Recruiting, Acquiring and KEEPING upper echelon employees begins with…

Most companies are striving to get the best employees and keep them as they know this is integral to their success and growth. Competition is steep as the number of “A Players” seems to be dwindling by the day. The consolation? Not many have mastered this art, so making an effort goes a long way!

As usual, let’s start at the beginning…

How do you attract “A players” in the first place?

One of the most innovative and effective ways is by creating interesting and fun videos to tempt great employees and leaders to your company. I have seen this succefully done by companies like Zappos and MindVakkey, it has the top employees coming to them to apply and vy for positions!

But how do we accomplish this for our company when it isn’t young and hip or when we don’t have a fun business because  we sell widgets!

IF your perspective is open and willing, then you can accomplish the goal of painting a picture that is appealing for prospective employees. NOW, let me preface this with this admonition, IF your company only paints the picture as being a good, fair and fun company to work for but it is riddled with a different culture totally, then even if you are successful in recruiting top employees, they will shortly find out the reality and move on to a company that better suits them. SOOOO, this is only the first step to having an employee team of  upper echelon employees.

Alright, so now back tot he video idea…

ANY subject can be fun and interesting if you have the right perspective. You may not have this perspective, so you might want to hire someone to make this or even better, delegate it to some of your employees. Ah! Here’s an idea: Have a contest for different departments to make each a video for recruiting. They can talk about how it is to work there or about events that you hold, whatever. But, then you can have a viewing party and vote for the best video. Make a day out of it!

Don’t believe ANY subject can be funny? Would you think it is possible to be funny when delivering the “speech” all airlines must give before takeoff, “There are four exits…” etc.?

Thin again. Check out this video by Virgin Airlines. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyygn8HFTCo&NR=1

Have a recruiting video already? Post a link here, we would love to see it and learn from your example.

To your continued success,

C

 

 

How to get your team (or anyone) to pay attention or care AT ALL! Seth Godin chimes in…

Want to talk to your team? Write a memo? Communicate a change? Want them to read your newsletter or blog?

Why not write NAKED. I have said this for years, communicate with clarity and with raw realness or don’t do it at all.

Seth Godin weighs in today too from his blog:

Writing Naked

Here are Orwell’s rules, edited:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. You don’t need cliches.

2. Never use a long word where a short one will do. Avoid long words.

3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. Write in the now.

5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. When in doubt, say it clearly.

6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. Better to be interesting than to follow these rules.

The reason business writing is horrible is that people are afraid.

Afraid to say what they mean, because they might be criticized for it.

Afraid to be misunderstood, to be accused of saying what they didn’t mean, because they might be criticized for it.

Orwell was on the right track. Just say it. Say it clearly. Say it now. Say it without fear of being criticized and say it without being boring.

If the goal is no feedback, then say nothing. Don’t write the memo.

If the goal is to communicate, then say what you mean.

My best tip is this: buy a cheap digital recorder. Say what you want to say, as if the person you seek to persuade is standing there, listening. Then type that up. Simplify. Send.

So, how will this change what you write today?

C

Don’t know where to start in creating your core values or culture? Scott Ginsberg gives us some advice!

Although this post was written about business and the like, I think it is VERY applicable for us and Company Culture Creation. Hence, I want to share it with you. I find it very inspiring. Thank you Scott Ginsberg (the nametag guy)!

How to Trust the Process, Even If You Don’t Know What the… You’re Doing

To trust is to surrender.
To surrender is to open yourself.
To open yourself is to risk getting hurt.
To risk getting hurt is to increase the probability of success.

LESSON LEARNED: When you assemble the courage to trust the process, you access the power to transform the world.

Your world. Your partner’s world. Your customer’s world. Your employees’ world. Your organization’s world. Maybe even your dog’s world.

Today we’re going to explore eight daily practices for trusting the process, even when you have no idea what the… you’re doing:
1. Don’t be stopped by not knowing how. (Note from Christie: Don’t let “not knowing” how to start creating your core values or culture book, stop you from starting!)

How is overrated. How is the enemy of progress. How is the barrier to trusting the process. And I’m not saying it hurts to know what you’re doing once in a while. But if you always waited until you knew what you were doing, you’d never do anything.

You’re never really ready. Nobody is. Whether you’re starting a business, starting a relationship or starting a new career, trusting the process means traversing the periphery of your competence.

