Author: Ethan Theo

Abe WalkingBear Sanchez is an International Speaker / Trainer / Consultant on the subject of cash flow / sales enhancement and business knowledge organization and use. Founder and President of www.armg-usa.com, WalkingBear has authored hundreds of business articles, has worked with numerous companies in a wide range of industries since 1982 and has spoken at many venues including the Shakespeare Globe Theater in London.

Business Trends

Egypt’s Turmoil a Business Opportunity?

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date January 10, 2013

Logic might dictate that right now is not the best time to invest in or to start a new business venture in Egypt, what with all that political and economic turmoil going on. But is that right? There’s this nagging voice in the head that keeps saying otherwise, a reminder of that oft-quoted piece of wisdom. What is it? Ah yes, the best time to start a business is in the middle of a recession. What about in the middle of political turmoil? Does that qualify, in terms of wisdom, that is?

The location is certainly right. Bang slap in the middle of huge markets. Europe to the north and west; Africa to the south; Asia to the east.Billions of people, lots of whom might just want what you have to offer. Then there’s the international banking and the string of trade services useful for any would-be import or export venture.

If that’s your game then an Egypt bank worth getting to know is the multinational giant HSBC. Yes, they’ve been involved with the country for many years. The bank’s reputation is second-to-none. A business bank account with HSBC brings with it many advantages, not least local business know-how and expert regional knowledge. And, of course, those useful trade services. Although there’s a lot to learn, HSBC employ well-qualified people more than happy to help ease the learning curve.

So take advantage of the opportunities Egypt has to offer. Many of America’s top companies surely are. Surprised? Maybe they know a thing or two about Egypt all of us lesser mortals don’t.

There have been a number of business missions to Egypt since the 2011 revolution. You’d think, given the unrest and uncertainty, they’d stay away. Not so. The last one was in September, last year, and involved more than 100 top American executives from the likes of Google, Microsoft, Boeing, Exxon Mobil, Hewlett Packard, The Coca-Cola Company, Chrysler, Cisco, Citi, FedEx and others.

During the three-day visit, the largest-ever US business delegation to the Middle East, members met with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Prime Minister HeshamQandil, members of the Egyptian cabinet and parliament, heads of political parties, business leaders, and senior US government representatives in Cairo. Afterwards, a report, Investing In A New Egypt, Revitalizing the Egyptian Economy by Rebuilding the US-Egypt Relationship, was published.

The report concluded that during the visit, delegates were reminded “that the true test of our partnership will not only be our commitments to building a new relationship with Egypt, but on how we, as the private sector, deliver on these commitments to improve the lives of all Egyptians.”

The report continued, “Indeed, all of us concerned about Egypt – including those in the Egyptian and American governments and in positions of responsibility across our two societies – face the critical task of matching our words with tangible deeds. We have a unique opportunity to strengthen the bonds between our two countries and, indeed, to build a partnership that can be a model for an entire region in transition.”

Sounds very much like opportunity is knocking, right now, for you. Are you ready to take the first step? Judge for yourself. You can read the full report here.

Success Attitude

How to Tap the Power of Thank You

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date December 22, 2012

There may be only one day a year devoted to giving thanks, but expressing thanks year round and doing it well is one of the most profitable business strategies you can have.

Numerous studies reveal that when you thank your customers, they spend more money and tell their friends about the exceptional service and products you deliver, increasing your profits. Volumes chronicle how employee productivity zooms when appreciation is expressed, raising your margins. Vendors go the extra mile to extend credit and deliver “just in time” when they hear gratitude regularly, and keep your cash flowing. Giving thanks works in business.

But you’re already doing more with less and the last thing you want is another item on your to-do list. What are the most effective and efficient ways to express gratitude to these important players in your positive business success?

Start today implementing these 4 tips to develop the profitable habit of saying “Thank you” to your customers, employees, and vendors year-round:

Be specific in your thanks. It’s one thing to say, “I appreciate you. Thanks a lot.” That’s a soap-bubble comment. Pretty while it lasts, but gone in seconds. When you thank them for something specific, that’s Velcro. That’s a thanks they remember because it sticks. You hook your gratitude to something the employee did. For instance, an employee just handled a difficult phone call with a customer really well. Thank them for that specific activity.

