is to promote excellence and improve public safety in the NYPD].
Inspiration. Success. Confidence. Passion.

Although no one is born with these qualities they are the key ingredients for reaching goals, building careers, or turning a blueprint into a breathtaking skyscraper. Her life lessons and hard-won insights have made her nothing short of a rising star in the business world.

She wrote the book because she was eager to share what she's learned at one of the best schools in the country; the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. She has learned much from both her parents about drive and ambition and exceeding expectations. Many describe her as a straight shooter and fully self-aware. She realizes not only the opportunities she’s been given, but the opportunities that she’s been able to create for herself. Ivanka takes ownership for her privilege and acknowledges her advantages. She used to be a very private person, but with reality TV that changed all that. What you see is what you get; intelligence, unbridled ambition; graciousness and humility.

If you’re trying to land that first job, navigate the workplace, or make a lasting impact, her valuable, practical advice for young women shows them how to:
• Use uncertainty to your advantage—thrive in any environment
• Step up and get noticed at work—focus and efficiency will open doors
• Create a strong and consistent identity—your name and reputation are your best assets
• Know what you want—get the most out of any negotiation.
The book contains insightful and memorable “Bulletins” from her BlackBerry. These are a collection of messages that she has received over the years from people she truly admires. One of today’s brightest leaders is Arianna Huffington who taught her “there is nothing more important than not giving into the fears and judgments we drain our spirits with.” Over the years she’s learned from the best and has been lucky enough to align herself with Russell Simmons, Jonathan Tisch, Cathie Black and Chris DeWolfe, just to name a few. “We’ve all been dealt a winning hand,” she writes, “and it is up to each of us to play it right and smart.”

Pay Attention To What Matters Most

When we pay attention to what matters most we are living consciously. Think about this statement for a moment. We live in an age where our attention is being constantly being diverted on a daily basis. I was asked the question one day: what is deserving of your attention? Needless to say, I was momentarily stumped. Is this a trick question, or a question that’s just tricky? In the true entrepreneurial spirit I wanted make my business flourish so here’s the list of what matters most.
Okay, so just how did I decide what’s worthy of my attention? Here’s my most valuable list to date, and it is definitely something worth sharing.
Wealth
• Goal setting is an important part of building wealth. When my goals are focused I have a greater chance of turning them into reality. I keep them posted in plain sight, this means where I can see them.
• Manage my debt. When I sink into debt I am doing the opposite of what I should do to achieve real wealth. Best to get it under control.
• Living within my means. Many wealthy people recount sacrifices that were made so they could attain the level of success and financial freedom they now enjoy.
Health
• Buy every product out there, even if you don’t need it. I’m just kidding on this one, but you get the picture, I’m sure. I’m guilty of buying new foods or new exercise equipment especially if pitched by someone’s whose ultra fit. They must be great I think… I saw the ad on TV! I’ll state this now with total conviction, the opposite of impulse buying is taking the time to properly evaluate your purchases. If it’s not nutritious or seems like a fad, I don’t even think about it, anymore.

Wisdom
• Take calculated risks. The flip side of every risk you take in business can be either beneficial or not. If the calculated risk produces an attractive return then by all means I’ll take it.
• Make making ecologically sound choices is both wise and financially sound. You can read about it in David Bach’s book Go Green, Live Rich. Consumer habits determine “the quality if your life.” Environmental awareness is the name of the game these days.
Just thinking about this question in great detail helped me discover what matters most to me and why. This led me to the conclusion that my attention is precious. I noticed that if I want to I can choose to give my attention to just about anything I thought was relevant in my life. I knew I really wanted to focus on my income, and I did that. Additionally, I wanted to give some attention to diet and exercise, going green, and to donating my time to a worthy cause. And you know what? It feels great!
The opposite side of the coin side is that if you don’t make proper choices, your attention will be pulled towards something by default. There will be someone else out there that will make the decision for you. Could be your boss, a family member, an advertiser, the myriad of social influences that exist in today’s society, it won’t be something that you deliberately chose.
When you don’t make these choices yourself, you fall back into unconscious living, and your results will suffer. Living in an unconscious way tends to result in a poor way compared to the results you can get from living consciously.
My attention is a very limited resource, and I don’t have an infinite attention capacity either. I can only give my attention to one item — or at most, a few items — at one time. Attention is a precious resource, and something that I invest in carefully and thoughtfully. When I paid attention to the things that
mattered the most my business started to flourish. So I’ll leave you with the question What is deserving of your attention? It will be interesting to see what comes back!

Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands

What makes some brands inspirational, while others struggle? The answer Lovemarks: The future beyond brands. Lovemarks for those of you who are not familiar with Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi is a book that came out in 2004. Roberts was the inventor and promoter of lovemarks and became quite the fire-starter, when in 2006 he blew new life into JC Penney contract to the tune of $430 million dollars.

We can talk about brands all we want. Back in the day it used to be that the manufacturers held all the cards. Then the retailers became the big power brokers, and now it’s the consumer. The consumer has had the power for years. That’s nothing new. Consumers are highly intelligent, they will not be manipulated and know what they like. No company today can hide behind their brand. These days, brands have to be authentic and true. If your corporation is not socially responsible, ethically responsible or environmentally responsible (green), you are going to be challenged.

If the America is the land of entrepreneurship, innovation and ideas where did all the love go? How can we even think about love? Isn’t the business world all driven by numbers? Apparently it is, or should I say it was. We took a lot of well-known brands that made us this country great and exported them. Among them are Coke, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Hollywood and Disney. Is there anything that we haven’t exported? GULP!

When asked what is the difference between a great brand and one that’s merely good? Roberts said “I love the concept of it. Great brands are ones you can really trust like Tide. You can always count on Tide. It will never let you down.” The way advertising works has changed. It’s changed so much you can’t even recognize it it’s all about the attention economy now. The Attention Economy is a marketplace where consumers agree to receive services in exchange for their attention. Examples include personalized news, personalized search, alerts and recommendations to buy. It’s about consumers having choice – they get to choose where their attention is 'spent.

Another key ingredient in the attention game is relevancy. What I mean by this is as long as the consumer sees relevant content they are going to stick around. And that creates more opportunities to sell. In the attention economy consumers want something new, and personalization is everything. When a company does their research, and crafts a personal message – it must be one that is detailed and sincere at directed at the consumer. After all we are the ones who are buying it.

Whatever happened to finding the “sweet spots,” you know what I’m talking about… it’s the place where marketers develop meaningful connections with interested consumers. If the true purpose of social media is to use new technology to facilitate the exchange of ideas, promote new products and foster brand, then who has actually mastered this? Finding these sweet spots takes time, but this type of investment can pay long-term dividends in trust and increased sales.

For many successful companies, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is no longer just a boardroom buzzword, but a key to business. CSR has also helped with major PR problems, think about BP’s oil spill. It’s great to know that companies are finally being held accountable.
It can be easy to deny or ignore the value of ethical responsibility in business, but more and more often, signs of the value stakeholders place on ethical business are being revealed. Businesses have been hit hard by the weak economy, but many companies on have managed to outperform other companies on the S&P 500. Deere & Co. has been in business since 1837, and currently operates in three areas: agriculture and turf, construction and forestry, and credit.

It’s winning financially when it comes to outperforming the competition.

Environmentally responsible (or green) companies include ones that have an actual environmental footprint, a management of that footprint (including policies and strategies) and a reputation among environmental experts. The best example of this is Dell. Michael Dell, the chairman and CEO believes “The efficiencies we can all achieve through the use of greener products, solutions, services and programs should be an integral part of every corporate culture.” It’s no wonder the energy efficiency of its products, has helped customers save more $5 billion in energy costs since 2006.

So it’s time to get back to basics and stand out from the crowd, get noticed, zig when others zag, Kevin Roberts is glad he did.

