BOSSMENTOR® Renaissance Magazine - January Issue

RENAISSANCE MAGAZINE

January 2009

DREAM, BELIEVE, CREATE

StrategyDoes your business enable you or tether you?

Personal PowerHow a child changed a community

Life’s ToolboxMeditation is a life skill

Success MindsetHarness your inner power

Entrepreneurial InsightsLive by your core values

Spotlight onNoeux les Mines, France

Richard Branson‘It’s all life!’

2 BossMentor Renaissance Magazine • www.bossgroup.com.au

Hello!

Welcome to our first issue of

BOSSMENTOR® Renaissance

Magazine™!

It’s been designed for you to take your

time over, dive in and out of, and keep

as a reference.

Reading, writing, exploring new

thoughts and ideas, creating stories and

forever putting pen to paper, is part

of my life blood. I wrote my first book

at the age of nine, instructively titled

“How to be a Teen Teenager” (alas, now

out of print!).

Business strategy, management practices

and stories of the great business mas-

ters, has inspired me along my path and

continues to do so.

The driver behind the great success

stories throughout history is the power

of the human mind to achieve great

things. Sometimes it is easy to dismiss

the amazing stories we hear of personal

courage, human strength, of overcom-

ing huge obstacles to change the course

and outcomes of lives, and of course

stories of incredible foresight and vision

of inspirational entrepreneurs to take

quantum leaps forward in progress. We

can dismiss these stories and place them

at arm’s length, as ‘I could never do

that’.

But we are all capable of doing that! It is

the focus and perspective of the human

mind that will drive success and results

in our personal and business lives,

which in turn will determine our life-

style and the ultimate legacy we leave

during our lifetime.

Business success, mindset and lifestyle

are all interwoven. BOSSMENTOR®

Renaissance Magazine™ is going

a step beyond the business advice

presented in our e-news, to start giving

more focus on insights into the beliefs

and thinking of the people we profile,

and how your thoughts can change

the outcomes you get in your life. New

thinking, new levels of awareness of the

personal power that we each hold inside

ourselves, and a new attitude to your

business as leverage for a bigger future,

rather than an end in itself – that’s

what BOSSMENTOR® Renaissance

Magazine™ is all about.

The theme of this first issue is ‘enable’,

and we explore ways that you can

enable greater possibility in your life,

through your own personal power and

through your business.

I hope the stories, advice and insights

challenge and inspire you to dream,

believe and create your bigger future!

Enjoy!

Jenny Stilwell

‘If we did all the things we are

capable of doing, we would

literally astound ourselves’

Thomas Edison.

Jenny Stilwell

BossMentor Renaissance Magazine • www.bossgroup.com.au 3

Table of contents Success Mindset 4 Life’s Toolbox 6 Harness Your Inner Power

Strategy 9 Does Your Business Enable You Or Tether You?

How-To 12 What To Do With A Strategic SWOT 14 Set Up Your Website To Generate Leads

Entrepreneurial Insights 16 Gord Hotchkiss - CEO Enquiro, British Columbia, Canada

19 Best Info

Leadership & Legacy 20 Richard Branson’s Philosophy

Spotlight 22 Noeux Les Mines, France

Personal Power 23 How A Child Changed A Community; What Could We Do?

Business Growth, Mentoring & Coaching 24 Programs 25 Other Ressources And Products

26 About BOSSMENTOR®


This past week I have had

two lively conversations

which highlighted an in-

creasingly common theme.

One girlfriend was feeling totally over-

whelmed and unable to cope with all

the competing demands in her life; she

spoke of feeling fearful and scattered,

and in fact openly wondered if she was

losing her ‘mind’. Another girlfriend

was facing a major life change, the

culmination of years of hard and highly

focussed work, but instead of stepping

up to take the prize she found herself

frozen and unsure - like a rabbit caught

in the spotlight, unable to move.

To both my friends I shared the same

advice .. like a cluttered house that has

no room left; our minds too are often

overcrowded with noise and clutter. If

we want to open up to clarity, ideas and

inspiration - we need to regularly toss

out the junk.

Today our lives seem increasingly

frantic and distracted .. demands on

our time, demands on our attention and

demands for optimal performance across

everything we do – family, career, rela-

tionships, exercise – mean that we are

always ‘on’.

At the same time we are also constantly

interrupted, beeped and buzzed; so

our ability to maintain attention for

anything longer than a few minutes is

always being tested.

When stretched and spread so thinly,

demands become increasingly difficult

to meet and stress levels begin to build.

As we start to feel disconnected and

overwhelmed, we find we are suddenly

unable to cope with all the noise and

uncertainty in our world .. resulting in

health issues (dis-ease) and turmoil – we

have lost our balance.

The antidote I suggested to my girl-

friends is quite simple .. to just .. stop

.. and be still.

Meditation is the tool needed in our toolboxMeditation long ago came down from

the mountain tops, and while it is an an-

cient practice that has been around for

more than 4000 years, it is also a quite

natural human experience. Stilling the

mind, taking time to be quiet and re-

flect, can be experienced when you are

totally immersed in a favourite activity,

Life’s Toolbox

By Sarah Fletcher

Success Mindset


or thought; it may be gardening, your

favourite music or a walk in the forest.

The word “meditation” literally comes

from two Latin words: ‘medio’ meaning

center and ‘sto’ meaning to stand. So

meditation is ‘to stand in the centre’.

When you are still, and in your centre,

you have the opportunity to clear the

noise and truly listen to the softest and

most subtle sound of your inner voice.

