CompassCast™

Build Trusting Relationships and Accomplish More!

The coaching-focused Mastermind Group in the Upper Valley of Vermont / New Hampshire will begin a new text on September 7th, 2010 that will help you expand your network, gain support and reach your goals.

The group, in collaboration with Borders Books, meets each Tuesday at 10:00 am in West Lebanon, NH. The new text, "Who's Got Your Back", by Keith Ferrazzi, provides an executable strategy for your most important plans without costing your sanity.

Many of us are caught up in the day-to-day struggle between work and family and fun and wellness. How do you do keeping yourself balanced? How do you keep yourself grounded? How do you keep yourself focused? How do you insure you reach your goals in a focused but mindful way? Ferrazzi's book explains a nine-step approach to building what he calls lifeline relationships.

With "Who's Got Your Back" you will learn to create meaningful and trusting relationships well beyond your success. You will benefit from reading this book regardless of whether you engage the Mastermind Process.

If you are like most people, however, just read books and don't engage them fully. Coaching brings the book to life. Through masterminding this book won't be another piece of information but will become an actionable strategy you can depend on being accountable to.

If you live near the West Lebanon, NH / White River Junction, VT area -- you owe it to yourself to check out the power of Masterminding.

"Who's Got Your Back" shows us that relationships are the key to our success in business. You will learn the kinds of relationships that really make a difference. Ferrazzi also shows us how to get further in setting your goals and staying more powerful in your career.

The Mastermind Group works through each book slowly - one text about every three months - so participants can easily keep up with the reading.

Have you read this book? Do you think it is as impactful as Ferrazzi's last book, "Never Eat Alone" (which we also covered in the Mastermind Group).

For more information about the Mastermind Group, call me at 802-380-1026 or go to http://Mastermind.TrueAzimuth.biz.

Foursquare vs. Facebook Places

Yesterday Facebook announced Facebook Places which begs the question should I stop using Foursquare and start using Facebook Places, should I ignore Facebook Places and continue to use Foursquare-- what's a business owner to do?

Interestingly enough, most businesses don't even know what Foursquare is, let alone how to use it to grow their business.

Many of my business coaching clients are using Foursquare today because I strongly encourage them to (After all it's my job as a coach to look out for my clients) .

Foursquare is a great tool for your business. If you're not using it you should. In order to start using this tool you need to claim your business on their site. By claiming your business you can edit the type of business it is, add more information, and start creating specials for people to use in as they check into your business. The more times someone checks in, the better their rewards can get. You set up the specials you would like and the amount of times that someone needs to check in before being awarded.

Here are some ins and outs of Foursquare setups:

• You can only have ONE special live on people's phone at one time.
• When someone unlocks the special, they will have a special message on their phone they can show to you (the business) and get their reward/special that you have setup on the Foursquare site.
• You can create multiple specials for your business.
• Specials can be award related - i.e., for the mayor.
• They can happen once after a particular number - i.e., after 5, check-ins.
• They can be sequenced - i.e., every three check-ins.
• The can be crunched up - i.e., three check-ins in four days.

Examples of Badges that I think you can create in-house rewards for:

• Mayor- When you have checked in more times than anyone else. Example, you can reward someone for being the mayor by letting them cut the line. You can also solve the issue of your employee being the mayor in Four Square as well.
• Swarm - You can also use the following badge and reward your customers when there are 50 check-ins during the same time period. Check in to a place where 50+ other foursquare users are currently checked in. And yes, if you are number 49, you get the badge when number 50 checks in.
• Player Please - Check in to a place that has three members of the opposite sex currently checked in. They must be your friends.

As a business coach I educate my clients to not waste their phone specials on badges like mayor. After all you as the business owner can easily see who the mayor is. By creating an in-house reward that you tell your clients about, you create an opportunity to educate them about Foursquare and build brand loyalty.

Four square is a engaging tool that rewards users for their check ins and definitely gets people competing for the badges. It's a powerful tool for your business (if used skillfully) because you can reward your frequent customers to get the word out about your business. Four square posts can link peoples' check-ins to their Facebook page, Twitter therefore, creating free advertising for your business.

