A British Entrepreneur in America

I have just convinced my two partners of the power of youtube and I am happy to see that they have produced their first video for our software business, Cerion.

The thing about YouTube is that everyone is using it - if it's good enough for Presidential candidates, then it's good enough for anyone and I mean this even if the clips are put on without the knowledge of the people.  You see, you can be an active participant, or a passive victim - either way, if you're big enough to matter, sooner or later you're going to be there!

As I keep getting told by Crazy Jack, marketing today is about thinking like a 17 year old, tempered with the wisdom of an experienced businessman and this is the key to creating successful marketing strategies. Too many people in business are obsessed with being 'corporately correct' and being 'married' to their own ideas and as I know from bitter experience, this can prove disastrous to creativity!

My partners are talking about the ever changing world of telecommunications and the impact of Internet Protocol in the industry and for me, this is the turning point of the industry as a whole.  We are witnessing a new communications 'revolution' and this will be bigger than anything before.  I'm not talking financially here, more so about the impact of converged technology on peoples lives and the mobile Internet will be the cornerstone.

YouTube has opened up a whole new world, the entertainment side is obvious, but commercially, people have produced marketable content that can reach huge numbers of viewers, that previously would have been extremely expensive and therefore unattainable.  For me, this is our marketing of the future and we will use it extensively.

~ Neil 

Technorati Tags: video, marketing, creativity, telecommunications, software, professional services

Boxing time again! This time it's a clash between Bernard 'the executioner' Hopkins and 'Winky' Wright!  Don't know where these names come from, but both of these fighters are excellent and once again, it was impossible for me to pick a winner.  

The pre-fight theatricals were as usual, part of the hyping process (the 'inners salesman' even comes out of boxers), with Mr Hopkins provoking a little excitement at the weigh-inn!  After the fight, which Bernard Hopkins won, he stated that it helped to put more money in the bank for both of them!  The fight itself was a little scrappy, with Hopkins winning on points - although for me, the scoring was weigh off and I thought a draw would have been a much fairer result.  Wright was far more assertive in the beginning rounds and literally took the fight to Hopkins, which surprised a lot of people as he climbed in weight class and you would expect him to 'feel out' the naturally heavier Hopkins. Also, Wright was unfortunate to suffer a cut as a result of a clash of heads early in the fight.

In the post fight interview, Hopkins issued a challenge to Britain's Joe Calzaghe - Joe is undefeated and struggles to get anyone to fight him!  I will definitely vote for Joe, not just because he is an excellent fighter with very fast hands, but he is also Welsh and as my Mother is Welsh, I would have no choice, even if I wanted to!

I'll end this post on a little boxing controversy - I believe that the best boxer of all time was Mike Tyson!  I know that many will disagree, but for me, there was nobody came close to his speed and power, it is only that he was mismanaged and this was a tragedy.  I could not think of anyone who could stand up to his relentless and fierce assaults - not even the great Ali!  Many think he would have danced around the frustrated Tyson and given him a boxing lesson.  Not me - I believe that Tyson would have cut the ring down and almost broke Ali's arms as he would of tried to cover up - Tyson was one of the few fighters that could simultaneously move his head and throw a punch at the same time and ultimately, he would have knocked Ali cold!  Now, I also have great respect for Ali and he too was one of a kind and truly one of the greats.  Still, the event will never happen so I don't know why I'm rambling on - shame though!

Now back to the real world of business!

~ Neil

Technorati Tags: boxing, Ali, Tyson, forums, controversy, Calzaghe, Wales

Just had a new addition to the Franklin family, Samuel John was born on 4 July - how about that for timing!  He was late for work though, having been born at 7.36pm!  The timing for the birth could not have been more perfect - I was taking the usual 'stick' from my American work colleagues about the July 4th celebrations and I made sure that I phoned each and every one of them on the day to tell them of my 'gift' to their Country - as my son was born in the USA, he is eligible to be President!!!!! 

I  was reviewing the progress of C-People, our staffing business and talking about new accounts etc.  Seems that one customer actually praised our persistence!  They said that the only reason they would give us an appointment was that we were persistent in calling them and they are a huge multi-national organization with offices here in Dallas.

The recruiter concerned explained to them that if we were that persistent in approaching them, think about how persistent we will be  when it comes to finding them staff!  Now that's what I call selling!

What I really like about the business is the fact that over here in the USA, it is regarded as a serious profession - after all, any company is only as good as the people.  When I first arrived here, I met a recruiter who had the phrase 'million dollar producer' on their business card.  Now coming from the UK, I immediately (and wrongly) assumed that this person would be extremely arrogant - the response was that this was a very powerful message. If the person concerned was producing such billings, then they must be placing a good amount of people into industry and the benefits to the clients were huge!  The companies concerned would be hiring some seriously capable and profitable talent. 

The staffing industry is extremely close to my heart and I am extremely passionate about developing a huge multi-practice business here in the USA - I will certainly be promoting our top billers and at the same time, the profitable successes for our clients! 

~ Neil 

Technorati Tags: recruiting, staffing, births, selling, persistence, President, politics, immigration

We have actually completed the first draft of our book, The Inner Salesman!  It has took us one week to write and we are busy putting the finishing touches to it and then - out to market!

The essence of the book is that you cannot teach someone how to sell, because you don't need to, it is a skill that we are all born with, but not necessarily utilize.  We talk about how everyone should uncover and develop their own natural selling skills as it will help in all walks of life.  Additionally, we talk about psychological factors and most importantly, how to confront and overcome fear - we actually learned this from our ex KGB friend Val Riazanov and remember, if it's good enough for the KGB…I must make a note to buy a copy!

Had a conversation with another businessman the other day about integrity - he was complaining about people he had helped out of the goodness of his heart, who had 'turned' on him, not repaying monetary debts and not honoring their word etc.  I told him I was all too familiar with this as I have had very similar experiences.  I told him to just let it go and move on - the people concerned will always have to live with themselves and literally every day of their lives, their subconscious will remind them - the truth always does and as the saying goes 'what goes around comes around'!  It's always hard to let go and letting go does not mean you don't pursue what is rightly yours, it's more of a 'mental' moving on. The most important thing is that your own conscience is clear, you can live with yourself.

Finally, on the subject of integrity, it is something that you are born with, you cannot make it and it is something you die with!

~ Neil

Technorati Tags: books, selling, sales coaching, integrity, karma, business