The barriers of entry into our industry are low and most anyone with a few hundred bucks can start selling PP’s without any experience or understanding of the product. And not just one product, but literally hundreds of thousands with dozens of ways of decorating each one of them. That’s not something you learn by reading a book or looking in a catalog, but is learned through experience, industry education and hard work.

So how do we differentiate ourselves from the thousands of others out there selling trinkets and trash (a term I hate) with a logo on it? First and foremost is to ask questions. I used to call on clients and ask a few perfunctory questions before diving into my bag of ideas hoping they would see one they liked. Now, I typically don’t even take product with me on the first call with the exception of a self-promo item or two. I spend the majority of the time I’m allotted asking questions. And not just how many do you need or what’s your absolute drop-dead date, but questions that get them to think about their brand and not just the best PP to use. Here are a few questions I’ve formulated to ask when meeting with a potential customer for the first time and why:

• “What differentiates you from your competition?” This question helps you learn who they consider their competition is and it may not always be the most obvious. Understanding who they compete against can aid in your research of the best ideas to pitch for their needs.
• “What story does your brand tell?” Stories are as old as ancient history and create emotions that can change behaviors. Every brand has a story to tell and PP’s should tie into those stories and carry them forward.
• “How do you want the recipient to feel when given your product?” Are they buying PP’s simply to give something away with their name on it or do they hope the recipient will use the product in their daily lives? Cheap pens vs. custom journal, subtly debossed computer case or a sports bottle that filters water? Recipients can be inspired by a carefully chosen product or they can dump it in the nearest trash can. The ROI on the latter is obvious and on the former, priceless.
• “What will a successful promotion or event using branded products look like?” This question tells you a lot about what they hope to achieve and whether they understand the power of PP’s. The right product can keep the memory of an event alive with the recipients and reinforce the message for many months or years to come.
• “What is the most effective promotional product you’ve ever purchased and why?” This will help you understand how they see promotional products fitting within the realm of their brand and a success they’ve had using a specific product.

Radio, newspaper, television and even digital ads are all fleeting. Promotional Products are truly the advertising medium that keeps a brand’s story in people’s hands day-after-day. A study a few years ago by Promotional Products Association International, an industry trade organization, revealed that 89% of recipients of PP’s could recall the advertiser and 69% said they generally keep a PP they receive. The more useful and connected to a brand a promotional product is, the more likely it is to be held onto and used on a regular basis to engage the recipient with that brand.

Promotional products, when chosen carefully and given with love, can truly be the products that remain to be seen.

• I can’t do this, that or the other so instead of trying, I’ll just stay in my comfort zone
• I can’t make that call on a prospect because I might get rejected
• I can’t have this dream because I don’t have the ability or experience to see it come true
• I can’t be a millionaire because I have to have money to make money, right?

While we all use many words that are limiting, I believe can’t is one of the worst because it reinforces a lack of confidence and an attitude of negativity in our minds. Our brain is an amazing computer and as with any computer, the output it produces is based on the input it receives. Garbage in, garbage out as the saying goes.

So how do we change our behavior to ensure our thoughts and actions align to help us reach the goals and dreams we want to achieve? The first step is to take responsibility for your life, 100% responsibility with no excuses. It’s not your parent’s fault, it’s not your spouses or your kids or your co-workers fault that you aren’t making more money, that you didn’t get the promotion you sought or aren’t driving the car you think you deserve. There is only one person to blame for where you are in life and that person stares back at you in the mirror every day.

I’ve dedicated myself to eliminating negativity in my life by understanding that where I am and where I will be in the future is a result of my choices. Not only the big choices I’m faced with every day, but the little ones as well. Here’s what I’m doing to harvest the amazing results my brain can achieve if I give it the right food.

