BizBook Nuggets

Conversation with Expert Bud Bilanich

Wednesday, Oct. 26, Conversations with Experts teleseries features Bud Bilanich, one of my favorite clients and colleague. Here's what you'll learn when you register and attend this free teleconference (8:30 p.m. ET, register at www.ConversationswithExperts.com).

The Common Sense Guy's Advice For Building and Running a Profitable Consulting Business
Wednesday, October 26, 2005, 8:30 p.m. ET
Guest Expert: Bud Bilanich, BudBilanich.com and CommonSenseGuy.com

Bud Bilanich, The Common Sense Guy, has been in business as a solopreneur since 1988. He is a management consultant, executive coach and keynote speaker. Bud will share how he coached himself using the ideas in his book "4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations":

. Clarity of purpose and direction
. The sincere Commitment of everyone in the organization
. Skillful Execution of the things that matter
. Mutually beneficial Relationships with important outside people to create a successful and profitable consulting, coaching and speaking business.

Bud will provide specific examples of what he did, how he did it, and answer your questions about how you can build a successful and profitable business.

A management consultant, keynote speaker, executive coach and author specializing in "Common Sense Solutions to Tough Business Problems", Bud Bilanich's pragmatic approach to business, life, and the business of life has earned him the title The Common Sense Guy, and made him one of the most sought after speakers, consultants and executive coaches in the USA! Dr. Bilanich's work focuses on improving the performance of individuals, teams and entire organizations. Bud is Harvard educated, but has a no-nonsense, common sense approach to his work that stretches back to his roots in the steel country of Western Pennsylvania.

Register: www.ConversationsWithExperts.com
http://www.conversationswithexperts.com

Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line
Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff.

Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System
http://www.buildabetterblogsystem.com

You Think You Read A Lot of Books?

Robert Morris is my hero. He's a management consultant from Texas and a Top 10 reviewer of biz books for Amazon. He estimates he's read over 1500 biz books. Amazon customers voted him one of the most helpful reviewers.

Harvard Business Review has a Q&A with him in the current October 2005 issue. He says he spends time with books based on research like Jim Collins' Good to Great and Jason Jennings' Think Big Act Small. Morris says all the books he reads helps him see a big picture on how business works. The piece ends with his recommendations:

Big Insight Books

• Knowing Doing Gap by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton (HBSP, 2000)
• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (Little Brown, 2005)
• Anatomy of Buzz by Emanuel Rosen (Doubleday, 2002)

Business Classic Morris re-reads every year

• The Lever of Riches by Joel Mokyr (Oxford, 1992)
• The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn (University of Chicago, 1996)
• On the Profession of Management by Peter Drucker (HBSP, 2003)
• Engines of Creation by Eric Drexler (Random House, 1987)
• Holding On to Reality by Albert Borgmann (University of Chicago, 1999)

Excuse me, I've gotta go place a couple of orders on Amazon...

Leadership by Persuasion

I've been intrigued by the concept of leading by persuasion for a while. How do you get someone to join you in a project or change effort when you have no formal authority over them? And even when you do have authority, you may be hesitant to use it. Many people don't respond well to authoritative pressure.

My research took me to a Harvard Business Essentials book called Power, Influence, and Persuasion, Sell Your Ideas and Make Things Happen. This little guide is extremely valuable for any leader or manager.

So I wrote a 1800-word article called Leadership by Persuation, and am making it available as a newsletter topic. Please visit www.customizednewsletters.com to read a synopsis. The article is available for use in your own newsletters, either as is, or you can modify it and add your own stuff.

You can order a shorter version, 900 words, or a nugget, 600 words, with the main ideas summarized. This makes an excellent base for a newsletter where you can add your own experiences and personalize it for your own coaching/consulting clients and readers.

Let me know how I can help you create valuable content for your newsletters and blogs. Send me an email.

Are You A Blogger?

Coaches: Are you a Blogger?

Calling all coaches who are bloggers AND are planning to attend the ICF Conference in November.

The Blog Squad will be at the Conference and we'll be blogging on our new blog at The Blog Squad Live!  We're looking for 4-5 coaches who would like to be guest bloggers on the blog.

We're looking for blogger coaches who will commit to blogging about the conference before, during and after -- reporting on your experience and observations about the conference.

What do you get?  Lots of great exposure for you, your business and your blog, of course.  You'll get a link from our blog to your blog.  Your posts will be categorized by your name and we'll be promoting this blog/event heavily over the next few weeks before the conference.

Interested?  Contact Denise and Patsi ASAP.  Send us a link to your blog and tell us why you want to be a Blog Squad Guest Blogger during the ICF Conference. Send an email.

See you in San Jose!

P.S.  If you're not going to be at the Conference and you know coaches who are attending and may be interested in this opportunity, please let them know.  Thanks!

Do You Know How, When, What and Why Your Business Works?

Most small businesses and consulting practices would crumble if the owner or professional got sick or disabled. Even if competent help could step in to replace the professional, there would be little if any documentation to explain what needs to be done, when, and why.

I just love it when I find people who have discovered a specific niche that helps us professionals work better and smarter. Beth Schneider formed her company, Process Prodigy, to help people document their systems, showing them who does what, when, and why.

I hired Beth because like many professionals, my own Customized Newsletter business just grew and developed and took on a life of its own. Although I am able to explain how things work, none of the members on my work team really understood how the other parts worked.

Not only did I want to get a better understanding of the system I use to produce hundreds of individual newsletters for other people, I had an idea to license my newsletter services, so that individuals in other professions could start up and run their own newsletter business.

This Wednesday, Oct. 6, you all have an opportunity to listen in on a conversation I am having with Beth, who will explain the value of systems for small business owners and independent professionals. You won't want to miss this Conversation with Expert.

Register: www.ConversationsWithExperts.com

Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff.

Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System: www.BuildaBetterBlogSystem.com