Anyway. For the past THREE years, a colleague and I have been working on a new idea/company, nights and weekends. We have spent cash and time (’incubating’ and ’sweat equity’ are the terms now in vogue).

This could a new business in the publishing space, but in a niche market now in the hundreds of millions, over $10 billion, according to some experts in the industry. Seriously.

The potential is so great that we thought instead of doing a raw startup, we would approach media companies with a very compelling offer. They can have the business for a very modest amount of cash plus an on-going royalty on sales. This is very different from the ‘normal’ way of starting a business, but I thought these times might have created a new attitude in larger businesses.

So, we started contacting publishers and their persons in charge of “New Business Development.” No wonder job creation is down if the people in charge of new business development are so careful as to be completely paralyzed, to NOT EVEN want to see what our ‘thing’ is all about.

One local publisher is especially noteworthy. He had been quoted in the press as having said, “I am less concerned with the competitors than in finding new pathways to the future.” Perfect. New pathways to the future—that Be us.

I have emailed him. Called. Tried to get on his calendar for 15 minutes. He won’t even give me the courtesy of a call back.

Back up at 40,000 feet now, it is interesting to see how the larger the company, the more rooted they are to the past. There are simply too many institutional barriers to overcome to bring in a new idea, even if the idea is potentially huge. Talk is cheap and easy, as the ‘new pathways to the future” comment shows.

Meanwhile, unemployment is at 10.2% and people who have never actually created a job are talking about the new industries of the future.

Further note: This is a very common complaint amongst all entrepreneurs, this is not new. Used to it. And, we almost always find a way in. Stay tuned.

Oh.

Sorry, Veterans. You are special, but not just this one day. Every frickin day.

Side note. For those of you too young to remember, in a few days, on November 19, we will not celebrate Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. If you have not read it lately, I’d recommend you read it over once again. Brilliant. As you read it, remember that over 57,000…Fifty-Seven thousand Union and Confederate soldiers…died in that one battle, over three days. (52,000 Americans died in the entire VietNam War)

Since many will not click or jump to the Gettsburg Address link, here it is in its entirety. If you can’t thank a veteran today personally…and chances are good you work with one….at least read this speech.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Congratulations Steve…keep it up.  PS: Don’t you ever die…or retire.  You make too many contributions by just doing what you are doing.

And, just for fun, I have an internet buddy who is Steve’s doppelganger.  Anyone know who this is?

It’s Brad Shorr of Words Sell, Inc, out of Chicago. You can find Brad here.

Seriously.  What does it take?  What DOES it take?

I mean, we know how to help job seekers.  Yet, ShitForBrainsJobBoards continue to “help” jobseekers by showing old jobs, out of date jobs, scam jobs, postal jobs which are jobs you have to buy application forms yeah right, duplicate jobs and the list of crappy things they do goes on and on and  on.  Your favorite ShitForBrainsJobBoard is still out promoting hard, buying ads because they need you to stop by and get frustrated.  YOU use it.  Stop using them now.

Seriously.

They don’t care about your needing a job.  They want your name.  They want to sell your name to the highest bidder.  They are database storage companies, not job helping services.

Stop using them.  If you are in HR, particularly, stop using them.  They hurt the very people you want to bring into your business.  Why pay ShitForBrains any more? It just encourages them.

Like you maybe in your own business,  we have a fantastic product that needs a breakthrough….clickwise, buzzwise, internets-wise,…you know what I mean.  We don’t have ShitForBrains’ money to buy traffic.  But you know, 10,000 at a time, LINKUP’s traffic is building and building.  Baby incremental steps, all good. But we could help so many more people, if they just knew about LINKUP.  This is your part.

What is encouraging is who LOVES LinkUp besides me and mine.  I know dozens of career coaches and counselors, God love ‘em, they tell clients ALL THE TIME about LInkUp.  So do career centers all over the frickincountry.  So do my friends in the resumewriting community.  So do thousands and thousands of job seekers who regularly use LINKUP to find jobs ONLY from company websites.  You know what it’s like?  It’s like being Zappos but no one tells anyone else because they are afraid they will run of shoes.  People!  Tell your friends about LinkUp.

