CompassCast™

The coaching-focused Mastermind Group in the Upper Valley of Vermont / New Hampshire will begin a new text on September 7th, 2010 that will help you expand your network, gain support and reach your goals.

The group, in collaboration with Borders Books, meets each Tuesday at 10:00 am in West Lebanon, NH. The new text, "Who's Got Your Back", by Keith Ferrazzi, provides an executable strategy for your most important plans without costing your sanity.

Many of us are caught up in the day-to-day struggle between work and family and fun and wellness. How do you do keeping yourself balanced? How do you keep yourself grounded? How do you keep yourself focused? How do you insure you reach your goals in a focused but mindful way? Ferrazzi's book explains a nine-step approach to building what he calls lifeline relationships.

With "Who's Got Your Back" you will learn to create meaningful and trusting relationships well beyond your success. You will benefit from reading this book regardless of whether you engage the Mastermind Process.

If you are like most people, however, just read books and don't engage them fully. Coaching brings the book to life. Through masterminding this book won't be another piece of information but will become an actionable strategy you can depend on being accountable to.

If you live near the West Lebanon, NH / White River Junction, VT area -- you owe it to yourself to check out the power of Masterminding.

"Who's Got Your Back" shows us that relationships are the key to our success in business. You will learn the kinds of relationships that really make a difference. Ferrazzi also shows us how to get further in setting your goals and staying more powerful in your career.

The Mastermind Group works through each book slowly - one text about every three months - so participants can easily keep up with the reading.

Have you read this book? Do you think it is as impactful as Ferrazzi's last book, "Never Eat Alone" (which we also covered in the Mastermind Group).

For more information about the Mastermind Group, call me at 802-380-1026 or go to http://Mastermind.TrueAzimuth.biz.

Yesterday Facebook announced Facebook Places which begs the question should I stop using Foursquare and start using Facebook Places, should I ignore Facebook Places and continue to use Foursquare-- what's a business owner to do?

Interestingly enough, most businesses don't even know what Foursquare is, let alone how to use it to grow their business.

Many of my business coaching clients are using Foursquare today because I strongly encourage them to (After all it's my job as a coach to look out for my clients) .

Foursquare is a great tool for your business. If you're not using it you should. In order to start using this tool you need to claim your business on their site. By claiming your business you can edit the type of business it is, add more information, and start creating specials for people to use in as they check into your business. The more times someone checks in, the better their rewards can get. You set up the specials you would like and the amount of times that someone needs to check in before being awarded.

Here are some ins and outs of Foursquare setups:

• You can only have ONE special live on people's phone at one time.


• When someone unlocks the special, they will have a special message on their phone they can show to you (the business) and get their reward/special that you have setup on the Foursquare site.


• You can create multiple specials for your business.


• Specials can be award related - i.e., for the mayor.


• They can happen once after a particular number - i.e., after 5, check-ins.


• They can be sequenced - i.e., every three check-ins.


• The can be crunched up - i.e., three check-ins in four days.

Examples of Badges that I think you can create in-house rewards for:

• Mayor- When you have checked in more times than anyone else. Example, you can reward someone for being the mayor by letting them cut the line. You can also solve the issue of your employee being the mayor in Four Square as well.


• Swarm - You can also use the following badge and reward your customers when there are 50 check-ins during the same time period. Check in to a place where 50+ other foursquare users are currently checked in. And yes, if you are number 49, you get the badge when number 50 checks in.


• Player Please - Check in to a place that has three members of the opposite sex currently checked in. They must be your friends.

As a business coach I educate my clients to not waste their phone specials on badges like mayor. After all you as the business owner can easily see who the mayor is. By creating an in-house reward that you tell your clients about, you create an opportunity to educate them about Foursquare and build brand loyalty.

Four square is a engaging tool that rewards users for their check ins and definitely gets people competing for the badges. It's a powerful tool for your business (if used skillfully) because you can reward your frequent customers to get the word out about your business. Four square posts can link peoples' check-ins to their Facebook page, Twitter therefore, creating free advertising for your business.

What do you think of Foursquare as a business tool? Essential? or just another internet waste of time?