Brilliant Results February 2013

w w w. b r i l l i a n t p u b l i s h i n g . c o mFE

BRU

ARY

| 2

013

RECRUIT, RETAIN,

REWARD

Stock Shape Waveschoose from one of our 6 stock shapes

add your artwork to the shape templatedownload a template at: file.warwickpublishing.com

User: template Password: warwick

1831Scallop

1834Arch

1835Squares

1836Circle

1832White Wine

1833Red Wine

• Ships folded• No Setup Charges• Easy to mail• Comes with envelopes• Choose from 6 templates! Add photography, logos, social media, gift cards, featured specials, calendars, qr codes, etc.

ASI 95280 SAGE 57590 PPAI 114154

Perfect for

fundraising events!

1832

1833

1.96 1.46 1.29 1.212.11 1.56 1.39 1.29

STOCK SHAPE WAVE

Cover Story8 The 3 R’s in HR: RECRUIT, RETAIN, REWARD

Departments6 publisher’s letter

7 contributors: who’s who in the industry

10 exhibit: adjusting to booth size

12 perspective: super bowl winners and losers

14 online marketing: working in the cloud and on the job

16 foresight: do you have what it takes to be a good mentor

18 branding: confessions from a brand man

20 advice: 10 things to do when you feel stuck

14

10

8

18

Vol. 10, No. 2 2013

4 Brilliant Results • February 2013

3M.com/promote

3M a

nd P

ost-

it ar

e tr

adem

arks

of 3

M. ©

3M

201

2

Choose Post-it® Brand.Knock-off notes may look like the real thing, but they fall down on the job. Original Post-it® Notes stick securely and remove cleanly. When it comes to sticky notes, it’s the name underneath the pad that counts.

The Other Guys Post-it® Notes

Don’t be the fall guy

Brand.Knock-off notes may look like the real thing, but they fall down on the job.

We speNd most of our days at work. do you like the company

for which you work? do you respect and like your Boss (s)? the “law of

replication” says that like begets like. dogs beget dogs. trees beget trees.

And people beget people.

this law also applies to leadership. Like it or not, if you are in a leadership

role you will replicate yourself. Your followers will adopt your behaviors,

habits, and—if you have a strong personality— even your mannerisms.

people do and expect that which you give. Brands can only do so much

to build loyalty, however people can move brands to greater levels. If you

love your job, you will stay at your company many years. Conversely if

you do not like it you will be searching for something new every day and

your current employer will suffer. Company’s are only as great as their

employees something to remember in our overly crowded world. make

certain you surround your self with winners!

Ghandi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I would

add, “Be the change you want to see in your organization.” If you don’t like

the culture of your department, division, or company, start by changing

yourself. set a new standard and make yours a winner’s story.

publisher’s letter

Brilliant Publishing LLC9034 Joyce Lane

Hummelstown, PA 17036Ph: 717.571.9233Fax: 717.566.5431

PUBLISHER / ADVERTISINGMaureen Williams

[email protected]

EDITORIALEditor in ChiefMaryAnne Morrill

Senior EditorMichelle Donofry

Style EditorCharity Plata

Asst. EditorMolly Anika

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Barton Goldsmith, Jennifer Huchison, Martin Lindstrom, Barry Poltermann,

Barry Siskind, Steve Woodburn

PRODUCTION / DESIGNArt DirectorJeremy Tingle

Brilliant Results is published monthly by Brilliant Publishing LLC, 9034 Joyce Lane Hummelstown PA 17036 (717) 608-5869; Fax# (717) 566-5431. Copyright © 2013 Brilliant Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any advertising or editorial material. Advertisers, and/or their agents, assume the responsibility for any claims against the publisher based on the advertisement. Editorial contributors assume responsibility for their published works and assume responsibility for any claims against the publisher based on published work. No part of this publication can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher. All items submitted to Brilliant Results become the sole property of Brilliant Publishing LLC. Editorial content does not reflect the views of the publisher. The imprints, logos, trademarks or trade names (Collectively the “Marks”) displayed on the products featured in Brilliant Results are for illustrative purposes only and are not available for sale. The marks do not represent the implied or actual endorsement by the owners of the Marks of the product on which they appear. All of the Marks are the property of the respective owners and is not the property of either the advertisers using the Marks or Brilliant Results.

