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All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don’t hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.

And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all – the whole world – had cookies and milk at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

About the author

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, two of the three richest men in the world, billionaires of unimaginable figures, are taking their “giving pledge” project to a further step. They have persuade 34 more American rich men to donate at least 50% of their assets for humanitarian causes, possibly when still alive.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are used to charity, but the amazing thing about this project is that each member write a letter as their public moral commitment. There is no contract, no legal documents, just a letter to explain why the have decided to be part of the project.

Warrenn Buffett himself, one of the most reliable business men, has donated 99% of his assets. He has stated that 1% of it is enough to allow him and his family to keep the usual life style. More than that 1% would not add anything. So he can drop the remaining 99% to give other people the chance of a better life.

Billionaires have realised that giving is better than gaining. In fact making money is an endless exercise. Satisfaction does not last long. The only way to feel that sense of happiness and power is to keep doing it for ever till the end. Giving, being generous, makes us feel better for much longer and in a deeper way. Perhaps that is why we all wish occasionally to do something for our close ones, for others, for organisations, for the planet.

I think the “giving pledge” is inspiring. An extraordinary example of how a powerful idea, based on personal values can help people to make a shift in their life towards a new direction.

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The Giving Pledge view pledges

Warren Buffet

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Often I am told selling is very difficult. To some people is something beyond their duties, something has nothing to do with their job, with their passion, let alone the reason why they decided to start their business. The point is: any business, in order to grow, needs to constantly increase its sales, and there is nothing wrong with trying to do it in the best possible way.

If selling is not your cup of tea, do not worry, you can learn how to do it and maybe even get to like it. You can become aware of the fact that customers will not get upset if you offer them to make an extra purchase or a better one, as long as it is what they need and you do it right.

Here are few points that can help you to improve your cross and up-selling approach.

1. It is essential for you to know your product or service very well, so that you can answer any question, you are able to present qualities, and highlight those feautures that meet each customer individual interests and needs. Being an expert makes you reliable and your suggestions will be welcome.
2. Suggest the right thing. If you want to know what a client could go for, listen, then you can choose among your products or services the most appropriate and suitable. A client has bought a daily spa package? Offering a solarium session, could be useless if what she/he really wants is to get back in shape. Add a specific cream for home treatment would be surely more appropriate. You do not neet to show the best selling product, ask questions and listen. It is the best way to anticipate customers needs and decide how to help.
3. Do it at the right time. And the right time is always after your customer has made or decided his purchase. You do not want to offer an accessory, while he is still deciding what telephone to buy. Once he has comfirmed his item, will be more prone to add something on top. Some shops have products displaied at the counter, some online websites, such as Amazon, suggest to buy similar articles after the transaction is finalised. If you have a direct line with your customers make your suggestions personally, at the right time.
4. Do it because they need it. If the item you suggest is going to improve the performance of the one they have already bought, say it. Show them the reason why you are asking to spend more money, explain that it it worthy it. Make them understand that their final satisfaction is important to you. Back to point 1, you know what you are selling. Given the reasons, they will accept your advice and you will be perceived as knowledgable and focused.
5. Make all your customers feel special. Even if you pay similar attention to all of them , make sure that each gesture is seen as personalised. Use your creativity, get to know their habits. We all like to feel special and when that happens, we are happy to put something in our “shopping cart”or simply to come back.
6. Use the right tone. Trying to do up-selling or cross-selling worring to be misunderstood, is counterproductive. If you sound uncertain, full of sense of guilt, your customer will think that you are trying to get more cash out of him in such a cheecky way, that you feel ashamed of yourself. Even if yours are good intenctions, it will not work. Think of when you are the other side. What type of sales person would you like to meet? If you believe in waht you are offering, if you do it in a friendly though professional way, if you model your customer communication style, your customer will most probably trust you and if he decides not to proceed with the purchase, will think about it. At least you have open to further potential business.
7. Do not miss it. And finally remember that renouncing to a single opportunity to do up-selling or cross-selling means renouncing to a potential sale.

And you? How do you treat your clients?

Read more about business coaching.

Another way to promote a brand using the community comes from the German car industry. A project that does not launch a new product but aims to consolidate the brand itself.

It consists of a series of videos with a common message: fun can make positive changes easier. Our daily routine, sometimes boring, can become more bearable, if we only make it fun, getting surprising results. It is the change in people behaviour that counts and if it can be obtained by playng little actions it can be done with more important things too. It doesn’t take much after all.

Our vision together with our creativity, experience and passion are all essential intangible elements of our brand. To make others to be acquainted with them is our goal. Social networking is the most interesting way to communicate our brand. Not just what we say about us, but what other say can help to define our image, increase trust and credibility.

Julie K. Noren, Professor of Psychology at the Wellesley College in Massachussets, has explained the phenomenon in her book “The positive power of negative thinking” where the negative thinking is described as a result of “defensive pessimism”.

It is possible that after too many bankruptcies and a global financial crisis due to total obtimism in creative finance, some think it is time for us to rethink our business and life strategies. So stop looking for the positive side in evertyhing, it is not realistic.

Is this the new trend? Or is it just a misunderstanding?

Personally, I cannot imagine Usain Bolt trying to see himself as a looser in order to win three sprinting events and set three world records at the Olimpic Games. I believe that selfconsciousness plays a big role in the process of moving towards our goals and being positive is an empowering option.

Carla Benedetti

Though plenty of information is available on the internet and on Studio coach website, to make the decision can be difficult especially for those people who have never experienced coaching. For this purpose Studio Coach, starting from October, offers one free session.

Carla Benedetti, founder of Studio Coach, says: “I have been contacted by people interested in knowing more about coaching, who can do it, how long a program of personal coaching is supposed to last and above all, how it works.

After several long phone conversations, I have reached the conclusion that trying is the best way to know.

I have decided to invite clients to a free session in order to offer them the opportunity to experience coaching and decide if the coach they have picked is the right person for them, the one they would like to share their thoughts with.