Differentiation & Vanilla Ice Cream | The Leadership Book Corner

October 26, 2012 by

DifferentiationI know I am an odd one, but I actually like vanilla ice cream, in fact it is my favorite flavor. Yet, even vanilla ice cream has a lot of varieties, and there are a few brands that are greatly superior than the others. Whether your business is about ice cream, candy, technology, widgets, or some other gadget …differentiation is one of the things that separates the good from great!

In order to have great differentiation, you have to have a great strategy. Tweet This!

Steve Van Remortel, takes on this subject in his book Stop Selling Vanilla Ice Cream: The Scoop on Increasing Profit by Differentiating Your Company through Strategy and Talent. As the title implies this is not another book about differentiation through innovation, branding or marketing – but through great strategy development and talent development.

In this book Steve explores 4 phases of his, “Stop Selling Vanilla Ice Cream” process, these are:

Phase 1: Planning Process Preparation – This phase is focused on building a team and making sure everyone on the team is in the right place where they will bring the greatest value. It involves collecting the content that is needed to make sure the strategy development is effective.

Phase 2: Building the Team and Strategy Development Preparation –This phase is focused on various models and exercises to build and develop a team and improve the team communications. It delves into laying the foundation for greater strategy development.

Phase 3: Strategy Development – As the title implies this is where the actual strategy is developed and defined. In this process the team discusses and analyses the organization’s competencies and target market, and then create a strategy based on those results.

Phase 4: Strategy Implementation – This is the one I am big on …the execution. Steve takes the reader through more planning to make sure that departments and individuals can now implement the strategy.

I really liked how he used a real company, Connecting Cultures, Inc.  throughout the book to explain the process from beginning to end. It helped to conceptualize how the process would look and be deployed in an organization. The book includes access to online templates and resources to help you in your own implementation as well. Even if you do not implement the process, there is some great knowledge on strategy that would be valuable for any leader.

Steve’s book was just launched last week, go pick-up a copy today!

Filed Under: Leadership Book Corner Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Wisdom & Prosperity on The Book Shelf | The Leadership Book Corner

October 25, 2012 by

Leadership Book CornerJane Hamilton, an American novelist beautifully said, “It is books that are the key to the wide world; if you can’t do anything else, read all that you can.”

I have taken that philosophy for a number of years and know it to be true. Some of the greatest successes I have had in life, were due to the knowledge I gained by reading a book. There is a book for just about every conceivable problem. In the business/leadership genre this is ever so true. Many companies struggle in these hard times, yet many of the secrets to solve these problem are locked within the confines of wonderful books.

I feel a little bit ashamed though, that I don’t really tell many people about the books that have impacted me. As I was staring at a pile of books recently and thinking about this; I realized that I should to start a book column on the site. Instead of just randomly posting a book I enjoyed, I needed to make it more regular. So I have decided to start the Leadership Book Corner every Friday at ToddNielsen.com to share and talk about some of the fantastic new books that are hitting the market, and some old classics that I love.

Here is my pledge to you:

Green Check MarkI promise to NOT share books just because some publicist or author sent me a book. I will only review books that I enjoyed reading, that I learned from, and that I feel provide value to my readers.

Green Check MarkI will keep the reviews short and sweet, so you can get on with your day.

Green Check MarkI will try and always share a few quotes from the book so you can get a taste of the content and writing style of the author.

Green Check MarkI will be honest if there is something about the book that bothers me. Keep in mind though that I will not share books that I don’t like, so a small flaw usually won’t make me not like a book.

Green Check Mark***Prizes – If I get cooperation from the Authors of the books I review, I will give away a book each week to the person with the most profound comment on the topic of the article.

The Leadership Book Corner, starts Friday October 26th, 2012 (Tomorrow). I hope you will join me. As always sign-up for email updates to stay up to date on all the articles and books I share.