1. Stop blaming others for my lack of success. While it may be true that other people affect my life, the bottom line is there are always alternatives. If I don’t like the results I’m getting from the choices I’m making then I need to make different choices.
2. Create a clear list of goals, both short-term and long-term. If I don’t have goals I’m like a cork floating on water, going wherever the tides take me. Goals ground me; they give me a path to success and a map to follow. If I know where I’m going then I only have one person to blame if I don’t get there. The key is reviewing my goals daily and if need be, adjusting them as a pilot or sailor would to stay on the path I’ve laid out for myself.
3. Visualize my success. I’ve pulled pictures off the Internet and from magazines that literally give me pictures of my goals. The brain loves imagery and by using pictures and visualizing my success, the neurons in my brain will find a way to make it happen. There is a lot of research on this topic that proves the old adage; a picture is worth a thousand words.
4. Surround myself with positive people. Think about the people you are with the most. Are they positive people or do they tend to complain and blame? Success breeds success and surrounding myself with positive and inspiring people will keep me motivated to succeed. Vince Lombardi, head coach of the Green Bay Packers said, “Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.” I will surround myself with people who exude confidence and success.
5. Make my self-talk positive. It’s estimated we have about 500,000 thoughts each day and for many of us, the majority of those thoughts are negative. Our self-talk was conditioned early on by our parents, friends, television, movies and the media. We can change it though by catching ourselves talking negatively and challenging it. If I call myself an idiot, I have to ask why? I must begin talking to myself the way I would expect to talk with others. I’ll be positive and optimistic and open my heart and mind to a new universe of thoughts and opportunity.

Words can empower us or they can weaken us. Think of all the things you’ve done in your life that you wouldn’t have even tried if you thought “I can’t” instead of “I can.” Remember your successes in life, write them down and review them whenever you are feeling down. You have the choice to be positive and to inspire yourself which in turn will inspire others. A great book I would encourage you to read is  “The Success Principles” by Jack Canfield, co-author of the Chicken Soup for Your Soul series of books. As far as we know we only have one shot at this life and it’s up to each of us to make it extraordinary. The choice is ours each and every day.

Product Knowledge: The last thing I want to be is an order taker, but even order takers have to have some basic product knowledge. There are hundreds of thousands of products we can source, sell, imprint and deliver to our customers. Although I’ll probably never sell more than a few hundred of those, I better have a basic idea of all of them because inevitably my clients will want the ones I know nothing about. Like the high-tech clock that’s water resistant up to 12 meters (why?) with a compass, comb and meat thermometer incorporated into the design.

Imprint Methods: Knowledge in this area separates the wheat from the chaff. When our profession was but a cottage industry you could either silkscreen an item or you could silkscreen an item. Your choice! Today, you can silkscreen, embroider, engrave, hot stamp, etch, laser-etch, acid-etch, pad print or offset print. You can deboss, emboss, use a rubber patch or a metal logo; you can use a decal, a transfer or (heaven forbid) sell something blank. The imprint method you choose will depend a great deal on the imprinted product’s material. You can’t laser-etch plastic or embroider a stainless steel mug, at least not yet.

Art And Graphics: In the past, factories needed clean, black-and-white, camera-ready art on glossy white paper. Now if you mention camera-ready art to a supplier you’ll get that look of “What cornfield did you come from?” 99% of all art is digital so it can be e-mailed and tie up your computer for several hours because of its size. For most decorating processes, art typically needs to be a vector EPS file in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. Don’t send a TIF, GIF, bitmap or Word file and remember JPEG files and screen shots of a logo from the Web are the business card and stationery equivalents of days gone by. A basic understanding of art is imperative to be successful in this business.

The Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz

Color: Once there was just the basic palette of primary colors. Then Crayola® came out with the 64-pack of crayons and colors like cadet blue, bittersweet, hot magenta and radical red. Because thistle is somewhat difficult to define as a color, we came to rely on something called the PANTONE® Color Formula Guide (a.k.a. the PMS chart). I suspect you’ve gotten really strange looks when you casually asked a client what their PMS color was, right? Until you explain PMS stands for PANTONE Matching System and is a way of matching ink colors, you’re going to get weird looks. And how many times have you found yourself holding a PMS chart up to a piece of stationery or a business card trying to match the color and decide whether it’s PMS 291 or 296, coated or uncoated and whether you can get away with using the factory’s stock PMS 287? And do you know what the PANTONE color of the year is? Emerald 17-5641, which makes me think of the Wizard of Oz for some reason.