Liz Murray’s Relentless Journey: A Rags To Riches Story

I was looking online for something to inspire and uplift me this morning and literally stumbled upon the story of Liz Murray. I had Googled ‘rags to riches’ and that’s where I found her. She was #9. on the Top 10 Rags to Riches Stories list, a list I never even knew existed. Even if you’re one of those people who doesn’t dream of extreme wealth, her story is one that not only needs to be told, but shared with everyone you know. Liz is one of the people who will show just how far determination, confidence, and perseverance can get you in life, no matter if you start from the very bottom. Her story is about overcoming the odds and reinventing yourself.

She was born in the Bronx. Her family of origin was on welfare and both parents were cocaine addicts. Her mother an HIV-infected drug addict/alcohol and schizophrenic died of AIDS at 42, when Liz was only 15. Her father then abandoned both her and her older sister by moving into a men’s shelter. They now had to fend for themselves. She went to high school and wound up sleeping in subways, park benches, or at a friend’s home. She ate out of garbage cans.

She did not fall into the trap of self-pity. It was a luxury she couldn’t afford in her crime-ridden New York neighborhood. She had lived a life of enabling her parents and spent her nights looking out the window to make sure they returned home safely from scoring drugs. She wrote an essay about her experiences as a homeless teenager and from it she won a New York Times Scholarship for needy students. This would prove to be her ticket out.

She accepted into Harvard University in the fall of 2000. But subsequently left the following year to begin her career in motivational speaking. She wanted to be closer to her sick father so she transferred to Columbia to continue on with her education.

Her life was an inspiration to many and Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story aired on the Lifetime network in 2003. She has been awarded The White House Project Role Model Award, a Christopher Award, as well as the Chutzpah Award, which was given to her by Oprah Winfrey.

In 2010 her book Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard revealed that her older sister graduated from college and become a school teacher for autistic children, and that her father died of AIDS in 2006. She finished her education at Harvard in June of 2009 and continues to take graduate courses to become a clinical psychologist. It is her dream to be able to counsel people from all walks of life.

After years of truancy, sleeping on NYC streets and shoplifting food to survive, she was emotionally and spiritually bankrupt. Now Liz is an American inspirational speaker who speaks out about determination. She believes no matter how hard life is, you have to move on. You must continue to work your way through the battles. She teaches us that she could overcome hardships to achieve success.

Manifest Living is a New York–based company that empowers adults to create the results they want in their own lives. Liz is the founder and director of this amazing organization. Her passion now is to help transform the lives of others. Now that’s what I call relentless!

