Inspiration | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

Jimmy Fallon and Adele Show You What You’re Missing

November 26, 2015 by Mike McRitchie 2 Comments

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yL7VP4-kP4[/youtube]

We’re all in a mental haze most of the time.

You’re driving to work. Listening to the music on the radio. Thinking about your to-do-list. And time just flies by. Before you know it you’re there.

You’re on the sofa on a Sunday. Watching football. Eating…is that the first or 2nd bag of chips? Your wife asks you something. Probably sounds like bzzzzz bzzzzz. Huh?

You’re in your business answering emails, doing work, the day flying by.

What does it all have in common?

You’re missing life. You aren’t seeing possibilities or opportunities. Because you are no longer conscious. You don’t notice anything around you.

But why does that even matter?

Imagine your business is struggling. People are coming into your store and having conversations. But are you listening? Or are you missing out on what they are trying to tell you? Things that could be of critical importance to you and your business. They could be the key to turning things around.

I think sometimes in this world of instant communication, electronic gadgetry, and so many “helpful” apps, we often don’t slow down enough to actually notice what is happening around us.

And so we miss it. The cool idea that could be a game changer. The fun thing that could bring your family together. The link between your products or services and your prospects and clients.

In the Jimmy Fallon/Adele video you saw how awesome the song, “Hello” was with simple instruments you’d find in a kindergarten class. Who’d have thunk it?

Could you be doing simple videos with your phone and posting them to YouTube for your clients? Like tips for solving problems using your products or services? They don’t have to be professional production quality. And most times they’re better when they’re not.

Or are there cool aspects of your business that you haven’t yet shared with your clients? Why don’t you share them? Have an open house or special customer appreciation event for them? You could share your story and put up cool things your employees have done – business related or not.

What can you do to humanize your business and connect on a personal level?

With today being Thanksgiving, take this one to heart with family too. Take time to listen. Be present. Care. Enjoy.

This is the one holiday a year where the focus isn’t on presents and commercialization (that will come with tomorrow’s Black Friday). Put off putting up those Christmas lights until the weekend.

Just enjoy family and friends. Go throw the football in the street. Share cool stories. Catch up on the year’s events. And just have a great time.

Work will be there when you get back. You can put the headphones on and go for a run later. Be in the now.

We all have so much to be thankful for and so many blessings. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

Robert De Niro as an Intern?

October 18, 2015 by Mike McRitchie 1 Comment

: pedrosimoes7 / Foter / CC BY

This weekend I went to see the movie, “The Intern“. It was a story of a 70-year old who takes an internship at an up and coming fashion-based tech company.

Robert De Niro is a retired executive from the phone book company and is looking for something new and interesting to pass the time. He’s already gone through the normal options that retirees choose to do – golf, go to coffee shops, tai-chi, hanging out at the senior center.

Well through this new “Senior Intern” program he ends up contributing a lot more than the hip young techies expect.

It is an awesome heartwarming movie that I’d highly recommend.

But beyond that there are some interesting business applications.

A Captive Workforce Not Yet Ready to Retire

What we’re seeing these days is baby boomers starting to retire. And retirement can be hard for many people.

They’re used to going to an office every day for the last 40 years or so. They have their coworker relationships. Their water cooler talk. Their routine commute to and from work.

If they are married then they have their spouse who has their routine as well – whether working outside the home or not.

And so when someone retires they often go from not enough time to get things done and running around like a chicken with their head cut off. To having waaaay too much time on their hands. What is said about idle minds?

So the issue is retirees either continue to work and don’t retire (because they haven’t saved for retirement). Or they retire and get bored or start to feel less self worth because their role and responsibility and power that they held in their job for so long just disappeared.

And so the smart ones, who don’t want to become a statistic and just die within a couple years of retirement, need to find something to do fast.

Why You Need A Senior Intern

And that’s where this “Senior Intern” idea makes real sense. In the past I’ve seen another version of this which is the “Office Mom”. The “Office Mom” is someone who is a mom and maybe has kids in school but can’t work a full day and still take care of the kids. So she looks for a 4-6 hour a day job to pay the bills and give her some adult time out of the home.

The neat thing about that is they are often awesome multi-taskers, can handle stress with aplomb, and are motivated to contribute and do a good job. They may not be the most tech savvy, but handling tasks that need to get done but would take away from other high performing staff members’ time is valuable. They do things like office manager or receptionist type functions often. Or they can be a personal assistant to the company owner.