That’s exactly what I did when I started my publishing and consulting company right out of college… I didn’t know anything. I was twenty-two. But for some reason, I trusted the process anyway.

And here’s what I learned: Eventually, you’re just going to have to jump into the pool with your clothes on and trust that you’ll figure out how to swim before the water fills your lungs.

Let’s go. It’s time to put down that margarita and make a splash that matters. Remember: You don’t have to get good to get going; but you do need to get going to get good. Whose permission are you waiting for?

2. Restore the equilibrium. The reason it’s so hard to trust the process is because it’s a form of surrendering; and for most people, that’s a terrifying preposition. Human beings have an inherent need to preserve their sense of control. And any time they feel it being taken away from them, they freak out.

I’m reminded of the Arabian proverb, “Trust God, but tie up your camel.” That’s the real secret: To restore the equilibrium. To balance letting go with preserving control.

For example, when you enter into a new relationship, make a handshake agreement with your partner:

“Look, I know we’re both scared. I know we’re both skeptical. So, let’s agree that for every path we pave for our hearts to follow, we’re going to take regular rest stops for our brains to reflect. That’s where we’ll check in with honest, open and clear updates on the process.”

When you ease into that exchange slowly, you hold yourself over until you’re more comfortable tipping the scales. How can you balance control with surrender?

3. Bow to the door of next. Next is my favorite word in the dictionary. For many reasons: Next fortifies action. Next symbolizes progress. Next means complacency prevention. Next means continuous improvement.

Next is the monetizer of momentum. Next is the fervent architect of creative reinvention. Next is the critical trigger of entrepreneurial advancement. Next is the rocket fuel of your career.

Ultimately, the secret is not just to use the word next – but also to bow to the door of it. Bow meaning honor. Bow meaning respect. Bow meaning recognize. Remember: Without incremental progress, there is no incidental profit. Are you standing on a springboard or struggling in a straight jacket? (Note from Christie: Well, which is it? Which do you want it to be?)

4. Fall in love with why. When you infuse your process with deep purpose, it’s noticeably easier to trust it. That’s why rituals are so critical. They carve a pathway. They create a sacred container around what you’re about to engage in. And they prevent you from asking, “Why…  am I even doing this?”

This helps you fall in love with the process, not just what the process produces. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s defined this dichotomy in his book Creativity:

“Exotelic means you do something not because you enjoy it but to accomplish a later goal. But autotelic means there is no reason for doing something except to feel the experience it provides.”

Lesson learned: Trusting the process is a spiritual discipline. An investment in the stability of the universe. Why do you do what you do?

5. Don’t be so hard on yourself. In Leonard Cohen’s documentary, I’m Your Man, he shares his philosophy on the writing process: “You gotta go to work everyday, but know that you’re not going to get it everyday.”

Initially, that was a bitter pill for me to swallow. The idea of accepting a blank page as part of the process was devastating to my creative spirit. But over time, I learned to stop beating myself up when I didn’t get it.

That’s part of trusting the process: Knowing when you’ve got it, knowing when you’ve lost it, knowing when there’s no way… you’re going to get it, and knowing when you’re going to have to take measures to get it back.

My current strategy is: When I sit down to write every morning, I give myself an hour. That’s my cut off. And if the faucet never turns over to hot, and if I realize that I’m just not going to get it that day – I go back to bed. Simple as that. Then, an hour or two later when I wake up, I hit the page refreshed and renewed.

Works every time. What’s your strategy for returning to the work that matters? (Christie’s note: So, how can you reset your team? How can you clear the path for a renewal?)

6. Believe in the dividends. Every time I start working on a new idea, I constantly remind myself: “There will be more.” More details. More resources. More answers. More everything. (Christie’s note: THIS in itself is a FANTASTIC concept. So, when you lose you biggest client, the first thing your mind thinks is “Wow, this is really bad, what will I do without them?” However, there are always more clients, more options, more solutions, always!)

This affirmation builds my confidence, relaxes my brain and alerts the Muse that she can move at her own pace. And even if I only make minimal progress today, I believe in my heart that more art is on the way.

That’s the posture to practice when you trust the process: Easy does it. Keep it casual. Establish gentle flow. Soon enough, your rhythm will develop. And the dividends will come.