Amazon.com Named Most Reputable Company in US

According to the sixth annual list of the 150 Most Reputable Companies Amazon.com is number one. Amazon found itself at top of the list in the US this year, crushing their competition once again. The study was conducted through Reputation Institute in partnership with Forbes Media. The US RepTrakTM Pulse Study measures trust, esteem, admiration, and good feelings consumers have towards the largest 150 companies based on revenue. The results of the study were analyzed and included nearly 33,000 online consumer responses that were taken between January and February.
Here are the top 10 companies for this year.
1. Amazon.com (Retail – General)
2. Kraft Foods (Food – Manufacturing)
3. Johnson & Johnson (Consumer Products)
4. 3M (Industrial Products)
5. Kellogg's (Food – Manufacturing)
6. UPS (Transport & Logistics)
7. FedEx (Transport & Logistics)
8. Sara Lee (Food – Manufacturing)
9. Google (Information & Media)
10. Walt Disney Company (Information & Media)
I believe that Jeff Bezos, the pioneer retailer on the world wide web, caught the wave at the right time. He has proven that you can make a fortune by convincing people to rethink the way they shop. Amazon was created in the Spring of 1994, the catalyst for the company’s inception was based on his research done on annual growth of internet usage. He launched amazon.com is June of 1995, and never looked back.
Amazon earned first place ranking by providing value to users, staying ahead of the curve in technology and innovation and responding quickly and ethically to scandals. Jeff declares, “We spend money only in areas where it matters to our customers.” Amazon.com has truly evolved from being earth’s biggest bookstore to include not only millions of books, but music, and movies, auto parts, toys, electronics, home furnishings, apparel, health and beauty aids, prescription drugs, and groceries. Additionally, shoppers can download e-books, games, MP3s, and films to their computers or handheld devices.
Amazon's own portable reader, the Kindle was released before the iPad, but it was Bezos who examined what route to take with the rapidly expanding e-reader market. Amazon also offers products and services, such as self-publishing, online advertising, e-commerce platform, and a co-branded credit card.
What do I believe are the keys to amazon.com’s success? What’s more important how can we as entrepreneurs possibly incorporate those things into our business?
1. The first key to their sales success is amazon.com’s review system is one of the things that makes them so successful. This actively encourages people who have purchased from them to leave reviews. The instant testimonials tend to be quite upfront and honest. The prospect then has the choice to make the appropriate buying decision. This is a powerful tool that can significantly improve your sales.
2. The next key to their sales success is the “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” section. Cross selling plays an enormous role in this site. The easiest sale is the one that happens just after the customer makes the first one. The reason this works is that a person's actions tend to be consistent their previous action. When you get the prospect to make that initial buying decision, they are much more likely to continue to buy from you.
Amazon.com is the story of one man, Jeff Bezos who set his sights on one idea: to have great products and change the way business is done. He found ways to continually reinvent the company, and change the way books are purchased. He continues to see opportunities that others don’t. And I can’t say enough good things about that.
When you really look at the big picture he shared the company’s powerful ecommerce platform with others retailers. By doing so he allowed independent authors who did not have the means to promote, market or sell their books instant access to a channel of distribution with a reach that is world-wide.
His entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well and has created a current of good fortune. And that’s why Amazon.com is one of the most recognizable brands in the world.

Is Your Site Charismatic?

Many websites out there are functional, and present just the facts, but if someone asked yourself the question: is your site charismatic? In all honesty, how would you answer that question? If you create a web presence that charms visitors then it only stands to reason that your visitors ultimately become customers. The term charisma is derived from the Greek word meaning “favor given” or “gift of grace.” According to The New Oxford Dictionary it also has two senses 1) compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others and 2) a divinely conferred power or talent. Either way it should be a necessity for any site, especially yours!
When we think of the word ‘charisma’ we often think of people that have these magical qualities. What is it about them that’s so magnetic? They seem to have this star quality and it’s immediately apparent when they walk into a room. And then I got to thinking why not apply these star qualities to the site? Charisma is a personal quality that gives an individual influence or authority over large numbers of people. So clearly, it is in your best interest for your site to have functional charisma.
The joy in having your own website is the ability to be able to attract, charm and influence your visitors to buy your products and services. Make sure your website has energy, action, and a compelling way to engage visitors. The goodness will always shine through.
How can anyone gauge the power of charisma? Marketing has and will always be about connecting with your prospects. Many websites have the ability to attract and charm your visitors and prospects, these are the same ones that have the power to influence them. If your website has the ability to influence your visitors, then they will buy from you.
In order to influence your visitors they first need to be able to find it.
1. Get Found
Your customers are everywhere, and they are all over the world. They just haven’t found the path to your door, yet. In order to get found it’s best to have an active presence in the marketplace. You need to be present. People are looking for your goods and services, they look for you on Google, so it makes perfect sense that people will be looking for you on Page One.
Find out where your target market hangs out. They may be on Facebook, Twitter, and Digg as well as other social media networks. They use search engines to find answers to their problems. When you establish an active presence on social media networks and write articles for publications through internet distribution sites you will establish credibility as well as a presence.
2. Connect.
Charisma is all about having a personal connection with your website visitors. When you write a blog monthly, weekly or more often and invite visitors to comment you start to develop amazing friendships. Creating an e-book is something that you can offer your visitors for free. It’s a point of connection that increases your chances of developing a relationship with your audience.
3. Engage. When the comments that people add to your blog articles you can create a two-way communication by replying them thereby engaging others to get more involved in the conversation. Create a contest, and offer free tickets to an event. Invite your visitors to send in stories and photos of how their lives have changed because of using your product or service. Testimonials are one of the best ways to engage your visitors. It gives them a chance to talk about their experience with your product or service.
4. Convert. The power of your website can convert casual visitors into paying customers. If you have connected with and engaged your visitors, chances are they now hold you and your company in the highest regard. When they look at you as an expert, a thought leader and a solution provider to their challenges you are able to build their trust. When you stay top of mind with your site visitors and they will most likely buy from you.

