Last week on one of my other blogs I started what will become a series on the topic of marketing one's business. I put it on that blog because it talks more about things one can do online, and many of the people who visit there think about how they can make money online without thinking about how they can use their online presence to help make money, yet still need to go through regular channels of trying to earn a living sometimes.

training

That can apply to everything I talk about on this blog. Last week I spent some time speaking realities about one of my fields, that being health care finance, and being an independent consultant. Some might have thought I was trying to be confrontational or controversial. What I was trying to be was truthful.

The reality is that there are many people working in large businesses that have absolutely no idea what they're doing. And often they report to someone else who has no idea what they're doing. These aren't all stupid people mind you. Some of them might be superior intellects.

What they lack is training, and when people lack training, most of the time they lack initiative. And who can blame them? If I had no idea what was going on, or what was expected of me, I wouldn't go out of my way looking for anyone at the company to help me out because I'd be afraid of word getting out and letting everyone know that I had no clue what I was doing. That wouldn't bode well for me as an employee or me as a leader.

I used the health care industry to help explain my points because it's an industry I know well. But I could apply it to so many different industries. My mother used to work for one of the largest banking systems in the world, one that's going through a lot of issues these days. I have a friend who works for an insurance company and has for more than 30 years, and they sound inept, especially her manager, one of those types that blames everyone else for her problems because she doesn't know her job.

I have another friend who works for a smaller business where the owner wants to be a big businessman and thus keeps buying up new businesses without shoring up what he's already got, and thus his corporation is under staffed, over stressed and badly managed. At the same time he's micromanaging many departments in his now 4 location business; how long do you think that sort of thing can continue?

Being in business for one's self is an interesting thing. I find that I can offer advice to almost anyone to help improve their business, even if it's not my field. I also find that I can absorb what someone else says to me and find ways of incorporating it into what I do.

One of the recommendations I got from one friend was to start telling it like it is, mentioning problems I see with certain people and exposing it to the masses so that these folks will know that they may not be alone in their thoughts.

Another friends stated that maybe there's a way to set up classes online where people of certain positions can get together, listen to what I might have to say, ask questions, and let me answer them so that they can get information without having to reveal themselves. I have to admit that I've said I was going to explore the online world of teleconferences in some fashion, but I really haven't.

Why not? This comes back to the concept of marketing, which I began this conversation with. I can't just create it and expect people will come. I have to get the word out; I have to see if this is something people might be interested in. After all, the more people who want to participate in it, the more money I can make, and the more money I can make the more time I can devote to the topic. There's a symbiosis here; I love symbiosis, and I'm betting most of you do as well.

This means two things I ask of you; yup, I need something from you. The first is to ask you if these types of things are what you'd be interested in. I know that everyone's not coming to Syracuse for any sort of training, but if people are willing to participate in online presentations for different topics that would be something I could do, and we'll set a time limit of 60 to 90 minutes, something most people could survive.

The second thing is to ask you to spread the word, share the link to this post in as many places as you can, which means social media, email, your own newsletters, email, etc. Ask people to send their responses, vote on this thing, indicate whether they'd be interested. Ask people to comment on this post or just continuing to share it. I want numbers for this post, and I want to see if there's enough interest in what I could help people through to start making plans to get it done.

Thanks for your early support; Yes, a new idea in marketing, although not all that new. Let's see where it goes.