Wearables: Many years ago, cotton T-shirts, neon hats and nylon coaches jackets were about the only wearables and materials I sold. Now, you can get jersey, piqué, mercerized, double-mercerized (once wasn’t enough), cotton, Pima cotton, Egyptian cotton, nylon, silk, polyester, performance fabrics and micro-mesh to name just a few. And if the obsolescence of a new computer is between 12 and 18 months, it’s anywhere from six hours to six days for clothing. But from T-shirts to tank tops, windbreakers to jackets, golf shirts to camp shirts we’re expected to be the experts. Wearables can be one of the hardest areas to master because of the variety of garments, fabrics, styles and manufacturers. If you’re good at selling wearables, you’re a giant step ahead of most in this business.

Commodore 64 so named because it had 64K of memory!

Technology: Years ago when the PC was but a few years old and faxes were non-existent my first computer was an Apple IIE. It was basically a glorified and complicated electric typewriter. Then came faxes followed by cell phones, even more complicated computers and software, and in the mid-’90s the beginnings of the Internet, which has changed our lives and businesses forever. Unless you r have an affinity for computers and lots of free time, trying to keep up with all aspects of technology is like trying to keep up with the movements of every star in the universe—impossible. My recommendation is to keep up with what you need and what you think you might need in the future. It takes copious amounts of time to stay current much less ahead of the game, but the alternative is to look like a Commodore 64 computer in a world of iThis, that and the other.

I have a client looking for a thousand pink baseballs imprinted in four-color process in two locations using a JPEG photo she has. The baseballs need to tie-in with a pink interlock jersey in sizes XS – 10XL and she needs it all in three days. I’m nuts to be in a business as crazy as this one, but I love it.

To get past this, I found myself looking through some recent blogs and decided to write an update on a few topics that have changed since I wrote about them:

• 3-D Printing: About a year ago I wrote on the fairly new trend of 3-D printing and my belief it will change the way many industries go to market. That is exactly what is happening as the price of these specialized printers drops and companies are able to reduce inventory and warehouse space by “printing” parts and products on-demand. This takes just-in-time inventory to a whole new dimension and helps level the playing field for small businesses. Businesses are even popping up that will do on-demand 3-D printing for companies not able to afford the technology themselves. Just a few of the industries benefiting from 3-D printing are jewelry, footwear, industrial design, architecture, engineering and construction, automotive, aerospace along with the dental and medical industries. Imagine a new home you purchase is built from 3-D printed parts or an airplane you fly in has wings printed in 3-D. Sounds futuristic, but in fact both of those things are in the works. And check out this article from National Geographic on using 3-D printing to create tissue and I don’t mean Kleenex.
• New Apps: There are thousands of apps on the market and while I look at a lot of them, I download only those I know I’ll use. I’ve found two I really like and thought I’d pass along. The first is called Brewster for iPhones and to call it a contact app is like calling Mt. Everest a hill. Launched last year, it gathers all the people you know from your contact list, Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook or other outlets you give it access to. When you open the app you’ll see pictures of your contacts and all the info about them in one place. It categorizes people in groups with interests similar to yours using its algorithms, but you can also create your own groups. Right now it is only available for the iPhone, but other versions are apparently coming soon. The second is app is called Flipboard, which allows you to pull content from all over the Internet and put it into a magazine style format that is easy to peruse. You can also create your own magazines and share with friends. While not a new app, the latest 2.0 version is real eye candy and probably as close to reading a real magazine as anything I’ve ever seen. With the demise of Google Reader, Flipboard is a great new way to aggregate content from across the web.
• QR Codes: Dead, dead, dead. The thing that has always bothered me about QR codes is that there are so many versions, each of which requires a different reader. While they won’t
  

  Concert tickets can sing!

  be going away any time soon, new technologies are coming on-line daily that at first blush seem to be better ways of interacting with consumers. One I like is a mobile app called Blippar, which allows a user to gather info, play games and view augmented-reality experiences through markers placed in ads or on products. Another cool technology is  Touchcode, an invisible ink that can be printed on paper or products. Simply touch your smart phone or any touchscreen device to the paper or product and where the brand takes you is wide open. You might hear music from a concert ticket, get recipes from a box of soup or be taken to an interactive game where you can win prizes. It’s pretty cool and is inexpensive to implement as far as integrating it onto printed products, magazines, newspapers or other media.

