In today’s climate of fear, in which we are bombarded daily with reasons to hunker down and play safe, our natural inclination to avoid risk is stronger than ever.  Yet when fear runs most rampant, people who can discern those fears that serve them from those that don’t, will handle their challenges better, adapt to change faster and find more opportunities.

Ten years from now there will be people no more capable than you who’ve accomplished amazing things.  While we can’t know who they’ll be, one thing is guaranteed: they won’t be people who’ve bought into the fears that drive so many to settle, make excuses and eternally procrastinate. They will be people who have chosen to risk failing and looking foolish because they know something more important is at stake—their life.

Here are four risks essential to your success—in work and beyond.

1.      Risk criticism:  flout conformity

We all want to be liked and I’ve yet to meet anyone who enjoys being criticised, much less rejected.  We’re just wired that way.  Yet when all you do is conform, all you have to offer is conformity. When all you do is try to fit in, you negate the difference your difference makes. Being willing to own what makes you unique, to walk your own path, express your own opinion  and do what’s true for you—versus what others expect of you—is not easy, yet it’s crucial to your success and it’s what sets you apart from the crowd. After all, in order to enjoy outstanding success you must first be willing to stand out.

2. Risk imperfect decisions: be decisive

Harvard researchers found that as high-achievers ascend in their career, they become more cautious and less willing to take risks.  The same applies as we age. We start out willing to fail as we learn to walk and talk and swim and ride a bike, but somewhere along the line we come to think that we have to get it right first time, every time, before even starting out.

Making no decision and sticking with the status quo is a decision. The issues that cause us to be dissatisfied don’t generally go away with time, but worsen. As studies have found, in most cases taking action, even wrong action, is more fruitful than doing nothing.

Waiting until you have all the information you want before making a decision puts you at risk of waiting too long. Sure, do your homework, run the numbers and assess the pros and cons. But sometimes you have to put your spreadsheet aside, trust your instinct and take a leap of faith, despite the uncertainty. Might you get it wrong? Sure. But at least you’ve made a call and moved from the probability that nothing will improve to the possibility that it could. In a world where change is happening fast and the windows of opportunity are limited, indecision can be costly.

 3.      Risk awkward conversations (or God forbid, confrontation!): speak candidly

The quality of your relationships is determined by the quality of the conversations you have in them. Yet, too often we choose the path of safety and fail to speak up about the issues that are weighing us down. It can exact a steep toll—at work, home and beyond.  As I wrote in Stop Playing Safe, “If there’s something you genuinely want to say, chances are someone genuinely needs to hear it.” Being willing to step out from behind your computer screen and engage in a real face-to-face conversation  (or at least to pick up the phone) whenever there are sensitive issues to be addressed will build trust and influence in ways that nothing else can.

4. Risk not knowing:  challenge assumptions

Back in 1885 Lord Kelvin, President of the England Royal Society said, ‘Heavier-than-air flying machines are a physical impossibility’.  It’s easy to laugh now, but consider what assumptions you’re living with right now that you may look back on in 30 years with equal mirth, if not regret. The reality is the most people underestimate what they are capable of and as a consequence, spend their lives in a restricted circle of potential.  Stepping back and challenging the assumptions you have about what you can do and about the people and opportunities around you, can open up new horizons of possibility.

Don’t buy into the false belief that you have to feel brave and courageous before you make changes or take chances on what inspires you (even if it scares you at the same time). Nothing is further from the truth. The more you act with courage, the more courageous you become.  As you start to step outside your comfort zone, you not only build confidence but you create opportunities you often can’t even imagine. To quote an old proverb: ‘Fortune favors the bold’.  Where could you be more courageous?

Bestselling author, Forbes columnist, master coach and dynamic speaker, Margie Warrell challenges and empowers people globally to live and lead more courageously. In her new book, Stop Playing Safe, Margie draws on her diverse background in psychology and Fortune 500 business, to get to the heart of what holds people back and equips them with the strategies and inspiration to make the contribution they are capable of.

The word ‘Invest’ actually means to, ‘Apply or use money for profit’ which includes any money making endeavor which requires money. So to describe yourself as an investor could mean that you’ve had to spend money to start your own business, you’re a property investor or even a Tradesman who owns his own tools. Hence the tag, ‘Investor’ is not a very useful definition…

However the word ‘Trade’ means, ‘Buying and selling for profit’ which does make for a useful definition. If I say I am a share trader then I am stating that I buy and sell shares for a profit which sounds ridiculously simple but there are deeper implications to this statement. For instance, if I am buying shares with the intention to sell them at a future date for a profit then they must be rising in value. The funds management industry refer to this type of share as a ‘Growth stock’ because, hopefully, the share price will grow over time.