The cool part is, once you achieve a few victories with this strategy, your experience bank fills with success stories to dwell upon. That’s when trusting the process gets fun. All you have to do is roll the mental footage of the last time it paid off. How strong is your belief in the dividends of your process?

7. Don’t fight the contractions. Pregnancy is a process. And according to a 2004 study from University of Hawaii, it’s a process that’s happened approximately ninety-six billion times since the dawn of time. Not bad. Maybe those mothers are doing something right.

My guess is: Epidural.

Just kidding. The real secret to trusting the process is to honoring the natural rhythms. Easing your judgmental tendencies and embracing the contractions no matter how much they hurt. As Quaker author Eileen Flanagan writes in Listen With Your Heart:

“By speaking honestly, listening non-defensively and waiting patiently, we help create the space where love can reveal itself.”

The best part is: You don’t have to be pregnant to practice this. Take writing, for example. Readers often ask me, “How do you know what you’re going to write everyday?” And my answer is always the same: “I don’t. That’s not my job. Instead, I listen for what wants to be written.”

Stop fighting the contractions. The baby will come when it’s ready. Even if you’re stuck in that godforsaken hospital bed for the next forty-seven hours. What are you allowing yourself to give birth to? (Christie’s personal thoughts: Take it from me! The more you fight or stress during labor the WORSE, much WORSE you will be! Instead, keeping your stress down and focusing on the current priorities will get everyone through this in a faster and more productive manner.)

8. Don’t abandon the process just because it gets tough. Trusting the process doesn’t mean being passive. The secret is to understand the principle of threshold level.

That’s the moment in the process where you’re so close to completion, you can taste it.

The moment when the entire the world is doing everything they can to prevent you from finishing.

That’s when you hit it hard. That’s when you take every ounce of trust you have left and invest it in the process that brought you to the threshold.

Because in the end, trusting the process is about doing the footwork. Even if you don’t recognize the road before you. Even if it hurts like hell. Carry out the task to completion. And let growth unfold incrementally. The world will reimburse your efforts. Are you willing to hustle while you wait?

REMEMBER: This might be the perfect time to let go.

To achieve success and significance with your newest idea, project, initiative or relationship, you know what needs to be done.

Employ your faith.
Learn to trust the process.
Surrender to your primal self.
And allow it to do what it needs to do to lead you in the right direction.

You’ll be fine.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What will you have to let go of to become something different? (From Christie, of course So, what will it be?)

My absolute best,

C

Why employees don’t care what they need! Instead give them what they demand…

Seth Godin wrote a post today about how to sell and market what people demand and tells you NOT to try to sell what people need. I think it is applicable to managing employees:

Needs don’t always lead to demand

One of the accepted holy grails of building an organization is that you should fill a need. Fill people’s needs, they say, and the rest will take care of itself.

But… someone might know that they need to lose some weight, but what they demand is potato chips.

Someone might know that they need to be more concerned about the world, but what they demand is another fake reality show.

As my friend Tricia taught me, this is brought into sharp relief when doing social enterprise in the developing world. There are things that people vitally need… and yet providing it is no guarantee you’ll find demand.

Please don’t tell get confused by what the market needs. That’s something you decided, not them.

If you want to help people lose weight, you need to sell them something they demand, like belonging or convenience, not lecture them about what they need.

So, how can you apply this to managing employees?

You may as the employer feel you know what is good for the employees, you may find yourself saying as I heard someone say yesterday “This is not just a lecture, but you really need to hear this…”.

Now, if you think that this is helping your productivity or morale or end results, you are wrong. It is not.

Instead, imagine for a moment that Seth is right, that people don’t care what they need, they only care about what they demand.

So, what are you employees demanding? They may not be saying it out loud or to you, so this may take some effort on your part, so go find out.

If you do not give employees what they demand, they will either work for you forever in a half-butt style or quit.

Employees generally demand to be treated with respect and honesty. Now, now, you are probably thinking “I treat everyone with respect and honesty!” Which you probably do, however what about the managers and co-workers?

MOST COMPANIES have someone in them that is a bully or rampaging personality who is not respectful or honest. However, they are excellent manipulators of the bosses, and they are the last to find out what is going on!