Just when you think you’ve seen all there is to see out comes a new way of doing something that creates a paradigm shift in our thinking. I agree completely with Charles Holland Duell, U.S. Commissioner of Patents between 1898 & 1901 who famously said, “In my opinion, all previous advances in the various lines of invention will appear totally insignificant when compared with those which the present century will witness. I almost wish that I might live my life over again to see the wonders which are at the threshold.”  Just as true now as when he made this statement in 1902.

But do you need to jump from 24 miles in the sky to become a hero? One definition for the word is a mythical or legendary figure of great strength; a more down to earth meaning is a man (or woman) admired for their achievements and noble qualities. While we must go above and beyond, pretty much anyone can become a hero to someone. You don’t have to touch millions of people to be one and in fact reaching just one person’s heart can truly make you a hero.

Below are four ways I believe we can achieve that vaunted status just by going about our lives purposefully.

§        Be a Parent: Having kids does not make you a parent nor does being your child’s best friend. Kids don’t need another BFF, but they do need someone to set guidelines for them, to nurture them, pick them up and dust them off when they fall and to discipline them if needed. Love them and let them know how proud you are and I guarantee you, you will become a hero to them. Just don’t ever expect them to vocalize that thought.

§        Be a Mentor: Just as kids need guidance, so to do adults when it comes to their career. Consider mentoring others, passing along your knowledge and skills and helping them to succeed. You don’t become a mentor for financial gain because the reward comes in seeing those you mentor grow in confidence and prestige over the years. Successful mentors become heroes to their mentees.

§        Be a Volunteer: We all have a passion be it sports or writing, teaching or building. Whatever your passion you can help others by volunteering to use that passion to assist others. Find a charitable organization where you can volunteer your time and talents, give of yourself and you will become a hero to those you serve.

Superman helps out in Adairsville (from 11Alive News)

§        Be a Superhero: I know, I know, there is no such thing as a superhero although don’t we all wish there were at times? If that’s the case, how do you explain Superman showing up after a tornado devastated Adairsville, a small town in the North Georgia Mountains? A 25 year-old man, dressed as Superman, arrived (did he fly in?) and worked for hours helping clear debris from broken homes. He asked that his name not be used and hopes his work will bring about compassion and friendship. Crazy or not, this guy’s a hero to me.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, all ages and genders. You don’t have to be special to be a hero, you just have to live your life caring for others and being the best person you can be. My heroes are all normal people who somehow did extraordinary things, usually in the course of their daily lives.

Who are your heroes and why? Have you ever been a hero to someone else and if so, let us know in the comment section below.

You can connect with Grouch & Albert

Robin Hood (Activist/Chief Fundraiser at Nottingham), Albert Einstein (E=mc2) and Groucho Marx (Comedian) thus showing this professional networking site does have a sense of humor.

LinkedIn recently hit the 200 million member mark and while those numbers pale in comparison to Facebook; the numbers belie the power of this professional resource. If you aren’t yet on LinkedIn you are missing out on a powerful resource that can be used in a myriad of ways. Here are just three of the many groups that are using LinkedIn on a daily basis:

• Job Seekers: While sites like Monster and CareerBuilder certainly have a place in looking for work, LinkedIn should be a key component in your search. It gives you the ability to look for jobs, research those companies, see if anyone in your network is connected to employees in those companies and look up those who will be interviewing you. A key for job seekers is to make sure your profile is professional and up-to-date (see below for tips) because as you seek details on others, it’s guaranteed others are also seeking information on you, especially the people who will be interviewing you.
• Human Resources: Which leads us to HR professionals and others now using LinkedIn as a key component in their search for employees. Many companies post job openings exclusively on LinkedIn because they know the quality of candidates is likely to be much higher than other sites. Additionally, savvy employers use their own networks to search for candidates, asking current employees to put the word out to their networks and using keyword searches to seek out the best-of-the-best.
• Sales: LinkedIn has become a valuable resource to aid sales professionals in their research. While cold-calling may still be a part of the sales process, LinkedIn can make cold-calls much, much warmer. The site gives you the ability to research companies, find out more about those who hold the key positions in the companies you’re targeting and see who in your network may be connected to those prospects. If you upgrade to a paid membership you can use the filters to find industries, search key positions, set up alerts and use InMail to reach out to those you’d like to meet. This article has six good tips for using LinkedIn to assist in your sales and marketing efforts.

Below are five tips to get the most out of your own LinkedIn profile and while there are many others, these five are key:

1. Don’t use THAT picture: When I go to someone’s profile on LinkedIn and see the default silhouette picture I know either they aren’t active or don’t know any better. For job seekers it is not an option, but imperative you add a picture. Recruiters won’t take you seriously without one and will make many assumptions, none of which are flattering. Don’t use the picture of you holding a beer and looking less than sober (you’d be surprised), but a good quality picture showing you dressed professionally and smiling.
2. Keep your profile up-to-date & complete: Would you send out a resume that you hadn’t updated for several years? Of course not and the same should be true for your LinkedIn profile. The first things people see who view your profile are your picture, your current job and a summary of your experience. Make sure all of these are current and use keywords in your summary that are relevant to your career. If you’re going to put yourself out there you might as well make your profile as complete as possible.
3. Ask for Recommendations: Some people feel intimidated to ask for recommendations, but they can enhance your profile and give you an advantage. Make sure though to only ask those people who truly know you and your work to make sure the recommendation is relevant. Will not having recommendations hurt you? Probably not since most people take them with a grain of salt, but they can serve as online references and a point of differentiation.
4. Connect: LinkedIn is not a popularity contest and it’s not Facebook so don’t feel compelled to ask everyone you know to join your network. Remember, this is a professional platform so use it to advance your business and career with contacts and connections that move your forward. You can also follow companies, be they employers you are targeting or competitors you want to keep track of.
5. Join LinkedIn Groups: Find groups that are in your field or those you can learn from and contribute to. Don’t be a stalker in these groups and don’t join just so you can list them in your profile. The right groups can help you advance your career and be a place to give back to those younger or less experienced than you.

Like any other social network tool, you’ll get out of LinkedIn as much as you’re willing to put into it. And while Groucho Marx may not be active much anymore, many people are that can help make your career and professional a much richer experience.

Steve Woodburn is Director of Inside Sales for Pinnacle Promotions, a promotional products agency in Atlanta, GA. You can reach him at: steve.woodburn@pinnaclepromotions.com

 Now management actually expects a ROI to justify the cost associated with exhibiting. The days of putting out a bowl of giveaways or a glass jar for business cards won’t cut it in generating real leads that grow business. And with attendance at shows slowing since the economy tanked, it’s more important than ever to engage attendees.

2013 portends some interesting changes in how exhibitors display their products and how attendees interact. Here are just a few to ponder:

1. Use of iPads: The most innovative technology used to be creating a video of your product or service and letting it play on an endless loop. Boring! iPads can act as portable kiosks in a “no hassle” area of an exhibit to display product pictures, specs or other information and qualify an attendee’s interest. Booth staff should also carry iPads to further engage with prospects, capture email data, collect customer feedback, complete surveys and more. ArmorActive is by no means the only company creating apps and selling hardware for iPads at trade shows, but is a good place to begin to understand how this technology can help you stand out from your competitors.
2. A Leap Ahead: Have you played Fruit Ninja? It’s a game on touch screen iPads or smartphones where you use your finger as a sword to slice and dice fruit. Leap Motion has created an inexpensive way to use this same gesture control technology to do some amazing things. The $70 device will be available early in 2013 and third-party developers are already jumping on-board and creating apps to integrate with it. Using  fingers and hands to swipe, poke and grab allows users to manipulate and control 3-D environments like never before. Imagine taking a blob of virtual clay and being able to create a piece of art through the use of hand gestures.
3. Social Media: Many companies are using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,  Pinterest and blogs to connect with potential trade show attendees before, during and after an event. Before the event you can post reasons to stop by your booth, tease new product introductions and show pictures to generate interest. Create a promotion and use hashtags which are like a secret code on Twitter. Learn to pre-schedule posts using an app like HootSuite or Tweetdeck and start a month or more out to build interest. Tweet during the show, post pictures to Facebook and Pinterest and after the show write a blog about the experience and interact with those who attended.
4. The Display: Smaller seems to be bigger these days when it comes to trade show booth design. But what will set a booth apart from others are colorful graphics, fabric colors and lighting. First impressions hold true with trade show booths and attendees will be attracted to and learn about your company through bold graphics, visual displays and professional looking staff. Illuminated floors have become a new trend along with the use of lighting to highlight products and display cases. Display booths should be open and inviting so attendees want to venture in and learn more about your company. They should capture the imagination and clearly define your brand visually and boldly.

During one brief period in my career I sold billboards and what I learned is these oversized ads must get the brands message across in a matter of three to four seconds. Simplicity is the key using a visual and as few words as possible. The same is true for a trade show booth. People walking by will decide in just a couple of seconds whether they want to see what you have to offer. If they see a boring booth, staff dressed haphazardly, people eating or staffers standing together laughing and talking chances are you will be passed by.

The final key to a successful trade show is to follow-up. So many companies spend huge amounts of money to exhibit and gather contact information, but when they get back there is no plan on how to follow-up on those leads immediately. Plan beforehand how you will follow-up on the leads you get. Be sure to make notes during the show of what people are interested in so when you call them later you can jog their memory since attendees see so many booths they may have forgotten what you offer. Did I mention follow-up is key to trade show ROI?

Trade shows can be a great way to build your customer base and reach people you may otherwise have never met. And just as you wouldn’t call on a customer without some sort of pre-planning, why would you exhibit at a trade show without a plan to build interest beforehand, qualify prospects at the show and follow-up afterwards? Be proactive, plan ahead, use social media, make sure the booth staff is knowledgeable about your company, your products and that they follow-up in a timely manner.

Somewhere in all the reading I’ve done over the years I remember an article discussing how taking something and making it 10% different could be a life-changer. The premise being that by somehow changing or tweaking a product already in the marketplace in small ways you could take something old and make it new again; create demand for a product that was new and improved.

I’ve thought about this a lot over the years and have come to believe it’s true. There are examples everywhere and I’ve listed a few ideas I think prove the point.

• Ear buds: I’ve always loved listening to music with headphones, but ear buds were always a challenge. They never fit in my ear correctly, would fall out regularly and because they didn’t fit well, the sound was terrible. Finally a genius (not sure who) added a protrusion on each bud that fits snugly inside the ear called, oddly enough, in-ear. This change has given ear buds new life and created companies like SkullCandy who have embraced both the old and new in their business model.
• Telephone handset – Did you ever consider answering a cell phone with an old-style telephone handset? Most people wouldn’t, but someone did and created a new product that’s become hip. Someone connected the handset with a cell phone in their mind and viola. The picture on the right takes it to another level with the retro handset, a charging base for the cell phone to sit on and a rotary dialing app for a smart phone. It’s almost like the old days!
• Antimicrobial: Germs are everywhere and while some are good, many are bad and our society has become obsessed with fighting them off. Thus it makes sense that everyday products have taken up this fight by infusing antimicrobial agents into their stuff. It’s estimated more than 700 products use this technology now including common items like pens, mouse pads and even apparel. By taking something as simple as a mouse pad and adding an antimicrobial agent, they’ve created new demand for a product that might have reached its apex.
• Apparel – A T-shirt is a T-shirt, right? Not when that T-shirt is a moisture wicking, antimicrobial protective shield. Let’s face it, T-shirts have been around since the days of Roman emperors (O.K., I exaggerate a bit!), but new properties that keep you dry and germ-free also give you reason to buy these newer fabrics. When I was young, polyester was considered a cheap alternative to cotton, but apparel manufacturers have turned that notion on its head. Polyester, under a variety of trade names, is now a sought after commodity.
• Pencils: Did you know there was a National Pencil Day? Neither did I, but March 30 of each year is set aside to celebrate this icon of test taking. While the basics of the pencil remain as they always have, new versions have the graphite encased in plastic instead of wood and anything toxic in the paint or other components has been removed. Despite people’s infatuation with tablets and other new technology, pencils remain a hot commodity with sales in the U.S. up 6.8% last year.