Let me leave you with another great quote on reading:

A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.”
~ Henry David Thoreau

and for those that need a laugh:

There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.”
~ Will Rogers

 

Filed Under: Leadership Book Corner Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

How to Screw-up a Great Opportunity

October 22, 2012 by

Opportunity-Screw-up
Some of you may know that I also write technology related articles for Wired and other online periodicals. Well a couple months ago I was at a technology conference in Las Vegas. I was working on an article about how cloud computing is changing the strategic direction for backup vendors. While at the show, I met with several executives and asked them a specific question about the industry. I asked them to email me a short response. I told them when I needed to get it by, because I was planning on publishing the article that week.

I spoke to executives from at least 20 backup vendors. They all were excited to have their company featured in an article on Wired.com. I mean heck, who wouldn’t mind a little exposure and publicity on one of the most read technology magazines in the world? Of the the 20 companies, about 2 sent responses exactly how I asked, a few more responded with ridiculously long “quotes,” more like an article in itself, and a few more just tried to promote themselves in their content. The rest got lost with PR people or they never responded.

I was completely blown away because the backup industry is fierce with competitors. All they needed to do was email me a couple of sentences on this question, and I was going to quote them and link back to their site in this article. I even told them that I did not mind if they had a little self-promotion in the quote. Yet, most of them completely screwed-up the opportunity that would have taken only a few minutes.

This is not the only incident like this I have had. I have offered to write  and do other things for all kinds of people to help promote them, and have had similar experiences. I enjoy helping people, but if the person I am trying to help can’t follow through with me, then that is a huge problem. The next time someone wants to help you or promote your business, jump on it!

It’s easy to screw-up opportunities, just don’t let people help you.” Tweet This!

A Great Opportunity – Are You Going to Screw This Up?

So with that said, I want to offer to help you in a really big way. I want to promote you on Twitter, on Facebook, on Google+, on LinkedIn. I want to send my followers to your blog. I want to create backlinks on my site to your website and feature you in my Friends Around the World page, and other pages. I want to offer you books, cash, and a bunch of other cool things, including an IOU (I Owe You) from me.

Wondering how you can get all this? Easy – sign-up(free) to be an Uber-Master or Uber Apprentice for Uber-Magnificent Book Launch. The work I am asking you to do, pales in comparison to what I am giving away, and the value of what I am giving away is HUGE. This is a massive book launch where I will be releasing three books on creating a culture of execution in an organization.

I hope you will join me, there is limited space and the slots are filling-up!! Go here: Uber-Magnificent Book Launch, and signup (free), under the package that appeals to you.

Filed Under: Leadership Opportunities

Climbing Out of Hell …& Into The Fire

October 18, 2012 by

Climbing-Out-of-Hell The last month or two of my life has felt like I have been climbing out of hell. I won’t go into all the gritty details, but needless to say there were many hard days, sleepless nights, and stressful moments. We all have those times in our life. They are times I think that prepare us to move into a new future.

The Hell

For those that are regular readers of my site, you will notice that the site has changed. My “hell” had a small part to do with this big change. I had two web design companies completely drop the ball over the last 4 months. I was beyond frustrated.

I had a discussion with my performance partner about a month ago, and he was relating to me a problem that he had, that he kept putting off, and scheduling , and rescheduling, and thinking about, etc… Finally when he did the task, he realized that he spent massively more time worrying about the task and rescheduling it over and over, than the few minutes it took to actually do the task.

At that moment I knew, what I had to do, but I really was not looking forward to it. I just finally accepted the fact that if I wanted this done fast, I was going to need to do it myself. Many years ago I created websites, so I knew how to build a website, but I did not know the ins-and-outs of programming and customizing a wordpress theme.   So for a week and half all I did was work on customizing the website. It was painful to complete amidst the other struggles I had, but I got it done.

I hope you like it and will explore the pages, as just about every page has changed from the old site.

The Fire

As the website work and some of my other problems passed, I was/am faced with a firestorm in the near future. On my desk are two publishing agreements that are awaiting my signature. The books:

  1. It’s All About Execution: Transform Your Organization by Creating a Culture of ‘Getting Things Done.’
  2. #Execution: 140 Ways to Transform Your Organization by Creating a Culture of Execution.