brilliantresults™

maureen [email protected] 717-608-5869

Follow us on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@Bresults

6 Brilliant Results • February 2013 www.bri l l iantpubl ishing.com

a Barton Goldsmith, Ph.D. For more than two decades Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions, and government organizations have relied on Dr. Barton Goldsmith to help them develop creative and balanced leadership. His columns appear in over 500 publications. He may be contacted through his web site www.BartonGoldsmith.com

b Jennifer Hutchison is a tech blogger currently based in Los Angeles. She has covered a wide range of topics including beauty products, travel, books, technology, and small businesses. Jennifer is a graduate of CSUN, where she majored in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing. She is the Online Marketing Specialist for InfoStreet, makers of SkyDesktop, a free Cloud-based desktop.

c Martin Lindstrom, a respected branding and marketing expert, was selected as one of the world’s 100 most influential people by TIME magazine. The founder, CEO and Chairman of the LINDSTROM company (Sydney), Martin speaks to a global audience of approximately one million people every year. His book; Buyology – Truth and Lies About Why We Buy – a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling book has been translated into 37 languages and is on almost all major best-seller lists worldwide.

d Barry Poltermann is an entrepreneur, filmmaker and new media professional who co-founded About Face Media in 2007 to provide documentary / storytelling focused content solutions for new media marketers. He has edited, directed or produced features (mostly documentaries) such as “Collapse”, “The Life of Reilly”, “Rock the Bells”, and Sundance winners “American Movie” and “The Pool.”Before founding About Face, he co-founded the digital production company L’Orange Studios, which produced cutting edge (seriously) new media projects for marketing clients such as Disney, Microsoft and Activision. In 1999 he co-founded and was the CEO of Civilian Pictures – an Internet based film financing company that raised money online for several documentaries, as well as launched the first ever IPO of a single motion picture. Earlier in his career, he worked extensively on campaigns for advertising agencies such as DDB Needham, Leo Burnett and JWT, and for his commercial clients including national brands such as Ford Motors, All-State Insurance, McDonalds and AT&T. Contact him at [email protected].

e Barry Siskind is an internationally recognized trade and consumer show expert. He is the author of six bestselling business books including Powerful Exhibit Marketing. Read his newest book, Selling from the Inside Out for an in depth guide to a successful sales career. Visit Barry at www.siskindtraining.com.

f Steve Woodburn is the Director of Sales for Pinnacle Promotions. Pinnacle Promotions is a promotional marketing agency with expertise in design, sourcing, and production of branded merchandise and corporate apparel. Steve brings his long-term relation-ships and extensive experience working in the promotional products industry to Pinnacle Promotions. Please contact Steve at [email protected].

contributors

e

f

c

b

d

a

contributors

February 2013 • Brilliant Results 7www.bri l l iantpubl ishing.com

It shouLd Come as no surprise that many of the Best Companies, read that as most profitable, also frequently appear at the top of lists of the Best Companies to Work For. even in today’s job starved market with unemployment hovering at 7.8% and job cut announcements a fairly common phenomena, the companies with outstanding performance are constantly engaged in a search for high-value employees. truisms like “hire the best” and “human capital is the only capital that appreciates rather than depreciates in value” are not just feel good statements, but rather the mottos of top performing human Resources departments.

RecRuit – the FiRst R in hRto the uninitiated recruitment simply means: an

advertisement in the newspaper, lots of applicants appear for interviews, chose the best candidate, problem solved – job filled. However those employers seeking high-value employees, whether technically proficient, management proficient or both have long understood that this approach is more often the exception than the rule. In reality, advertisements are placed in publications and journals

across the country – search firm services are retained – candidates (and perhaps their families) are flown-in for interviews – initial interviews are followed by more interviews with managers/corporate executives with whom the potential employee will be working – then the employment decision is made and relocation costs are added to the price tag. A lot of dollars rolling out the door before the new employee walks in to start work. After all this effort, there is no guarantee that the new employee will live up to expectations and contribute positively to the corporate bottom-line.

one approach to reducing the recruiting cost-per-hire rate being tried by large and small companies alike is utilization of existing employees. General experience from the use of this type of program has been positive across the spectrum of positions filled. While survey data indicates that cost-effectiveness was the primary benefit, quality candidates have been an added bonus. Not surprisingly, the most common incentive for employees who refer hired candidates is cash.

Cash is often the obvious incentive for an employee referral program, but other recognition-oriented products should be considered. there are a number of reasons for expanding

The 3 Rs in HR:

ECRUIT ETAIN EWARD


beyond the cash reward. Specifically, the cash is here today gone tomorrow problem, the how much cash is enough consideration and the attached bad feelings it may engender if the recipient feels it was an insufficient amount creating a demeaning commentary on the worth of the employee’s efforts. this is an area where consultation with a promotional products specialist can provide guidance. Consider the continuing RoI of a quality award displayed or worn by the employee long after cash is forgotten and its continuing motivational effect on others within the organization.