Tech Match-making Filling Gaps

With the recent introduction of ways for people to earn quick cash outside their job or for stay-at-home moms or retirees who need money to fill in the gaps – like like Uber (taxi-service) or TaskRabbit (miscellaneous needed tasks from shopping to handyman services), people are finding more ways to stay busy and make money while doing it.

So back to the movie. What intrigued me about the “Senior Intern” business model is the fact that so much of the intellectual property of successful companies is tied up in retirees’ heads. Now not every retiree wants to return to work – either part time or full time. But there are some that do.

You see them volunteering at SCORE (retired executives who help people with their businesses, whether start-up or existing business). You see them helping with churches and charities.

Score Great Intellectual Property at a Bargain-Basement Price

So why not flip the internship idea on its head? Why not have 70-year-old interns helping today’s 20- or 30-something business leader get to the next level with guidance from some of the prior generation’s finest?

Why not have senior interns help those who are transitioning into the workforce make that transition smoother? Being mentors. Being part of Human Resources departments.

In most cases you could get a senior to work for your organization at a fraction of the cost you would have had to pay for a senior executive (think $15-$25/hr vs $75-$150/hr). And think of the knowledge, experience, and business savvy that those “interns” could share with your company.

Check out this story about senior interns and “Encore Fellowships”.

Click Here to learn how to apply for an “Encore Fellowship”.

And maybe you can enjoy the benefits of having someone like Robert De Niro working for you (maybe minus the celebrity coolness).

Find Out What Relationship Experts Tony Robbins and Josh Gretz Have In Common

October 12, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0uKO1h3t7M[/youtube]

Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time and money investing in personal growth through Tony Robbins’ books and programs. And I wouldn’t be here (doing what I’m doing now – meeting with and helping – small business entrepreneurs succeed in their business ventures) without the personal growth that Tony lead me through in my twenties.

Josh Gretz reminds me a lot of Tony. Josh is a quieter, more thoughtful version (we all know Tony Robbins is the over-the-top high energy guy). What I like about Josh is he brings his own version of passion (a Tony Robbins staple) to his business. You can just tell he loves what he does and is passionate about making a difference in his area of expertise – helping people improve their relationships and get a much higher quality of life as a result.

He tackles challenges such as introversion in his speaking events. And he coaches people one on one as well. Even high-achieving individuals come to Josh to get guidance before speaking at high profile events.

Josh is a body language and relationships expert who shows people how to build stronger relationships at home, in business and even on the go. If you’re not in the relationships you want, he’ll show you how to change that, too.

If you have a need in this area or know someone who does, check him out at http://www.joshgretz.com/

So in this video I interview Josh. Together we uncover 17 specific strategies to grow and market his speaking business. This is the part of my business I most enjoy – helping entrepreneurs uncover and leverage the most impactful areas of their business that they’re often too close to the business to recognize. Along with that I take my operational and marketing expertise to suggest out-of-the-box approaches that maximize their time and effort to get the results they are in business to achieve.

How many of these 17 strategies can you implement in your business? Need help in uncovering them for yourself? Or know someone who could? Get in contact with me.

In the meantime, enjoy!

Bad News for Jobs. Don’t Make This Mistake.

October 5, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

: LC_24 / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

Unemployed?

Underemployed?

If you read the news ==> Lackluster Jobs Report

You’d either think everything is fine (unemployment rate around 5%).

But is it?

If you dig a little deeper you’ll find the true unemployment rate over 10% and no end in sight.

So what can you do? You feel trapped. Discouraged. Frustrated. Sending out resumes. Going to job interviews. Feeling like you’re just walking a treadmill with no end in sight. Finances tight. Wondering how you are going to pay all the bills if this keeps up.

Don’t Make This Mistake!

You could curl up into a ball. Stay in bed all day. Eat non-stop on the couch watching the daytime soaps. And feeling sorry for yourself.

Or You Could Do This Instead

Or you could redouble your efforts. Increase your interviewing skills. Contact people for referrals. Ask to do informational interviews to discover more options you may have overlooked. Pay a service to upgrade your resume with something that’s current, hard hitting, and highlights your strengths – often strengths you didn’t even know you had.

Or There’s Another Route to Go

But what if you’ve just had it with the employee route? What if you would rather work for yourself? Run your own business. Be the boss.

Tired of the employee rat race? Sucking up to bosses. Scraping by on that meager paycheck. And them expecting you to be grateful you have a job. Working you to the bone without recognition or a way to win.

Are you a go-getter with drive? Someone who doesn’t need to be pushed to get things done but jumps in and makes things happen. Is there a business that doesn’t require a lot of money to get started that you could just jump into right away?

