How Do You Grow?

Hi Steve --

Last week, I was asked how I have managed to grow my businesses, and I thought that might be a useful topic for this newsletter. The thing is, I had a lot of thoughts on my mind, and didn't want to write you a super long email. So, I recorded an audio for you.

In it, I share with you my thoughts on which type of person helps you grow, about how I set about finding the right type of people to partner with, and through my own experiences, I tell you about how building a strong and useful network was the core to this.

It's just a conversation between you and me, but hopefully, it'll help you understand some of what goes into growth.

The recording is HERE. It's about 10 minutes or less, and it's an MP3 file. If you want to download it to your computer, or drag it to your iPod or whatever, just right click (or control click on a Mac) and do "save as."

I hope that helps. If you have other questions after that, just let me know, and I'll gladly help. Hit reply to the email and ask away. Good?

A Holiday Season Request

In the US, we're about to celebrate Thanksgiving. Elsewhere, it's just November something-or-other. In either case, we're getting into a season where we think more about giving than most other times in the year.

One charity I support and love is Skip1. The premise is simple: "skip a handbag, feed hungry children." You go to the site and then just donate some money instead of purchasing something. Make sense? So, instead of buying an extra DVD for yourself this week, give that $20 to feed a half dozen kids.

As you're thinking of going out to Black Friday or buying on Cyber Monday, please consider Skipping $20 - 30 of the money you'll save on that new flat screen TV, and feeding hungry kids. It just feels darned good to do so.

http://skip1.org is the place. Swing by. I'll be there. And thanks!

Small Business Series

In the coming weeks, I'm lining up more and more resources for small businesses. Over at 501 Mission Place, I got Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith (authors of the Dragonfly Effect) to talk about how nonprofits can improve their campaigns. Here, in the newsletter, as we gear up to launch Kitchen Table Companies, you'll get some great stuff from various people on the topic of business finance, on the topic of growth, on the topic of marketing and marketing tools, and on the topics of leadership and management with heart.

If you think this might appeal to some others, please consider forwarding this to a friend.

THANK YOU!

I love our time together. I'm grateful for any ideas you give me. If you want me to cover other topics, just reply and let me know.

-Chris...