What do you think of Foursquare as a business tool? Essential? or just another internet waste of time?

To Like or Not To Like, that is the question on Facebook

If you have gone on Facebook in the last couple of days, you may have noticed some changes.

Facebook is heating up the competition to penetrate websites outside of the Facebook platform by adding a number of gadgets / widgets / tools that can be added to a website, they have created pages from the interest section of your profile and they have replaced “Become a Fan” with “Like” for business pages on Facebook.

What does this mean for the business owner or organization with a “page” presence on Facebook already? Confusion. What does this mean to your consumer / client / target audience? Confusion.

What should you do about all of this? Wait patiently for the dust to settle.

To illustrate the potential mess, consider my coaching business, True Azimuth, LLC. I have a website, a coaching blog and a Facebook Page. All are integrated nicely. When someone goes to my website or blog I encourage them to become a fan on Facebook. When someone goes to True Azimuth’s Facebook page, they can see a feed from my blog integrated on the page.

Now I have a new Facebook Page for True Azimuth, LLC (which I can’t control – at least at the moment) that was created from the employer listing on my profile. True, I could have chosen not to create the page – I am currently the only employee of my coaching business. But what happens to BIG companies with thousands of employees on Facebook? You guessed it – it only takes one employee to create the company page! What a mess – more on this later.

Now “Like” comes along. Facebook developers have changed “Become a Fan” with “Like” – a move which I thought I liked. But then they added these website gizmos to the mix – more things to “Like.” And guess what? None of these are connected!

So, say I add the inline code to both my blog and my website to allow people to “Like” them. A person comes to my blog and clicks “Like” – that does not mean they are now a Fan of my business on Facebook – they just “Like” my blog. Same thing with my website. If a person “Likes” my website, that doesn’t mean the “Like” my blog or my Facebook page. The result: complete marketing mayhem and utter chaos!

Thrown in with this mix is the ability to feed news from your website into the Facebook News stream of people who “Like” you. If you have a website, blog and Facebook page, it could easily mean your target market gets up to three duplicate messages if you have a consolidated / integrated web presence like I do.

Add to this these new pages created from Facebook profiles and you have a cluster of a mess to sort out.

My solution? I am waiting for this dust to settle before I jump into Facebook’s newest gadgets. BTW – you should be doing that anyway – meaning your social media strategy and your web presence strategy should be built on a solid marketing plan that you review and update annually – keeping you and your business from making impulsive, jump-on-the-bandwagon decision. (That is what I coach my business clients to do)

What is your solution? Do you like Facebook’s new “Like”?

How to Grow your Business in this Tough Economy

The business Mastermind Group in the Upper Valley will begin a new text on June 23 2009. The group, in collaboration with Borders Books, meets each Tuesday at 10:00 am in West Lebanon, NH. The new text, "The Rainmaker's Toolkit: Power Strategies for Finding, Keeping, and Growing Profitable Clients ", by Harry Mills, offers a practical strategies to sustain and grow profits in any industry.

"This book and the effective, inexpensive and easy to implement program it outlines is the optimum way to build your business in our current economy," says business coach Scott Graham who facilitates the group. 

"Whether you are struggling in your business or just looking for pragmatic ways to leverage your efforts through effective networking, this text presents a soup-to-nuts approach to marketing your business and 'making rain'," says Graham. "Coaching brings the book to life and it becomes more than just another piece of information -- it becomes an actionable strategy to increase your your gross sales."

The Mastermind Group works through each book slowly – one text about every three months – so participants can easily keep up with the reading. In addition to providing meeting space, members of the group receive 20% off the text from Borders.

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True Azimuth, LLC, headquartered in West Fairlee, Vermont, began offering business, personal and relationship coaching in 2006. For more information about the Mastermind Group, call 802-380-1026 or go to http://Mastermind.TrueAzimuth.biz.

©2009 True Azimuth, LLC
Business Coaching, Relationship Coaching, Life Coaching

CompassCast-013: Supercharge Your Social Networking

Do you want to grow your career? Increase business? Build income? Coach Scott Graham outlines three strategies to supercharge your social networking posts with these goals in mind.

