If you are building your own brand, promoting your own product or working to establish your brand’s presence in the marketplace LISTEN UP. There is a popular brand name making a HUGE mistake in its approach to maintaining long-term relationships with its customer base. Brand loyalty has everything to do with leadership development, especially as it pertains to managing your customer’s expectations. Watch this video and learn 3 things you MUST do to ensure brand loyalty and to turn customers into raving fans.

WOW! What a great game…if you missed Super Bowl XVIV, you not only missed an epic match up of two great teams–Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints–but a fantastic trove of leadership development lessons and business takeaways. Check out this video and see what I mean…

Military aviators live by the values of leadership development. Whether soaring at the speed of sound at 30,000 ft, or stalking enemy submarines at a couple hundred feet off the surface of the ocean, leadership is the lifeblood of military aviation. Watch this video and see what I learned from F-16 pilot, author, and entrepreneur Rob “Waldo” Waldman. Great insight for every serious entrepreneur. As Waldo says, “Push It UP!!!”

Check out what happened to me and my family when we flew Southwest Airlines on our way home from Maui. CEO Gary C. Kelly sets the bar high by sharing his vision with every employee and customer. Every entrepreneur series about success needs to see this…

Check out this video I made from the beach in Maui. It occurred to me while traveling to our family vacation that business, just as in life, is all about weathering the storm. Take notice of the times in your life when you were able to shift the momentum simply by hanging in and riding out the storm.

Leadership Development is influenced by so many things, your head would spin just thinking about it. But one of the key factors to success in leadership is choosing who you associate with on a daily basis. Check out this video and learn how you can streamline your associations to maximize your time and cut your learning curve in half. It’s a technique I learned form the amazing Eben Pagan…

Leadership development lessons can come from just about anybody, regardless of their age. Check out what my 4 year-old daughter, Callie, has to say about her champion mindset and doing what you love!

For the record, I believe 2010 is going to kick ass…IF, you do three things.

First, you must go after what you love. I don’t care if it’s skiing, drawing, or underwater basket-weaving, if you are in love with something, do more of it. Then find a way to make money doing it. Start a blog, write an e-book, or create a product surrounding your passions. Do it now.

Second, you must mastermind with champions. I cannot underscore this enough. If you want to get anywhere in life, you must surround yourself with people at or above your level of performance. It will inspire you to grow, and will explode your skill levels to new heights.

Third, and most important, you must HUSTLE. One of my mentors, Gary Vaynerchuk, taught me this in a presentation he did at a Web 2.0 conference. Gary is a genius, in my opinion, and he believe you must hustle if you want to make it happen. He also believes you can make ANYTHING happen with enough hustle, belief, and persistence.

I hope 2010 is YOUR best year ever. I believe it will be if you go after what you love, mastermind with champions, and hustle your ass off.

Leave a comment and share this post with people you believe are at or above your performance level. Let me know what your big passion is, who you plan to mastermind with, and how you intend to hustle to make this year the best ever.

Go Big,
~JT

It was the first time our daughter, Callie, had been to “The Happiest Place On Earth”, and our son Maximus (then 15-months old) was enjoying his maiden voyage as well.

I want to share 3 valuable lessons it took away from Walt Disney as I visited his amusement park.

Lesson 1: Continually upgrade, grow and build.
My two favorite rides when I was a kid were Space Mountain and The Haunted Mansion. When we visited the park in September, BOTH rides were closed. I was bummed.

But the employees of the park did a great job of enthusiastically talking about how those rides are the crown jewels of their upcoming Halloween extravaganza, and were being upgraded for their big celebration.

What did that do for me, the customer?
1.) It immediately took the frustration out of my experience, because I couldn’t help but feel the Disney employee’s genuine enthusiasm.
2.) It made me want return the following month for the big Halloween bash. Gone was my initial annoyance; that was replaced by a sense of anticipation for the future. I wanted to be there, dammit! That is great for business.

Lesson 2: Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For The Sale
From the time you show up to the park until the moment you leave, Disney is constantly selling you. You have the option to show up an hour early; when you do, you are given access to the shops, the Disney characters (gotta get a picture with Mickey!), and of course food and drinks.

You get another opportunity at this when the park closes. All the shops and restaurants are open for an additional hour “for you convenience”. Why? So you can focus on enjoying the park, the rides, and the experience. Sure. But because the rides are closed, and you (and your kids) are far from ready to leave at that point.

The impeccable cleanliness of the grounds, outstanding customer service and perceived value of the product creates an incredible immersion of joy. You almost feel obligated to purchase a souvenir before you leave just so you can take a piece of the experience home with you.

Point here is that Disney is not at all afraid to ask for the sale. They have made a staggering fortune from professionally, confidently, and consistently selling in an almost-elegant fashion.

Lesson 3: Attitude Is Everything
I swear there must be something in the water at Disneyland. Every employee presents a professional, upbeat, and gracious attitude, seemingly every second of the day. I like to think I’m pretty good at picking up on things like this, and I can tell you that in the 3 days we were in hte park, I never once picked up on a bad attitude, fatigue, annoyance, unhappiness, or displeasure from a single Disney employee. And it was all genuine.

How do you get EVERY employee to project an attitude like that?
1.) Create a culture of quality. That means “service first” thinking. In a business like Disney’s you have to serve the customer, and over-deliver the quality.
2.) Total belief in the brand. I doubt any human being, regardless of their level of mental toughness or physical fitness could wear a fuzzy duck/mouse/dog/bear suit in 80-plus degree heat for hours on end, kids pestering you for photos, and the same Its-A-Small-World-After-All music playing over and over (and over) in your head and stay happy unless they had total belief in the brand and the mission.
3.) Money Could Not Be The Only Focus. Money is great, and money is important, but it cannot be the sole motivator for entrepreneurs. Walt Disney passionately loved his work, and that energy transcends time and permeates its way into every member of the Disney staff.

Strive to have that level of influence in your business, too.

I could write a book on my trip to Disneyland; it was that profound. As a kid, I loved it for the wonder and magic. As an entrepreneur I loved it for the unbelievable attention to detail and world-class professionalism. It was a real treat to witness a top-notch organization operate at such a high level.

If you have the chance to get to any Disney park, definitely go. Take notes, learn all you can, and remember Walt Disney’s quote:
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

~JT

Dave emphasizes the importance of “fewer, deeper business relationships” to create “fewer, bigger deals”. Why waste time trying to strengthen business relationships with people who are not in alignment with who YOU are and what YOU are passionate about doing?

Why chase after the “bright shiny objects” in business, only to come up in the end exhausted and frustrated?

I have seen firsthand how distilling a contact list of thousands down to a pertinent few has made my business far more effective, and the service I provide many times more valuable. Dave Stech taught me the value of this, as well as the practical steps of how to implement this practice into my daily life.

I have also learned (in some cases the hard way) the importance of concentrating on fewer, bigger deals, focusing my energies and resources in places that create win-win solutions for everyone involved.

I am deeply grateful to have Dave Stech as a friend and mentor.

If you want to “just add a zero” while “doing good, having fun, and making money” go to http://www.ThePowerOf6.com, and find out how creating fewer, deeper business relationships will lead to fewer, bigger deals and more abundant life.

Go Big,
~JT

PS: Remember to leave me a comment and share this post with other entrepreneurs you care about!