After the hire, there is the orientation expense. the necessary time required from various segments of the company to familiarize the new hire with the people, culture, benefits, policies, and practices of their new employer. this cost while relatively easy to calculate is often overlooked or lumped in with the cost of initial job training. many in company management would agree that it takes three months for any employee to actually start earning their wages and six months before a new employee’s wages produce any tangible bottom-line benefit to the company. After the orientation cost and oJt cost there are the harder to calculate costs associated with professional development, tuition reimbursement and new skills training.

Numerous surveys exist to calculate some portion of recruitment costs. According to information published in the Delaware Economic Development Office Resource, the U.S. department of Labor estimates employee turnover can cost between $20,000 and $30,000 per incident; whereas, the International telework Association & Council (ItAC) says to figure one-third of an employee’s annual salary. These figures are at best only estimates and when it comes to top management or technical talent costs, other studies indicate substantially greater cost figures. The following table may assist in recruitment cost calculations:• Current rate of turnover• number of employees leaving per year:• average number of employees:• DiviDe line a by line b• % of turnover = line C X 100

AnnuAl cost oF employee tuRnoveR to the compAny

employment Advertising:employment Agency and search Fees: employee Referrals program Costs:


Applicant Interview expenses: New hire Relocation Costs: employment staff Compensation: other employment expenses: orientation and training: estimated total CostsNumber of New employees

Average turnover cost per new employee:(divide total costs by # of new employees)

RetAin – the second R in hRAlternately labeled the staff, the employee, the company,

the workforce – to retain them as positive bottom-line assets, we have to know who they are and what they want. In the past this question was an easier one to answer. the old covenant between company and employee of implied lifelong employment for the hard workers tended to automatically retain a company’s workforce. this combined with workforces generally comprised of like-minded employees made figuring out what was required to retain those employees pretty much a slam-dunk.

today’s American workforce no longer has that semblance of consistency. Rather it is comprised of both genders working in previously single gender occupations, a variety of cultural norms and members of four very different generations working side by side. these differences among the members of a single workforce present a substantial challenge in the area of worker retention. Yet as Jack Welch, former Ceo of GE, stated, “Any company trying to compete…must figure out a way to engage the mind of every employee.”

Yet, according to Gallup polls’ research, 26% of the u.s. workforce is engaged (loyal and productive), 55% is not engaged (just putting in time) and 19% is actively disengaged (unhappy and spreading discontent). therein lies the challenge of worker retention. Because it can profoundly affect the bottom line of any company through the combined costs of recruitment and poor job performance/productivity, it becomes critically important to develop concrete approaches to solving the retention problem.

The first step in the retention process is to “know” your employees. For example, a study by the management search firm BridgeGate LLC exploring reasons workers gave for staying with their current employers provided the following insights:

• Women value flexible schedules more than men (17.3% vs. 11.2%)

• Men are motivated by stock options (12.0% vs. 4.7%)• Raises mean more to workers 25-34 than to

all other age groups (52.3% vs. 43.2%)

• Benefits are important to older workers (36.7% vs. 23.1% overall)

• Younger workers 18-24 prefer training opportunities (10.7% vs. 4.7% overall)

Another survey by Chart Your Course International revealed that 46.9% of respondents indicated ‘enjoyed my work’ as the primary reason keeping them at their current job followed by a distant second (15.2%) who are there for the compensation. When asked to give the most important reason for choosing a new employer the top two responses were – interesting and challenging work (27.0%) and better managers/management culture (17.6%).When asked as the economy improves whether or not they were going to seek a better job a majority (42.6%) said no with 22.3% answering yes and a disturbing 34.0% on the fence with a maybe answer.

Employers may have a difficult time changing the minds of the 22.3% who plan to seek new employment, but the 34.0% of fence sitters are really the ones who need to be motivated and relocated to the ‘no’ category. Therein lays the reason behind the third R in hR.

RewARd – the thiRd R in hRRewarding the productive employee can create a win-win

situation. educational benefits create an obvious win-win situation; however, other reward possibilities should not be overlooked. many companies recognize the importance of family to their workers, from programs as elaborate as on site daycare to those as innovative as pre-paid company logo imprinted long-distance phone cards for calling family members. the company picnic is another goodwill building standard which can be made to stand out with company logo t-shirts, hats, and other promotional products. Consider scheduling your morale building/reward oriented functions at places important or of interest to your staff – perhaps a special outing for the production crew that beat an impossible deadline, the accounting staff that worked late into the night to accomplish the year-end close, the community volunteers who gave up their personal time and enhanced the company’s name in the process – if you take the time to know your employees there are a myriad of possibilities. each of these occasions can be made even more memorable through the use of promotional products, whether as awards or to commemorate rewards and special company events.