MP3 File

References:

• LinkedIn Answer - How to Supercharge your Blog
• Resource:  http://ping.fm
• Resource:  http://hootsuite.com/
• Web Article: How to Be Interesting
• Web Article: How to Write Kickass Twitter Posts
• Book:  Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

©2009 True Azimuth, LLC
Business Coaching, Relationship Coaching, Life Coaching

2008 national Stress in America survey

Each year in November I offer a seminar focused on coping & stress.  My thinking is that the holidaze bring much stress.  This year however, its not just the holiday pressure that is creating more stress: the financial crisis, rising costs of gas, food, healthcare -- we all know that stress is already high.  

Each year around this same time, the American Psychological Association releases their national Stress in America survey.  Its a great resource for people in the helping professions -- loaded with information. The American Psychological Association’s  2008 national Stress in America survey reveals what Americans are stressed about, what they are doing to manage that stress, and how stress is affecting their health.   The APA's 16 page summary report has the following key findings:

• Stress is on the Rise and Women Bear the Brunt
• Americans Report that Stress Impacts their Physical and Psychological Health
• Economic Factors Driving Americans’ Stress in 2008; Work and Money Continue to Top the List
• Stress Affects How Americans Cope

Read the reports to learn what is stressing Americans nationwide and in select cities by following this link.

Learn about the Seminar on November 21 2008 specifically focused on coping and stress by following this link.

Personal Trainer Certification!

Yesterday, I successfully completed the examination process with the National Federation of Personal Trainers and am now Certified as a Personal Trainer!

This certification will allow me to better serve my business coaching, life coaching and relationship coaching clients by integrating healthy lifestyle recommendations into the coaching process. 

Most people readily acknowledge the intertwining of our business, personal and relationship lives.  When things are going well in one area, this flows into other areas.

(Of course, the reverse is also true:  when things are going poorly in one area, this flows into other areas.)

Certification as a Personal Trainer allows me to take this one step further -- expanding my focus to how we treat our body.  Now I can move beyond encouraging my coaching clients to join a gym -- now I can help them to design a fitness program -- advising them on what to do at the gym -- incorporating fitness goals into our coaching collaboration.

Did you know that regular exercise helps not only to combat chronic disease and improve heart and lung capacity but it also enhances sleep, improves your mood and gives you more energy.  That's from the according to the Mayo Clinic  - they should know.

What coaching client wouldn’t want that?

So if you know of anyone who would like to tap into this added service -- people who want more balance, direction and fulfillment in their life, career and relationships -- tell them to give me a call at 802-380-1026.

©2008 True Azimuth, LLC
Business Coaching, Relationship Coaching, Life Coaching

CompassCast-012: Get a Business Tune-up!

Coach Scott poses two important questions for business owners:
“Which have you invested more in: preventative auto maintenance or preventative business maintenance?”
“Which is worth more – your auto or your business?”

If you are like most business owners you probably engage whole-heartedly in the tasks of your business (like driving your car), but preventative business maintenance (like updating your business plan and updating your marketing plan) are not something you regularly engage in.

Business failure statistics are sobering. You need more than just a creative idea, product or service to make it…

Is it time you took your business in for a tune-up?


Download File

©2008 True Azimuth, LLC
Business Coaching, Relationship Coaching, Life Coaching

Tap Your Adversity

I want to let you know about a great text to help you get your bearings and get going!®  "The Adversity Advantage: Turning Everyday Struggles into Everyday Greatness", by Erik Weihenmayer and Paul Stoltz, provides numerous stories about overcoming adversity and a framework not to rid ourselves of adversity but to celebrate it and leverage it as a tool to propel us forward in success.

Eric Weihenmayer, the first and only blind man to climb the 7 summits -- the tallest peak on each continent -- is beyond inspiring -- and his stories give one pause for deep reflection.  Paul Stoltz the takes it one step further -- giving us a model -- a recipe -- for turning each of our adversities into our inspiration.