Appreciate the process. Target your appreciation at what the person did. Let’s go back to the worker who took the phone call. Avoid telling the employee, “Thanks for helping me keep that customer.” That’s just an outcome that benefits you. Say, “I like how you hung in there when that customer was being difficult. You were really patient and respectful.” The same type of strategy goes for vendors. Give thanks for their doing something that was an extra-mile effort. Recognize the above-and-beyond work.

It’s about them, not you. Showing that you know something about them is incredibly valuable. Connect your gift-giving with life beyond the business walls. If a vendor became a Grandpa, give him a copy of “Goodnight, Moon” to read to the little one. If an employee’s mother died of breast cancer this year, make an end-of -the-year donation to the American Cancer Society in her name. Such intimacy breaks the relationship ice in a transformational, not just transactional, direction which is the game-changing pathway to greater profits.

Go old school with your thanks. In this pixelated world of emails and texts, Facebook and Twitter, the simple and quick act of writing a handwritten expression of gratitude goes a long way. There’s something special today about a handwritten note. I keep a stack of cards and envelopes with me to write thank you notes in flight when returning from a workshop or coaching session. It takes about three minutes per card. You create return business when you take pen in hand and write, “Thank you,” to your customers. Just say, “I know you could do business with others, but you chose us. Thank you! We treasure our relationship.”

Implement these tips, and your business says “Thank you” back to you as you positively increase your profits year-round.

About the Author:

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who helps business professionals increase sales with greater productivity so they can leave the office earlier to do what they love with those they love. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org/Speaking.

Success Attitude

3 Keys to Work Positive at Your Office Party

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date December 18, 2012

Announcements of office parties are met with either go-for-it’s or groans.

The go-for-it’s are the ones who enjoyed last year’s party or just look forward to any social experience.

The groans are the persons who remember last year’s with disdain or generally avoid socializing with their work mates.

Whichever you are, here are your 3 Keys to Work Positive at Your Office Party:

Relax

Groaners often sense a need to be more extroverted, or jovial, or ________ than usual. They feel a game of square pegs and round holes coming.

Relax and be yourself. If you prefer to talk with just a few people in a deep conversation, do that. If you’re a social butterfly, then have at it.

Avoid the extra stress of acting outside of your “normal.” This stress often drives excess alcohol consumption which leads to all kinds of behavior once your inhibitions are released.

Relax. Enjoy being you.

Remind Yourself about What You Can Control

If you’re simply being you, then you have a pretty good sense about what you can and cannot control. Work within what you can control, not without it.

Avoid attempts at “perfect,” i.e., telling the perfect joke or, laughing unduly long at someone else’s. There are some things you can control about the office party, but there are more that you can’t. Do the best you can at controlling those things you can.

For example, if the party has no ending time established, and your daughter’s dance recital or son’s band concert is the same evening, be present until the appropriate time for the commute to your child’s event. Provide a courteous “thank you” to your leader— teammates if you’re the leader—and planners and excuse yourself with the explanation.

You are the only mom or dad your child has. Control what you can.

Resolve to Enjoy

As with all things Work Positive, focusing on the positive and filtering out the negative sets your mental attitude for an enjoyable evening. Of course you may choose to spend the rest of the year socializing with a different group of people. Of course some of the people present get on your last nerve on a regular basis.

Yet, you can resolve to enjoy yourself before you arrive. Think about previous pleasant office party experiences. See those happening again. Focus on someone you know will be present and what personality qualities you enjoy of theirs.

You really do see what you’re looking for.

Regardless of whether your attitude is “Let’s go for it!” or “Groan,” employ these 3 keys to Work Positive at your office party and enjoy the experience!

About the Author:

Success Attitude

3 Ways to Cure Holiday Overwhelm at Work

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date December 10, 2012

Has your to-do list grown overnight?

Yes, it’s “the most wonderful time of the year”…and yet many of us miss the wonder of it all due to the overwhelm at work that accompanies the holidays.

Here are 3 ways to cure your holiday overwhelm at work starting today:

Focus on Positive Strengths

From Madison Avenue to Your Street, you are shoved toward an impending sense of lack during the holidays. This scarcity mentality afflicts you at work as well, shifting your focus to the negative.