If this all sounds like a lot of work, it is! But whenever you doubt whether retaining and rewarding employees is worth it, go back and check-out that cost of recruitment figure and remember all the “you’ve got to be kidding me people who showed up for those interviews.”


exhibitby: barry siskinD

AFteR A momeNt of panic, take a careful look at your overall budget to see where the money is being spent. the item that will quickly grab your attention is the cost of renting the exhibit space. As this usually takes up nearly a third of your financial allocation, it becomes the first place to look for cost savings. But, simply reducing the size of your exhibit comes with some challenges.

You have already given a deposit to the show •organizer.

A change in size may also precipitate a change in •location.

A change in size may affect your exhibit hardware. •

A change in size may adversely affect your personnel. •

Let’s look at each in turn •

Your deposit. You made a deposit early to ensure your space at the show. most shows have a very strict policy about cancellations. If you are cancelling within the contractual limits and give lots of notice, you should be okay but read your contract carefully to make sure there are no hidden costs for cancellation or changes.

Your location. When you shrink an island you end up with a peninsula. When you shrink an end-aisle you end up with an in-line booth. None of these are necessarily bad but they may present a problem with optics in the eyes of your customers. the last image you want to project is one that says your company is in trouble yet; the financial reality is that you are working with a shrinking budget. In addition, if you need to change location you may cause some confusion when customers try to find you. To overcome this, you will need to include an aggressive pre-show promotion campaign to ensure that attendees know where you are now located.

exhibit hardware. If reducing exhibit size doesn’t make sense, you can look at reducing the amount of exhibit

hardware, recycle components from other shows or look to rentals rather than outright ownership. uncluttered space can sometimes be a blessing in disguise. It forces you to re-think such things as traffic flow, on-site meetings and hospitality. By cutting back on your hardware costs, you minimize the expense while maintaining the overall integrity of your display. In addition to savings in hardware you also may cut back on furnishings. this might also produce reductions in the cost of installation, dismantling, on-site services and transportation. one approach is to re-think your existing exhibit space to allow more room for one-on-one meetings, which may result in a more inviting overall look and feel and minimize the cost of off-site meeting areas.

Your personnel. one of the challenges you face in times of reducing cost is maintaining staff morale. Your staff understands the fiscal restraints your company may be facing yet they may feel resentful when challenged with producing great results in an exhibit that does not meet their expectations.

open a dialogue with your staff and let them know the challenges you are facing and make them part of the solution. Listen carefully to their suggestions and whenever possible incorporate these ideas into your exhibit plan.

You might also consider sending fewer people to the show. each addition person adds to your cost so limiting attendance to those absolutely necessary for the success of your show may be an essential step. once again keep your staff up to date on why decisions like these are being made to reduce the possibility of creating adverse affects, which may result in demoralized staff.

In times of fiscal restraint booth size is just one place where budgets can be trimmed. Look beyond size and you will find many more places where you can find savings. But if you shrink your booth size, do it with your eyes wide open and implement the change intelligently.

Adjusting to a shrinking booth size whAt do you do when

youR exhibition budget gets slAshed?


Super Bowl Winners & Losers

FoR mANY, the Super Bowl game on the field took a backseat to a different kind of game played off the field. Instead of being measured in Yards and First Downs, it’s measured in tweets and shares.

the Ravens took home the Lombardi trophy but by most accounts the Clydesdales and Farmers took home the prize off the field. Budweiser’s “Brotherhood” spot has captured over 11 million Youtube views and counting and dodge Ram’s “God made a Farmer” has over 12 million Youtube views to date.

While less effective ads boasting attractive people and celebrities like Calvin Klein’s “Concept” and Godaddy.com’s “perfect match” may seem like a $4 Million fumble when the dust has settled.

Now that we’ve digested our buffalo wings and our hangover has worn off it’s really simple to see the difference between the winners and losers. No amount of sex appeal and shocking attempts at humor can replace authentic emotion-inducing storytelling.

people like a story, people can remember a story, people tell stories all the time in their daily lives whether it is what they did this weekend or something they overheard on their way to the office this morning. Stories are ubiquitous in how we live our lives.

so by taking your marketing message and making it a story for your brand or your product, people are more likely to remember it, watch it, keep watching it once they start watching it, share it and act upon it. story is a language that everyone understands.

Recent research from unruly confirmed that the number of shares a video attracts is linked to the strength of emotion it elicits from its viewers. the stronger the emotion, the more likely it is going to be shared. emotional ads can seduce consumers into buying products by making the brain more responsive to stimuli.

so it’s hardly surprising that a heart tugging, enduring friendship story about a breeder raising an iconic Clydesdale foal from birth, and then reuniting with it 3 years later has garnered almost 3 million shares, while a photo shopped model in his underwear doesn’t even place in the top 100 most shared videos of the last 30 days.