A share trader qualifies as a type of investor because they are applying money to the Stockmarket in order to generate a profit. Contrary to popular belief, a person who deals in shares is not defined as a ‘Trader’ by the number of trades they perform each year. This definition was created by a certain Government department and, whilst it may serve their purposes well, it is very misleading for the rest of us. If you purchase a share with the intention to sell it at anytime in the future for a profit then you are a share trader. The value of the share must go up over time and you could sell it after 1 week, 1 year, 10 years or even longer.

 If we define a share investor as someone other than a share trader then I think it would be fairly sensible to view investors as ‘Asset managers’.  So unlike a share trader who will sell shares that start to fall in value, investors will buy more shares because they represent a cheaper income stream. So a share trader wants to buy a rising share price and an Investor (read asset manager) wants to buy a high income yield which occurs when the share price falls…perfectly opposed objectives!

Furthermore as investors have no intention of selling, unless the income yield becomes unacceptable, one can safely assume that their preferred holding time is forever. And ‘forever’ just happens to be Warren Buffett’s favourite holding time as well…not really surprising as he’s very much an investor and not a trader.

Numeric Example

• Assume that a company pays an annual dividend of $1.00 and the share price is $10.00
• Hence the dividend yield or income yield = $1.00 / $10.00 = 10% per annum.
  • Now let’s assume the share price drops to $8.00 but the dividend remains at $1.00 p.a., a not unlikely occurrence given that a company’s profitability isn’t necessarily linked to its share price.
  • Therefore the dividend yield would increase to = $1.00 / $8.00 = 12.5% per annum

So if you want to buy a high yielding stock, referred to by Fund Managers as an, ‘Income Stock’, then the direction of the share price is largely irrelevant because you don’t really have any intention of selling the share at a later date. In fact if the share price was to halve during a Stockmarket crash you would buy more shares because the yield will have doubled.

This is where ‘Dollar cost averaging’ is used very effectively because you keep buying more shares as the share price drops and the dividend yield keeps rising, thus averaging up your income. Hence dollar cost averaging is a very effective technique for investors…but not traders.

 Now let’s turn our attention to real estate investment and look at how property can be either bought and sold for a profit or held as an income producing asset, just like shares. I’ll use a real world example here because recent developments in the property market will prove very illustrative.

As many property investors are aware there is a large population of baby boomers in Australia (and the world) who are nearing retirement. It has been broadly assumed that this particular demographic are going to sell up their family homes, once the children have vacated, and retire on masse to locations more suited to a leisurely lifestyle than the suburbs.

Hence the massive investment in, and development of, inner city apartments we’ve seen in Australia since the turn of the millennium. Now assume for a moment that you’re an investor who is currently in possession of an inner city dwelling and you have to make a command decision as to whether you should retain the property for the rental income or sell it outright for a profit. Given the expected migration of the baby boomers to the city, we know that if we sell into the resulting demand then we can reasonably expect to make a good profit on the sale.

But what are our prospects if we want to retain the property indefinitely for the income stream? Not too good I expect because the baby boomers who are heading for the big smoke are going to be seriously cashed up, having sold the family home, and looking to buy their own apartments rather than fork out rent to someone else. Thus, in this particular scenario it would be my opinion that trading the apartment for a profit will probably prove more prudent than holding it for the long term as an income producing asset…remember this is just my opinion.

So given the opposed objectives of traders and investors, you can appreciate the importance of knowing which category you belong to. My preferred approach to the Stockmarket is to trade shares whilst I consider real estate to be superior to shares as a lifetime income producing asset.

Shares are an intangible product which makes them ideal to trade in because they don’t require any infrastructure. I don’t have to physically take possession of the shares, they don’t require maintenance and there is always a ready market of buyers and sellers. On the other hand I’m not too fond of shares as lifetime income producing assets because there’s no guarantee that the companies which the shares represent will be around for my lifetime.

Property on the other hand isn’t about to be sold out from under me because some board of directors, that I have no influence over, think it’s a good idea. What’s more property is typically more stable in terms of its income revenue and the banks are far more user friendly when it comes to gearing a property portfolio than they are a share portfolio.

But buying and selling the family home was enough of a saga without making a business out of it by trading in investment properties…imagine the headaches. Hence, while there is the odd exception such as buying and selling inner city apartments, my preferences are to trade shares and invest in property.

