 Last minute notes and thoughts
Late breaking news from Ottawa: William (Bill) Comrie,
O.C. to be invested into the Order of Canada on Friday, Feb.
9th, 2007.
"The Order of Canada recognizes people who have made a
difference to our
country. From local citizens to national and
international personalities, all
Canadians are eligible for the
Order of Canada, our country's highest honour
for lifetime
achievement."
Great news! I've had the privilege of getting to know Bill, and
learning from him, over the past 4 years while assisting on
several projects. Way to go Bill!
Whew, was January wild!
What a great month. In addition to working
with great clients to assist them, their leaders, and their
teams focus on creating more effective teams, growth and success, I
visited my CAPS Calgary family (20th). Shared the morning
conducting training at a Toastmasters Leadership Institute in
Edmonton on the 27th.
I am definitely more confident about my future and the
leadership and care of those who will take us there. Invested
time recently conducting training sessions for Canadian Blood Services and their Youth Committee.
Approximately 25 energetic students from various high schools and
the U of A invested Thursday evening and all day Saturday to learn
about CBS and to prepare to return to their classrooms to bring the
message and challenge for additional donors. Have you donated?
Call 1-888-2 Donate today!
Back in 2002, Evelyn Holden (who has since passed away)
and I were invited to assist the Edmonton Branch in developing a
pilot speakers bureau and training their first team. I was
amazed to learn that some of the materials I developed back in
2002 are being used across Canada at other branches.
Last week, I received a copy of the Canadian Manager
magazine which is published quarterly by the Canadian Institute of Management. I had gotten a
congrats email from my friend Brenda Cotton, (C.I.M.), who
gets it, telling me I had two articles in the latest issue, but had
yet to see it. Funny how things 'happen' isn't it? I
assisted a CAPS Edmonton friend, Lisa Litwinski and her
boss with a project for CIM in Edmonton and then assisted her with a
second one in Vancouver last fall. Very talented and hard working
lady. At the Vancouver event, Canadian Manager editor, David
Duncan approached me to contribute a few articles for the 2007
issues. I was pleased to share a few ideas to help their
members enhance their leadership and management skills.
If you would like to see the articles, I have created a Bob in Print page with these two as well as a
few of my other articles. Over the years, I've had hundreds of
articles published in print and on-line. I will now go back to see
how many I can find. I will now include them on this page, so it
might be a good idea to bookmark it.
Dropped in to see my friends Colin and Sandra who founded
the Edmonton Mastermind Clubs (24th) to visit and
listen to a friend from BC. Robin J. Elliot has developed a real following and
is sharing his experience and expertise in profitable Joint Venture
business connections. Robin challenged us to look for ways to expand
our business by the selective use of Joint ventures. He told me
(publicly) that applied to me too!
For example: He asked me, "Should any of my readers recommend me, to someone who
then became a client and engaged my services, would I be
pleased to pay them a commission or referral fee?" My
answer, of course, was "YES!" Hadn't
thought of that. Interesting, this could mean $500 to $1000 in the
example of a client who engages me to train or speak for their
group. (In essence our own
personalized affiliate program to augment our books for referrals
program.) Makes sense, as I pay commissions for
speakers bureaus. Contact me, if you would be interested.
Another example: I'd invite you
to visit the Soundview Executive Summaries® webpage to sign up for their
invaluable monthly service in providing 2-3 summaries per
month of the best in business and leadership books. I have
found their service to be invaluable in my own quest to keep updated
with what my clients are reading. Often, after reading the summary,
I will order the book so I can delve deeper. I've been passing along
their website for years and now discover they have an affiliate
program, so check them out. Smile! They pay a small referral
fee which we will use to offset the cost of this
ezine. Plus, if
you decide this is a good investment for you, (and I think you
might) they've arranged for you to get 5 of their most popular
summaries as a complimentary
bonus.
February will be a little less hectic and closer to
home, although it looks just as productive long-term.
I have a couple of writing (book) projects on the go,
working to revamp and expand our Business Success articles website, working to add
relevant articles and resouces to some of our smaller websites,
working ahead on some of our ezines, as well as expanding our reach
with additional articles submitted to other sites and
publicatons. Amazing, I have people actually asking
for articles. Smile.
I'm able to attend my Edmonton Chapter of the Canadian Association of
Professional Speakers. Often, work takes me away. Some great friends
and I always learn something I can use in making what I offer more
valuable. This Saturday afternoon, we are viewing The Secret following our meeting and discussing
how it fits for us. If you haven't seen it visit their website to
view on-line or get your own copy. It does make you think. A client
and friend gave me one for Christmas.
Lots on the go: I'm creating and leading a joint
venture marketing program with 10 other Alberta based speakers;
researching a new online business adventure (not related to
speaking or training); roughing out a pilot project
for a client to assist his 1500 national sales team
members to ehance their skills and sales; and some speaking of
course... smile. And as usual, lots of new tweaks and trials with
our websites, looking into podcasts, and perhaps video and audio
additions to our sites. I am certainly keeping my friend Irene, who
helps design and maintain our websites, hopping. Thanks,
Irene!
Have been invited to share a few ideas at the New
Entreprenuer's Toastmaster Club on Thurs. (8th) for their 8th
anniversary. They meet in Edmonton's Business Link at 6PM if you are
in the area.
My intention is to ensure my time is focused and wisely invested
for long term growth and benefit to my readers, audiences, friends,
family, and clients... with some time invested personally as well.
We are all busy... but are we productive? That is a choice
we make each day!
PS: Thanks to those who wrote or called about my
back surgery. It went well, the growth was removed without any
complications, and the results were benign.
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