So what’s the 10% in your life you might consider tweaking to achieve different results? Something related to work? Maybe your personal life or your children? Whether it’s generating more sales, losing weight, spending more time with your family or something else, think about how just doing something 10% differently might make all the difference. Or perhaps you can find a product that needs some updating and use the 10% rule to revamp it and find a whole new marketplace for it. Businesses have been built on less.

10% might not seem like a lot, but it could be enough to help you earn more, spend more time with your family or lose that extra 10 pounds. It seems true that 10% really can make a difference.

Earl Nightingale says “Goals are the pursuit of a worthy ideal” and goals must be defined with a beginning and an end otherwise they can become exercises in futility. I’ve worked out early in the mornings for many years and while I may not like getting up that early (5:15am) I truly feel better the rest of the day. Like clockwork every January hoards of new people start showing up at the gym early to exercise vowing to keep their New Year’s resolution and get fit. Within a month people are dropping like flies and by three months, maybe 1% of those who started are still sweating it out each morning.  That’s a resolution gone awry.

Don’t be like a cork adrift with no plan

Call it semantics, but the word “goal” is more concrete as to what I want to accomplish and goals should be concrete to help us focus our daily tasks in such a way as to reach them. So instead of saying, “I want to make more money next year” break down how much and how you plan to make it. Let’s say you’re in sales and you decide you want to make $20,000 more next year. If you work 49 weeks a year, that’s 245 days and if you divide the $20K by 245 you find you only need to earn an extra $82 per day to reach your goal. Easy peezy, huh?

Here are five things I’ve learned over time to do as I write-up my goals for the coming year:

1. As noted above, goals need to be concrete. I want a new job or I want to lose weight are too vague. Decide exactly what kind of job you want, see it in your mind and see yourself performing the work. Same with losing weight. How much weight do you want to lose and how will you do it? Become a runner, work out three times a week, buy a treadmill? Be specific and make sure you…
2. Write your goals down. This is important for several reasons including helping you clarify what you want and giving you something visual to reference. Goals you don’t write down are simply thoughts in your brain and if yours is anything like mine, things tend to get lost up there. Another reason to write them down is so you can…
3. Read your goals several times a day. When you’re fresh in the morning, read over your goals to remind yourself what to focus on each day. Keep several copies of them in different places at home and at work so you can reference them throughout the day. This will help burn them into your brain and keep them top-of-mind.
4. Write them as though they have already happened. The sub-conscious is a funny thing and it can’t differentiate between whether something is true of not. It sounds crazy, but if you read something over an over again as though it already happened the subconscious will work to ensure it happens. No guarantees, but numerous studies have shown people with written goals are more likely to succeed over those who simply have a goal or two in mind. Every day, close your eyes for a few moments and visualize yourself having achieved your goals. Seeing yourself in that new job or 20 lbs. thinner or with an extra $20,000 will give you confidence to keep plugging away. It can be easy to lose focus and get frustrated and visualizing your goals keeps you on track and moving forward.