But…here is something interesting…those same job seekers sortakinda hope you don’t find out about LINKUP.  They don’t want the competition for the jobs, about 70% of which on LINKUP are never advertised elsewhere.  But, no matter where you live, or what your skill, there are jobs out there for you.  We have over 20,000 companies now up on LINKUP and growing daily.  Jobs, jobs, jobs…all for you to find…before anyone else.  It’s like getting access to personal memos from inside the company who always lists ALL their job openings on their own websites FIRST.

Right now, when jobseekers send a resume to ShitForBrainsJobBoard advertisers, THEY DON”T HEAR BACK.  What is the disconnect?

Just don’t buy the ShitForBrainsJobBoards nonsense.  Use LinkUP, but even more better (sic), tell someone else….do your part to help the 10% of us who need a new job.

Pass it on.

A word first: I’ve never met her but I enjoy reading her blog for several reasons. Like millions of people not like me, she is a hard working mom, trying to manage her nottohelpful husband (identify with that ladies?), and a too-stoopid-to-live attorney boss who makes her do incredibly stupid things, and a semi-dysfunctional family who intrudes on her sanity and safety, AND two daughters who she affectionally calls “the dramas.” I think her girls must have names but on her blog she simply calls them “9″ and “13.” Priceless.

And on top of that, she is going to night school. If you want to understand one woman’s view on the current workplace and home life, read her stuff. She needs meds.

So, she is home doing her homework one night, when “9″ comes up to her with one of those tough questions we have all heard. “Mom, what’s the difference between roast beef and pea soup?”

Admittedly, “UsedToBeMe” wasn’t parentally engaged at that moment, she ignored “9″’s question and hoped she would just leave. “UsedToBeMe” often shares what she is thinking as opposed to what she is saying. If you are a parent, you can see this situation, “been there, done that.” Another inane question from a “drama” who just wants attention.

Finally, she had to answer “9.”

“Well, you know this, roast beef is in the oven with carrots and potoatoes, and pea soup is that vomit-iike stuff that only your dad likes.” (I am really waiting for the birds and bees questions to come up now, because THAT answer was a good one.)

But then “9″ said: “Nope, you can roast beef but you can’t pee soup.”

Point. The sun is always shining somewhere.

Her blog is here.

-30-

Ed. Note: This collection of posts from some career experts is really top notch. I hope you browse through a few of these. They are veryvery good.

Gayle Howard: Today’s Enlightened Job Seeker

Meg Montford: Job Action Day: Finding Your “Mojo” After Layoff

Debra Wheatman: Plan B from outer space; or what do you have in case your first plan doesn’t work out?

Heather Mundell: Green Jobs – What They Are and How to Find Them

Erin Kennedy: Cutting Edge Job Search Blueprint

Grace Kutney: Securing Your Career While Navigating the Winds of Change

Hannah Morgan: Career Sherpa Why Our Job Search Advice is the Same but Different

Heather R. Huhman, Take Action: 10 Steps for Landing an Entry-Level Job

Laurie Berenson: Making lemonade out of lemons: Turn unemployment into entrepreneurship

Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter: You Can Thrive In, Not Just Survive, an Economic Slogging

Rosalind Joffe: Preparedness: It’s Not Just for Boyscouts

Rosa E. Vargas: Are You Evolving Into The On-Demand Professional of Tomorrow?

Dawn Bugni: Your network IS your net worth

Miriam Salpeter: Optimize your job hunt for today’s economy

GL Hoffman: The Life of An Entrepreneur: Is It for You?

Katharine Hansen: Job Action Day 09: His Resume Savvy Helped New Career Rise from Layoff Ashes

Martin Buckland: Job Search–The Key to Securing Your Future Career.

Chandlee Bryan: Where the Green Jobs Are

Barbara Safani: Where the Jobs Are 2009 and Beyond

JT O’Donnell : Actions that got people jobs in this recession

I have a lot of ideas around “How?” Not so many around “Why?”

Since the economy cratered last year many people, having been laid off, are starting their own companies. Bravo for them. The answer to their “Why?” was survival; no other jobs were available, so why not go for it?

I asked Seth Godin (Yes, that Seth Godin) to write a guest post for me about this process, about people creating jobs for themselves as opposed to finding one. He wrote an insightful post for my blog called DON’T EVEN TRY TO FIND A JOB. His main point was why not use this time, or these times, to get something started. Especially with the web, it is far easier to just try something. Fersure.