I love this book.  So much that I am using it for the new text starting May 20 2008 in the business coaching group I do with business professionals in the Upper Valley who want more more out of their career than just a job. (Actually the group is not just for business professionals but anyone who wants more out of life!)

Why just read a book when you can take and sustain action?

The group, a collaboration with Borders Books, meets each Tuesday at 10:00 am in West Lebanon, NH. The weekly meetings merge the traditional book group with business coaching to accelerate the application of what you read.  Plus we work through each book slowly – one text about every three months – so coach clients can easily keep up with the reading. Borders provides the meeting space plus they give members of the group 20% off the text.

Of course, you can also get this book from Amazon -- I got the mp3 version to listen to (read by Eric):

Get more information about the coaching group at http://Book-study.TrueAzimuth.biz.

Keep swimming!

©2008 True Azimuth, LLC
Business Coaching, Relationship Coaching, Life Coaching

CompassCast 011: Get Unstuck!

Coach Scott Graham explores the the single-most powerful explanation of why people struggle with everything from weight loss to smoking cessation: the short-term / long-term dynamic. Millions of people struggle with this dynamic. It zaps people's motivation and perseverance. It undermines people's goal focus. It keeps people stuck! True Azimuth's 2-to-the-power-of-8 Grid will help you increase your focus, motivation and persistence, break that habit and reach your goals. Get your bearings and get going!


MP3 File

©2008 True Azimuth, LLC
Business Coaching, Relationship Coaching, Life Coaching

How well do YOU listen?

"We only hear half of what is said to us, understand only half of that, believe only half of that and remember only half of that."
                                                                           -- Mignon McLaughlin

This is a great quote.  One of my favorites. It holds much wisdom for us all -- regardless of what we do for work. 

I won't dilute McLaughlin's wisdom with my own blathering.  Think about this throughout your day and at then end, post to the comments here and let me know if she rings true or not.

PS - learn about your listening skills at my seminar on Friday March 28 2008.  Click here for more info.

CompassCast 010: What are your values?

Coach Scott Graham asks you to identify, prioritize and live a purposeful life of clear, focused values. Values clarification is a key component of True Azimuth, LLC's coaching process. Get your bearings and get going!


MP3 File

©2008 True Azimuth, LLC
Business Coaching, Relationship Coaching, Life Coaching

Business Seminar focuses on Listening

A day-long business seminar, "Positive Listening" will be held on Friday March 28 2008 at the Community College of Vermont's Upper Valley Campus in Wilder, Vermont.  The seminar, built around an online listening assessment, is conducted by True Azimuth, LLC in cooperation with the Business and Entrepreneur Network.

"It is estimated that people screen out or misunderstand the intended meaning or purpose of a message in over 70 percent of communications, making listening the biggest contributing factor to miscommunication,"  says business and personal coach Scott Graham.  "Listening is more than hearing. It is the ability to receive, attend to, interpret, and respond to verbal messages and other cues, like body language, in ways that are appropriate to the purpose." 

The investment of $91 includes all training materials, the pre-course Listening Profile, a 16-page report with individualized recommendations, and a continental breakfast.  Business and Entrepreneur Network members and Chamber of Commerce members receive a discount.

For more information, call Coach Scott Graham a 802-380-1026.  Register online at http://listen.TrueAzimuth.biz.   True Azimuth, LLC has been providing business and personal coaching since March 2006.  They are located on the web at http://TrueAzimuth.biz.  The Business and Entrepreneur Network is a membership organization helping professionals to "work on -- not just in - your business."  They are located on the web at http://benbusinessnetwork.com.

CompassCast 009: Get Toasted!

Coach Scott Graham talks about the impact of Toastmasters -- not just on his public speaking skills, but on his leadership ability, career and personal life.


MP3 File

©2008 True Azimuth, LLC
Business Coaching, Relationship Coaching, Life Coaching

CompassCast 008: Ben Phipps

Coach Scott Graham interviews author and business coach Ben Phipps. Ben shares strategies for building your best business -- which incidentally also contains wisdom for building your best life!


MP3 File

©2008 True Azimuth, LLC
Business Coaching, Relationship Coaching, Life Coaching