Business Coaching

Today is an American holiday where traditionally, before sitting down with family and digging in to home cooked favorites like turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, people say what they’re thankful for.

What are you thankful for in your business?

Every year, the New Oxford Dictionary chooses a “word of the year.” The word is usually representative of the times, and is a new addition to the dictionary.

How fitting that this year’s word of the year is…unfriend. Social media has taken over! Whether you’re using it for personal use or business use, just about everyone has joined LinkedIn, Facebook and/or Twitter to promote themselves.

According to the New Oxford dictionary: “Unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook. As in, ‘I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight.’”

The finalists for word of the year are also telling of the times, as many of them have to do with the more rampant use of technology, social media terms, and the economy:

sexting – the sending of sexually explicit texts and pictures by cellphone

hashtag – a # [hash] sign added to a word or phrase that enables Twitter users to search for tweets (postings on the Twitter site) that contain similarly tagged items and view thematic sets

intexticated – distracted because texting on a cellphone while driving a vehicle

netbook – a small, very portable laptop computer with limited memory

paywall – a way of blocking access to a part of a website which is only available to paying subscribers

freemium – a business model in which some basic services are provided for free, with the aim of enticing users to pay for additional, premium features or content

funemployed – taking advantage of one’s newly unemployed status to have fun or pursue other interests

zombie bank – a financial institution whose liabilities are greater than its assets, but which continues to operate because of government support

Funny that “business coaching” wasn’t in the running…it is the second-fastest growing industry in the world, after all…and is especially relevant in today’s economy.

Are you familiar with these new words? Better get familiar…especially if you plan on promoting yourself with social media sites and being social media savvy.

Ad campaigns are meant t to stick in your head so you remember the product they’re selling. That’s why when an ad is controversial or deemed “dumb,” advertising agencies generally like both responses because it means people are talking about it and also the product it was intended to sell.

However, these ad campaigns are just plain bizarre. And we’re not sure their bizarreness helped sell the product. Well, it definitely didn’t in #10. Check out the Top 10 bizarre ad campaigns here.

The New York Times published an interesting article today. It highlighted Brad Sugars and how he helped Cancer Schmancer raise money solely through a Facebook application.

The article focused on other charities using social media to increase their donations, such as Twitter, blogs and YouTube.

Earlier this year, Facebook Causes recognized Sugars as an All-Star Contributor for raising about $8,000 for Cancer Schmancer. On Thursday, November 12, the New York Times recognized him as well, and applauded his use of social media to give to a good cause.

The age of social media has given people everywhere power to raise awareness and market just about anything; journalists, presidential candidate campaigners and corporate marketers have taken to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to promote what they’re working on. Now nonprofit groups are using those same sites to recruit volunteers, spread awareness and solicit donations.

On his 38th birthday this year, Sugars installed a Causes application, and as a birthday gift to him, asked each of his $3,000 friends to make a donation of at least $38, which he would match. By matching each donation, Sugars managed to raise $7,690 for Cancer Schmancer.

It’s an interesting article. Check it out here, or at www.nytimes.com.

The Yankees won the World Series.

The Yankees have been to the World Series 40 times, and have won it 27 times. The next closest team who are after the Yankees? The LA Dodgers with 18 visits to the World Series, and only six wins.

Is it coincidence that a team that spends top dollar hiring the best people becomes the best?

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: it pays to invest.

The Internet just had its 40th birthday.

What do you get the international public computer network that has everything for its birthday?

The Internet turned 40 on October 29. And like most parents, the Internet’s father, professor Leonard Kleinrock, is very proud of what it has accomplished in all its 40 years.

Some things it never saw coming – Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging – and there are some things he’s excited about accomplishing.

“The net is penetrating every aspect of our lives,” Kleinrock said to a room of about 200 people at UCLA to mark the birthday, and an equal number watching online. “The next step is to move it into the real world. The Internet will be present everywhere. I will walk into a room and it will know I am there. It will talk back to me.”

That’s quite a stretch from 1969, when Kleinrock led a team at UCLA and got one computer to “talk” to another.

Has your business evolved and accomplished almost as much as the Internet? On your company’s birthdays, what do you remember from “the good ‘ol days”?

Facebook recognized ActionCOACH founder and CEO Brad Sugars as an All-Star giver.

Facebook recognized ActionCOACH founder and CEO Brad Sugars as its All-Star who helped generate the largest birthday gift. He raised $7,690 through the website’s birthday wish fundraising tool.

The Facebook Causes group was founded on the belief that in a healthy society, anyone can participate in change by informing and inspiring others.

In just two years, the group has raised $10,000,000.

This application is just one example of Sugars’ support of charities and non-profits. In August at ActionCOACH’s Global Conference in Sydney, Australia, he announced the company’s first global initiative to help charities, Coaching for a Cause.

The global pro bono coaching program is designed to help charities and non-profits from all over the world increase their donations. Coaching for a Cause’s goal is to raise $2.5 million in six months for charities in donations and funds. The initiative officially started October 1st.

So, why give? Well, besides giving being a good thing in general, it also makes people feel good.

Many independent studies suggest that charitable giving has several health benefits (it is even believed to increase the supply of dopamine to the brain) and promotes professional success (our society tends to look upon philanthropic people as leaders).

What sort of things can your business do to give back to the community?