There are many things you must pay close attention to when leading a business. I have come to believe that one of the most important is setting your priorities.

Here is the way I set my priorities:

• What things can I do the quickest without distracting my creative process
• What needs immediate attention in order to get questions back to my client
• What needs some serious creativity

From that point, I break down the remaining items based off how I best thing they would work in a task-oriented list. I have found this is the best way to force yourself to stay disciplined and actually accomplish the tasks at hand in order to maximize your time with family, job, relationships and other activities like working out. The more I have kept my job at manageable intervals, the more success I have had with growing my business.

What are some ways priorities have benefitted you? How have you overcome the passiveness that often creeps up during heavy workloads, threatening to push your work back and create a rushed pace in order to get things done on time?

“People have a tendency to behave differently when it’s not their money on the line.”

Today our spotlight is on one of the posts by 37 Signals during their Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud series involving Braintree, a business that helps process credit card payments.

One of the things I loved about this post was Braintree’s strategy to avoid chasing revenue simply for that sake. Bryan Johnson says, “We believe that success is also measured by what our customers say about us, how people feel about working at Braintree, and how our contributions are making the industry a better place.”

I love this because it shows their business is more than just money – it’s relationships. What things do you think are important for defining your business?

When your business takes off, it’s important to have a clearly defined strategy.

Last year business rose more than 400% for PIXL Designs. We were doing everything we could to keep up and it felt like we were hitting a brick wall. The volume was becoming hard to manage because we simply weren’t staying highly focused.

It was at that point, I went back to the basics. I took a close look at what I was trying to accomplish as a business leader and renewed my commitment to the strategy we committed to when we started.

More and more I am realizing it is great to have a good mission and vision, but the strategy is how you execute on that. Not following your strategy can paralyze your business and keep you from growing to your fullest potential.

In 2012 we are going to be focused on delivering creativity and simplicity to all our clients and in order to accomplish this our strategy is the key. While I won’t be giving away my strategy just yet I will say it involves focus, building relationships and staying innovative with creativity.

I’m super excited for this year and hope you can learn from our mistakes, failures and successes.

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.” — John Lennon

Leadership is a buzz word. People all over the world want to be a leader. Some look up to leaders. But many miss the connection of what it means to have leadership. I want to talk about three ways I have found success as a leader and hopefully you can relate.

1. Be a risk-taker
I’m not afraid of taking risks anymore. When I graduated college I took a job at a church and thought my career path was defined. My five-year plan was to serve as a youth leader and then eventually start working as director at the local association offices for churches in my denomination. A series of circumstances grinded all my dreams to a halt. And it was in that moment I was faced with two choices: take a regular job and keep pursuing church ministry, or taking a giant risk and move across the country and find a job in an entirely new career and industry.

Oh and did I mention I was married and we had a newborn?

So we bet the farm, risked it all, sold everything we owned and moved across country from Phoenix, Arizona to Nashville, Tennessee. And while it wasn’t exactly a cake walk, things slowly began to fall into place and my dreams began to be realized. But most importantly the risk I took paid off in the end.

Since that experience I have taken risks in my workplace, with freelance jobs and as a parent. The older I get, though, the easier it becomes to be status quo. I encourage you to fight the trend and stay a risk-taker because great things happen to those who believe you can actually make it.

2. Dig your foxhole
I love Band of Brothers. It is seriously one of the best war movies ever created and one of the only ones I have ever balled my eyes out like a little baby. One of the more vivid scenes in my mind was when the guys had to dig their foxholes in the dead of winter. They didn’t have any winterized equipment, they were low on food, water and medical supplies, and they were outnumbered by the enemy. But they had a mission to dig in and not let the enemy advance.

So they dug their foxholes and accomplished their mission.

Leadership requires you to dig deep to protect yourself, but know the entire time you are vulnerable to the fire that comes with the position. People will fight you, people will wound you. You’ll feel like there are no supplies to heal those wounds. And you’ll definitely feel the stings of bullets whether they be words or actions shot with a large dose of negativity, hate, bitterness, jealousy, or even rage.

But you have a mission to accomplish. And a great leader will see the end result and trench in.

3. Get dirt on your cuffs
C.S. Lewis once wrote that it is difficult to walk through the muck without getting dirty.

Providing good leadership accepts this as a reality and is okay with that. There will be times where there are no clear answers. There will be time where dealing with people will leave relationships hanging and problems with no resolution.

BeachBody guru, Tony Horton, often recites a familiar phrase, “Do your best and forget the rest.” In the design world there is a series of posters, shirts and more created with the line, “Keep calm and carry on.” These both resonate with me. You’re going to get dirt on your cuffs some days. And you’ll wonder if it’s worth it. How people could lack common sense. Why people don’t understand your point of view. And you’ll wonder when the light at the end of the tunnel will arrive.