But, employees demand much more, especially these days! With companies vying for “the best place to work”, and companies follow the Zappos way, the gems of employees will be firmly planted there, with more joining their ranks everyday. Those that are left will be those that were not ethically or morally firm enough to be hired by these cultural companies.

How will you compete?

C

So, does managing HAVE to be this much work? Is it the employees that are the problem?

Love this, Dan Shapiro! Company Culture, the REAL deal!

So, All companies ACT like they have great work ethics and teamwork, blah, blah, but Dan Shapiro makes chump change of that. Instead he describes what REAL company culture is about! I have copied and pasted it here, for your enjoyment, but if you want to go straight to the source, his site is here.

In this envelope, I have your Company Culture.

We work hard, but value work/life balance.

We’re a team culture and we believe in individual empowerment.

We give back to the community, and have strong ethics.

We hire only the best people, support diversity, and promote growth and leadership in our employee ranks.

And more than anything we value our customers, our stockholders, and our employees.

That’s right – you’re GE! Or Wells Fargo.  Or Zillow…

Company Culture is a very serious matter, put together after much employee feedback and deliberation, and carefully designed to capture the key things that make your company great.  It’s also a load of well-mixed fertilizer.

The Rule of Company Culture: It’s what makes your company different, not what makes it great.

Hire the best, teamwork, ethics… all meaningless platitudes.  Real company cultures are made of four things:

1. Polarizing decisions
2. Excesses
3. Quirks
4. Dysfunctions

Polarizing decisions are what happens when a company decides not to compromise between two equally compelling but opposing imperatives.  Every company strikes a balance between work and play; that’s not company culture.  Company culture is investment banking’s mandatory 95 hour work weeks or Jackson Fish Market’s 12 weeks of vacation.  Every company has a balance of teamwork and individual contributorship – culture is ruthlessly pitting your people and teams against each other, or firing your best people because they’re not effective team members.  Other balances include great benefits versus lean operations, customers versus stockholders versus employees, and cheap products versus innovative quality products.  If you find yourself saying “we can do it all”, that’s great!  And you’re right, sort of.  Your attempts at balance are admirable and may be successful, but do not constitute a corporate culture.  That only comes from taking a stand on one end of the see-saw.

Excesses are aspects of culture that happen when companies take an indubitably good thing to its extreme.  For example, every company tries to hire great people.  But some will leave a position open for nine months, miss deadlines, and work its existing employees in to borderline revolt before hiring someone who’s even the tiniest compromise.  Every company should give back to the community, but there’s a line between a matching gifts program and Ben & Jerry’s that’s not easy to miss.  “Openness” is great – do the employees see the detailed company financials, and get notified when cash reserves are running low?  Corporate culture is what occurs in the margins when someone asks – “Well, I know that’s good, but isn’t it a bit much?”

Quirks are the safe, friendly, harmless, and most companies screw them up too.  A quirk is some point of weird distinction, neither wonderful nor terrible, that is distinct to the company and integral to the employee experience.  Casual Fridays are policy; Dress Like Raymond Day is a quirk. When the company picks up your nighttime MBA, that’s a great benefit – but when Teachstreet (a company that helps people find local and online classes) gets its employees together to learn how to build kites, now that’s a quirk.  It’s not to say that corporate mandates can’t make great quirks, although the best ones often arise spontaneously from the teams themselves.  But great quirks take their power from the team, their distinctiveness, and the culture itself.

There’s one more aspect of corporate culture that’s important if you’re measuring rather than designing: the Dysfunction.  A dysfunction is the mirror image of an excess – not enough of something that’s important.  Every company has problems, and most of the problems are present to some degree everywhere.  Those aren’t dysfunctions.  A dysfunction creeps in to the corporate culture when it’s distinctive and impactful – much like a positive culture trait.  Typical dysfunctions include management and employee antipathy, severe lack of ethics, and disregard for customers.  You know them when you see them. One thing that may not be obvious – sometimes a dysfunction is a direct causal result of the company culture.  Backstabbing and rumor-mongering may be the price you pay for rewarding individual initiative and achievement.  A general lack of spending discipline may be the unwanted side effect of generous benefits and an employee-first culture.

The great corporate cultures are a simple mix: a few polarizing decisions or excesses, with a handful of quirks mixed in.  Preferably quirks that reinforce the rest of the culture.

Ah, refreshing, ain’t it?