This extract was re-produced with permission from Alan Hull. For more information on Invest My Way, or to purchase the book please click here

Martin recently had time to share with us a few tips for finding Top Stocks.

‘Buy low, sell high.’
This is the timeworn advice facetiously sometimes offered to new entrants to the stock market. If only it were so easy. We would all be rich. Unfortunately, it is difficult to time the market; that is, to buy a stock right before it appreciates, or sell shares just before they decline. But this does not stop people trying, and there are numerous get-rich strategies, as evidenced by the many books on this subject.

If you are already in the market you may have your own strategies. Though, if you are like so many, it could be that you just muddle along.
Here are eight strategies and market theories used by many of the experts.

* Fundamental Analysis
When you analyse all the factors that influence a company’s profits – products, management, customers, competitors, government policies, the economy and so on – you are engaged in fundamental analysis. Virtually every investor does a little of this, and most research analysts at broking houses do it full time.

* Technical Analysis

This involves the interpretation of stock market charts to forecast market movements. It requires a lot of study and experience, and is not for the risk-averse.

* Growth Stocks
Everyone wants to buy shares in a company whose profits are growing steadily and regularly, year by year. Finding them is one thing. But then you have to decide whether they are worth the investment. Growth stocks often carry what can be called a ‘growth premium’ – a high share price – which means that if their growth falters the shares can fall sharply. So they are risky, but carry the potential for sharp capital appreciation.

* Sector Investing
Some experts believe it is a waste of time trying to pick winning stocks. Concentrate instead on sectors, they say, as when the sector moves, all the stocks within the sector will probably also move.

* Theme Investing
In stock market parlance, a theme is an idea or a concept that has the potential to provide a powerful boost to long-term profits for relevant companies, usually cutting across several or many sectors. Investors who get in early can see share prices soar, sometimes well before the profits actually arrive. The classic example is the so-called dot.com boom of the late 1990s, when investors bid up the share prices of hundreds of tiny, profitless high-tech companies that seemed to offer the potential of huge rewards somewhere down the track. So be cautious. Themes can become bubbles.

* Contrarian Investing
Contrarian investing – an investment that goes counter to market trends or to conventional wisdom – can bring rich rewards. But it also requires experience of the market and strong nerves. It is certainly not for everyone.

* Recovery Stocks

There probably is not such a lot of difference between taking a contrarian stance on the market and buying recovery stocks, except that the former are those that are still being talked down, whereas a recovery stock might be one that the market has pretty much forgotten about after a big decline.

* Cyclical Stocks
Cyclical stocks are those that do particularly well when the economy is strong and tend to suffer disproportionately when economic conditions weaken. Unlike, say, companies supplying basic foodstuffs or pharmaceuticals, which are always in demand, they are often related to an economic cycle of high inflation and high interest rates being followed by low inflation and low interest rates.

Disclaimer
This information is of a general nature only and does not constitute professional advice. You should seek professional advice in relation to your particular circumstances before acting.

Top Stocks is available now.

This post originally appeared on The Nile and was reproduced with permission by Martin Roth.

What’s the birth story of your business? Don’t worry, I’m not referring to anything involving placenta, epidurals or umbilical cords. I’m talking about how and why your business got started. In many cases, the birth story of a business speaks volumes about your passion and commitment to your customers. It explains the driving force behind why you do what you do.

What started you on this journey?
If that’s the case with your business, then your birth story is one that should certainly be told – on your website, to your customers and even in keynote speeches. Take the case of crime scene cleaner Joan Dougherty from Fort Lauderdale in Miami. She’s the one you call to clean up the blood and the associated mess after a tragic situation such as a murder or suicide. She literally cleans up crime scenes. It’s a specialised skill that involves getting blood out of carpets, sofas, curtains and furniture. It’s not pretty.

But how does someone even think about getting into this field? Well, Joan’s stepson was killed by shotgun in 1982. After the police left the scene, Joan was left to clean up the mess, a situation she found horrifying. She told Edit International: “I asked the police who would clean it up and they told me ‘You will. There’s nobody else that does such a job.’”

While having to deal with the grief of losing her stepson, she then had the emotional trauma associated with the cleanup. She says that she knew one day she would be involved in helping other people in the same situation – so they would not face the same awful circumstances.

An implicit message
This story not only explains why she started her business, it implicitly tells you that she truly cares for the people who are about to walk back into the crime scene – families who need to go on after a terrible tragedy.

