Hayzlett Jeffrey W. - The mirror test: is your business really breathing?

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Copyright 2010 by Jeffrey W. Hayzlett

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Second eBook Edition: May 2011

ISBN: 978-0-446-56913-2

Hayzlett, a self-made business titan and leader in his industry, provides readers with valuable advice on how to successfully connect with customers, make innovative decisions, and utilize social media to help revive any business, big or small.

Donny Deutsch, chairman of Deutsch Inc.

Full of stories and real life examples of how he leads his life as a marketer, business builder, and human dynamo.

BusinessInsider.com

This book is a reflection of marketing genius read it to find out how companies, big and small, Trump the competition!

Donald Trump, chairman and president of The Trump Organization

Hayzlett is a born leader and understands what it takes to adapt and survive in the ever-changing business climate we live in. THE MIRROR TEST is a testament to what it takes to be a survivor, and thrive.

Mark Burnett, Emmy Awardwinning television producer of Survivor, The Apprentice, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?, and other reality TV series

Reflects the kind of wisdom and savvy advice that will help catapult your business into the stratosphere.

Linda Kaplan, CEO of the Kaplan Thaler Group and coauthor of The Power of Nice and The Power of Small

Jeffrey Hayzlett is the wonderful maverick from South Dakota who is the king of common sense in business. THE MIRROR TEST is an inspiration, very relatable, and somehow seems to impart valuable business wisdom while not talking down to its reader.

Inc.

Does what few business books do: provides fresh insights and actionable advice in an engaging style. Just as Jeff Hayzletts business approach is to balance common sense and innovation, so does this book. Businesspeople in both small and large organizations will benefit from his ideas and anecdotes about tools that will aid in their personal and company success.

Christie Hefner, former Chairman/CEO, Playboy Enterprises, Inc.

Highly readable solidly grounded in the principles that have always undergirded success, Hayzlett has updated and embellished those enduring concepts to fit todays business challenges.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

With his trademark tough-love approach, Hayzlett guides the reader through a systematic reality check in order to implement time-tested strategies to guarantee that a business is, in fact, able to continue breathing.

TheDailyBeast.com

Hayzlett coaches small-business owners on how to thoughtfully yet aggressively evaluate, deconstruct, and then reconstruct ones business in order to focus on its bottom line.

Chicago Tribune

To the tenacious and driven men and women who have succeeded in business against the odds, in spite of themselves, and to the surprise of all the people who told them success would never happen. Booyah!

A CIA operative is sent to the outskirts of Dublin to retrieve an important piece of information from a man named Murphya man he has never met.

Drive to this area, the operative is told. Youll find Murphy at 2:00 p.m. local time sitting on a stone wall in front of a farm. Say to him, The sun will rise in the east and set in the west, and tomorrow will be another day. Murphy will then give you what you need. Return here immediatelyin person. Tell no one. Murphy is a closely guarded asset. This is top secret at the highest levels.

The operative leaves immediately and boards a plane for Dublin, rents a car, and drives to the appointed area at the appointed time. Sure enough, the operative sees a man sitting on a stone wall in front of a farm. The operative rolls down his window and wanting to be certain asks the man if he knows someone named Murphy.

Well, says the man in his deep Irish accent. That depends on which Murphy you mean. Theres Murphy the butcher, Murphy the baker, Murphy the mayor and wouldnt you know as it turns out? My name is Murphy.

The operative looks at his watch: 2:00 p.m. He looks back at Murphy on the stone wall and says, The sun will rise in the east and set in the west, and tomorrow will be another day.

Oh, youre looking for Murphy the spy, says the man. Hes just up the road a bit.

Psst want to know a secret? There are no secrets. Oh, wait, you thought I had the next quick fix, flashy guarantee, and easy solution? Not in my book. Murphy the spy is just up the road. You can find the books he wrote by the curb in a box marked free.

In this book, the ideas may be simple to follow, but achieving success is not necessarily quick, flashy, or easy. It comes from doing three things right: focusing on what you do, delivering the value people demand, and selling and leveraging what you have and do like crazy to grow your business. If that sounds like a secret then so be it, but there has never been a better or more important time for businesses of any size to get back to a no-nonsense approachone that balances both common sense and innovation. Yes, I might sound like your dad, but I live in the present. I may love the power of print, but I exploit the power of social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter, Digg, Flickr as well as RSS, SEO, etc. I see them as one tool in our business toolbox. Thats how it should be. You cant expect business-as-usual approaches to work, but you also cant expect technological innovations or financial gimmicks to get you out of this mess either. After all, theyre a big part of what got us into this mess in the first place. Too many people got lazy and sloppy, relying on flash and gimmicks to create the illusion of success. We all looked for an edge, but too many of us became consumed with greedaccumulating seven-figure-plus on overextended credit lines and depending on a seemingly never-ending wave of consumer spending that delivered fat and unsustainable (and often fake) profits. Promises? Value? Best practices? Gone.

And heres the kicker: Were going to do it again. Todays volatile economies have made it challenging for businesses to operate profitably. Too many of us will look at the ideas and processes laid out in the following chapters and say, I know I should do that and then not do it, abandoning our principles and making the same mistakes we made before. Think of this book as sunscreen: You might dismiss that you need it, forget to apply it, or just refuse to use itwhen you need it mostbut if you do, you will likely get burned again.