Archive for the ‘ Books by Jim Cathcart ’ Category

11 Ways to Save the Planet

Feb 23, 2011 in Everyday Intelligence, General Interest, Intelligent Motivation, The Acorn Principle

by Motivation & Sales Expert, Jim Cathcart

American Express produces a pocket calendar that I’ve been using happily for years. In the 2011 edition there is an item on page 163 titled “10 Ways to Help Save the Planet.” It contains exactly what you’d expect from such a list; energy saving, recycling, etc.

I have a different take on all this and would appreciate it if you’d share this article with others to generate a higher level of dialogue about saving our planet. Correction, let’s focus on saving our species so that we can continue to thrive on this planet. It’s humanity we ought to be concerned about not geography. What good is it to have a bumper crop of polar bears and spotted owls if the people can’t live abundantly?

The dominant mindset re: our planet seems to be the Jimmy Carter era concept of doing with less and asking less from life. In other words, not living fully nor pursuing true happiness. “Just don’t bother anybody else and when you die we will be able to say that you didn’t matter.” Hogwash!

I say that it is your duty to live a full and abundant life. God gave you thousands of capabilities to make a difference and to truly enjoy your life here on Earth. If you do not use your skills, develop your latent talents and set ambitious goals then you are cheating the rest of us out of your contributions.

Here are my suggestions for saving our planet so that we can all enjoy life to the fullest. Please talk with others about this.

Stop hating, criticizing and judging people.
Do your work. Stop leaving things that others must do.
Save money and live a lean lifestyle where you can.
Always vote in favor of removing government entitlements.
Create solutions, be a problem solver.
Be a good neighbor and a good citizen.
Teach kids to become self-reliant by you being self-reliant too.
Eat healthy and stay fit in body, mind & emotions.
Study and practice your belief in a loving God.

10. Support and encourage business owners. They employ others & help us.

11. Don’t waste resources nor pollute. Leave the Earth better than you found it.

Folks, if we did the things on this list we wouldn’t need unions, government entitlement programs, excessive laws, or even locks and security codes. We were designed to thrive in an atmosphere of love and support and to wither in the face of criticism and judgment. We can take care of each other best by first taking care of ourselves and then the people we know. From there we can reach out to others. But this must start with us and our own families, homes, neighborhoods and communities.

I agree with the goal of saving our planet as long as we are talking about saving it for ourselves and our offspring to enjoy indefinitely.

Comments (1)

NAMM in Anaheim, 90,000 people

Jan 15, 2011 in Books by Jim Cathcart, General Interest, Guitars, Motivation Expert, Motivational Speaker

by Motivation & Sales Expert, Jim Cathcart

A GREAT way to spend a day! I toured the miles of exhibits and performance stages at the National Association of Music Merchants “NAMM” show in Anaheim yesterday. Here are some of my observations and new ideas I picked up. Also some fun video interviews.

There were performing artists all over the place; on live stages throughout the venues and signing autographs at booths, plus just browsing the wares by themselves.

Michael Jackson's expert guitarist Orianthi at NAMM

Orianthi signing autographs at NAMM

Alex Lora signing autographs at NAMM

The entire experience is beyond comprehension. There are so many acres of products and performances that you become numb to the sounds. Imagine 30 bands in one huge room at one time all doing different styles of music on different instruments and then multiply that times ten and add in 90,000 people having conversations. That’s what it sounds like at NAMM!

Here’s a cool new idea; a game, not a musical instrument. It is called “Spontuneous” and it’s a board game built around coming up with a song that has a certain word in it. If the game gives you “hot” then you have to name a song with that word in it before the other players do. Like “Hot Love” or “Hot August Night”. It’s a creative idea. Here’s my interview with its creator Robert Ridgeway.

And here’s another creative idea: A Video Piano. This beautiful Wm. Knabe & Co. piano has a built-in video screen that shows full action video that you can play along to…or have the piano actually play along for you!

Drop me a note and let’s brainstorm some creative ideas for your own organization.
Http://Cathcart.com

Comments (1)

NAMM music business & your business

Jan 15, 2011 in Behavioral Economics, Books by Jim Cathcart, challenging times, Everyday Intelligence, General Interest, Guitars, Intelligent Motivation, Motivational Speaker, Motivational speakers, Relationship Intelligence®, Relationship Selling (tm), Sales Training

by Motivation & Sales Expert, Jim Cathcart

Yesterday I joined Ninety Thousand of my friends in Anaheim at THE event in the music business: NAMM. Check below for photos and videos of interviews I did at the event. Even if you’re not in the music business, you can learn a lot from them for growing your own business, as I did. Read on for more ideas.

