Marketing lessons from the tractor - part 2

When we last heard from farmer David – that was me last weekend – I talked about how important it is to find people who already know the tips and tricks that help you move through problems quickly.

What is that great quote? I think it’s something like this: The smart man learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from other peoples’ mistakes.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve made plenty. And finally, I’m ready to make fewer.

The problem I was trying to solve was how to use the big Kubota tractor – my dream machine – with a Box blade and a front end bucket to smooth my washboard driveway.

And with my friend’s advice (let’s call him my driveway mentor), I had the answer to smoothing my drive – drive backwards and drag the front end bucket to scrape the driveway smooth. And it was working very well [...]

With Freemind, organize your business and your life…

Mindmapping is not the best descriptor of this tool. Capturing brainstorm is more accurate. Without a tool to structure and focus my tasks, I’m flailing at different things all day because I’m constantly brainstorming.

The central benefit of a mindmap is speed and spontaneity. A mindmap reflects what you think about a single topic, which can focus brainstorming into actionable ideas.

With Freemind, I jot down thoughts, projects, ideas, tasks and rearrange them into coherent step-by-step processes as they gel. Now, I use it for all kinds of activities like:

  • Personal coaching with my clients: I use it real time to work with clients via a webinar so that we organize and build out the goals and actions live so the client understands exactly what needs to happen before the next session.
  • Product creation: I outline features of a software or information product before I create it in a Freemind mindmap. Then I have a basic prototype that I can share with my own coach to get additional input.
  • Process improvement: Everything is a process. Going to the grocery is a process. Some processes need diagrammed and immproved. For example, creating a workshop like the Niche Affiliate Marketing System consists of multiple processes. I mapped each of those in [...]

Productivity While Traveling: Top Three Ways To Get More Done On The Road

Are you a road warrior?

I feel your pain. I’m at 34,000 feet over the Rocky Mountains on a 6-hour flight to Seattle for business.

I could be sleeping or watching a movie or reading magazines, but in today’s fast-paced, completely wired world, it’s incredibly important to be productive during available time. That’s especially true if you’re [...]