But it was the earnest dodge Ram ad for “God made A Farmer” that was the super Bowl’s biggest video sharing winner. Not surprisingly, the ad was rich in storytelling elements – the hero, the conflict, the triumph over all odds were embedded in every frame of this compelling ad. It leapt beyond the small screen, and generated a reaction in audiences.

But the real reason that the ad took off was arguably due to its ‘meta’ story… the story beyond the screen.

the press, bloggers and social sphere have relished telling the projects’ backstory – how it was based on grassroots videos created by farm families over the past three decades. this was some times presented as a criticism (“this wasn’t original you know… farmer’s have been doing this for years on Youtube”) or by way of praise (“how cool that dodge embraced this grass roots movement.”).

It doesn’t really matter.In essence, it wasn’t in the ad itself that was the

storytelling success. the powerful driver was the story behind the story – the larger story the brand embraced and built upon to give this social media success its legs.

that’s where the real brand storytelling success took place at this year’s super Bowl.

by: barry poltermann, Ceo, about faCe meDia

perspective


Super Bowl Winners & Losers Stock Shape Waveschoose from one of our 6 stock shapes

add your artwork to the shape templatedownload a template at: file.warwickpublishing.com

User: template Password: warwick

1831Scallop

1834Arch

1835Squares

1836Circle

1832White Wine

1833Red Wine

• Ships folded• No Setup Charges• Easy to mail• Comes with envelopes• Choose from 6 templates! Add photography, logos, social media, gift cards, featured specials, calendars, qr codes, etc.

ASI 95280 SAGE 57590 PPAI 114154

Perfect for

fundraising events!

1832

1833

1.96 1.46 1.29 1.212.11 1.56 1.39 1.29

STOCK SHAPE WAVE

ONliNe MArKetiNGby: JeNNIFeR hutChIsoN

Working in the Cloud and On the Job

Online Marketing Specialist for InfoStreet


Working in the Cloud and On the Job

pRoFessIoNALs Who WoRK in the service field often have to juggle several tasks at once. service techs have to make sales presentations and deal with customer service and still fix the problem they were hired for! they’re basically a one-man show that travels from site to site, the ultimate multi-tasker, with so many projects and phone calls to handle that a person can’t help but wonder how most even survive each day! But there’s something out there to help these guys out with their busy life. By working in the cloud, contractors and techs can gain an extra pair of arms to make each day count.

When your techs show up to a job they bring their toolbox and a bulky laptop. their hands are extremely full! everything they need to know is on that computer but it takes minutes to load, and they have to be on the phone at the same time talking to the office. If a problem should arise, they may have to leave the site and only return after obtaining the information or ordering the parts that they need. And then what happens if there are errors in that information? they have to head back again to the office. The tech wastes gas and the client wastes time. No one’s a winner here.

With your current setup, your service techs might not have access to immediate information because it’s all manual. the situation could be improved with instant access to what is needed: information. With the cloud, your techs would be able to pull out their phones to access job, client, and other information instantly, not to mention replacing that bulky laptop with a slim smartphone that’ll fit in any pocket.

When working in the cloud, there are no risks or compromises, only faster, better, and more accessible tools for communication. the smartphone becomes just as important as the wrench in a plumber’s toolbox.

It’ll always be there.What happens now when a loyal long-term client

calls for a tech to solve a problem? the job is scheduled for the next day and files have to be sorted through at lightening speeds to obtain the right info. sometimes a different worker is assigned to a job and hasn’t talked to the previous tech. What if the files were lost or thrown away? If your tech is working in the cloud, going back to visit an old job or obtaining a new job from a loyal client isn’t a big deal. they can have previous notes and billing statements available on-demand. All they need to do is open the app on their phone to see every note

anyone in the company ever made. the same thing goes for a different tech visiting the same job. every worker has access to a large amount of data that is available at the click of a button. managers will also be able to see what projects techs are working on. Never again will your techs say “I wasn’t the technician on that job”, everyone will be able to work together with the same access to information. Best of all, the information is safe, secure, and always within reach.

even years later the information will still be there, ready to be used when fixing another sink or repairing more ducts. With cloud providers keeping your information safe, wouldn’t it be a safer, better idea to be working in the cloud?