As religion has its atheists, so too goal setting has disbelievers, those who think setting goals can be counterproductive. One such soul is Ray Williams, author of several books and an article from April of last year called “Why Goal Setting Doesn’t Work.” His premise is the brain is resistant to change and goals, especially those that require substantial change, will be ignored by the gray matter in our heads and may even de-motivate us.

Commercial airlines don’t take off from an airport without a detailed flight plan of how they will get to their destination. The same with ships leaving port, so why would we not also have a plan of how to get from where we are to where we want to go? Without one we are like a cork on water, bobbing about with the pull of the tides. And at the risk of my brain going rogue on me, I’ll take the path of setting goals, referring to them every day and praying the tides are in my favor. How about you?

I’m a consultative, results-oriented account manager with over 20 years experience in the promotional product & promotional marketing industry. I work to build relationships between brands and their customers, using imaginative promotional products as the medium, to reinforce a brand’s message and value. I’m passionate about building long-term relationships with my customers and becoming a trusted advisor they can turn to for all their promotional marketing needs. You can reach me at: steve.woodburn@pinnaclepromotions,com

The infamous Endorsement box that shows up

Let me clarify recommendations vs. endorsements on Linkedin just in case there is confusion. You must ask for recommendations from your connections and approve them prior to their appearance on your profile. Endorsement boxes though pop up randomly and you can simply click a skill or expertise for a connection and your picture will show up as endorsing them, no approval needed.

In researching this topic I’ve seen few positive comments or articles about this newest addition to an otherwise professional website. Almost universally the articles and comments question why such a poorly thought out “app” was added to the site. Linkedin was launched in the spring of 2003 and has grown into the world’s largest professional network. A few facts to consider gathered from various websites:

• As of the end of September there were 187 million Linkedin members in over 200 countries and territories.
• The average age of a Linkedin user is 44.2.
• 77% of LinkedIn members use the site to research people and companies, 69% to reconnect with past business associates and 50% to build new networks.
• Over 25 million LinkedIn profiles are viewed every day and 28 people search the mobile app for information every second.
• Over 10 million endorsements are given on Linkedin every day.

It’s strange to me a professional network so highly rated in every other way would implement a feature so vague and controversial. Has Linkedin become a popularity contest? Should you endorse those who endorse you? Is there a way to hide or delete endorsements on your profile?

I can understand the reasoning behind the idea as a way to further define each of us by those who should know best. Unlike adding people to your network or being added to other people’s networks though, there is no approval process involved. People can randomly endorse you for skills and you get an email you’ve been endorsed by that person. Ironically, when someone views our profile now they may look at the endorsements section and if there are few or none may wonder why.

Since it doesn’t look as though this new feature will be going away here are a few things to consider regarding endorsements:

1. You don’t have to endorse people just because a box pops up asking you to. If you know that person and feel they truly do have an expertise or skill you want to endorse then click away. If not, close the box and move on.
2. There is no obligation or penalty if you don’t reciprocate endorsing someone who has endorsed you. I’m almost to the point of not endorsing anyone, whether I know them or not, because I truly don’t feel it has any real meaning.
3. If you don’t want people to see endorsements or if you want to hide specific endorsements there is a way. On the right side, after the pictures of each endorsement there is a right pointing arrow. Click on that and it shows each of the people who have endorsed you for that skill and gives you an option of hiding the endorsement. You can do this for people you don’t know however once hidden there is no way to unhide them.

There is an upside though to endorsements according to a blog by Saqui Research. By seeing what people are endorsing us for we can determine whether there is an alignment between what our connections see and how we see ourselves. If you have 20 endorsements for a particular skill you don’t feel is that important and only two for a skill you deem essential then there is a disconnect in how you are being perceived. Over time you might see a need to change your messaging to better align the perception people have of you.

Endorsements are but a small part of an otherwise robust and useful site that helps millions find jobs, research people and companies and connect with like-minded business professionals. Which reminds me, I need to get onto Linkedin and see if someone I know is connected to a potential client I want to meet. Ciao.