This is not the first time this has happened to me, and I know it won’t be the last. However, I am reflecting on this experience and I will apply the lessons learned next time I’m developing new biz.

A couple of weeks ago I got a referral from a business colleague. It was not a good fit for her firm and she thought my consulting team might be an ideal resource. The prospect was an academic consortium pitching a project to receive a large sum of  government funding. Their needs were big and complex and they were operating on an extremely tight schedule.

I contacted the prospect immediately after learning of their time-sensitive situation. I gathered the facts, inquired about their budget and was told that “no expense can be spared” and that this project was very important. I recommended that meeting the next day— based on the complexity of the project—and everyday until their funding presentation was critical.

The next day I met with the main contact, a professor and some of his colleagues for over 2 hours. The meeting was informative and seemed successful.

(FIRST MISTAKE) When it was over I was convinced we had the project, based on the tone of the correspondence from his office and the meeting conversation.

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Being kicked to any curb is no fun. It means you got dumped, fired, let go, thrown under the bus. This past 6 months, I’ve kicked some folks to the curb. Here’s the story and how to prevent it from happening to you.

I’ve been slammed. Not only have I been retooling and relaunching Oddpodz, but also I’ve been creating a new global eco-brand called Earthwise. It’s been fun and challenging as the client operates in a complex, industrial space.

My branding firm is not huge, so like many small business firms, we’ve got to leverage other professionals along with my leadership and project management to handle big projects.

A few weeks ago, my team and I introduced this new brand to over 400 employees. It was a great success. The event was smooth and my client was very happy. As part of the event, we produced a FLASH presentation on Earthwise, how the brand got started, what we had accomplished and where we are going next. The FLASH movie highlighted all of our work, the new website, social media blogs, collateral, trade show tools, PR and media training. It was amazing to see what we had accomplished in less than 4 months being a fairly small shop. The secret to this high volume of deliverables was extending my core team with some very competent, specialized, highly-skilled contract service provider/partners.

So what makes an awesome contract partner or service provider? And what lame-o experiences warrant being kicked to the curb? And being removed from “the never again call for business” list?

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This morning I was reading my buddy’s Dana VanDen Heuvel @marketingsavant.com email. Dana and I met a few years ago when I addressed the ad feds in Wisconsin. We’ve keep in touch and I always enjoy reading his materials on his blog and his other social media content. Today he posted a very timely piece on How Lists can prevent big time disasters and significantly  help one achieve their goals. I’m a list junkie. In fact, if you’ve been to our new estore, you see lots of lists. We call them Ta-Do lists. These lists are boiled down Ta-Dos based on my life experiences. They are quick reads and can truly help get things done and  prevent costly missteps.

Back to my friend Dana, his post below is very good. Later today I’m going to check out the The Checklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande and will comment on that shortly.

I also learned about a new tool today that makes it super easy to reblog great posts like this one and to get folks to reblog your comments. It’s called Zemanta.

Here the List eBlog from marketingsavant.com:

I found this fascinating quote today:

“…checklists seem able to defend anyone, even the experienced, against failure in many more tasks than we realize. They provide a kind of cognitive net. They catch mental flaws … And because they do, they raise wide, unexpected possibilities.”

marketingsavant.com, Marketing Savant.com, May 2010

You should read the whole article.

Today I attended a “Get Motivated” event. I experienced 8 hours of elite speakers.

Message takeaways from each speaker:

Colin Powell (who was amazing)

• Recognize people in your world and your team’s purpose
• Small acts of kindness make a big difference
• The organization’s success is mandatory; if someone is not carrying his or her weight, make a change

John Walsh (who shared an important message)

• People, their passion and causes can make a difference in this world
• When life hands you your greatest loss, turn the situation into positive change to help others

James Smith (who was very entertaining)

• If you are not in the game, you’ll never win
• Self responsibility is not an option

Apolo Anton Ono (who is such an inspiration and so cute)

• Embrace a zero regret mindset
• The journey is as rewarding as the win

Zig Ziglar (who is a legend, but getting old)

• Healthy relationships impact your business success
• When you get old and can’t speak the way you once did, add video to your presentation

As a speaker, I love to watch other speakers. As a entrepreneur, I’m always looking for gems of wisdom and as a human in the rat race, I’m forever seeking added motivation.
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