I've been thinking a lot about change lately. Astonish’s mission is to change our clients’ lives by changing their businesses. This supposes something simple. Our customers need to change. The simple truth is; every business must change. Businesses that stagnate and don’t grow slowly die. The key is to clearly understand what needs to change. That’s the first step and often then hardest. I know I’ve written about this before, but most people are resistant to change. They fear it. Some people get sucked into negative cycles and aren’t honest enough with themselves to realize what their problems are. Change suggests you’re moving from one state to another. A stark example of Read more [...]

I’ve been trying a little experiment lately. I’ve been monitoring my thinking both for negative output (what I think and say) and input (what I read, watch and listen to). There is a whole field of psychology dedicated to our internal thought processes or how our thoughts affect our moods and emotions – cognitive psychology. “Cognitive” comes from the word cognition which means the process of knowing or perceiving. Taking the time to truly monitor my thought processes has been interesting. So I encourage you to monitor your thoughts. Are they positive? Are they negative? What about your words? What do you say to others? Would others see you as an encouraging person? And what Read more [...]

I’m always looking to grow and an essential part of growth is learning new things. To aid in that process, I've have committed to read 20 business books this year. I just completed my third book, “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries. I’ve noticed that different learning themes emerge from time to time. Lately, that theme has revolved around the process of decision making. IMO, “The Lean Startup” is all about the process of making a good decision. As I see it, there are two components to making a good decision: (1) collecting the best data possible (2) grouping the data in a logical way to discover patterns (3) Making your decision Small Batch Insights One great insight I received Read more [...]

One of my goals in the past few months has been to read faster. There is so much information out there to be absorbed, so much to learn. I set a goal for myself to read three business books per month. I failed. My solution is to increase my reading speed. I found this neat little application http://www.spreeder.com which allows you to past text into the interface and set the speed at which it flashes single words or groups of words before you. I started at 240 wpm and a 91% comprehension rate. I’m now reading at 325 wpm! I can still comprehend what I’m reading extremely well. I use my Google Reader to track all the blogs I’m interested in. I just copy and paste the text into the speed Read more [...]

I’m continuing to read “Data-Driven Marketing” and it’s really has me thinking about how independent insurance agencies market (IIAs). The author takes some time to define CTLV (customer lifetime value). Read about CLTV here. Jeferry's book about marketing, so the he is attempting to illustrate what the most successful companies are doing. His main point is that data is critical to getting the most out of your marketing efforts. So where does CLTV fit in? Well we all know that “all customers are not created equal”. Some customers are extremely profitable while others may even be negatively profitable. Typically, insurance agencies will market using a “one size fits all” approach. Read more [...]

I’m almost done reading Wisemans’s book “Multipliers”. In the seventh chapter, the author talks about how certain leaders invest in their people. I know I should be investing in my people, but how? According to Wiseman, it’s very similar to how venture capitalists invest in various businesses. A trap that I find myself falling into is that of problem solver. When an issue arises and mangers ask me for a solution, I solve the problem. This in itself is a problem. When I solve the problem, it robs my managers the opportunity to solve it. I can think back to a time when I was working as an analytical chemist. I worked for an environmental testing laboratory. We analyzed contaminated Read more [...]

This has been an amazing week at Astonish. I continue to learn more and more about what it takes to run a successful company. I love to learn. It's part of my DNA. I love to read about business and when I read something that confirms that we're going in the right direction, it motivates me. We have a great team here. I really cannot say enough about them. Each have their own strengths and it really makes my job easier and more fun. I can't wait to get up everyday and head into work. I've got two incredible partners, Adam and Tim. Both are uniquely gifted to do what they do. I feel that as a partner, my responsibility is to lift up and help my partners be even more effective than they already Read more [...]