Your story does not have to be this dramatic. It just needs to be authentic. Think about the factors that drove you to start your business. Identify a story that will convey your passion and then… write it down. The act of writing it down helps you give it structure and meaning

For example, one of the reasons I created my business, the Sydney Writers’ Centre, was because I know what it’s like to be in a completely different profession (I began life as an accountant) but yearn for a career as a writer. I took a circuitous route to get here but I’m now a full-time writer, blogger and author. And I love every minute of it. I’m so glad that I changed my career.

I wanted to create the kind of dynamic centre that I wish had existed when I was looking to transition my career – because I know that there are tens of thousands of people out there who are in a similar situation I was in.

What if you didn’t start you business?
Perhaps you didn’t actually start your business. Maybe you bought into it because it was a great opportunity. That’s fine. You may not be involved in the birth of your business but there are two stories you can tell.

1. Find out what the birth story of your business is. You may discover that there is romance and intrigue associated with how your business started. Even if Joan the crime scene cleaner sells her company, the story of how she started it will live on.

2. Identify why you are passionate about your business. This is just as powerful. Why did you buy into your company? Go beyond the fact that it’s a good business opportunity. Figure out what gets you excited about it. Connect with your passion – because then your customers will connect with it as well. Your commitment to your business will be more credible as a result.

What’s the birth story of your business? Why did you start it?

Read the press release for Power Stories and buy the book here

Reproduced with permission from www.ValerieKhoo.com

It can be hard to strike up a conversation with someone you don’t know without being seen as a nutter, but if you have something in common, it’s quite a different scenario.

At a conference, we are quite happy to talk to strangers in the coffee queue at break time about how great the last session was because we have something in common. At a rock concert, it’s okay to chat to the person next to us about the band because we are both there to experience the music.

At a football match when the team is losing, it’s okay to moan and groan to the person in front of us about the team’s poor performance today and reminisce about the glory days because we both love the team.

Smokers will stand out in the freezing cold weather to get their ten-minute caffeine fix and chat to other smokers from different departments at the office, because of commonality. Commonality is the key reason that talking to a stranger is acceptable.

It’s human nature I suppose, although I have no answer as to why just because we have something in common with another person, we feel quite happy to strike up a conversation. Two teenagers would not strike up a conversation at the checkout queue but they would perhaps if they realised they were wearing the same cult T- shirt under their jackets.

Back out on the street, we walk along with our heads down, eyes averted, headphones plugged in or playing with our smartphones, and all the time avoiding contact with anyone else at all costs. Whether we are simply trying to get from A to B as quickly as possible, or shopping in the mall, it’s pretty much the same scenario – we want to avoid any contact.

If only we could find the commonality with a few more people around us, I wonder how more enriched our lives would be. We might meet someone one day who takes us on a journey of business or pleasure. This would be  a journey that had that chance encounter never happened, we would have missed out on.

What have your experiences been, what positive ‘chance’ meetings have you encountered from striking up a conversation with someone you don’t know?

To read more about Learn Marketing with Social Media in 7 Days, or to buy the book click here.

It’s hardly surprising given the disruption from technologies, financial crises and global competition.

And yet many of our best known enterprises from media to manufacturing and retail to resources are struggling to even survive.  What can they do?

From a year’s researching and writing First Be Nimble my view is crystal clear.

Australian industry is at a cross roads and the all-important mid-sized enterprises either take an axe to out-dated management hierarchies and silo-based problem solving that is dragging down productivity and innovation, or they face decimation on a scale not seen for generations.

In all this uncertainty there is also massive opportunity, but only for those who understand that in volatile times there is only one strategy that makes sense. That strategy I call First Be Nimble, because it means putting every available training and development resource towards boosting the adaptability, agility and resilience of the workforce.

It’s the obvious strategy because the nimble don’t just handle disruption—they also do their own disrupting.

Five principles guide nimble and adaptive teams and enterprises. Let’s look at them briefly.

1. Co-create –— don’t rely on experts in silos

While the slow-to-adapt are ring fencing their companies and structuring their teams as ‘experts in silos’, the agile enterprises put a premium on creating nimble, connected teams that move fast and adapt.

They equip teams with tools to align, collaborate and learn together.  They punch holes in silos, and forge alliances that enable them to scale up and accelerate rapidly which means they exploit new technologies and adapt to changes in market dynamics while the laggards just complain about the market conditions and look for more government assistance.

2. Build to flex — don’t let rigidity bog you down

Layers of bureaucratic rules and decision filters are slowing down many Australian companies (and rendering them uncompetitive), but thankfully there are leaders embracing the ‘first be nimble’ mantra by putting priority on a clear game plan and a small set of core principles and disciplines.