Taking the time to meditate (whether

that is a ‘spot’ meditation before an

important meeting; or a more formal sit-

ting practice) allows the mind to settle

into a calmness and peace that is there

all the time, but hidden behind all the

chatter and internal dialogue.

When we rest the mind, we renew and

reconnect with the quiet spaces and

places inside. When our mind is calm,

our life finds balance and ease.

Meditation: the art of mindful stillnessWhen we meditate we let go of all the

worries, the problems of the past and

the concerns for the future, and start to

listen and understand at a really deep

and profound level .. we begin to feel

what we truly feel, and know what we

really know. As the mind slows down

and focuses we then start to see more

clearly things as they really are; the

habitual responses that we have, see and

do, our way of hearing and relating to

others, and our inner roadblocks.

Meditation provides the stillness so

that you become more aware of the

‘you’ that exists beneath the layers of

random cross-fire thoughts, emotions,

and judging; the ‘you’ that understands

where you are and what your purpose

is in life.

Learning to focus the mind and con-

centrate our attention in the present

moment, also improves the efficiency

and understanding of our thinking. So

meditation therefore not only encour-

ages a healthier and more resilient frame

of mind, but the resulting clarity and

spaciousness puts us in a better position

to tap into the magical flow of opportu-

nity and synchronicity.

All you need do is be silent, tune in and listen

Meditation is the simple act of slowing

down and rediscovering who we truly

are; it is also an enjoyable and life af-

firming wellness practice. Studies con-

tinue to support the substantial health

benefits of a regular meditation practice

– reduced levels of stress and anxiety,

improved immune system and building

a healthier heart and mind. Meditation

also makes us more keenly aware of our

intuition, fosters greater creativity, and

it feels good!

It is really fundamental that we realise it is our inner world that creates our outer world.

Meditation makes for a handsome return

on investment – it’s the tool we all need

in our toolbox.

Sarah Fletcher teaches simple and

practical meditation, and believes

meditation is an important life

skill. She also writes a meditation

blog at

www.quietmindmeditation.blogspot.com.


“I have a headache, Mummy” my

daughter said as she laid down and put

her head in my lap. While I brushed

her hair off her face, my head went into

overdrive. Do I commiserate - kiss her

or give her magic water? Do I tell her

she’ll be fine and send her off to school?

Is she fine? Or, will the sick bay call

me with a stern request to come and

get her? Do I juggle my meetings to

keep her home? Do I trust that her little

brother won’t do the same thing tomor-

row? Do I put her back to bed with the

promise of no TV? Or, do I drag her

suddenly-cheery self around to a cafe

with me and ignore the nagging feeling

that I’ve been played?

Focus… What focus?

This story illustrates to me what it is to

be human. It highlights the enormous

wisdom we use every day to navigate

our complex interactions. It brings me

to the question: Does the modern hu-

man potential movement target our po-

tential at the expense of our humanity?

My imagined potential is the carrot I’m

told to focus on. I must focus… REALLY

focus… on all the things I want to be - I

picture what I’ll look like and feel like…

as I hear the roar of the crowds. And, in

all this focus, I wonder…. Am I doomed

to deny my true nature for the promise

of a better one?

The inner world

I am full of ambiguity and inconsis-

tency. Every decision I make is chock-

full of complexity and mixed emotions.

Everything I do oozes my own human-

ity. Like it or not, I cannot escape my

history: the dramatic turns; the good

ideas gone cold, and the sheer madness

of falling in love with dangerous people.

My humanity is my power

I wonder if freedom is to stop looking

for our elusive potential, Narcissus-like?

We could instead allow the contradic-

tions and complexities of our human

experience to show us who we really are

and the resources we already have.

You’re standing in it

Here are some ways to recognise what

you actually have:

Appreciate your mixed emotions; allow

yourself to celebrate your wins; explore

the criticisms that bother you, and the

way you try to put distance between

your imagined self and your real one.

Appreciate how you don’t fit; how •

you don’t live up to your expecta-

tions and how you have let yourself

(and others) down. Step into your

own shoes to see how you manage

the changing circumstances, the

double crosses and the disappoint-

ments of being you.

Appreciate the other sides of the •

story; judge not from an outsider’s

context; hang out with yourself

until you can honestly say “I accept

Harness Your Inner Power By Rebecca Ryan

Success Mindset


(maybe even appreciate) that about

myself”.

And if appreciating yourself is an •

uphill slog, here are 3 quick and

easy ways to feel good about your-

self and bolster your courage:

Gratitude – this can be a very 1.

small gesture of thanks.

Generosity – this can be a very 2.

small favour for someone.

Gob-smacked awe – this can be 3.

looking at a blade of grass and

thinking how amazingly it is

made.

If we can accept and appreciate our-

selves we needn’t abandon who we are

for the promise of who we might be able

to be. I am human and my inconsisten-

cies and my ambiguity are part of my

full expression. I crave being accepted

and loved for who I am - warts and all

- not with an apology but with the mad

exhilaration of being free to be me.

As William Blake said, “Rise and drink

your bliss, for all that lives is holy.”

By Rebecca Ryan, aged 36 and a

half x

Rebecca is the Director of Living

Dreams, a specialist coaching &

training company with a vision

to think differently. She can

be contacted via mobile URL

betterfuturenow.mobi or email

[email protected].


By Jenny Stilwell

Does your business enable you or tether you?Fortunately there seems to be a growing trend, certainly

among the clients I work with, to create a business that is

an enabler of the owner’s lifestyle. People want to build a

business they enjoy, but more importantly, build a business

that actually encompasses life goals and passions as well.

Strategy


For example, I have a client

who loves travel, and the

thought of building a busi-

ness that only has a domestic

scope just isn’t on the cards! Opportuni-

ties, contacts, projects – they must have

a global focus.