Here is a brief excerpt:

DON’T TRY TO GET A JOB

Don’t you dare.

There are a few reasons for this. The first is that the act of trying to get a job corrupts you. It pushes you to be average, to fit in and to do what you’re told.

The second is that this act moves the responsibility from you to that guy who didn’t hire you. It’s his fault. As soon as you start spending your day trying to please the guy, you’ve blown it.

The third is that the economy is terrible and the best jobs you’re going to get are lousy.

So, what should you do?

Today, right now, while the opportunity costs (look it up on Wikipedia) are the lowest they will ever be, go start something.

Start a business. A tiny one.

One guy I follow on Twitter said it best. “Why don’t we all just quit our jobs and sell Amway?” Indeed. Why not?

Although it doesn’t get at all of the issues of “Why?” the post I did sometime ago called “100 Lessons” might get at some of them, but from a different angle. I wrote that over a period of weeks as I was thinking about some of the things I have learned over a career of observing everything that happens inside a new startup. Even though it is a lengthy article, and most likely in need of some serious updating, it might help some folks who are making that Shall-I-or-Shall-I-Not decision. BTW, Guy Kawasaki liked the article enough to Twitter about it (but then again he tweets about EVERYTHING!!)

Here is Number 12 on the list:
12. Can you handle pressure? One thing you can depend upon is the amount of pressure you will be under. Some might be self-imposed, most will be from external sources. Sales people will want something easier to sell, investors want faster progress, others want more or less of this and that, and constantly. How you handle these pressures will go a long way to determine your success. Someone told me a long time ago, that my only job was “to make the comfortable, uncomfortable, and the uncomfortable, comfortable.” I think that pretty much sums up the new company leader’s most critical assignment.

But back to “Why?” It varies from IMPATIENCE to REVENGE. (Those who know, know what that means.) Truthfully, the reasons are many—what I would like to know is what do you think? Why do you think people start them? Any personal stories? Do you believe this Gruzzle is right?

One thing is clear: For every Steve Jobs, there are thousands of entrepreneurs who struggle every day.
One last word: Don’t do it only for the money.

Here are links to the posts by the collective. And on the bottom are all the participants. Please support them.

Meg Montford: Job Action Day: Finding Your “MOJO” After Layoff http://coachmeg.typepad.com/career_chaos/2009/10/job-action-day-finding-your-mojo-after-layoff.html

Debra Wheatman: Plan B from outer space; or what do you have in case your first plan doesn’t work out? http://resumesdonewrite.blogspot.com/2009/10/plan-b-from-outer-space-or-what-do-you.html

Heather Mundell: Green Jobs – What They Are and How to Find Them, http://dbcs.typepad.com/lifeatwork/2009/10/green-jobs-what-they-are-and-how-to-find-them.html

Erin Kennedy: Cutting Edge Job Search Blueprint http://exclusive-executive-resumes.com/resumes/job-search-blueprint/

Grace Kutney: Securing Your Career While Navigating the Winds of Change http://sweetcareers.blogspot.com/2009/10/securing-your-career-while-navigating.html

Hannah Morgan: Career Sherpa– Why Our Job Search Advice is the Same but Different http://hannahmorgan.typepad.com/hannah_morgan/2009/10/why-our-job-search-advice-is-the-same-but-different.html

Gayle Howard: The Enlightened Jobseeker http://www.theexecutivebrand.com/?p=500

Laurie Berenson: Making lemonade out of lemons: Turn unemployment into entrepreneurship http://blog.sterlingcareerconcepts.com/2009/10/30/making-lemonade-out-of-lemons-turn-unemployment-into-entrepreneurship.aspx

Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter: You Can Thrive In, Not Just Survive, an Economic Slogging http://careertrend.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/you-can-thrive-not-just-survive-an-economic-slogging/

Rosalind Joffe: Preparedness: It’s Not Just for Boyscouts http://workingwithchronicillness.com/2009/10/preparedness-its-not-just-for-boy-scouts/

Rosa E. Vargas: Are You Evolving Into The In-Demand Professional of Tomorrow? http://resume-writing.typepad.com/resume_writing_and_job_se/2009/10/furture-careers.html

Dawn Bugni: Your network IS your net worth http://thewritesolution.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/your-network-is-your-net-worth/

