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This Brain Storm! business podcast discusses Defense Contractors, Educators, Energy and Environmental Businesses on the Inc 500 List. Business success stories teach entrepreneurs so much about running a business. Even when we are dealing with corporations, the underlying business strategies are ultimately the same. So we are continuing to use the Inc 500 as a case study for entrepreneurial success. We find that Defense Contractors have found tremendous success since 2002 because of 9/11 and the ensuing increase in government spending on behalf of the military. Therefore, it's not surprising that #4 on the entire list is a company that manufactures body armor for soldiers. However, although physical safety tops the list, there are more businesses focusing on locating, entering, analyzing and delivering data than business providing supplies on this list. Information and knowledge are still king, and it never hurts to have a government contract! Education's number 1 winner was a BIG surprise to me...
I figured it would be some type of online training, which was there in the list as #2 in the industry. But #1 was educational CLOTHING! Who would have thought the market would be THAT big? But, as I point out in the podcast, I don't think they have much competition, so maybe you could give them some??? (smile) Energy's #1 surprised me, too... I thought this would be solely energy companies and technologies. However, taking first place was a financial institution that deals with energy companies! Another strange thing. Lastly, Environmental companies seem to have come into their own, thanks to natural disasters and hazard waste! This reminds me of that program "Dirty Jobs". These are some of the nastiest and most dangerous jobs - cleaning up nuclear and hazardous waste. However, one of the companies near the top has created a robotic arm to help make dealing with these things less dangerous for humans. Of course, there's much more to be said in the podcast, including comments from our listeners (and mp3 winners!)
So if you are interested in winning a free MP3 player, just leave me some comments on the http://www.BrainStorm-Podcast.com site regarding any of the things we talk about today. I WILL send them anywhere in the world, not just the US, so international comments are welcome too! Have a fantastic and prosperous week, and remember not only to Brain Storm! but also to put what you think about into action! Technorati Tags : Digital, Business, Books', Brain, Storm, Inc, 500, Part, 3, (2, free, MP3, players, left!)
This week we'll be featuring Catherine Bruns and Nancy Marmolejo 's Coaching-A-Go-Go Podcast for Encouraging Audiobooks' Inspirational Moment. I asked Catherine to share this podcast in particular because it fits right in with our theme of perception. Below are the main points of the podcast:
We're taught to have high expectations for ourselves, but what happens when those expectations lead us to disappointment, resentment, and overall bitterness towards unmet goals?
Listen in as Catherine and Nancy share their viewpoints on this topic. Get glimpses of how culture, society, and personal beliefs drive our expectations; learn useful tools to help you keep your expectations in the healthy zone. Got Go-Go? Tune into Coaching A Go Go and listen to Coaches Catherine and Nancy share great strategies for living a busy life in balance. www.coachingagogo.blogspot.com Subscribe to Catherine and Nancy's podcast at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/CoachingAGoGo
Have an encouraging and inspiring week! Penny Haynes, 1st Podcast Publishing
Christianity is like tennis...You can't play unless you serve.This statement was spoken to me by a 9th grade friend of my daughter. It really got me thinking, especially as I have been struggling with my own area of serving. I've always been all or nothing for me.I was part of the 5% that did 95% of all the work - and I burned out. I was also burned by the leadership of the church, and I've let it sideline me ever since. I know that I have to serve to truly live the Christian life, but I've been neglectful because I didn't "feel" like it, or was afraid of not keeping the commitment, or because I was just lazy and selfish with my time. I don't know where and when and how you should serve, but I know all Christians are called to serve in some capacity.So I'll pray for you and you pray for me as we seek to be healed of all that would hinder us from being obedient to God's call on our lives, for the here and now, and for the future. Penny Haynes, Encouraging Audiobooks
I encourage you to subscribe to their feed if you like this podcast...
Many of us in the Sonic Society thrill at the very thought of a radio
hero from World War II. My first remembrances of audio cinema were in
listening to The Shadow, Buck Rogers, and The Green Hornet. The good
folks from Decoder Ring Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada have
uncovered a gem of a hero, one who has finally received the acolaydes
he deserves for his part in the war effort.
This week on the Sonic Society, we're proud to present the first two
episodes of Canada's premiere super-hero, "The Red Panda".
Later we'll continue our conversation with the creator of the
Red Panda, Gregg Taylor, and of course we'll listen to the hillarious
serial- Robots of the Company by DreamRealm Enterprises.
Set out your decoder rings and spell Adventure with "The Red Panda" here, on the Sonic Society.