Another client prefers to work alone.

For this person, a growing business

with an expanding team of people need-

ing mentoring and management is not

enabling a lifestyle. It’s tethering the

business owner to a place he doesn’t

want to be.

As business owners we are so fortunate

in that we can create whatever we want

our business and our lifestyle to be,

whether the business is a startup or

established, the ‘enabling principles’

apply.

The following enabling principles will

help you to determine how well your

business enables you to create the

future of your dreams, or how much it

tethers you:

What activity would you be doing

that you love so much you’d do

it for free? If I left you alone for

the day, uninterrupted, and came

back to find you immersed in that

activity completely unaware that a

day had gone by, what would you

have been doing?

For some, there may be no work going

on but they’re surrounded by people,

talking, laughing and having a great

time!

For others, they may be doing some-

thing completely unrelated to work, like

entertaining children, cooking, singing,

playing golf or developing ideas on a

white board. It doesn’t mean you would

do this all the time, but it’s something

you do that immerses you.

Do you have a chance to do that

through your business, or is the

business structured in such a way

that it enables you to leave it and

pursue your ‘immersion’ activity?

If you’re an architect, and you love to

design buildings, you need to be able to

do that. If you get caught up managing

people and dealing with the day to day

operations of a business, you will most

likely start to either resent being teth-

ered by your business or you will lose

your passion for what you do and lose

your momentum.

However, if you recognize that archi-

tectural design is essential to you being

passionate about what you do and

making a contribution, then you must

structure your business to run ‘hands-

free’ (without your hands, that is).

This is a real leap of faith for many

business owners, but this leap is a true

enabling step.

Where and how do you ideally like

to work?

Do you need to be flexible? Do you

prefer to work in a slick modern office?

Have you always wanted to work in a

converted warehouse? Would you rather

work at the beach, or at home?

Being able to design where and how

you work is an essential part of creating

your business in such a way as to enable

you to live how you really want.

Do you like to spend the day with

clients, colleagues, members of your

team, in meetings, out having lunch,

in discussion? Would you rather be

more solitary in how you work? Do

you like to work at night or early in the

morning, or like a friend of mine, right

around the clock?

Would you like more free time and

if so, how would you spend it?

A lot of business owners would like

a little more free time, but when the

opportunity arises, some of them don’t

Strategy


really know what to do with it. I’ve

seen people who retreat to their busi-

ness rather than unleash themselves on

themselves! I’ve also seen workaholics

who eschew free time, but once the con-

cept and the opportunity become more

obvious, they start to embrace it with

great enthusiasm.

We only get our time once, so make the

most of it while you have it.

What needs to change in your

business to enable you to live

and work with more enjoyment,

satisfaction and better personal

results?

It has to start with you – it’s your busi-

ness and your life.

Do you need to change the struc- �

ture of your business?

Do you need to change your role �

in it?

Do you need to change how you �

work?

Do you need to change or build �

your team?

Do you need to change your sched- �

ule so you spend more time doing

what you love?

Do you need to enlist help to keep �

you on track and accountable?

Do you need to sell your business �

and do something new – start a

new chapter?

Do you need to loosen the control �

and focus on what inspires and

motivates you?

Finally, is the vision for your

business based on your personal

goals? Are they in alignment?

Are the financial goals for the company

driven by your own personal finan-

cial goals? For example, if you want to

double the business turnover next year,

why do you want to do that, and will it

enable you to live more like the way you

really want to be living?

Set your business goals because they are

in alignment with what you really want

to do, and enable you to live a great life.

Don’t set goals simply because you can,

and be tethered by them as a result.

Think of the lines in the INXS song:

‘we all have wings, but some of us don’t

know why’. Make sure your business

enables you to use your wings and fly!


Often people conduct a SWOT Analysis

for their business and after having filled

in the points under each heading, they

don’t do any more with it. I think most

people know what it is, but few people

seem to know what to do with it and

how to use it strategically in their plan-

ning. Here’s the low-down.

Internal factors Strengths Weaknesses

External factors Opportunities Threats

What Is A SWOT Analysis?

It’s an objective look at the internal and

external factors affecting your business,

summarized into strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities and threats.

The purpose of conducting a SWOT

analysis is to enable you to perform

more competitively within the environ-

ment in which you operate or plan to

operate.

When you do an objective SWOT,

you’ll be able to match your

resources more efficiently and

effectively to your environment,

for greater success.

It is a strategic tool used in planning,

such as marketing plans and business

plans. You could also do a SWOT on

yourself, a product, a project, a business

unit, as well as on your overall business.

Strengths and weaknesses are internal

factors that reside or exist within your

business. Opportunities and threats ex-

ist outside your business, and are sepa-

rate from your business but can impact

your business.

How Does It Work?The person who develops the strategic

plan for your business will usually do

the SWOT analysis, which others may

then comment on or add to.

A really useful approach is to combine

feedback from a few key people within

the organisation, and compare their per-

spectives of what the business’ SWOT

analysis is. If you run this as a work-

shop-type session, it will cover off a lot

of information about internal and exter-

nal environments, encourage discussion

(always!), and lay a solid foundation for

the strategic direction for the business.

Here are some typical examples that

could fall under each of the categories:

StrengthsCapable Team (make sure it’s in all •

areas of the business, because if

it isn’t, then you have a weakness

somewhere – eg: Product Devel-

opment and Sales are strong, but

Customer Service is weak)

Intellectual property, such as:•

Trademarks, Patents1.

Brand recognition2.

