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A Word on Personal Development:

Start With Why - Inspired by Simon Sinek's book

Inspiration, innovation, and ultimately success of any measure starts with the word Why. Individuals and organizations alike must know their why before any what or how can take place. Think of any company that has grown to success and you probably know without thinking what they stand for (or at very least what they stood for at one time). What do they believe in? In the end they attract customers who believe in the same thing. The Why dictates everything. 

How do you start with why? Do you know what you stand for and what you believe in? How many of the people around you know that about you? Do your actions come from that why? Are you the champion for something or some group of people? Next time you sit next to someone new at the party or in the airplane I invite you to stop yourself before you ask, "What do you do," and instead utter the words, "Why do you do what you do?" The conversation that will ensue will build immense value for the two of you.

Financial Tip

Do you have a CPA? I often ask clients and friends if they have consulted their CPA. They tend to look at me like I'm crazy. Is it so ridiculous to assume that everyone who is in a career and makes money should have a CPA? I don't think so.

Certified Public Accountants are worth their weight in gold. I've never met anyone who didn't feel that they saved far more money than they spent on retaining a professional like a CPA. Here are some things they bring to the table:

• They know tax law better than anyone else
• They understand investment opportunities and risk assessment
• They tend to have a better grasp on their local market and economy than you do
• They understand business accounting and entity structure
• They know how to protect your assets and limit your liabilities

Online Marketing 101

With all the various networks, programs, websites, and opportunities it is very difficult to decide where you are going to invest your time and money. In order to put it all into a paradigm of success. Let me share the three Cs of marketing. 

The three Cs of marketing are Content, Community, and Commerce. They always go in that order. In order to generate revenue you must first have a community and in order to build a community you must provide content of value. Online is no different than any other medium. 

First you must determine your purpose. If you don't have a noble purpose of helping and serving others you will never develop a community. If you have a purpose your content should come naturally. Producing consistent and valuable content is more difficult than it sounds but its easy to get discouraged when you think nobody is listening. It takes work and time to build a community for your content. Focus on one or two mediums and do them well instead of spreading your energy across every social networking site on the web. When you have a community of followers, subscribers, and fans you will find the commerce (revenue) comes easily.

The Best Book I've Read Recently

Well if you have been reading the content above you might have picked up on what I've read recently that has had a big influence on me. In June our book group was led by author Simon Sinek, best selling author of "Start With Why." 

I loved his use of examples that we can all understand such as Apple, Walmart, Microsoft, Dell, etc. There are a lot of things that I took from this. For one, I need to remember that my target market (regardless of the venture) consists of those people who share the same why. People who share the same why become natural advocates of the company, service, or product and tend to be connected to others who share the same why. That is how viral marketing happens in principle. 

I learned that nobody cares as much about what I do or how I do it as they do about why I do it. As I read through this book I went to the About pages on all of my websites and rewrote them to include a clear transfer of belief instead of the usual this is who we are and what we do. This also lead to significant changes in places like marketing materials and LinkedIn pages and profiles.

I believe that everyone has what it takes. I believe that brilliance, joy, and prosperity, lie within every man and woman. I believe that when taught, all of us can release this inner producer and create greater value for all those around us. I believe that in that transfer of value we all become more wealthy.

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