Can you do landscape maintenance? Painting. Carpentry work. Accounting. Dog Walking. House sitting. Sales.

There are hundreds of businesses that can get you rolling again. They may or may not be your dream job. But they will start paying some bills and get your self confidence back.

Your Transformation

The other thing you may find is that when you start doing this you actually become more attractive to potential employers. Confidence attracts. And resignation as an attitude is the kiss of death.

So get out there and get going. By taking action you’ll start an incredible journey. Maybe you’ll never be destined to be an entrepreneur. But maybe you will. And you’ll find out a lot about yourself in the process.

That’s the American Way. We’re a pull yourself up by the bootstraps kind of people. We take charge and attack obstacles. We don’t wait for hope and change to come our way. We tackle it head on and make our own hope and change.

You can do it too. Jump in now. You’ll be glad you did.

And come back here to recharge your batteries, get inspired, and find new ideas to driver you’re new business forward. Need additional help and guidance getting things rolling? Contact me and we’ll talk. In the meantime subscribe and get more help driving things forward.

The Power of Persistence

September 5, 2015 by Mike McRitchie 4 Comments

: Kamyar Adl / Foter / CC BY

Let It Snow!

It is 1976 in Dublin, California. The Big Snow. I’m walking home from Murray Elementary School. Snow on the ground. Several inches. Which for Dublin and Northern California in general (other than in the upper hills) is unheard of.

So as I’m walking home across the field, and decide to roll up a snowball. It is pea size as I start. I keep rolling it. Over and over along the ground.

Soon it is the size of a softball. Rolling and rolling. Now halfway across the field. Getting bigger and bigger.

Now as big as a bowling ball. Almost to the street outside the school property. Now half as tall as me. Hardly able to push the ball over. Snowman size. Success!

So what does this have to do with you?

Today’s post is about business success…or any success…

…and the power of persistence.

Like my little snowball becoming a giant one, business and personal success both happen when you take ongoing and persistent action UNTIL you SUCCEED.

I was reminded of that recently by a few things that demonstrated this principle.

“Donald Trump Phenomenon”

Everyone thought Donald Trump’s presidential prospects were a flash-in-the-pan. But he kept pressing forward. Selling a grand vision, “Make America Great Again”, fighting back against establishment orthodoxy, and using language that disenfranchised voters love. And now with his accepting “The Pledge” to support the eventual Republican Nominee, he has become a viable and formidable candidate.

He could have easily bowed out under the pressure. But his “just-win” attitude and persistence, honed through thousands of negotiations (with developers, public officials, unions, lenders, etc.) and financial hardship, provided him the internal evidence that persistence pays off.

New Business Launch Success

Another situation was a client of mine who has recently launched a new business and has just seen crazy exciting growth in a short period of time.

Now this isn’t all about what has just been happening. But it is also about the groundwork laid over decades of relationship-building and overcoming both business and personal challenges that could have easily derailed this success.

And persistence and continually pushing towards the vision of what could be created made it possible to see that level of success today.

Struggling Artist Breaks Through

And there was the artist. Overcoming doubts and personal demons. And through it all continuing to write, paint, and push through the obstacles in the way. And like magic, after years of hard work and persistence, the art work is now being recognized and purchased – something that was never even thought possible at the beginning. When it was just an idea and a form of therapy.

But through the power of persistence, has become reality.

More than a Job – Passionate Persistence

Another friend has a vision for a department that is a true passion for her. And yet there are roadblocks in the way that have prevented her from moving that vision forward.

But through persistence, some of the obstacles have been cleared. And she can once again push forward with her pursuit of that vision.

And with that, her energy and personal power (of pursuing and plan with purpose and persistence) have shot through the roof.

Will she reach her goal? Only time will tell. But I have no doubt she will achieve her vision. Whether it is as it is currently thought or in another form.

My 50th Blog Post

And even in my work here on this blog. This is my 50th blog post. I never would have guessed that I’d be writing #50 when I first started. I had done a blog years ago and only reached about half that number before personal challenges derailed things.

But what I learned in writing that first blog. And the business building and marketing lessons learned and tested since. Have made this blog a joy to write and I’m excited to see where it goes next.

In addition, building a business that is tied to many of the principles, lessons, and ideas reflected here has helped provide the meaning and practical application to overcome the periods where it might be a struggle to write the next post.

What Vision Are You Pursuing?

So what are you pursuing in your own personal or business journey? What challenges are you now facing that seem like Mt. Everest but could be tackled and overcome one step at a time?

What’s your personal snowball in the making?