Client base•

Marketing system•

Office facilities•

Low cost base•

Technology•

Production capacity (available for •

growth)

Often when doing this exercise I receive

responses like “everyone gets on well”.

This is a good thing, but not necessarily

a strength.

As a litmus test, ask yourself,

‘does having this make us more

competitive/more profitable

and more attractive to our target

market?’

WeaknessesLack of specialist resources•

Limited IP (Intellectual Property)•

What to Do With a Strategic SWOT By Jenny Stilwell

How to


Incomplete & out of date customer •

database

Small distribution network•

Low profile within target market•

Poor accounting system, ie: can’t ac-•

curately measure & track KPIs (Key

Performance Indicators)

Production capacity (unused – •

wasted resources & costs)

Opportunitiesalliance with a potential business •

partner (eg: expand distribution

network)

new technology (to reduce costs, •

improve processes)

new market expansion (increase sales)•

emerging customer needs (new •

products/services & sales)

legislation (eg: may introduce new •

opportunities)

Threatsentry of strong competitors to this •

market from other markets

new technology renders your prod-•

ucts/services redundant

new legislation restricts business•

How Do I Use It?Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities

Strength/Opportunity

Strats

Capitalise

Weakness/Opportunity

Strats

Overcome & capitalise

Threats

Strength/Threats Strats

Minimise

Weakness/Threats Strats

Defend

Now that you’ve done the SWOT, you

need to apply what it’s uncovered to

your strategy.

Partner your SWOT factors like this:

Strengths & Opportunities (S-O Strategies)

Use your inherent strengths to capital-

ize on available opportunities that fit

with your overall business purpose and

goals

For example, you may have a very •

large customer base as a strength,

and also have the opportunity to

take on new technology that would

enable you to deliver superior ser-

vice to your clients/ deliver more/

deliver faster/deliver more cheaply

– all of which could increase sales,

improve margins, and ultimately

increase your profitability

Weaknesses & Threats (W-T Strategies)

Develop a strategy to protect the busi-

ness from the weaknesses that make

it highly vulnerable to the most likely

threats

For example, if a weakness is lim-•

ited IP and a threat is entry into

your market by strong competitors,

then your defensive strategy could

be to develop or acquire IP that

makes you more competitive and

gives you a point of difference in

the market

Strengths & Threats (S-T Strategies)

Use your strengths to minimise the most

likely threats to your business

For example, if a strong distribution •

network is a strength, you may de-

cide to channel more products into

that distribution network to gain

more market share, minimizing the

potential market share for any new

competitor

Weaknesses & Opportunities (W-O Strategies)

Develop a strategy to overcome or

remove the weaknesses in your business

in order to take advantage of the oppor-

tunities that exist for growth/increased

profit/market share etc

For example, if you have a lack of •

specialist resources but have an op-

portunity to partner with another

company to take on their products/

services, you could make it a prior-

ity to bring specialist resources

into your business to enable you to

quickly take advantage of that op-

portunity

The bottom line is this: you want to

be ready to take advantage of the best

opportunities for your business, and

well prepared to ward off any threats

that could significantly impact your

business.

You don’t want to adopt strategies that

further highlight a weakness in your

business, add more pressure to already

strained resources, or place you in a

market where you are unable to compete

effectively.

A SWOT Analysis is a sorting tool –

it helps you sort the best strategies

form a list of options, and provides

a decision-making framework.

If you only do part of this mix without

the full mix of strategies, you’re leaving

yourself open to risk and/or lost oppor-

tunities. If you do the SWOT analysis

objectively and use the resulting matrix

of strategies as they’re set out above,

you’ll have the foundation of a sound

strategy.


Leads are the lifeblood of

every business! Without

them, you can’t grow your

business and your income.

So, not like you needed to be reminded

to generate them, but HOW is the big

question! Specifically, let’s focus on gen-

erating leads from your web site!

If you don’t have a list of prospects to

sell and market to yet, or your current

list is not as large as you like, don’t

worry. We’re going to show you how to

build a huge list right here, right now!

First, let’s get the “tools you need” in

place to build your list!

You’ll need the ability to create an •

“opt-in box” (i.e., an online form)

that collect specific information

(i.e., first name and primary eMail

address) from those who visit your

web site, express an interest in your

eZine/newsletter, free information

giveaway; your products, services

and even your affiliate program.

You’ll need the ability to sort, track, •

add and edit the names of people in

your ever-growing database of new

contacts, prospects, clients and af-

filiates. You can do this by assigning

specific autoresponders to the forms

you wish to create and add to your

web site for visitors (i.e., leads) to

fill in.

You’ll need the ability to commu-•

nicate to your list through eMail

without being labeled a spammer by

your local Internet service pro-

vider. To do this, you will need to

use a third party, commercial eMail

broadcasting service with a variety

of functions. This online marketing

service should allow you to commu-

nicate to your list through a variety

of eMail communications such as

eZines, online newsletters, special

eMail announcements and autore-

sponders.

The most sophisticated and cost-effec-

tive software system that tracks and

manages all of this and provides other

essential eCommerce tools for selling

and marketing your business online

(i.e., shopping carts, recurring billing,

ad tracking software, custom forms, af-

filiate program/marketing software and

more!) is www.MyMarketingCart.com,

the same company BOSS Management

Group uses to collect leads, product

sales, tracks its affiliate program, data-

base management, eMail broadcasting,

autoresponders… The list goes on!

With www.MyMarketingCart.com in

place, you now have all the right tools

and all the right software in place you

need to perform all the essential tasks

required to build your own list of pros-

pects, clients and affiliates! Here’s how

you build your list of future wealth!