C

A different take on Seth Godin’s post today.

Here is what Seth has to say:

The power of buttons and being normal

Taxi drivers in New York were worried about adding credit cards to their cabs. The fee (5% of so) would cost them too much, they said.

It turns out that tips are up, way up. They’re actually making far more money now.

Why? Because most of the machines offer a shortcut for the tip: $2, $3 or $4.

You can decide to be a cheapskate and hit the $2 button. Except…

Except that if you had paid cash, you probably would have tipped 75 cents for that $4.25 ride. It takes a few more clicks to type in 75 cents, and hey, $2 is the lowest and it’s a more ‘normal’ amount.

It’s a three second decision that happens over and over. People really like cues.

And of course, I agree with this.

However, I began thinking about how this can also be applied to employees and management.

“People really like cues.” including employees…

Employees sometimes, or very often actually, fall into ruts. Ruts like office gossip at the coffee pot or ruts of complaining about overwork or the boss. Often a new client will talk about this problem and often they believe it is the people who are the problem. And sometimes they are!

But, MOST of the time, the problem is the environment. The environment allows and even encourages these ruts to form and continue.

So, thinking about your office, how does this affect the employees productivity? How does this deteriorate the customer service?

Once, I entered a  doctor’s office and rang the little bell at the window. The receptionists were in the back, having lunch and they were complaining LOUDLY about a patient. I said “hellooooo?” to politely let them know I was there, since they had not heard the bell. However, they continued to go on, so engrossed in the story and the animated retelling of the account, they did not hear me. On and on, the voice described the argument the doctor had with the patient. FINALLY, I opened the door and walked into the back a bit to let them know I was there. They went on like nothing had happened and the doctor had no idea the possible damage that was happening, o doubt often in his office.

Imagine if I had been a patient! Imagine if this was happening in your office/store/location!

Is it the people? The employees? Possibly, but more likely the problem is much bigger than that.

When there is an environment that teaches people to act this way, it allows people to act this way, then it will BE this way, always, no matter the people in it.

Instead going back to what Seth wrote above, people like cues. If you give no cue for the tip, you get 75 cents. Give a cue and quickly triple that! What kinds of cues are your employees getting from you.

Once I got told by an employer, “the “stars” among you will do SO well with this”.Well, that’s great, but the cue I got was some of you are losers! And none of us knew which ones where which, so we all felt scolded.Did it inspire us to be even better? NO. It made us feel like, “nobody is noticing our hard work, why try so hard?”.

Instead, if you give the cue that people are special, unique and you care about them, if you believe in the best in people and actually appreciate each and their contribution, you get more of that best.

If a culture is created that feeds and grows a set of values far above and beyond your average business, THEN, people in it are responsible and caring about their impact on the business and the world, the customer service is stellar and the future of that company is bright because the consumers LOVE to experience the difference.

Of course, Zappos is a fantastic example of this. If you have doubts that company culture pays off, look at their track record to over a billion in sales!

So, where should you begin?

How do you get started?

That’s what I am here for my friend. I am creating an entire course to teach this and as I do, I will post ideas and rants here for you to enjoy, learn from and transform your company culture!

But, until then, WHAT CUES ARE YOU GIVING TO YOUR EMPLOYEES?

C

These ruts of

Is Seth Godin saying I have multiple personalities?

Seth Godin claims there are all of these different parts of each of us, parts of the brain, the persona…

But, I believe that there are certain parts that drive each of us and that that balance is different for each of us.

Some are mostly driven by ego or the artist, or a few of the others of these, OR any combination of these on a daily basis. If you examine your actions, one or two is probably found most often. What does this mean? What difference does this make?

Well, knowing is the first step to improving. So, if you are most led by ego, your actions may become self centered or if you are most driven by the philanthropist, then you may end up really, really poor! The key is to head off the imbalance, step back and acknowledge what the tendency is and then CHOOSE how you will function in the future, knowing that this will be your tendency.

See the different parts as Seth describes them:

* The ego–seeks applause and recognition.

* The lizard–seeks safety, wants to fit in and not be rejected or criticized.

* The artist–wants to be generous, creative and make positive change with impact.

* The boxer–wants to poke and be poked, seeks revenge and ultimately victory.

* The zombie–wants to turn off and be entertained.