Subscribe to Sonic Society at: http://sonic.libsyn.com/rssHave a great week and keep on laughing! Penny Haynes, Encouraging Audiobooks
The Three "C"s: Construction, Consultants and Consumer Products Oh, what we will learn in today's business podcast! There's a definite trend in certain fields for what works and what doesn't, and we'll discuss them in this subsection of industries.
Niche Marketing and One-Stop ShopsYou can do one or both of these things, but some are better suited for different industries at this time. We've seen how niche-marketing can work well when you're the pioneer in that area. Now we'll talk about creating one-stop shops by combining services with other entrepreneurs with peripheral services and products.
I offer a couple of questions and suggestions about which I would love to know your thoughts. If you can take the time to let me know if you think the sliding scale could work, I'd love to hear from you. If any of you take the time to answer, I'd like to give you a gift - a free 128 mb mp3 player for the first 5 people who will leave a comment on the http://www.BrainStorm-Podcast.com site regarding any of the issues we brought up today. It's my way of thanking you for listening and participating. Plus, I know some of you just listen at your desk, and may not have a portable player.
Have a great and prosperous week! Penny Haynes, DigBizBooks.com
This podcast includes a pdf of images that illustrate how there's more than one way to "see" something.
Today, we'll continue discussing perception and how it affects everything we do.
This audio portion is the podcast; the following item will be the pdf of images that literally illustrate how things can be seen in more than one way.
I think I will continue to share what I'm learning in Steven Covey's "7 Habits of Effective People".
There is so much in there that I am learning, and although it is not mind-boggling, it helps put together all the little pieces of knowledge you have accumulated, and make sense of it as a whole. It explains why you do what you do, as well as the "why" behind the people close to you.
Thanks to Mike for his comments. If you have any comments you'd like to share, please feel free to do so at http://www.YourVoice-Podcast.com. I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Penny Haynes, Encouraging Audiobooks
Posted on 01/19/06 at 12:00:35 by Penny Haynes
Category: Inspirational
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Mike, once again, this is a great point. How can we ever know that we are understanding what another person thinks or feels or sees or smells, etc?
Another friend forwarded me a link to a BBC radio program on Perception from April 2005. I'm going to share the link in next week's podcast. It was absolutely fascinating, and brought up even more points from a physiological perspective. How can I be sure that the color blue that I see is the same shade of blue that you see? How can I tell that you taste what I taste? It's all so much more complicated than we ever thought.
And in regard to your comment about how you shouldn't be surprised when you don't see something from someone else's point of view, I agree. We should be surprised when we CAN and DO understand someone else! <smile> I remember talking to a counselor once about how someone else just couldn't get it through their head that I wasn't going to change much - they were always disappointed and aggravated about my actions or reactions. But the real shocker was when she asked me why *I* kept expecting THAT person to change and accept me as I was! They were continually surprised when I consistently acted as I did, and I was surprised when they consistently acted how they did! We kept expecting the other person to "get with it" and "see things the way I see them". Sad, but true.
I think that the happiest people are the ones without great expectations of other people, who do not "need" to be agreed with and understood by others, and who do not demand that others act as they would act. We need to let people be who they are. Maybe they will have an epiphany, a moment when their experience and thoughts converge and they begin thinking and seeing as you do. But just don't hold your breath! <smile>
Penny Haynes
Penny,
To take the 'our perception' from 'our upbringing' to the extreme, we can never fully understand someone else's point of view. The visual demonstration you spoke about in your Podcast says it all. I meet so many people with ingrained points of view, and I work very hard to understand them. But if I am a product of my own upbringing, how could I ever hope to have anything but a minor understanding of someone else's point of view. I have studied this in the past, and have been involved in some of the class room examples of perception that you spoke about. I am shocked when I find myself not perceiving someone else's point of view, but maybe I should't be.
Thanks.
--Mike
Sagar, thanks for the note. Can you take a moment and explain a little more about how thoughts can "serve you", and the basis of Byron Katie's work?
Hi I am using Steven covey's book to illiustrate that if you believe what you think you will suffer...everything in life is a perception and if it serve you...you can have a happy joyful like...if it does not serve you then look at the thought investiage the thought...I use the work of Byron Katie to help people leave their painful perceptions behind...
warm Regards
- [Link to this item]
A Greater Love,
from Inspirations,
by Angela Gillaspie
"Inspirations" contains
sixteen stories of faith, triumph,
inspiration, and love, and describes
how neighbors became heroes
in the aftermath of a deadly
tornado, reminds you of how
fleeting and precious time is,
and inspires you with touching
tales of parenthood.
Read
More ...
Listen
to an excerpt.
Great classic video clip from the original Tonight Show. Laugh out loud funny!
Visit Encouraging Audiobooks for more clean comedy!
In today's business podcast, we will continue to review and analyze business success stories.