Create an “opt-in” box (a.k.a. sub-•

scription form) for your Web site.

This simple form will generate the

most leads for you! MyMarketing-

Cart will help you do this.

Make it easy to subscribe! Put the •

“opt-in” box in the top-right corner

of every web site. For most people,

the mouse is stationed on their

right-hand side of the keyboard;

which means, their cursor is more

likely to start from the far right and

move to the left; which means, the

sooner people can put their cursor

in the opt-in box, the faster they

might signup for your eZine, or

other compelling offer.

Put the “opt-in” box on every web •

page within your web site. Make

sure, again, it’s positioned in the

top-right corner of your home page.

Having it on every page allows

people, surfing around your web

site to “opt-in” at any time!

Put the “opt-in” box at the top and •

Set Up Your Website to Generate Leads

By Bart Smith, TheMarketingMan.com

How to


bottom of every web page within

your web site. What if someone

read all the way to the bottom of

your web site and wanted to signup

right then and there? They could,

if you had your “opt-in” box also

positioned at the bottom of your

web site.

Put the “opt-in” box in your •

eZine! If you encourage your eZine

subscribers to forward your eZine

on to their friends and associates,

wouldn’t it be super-convenient to

have the “opt-in” box inside your

eZine? Make it easy for people to

sign up!

Be specific, yet, in the beginning, •

just ask for people’s “first name” and

“primary eMail address.” All you

need is their first name when start-

ing out. You can get their last name

LATER. And, with so many people

today having more than one address,

ask for their “primary address” (i.e.,

the one they check the most).

Bart Smith, TheMarketingMan.com is the founder of www.MyTrainingCenter.com, an online learning resource offering extensive written, audio and video tutorials for computers, business, marketing, speaking, web design and information product creation. Bart is also the founder of www.MyMarketingCart.com, which offers shopping carts, autoresponders, eMail marketing, Internet marketing tools, and other eCommerce services to businesses; and co-author of www.RichCoachBrokeCoach.com, which helps coaches make more money coaching, while coaching fewer clients! Bart also authored four self-help books, totaling over 1,500 pages.


JS: Hi Gord, thanks so much for

allowing us to interview you for

BOSSMENTOR® Renaissance

Magazine™. Before we start talking

about you and your business, could you

tell us a little bit about Kelowna?

Gord: When I started the business I

wanted to live in a small city that I love

and be able to earn a living. Kelowna is

in British Columbia – it’s inland, wine

country. There’s a 170km long lake,

mountains, skiing, it has a relatively

mild climate for Canada, and the popu-

lation is about 125,000 people, which

is perfect. I’m not a big city type of

person. It’s good for a family – I have

two daughters, 15 and 13.

JS: So why did you want to run your

own business, and what led you to start

Enquiro?

Gord: It seems like the company has

always been part of my life. It started

in a different format in 1988. I was a

copywriter for local radio stations and

then started doing more creative work

around advertising for my clients. Dur-

ing the ‘90s was when the web started

to grow, and in 96/97 we were one of

the few people offering interactive mar-

keting using the internet. I found the

internet intriguing as well, to be able to

go beyond local radio stations and work

with other clients in other markets,

beyond a small town.

JS: Did you have other people working

with you at that stage?

Gord: I started the company on my

own but then brought in a partner, Bill,

when we started doing interactive mar-

keting and we had one part-timer.

JS: I imagine with the service that you

provide that you could have clients

pretty much anywhere in the world…?

Gord: Our clients are mostly spread

around the US; Canada was slower to

embrace the internet. We also have some

clients in Europe and we’ve got a pro-

posal in now with a national company

in Australia.

JS: How did you get your first clients in

the US?

GordHotchkiss:‘Live By Your Core Values’NameGord HotchkissPositionFounder & CEOLocationBritish Columbia, CanadaCompanyEnquiro, a search engine marketing companyWebsitewww.enquiro.com Size27 people

Entrepreneurial Insights


Gord: We wanted to be a ‘beacon’ and

be known for something, which we

decided was search engine marketing

(SEM) as few people were doing it. We

also decided to do one thing really well,

so we launched a new website on June

1st, 1999, and had our first two clients

by the end of the day! One of those was

in new England and the other was a

lawyer in Montreal.

We had about 12 accounts by the end of

the month, most of them in the US. We

did the Happy Dance every time we got

a new client on board! It was a fun time

to be exploring doing business online.

JS: How would you describe your over-

all growth strategy?

Gord: The question implies we had a

strategy [laughs]! We were riding the

wave of the internet and at one point

were on of the fastest growing com-

panies in North America. After things

settled down, after the boom/bust, there

were far more SEM companies.

We started thinking more strategically

in 2002 – some strategies were more

successful than others…

Our focus was to be an organic optimi-

zation specialist. We didn’t see spon-

sored search taking off but made the

mistake of getting into that too late. In

2003 we decided to develop software

in the search engine business, without

experience in software development.

The opportunity we saw has had major

players move in [to the market] so we

retreated.

Our focus is now B2B search. Businesses

selling to businesses have more com-

plexity and more players in the process

than consumer marketing. We got into

the research side to understand why

people do what they do to interact with

the search engines, and we span that out

to a new business division.

We’ve done research projects in the

last two years with all the major search

engines such as Google and Yahoo and

established ourselves as leaders in how

people interact with search engines.

JS: In my experience a lot of SEM

companies focus on keywords, and have

their clients come up with their key-

words, and then they do the search and

page rank optimization bit. But SEM is

part of the whole marketing mix, and

I think people need a lot more direc-

tion than they currently get from many

search engine optimization companies.