A Successful Social Media Strategy

A successful social media strategy involves listening, learning and engaging in conversations with your customers. You can do this by reaching out to customers or those who blog about your company. Wherever possible join in on the conversation. Many understand the value of a conversation in social media but there are others who just want to see the metrics (click throughs, page views, web visits). However, the metrics do not tell the entire story, numerous case studies prove that there is true value in the conversations. Many comments reveal ideas and inspiration about ways to improve your product or service. These are essential for the evolution of your brand or service.

1. Social Media Strategy: A social media strategy map helps your business think through objectives, audience, strategy, tools, and measurement to support your organizations communications and Internet strategy. The goal in social media is to build a broader audience and create solid business building relationships. Ultimately, this furthers your influence, creates brand awareness and can take you places well beyond traditional marketing.

Identify the following:
Who: Who am I targeting? Social media is a great way to find strategic partners, create brand evangelists, and identify new venues you may not have otherwise considered. Open your mind to potential connections that may be a few degrees away from you.
What: What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Consider your audience, and shift your mindset. This is not about “what do I want.” Think about establishing yourself as a thought leader, someone who comes to mind when people are faced with an issue.
Ask yourself the following questions:
i. “What does my audience need?”
ii. "What problems can I solve?"
iii. "What value can I add?"
Where: Now that you know who you want to engage in conversation with and what they need, determine where they participate online.

Research which of the ‘big five’ are relevant:
i. Twitter
ii. LinkedIn
iii. Facebook
iv. YouTube
v. Blogging

When: Now that you've identified where you want to go to engage with your audience, you'll also want to consider when they are there. If you distribute content when your audience is not online, your strategy will not be serving you. Research the behaviors of your audience and channels. LinkedIn has confirmed that Monday and Wednesday mornings are when profiles and activity get the most views.

Why: To build my business and make money! Social media is a great way to create and build relationships. Those who succeed in doing so are those who come from a place of authenticity. You can do this with business building in mind, but you need to tap into your deeper why. Why are you in the business you are in? What are your core values, how can you cater your message and content to convey those values. What is meaningful to you in serving others?

2. Social Media Training: Once a strategy is in place, you want to be sure you understand how to use the channels chosen in your ‘where.’ If you are newer to technology or social media in general, it is a good idea to take one at a time. Learn it thoroughly, get used to the rules of engagement and etiquette, and then layer in the others. Trying to learn everything all at once can be overwhelming and result in limited success.

3. Social Media Management Tools: Learn the tools that will help you become more efficient and streamlined. Tools like Hootsuite http://hootsuite.com and Tweetdeck http://www.tweetdeck.com allow you to integrate numerous profiles and schedule content distribution in advance. Tools like TweetAdder http://tweetadder.com help build a Twitter following in a more targeted fashion.

4. Schedule and Time Management: Create a schedule and follow it just like you would with meetings in your calendar.
i. Plan a theme catered to your audience and identify your content around that topic.
ii. Schedule your content using relevant third party tools.
iii. Engage with your audience; focus on 20 minutes or less a day!
iv. Set a timer for 20 minutes each day to devote to social media. Engagement efficiency will come with time.
v. End of week, spend fifteen to thirty minutes looking at metrics, and how they give you insights into how you plan your next week and evolve your strategy.

A solid strategy and planning will help you target, focus, and get online with a clear understanding of how to convey your message and brand in a voice that shares your mission, thereby facilitating the creation of authentic relationships that help your business soar!