Our story left off with a marketing company that gave away a downloading program that provides the user access to sponsored games and software. Instead of selling the program, they sell advertising space on the program, and it must be working. If you remember, they were # 7 on the Inc 500 list with Zango.
We will also address listener Don Marsh's very valid comment about last week's brainstorm. I didn't see my own discontinuity! But thanks to Don for taking the time to write and correct me. Selling to one person or company shouldn't discount you from deserving the success you have earned. You won one huge account, which is, in reality, probably harder than getting many littler accounts! Check out Don's site at www.DonMarsh.com.
There's a pattern forming as we review these businesses...
But you'll have to listen in to find out what it is! (smile). If you have any brain storms or comments, don't be shy. Just contact me here at http://www.brainstorm-podcast.com.
Penny Haynes, http://www.DigBizBooks.com
Have you ever had one of those "aha!" moments when your perception radically shifted, and you could see things as you never had before?
How you see things will affect your relationships as well as every other part of your life.
Your perception affects your attitudes.
Your attitudes affect your thoughts.
Your thoughts affect your actions.
Your actions affect your emotions.
Today we will talk about the importance of being open to "seeing" things differently.
Respecting other people's right to have their own beliefs, whether right or wrong in your eyes, is imperative in relationships. You can live out your own beliefs committedly and still allow people to live out theirs.
So I encourage you to really "look" around today. There is so much to see. And if you can see the good in life and in others, your life will be so much more blessed.
Penny Haynes, Encouraging Audiobooks, your source for free audio!
Posted on 01/12/06 at 17:45:42 by Penny Haynes
Category: Inspirational
-
Mike, you are so right. The only good news is that all of us are that way. We are all limited to our perceptions, due to our upbringing and experiences, as well as our personality bent.
Case in point: I used to think that, if someone called you or left a message, you HAD to either pick up the phone or call them back as soon as you got the message. (Don't ask me where I got this from...probably part of my Obsessive/Compulsive personality!)
But in my early 30's I heard my future-husband say to me, "I don't have to answer my phone if I don't want to. I hate phones. I wish I could just sling it into the yard." Not until he said that did it EVER cross my mind that it was NOT am immutable LAW that you HAD TO pick up the phone and return messages.
I know it sounds stupid, but it was an ephiphany for me. Up until that point, I thought that the things I believed (for whatever reason) were what everyone believed (or should believe). With that one comment, I experienced the shocking realization that if I could be wrong on that, what else could I be wrong on???!!!
My husband has a very hard time seeing things through my eyes, as well, but he wants to learn how to do that so our relationship will be closer and our communication better. The real issue with perception, as I see it, is realizing that your view of the world may not be the actual world as it is, but just the world according to you. Keeping that thought in mind allows us to learn from others, and be open to changes in our own perceptions and thoughts.
Thanks so much for writing, Mike. It's great to hear from you, and I appreciate your openness and honesty.
Penny
Hi Penny,
I struggle with this topic myself. As time goes by I uderstand it more and more but sometimes, I still get caught not really 'seeing' a situation like someone else has.
--Mike
- [Link to this item]
God is the God of Second Chances
Today we will look at biblical persons and their stories to reveal how God has an unlimited number of chances for people who are willing to repent and turn to him. He meets us where we are - that's how wonderful He is.
The God who became man and came to earth to save us comes to us again and again during our life.
So if you are regretting decisions from 2005, rejoice! You have innumerable chances to do it the right way - God's way - in 2006. And if you stumble and fall, don't beat yourself up. His grace is sufficient for you (and for me too!)
In God's Grace,
Penny Haynes, Encouraging Audiobooks
This is great! Can you imagine this happening to someone YOU know??? (smile)
This video was forwarded to me by a friend, and I love it. Hope you enjoy it too!
Penny Haynes, Encouraging Audiobooks, your home for free audio!
Today's business podcast will review and analyze some of the trends in the most successful private enterprises.
Inc. magazine reviews the private companies that have experienced the most financial growth in the last 3 years. Then they analyze the results and look for trends. So we are going to review some of their findings, and add our own as well.
We will focus on something Inc. did not do, which was zoom in on the handful of businesses on the list that were started after 2000. I find these fascinating, because these are the newcomers that have zoomed past the competition. Granted, 2 of them are on the list because they have one main HUGE customer (Microsoft, Walmart), but the others tell us a lot about today's market and what is hot.
We'll see what made these companies successful, and brainstorm about how we can use these strategies to boost our own businesses.
I surprised myself by coming up with an idea while doing the podcast, and I think I may just try it. If I can just push myself to do these new things! That's the hardest part - maybe the fear of failure and the fear of rejection when I approach people about my ideas. Anyone else experience that??? (smile)
So let's get started...