Gord: We try to get our clients to talk

to their customers or read books on why

people do what they do – why people

go online to find you. A high page rank-

ing is only a small part of the marketing

picture and clients need to take a holis-

tic view of marketing and why people

do what they do.

How do people move through your

marketing points? For example, they

see an ad in a magazine – will they then

search for you online, and how will they

do it? Companies shouldn’t be defin-

ing their own keywords – how can you

define your own keywords when the

prospect doesn’t even know you exist?

People search on a category or keyword

they understand. So, search may not be

a primary strategy for some businesses

– there must be a mix of marketing tools

in their arsenal. If you are in a niche

market, your marketing needs to create

more awareness of this product/service

category in order to increase the search

on that category.

Search isn’t a channel, it’s something

people do – it has to be connected to

other activities.

JS: What’s your approach to moving

into new markets?

Gord: We don’t take on anything un-

less we do it really well. We’re thinking

globally but we want to do it well. We

use research in new markets. It gets our

foot in the door. We’ve done a lot of

research now into the European market

and how people interact with search.

We’ve done eye tracking research in to

how the Chinese interact with search.

You have to understand cultures too

before you go in to global markets, and

that’s a challenge. You have to be sensi-

tive to cultural realities.

JS: Could you tell me about the Enquiro

Earth program you’ve developed?

Gord: We developed it internally. Inno-

vation in our company tends to bubble

up and the team takes ownership of it.

Enquiro Earth completely came from

the team. We’re really proud of our

culture and core values. Everyone lives

by them.

JS: Could you give me an example?

Gord: Leave the world a better place

than when you came into it – that value

gave rise to the Earth program.


We also donate a lot to charities. In 2008

we donated $1000 per employee to dif-

ferent community programs and chari-

ties. Here’s an example of something

that came from the team. They wanted

to do our own version of The Appren-

tice as a fund raiser.

They got twenty tickets to a game from

the local hockey team and each team

had ten tickets to use to raise money for

charity. They were given an afternoon

to do this exercise. The face value of

the tickets was about $20 each, and I

thought if we raised $1000 that would

be really good. Each team picked a char-

ity – one had the local hospital, and the

other chose a charity that got bikes for

kids.

They came back 5 hours later and had

raised almost $13,000!

JS: It sounds like you have an amazing

culture.

Gord: I encourage the team to inno-

vate and take risks, and make sure it’s

aligned with our core values. I’m an

avid student of what makes companies

remarkable. We use Enquiro as our

sand box to see what works and what

doesn’t. We don’t always get it right but

great companies don’t happen over-

night, they evolve.

JS: Would you say your business is an

enabler for you to create a bigger life, or

a dis-abler?

Gord: An enabler! The last two years

have been very interesting; I have more

time now to think and to learn more

about behaviours, and to do some more

writing around that.

I’m doing more work with academics

now – the company pays me to think

and to be an academic of sorts. It’s

enabled me to talk to interesting people

and explore some things I want to do.

The internet has enabled me to con-

nect with some amazing people that

I wouldn’t have been able to do had I

followed a different path.

JS: I believe that thinking and taking

time out to learn is underrated by many

people. So many people are consumed

with ‘doing the doing’ and don’t take

time out to smell the roses, reflect, learn,

think about what’s going on or what

they want…

Gord: I now have macro level discus-

sions with the team, way up from the

detail. If you look at what’s happening

in the world now – with the US and

the rest of the world – it makes sense.

Most of the world has been driven by

greed and now it’s evening out and it

means we have to give up something. If

you take the time to think about these

things and read and explore ideas, none

of these things are really surprising. We

get too tied up in today and tomor-

row and don’t see the trends. What’s

happening now has been building for

decades. When you understand it, it

explains what’s happening around us.

JS: Do you have a vision for your bigger

future?

Gord: Personally?

JS: Yes

Gord: I’m a tremendously curious stu-

dent of human nature and what drives

us. I’m more in tune with why we

evolved the way we did – it involved

re-shuffling my beliefs and putting

some of my beliefs aside that I’ve been

holding on to. I want to continue that

journey.

Psychology, neuro-science, the conver-

gence of academic disciplines; under-

standing more about humans and what

drives us – the economic story is only

a small part of it – step more into a role

to help other people understand it as

well. It’s the theme in my writing. How

organizations evolve and the dynamics

in them, and what’s happened in the

twentieth century where a lot of forces

changed our society dramatically; the

twenty first century promises to see

even more dramatic changes for us. How

fast can we adapt is the question.

JS: Is there a book in the wings?

Gord: I plan to have an outline by the

end of the year.

JS: I’ll keep my eyes open for it next

year! Thanks Gord – it’s been great get-

ting to know you!

Entrepreneurial Insights


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Richard Branson is an

amazing example of a

person who absolutely

engages 101% in every

aspect of his life. To him, there is no

delineation between business and life,

and once when interviewed about how

he fitted his business empire in with the

rest of his life, he replied: “It’s all life!”

Undoubtedly, his lack of fear and

complete confidence and belief that he

will achieve his dreams was fostered

very much by his family when he was

a child. In his autobiography, ‘Losing

My Virginity’, he recounts a story about

learning to swim when he was only five

or six years old.

One summer holiday in Devon with his

family and his father’s sisters, his Aunty

Joyce made a bet with him. She bet

him 10 shillings that he couldn’t learn

to swim by the end of their two-week

holiday. His version of swimming at

that stage, was to hop along the sand on

one foot, while splashing around and

going through the motions with the rest

of his body (remember doing that?). The

sea in Devon is not particularly warm,

or easy to swim in, at the best of times,

and even harder for a learner!