* The philanthropist–wants to help, anonymously.

* The evangelist–wants to spread an idea.

* And the hunter–wants to successfully track and bring down a target.

How will this change what you do today? Tomorrow? Next week or month?

C

Making decisions based on your gut? Are you sure?

I talk to clients everyday who “trust their gut”. I trust my gut. I encourage you to trust your gut.

But, sometimes, we think we are trusting our gut and we FAIL!

I think MOST gut feelings are correct and are the way we should act, react, change, improve, etc.

HOWEVER, sometimes, we mistake a gut feeling for something else, another type of feeling. Real power comes when you start to discern the difference.

When it comes to hiring employees, for instance, I follow my gut intensely! But, throughout I question it, asking, what is that feeling coming from, how does affect the proposed employees work success, etc.

When I work with my clients, they are generally perfectionist and ambitious people who cannot discern the difference between fear and gut. OR they mistake perfectionism (which is fear in disguise) for gut, saying this project is not complete “because my gut says so.” But, in reality they are following instinct. Instinct is there to sustain our lives by moving us to eat, procreate, to save our lives when in danger, etc. But, in making decisions, sometimes it will lead us astray.

You have probably seen this in your personal life, a woman who falls in love with the wrong guy over and over, abusive relationships, not withstanding, she will keep finding a guy to abuse her, right??

SO, what you think is your GUT will sometimes lead you astray. Because it is not your gut, IT IS EMOTION!!! Emotions drive our decisions, they drive our purchases, they drive our relationships. We can stop that (readers, don not try this at home) and wouldn’t want to, but we need to use our logical mind to reign in our pseudo “gut”/emotional thinking.

How does this affect your business decisions, your trusting your gut, you goals?

Remember, you are wasting your time reading, learning, striving to get information to improve your business and life IF you  do not apply it!

My absolute best,

C

How to Name Your Business! Or Brand Your Image!

In working with  a client yesterday, we discussed at length HOW to name a new company. Many people get caught up in semantics, opinions from others, and what has already been DONE! The same issues happen with branding an image or company. And more often than not, time is lost striving in the wrong direction.

The key with naming a business is to understand the core concept that no one should do this for you, whether you are a soloprenuer, inventor, retail store owner, or doctor, because with time, generally you will see that this “definition” of who and what makes your business special will be inaccurate.

Seth Godin says that the problem with hiring a consultant or a company to find your brand essence is that “if you have to search for a brand essence, you are unlikely to find one”.

He goes on to say:
Standing for something means giving up a lot of other things, and opening yourself to criticism. Most people in the financial services industry (or any industry, actually) aren’t willing to do that, which is why there are so few Charles Schwabs in the word.

First, decide it’s okay to fail and to make a ruckus while failing. THEN go searching for the way to capture that energy and share it with the world.

Clothes don’t make the man, the man makes the man. Clothes (and the brand) just amplify that.

So, how does this help you name your company, brand your image, define your company?

Well, one is that it needs to be true and pure for YOU, not your colleagues, friends, or competition.

Second, the name is not EVERYTHING, but instead the ancillary information is going to support what you want your brand to be, that is the logo design, the exterior and decor of your location, the advertising and marketing pieces you put out to the world.

I believe one of the most important parts of branding and naming is to be bold! People today recognize and adore a strong opinion and personality in a company, if you think about some of the most profitable and successful companies, you will see this to be true.But, this discussion is for another day.

Last thing that is important, don’t feel like you need to EXPLAIN everything in the name. If you think about retailers or medical offices, if they explain everything in the name, then they are perceived and generally are value priced. So, unless you are offering value pricing, stay away from highly descriptive company names or marketing messages.

Instead come up with a name, it can even be obscure, then support the accurate definition of your brand with the ancillary words and styling.

I could write about this literally all day! SOO, more on this later!

C

Retailers keep the customers from buying on the net! HOW to win the WAR?

If you are in retail, then you are at WAR! The internet is always going to have a cheaper, faster, better resource for your prospects to buy from. So, how can you compete?

You can offer the one thing the internet cannot, the environment, the smells, sounds, what will keep buyers coming back. See how a bookstore competes with giants like Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and Books-A-Million.

http://tinyurl.com/MontagueBookstore

How can YOU take this concept and WIN?

I want to hear about it!

Your coach,

C