When hammer meets nail.the cloud is growing, and using it to manage your

business means simplifying a complex and slow process. managers can see directly what projects are being worked on and can participate in helping those projects move smoothly.

say for instance, your company receives a service call from a new client. You make a few notes: “Customer says sink is backed up” or “AC unit won’t turn on”. You then send a truck to visit the client. With the cloud, the tech snaps pictures and enters notes into his mobile device, and you can read everything he does from your own office computer. You instantly notice that it’s a different problem and not the one he seems to suspect. You send him an alert, and together devise a new proposal to hand to your client. You’re able to instantly accept the proposal and email or print it out to put into your client’s hands. You show the client that you’re on the top of your game and secure the job. After they accept, you send out invoices and orders for parts needed for the job. Your consultant puts on his tech hat and gets to work. At every step, you and your tech can stay in touch with each other and the client, just in case more problems arise. there are no nasty surprise additions to the estimate because you have access to all of the information needed to fix the problem.

You are able to communicate with your on-site consultant/tech and together you both achieved your goal: to satisfy the customer with fast high-quality service. there’s no doubt that the customer will refer you to friends and family, and will probably call you back in the future if some other problem comes up.


by: steve wooDburn

fOresiGht

A deAR FRIeNd passed away recently who also happened to be an icon in the promotional products world. her name was Janelle Nevins and I don’t believe she ever met someone in this industry she wasn’t willing to help if needed, be they competitor or friend, woman or man. I consider Janelle the ultimate mentor and after her inspiring memorial service I started thinking what

that really means and what it takes to be a good mentor?

According to the American society of training and development (Astd),

75% percent of executives point to mentoring as playing a key role in their careers; and 44% of CEO’s list mentoring programs as one of the three most effective strategies to

enhance women’s advancement into senior management. our oldest son is studying criminal

justice in college and also joined the Army Reserve a little over a year ago. he found a mentor

within our town’s police department who also served in the military and has been able to guide and mentor our son in areas my wife and I have no expertise. Zach’s on a path to join the police department when he graduates and it most likely wouldn’t have happened without his mentor and now friend.

so what does it take to be a good mentor? Is it as simple as giving someone on-the-job training and then leaving them to sink or swim? I came up with a few traits I believe help make a good mentor and I know there are many others you can think of:

the heart of a teacher: even though you may never have had the desire to stand up in front of a group of students you may still have the heart of a teacher. If you enjoy sharing your expertise and knowledge with others and are truly interested in seeing others grow and succeed then you could be a good mentor.

Do You Have What it Takes to be a Good Mentor?

www.bri l l iantpubl ishing.com16 Brilliant Results • February 2013

Do You Have What it Takes to be a Good Mentor?

Is a Good Listener: mentors need to listen more than they talk (good point for all of us) and not be judgmental. Ask to-the-point questions then be quiet and listen. take notes if you need to, but take it all in before offering advice. Listening is probably the most important trait of a good mentor and if it’s all about you, you, you, then being a mentor is probably not a good fit.

Is honest: mentees are usually young and they need honest feedback if they are to learn and grow. Good mentors don’t sugarcoat the truth so they don’t hurt their protégés feelings. Constructive feedback, both positive and negative, is what mentees need in a supportive and professional environment.

Acts as a Role model: Actions still speak louder than words and mentors need to be role models in their work place and in their life in general. this doesn’t mean you’re perfect, it simply means you work in an ethical way, treat others with respect and lead by example.

offers encouragement: Fear and doubt are common for those just starting their careers and one of the mentor’s jobs is to always offer words of encouragement. this encouragement can come in the form of asking pointed questions, pushing your mentee to take risks and being there when they fail or fall which is inevitable.

Forward thinking companies need to always be training their next generation of leaders, many of which may come from within. either a formal or informal mentoring program is essential to training these future leaders to understand the organization and how things work within. the best mentors are well connected in their industry and willing to introduce their mentee to their network and will never feel threatened as their protégés develop and become more experienced and skilled.

You don’t have to have a special degree or training to be a mentor, but you must have a desire to share your knowledge and skills with others. You also must be willing to devote the time it takes to build a trusting and personal relationship with those you mentor and, just like children, understand that one day they will move on to fill the roles you have trained them for.

Janelle’s example of mentoring and teaching will continue, as those she mentored will do the same with others getting started in the business world. she set the bar very high and single-handedly raised the level of professionalism and creativity in our industry and for that we are all very grateful. thank you Janelle and I suspect you’re up in heaven continuing to share your wisdom with others.


depArtMeNt pGby: martin linDstrom

brANd buildiNG

WhAt do BottLes of rare, 170-year-old champagne, rescued from a shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic sea, tell us about the power of a brand’s story? And what we are willing to believe about why we want what we want.