One last swim at the beach confirmed

that his new skill wouldn’t be acquired

on that particular holiday. The time

came to pack up the cars and head for

home, and his Aunty Joyce said ‘never

mind, Ricky, there’s always next year’.

But of course, the young Branson didn’t

want to wait that long!

They packed up the car, and headed off

on the 12-hour trip home. On the way,

the traffic came to a virtual standstill,

and running alongside the road was

a river. The young Richard asked his

father if he’d pull over so he could

scramble down to the bank of the river

for one last attempt to win 10 shillings

from his aunty.

Just before he jumped into the flowing

stream of the river, he looked up and

saw his aunties and his sisters, standing

with his mother who was smiling and

his father who was nonchalantly light-

ing his pipe.

What ensued from this point was that

he struggled enormously with the cur-

rent and the rapid swirling of the river,

and was swept downstream some way.

As much as he tried he still was un-

able to swim properly, and with much

thrashing around and struggling he

was pulled under. He swallowed water

and could hardly breathe. Just then his

foot found a rock that gave him leverage

to push himself up to the surface and

take in a huge breath. He then settled,

and with one last surge of determina-

Richard Branson’s Philosophy: It’s All Life!

Leadership & Legacy


tion started to kick with both feet and

spread his arms. It was more floating

than swimming but he’d done it. He

experimented for a few minutes before

climbing out of the water and up onto

the river bank. Yards away, back near

the car, he heard his family clapping

and cheering his efforts, and saw his

aunty reach into her bag for his 10 shil-

lings.

As he raced back up the river bank

toward his family, triumphant, he re-

ceived a 10 shilling note from his aunty.

He thought it was a fortune. Only

then, did he notice that his father was

dripping wet. He’d lost his nonchalant

façade of encouragement and dived in

after him. His father gave him a big hug.

Although some may view his parents’

attitude as rather relaxed, the absence of

fear from his parents meant that young

Richard had no fear for what he was

doing, only determination. His parents

clearly loved him, but felt strongly

about instilling in their children a belief

that anything is possible, and to em-

brace opportunities and life in general.

A true belief in oneself does not enter-

tain fear.

Believe in yourself above all else

It’s all life, so enjoy it all

Do whatever it takes to make your dreams happen

Richard Branson says that his life threat-

ening balloon flights and the series of

Virgin companies he’s set up, have all

been part of a seamless series of chal-

lenges since his childhood. He creates

and follows his dreams and his driver is

his passion. ‘Screw it, let’s do it’ reduces

everything to passion and possibility.

In 1993 he was forced to sell Virgin Mu-

sic. In that same year, Virgin Atlantic

and Richard Branson turned the corner

in their long-standing battles with

British Airways after winning a high

profile court battle. Other airlines had

been beaten by BA, but Virgin never

gave in. In Richard’s words, ‘1993 was

a watershed for Virgin. From that mo-

ment onward, and for the first time, we

had the luxury of money (£500 Million

in the bank); and in ‘Virgin’ we had

a strong brand name, which could be

lent to a wide variety of businesses. We

faced uncharted territory, but at last

we could afford to follow our instincts,

rather than spend all our time persuad-

ing others to do so.’

He refers to the 43 years in his life up to

that point as ‘survival mode’. The rest

you know.


There is a small village

in the North of France

(région du Nord-Pas de

Calais) just a few hours’

drive from big beautiful cities like Paris

and Brussels and the English Channel.

It’s home to about 12,000 French and

Polish sons, daughters, grandchildren

and great-grandchildren of coal miners,

textile workers and farmers. Oh, and

two transplanted Americans!

La ville de Nœux-les-Mines has two

beautiful Catholic churches, a very nice

hotel, and as all French villages we have

no shortage of butchers, bakers, and

friendly pubs. The locals love to speak

slang, drink beer, attend polish soirees,

and believe it or not they have a passion

for country & western dancing. And

here I was thinking I’d left the old west

behind!

My name is Melanie Borowczyk and

I am one of those 2 Americans. Before

moving to France, we lived in a fairly

big city with plenty of conveniences.

Let’s just say I don’t take things for

granted as much as I did in the past.

For my part in this fair village, I do

enjoy the polish soirees, the local ch’ti

cuisine with friends and absolutely

come alive in the magically beautiful

spring time.

I run Provirtua, a virtual assistant

business, out of my home, helping solo-

preneurs and small businesses imple-

ment their online marketing plans along

with administrative duties. Most of my

clients are Americans, with a few being

Australian and a growing number of

French clientele. The concept of a vir-

tual assistant is not always understood

or accepted here, but there are more and

more entrepreneurs in our department

every year. Yes, that means more busi-

ness owners struggling to make their

dream a reality and in most cases doing

it all alone. So, I’m happy when I can

meet the needs of small businesses here

in our little piece of the world.

This may be an old mining town, but

it certainly isn’t a ghost town. We have

a new business center equipped with a

large staged reunion room, virtual office

spaces and other resources. One of the

old coal hills was turned into an artificial

ski slope overlooking ‘Loisinord’ lake,

which brings in a lot of British tourists.

For weekend travelers, I would suggest

a stay at Les Tourterelles Hotel and din-

ing at Le Carrefour des Saveurs restau-

rant. A visit here wouldn’t be complete

without going to the piste de ski to en-

joy a warm drink and watch the young

skiers, or even rent some gear and have

a go of it! After that, off to visit Lake

Loisinord for a nice stroll, picnic lunch

or a game of mini golf.

