by Jim Cathcart

A colleague of mine, Jan Vermeiren, just released a great resource on Social Networking. I’ve been reading and highlighting it for weeks now. His book, How To Really Use Linkedin®, is an easy read and is filled with practical suggestions for getting the most from not only Linkedin® but also most social networks.

More than 34 million people have a profile on LinkedIn and some connections. However most people ask these questions: why should I be on this website? How does it benefit me? And how do I get results without spending too much time?
In “How to REALLY use LinkedIn” networking expert Jan Vermeiren doesn’t merely reveal the true power of LinkedIn and the one strategy that leverages this power, but also shows a short and effective 3 step plan to get results fast. This plan consists of crafting an attractive Profile, building your basis network and expanding your network in an effective and efficient way. This will lead to tangible results in the long and short term!
Furthermore there are advanced strategies to find new customers, a new job, suppliers, experts and the people who help you get your job done faster. There are even advanced strategies for members of referral clubs and people who are responsible for a (professional) organization.
Together with answers to the 24 most frequently asked questions, an overview of 22 little known features that will make or break your LinkedIn activities and a list of free tools to save time when working on LinkedIn, this makes “How to REALLY use LinkedIn” thé ultimate guide for success on LinkedIn.
To celebrate the launch there is a special package for anyone who buys the book on Amazon on March 17. More info at: www.how-to-really-use-linkedin.com/en-buy.html.

For those who are not fully utilizing LinkedIn®, feel free to explore my profile on the LinkedIn® site. Just search for Jim Cathcart and start clicking around. You will see that I have over 600 connections to others, 58 of whom have written recommendations of me and I’ve added links, photos and more. It’s a great free alternative website that allows you to build your own custom phonebook of friends & contacts. Plus, if you don’t want to use the site very often, you don’t have to. Just check it when you get an email or when you feel like it.

by Jim Cathcart

I found the following video and description in Perot Charts.com. I hope you find it as provocative and fascinating as I did. 

Living in Exponential Times
Posted on February 5th, 2009 in Education, Employment, Population by PerotCharts
At PerotCharts.com we encounter interesting facts and statistics that don’t readily lend themselves to a chart presentation, usually because they do not consist of a series of data but rather just a single, discrete value. However, when a collection of factoids is skillfully assembled and dynamically presented, an interesting (possibly disturbing) scenario can emerge. The YouTube presentation below was recently brought to our attention, and we believe it is worth your time (4:46) to watch it. Great job by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Bronman of researching the progression of information technology and its effect on education and jobs in the future.

Consider playing this for your next planning meeting or family gathering. And then…

after a minute or two of reflection….

Ask people what they think they will need to learn, soon, in order to thrive in this changing world. 

Ask them where they think the biggest needs will be…

and, consequently, where the biggest opportunities to serve and profit will be. 

Now is an excellent time to re-think what you thought you knew. 

Call if I can help. 

Jim Cathcart

by Jim Cathcart

Well, I did it again. I listened to the broadcast news reports. Wow, these folks are good at instilling fear! Even our president is being pessimistic rather than inspiring. Remember the FDR line, “the greatest thing we have to fear is….”?

It’s baaack.

Right now we need to be very intentional about bringing hope and solutions to others. The last thing we need is another advertisement or sales call that begins with “I know things are tough right now….” People do not need for you and me to remind them of what they fear. They need for us to show them the path to what they want. 

We need to be a Solution Source for others. People need motivation today more than anytime in recent memory. They are looking to us for a way out of this mess. They don’t want discounts and fire sales, they want solutions!!!!!! 

Here is a strategy that may help you to help others. In your next meeting, phone call, sales presentation, email message or speech preamble…begin with hope, not situation analysis.

• Start by showing people what is right, what is working and what is possible. 
• Then find reasons to praise and compliment them. Point out what good they have done. 
• Acknowledge their resources, help them count their blessings. 
• Focus on the positive even in the negatives. And be real, not superficial. 
• Talk with people about what they can do, not what they can’t. 
• Avoid the desperation attempts of price slashing and cutting back in your outreach. 
• Double the amount of time you spend reaching out to others. Then double it again. 
• Get off your butt, onto your feet, out of the shade and into the heat! 

by Jim Cathcart

New Product Launch! – I have assembled a learning system that is MUCH needed. It is about Public Speaking & Leading Meetings.

