Or maybe I should say the value of referrals and customer pre-qualification. This is why:

The lifeblood of every small company is referrals–it’s the easiest kind of sales lead to close. Referrals come from customers who are happy (with your product and service) and generous enough to help out.

A jerk isn’t going to do that. In fact, jerks, if asked, would probably bad-mouth you, even if you’ve gone the proverbial extra mile. Why?

Because they’re jerks.

Source: ‘New Year’s Advice: Don’t Sell to Jerks’ in Sales Source | vía @jm_alarcon

Most of you know I am not an Apple supporter at all, in fact I detest its corporate policies. However, Mr. Jobs was a true visionary and that deserves an honest tribute:

I receive the Gapingvoid newsletter everyday. Some cartoons are amazing, some are a bit crappy, but normally it worths the time. In fact I own three original cartoons from Hugh McLeod and probably my small collection will grow in the future.

Sometimes the best of the newsletter is not the cartoon itself, but Hugh’s explanation. It’s really curious how he is able to throw light, re-interpret or give new meanings to his own stuff. This one is entitled ‘Love Is Good’.

This is a cartoon I do like, specially this quote from Hugh:

‘The thing is; the older you get, the more paradoxical everything becomes, especially the important stuff’.

I was thinking a couple of days ago that I don’t know how many times I heard ‘God is Love’ when I was a kid. Today I think that it may be just the opposite: ‘Love is God’. Life is full of paradoxes, so… are you ready to turn everything upside down? Because this has a lot to do with the quest for innovation and, why not, perfection. Mere Utopia, I know, but I am sure that you remember the following words of the always inspiring Eduardo Galeano…

Utopia lies at the horizon.
When I draw nearer by two steps,
it retreats two steps.
If I proceed ten steps forward, it
swiftly slips ten steps ahead.
No matter how far I go, I can never reach it.
What, then, is the purpose of utopia?
It is to cause us to advance.

Doing business is all about buiding relationships, because companies don’t do business. People do.

Just as nobody could have predicted the impact of the steam engine in 1750—or the printing press in 1450, or the transistor in 1950—it is impossible to foresee the long-term impact of 3D printing. But the technology is coming, and it is likely to disrupt every field it touches. Companies, regulators and entrepreneurs should start thinking about it now. One thing, at least, seems clear: although 3D printing will create winners and losers in the short term, in the long run it will expand the realm of industry—and imagination.

Excerpt from ‘Print me a Stradivarius · How a new manufacturing technology will change the world‘ in The Economist.

Is the end of the manufacturing system born in the Industrial Revolution coming? It seems so… and in order to understand how maybe you should have a look at this article in Wikipedia or simply watch this video (you do not need to speak Japanese to understand it):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxBlHEuhF2o

What motivates us? This is the question that this extraordinary video from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) tries to answer. Do not hesitate to have a look at it and share your thoughts about this issue, please.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

Here it is the George Doran popular mnemonic in project and performance management, pretty useful to create metrics and other goals:

Specific.- Know exactly what your goal is.
Measurable.- Know whether you achieved the goal.
Achievable.- Speaks for itself.
Relevant.- Relates to the big picture.
Time Bound.- When will you reach the goal?

Did you know that only 3% of the population has written goals? And it is said that they earn ten times more than the rest…

The truth is that B2B marketers are still giving their first steps in Social Media. Facing the perception of irrelevance but knowing, at the same time, that results can be measured. ¿Something to think about? In 2009 Business.com discovered that B2B marketers who use social media tend to do so more extensively than their B2C counterparts. The best approach will be different for every company, depending on its profile; probably this ‘social matrix’ should help to make a correct analyse.

Things don’t come easy, but I do believe that intelligent blogging is one of the best options for B2B marketers as it can become an excellent way to show expertise, increase traffic, spread news among clients, identify emerging trends, etc. Even more, a corporate blog can become an invaluable source of credibility and humanity.

I like this presentation of Stephen Davies because it is an objective reflection about past, present and future of corporate blogs. Enjoy it and share your thoughts!

This is not the first time I write a post in English, but I would like to begin this post clarifying that I have decided to do so regularly. The main reason is that it is a nice way to keep my English ‘fresh’, although I have to admit that I should be paying attention to my German; English is my bet because if I chose German I would need to start looking for new readers… and, to be honest, my English is much better.

Ok, so let’s go straight to the point. I assume that most of you already know about TED. Is there someone out there who has not heard about this community yet? Come on, wake up! You are missing something fantastic! Can you afford it?

I knew about TED reading the amazing book ‘Los próximos 30 años’, written by Álvaro González-Alorda (I promise a review as soon as I read it again, there are some issues I want to go over). TED spreads thoughts, experiences, challenging ideas; it delivers true inspiration to change our world and this is the reason why I do recommend it to you.

I have chosen today a presentation offered by Tom Wujec in February 2010 about the ‘marshmallow problem’ and it is funny and intriguing at a time. I am convinced that teamwork is one of the skills that should be developed through formal education, but the truth is that it isn’t; it is, in fact, one of the abilities that is developed at work (without forgeting alternatives such as sports and volunteeering).

Well, I have written enough. Here it is a presentation about thinking out of the box, synergies and design. Enjoy it!