Miriam Salpeter: Optimize your job hunt for today’s economy http://www.keppiecareers.com/2009/10/30/optimize-your-job-hunt-for-todays-ecomony/

GL Hoffman: The Life of An Entrepreneur: Is It for You? http://blogs.jobdig.com/wwds/2009/10/30/the-life-of-an-entrepreneur-is-it-for-you/

Katharine Hansen: Job Action Day 09: His Resume Savvy Helped New Career Rise from Layoff Ashes http://www.resumesandcoverletters.com/tips_blog/job_action_day_09_his_resume_s.html

Martin Buckland: Job Search–The Key to Securing Your Future Career. http://aneliteresume.com/job-search/the-key-to-securing-your-future-career/

Chandlee Bryan: Where the Green Jobs Are: http://emergingprofessional.typepad.com/the_emerging_professional/2009/11/where-the-green-jobs-are.html

Heather R. Huhman, Take Action: 10 Steps for Landing an Entry-Level Job, http://www.heatherhuhman.com/2009/10/take-action/

Barbara Safani: Where the Jobs Are 2009 and Beyond: http://www.careersolvers.com/blog/?p=1301&preview=true

Here are the participants in the Career Collective:

Co-Organizers

Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter is a Master Resume Writer and owner of Career Trend. She composes career positioning documents for forward thinking executives/professionals. Her chief concern is to unearth and translate your value into words. http://careertrend.wordpress.com/ on Twitter: @valueintowords.

Miriam Salpeter, owner of Keppie Careers, is a job search coach and resume writer with over 12 years of experience encouraging, enlightening and empowering job seekers. She authors a highly regarded blog at www.keppiecareers.com and is well known as a top resource for job seekers on Twitter: @keppie_careers.

Members

Laurie Berenson, owner of Sterling Career Concepts, LLC, is a Certified Professional Resume Writer who guides her clients through resume development, job search strategy, and career progression. http://blog.sterlingcareerconcepts.com/ on Twitter: @LaurieBerenson.

Chandlee Bryan, founder and owner of Best Fit Forward, is a resume writer and job search strategist. A former Ivy League Career Services Director, Chandlee also leads the NYC Job Seekers MeetUp, a Manhattan based group of over 850 individuals (www.meetup.com/nycjobseekers). www.bestfitforward.com on Twitter: @chandlee.

Dawn Bugni, Certified Professional Resume Writer and owner of The Write Solution, creates compelling career documents helping clients find their professional bliss. She offers up a healthy dose of job search reality during the resume creation process and tempers the challenges of the search with honesty, a quick wit and a touch of humor. Dawn’s Blog. On Twitter: @dawnbugni.

Megan Fitzgerald is an expat career and personal branding coach and owner of Career By Choice. She helps expatriate professionals and entrepreneurs use their personal brand on and offline to build a career or business that fits them and their international lifestyle. http://www.careerbychoiceblog.com on Twitter: @expatcoachmegan.

Katharine Hansen, associate publisher and creative director at Quintessential Careers, is a writer, educator, blogger, social-media junkie, career practitioner and a leading proponent of storytelling for career advancement. http://katharinehansenphd.com on Twitter: @kat_hansen.

GL Hoffman, chairman of LINKUP and author of What Would Dad Say, is an entrepreneur, business leader and friend to many. www.whatwoulddadsay.com on Twitter: @glhoffman.

Gayle Howard, owner of Top Margin Career Marketing Group is a Master Resume Writer, Certified Expert Resume Writer, Reach Certified Personal Branding Strategist, author and multiple TORI Award Winner providing bold, authentic, audacious career branding for next generation executives. Gayle’s Blog. On Twitter: @gaylehoward.

Heather R. Huhman is a career expert and founder/president of Come Recommended. She specializes in working with Generation Y. You can read her personal blog at HeatherHuhman.com or follow her on Twitter at @HeatherHuhman.

Rosalind Joffe, founder and president of http://cicoach.com, is a chronic illness career coach with 10 years of experience working with people with chronic illness to find and keep jobs that they can thrive in. She blogs at Working With Chronic Illness and is on Twitter at: @WorkWithIllness.