What occurred in Finland last year was the culmination of a year’s intensive preparation involving 193 tons of the most advanced deep-sea recovery equipment. this much was certain: Christian ekstrom, an amateur diver based in the remote Åland Islands, had no idea of what he had unearthed during a fairly routine dive he made during the summer of 2010. Who, after all, could possibly imagine that his find would result in one of the biggest branding exercises ever–or at least ever to take place in France?

When ekstrom innocently slipped into the cold waters of the Baltic sea in July of 2010 to explore a shipwreck 150 feet below the surface, he made an unusual discovery. It wasn’t a pristine stradivarius, a Russian submarine, or trunks full of gold sovereigns and lost gemstones. No, what he found were 162 bottles of champagne. the ship most likely sank during a turbulent storm sometime between 1825 and 1830, and the champagne in the hold came from three distinguished houses: heidsieck & Co., Veuve Clicquot, and the now-defunct Juglar.

had the discovery been run-of-the-mill house wines, we would of course have heard very little about it. Yet the mystique of this effervescent liquid, traditionally produced

Confessions of a Brand Man


with a blend of three particular grape types, grown in specific fields in the Champagne region in northeast France, excited every sommelier who has made the science of sparkling wine their life’s work and, for that matter, anyone who appreciates a good yarn. some sommeliers even assisted in recovering the bottles, carefully replacing the rope originally used to fix the corks, with metal, and then slowly raising them to the surface. many were broken, and some had been contaminated, but of the 162 bottles, 79 were drinkable–perfectly stored in the icy, dark waters in which they lay.

At an auction in marlehamn, Finland, 11 bottles of 170-year-old champagne went on sale. together, the champagne sold for an astounding $156,000, roughly $14,000 a bottle. the day after the auction I attended a birthday party at Veuve Clicquot’s headquarters in Reims, a city in the Champagne region of France. As luck would have it, at one point I found myself gazing upon one of these vintage bottles, a gift to Veuve Clicquot from government officials in the Åland Islands.

there I stood, a brand man who makes a living telling a good story to create the ultimate in illusion about commercial products, almost hypnotically drawn to this world of exclusive champagne. I felt the strong pull of needing to possess everything so stylishly displayed in the Veuve Clicquot showroom. I wanted the key rings, the notepads, the Rosé Fridge, and even the iphone cover (even though I don’t use an iphone).

the story hit home–and hard. despite the fact that I’d spent a few hours earlier seeing the simplicity of champagne’s manufacturing methods, I’d been completely sucked in. I don’t want to diminish the importance of blend, bottle, soil and fruit, but the ingredients in a good bottle of champagne are not that complex–grapes, yeast, and a few twists of rock sugar.

some years ago a team of sommeliers were asked to evaluate the quality of three different bottles of wine. each bottle had a different price point–expensive, middling, and cheap. the sommeliers were hooked up to electrodes that scanned their brains, as they carefully tasted each one. the results of the fMRI confirmed that the most expensive wine did indeed taste better. In contrast, the cheap wine registered a withdrawal response in the taste region of the sommeliers’

brains. Based on this result, one could be forgiven for believing that good wine justifiably costs more. Only there was a catch. the three bottles contained exactly the same wine. the sommeliers were just not aware of it.

If the tale of the emperor’s new clothes was given a 21st century twist, it could easily be named the emperor’s New Wine. Forget about disney, Gucci or even our beloved Apple, there’s an industry out there that’s miles ahead of the marketing pack–the champagne industry, and it’s been going strong for about 500 years.

As my tour of the Champagne region came to an end, the last stop on the program was a small, unknown house located 13 miles from Veuve Clicquot ponsardin in Reims.

I entered through a simple grey cellar door with little grandeur in sight. the storage area doubled as a showroom. Bottles of bubbly were the only merchandise. Fairly illegible hand-written sheets on a table offered the house champagne for a remarkable €14.95 a bottle–a 300% discount over any bottle selling at the more prestigious champagne houses.

With less than an hour between two visits, something strange had occurred. the visitors’ knowing smiles and deep sighs that accompanied the tastings at Veuve Clicquot were absent. even when the winemaker’s trophy was displayed alongside his prestige vintage, everyone seemed to have a foot out the door. they unanimously agreed that the quality was simply not there, a conclusion they’d reached before

the last glass had been filled with the finest drops of the house.

one can’t help but wonder if this was a fair judgment. or had we all just been captivated by grand stories, golden yellow labels, treasures from a shipwreck, a cork seal and bubbles that turned sparkling wine into champagne? had we been seduced by the brand’s story rather than what was inside the bottle? No one will ever know. But as I made my way out of the winegrower’s house, I came across a small boy. He first glanced at my elegantly wrapped Veuve Clicquot box, along with its heavily branded ice cooler, and then he simply looked directly at me. I imagined he was thinking, “Wow, I love that brand.” But then again, he could just as easily have been thinking, “Were you really that stupid?” And I suppose, perhaps, we were.