They are adapting fast because people know the game plan, have just-in-time information and are empowered to act. That’s always been the way for agile enterprises in military, emergency medicine and international sport.

3. Be Brave — not Busy

Busyness is an excuse peddled by people who claim to have ‘too many priorities’ but need reminding that they aren’t priorities if you have lots of them.  Read Mark Zuckerberg’s IPO letter for Facebook— his message is ‘focus on impact’ and the advice is sage:  ‘We expect everyone at Facebook to be good at finding the biggest problems to work on.’

Nimble teams move fast to create an impact. They expect and accept heat from stakeholders, refuse to be slowed down by bottlenecks and they challenge conflicting priorities.

 4. Leap, learn, adapt — don’t wait for certainty

Australian businesses talk a lot about innovation but then they load people up with KPIs and workloads that treat it like any other production line task.   That’s too slow; too many ‘experts in silos’ to be a serious option in any business.

Nimble teams constantly test multiple ideas and run experiments. And that’s not just in new products but in anything that can make the organisation (and the value chain) leaner and more effective.

And when you think innovation, don’t just look at your products or services. It’s the business model that’s at risk so that needs attention (which doesn’t happen from busy experts in silos). Unfortunately Kodak didn’t get that one in time, but think Apple iTunes store or what Amazon has done to the bookstore (or what Kobo might do to Amazon?).

Nimble teams learn fast; they don’t wait for certainty.

 5. Let go — welcome the squirm

Nimble organisations don’t rely on expensive change management programs because they know that you can’t manage your way through disruptive change.

Instead they train and coach people for change resilience by infusing skills like partnering, collaboration and fast learning into their business. Why?  Because nimble organisations are always in transition: ending something, exploring a few things and embracing the new.

Unlike the leaders of too many Australian businesses, they are good at letting go and they know that endings make you squirm so being in a team speeds up the transition.

There is a strategy!

A year of writing and researching made me decide to call my new book First Be Nimble. The reason is simple:

In a disruptive world the only sensible business strategy is to create an agile and intelligent organisation that can handle anything that the volatile business world throws at it.

By Graham Winter 

Read the the press release and buy First Be Nimble here

We recommend a process where your team defines the crystal clear rules of expected behaviour in your workplace by comparing the  behaviours you would appreciate (desirable) against those that are non-negotiable (essential).

Rules like ‘never leave dirty dishes on your desk’ or ‘always arrive at meetings 5 minutes early’ might be deemed non-negotiables if that’s what you decide.

We call the essential or expected behaviours the non-negotiables but perhaps the language in your workplace might be:

Regardless of what you call them, the non-negotiables are critical for forming a healthy culture in the workplace. Unfortunately our obsession with ‘bubble-wrapping’ key messages (or as our mate Rowdy McLean calls it in his book Play A Bigger Game,‘the cotton wool society’) sometimes creates greater problems because people don’t understand the no-go zones at work.

There are five golden rules for establishing the non-negotiables:

1. They are behavioural-based, not moral- or principle-based.
2. There should never be any more than five non-negotiables.
3. They require commitment not interest; they should be every time not some of the time.
4. They should be committed to memory and often spoken about.
5. They should be reviewed regularly.

Think about your family for a second. Presuming your family is not completely dysfunctional (we all feel like we are from time to time!) there are deal-breakers everyone is aware of. If any member of the family rubs up against one of these, then a conversation is coming and, the most important thing, everyone knows it.

The hallmark of excellence in teams, families or cultures is this:

Great teams are relentless on modifying each other’s behaviour in striving for excellence, and are completely supportive of each other in the process.

 To achieve this, you need to establish clarity. So what are your non-negotiables, and are you clearly articulating them?

Darren, Alison & Sean

1. Make the move early. Don’t wait for the move to be ‘forced’ on you by family or circumstances and make sure you are still active enough to enjoy the community life.
2. Plan to stay for the long term. Leaving a retirement village triggers most of the fees and charges that are applied during your stay. You need time for the growth in the value of your unit to reduce the impact of such charges.
3. Negotiate EVERYTHING! Most buyers don’t realise that many parts of the retirement village purchase contract can be negotiated, particularly in the current market where many retirement villages are struggling to make sales.
4. Get good advice. You will no doubt be spending several hundreds of thousands of dollars on your retirement village unit. Paying an expert for their advice can not only save you money, but can give you the peace of mind that the contracts are in order and that you have received the best deal possible.
5. Above all, never rush your decision. Take your time and make sure you will feel comfortable in your new residence.