As you can clearly see, these books are about execution, and more specifically about creating a culture of “getting things done.” The first book takes the reader through the journey of a struggling outdoor equipment manufacturer, that uses the power of execution to revitalize their organization and get off the “ledges” that are holding them back from greater success. I have implemented this methodology at companies and have seen huge miracles happen as a result of it.

The second book is a collection of 140 bite-sized pieces of wisdom on execution that are each – 140 characters or less. This is an easy to read book that will help reinforce the concepts that I teach on execution.

Kevin Eikenberry, a leadership expert, speaker, and author of several leadership books, said this about my book, “There are many good books about organizational vision, goal setting and execution. None are any better than this one. It is the most clear, practical, and immediately useful book on this subject. If you want to revitalize yourself, your team, or your company, read this book.”

Mark Miller, the author of three leadership books says, “Todd has created what so many businesses need – a blueprint to build a strong and vibrant organization.”

I am super excited. Everyone who has ever launched a book or participated in a book launch knows that launches are crazy and chaotic. But there is more, because I want to help you and a lot of other people too. I have organized what I am calling the Uber-Magnificent 2.5 Book Launch, which is going to be an epic book launch for both books. In the launch I will be recruiting people like you, who I am calling “Uber-Masters” and “Uber-Apprentices” to help spread the word of the book launch; and in return for the help, I will be giving away HUGE rewards. I am truly turning the book launch world outward, instead of inward.

Here are a few things you should know and do:

  1. Read more about the Uber-Magnificent 2.5 Book Launch, and sign-up to be an Uber-Master, or an Uber-Apprentice, or choose an A-La-Cart option (You’ve Gotta Read the Rewards before you say no). Also if you want to receive a free speech or workshop on execution at your organization; you can see how on the Uber-Magnificent 2.5 Book Launch pages.
  2. Share the Uber-Magnificent 2.5 Book Launch with others that might be interested in helping. This is great for speakers, authors, bloggers, business owners, event planners, and other social media savvy persons that want to get great exposure during the book launch and earn some valuable rewards.

Lastly, remember always, that your hell might just preparing you for a future that is bigger and brighter. Tweet This!

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , , ,

Free Workshop or Seminar

October 12, 2012 by

You buy 500 or more books and I will give a free workshop or seminar at your organization or event. You will only need to pay for moderate travel expenses. The price of the books does not come close to the price of a speech, or even the price of the speech plus the books, so this is a stellar deal. You will be getting a great deal, plus you will be able to give a book to your company staff, clients, or audience members. Any of my 3 hour or greater workshops or seminars listed on my Speaking & Workshops page is up for grabs or you can combine two speeches for a custom program.

 

BONUS!!!
Through a special deal I made with my publisher, I have arranged special print runs for large numbers of books. What does this mean? We could add a chapter to the book about your organization, we could add a case study to the book that brings into account your industry, we could add your logo to the cover. There are lots of cool things you can do to create more value for your organization or event.Very few major publishers are willing to do this, but I negotiated it to create better value for my future audiences.

 

I can’t accept an unlimited amount of these free workshop/seminar deals, so if you are interested, check out the workshops and seminars on the Speaking & Workshops page and then use the link to the Speaking & Workshop Availability page to contact me.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Execution-Book-Launch

Free Speech

October 12, 2012 by

This is pretty simple. You buy 250 to 499 books and I will give a free speech at your organization or event. You will only need to pay for moderate travel expenses. The price of the books does not come close to the price of a speech, or even the price of the speech plus the books, so this is a stellar deal. You will be getting a great deal, plus you will be able to give a book to your company staff, clients, or audience members. Any of my 3 hour or under speeches listed on my Speaking & Workshops page is up for grabs.

 

BONUS!!! – Through a special deal I made with my publisher, I have arranged special print runs for large numbers of books. What does this mean – well we could add a chapter to the book about your organization, we could add a case study to the book that brings into account your industry, we could add your logo to the cover. There are lots of cool things you can do to create more value for your organization or event.