Erin Kennedy, CPRW, is the President of Professional Résumé Services and has been writing power-packed executive level résumés since 1999. To read more about Erin and her services, visit http://exclusive-executive-resumes.com or follow Erin on Twitter: @erinkennedycprw.

Grace Kutney is a career development professional with 11+ years experience in career advising. She operates Sweet Careers, a not-for-profit website and career consulting service offering free career and job search advice to college students and recent grads. On Twitter: @sweetcareers.

Meg Montford, owner of Abilities Enhanced, is a Master Certified Career Coach and Career Management Fellow who motivates and supports executives and professionals while they work to achieve radical career changes. http://www.coachmeg.typepad.com/career_chaos/ on Twitter: @KCCareerCoach.

Hannah Morgan is a Career Sherpa, a guide for lifetime career navigation. She writes and speaks on topics related to career management and is recognized for her energetic, compassionate and no non-sense style for conveying information. http://hannahmorgan.typepad.com/hannah_morgan/ on Twitter: @careersherpa.

Heather Mundell is a life and career coach and owner of Dream Big Coaching Services. A former HR director, Heather helps professionals make key career decisions that fit who they are and what they want. http://dbcs.typepad.com. On Twitter: @heathermundell.

J.T. O’Donnell is a nationally syndicated career expert, author and founder of the top-rated career site for young professionals, ages 18-40, CAREEREALISM.com. She can be found on Twitter: @jtodonnell and by e-mail over at www.careerealism.com.

Andy Robinson is CEO & Executive Career Coach at CRG Leadership Institute LLC. His passion is helping business professionals love what they do for a living and achieve lasting career success. Blogsite: www.AndyRobinsonCoach.com. He also co-hosts the Career Success Show on Exceptional Wisdom Radio. Twitter: @AndyinNaples.

Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers, has 15 years of experience in career management, recruiting and executive coaching. Barbara partners with companies and individuals to deliver targeted career and job search strategy programs. She is a author of Happy About My Resume: 50 Tips for Building a Better Document to Secure a Brighter Future.
For career advice, visit her blog and follow her on @barbarasafani.

Rosa Elizabeth Vargas is Owner of Creating Prints Resume Service and is a triple-certified writer (MRW) Master Resume Writer, (NCRW) Nationally Certified Resume Writer and (ACRW) Academy Certified Resume Writer. For over seven years, Rosa has been helping careerist by equipping them with powerful career marketing tools that steer job search campaigns. http://resume-writing.typepad.com on Twitter: @resumeservice.

1. Get back behind a desk. Watching grown men try to figure out how to cross their legs, and the below-the-waist fidgeting is distracting to the viewer. He used the desk for years, why change?

2. No wanna-be comedian skits. Jay, my man, are you kidding? It is super nice of you to want to showcase talent, but showcasing almost-talent, is embarrassing. When they come on, I check out CSI and I bet millions other do, too. Painful to watch, truly.

3. The set is too busy. You got more things going on there than the midway at the MN state fair. Simplify it.

4. Use funny segments from other late night shows, like Fallon’s, Conan’s, even Kimmel’s. If George Stanfophfolomos (sp?) can re run funnies on his Sunday morning news show, surely YOU can get permission. They will love the plugs, and it shows how you are the stud at the comedy farm

5. Find different sort of guests, from the business and sports world, other professionals. Give them a day’s training to make them presentable, perhaps a good idea, but I am getting tired of the re treads. The world is full of interesting, witty, quick people…find them. Scout out improv theaters, your people can find their people.

6. Everyday I read funnier stuff on Twitter. I get emails that make me laugh out loud. You must get lots of them too…do something with them. Ever watch YouTube? I bet a segment on what you think was world class funny would make me laugh too.

7. Hire better writers. No ‘fense to the crew you got, but new blood is necessary. Google “Maddox, the bestpage in the universe guy,” and make him your head writer.

8. Travel more. Your man on the street schtick is terrific, but hey, it is still LA. Doing it in Clay Center, KS, would be even more hilarious.

9. Have some interactive stuff…contest submissions of funny bits, a sort of Jay Leno’s American Idol idea, 15 seconds to fame. If you can’t get it on-air, put it on-line. Twitter post of the day, whatever it takes. If it is good, it will help.

10. I am thinking you need a sidekick. I’d volunteer, but I am pretty busy…but I do have the perfect guy: Charles Barkley. Send a plane for him and a Brink’s truck, whatever he wants.