Penny HaynesDigital Business Books
Posted on 01/05/06 at 11:13:01 by Penny Haynes
Category: Business
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Don, what a GREAT insight on your part! I guess I was too much INSIDE my thoughts to see the disparity in my thinking! (smile) You are very right! I should not discount the Staffing Company that staffs the new Walmarts, nor the Consulting company who snagged Microsoft. If VGT can make such a huge killing with one venue, surely it would be hypocritical to downgrade another company for doing the same thing! Great observation, and thanks so much for taking the time to listen, and even more so, to respond.
Penny Haynes, http://www.eMediaTouch.com
Penny, I really enjoy your podcasts and I listen to them faithfully. I subscribe through My Yahoo. However, I have this one small bone to pick with you. You had commended that video game maker for selling his service to one big client and dissed another company for doing the same thing! I think it was some call center for WalMart or some such thing. Personally, I can see the point of not putting all one's eggs in one basket, but we don't know that they are not pursuing other big clients as part of their business model. But you thought it was a good idea for the video gamer! Keep up the good work! Don Marsh, Gainesville, FL
- [Link to this item]
Staying positive can be a very hard thing to do.
Remember the saying "Don't let the turkeys get you down!" ? Well, easier said than done. People and circumstances can really drag us under if we don't know how to control our responses.
Many people don't even realize that they have a choice in the matter.
People think they are doomed to unhappines because of negative people and situations. However, we actually have a choice in regard to how we will respond. We don't have to "react" - we can selectively choose what we think, and therefore, how we react.
I believe that your attitude affects your thoughts, your thoughts affect your actions, and your actions affect your emotions.
If this is so, then if you commit yourself to a positive attitude (and maintaining it), this will change your thought-life.
Your actions are actually responding to your thoughts.
Your thoughts determine your actions.
Your emotions actually follow your actions, not your thoughts.
So if you change your attitude, control your thoughts, and act according to your thoughts, your emotions will follow suit.
Listen to today's inspirational podcast and see how it's done.
Penny HaynesEncouraging Audiobooks.com
New Years can be a time of great expectations and hopes, or great regret and even remorse.
We look behind us and see goals left unaccomplished, and flaws in our character. Some of us had hoped the year would be better. In any case, I have some good news.
God is faithful to complete the work He has begun in you.
You know those t-shirts that kids wear that says, "Be patient with me. God's not done with me yet." Well, we should all be wearing those...only have it printed backward, so we can look in the mirror and be continually reminded that we are a work in progress - a work of great value and importance, because our "Creator" is an esteemed Artist.
Today, Words for the Week will talk about God's plan for our lives, and his commitment to complete it on our behalf.
So look forward to the upcoming year, because as His plan for you unfolds, this could be quite an adventure.
Penny HaynesEncouraging Audiobooks.com
How many of you consider the Flight Attendant safety speech a boring but necessary evil part of your air travel?
Well not on this flight! This is supposedly a transcript of a real conversation. Even if it isn't, it's still a blast.
I actually experienced something similar on a trip to Michigan once! The Flight Attendant was a scream... (smile)
I'm looking for some more comedy (video, audio, image, ebook), so send it on in to share with everyone else. The text is under the Read More section...
Penny HaynesEncouraging Audiobooks
[Read More!]
|
1st Podcast Publishing - Audio/Video Magazine (Variety)
Don’t know where to start? Try my e-book, “101 Things To Do With Audio And Video (To Promote Your Business)”
Another friend forwarded me a link to a BBC radio program on Perception from April 2005. I'm going to share the link in next week's podcast. It was absolutely fascinating, and brought up even more points from a physiological perspective. How can I be sure that the color blue that I see is the same shade of blue that you see? How can I tell that you taste what I taste? It's all so much more complicated than we ever thought.
And in regard to your comment about how you shouldn't be surprised when you don't see something from someone else's point of view, I agree. We should be surprised when we CAN and DO understand someone else! <smile> I remember talking to a counselor once about how someone else just couldn't get it through their head that I wasn't going to change much - they were always disappointed and aggravated about my actions or reactions. But the real shocker was when she asked me why *I* kept expecting THAT person to change and accept me as I was! They were continually surprised when I consistently acted as I did, and I was surprised when they consistently acted how they did! We kept expecting the other person to "get with it" and "see things the way I see them". Sad, but true.
I think that the happiest people are the ones without great expectations of other people, who do not "need" to be agreed with and understood by others, and who do not demand that others act as they would act. We need to let people be who they are. Maybe they will have an epiphany, a moment when their experience and thoughts converge and they begin thinking and seeing as you do. But just don't hold your breath! <smile>
Penny Haynes