Back in 2005 I had this great idea to write a book or blog someday called Flip the Funnel.  Since then I've been collecting ideas/thoughts/suggestions based on the experiences at InterAct Websites, Inc..

Wouldn't you know it that someone beat me to the punch with the book, but I've still got the website and have republished the blog.  I'll get the older articles and some newer stuff as well there soon.

Flip the Funnel is an idea/concept based on taking the sales funnel and flipping it upside down to keep more customers in your funnel vs having them escape to a competitor.  Exciting stuff and I've learned alot through our own trials and errors over the past 5 years.

If you are looking for customer rentention best practices and ideas then flipthefunnel.com may be for you.  Check it out!

I received the following in an email recently and many of these caught my attention. The original author is Regina Brett. Anyway here goes...

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life.. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38.. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.


Friends are the family that we choose for ourselves

Have you ever started a business? If you have and it has been any length of time you'll understand what I mean when I say that it can be consuming. If you've ever lived with or had a friend that started a business you probably know what I mean.

It's so easy to get consumed because you have to do everything ... sales, product/service development, customer service, accounting, and even empty the trash. Then over time your business grows (hopefully). You earn more clients. You start to hire folks to help with customer service and accounting. You start to take feedback from those around you on what you should do and how you might do it. Without even knowing it you might even start relying too much on those around you. Sounds kinda crazy, but it happens ... it happened to me.

I had forgotten that it was my intuition and vision that had gotten us to where we were. The folks that work at IWI are great folks and all of them dedicated to our success as a company. I care for each and every one of them.

What I was doing wasn't their fault. They were giving feedback that I had asked for. What had happened was my fault. I was taking feedback and then NOT making the decisions that needed to be made. It's not like IWI was on a decline or we had made some terrible decisions or that we were losing clients. Not at all.

The type of decisions that I had made years ago that started the run up to where we are now ... those decisions weren't going to carry us forever. It was time to start making the tough calls again. Sometimes the unpopular calls. Not arrogant or uneducated decisions, just tough ones.

Well, the time has come for me to grow up a bit and grab that bull by the horns once more. The future is looking bright for not just us as a company, but for our clients and their successes.

Oh, by the way I still take out my own trash!

It's a long word combination C O N T I N U A L I M P R O V E M E N T and it might seem scary, but ignoring it won't make it go away. However, you may find your business going away if you don't embrace it.

Check out this video from WilsonWeb with two of the best at website marketing...



I can personally attest that this works. Why is it that people tend to think that just putting up a website is good enough and updating it every 3 years or so is sufficient. My guess is that's how they run their business too.

If we ran our business that way we wouldn't be around very long at all.

Here' s to Continual Improvement!

As the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics come to a close tonight I couldn't help but be amazed at the thought of how many athletes are going home to prepare for the next Olympics ... 4 years from now.

I realize in business that we don't typcially have the luxury of working/waiting for 4 years before we have our big moment. but you cannot overlook the idea of getting ready and preparing for your big moment.

What 'big moment' are you preparing for? Do you have any idea or are you just coasting along reacting to every situation that comes your way? What's the next milestone you want to achieve? Where do you want X to be in 4 years, 1 year, 1 month?

Thinking forward is critical to not just being around in the future, but being there with a purpose that gives you the opportunity to live out the value that your business ultimately brings to others. Without having an intentional business you can easily get stuck in the day to day grind and not be able to realize the reasons of why you get up every morning!