One can’t help but wonder if this was a fair judgment. Or

had we all just been captivated by grand

stories, golden yellow labels, treasures from a shipwreck, a cork

seal and bubbles that turned sparkling wine

into champagne?


by: Dr. barry golDsmith

Advice

Sometimes when we are trying our best to move forward, something comes along to block us. Here are ten tips to help you keep moving in the right direction.

1. Get out of the house or office. If you can’t get your mind clear, sometimes stepping outside can give you a new perspective. Getting some fresh air will enliven your senses, and your brain will start to think of new things.

2. start writing. turn on your computer, or get out a pad and paper and write down whatever is in your head. once you’ve cleared out most of the extemporaneous thoughts, the ones you want will appear.

3. Work on a different project. If you can’t do what’s immediately in front of you, find something else to occupy your thoughts and energy. It doesn’t really matter what it is; you are taking this action to clear your mind by temporarily putting aside whatever you’re stuck on.

4. Clean your desk. Sometimes we have so many irons in the fire that we

can get bogged down with what to do first. As you clean your desk, not only will you break a pattern of inactivity but you will find things that you’ve already completed and can put away. doing so will give you some more room to process your thoughts.

5. take a deep breath. You would be surprised at how many people hold their breath when they feel tense. When you cut off the oxygen supply from your brain and body, you can’t function as well. Breathing deeply a few times can reenergize you and give you that little extra bit of clarity that you need.

6. take a shower. even if it’s the middle of your day, a shower can change your perspective and help you get going. We all feel better when we get clean, and though it seems like a small step, it may be just the trick you need to get back on a positive path.

7. Call a good friend. hearing the voice of someone you care about and spending a few minutes getting involved in his or her world can give you a new outlook on yours. making

this positive emotional connection may be just what you need to get moving again.

8. move your body. dance, get up and walk around the room, pick up your clothes, or do some exercise. Get those endorphins circulating through your brain. Being sedentary retards your ability to come up with new ideas.

9. Read. someone else’s words of wisdom can give you some new ideas. Reading can also help you relax and recharge your mental batteries.

10. Listen to your heart. What is it trying to tell you about where you are and what you are attempting to do? perhaps there is a missing piece that will help you solve the puzzle.

We all get stuck in our thoughts and actions from time to time. The key is not to let it continue any longer than necessary. The sooner you can free your thoughts, the better you will feel.

10 Things To Do When You Feel Stuck


Name ___________________________________________________________

Address __________________________________________________________

City/State ________________________________________________________

Country/Zip ______________________________________________________

Tel _____________________________ E-mail ___________________________

YES, Payment enclosed (make check payable to Brilliant Publishing LLC) OR Go to www.thehomeschoolhandbook.com and select Subscribe to pay by credit card.

YES!, I would like to be included in receiving news updates by email.

One Year Subscription, (6 issues) YES, Payment enclosed (make check payable to Brilliant Publishing LLC) OR Go YES, Payment enclosed (make check payable to Brilliant Publishing LLC) OR Go

to www.thehomeschoolhandbook.com and select Subscribe to pay by credit card.

TM

May / June 2012

$6.50 USA/$15.50 INTL

Page 3

Page 30

Page 32

The Middle School Years

How To Be Happy Anywhere

Phonics vs. Sight-Reading

Brilliant Publishing LLC

9034 Joyce Lane

Hummelstown, PA 17036

Address Service Requested

THH_May/June 2012.indd 1

5/18/12 7:10:47 AM

Continental USA Subscription: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $19.95 / yearCanadian Subscription: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $59.95 / yearInternational Subscription: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $89.95 / year

Mail to:Brilliant Publishing, LLC9034 Joyce LaneHummelstown, PA 17036

The Homeschool

Handbook magazine

is Your Resource,

Support & Inspiration

for a successful at home

education & lifestyle.

Don’t Miss a Single Issue...

Subscribe Today!

™

Because Education Matters...

THH_FP house ad.indd 37 10/16/12 11:14:19 PM

3M.com/promote

3M a

nd P

ost-

it ar

e tr

adem

arks

of 3

M. ©

3M

201

2

Go with a note you know and trust.Unlike knock-off notes, genuine Post-it® Notes stick securely, remove cleanly and make a lasting impression for your business. They get your brand seen, not stepped on.

Don’t trash your reputation with a knock-off note

Brilliant Results February 2013

Documents

Transcript of Brilliant Results February 2013