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The Speaker’s Edge by: Ken Lizotte
Speakers for business and nonprofit events are sought out every day by meeting planners and program directors. Those who get the call are typically those who fill a specific need and can boast appropriate credentials and experience. The Speaker’s Edge shows you how to land these speaking engagements, especially ones that pay.
This comprehensive book covers all the conventional means for locating and winning speaking engagements as well as clever, innovative tactics practiced by the most successful veteran speakers. You’ll learn how to: Position yourself as the go-to thought leader in your field of expertise; Use effective tools to highlight your speaker value, including videos, speaker sheets, and speaker bureaus; Consider a variety of speaking opportunities, such as serving on panels, hosting events, and participating in webinars; Locate attractive speaking venues, and successfully use the proposal systems such venues require; Consider what volunteering for pro bono gigs offer as venues for practice and visibility; Negotiate great deals, including setting fees, requesting expenses, and offering options to meeting planners; Maximize your speaking experience, including selling products, arranging follow-up gigs, and soliciting referrals.
By employing the recommendations in this book, you will elevate your speaking career and and business to new heights.
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Business Is a Large Target: The Business Owner/CEO’s Complete Guide to Maximizing Results (and Profits) from HR and Employee Benefits by: Jim Edholm
Remember the Lone Ranger? The legendary Masked Man fought evil and stood up for the little guy. But he was generally hated by the authorities. He didn’t fit their mold or play their games. He couldn’t be turned, bribed or stopped … so they treated him as an outlaw. That’s the position of small business owners and executives today. No longer seen as providers of opportunity, creators of jobs, makers of wealth; instead they are seen – at least by most in Washington and many in state capitals – as greedy oppressors of the “working class.” Someone to be jealous of, untrusting of, careful about, watched with a wary eye. And as a business owner or executive, you can either pay attorneys to get you out of the trouble that bureaucrats are just waiting to spring on you – or you can empower your Human Resources person to be the defensive walls in your castle and avoid the trouble in the first place. That one person – generally underappreciated – is the first bulwark of defense against the hostile hoards of bureaucrats eager to plunder your wealth. Jim Edholm is President of BBI Benefits, and he’s been working with entrepreneurial employers for over 30 years. For many of those years, as a group benefits (health, dental, disability, etc.) advisor he primarily focused on helping employers reduce the cost of their benefit programs. But over the last decade he’s seen the ever-encroaching reach of government bureaucracies, and he’s coupled his benefits work with services that empower the employer to help reduce turnover, enhance productivity, and allow the small HR department to have the depth of HR and compliance resources that their much larger competitors have. In this book, Jim reveals his secrets of how that smaller employer (10-150 employees) can fight back and gain the power necessary to prosper.
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Fresh Ink by: Chloe Lizotte
In 2007, Chloe Lizotte, then a student in middle school, wrote an “Historical Thoughtleader Profile” on Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the women’s suffrage leader, which she then published on a website. A few isableays later, she received a request from a professional women’s website called Women in Technology International (WITI) which wanted to re-publish it. That was the beginning of Chloe’s journey into professional publishing which, over the ensuring years, included a series of columns on still more historical “thoughtleaders” for The Concord Journal as well as music and arts reviews in her high school newspaper The Voice (which she also served as editor-in-chief) and various op-ed pieces, reviews, news reports and reflective essays in prominent journals like Teen Ink, The Real Musician, Booklore, The Pulitzer Center, CEO Refresher and Op-Ed News. The next step logically implied a book, resulting in “Fresh Ink: Published Writings,” a compilation of all her published content. Each chapter in “Fresh Ink” is a previously published work specifically selected for publication by an editor. No chapter content in “Fresh Ink” has been included that does not meet that requirement. “The essays in my book reflect where I’ve been, what I’ve seen, how I’ve reacted and what I’ve concluded,” Chloe explains. “They speak to my journey up to this stage in my life.” Chapter topics in the book range from music reviews (“The Suburbs” and “The King of Limbs”) to literary legends (Hemingway, J.D. Salinger) to political history (The 1920s youth culture, Martin Luther King) to Steve Carell’s leaving “The Office” to profiles of historical eccentrics, movie reviews, a report on the 2011 summer London riots and a self-reflection titled “The Thoreau Challenge.” A comment online of the website that published Chloe’s essay on Martin Luther King remarked: “(Chloe is) an amazingly cogent thinker, proving that age has nothing to do with intellect, discernment, wisdom, and that all-important passion for one’s subject matter — and for truth.” Another commenter confided: “I was about to give up on our youth but your wonderful writing has renewed my faith.” Now a member of Yale’s class of 2016, Chloe graduated from Concord-Carlisle High School in 2012 after serving as editor-in-chief of its student newspaper The Voice and music director of its radio station WIQH-FM. In addition to her column about “historical eccentrics” in the town of Concord’s weekly newspaper The Concord Journal, she also won the 2011 University of Virginia Book Award. Her twice-monthly radio show on WIQH achieved the station’s “Outstanding Show of the Year” award three years running. She is also an accomplished piano and guitar player, an avid snowboarder, kayaker and runner, and a talented videographer. Chloe’s reporting on the London riots for the renowned Pulitzer Center happened largely due to her love of all things British, including four trips to London and a summer study program at Cambridge College (2011). She has also visited Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Montreal and Paris. She lives with her family in Concord, Massachusetts.