Another must is a short train ride to

historical Béthune to do some bourgeois

shopping and visit the cathedral. Stick

around until dark to see the beautiful

bell tower and the rest of the square lit

up like a post card. Then you can come

back to Noeux-les-Mines and dance the

night away at one of our famous clubs.

The all new Louvre-Lens art museum is

scheduled to opens in 2012. Just one of

the many things that makes Nord-Pas de

Calais a growing cultural region.

In three words, Noeux-les-Mines is

small, friendly and charming.

Our best kept secret is that the bou-

langerie on the corner by our apartment

has a house bread that is to die for!

Limelight

Noeux les Mines

France

This article contribution is from my fabulous American Virtual Assistant, Melanie Borowczyk, who lives in a beautiful little village in France.


When Ryan Hreljac was 7 years old he

made a decision. He decided that every

person on the planet deserves clean wa-

ter, and that he could make a difference

by helping that happen.

Ryan is now 17, and the Ryans’ Well

Foundation has provided wells, and

clean water, to nearly 600,000 people in

16 countries.

At the start of the story ten years ago,

Ryan became pen-pals with a young

African boy called Jimmy who lived in

a village in Uganda. He learned more

about his village and how he lived, and

particularly, about their water crisis.

Ryan was deeply moved to learn that

so many people in the world are not

blessed with clean drinking water that

the rest of the world takes for granted.

An amazingly compassionate and intui-

tive child, Ryan cared very deeply about

the welfare of his friend and his friend’s

community, and became committed to

his vision of clean drinking water for

everybody.

He enlisted his parents to help and set

about earning pocket money to help raise

funds to build a well for Jimmy’s village.

He gave a speech to his school to tell the

other students and teachers about the

water plight in a far-away part of the

world. Soon, through determination and

incredible clarity of his vision, he was

giving talks at other local schools to raise

awareness and funds to build the very

first well.

His hard work paid off and when he was

able to earn the money and send it to his

friend’s village (with a little help from

his parents), the well was duly built and

Ryan was invited to visit.

He had a hero’s welcome and met

his pen-pal for the first time. As he

absorbed everything about his visit he

became more determined to spread the

cause and enable more wells to deliver

clean drinking water to more African

villages. It became his quest.

Fast forward to today. During the amaz-

ing life of Ryan Hreljac and his seven-

teen years, he has so far met an amazing

collection of people from around the

world, including royalty, dignitaries,

United Nations officials, environmental-

ists, sports stars and leaders in com-

merce.

Jimmy now lives with Ryan’s family in

Canada, having been adopted by them.

There are currently Ryan’s Well projects

taking place in many parts of the world.

The Foundation’s mission is primarily

underpinned by empowering youth on

a global scale to make a difference in the

world and provide clean drinking water

for every person.

To make a donation or to learn more

about this amazing boy and Ryan’s Well

Foundation, visit www.ryanswell.ca

Ask yourself this: if a child of seven

can make this sort of difference in the

world, in just 10 short years, what could

you do?

Personal Power

What could we do?

How A Child Changed A Community


BOSSMENTOR® provides three

fundamental levels of support for our

clients:

We help you develop the right •

strategy and structure for growth

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Free Resources• to use in your

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ger Future. A bigger future is in your

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If you’d like your team to help you grow

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To enquire how you can enroll in one

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Alternatively, visit

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Business Growth, Mentoring & Coaching Programs


ProfessionalJenny Stilwell is the Managing Direc-

tor of BOSS Management Group. She

has helped many clients to significantly

grow their businesses, and build more

successful companies.

Prior to establishing BMG, Jenny was

Chief Executive of a publicly listed com-

pany (one of only a handful of women

heading up listed companies in Aus-

tralia at the time). Previous positions

included general management within

both large and medium sized organisa-

tions, as well as establishing a marketing

practice in the mid 1990s with a diverse

client base of small and mid-sized and

corporate clients.

Very early in her career Jenny advanced

to a senior management position at

Nortel Networks, being one of only

three women at the time in senior man-

agement roles within the Asia Pacific

region.

Jenny Chaired the Marketing Women

network for two years, and has also

mentored several women in careers and

in business as a way of ‘giving back’ to

the business community and to career

women in particular. She has also been a

Finalist in the Telstra Businesswoman of

the Year Awards.

Jenny has a Bachelor of Commerce with

a Commercial Law major, and a Bach-

elor of Arts with majors in French and

German, both from the University of

Melbourne. She is also a Certified NLP

Practitioner.

PersonalSome of the things I love

The beach, peaceful islands, big cities,

London, New York, Paris, Golden Re-

trievers, Hudson (my Golden Retriever),

Vegemite (my American friends know

About Jenny Stilwell

that a taste test is coming – you know

who you are… ), good red wine, travel,

writing, listening to my fave music on

high volume, the Northern Hemisphere

in Winter, luxury resorts, the colour

of Autumn, laughing until I cry, and

of course, my family and my fabulous

friends.

That’s just a start… there’s so many

things

PUBLISHER

BOSSMENTOR® Magazine is published by Hanby Park

Publishing, a Division of BOSS Management Group Pty Ltd

ACN 062 571 171

Disclaimer

The publisher takes due care in the preparation of this publication and takes all

reasonable precautions and makes all reasonable effort to ensure the accuracy of the

material contained in this publication, but is not liable for any mistake, misprint or

omission. The publisher does not assume any responsibility or liability for any loss

or damage which may result from any inaccuracy or omission in this publication,

or from the use of information contained herein. The publisher makes no warranty,

express or implied with respect to any of the material contained herein.

The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in any form in whole or in

part without written permission from the publisher.

© 2009 BOSS Management Group Pty Ltd

BOSSMENTOR® Renaissance Magazine - January Issue

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