Today, make a list of what’s going well with your business right now. Jot some notes about the strengths of 2012. Include percentage growth of revenue, significant product developments, additional team members, customer problems solved, and new referral relationships.

Begin your work day by reading over this list. This single strategy pivots your mindset from negative—what I don’t have—to positive—what we’re doing well. Since you see what you’re looking for, you will add to your list daily as you discover more positive strengths.

Focus on Positive Situations

Overwhelm produces anxiety which shuts down our strategic ability to focus on positive situations. We see Mt. Everest in its entirety instead of the first step that leads to the second step which gets you to the summit. Rather than focusing on what you can do, you shut down because you can’t do it all at once.

Today, make a list of what you can do. Think of these as positive situations from which you leverage the kind of forward motion your business wants to reach your goals. Focus on this list and prioritize it. Pick one activity and do something to check it off. Keep building on the positive momentum you gain from this activity and move forward some more.

As you achieve more, your focus on these positive situations sharpens like a laser. You discover more positive situations and your attitude shifts from overwhelm to accomplishment.

Focus on Positive Signals

Overwhelm emerges during the holidays more as a reaction to the realization that the year is about to end than anything else. You reflect on what wasn’t done, how little time you have left to do it, and the impending sense that it’ll be undone as you begin 2013.

Honestly evaluate what you accomplished toward your 2012 goals now. Strategically act on the positive situations you can now using your positive strengths accrued through the year. Determine what barriers prevented further growth.

Then assess the positive signals emerging as 2012 nears completion that will serve as your springboard to positive growth in 2013. What are the positive strengths? What are the positive situations? How do these project positive signals in 2013?

Focusing on these positive signals gives you excited anticipation for the upcoming new year, curing the holiday overwhelm, and helping you truly enjoy this most wonderful time of the year!

About the Author:

Work Life

What’s Your Productivity Trigger?

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date October 15, 2012

My Grandfather told me stories of getting up at 4:30 a.m. to bring in the wood, put it in the cook stove, and light the fire so his mother could prepare breakfast. A sister gathered in the dark eggs laid by the hens. A brother prepared the pig months earlier. The flour ground from their corn was in a sack to make the biscuits with fresh milk from their cows. Sure they had a lot to do every morning, but if they wanted to eat, this is what they did.

Your biggest morning task is to decide whether to stop by Starbucks or McDonald’s for breakfast. That leaves you an abundance of time to do other things on your to-do list that are important, right?

Struggling with your to-do list?

How do you focus on what’s most important as you Work Positive?

First, find your productivity trigger.

I found mine as I stood at a family member’s open grave. He was young and his death unexpected. As I stood there, my mind flooded with all the times I wished I had called him just to say “Hi!,” the birthday cards I didn’t send and “just because” notes left unwritten. I cried.

I decided that I wasn’t crying for him, but for me. For the lost opportunities—words left unsaid; deeds left undone.

Then a beautiful dragonfly flew over the grave, his iridescent wings glittering in the summer sun. More joined him and I remembered that most dragonflies live only about a month.

As I stood there at that open grave, staring at dragonflies, I asked myself, “If I only had a month to live, what would I do?”

Watching the sandy soil cover his casket, dragonflies flitting about, I decided to do better. I now say all the words, some to people I haven’t spoken with in 30 years. I now do for others rather than wait until later. I define success by my clients’ metrics.

I pay attention to what is important. I focus on and filter for positive thoughts. I cooperate and complement with other positive people, with no Eeyore Vampires on Team Joey. I trust my birthright to believe and imagine the best in opportunities, while my accountability partners sniff out the trail of my ego and redirect me as necessary. I pay attention to what is important, which leads me to achieve a Work Positive lifestyle. I share my discoveries with you.

What’s your productivity trigger?

Who do you work for? More than your employer?

Why do you work? Pay bills or achieve financial independence?

How do you work? Job or career?

Where does your motivation arise from? Mine certainly changed…

Answer these questions and find your one trigger to be more productive this week as you Work Positive.

About the Author:

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who help professionals discover success in the silver lining of their business and achieve their dreams. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org/speaking.