These top tips have been provided by Richard Andrews, founder of Find My Retirement Home and  author of Don’t Buy Your Retirement Home Without Me! (published by Wrightbooks) and may be used alongside appropriate credits.

Yet in just four short years – and particularly during 2011 – Bouris has managed to make the business a household name by leveraging his profile, communications skills, personal wealth and – let’s face it – his model-like good looks. He’s done this through public speaking, media interviews, publishing a blog, offering advice on his website and most recently by playing Australia’s answer to Donald Trump on the local version of The Celebrity Apprentice.

Bouris is successfully pursuing a thought leadership driven marketing strategy. He’s using his expertise and making the most of the media and the internet to raise awareness of his business, win customers and gain investors, by sharing his knowledge and ideas.

In the process, he’s saving millions of dollars on advertising and following in the footsteps of Australia’s earlier finance guru, Paul Clitheroe, who used television and the publication of books to supercharge the growth of his personal finance advice business, ipac securities, and become a multi-millionaire.

So, thought leadership works. You can see it around you all the time. And you can learn from leading lights such as Bouris, Clitheroe as well as the likes of Jamie Durie and Kylie Kwong. But what is it exactly? And how does it relate to your business, especially if you don’t have Durie’s abs or Clitheroe’s easy manner on the radio?

Thought leadership is simply offering clever ideas to help other people solve problems or discover opportunities. These ideas can in turn be a powerful marketing tool in your business. Like Bouris, it will help you raise your profile and gain interest from prospects.

The goal is to transform yourself from being one of many experts to being the go-to person in your field. This will in turn make it easier to win new business and to charge a premium for your products or services. It can also deliver other benefits, from making it easier to attract quality staff to enjoying some lifestyle benefits for yourself, such as meeting other experts and trips to conferences.

According to Information Technology Services Marketing Association (ITSMA), for example, thought leadership development has recently become the most important tactic in its members’ marketing strategies to increase awareness and to generate leads. Thought leadership has also become critical to purchasing decisions. Nearly half (45%) of buyers surveyed by ITSMA in 2011 said it plays a major role in determining who makes the short list, as compared to only 23% in 2010.

As a former journalist and writer, my particular interest lies in how you can convey your ideas in writing through articles, blogs, speeches, books, social media and other channels. Capturing your ideas in words is essential to creating marketing collateral that you can use with customers. This is particularly important in the Internet age, when customers are searching for suppliers by key words.

By creating unique content that displays your deep knowledge in specific specialist areas you can build your relationship with your customers. Making this information freely available on the Internet will result in attracting links, rankings in Google and getting tweeted.

The process of writing thought leadership material and advising others can deliver some unexpected benefits to you as well as a business owner or leader. It will help you to organise your thoughts about your field and force you to develop interesting views and positions. You are also likely to learn more about your field as you complete research, and find a new level of passion for your focus area.

Obviously, this is all easier said than done so in the book I break the process down to the three key phases – thinking and research, writing and then distributing and promoting your ideas. There isn’t room to explore each in detail here but the key messages are that it is becoming easier and more important to capture your ideas in words, and that anyone can do it.

Just think about the problems or opportunities that your customers face. Think about what unique expertise you hold and what advice you can offer. Think about the best format to use – like a book, blog or video script. Then start writing!

Grant Butler is Managing Director of Australia’s leading business writing firm, Editor Group (www.editorgroup.com), and author of Think Write Grow – How to become a thought leader and build your business by creating exceptional articles, blogs, speeches, books and more (Published by Wiley, RRP $29.95 and now out).

Great news! Several of our business books have been nominated across a variety of categories for the Small Business Book Awards 2012, as run by Small Business Trends.

The Small Business Book Awards initiative, now in its 4th year, is produced by Small Business Trends, a popular online publication, which along with its sister sites, serves over 4,000,000 small business owners, stakeholders and entrepreneurs annually. The site was founded by Anita Campbell, widely regarded as an authority on small business issues, in 2003.

Voting is now open and will close on the 16th February 2012 when the top 10 winners’ list will be announced.

Check out our nominations:

• How To Retire in 12 Months
• Paper Flow
• Learn Marketing with Social Media in 7 Days
• Recharge
• Learn Small Business Accounting in 7 Days
• Think Write Grow

Which is your favourite business book?

For a complete list of nominated books, visit the Small Business Book Awards here.