The National Association of Music Merchants is the not-for-profit association that unifies, leads and strengthens the $17 billion global music products industry.

Founded in 1901, NAMM has been the engine driving the music products industry, enabling both large and small businesses to maximize productivity and reduce the costs of doing business. With more than 9,000 Members in the United States and 100+ other countries, NAMM is ultimately dedicated to expanding the market and giving people of all ages the opportunity to experience the proven benefits of making music.

NAMM Headquarters
5790 Armada Drive
Carlsbad, CA 92008
(760) 438-8001
info@namm.org

This photo from the Fender “room” (it was much much larger than an exhibit or a booth) is 1/100,000th of what was on display at NAMM this year. I wandered the miles of floor space on three levels and in multiple buildings plus the surrounding hotels. I met celebrities, corporate executives, like Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars, and scores of technicians, artists, craftsmen, retailers, distributors and more.

I attended NAMM for the 2nd time this year. My host was Jason Vanderpal of Guitar Center HQ. Jason is the former General Manager of the Hollywood Guitar Center, the largest music store of its type in the world. He seemed to know half the crowd as we wandered the floor together. Here’s a link to his comments about the show.

If you are wondering how this relates to you, here it is: NAMM had a record large attendance this year. Note: that is THIS year 2011 in this chaotic economy! The people were buying, selling, dealing and shopping like crazy. Folks, there is no shortage of business to be had out there. No matter what you are selling there is still enough money in people’s pockets for you to have a very good year.

I asked the participants what they were doing that was new and successful. Their answers were many and varied, but they had one thing in common; none of the ideas were “business as usual.” Everyone was being creative and looking for better ways to connect with their customers and prospects. As the Relationship Selling Author I was right at home.

Here’s one idea I liked: KMC Music, the distributors of Takamine Guitars, Gretch Drums, Ovation Guitars, Genz-Benz amps and much more were there with a massive exhibit. Two stories tall and as big as a house. They told me how they had taken their products on the road this past year and set up a combination of product demos, artist appearances and… a new twist, customer performances. The prospective customers were encouraged to sample their products and then actually perform on stage with them.

Customers loved this! It was more appealing to them than any other part of the experience, so KMC Music took note and boosted that part of the events, which produced even greater results. For my interview with Rick Hall and Danny Guion, KMC Music Marketing, click here.

Here’s the question for you: How can you involve your customers and prospects more in doing what they want and love to do, without putting the main focus on your products? Let them take the spotlight and do what they wish to do. Make heroes out of them and they will love being connected with you!

Let me help if you are looking for more ways to connect with your customers. Let’s schedule a brainstorming session right away. http://Cathcart.com

Comments (1)

Q & A with Jim Cathcart on Business Strategies

Dec 21, 2010 in 101 Leaders, Behavioral Economics, Books by Jim Cathcart, Cathcart Institute, Coaching, Everyday Intelligence, Guitars, Motivational Speaker, Motivational speakers, Relationship Selling (tm), Sales Training

by Motivation Expert and Sales Consultant, Jim Cathcart

At a recent seminar in Santa Barbara we conducted a question and answer forum at the end.

There were some interesting questions posed. This video gives you an easy review of the answers by selecting each “Scene” and skipping ahead to the ones you want. Let us know if you’d like further information on these or any of our key topics in “Relationship Selling” or business growth.

Jim Cathcart, author, Relationship Selling
jim@cathcart.com
800-222-4883

TSTN Television Show featuring Jim Cathcart on Relationship Selling

Comments (1)

Merry Christmas from the Cathcarts

Dec 16, 2010 in Books by Jim Cathcart, Cathcart Institute, challenging times, Everyday Intelligence, General Interest, Guitars, Hiking & Trail Running, Jim Cathcart's Personal Blog, Motivational Speaker, Positive Radio

We’ve discoverd Smile Box and created a photo “show” on it with our photos from 2010. It is our general Christmas Card and we hope you enjoy it. Though many of the photos are personal we think you’ll get a sense of our world and we hope you’ll feel a bit more connected with us.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours.