Fwd: How To Grow Through Modeling (Benchmarking) and Innovation

                                           

How do you mover onwards in your business:   benchmarking the best practices (creative imitation) or innovation (breaking the rules?)

In MBA and following conventional wisdom, we do well with tried and true practices.  Innovation if oftentimes fraught with risk.  Management would pride itself with its old successes.  "Those were the days my friend"  and refuse to change to its past practices.

Well we sometimes grow by doing what we are good at.   But there are limits.



                               






When the environment is changing so fast and you are not responding, this is what Warren Buffet says, "When the rate of change outside exceeds the rate of change inside, the end is insight"

Innovate or die?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Business Thrival <deniseandjynell@businessthrival.com>
Date: Thu, May 17, 2012 at 4:09 AM
Subject: How To Grow Through Modeling and Innovation

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Issue # 93 - May 16, 2012 Dear Jorge, Have you ever noticed that you can expedite your growth by following what others are doing that is already working?  In fact, one of the fastest ways to grow your business is by following the business practices that others have already proven. However, sometimes the biggest breakthroughs for your business come from innovating in ways that make others think you are crazy. In today's Main Essay, world-renowned marketing guru Dan Kennedy discusses this concept in detail, and shares how to determine when it's time to break the mold and innovate. In the Check It Out section, you will learn how to receive $613 worth of Dan Kennedy's best money-making information for free when you pay shipping and handling to get it mailed to you.   We hope you enjoy this issue of the Business Thrival Newsletter. Cheers, Denise Gosnell Publisher Business Thrival, Inc.    Innovate By Dan S. Kennedy Just the other day, I was listening to a recording of a speech by Joe Sugarman* and Joe said, "One good path to success is to learn all the proven rules and meticulously follow them. Another path is to occasionally break all the rules, because breakthroughs come only from breaking rules."  Resonates with me; as you know, I wrote a whole book based on breaking rules. On one hand, I'm cautious about innovation; pioneers usually come home full of arrow; it's often costly and time consuming...and I am always much more interested in "what works" than a new idea.   However, as Joe said, OCCASIONALLY, or I might say, at carefully chosen time, you have no alternative but to be the pioneer in order to move forward and in order to stand out from the crowd. It is, of course, the minority of times that you successfully innovate that you get noticed for, not the majority of times you successfully follow an already plowed path.  (*In case you don't know, Joe Sugarman is a mail-order pioneer:  irst to sell electronic calculators via direct-response ads, first to use 800#'s.  You may know him via his infomercials or QVC appearances for Blu-Blockers. But his JS&A ads and catalogs preceded The Sharper Image and led in selling various electronic gadgets.) I think the best times to innovate are when you are absolutely convinced that the conventional wisdom; the already plowed path; the crowd is wrong.   Dan Kennedy is a multi-millionaire entrepreneur, highly paid and sought after marketing and business strategist.  His advice has helped countless first-generation, from-scratch multi-millionaire and 7-figure income entrepreneurs and professionals. Dan's business building and marketing strategies flat-out work. Dan has agreed to give you $613.91 of his best money making information for free if you pay the shipping and handling fee of $19.95 to have the program shipped to you. Click here to learn more. If you want proven examples that you can just copy and implement, you should definitely check this out right now. Just as an example, when I was getting started in the speaking business, everybody seemed to operate under the policy of billing clients for fees and expenses after their engagements (anything else was viewed as impolite and unprofessional), and most speakers who sold product from the platform sort of begged the clients for permission, and often sacrificed that opportunity. Very early on, I determined that being in the banking and collections business did not serve my purposes very well at all – nor did speaking only for wages. So I insisted on a 50% fee deposit to take a date off the calendar, balance and travel expenses paid on site at the speech, and I refused dates where I could not also offer my materials. At the time, peers criticized me; told companies would never accept such terms; and called 'unethical' by agents and bureaus. Today, my payment policies are the norm in the profession. Another example: at a time when every vendor in a particular niche was offering only very expensive services requiring long-term contracts, I copied their marketing method but used it to sell a substitute product at a very small price (and quickly took in a couple million dollars) – I was convinced they were idiotically leaving a lot of motivateed but unsatisfied customers behind by not offering a low price option. An interesting survey of selected, successful, profitable large corporations turned up 74% that said they'd achieve their first big success with either a unique product or a distinctive way of doing business, although this breakthrough may not have come along until they had been in business for many years. Note the word: first. I also know many companies that are able to subsequently build on that first breakthrough more conservatively, to grow and stabilize their businesses. The bottom-line, I guess, is that you gotta gamble. You try to gamble only when you must OR when circumstances look so favorable that it is irresistible, but you gotta gamble. DAN S. KENNEDY is a serial, multi-millionaire entrepreneur; highly paid and sought after marketing and business strategist; advisor to countless first-generation, from-scratch multi-millionaire and 7-figure income entrepreneurs and professionals; and, in his personal practice, one of the very highest paid direct-response copywriters in America. As a speaker, he has delivered over 2,000 compensated presentations, appearing repeatedly on programs with the likes of Donald Trump, Gene Simmons (KISS), Debbi Fields (Mrs. Fields Cookies), and many other celebrity-entrepreneurs, for former U.S. Presidents and other world leaders, and other leading business speakers like Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy and Tom Hopkins, often addressing audiences of 1,000 to 10,000 and up.  His popular books have been favorably recognized by Forbes, Business Week, Inc. and Entrepreneur Magazine. His NO B.S. MARKETING LETTER, one of the business newsletters published for Members of Glazer-Kennedy Insider's Circle, is the largest paid subscription newsletter in its genre in the world.  Here are the action steps to consider implementing from what Dan shared in today's Main Essay. 1.  Look for opportunities to model after what others in your industry are doing that works well. 2.  Continue modeling after the best practices that are already working until you get to a point that it doesn't feel like it works for you any more. 3.  When it seems like something really needs to change, take charge and innovate, even if others tell you that you're crazy for taking that position. Let us know your thoughts on today's issue. Post your comments here.   Forward this email to a friend! Business Thrival, Inc. 10412 Allisonville Road Suite 201 Fishers, IN 46038 USA Toll Free: 888-579-9922 Fax: 877-579-9933 © Copyright 2012 Business Thrival, Inc. All Rights Reserved. NOTE:  If URLs do not appear as live links in your e-mail program, please cut and paste the full URL into the location or address field of your browser. Disclaimer:  Business Thrival, Inc. only recommends products that we've either personally checked out ourselves, or that come from people we know and trust. For doing so, we may receive a commission. We will never recommend any product that does not have a 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee. Nothing in this email should be considered as providing legal, financial, accounting or estate planning advice. While some of the authors may be attorneys who have discussed various legal, business and other concepts herein, nothing herein can be construed to constitute specific legal advice or recommendations. No communication by our company or employees to you should be deemed as personalized legal, financial, or estate planning advice. The social media icons contained in this newsletter were obtained from IconDock.