When’s the last time you went to a bad meeting? Me too! They happen all the time. Even the best leaders I know somehow still manage to run meetings poorly. So I decided to create a program that works like personal coaching; where I walk you through how to think about and what to do about every element of giving presentations and running meetings. This product has me as excited as I’ve been in a long time.

Since you are a reader of my blog I’d like to make this special offer: You may be one of the first to purchase this system for your organization or for yourself for just $199 if you order during The Spring of 2009. (That is $258 off!) It will sell for $457 normally but I want to get it into the hands of my friends and followers right away to generate more “buzz” and get some folks actually using and benefitting from it now.

Here is a picture of the complete system.

As you can see, there are four Video DVDs and four Audio CDs. The videos focus on public speaking and presentation strategies while the audios explore best practices in Leading Meetings. The full description of the contents and uses of the program are at this link: Confident Communication training system. As I said before, this is brand new and hasn’t even been released till now.

SPECIAL EXTRA BONUS: For each system you buy at the retail price of $457 I will provide 1/2 hour of personal telephone coaching. This is time on the phone directly with me. If you buy ten systems then you get 5 hours of consulting for free!

The reason for the special discounted price is to stimulate early purchases and to get lots of people to use the program right away. I’d like to see this become a standard in organizational training libraries everywhere. Let’s stop the waste from bad meetings and poor presentations while simultaneously building the confidence and skills of all presenters.

If you need my personal support to assure these lessons are mastered, please call on me. I’m eager to do onsite, in-person training or coaching so that you can get the kind of responses that professional speakers and meeting masters are producing. Let’s find out how much better you can be!  Please order your system today. You’ll be a better speaker and leader for the rest of your life!

Naturally, I stand behind the product so if you aren’t convinced that it has great value once you’ve seen it, I’ll gladly refund your purchase price.  To order the program today simply click here or send me a personal email with your purchase information. My team’s email address is info@cathcart.com. Please put Speaking & Meetings in the subject line. Thank you.

My Egyptian colleague Mohamed Tohami, heralded by Arabian Man magazine as “The Middle East’s first self-help guru”, has written a fascinating new book titled “The Pharaoh’s Code: creating a joyful life and a lasting legacy.” I was privileged to write the foreword for this book and I commend it to you.  Visit Tohami at his website www.Tohami.com. 

This is a workbook as well as a storybook. It teaches you and guides you into taking control of your life, using the wisdom of the ancient pharaohs as the metaphor. Since Tohami (that’s what he prefers to be called) is an Egyptian, he speaks with authority on both his message and his metaphor. I have spent hours on the phone with him and found him to be voraciously curious and powerfully enthusiastic. 

Please visit his website, order his book and follow his guidance. You will be glad you did. 

Also, be sure to ask him how you can obtain your own Pharaoh Statue for your home or office shelf. It’s an impressive reminder of the message in the book.

by Jim Cathcart

The latest issue of Success Magazine just came out with an excellent article by Marcia Jedd. I had the opportunity to contribute several items to this article and Marcia did a fine job of weaving all her resources together for you. Click here to read the article.

Here is one of my quotes from the article: 

Upping Your Game and Your Solution

Especially in difficult market conditions, Cathcart agrees about the importance of training. Learn a new skill or more about the customer. Infuse value in your prospect or customer check-ins by finding innovative things to do that serve your customer. “You have to give meaning. Otherwise, it’s a greed call,” Cathcart says. Also, increase outreach. “Innovate while sticking to your disciplines, whether that’s increasing the number of sales calls or keeping good records,” he says. Increasing sales outreach may mean sending out 5,000 pieces of mail, not 1,000, or making 100 calls a month instead of 50.

Click here to read the article.

And click here to subscribe to this excellent magazine! 

Here is my personal story about how I changed my life from ordinary to extraordinary. It is an 8 minute message that I created for the subscribers to iLearningGlobal.tv and I’ve posted it here for you to see as well. Please let me know how you like it. I hope you gain much inspiration from it.