Geoff's Blog

One of the things I have noticed about many business people is that many have little idea of exactly who their target market is. And I want to explore that subject over the next few weeks. However this week lets look at the concept of asking for “anyone”. When asked who is a good referral for them [...]

Continue reading Have you met anyone?

In his book “Raving Fans”, management guru Ken Blanchard wrote about having customers who became fans and raved about you…. to everyone! And in a recent article about an iPhone accident, David Bateson of PR company NewsBusiness writes about the same concept – having a product or service that people “just want”! So what is it that [...]

Continue reading Do you have raving fans?

So Australia is to spend 200 million dollars (according to The International News) on body scan machines “to make our airports safer from terrorists”. Yeah right! When are our leaders going to learn that you can’t stop terrorism – you can only deter it! And according to Joshua Cooper Ramo in [...]

Continue reading Body Scanners – a safety measure or a political stunt?

One of the cornerstones of organisations like BNI and Toastmasters is the importance placed on recognition. And rightly so! I don’t know anyone who does not like to be recognised for things they have done well. Yet it is a skill sadly lacking in the business world today. Somewhere along the road of [...]

Continue reading How good are you at acknowledgement?

If you aren’t aware of networking as a valuable business tool you probably have been on another planet for the last 20-30 years. Yet I wonder how well you value your network? Building a network of professionals who can refer you – a referral network – has enormous value. And yet some of us don’t really capitalize [...]

Continue reading How well do you value your network?

If asked this question many of us would say yes. Yet when faced with real change we often resist simply because it is that – change. We suddenly think of all the reasons why an idea won’t work because change moves us out of our “comfort zone” and into unchartered territory. Suddenly we are in areas [...]

Continue reading Are you open to change?

There are numerous myths about networking! Here are just a few…. •    Attend as many events as possible – more is better. •    Get as many business cards as possible – 20 or 30 is excellent. •    Exchanging cards will get you business so take plenty. Yet all of these (and many other myths) overlook one vital aspect. Networking [...]

Continue reading Is your NET working?

When new members join my networking group one of the questions we ask is “how are you different from your competition” and it is amazing how many people give you answers like “we provide great customer service”. I am sure that if we asked their competition they would say exactly the same thing. So where is [...]

Continue reading How are you different?

I was asked recently what value I brought to a meeting and the question caused me to think about the topic of the value of meetings. You may remember the brilliant John Cleese video “Meetings Bloody Meetings” where Cleese and his team send up the concept of the Monday morning meeting in a medium sized business. [...]

Continue reading Do you provide good ROI at meetings?

Jay Abraham is the world leader in marketing advice. So when he speaks I listen. In re-reading a summary of his “Strategy of Preeminence” I was struck by his first lesson - that of the need for business people to be leaders in the eyes of their clients. And by leaders he does not mean dictatorial style; [...]

Continue reading Do your clients see you as a leader?