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The Expert’s Edge by: Ken Lizotte
You’ve seen them everywhere-on the covers of books and magazines, quoted in newspaper articles, interviewed on the radio and TV. They are the “thoughtleaders,” the high-profile professionals who rise above everyone else in their field to become the go-to experts in all forms of media.
Sound bite needed for what’s happening in real estate? Call Donald Trump. Personal finance questions? Get Suze Orman!
What about you? Who seeks you out for opinions for trends in your specialty? Are you merely an expert in your field or are you the expert? Do you dream of attaining higher levels of business fame and fortune? Is there a way to make that happen?
The answer is Yes-if you’ve got The Expert’s Edge.
An action-ready program of proven success strategies, this easy-to-follow game plan can turn any level of entrepreneur into the must-have expert that prospects and media seek out before all others. You raise your profile, expand demand for your services, and increase your profits. Just follow the “Five Pillars of Thoughtleading”:
1. Publish articles and books
2. Speak regularly to groups and companies
3. Inspire with “fresh” thinking
4. Attract ongoing media attention
5. Leverage the Internet creativelyUsed together, these Five Pillars offer an unbeatable strategy for positioning your business as the only one to call. Prospects and clients will think only of you when your service or product is needed. Your competitors are left struggling to catch up.
No matter what you do-entrepreneur, intrapreneur, consultant, manager or specialist-The Expert’s Edgewill elevate you to an enviable status as the go-to-authority in your field.
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Leading the High Energy Culture: What the Best CEOs Do to Create an Atmosphere Where Employees Flourish by: David Casullo
Praise for Leading the High-Energy Culture
“If you’re looking for a step-by-step guide on how to become a high-energy leader, you’ve found it here!”
–Tom Croston, Vice President/General Manager of Corporate Shared Services, Gap, Inc.“Whether its business, sports, or even parenting, successful leaders share one thing in common–high energy! David is right; it can be developed. I find it unique for someone to identify the truly key elements of leadership. David has done this in a way that fosters success in these endeavors as well as those of family, church, and community.”
–Pat Williams, Senior Vice President, Orlando Magic, and author of Leadership Excellence“Jack Welch identified ‘energy’ as one of the critical characteristics he looked for in effective leaders but never talked about how they develop it. David Casullo’s book provides the road map for how to harness your own energy while energizing those around you. Every leader can increase their effectiveness by implementing the ideas he presents.”
–Patrick M. Wright, William J. Conaty GE Professor of Strategic Human Resources in the ILR School (Industrial and Labor Relations), Cornell UniversityLeaders and managers today are experiencing an “energy crisis” resulting from the failure to engage and inspire their people. Yet, a handful of leaders have found an endless supply of energy to fuel their organizations. They’re the ones who attract the top talent, the most loyal customers, and the public’s imagination. They’re leaders like Zappos’s Tony Hsieh and the late Steve Jobs, who’ve built cultures energized at every level to innovate, grow, and succeed. Leading the High-Energy Culture: What the Best CEOs Do to Create an Atmosphere Where Employees Flourish is the handbook to powering this kind of workplace with the energy that your workforce already possesses.
A change this big starts at the top. David Casullo, a leadership authority and strategic consultant to businesses large and small, explains the steps for establishing an authentic leadership presence based on your powerful personal truths. Then he shares the secrets for how to communicate your vision in order to create a sense of purpose throughout your organization and beyond, thereby spreading excitement to consumers, investors, and the media. Using his own experience, research, and demonstrated results from the leadership development program that he developed while helping transform Raymour & Flanigan from a small regional company to a billion-dollar furniture retail giant, Casullo outlines the specific steps that let you discover and unlock the latent energy in your team.
Casullo organizes these practices into 10 simple principles, each illustrated and reinforced with firsthand client interviews; real-world examples from businesses such as Ford, FedEx, and GE; and thought-provoking interactive exercises. These principles illuminate the path to creating real employee engagement by giving you an actionable model to:
- Learn what matters to your organization and its people, and align your leadership strategy with these truths
- Communicate clearly, with purpose and passion, to create a resonant message
- Find the leaders in your workforce who give your organization a competitive advantage
Leading the High-Energy Culture uses methods proven to generate results. Beyond the bottom line, however, it will reignite your own commitment and passion by giving you a fresh perspective on how to become an energized leader of a charged-up organization.
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