Twitter    Facebook    Our Blog I truly believe that most of the time...less is more. Sometimes, certain things viewed in certain ways have the ability to make an impact on our life in a positive way. I think Eleanor Roosevelt said it best, "It is not fair to ask of others, what you are unwilling to do yourself." Click here to watch "Change the World"    Thank you for your Inforrmation. I really find it very useful. Joseph Body: Working in an office typically involves spending a great deal of time sitting in an office chair or typing on a keyboard. Both can be bad for your body. Try using an ergonomic chair and an ergonomic keyboard to relieve stress on your back and your fingers. Mind: There is a great reason why the billionaire tech companies all have game rooms. It's because they have figured out that taking breaks and playing games at work will help rest your mind and allow your creativity to really come out. So make sure you take periodic breaks yourself and do something fun. It will relax your mind and make you more creative. Spirit: Have you ever thought about how you would like to be remembered when you leave this earth? Does something specific come to your mind – like "to be known for helping other people", or "to leave a trust fund for my family so that any child in my family can go to college if they want to". It is great to have a purpose that is bigger than you, and that can last beyond your lifetime. When you have a bigger purpose, it makes it easier to get through some of life's challenges.  And if you take baby steps each day or each month towards achieving that bigger purpose, you will also get so much closer to making it happen.

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