The Happiness Advantage

Shawn Achor’s authored a book called “The Happiness Advantage the Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work.” He discusses an original idea, and one I’ve never even heard about called posttraumatic growth. The term posttraumatic growth is a relatively new term and is defined as the experience of positive change that occurs as the result of the struggle and highly challenging life crises. The benefits are endless and among them are an increased sense of personal strength, changed priorities, and a richer existential and spiritual life.
I love the basis of his book and in it he mentions the research principle called “falling up.” “There are a group of individuals called “positive outliers” — who possess high optimism and success — and manage to gain growth not despite a trauma, but because of it,” he writes.
Shawn challenges his readers to try this brief positive psychology experiment
Take out a sheet of paper, and jot down three of the greatest moments of growth in your life.
It didn’t take me long to come up with getting laid off, going back to school very late in life, and a car accident.
Shawn does public speaking engagements in 45 countries worldwide. The results to this exercise shows 90% of the responses were about highly stressful periods of change. They include going to college, studying abroad, playing in the finals, quitting a job to find a better one, the birth of a child, even depression. The greatest moments of growth are experienced due to stress and change. Getting laid off, going back to school, and a car accident, were traumatic, but it is not the end of the story. After I encountered this chain of events I thought “What now?”
There is actually a wealth of research on individuals who experienced growth after the worst traumas you can imagine: heart attack, breast cancer, and military combat. But this can actually be the catalyst for change. It has actually prompted many to get their priorities in line. We all know people who have done this, and it’s been nothing short of remarkable to witness their progress. Some have been and continue to be a great inspiration to me. In my case, the loss of a job lead to a change of career and one that actually aligns with my vision and values. Shawn believes that if you have experienced a trauma, find one concrete action — something you know you can do — to decrease the negative feelings associated with the trauma.
On September 11th 2001, singer Patti Austin had a ticket booked on an internal flight in the U.S. but had to cancel her trip due to recording commitments. The flight was subsequently hijacked by terrorists and was crashed killing all on board, whilst on route to targeting the White House. She thought if she’d been on that flight then that would have been it, and as someone who’s spiritual she realized God must have had bigger plans for her life. She changed her attitude and realized that she had to make the best of it by addressing health issues that had plagued her most of her life. So she made it her focus to lose 40 lbs by having bypass surgery. This gave her brain a “win," allowing her to keep moving forward.
What gets in the way of us creating positive change in our lives? We are afraid of change, and some have become complacent. When you change your mindset you change your habits. The key to growth came when I saw the optimistic version as opposed to the pessimistic version of what really happened in all these events.
We were taught the formula for success at a young age. If we work hard we will be more successful, and if we are more successful, then we will be happy. If this was true then if we can just find that great opportunity, win that next promotion, lose those ten pounds, then happiness will follow. We all know this just isn’t the case. Does happiness fuel success? No, that concept is backward. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work and in life. And rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience, management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe proves it.
Having trauma in our life is not always pleasant — but it's the beginning of the story, and doesn’t have to be the end. Those who thrive maintain a belief that their behavior still matters and that growth is still possible.

Salesforce.com Foundation: A Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy That Works!

These days building a values-driven business is a no brainer, just ask salesforce.com’s Foundation’s creator Marc Benioff and he’ll tell you all about it. You see philanthropy starts with an idea, and he developed a great strategy around giving. He needed to decide what issue or issues the company will be addressing and why, and what form will the philanthropy take. He thought about how the philanthropy would be accomplished, and what would be the long-term goal. He also wondered how will it all fit into the company’s core values. His vision became clear: to use salesforce.com’s people, technology and relationships to improve our communities, inspire youth to be more successful, support the world during times of extreme need, and promote compassionate capitalism.

On March 16th of this year the foundation pledged a $50,000 matching grant for donations made to the Red Cross through Causes.com. The following day saw the Salesforce.com Foundation partnered with the Miner Foundation to increase their match to $100,000.