In related news, THE ONION reports today that President Obama won the coveted Nobel Peach Prize…wait, wait, wait….

The past six months have seen an unprecedented rise in social media adoption.  Companies are scrambling to create Facebook pages and no mainstream news medium is without a Twitter account.  Despite the state of the economy, companies are promising upwards of a 50% increase in social media spending.

It seems that no matter what the profession, a basic understanding of social media has become necessary.  While mentioning Twitter, Flickr, Youtube and Hulu to my grandmother may convince her of my fluency in another language, the same can’t be said of recruiters and potential employers who appreciate candidates abreast of the trends.

I’ve been freakishly obsessed an avid proponent of social media, especially in my job search efforts, and I’ve always encouraged my peers to turn to the unorthodox methods social media can sometimes provide.  Recently, however, I’ve begun to wonder whether social media has begun to erode my generation’s social skills, and which technique is ultimately better suited to landing that coveted job.

An article on Mashable cites a San Diego State University study which suggests that Generation Y believes that they use “social networking sites for self-promotion, narcissism and attention seeking.”  Considering the average college student in 2006 has become 30% more narcissistic than in 1982, that seems about right.

Not so fast, though!

According to the same SDSU study, 40% of those Gen Y-ers polled also believe that the “self-promotion, narcissism and attention seeking” behaviors social media provokes are necessary (what can I say, we’re a strange people).  No doubt, social media is used for self-promotion, but to use it capitalistically is to use it correctly, especially when the brand you’re promoting is yourself.

Still, as I begin another month as an unemployed college graduate, I can’t help but to wonder what my personal brand is worth and whether traditional social networking or social media is better suited to capitalize on it.  Twitter is said to eventually be valued at $1 billion, but does my generation run the risk of cementing our reputation?  How can job seekers achieve a balance between social media and remaining social?

Obviously, my Gruzzles are way deeper, more insightful even. Still…

As seen on FASTCOMPANY.

If you have a sales manager worth his salt, not only can he manage your sales force when everyone wants one of whatever product or service you are selling, but he can fix whatever happens when sales tank.

Frankly speaking, methinks there are few sales managers who can do this.

If you are experiencing this in your organization look for five things.

1. A reliance on product training, not sales training. Too many companies conduct product training sessions, hoping in some backward form of logic that customers buy features of products and not solutions to their painful issues. I think it is just simpler to do product training than sales training. Don’t mix up the two, and realize that increasing the amount of product training will most likely not result in added sales.

2. Not enough listening. This is generic, but it almost always can be detected. This is closed connected with alignment issues, see number 4. Good sales people know how to listen, and how to listen for the issues that are bothering the prospects. Only by good listening can the sales rep advance the ball. Look here second.

3. This is too basic but true. In hundreds and hundreds of sales calls that I have listened to or participated in, in almost 75% of the cases, there was an opportunity to ask for the order. For whatever reason, the sales rep did not do this. Ask for the order. Highlight this one on the chart above.

4. Alignment issues happen most frequently with an experienced sales force and even good reps. Basically, they are so good at knowing what the prospect needs, that they diagnose the problem apparently too fast for the prospect. Read yesterday’s post on this key problem. This is often called being out of alignment.

5. No energy in the sales force. This might be a cultural thing inside your company, but it is easy detect by outsiders. Your sales force should have a positive energy, an almost StarTrek Enterprise force field of excitement and energy. If you lack it, you know it, and you must fix it. If your sales manager can’t, if it is just not who he is, find someone else who can fill this role. As someone told me once, in a sales conversation someone had better get excited, and it is easy for it to be YOU.

If you want a poster of the above graphic, just email me and I can send one to you. Ed. Note: What GL failed to mention is that there is a charge of $20 for each poster. He regrets the omission.

BTW, the sponsor of this post is LINKUP, the best and fastest job search engine on the web today. With a new Facebook app CURRENT JOBS AT OUR COMPANY which every company needs if they have a facebook page like USA TODAY, HYATT and other web and HR 3.0 companies do today. Plus the LINKUP IPhone app is a killer free job search engine on your Iphone which, again, helps you find ONLY jobs from company websites, never from a job board. Therein lies the sponsor’s message.