 

I can’t accept an unlimited amount of these free speech deals, so if you are interested, check out the speeches on the Speaking & Workshops page and then use the link to the Speaking & Workshop Availability page to contact me.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Execution-Book-Launch

À-La-Carte

October 12, 2012 by

The À-La-Carte plans are for those that don’t fit in a bubble, but want to contribute and be a part of this awesome experience. Basically all you do is pick the work you are willing to do, and start collecting the rewards. I will send you all the details when we are ready to get started.

Want to know about the rewards? Well they are À-La-Carte as well.  I know that everyone will have different needs, and therefore will want different rewards. So all I ask is that you choose the activities that you are willing to do in the list below, and then in the form at the bottom of the page; tell me which reward, or combination of rewards that I mention on the Uber-Masters page you feel is worth the help you are providing. Too shy to make a proposal like that, no problem, just indicate in the form and I will contact you and we will figure something out. In the end I want you to get more out of this than me.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Execution-Book-Launch

The Uber – Apprentice

October 12, 2012 by

The Uber-Apprentice is nothing to shun at with 7 extremely valuable rewards that are worth a lot more than I am asking. This package is super easy for you and designed for those who want to help, but may not have the social prowess or time to do it all. I still guarantee that the rewards will equal A LOT more than the work.

 

I Can Only Accept 200 Uber-Apprentices!

 

**THE REWARDS: (7 Total)

  1. A complimentary advanced copy of my book, It’s All About Execution: Transform Your Organization by Creating a Culture of ‘Getting Things Done’ in digital or audio form.
  2. Access to all launch week bonuses: Yep you get all the launch bonuses too, plus you can take part in the contests to get prizes and giveaways during the week.
  3. 3 months reciprocal social promotion: I will be sharing your book review post (See requirements below) a LOT, retweeting your tweets, and doing a bunch more to drive people to your book review page on your site, during launch week. But, wait … not only that but I am going to reciprocate the sharing of your blog posts well beyond the book launch. You pick a 3 month time period within 12 months after the book launch. And I will setup my Twitter account to share all of your blog posts for 3 month to all my followers. Maybe you have something big planned for 9 months from the book launch, and want me to do some more social work on your behalf, no problem.
  4. Special mention and backlink on a toddnielsen.com launch page. I will be recording each book review post and many of the notable social shares and will be recording those on some pages on the site. This will provide a reputable backlink to your site, thus increasing the reputation of your site for search engines and it will help make my followers aware of you.
  5. Special emails and social media blasts to promote YOU and drive visitors to the book review on your site. An email will go out daily to hundreds of people who have agreed to share the book review posts, which will have links to your site. So hundreds will be tweeting and sharing your articles and driving visitors to your site through various social channels.
  6. A Free guide to creating a killer book review that will earn subscribers and favors. Rather than leave it up to chance, I have written down the lessons I have learned to increase your subscribers and traffic, earn favors with authors, and earn some cash in affiliate book sales.
  7. An invitation to private webinar conversation with me. In this webinar I will answer questions about the book launch, the book, and anything else to help you feel comfortable with the launch plan, plus I want to learn how I can better be of service to help you and begin a path to greater friendship and collaboration.

***Note, the Uber-Master has 7 additional rewards, including cash and some cool things that the Uber-Apprentice does not have. Take a look at it!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Execution-Book-Launch

The Uber – Master

October 12, 2012 by

The Uber-Master gets it all, 14 rewards that really equal a treasure trove of valuables. This is the top-level package that provides a massive benefit to you. Benefits such as cash, prizes, promotion of you, and lots more! Of course there is more work, but I make it super easy for you. I guarantee the rewards will equal A LOT more than the work you will do for the book launch. Check out all 14 of these, and make sure you read to the bottom!

 

I Can Only Accept 100 Uber-Masters!