Some companies have their goals written into a clear mission statement that serves as the business’s moral compass and salesforce.com’s approach is truly innovative. CEO and Co-Founder Marc Benioff integrated the salesforce.com corporate social responsibility strategy in 1999. The salesforce.com Foundation – is focused on leveraging people, products and services to strengthen communities, based on Benioff’s 1/1/1 model.

The company gives their employees six paid days to perform community service, donating 1% of their time to the community, and the company donates 1% of its product and 1% of its equity to the foundation. According to the latest figures posted on their website, they have contributed over 241,880 in volunteer hours, have served over 10,230 organizations and have donated more than $21 million to charitable causes. Salesforce.com supports organizations that are working to make the world a better place.

What is interesting is that all successful philanthropic endeavors have something in common: they are built steadily over time. The greatest impact for the organizations that are involved see the development of positive, lasting relationships between both the companies and their communities.

What are the benefits and associated with this type of philanthropy? Well for one thing successful projects reflect well on the business, which could influence consumers and clients who are constantly making choices in the marketplace. Essentially, the marketplace is a tool to create wealth and resources that can be distributed back through the community to solve daily challenges that exist. So far it seems to have paid off in handsome dividends for everyone!

Mark Cuban’s Triumphant Return to Reality TV: Shark Tank

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is a blue-collar, down to his sneakers and jeans, American entrepreneur. So when he was asked to join Shark Tank Season Two, he jumped at the chance. He’s having a blast on the show and finds it rewarding to help somebody reach toward their dreams. He wants you to know that despite the economy the American dream is alive and well. Seven years ago Mark had his own Apprentice-style show called The Benefactor on ABC, but negotiating and interacting with his fellow sharks showcases his surprising tactics as a strong strategic partner and deal maker.
Initially Cuban started MicroSolutions, Inc., a software reseller, and then sold it to CompuServe in 1990 for $6 million. As a millionaire he wanted to take his passion for basketball and business to another level. He believes that a smart, focused and successful salesperson will gear up and do the homework necessary to find his next customer. And that is exactly what he did. He became a billionaire because he took small ideas and made them big.
Mark Cuban and his partner Todd Wagner started Broadcast.com in 1995 because they wanted to hear Indiana University basketball games in Dallas. Four years later, they sold the company to Yahoo in a deal valued at $5.7 billion. He’s also the owner of Dallas Mavericks and his star-filled NBA team is his prize possession. Best known for his antics on and off the court he knows that losing is not an option.
Mark Cuban on pitching: “I try to sell good products and services and to have ideas that I hope will be successful.” If the person doesn’t want to buy it he wants to know the reason. “Would you mind sharing with me what you didn’t like about the product or why you like the product you chose?” he asks. If he a good counter to their objection(s), he will let it fly and see what happens. If they say no, he moves on. “The last person didn’t get it. That is their problem. Not yours.” says Cuban. Which is why when comes to pitching potential investors he knows exactly what to look for. He’s pitched ideas himself and has hears pitches from budding entrepreneurs every day. ABC’s Shark Tank, like CBC’s Dragon’s Den, is the reality series in which small-business entrepreneurs try to persuade a group high-profile businesspeople, to invest in their companies in hopes of turning them into bigger businesses.
Cuban is the sixth shark who’s alternating with comedian Jeff Foxworthy and joins forces with regulars Barbara Corcoran, a New York real-estate mogul; Kevin Harrington, chairman of infomercial company TVGoods; Robert Herjavec, cyber-security provider the Herjavec Group; Daymond John, founder of sportswear company FUBU; and Kevin O'Leary, who developed Softkey Software Products and eventually sold it to Mattel for $3.7 billion. He is currently the founder of O’Leary Funds a mutual-fund company.
Cuban believes in the entrepreneurs, “This is your life's dream, this is something you've put your heart and soul into, told all your friends, all your family, probably asked them for money to invest in you. You're going to do whatever it takes to be successful, and you're going to have an opportunity, in front of these sharks, to make it happen.”
He believes the key for entrepreneurs to get the deal is to have enough confidence in your business to make that presentation. Those who are successful have a great idea, are fully committed to their business, and have the numbers to back it up.