 

**THE REWARDS: (14 Total)

  1. A complimentary advanced copy of my book, It’s All About Execution: Transform Your Organization by Creating a Culture of ‘Getting Things Done’ in digital, audio, or print form.
  2. 1 to 3 extra books of any of the above formats to give away to your followers. Use these to make a contest, drive comments to the book review post on your site, drive subscriptions, etc…
  3. Pay per click payouts ($0.015 per click) for all traffic to my book pages on book launch week. I don’t believe ANY author has ever done this. I am paying you to drive traffic to the pages on my site about the book.
  4. The privilege to include a launch bonus. During the launch week I will give away a massive amount of launch bonuses to thousands of people. Why not include your own launch bonus to boost your profile. This could be an eBook, a free course, an executive summary of your own books, SWAG, or other products to help grow your list, promote your work and help my followers learn more about YOU.
  5. Access to all launch week bonuses: Yep you get all the launch bonuses too, plus you can take part in the contests to get prizes and giveaways during the week.
  6. Give a prize to promote yourself. Along with the launch bonuses which will be given to everyone that week, maybe you want to give away your book or something more valuable to contest winners during the week. This will help promote you, and connect you with followers.
  7.  6 months reciprocal social promotion: I will be sharing your book review post (See requirements below) a LOT, retweeting your tweets, and doing a bunch more to drive people to your book review page on your site, during launch week. But, wait … not only that but I am going to reciprocate the sharing of your blog posts well beyond the book launch. You pick a 6 month time period within 12 months after the book launch. And I will setup my Twitter account to share all of your blog posts for 6 months to all my followers. Maybe you have something big planned for 5 months from the book launch, and want me to do some more social work on your behalf, no problem.
  8. A prominent bio/profile with backlinks on my “Friends Around The World” page. It puts other blogrolls to shame! This “profile” is tagged with your specialties, links to all your social profiles, your book on Amazon even, whatever you want. Names are rotated on the footer of every page of my site as well to get more visibility. This fun way to create a killer backlink from a reputable site and share you with my followers.
  9. Special mention and backlink on a toddnielsen.com launch page. I will be recording each book review post and many of the notable social shares and will be recording those on some pages on the site. This will provide another backlink to your site, thus increasing the reputation of your site for search engines and it will help make my followers aware of you.
  10. Special emails and social media blasts to promote YOU and drive visitors to the book review on your site. An email will go out daily to hundreds of people who have agreed to share the book review posts, which will have links to your site. So hundreds will be tweeting and sharing your articles and driving visitors to your site through various social channels.
  11. A Free guide to creating a killer book review that will earn subscribers and favors. Rather than leave it up to chance, I have written down the lessons I have learned to increase your subscribers and traffic, earn favors with authors, and earn some cash in affiliate book sales.
  12. 1 big I-O-U. Yep, you will have my thanks and I want to do something for you. Perhaps you want my help in launching your book, perhaps I can interview you for a post on my site; perhaps you need some social media guidance or a referral. Whatever it is, I am here to serve you! So you will have a big “I Owe You”, that is good for 12 months from the book launch.
  13. A personal conversation with me. I know this may sound kind of lame. But I have had very few authors get on a phone or Skype call with me before my book review post. I thought about doing this as a big webinar. But I want to get to know you, your challenges and help you individually with this book launch, and to learn how I can be of service to you.  Let’s develop a friendship.
  14. The Uber-Magnificent Book Launch Guide and Private Webinar – Forget all those lame book launches out there that just give you a bunch of ideas with no idea on how to execute it. I am going to share it ALL! My plan has 40 individual book launch strategies, that’s right – 40! I am going to document all the communications, processes, strategies, website tactics, software, templates and everything else, so that you can have your own Uber-Magnificent Book Launch.  I will hold a private webinar to explain it all, answer questions, and give it all away!
  15. MORE! – I’m not holding back, there’s going to be much more!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Execution-Book-Launch

Praise

October 10, 2012 by

Coming Soon!

Filed Under: Press Kit
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