Each of these points means you are working in leadership. To not have these issues to deal with, means you are probably not a strong leader.

My philosophy over the various leadership roles I have been a part of in the past several years is to simply go with the flow and know it will get dirty. Sometimes it might stain you even, but someone who wants to remain in leadership can’t let this deter them, and instead must rise up to the challenge and believe in themselves and the gifts that God has given them.

And if you don’t like getting dirt on your cuffs, then roll up your sleeves.

Branded Facebook Pages
These pages are huge in creating a consistent experience for your church. By simply allowing your church brand and a few key elements to show up when people visit your page, you can take your Facebook experience to the next level. We have worked with churches to create pages that allow people to purchase tickets to events, pages that allow members to submit prayer requests, and other pages just to serve as a welcome to people in the community.

But what about iBooks?
This platform is huge for senior pastors, youth leaders, etc. to spread their message to the world through the iPad. From devotions to sermons collections it’s super easy for pastor’s to collect their content and use Books & Pages to share it with the universe. We are so excited to be able to offer help in this and would love to talk more with your church or pastors to innovate in this new space.

Contact us to learn more.

Mission
Nonprofits have a great opportunity to take their mission to the next level with a Branded Facebook Page by creating a page focused on mission awareness. This might include a video talking about the mission or an infographic that visually displays the mission.

Vision
This is a huge area for nonprofits. It’s important for people to know your vision in order to be compelled to provide support. So through video, infographics, charts, or others means, we will work with you to define your vision in a compelling way for your audience.

Goals
These are simple things you can create for your organization’s digital strategy. Maybe your goal is to increase donations, to offer people coupon’s or to sell a niché product.

So what about iBooks?
Nonprofits are often slow to adopt new technologies because they don’t understand them. However, those that recognize trends and take risks, often have huge rewards. iBooks is a growing platform that can enable your business to create value in a thriving new marketplace. You may want to consider creating iBooks that simply promote your cause, or maybe you want to impart wisdom on how to start a nonprofit, or maybe it’s something as simple as helping people understand the best ways to educate clients in your industry. Whatever the case, there are some really great way to connect with people through creating a small, yet powerful book.

Contact us to learn more.

The beauty of Branded Facebook Pages are the fact your business can have a great first impression that maintains your brand’s integrity. We are here to help you connect to your audience in an innovative way.

So what about iBooks?
Businesses are often slow to adopt new technologies because they don’t understand them. However, those that recognize trends and take risks, often have huge rewards. iBooks is a growing platform that can enable your business to create value in a thriving new marketplace. Based off your industry, you may want to consider creating how-to manuals, business strategy, or a collection of stories.

Contact us to learn more.

It always amazes me how much people leave behind when they move on to a new job, new city or new responsibility. During the past several years we have shifted our strategy in order to keep up with our vision. But we do our best to leave nothing behind.

What does this even mean?
Leaving nothing behind needs to be thought of in terms of battle. Every branch of the military has a policy of “no man or woman left behind.” This is a core foundation of the military and needs to be a figurative core foundation of our businesses.

When starting a new business venture you have been shaped. Your past, your childhood, your experiences and even your business partners all shape who you are regardless of if those things are positive or negative. Many people want to just cling to the positive and forget the negative. And I was this way too.

This past year we established a great relationship with a group of friends and dreamed big. However, as we progressed in our business relationship to take things to the next level I began to see how much lack of attention to detail, communication and leadership there was. And it developed a negative perspective of the whole team in my mind. We separated ways and it was and still continues to be an ugly divorce on several levels.

At first, I was bitter. Then I was simply pissed off. However, now that I have processed the whole situation, I am thankful. There were so many red flags on this venture that showed up for me, yet the drive to make money kept me in it. And this was not true to my vision of helping people and being crazy generous to others as a business.

I began to realize that this experience needs to stay with me. It needs to shape me. It needs to help me be a better leader, better business partner and a better communicator. I don’t have to let a negative experience define me, but I do have to let it teach me.

So may you rise up to the challenges ahead. May you be ready and willing to put yourself out there and establish yourself as a creative, a professional and yet a personable leader, communicator, pastor, encourager, etc. And whether positive or negative, may you leave nothing behind.

It’s been awhile since our site was an active blog. But things are changing as we shift our business strategy yet again to grow forward along with the wave and momentum of the digital space.

One our favorite parts about the digital world is you can continue to reinvent yourself to keep up with the changing landscape. Now there are three things to avoid when going through this stage:

1. Avoid changing your vision
If your vision to provide a service or sell a product, don’t change that vision. Otherwise you end up alienating your current clients and force them to relearn who you are.

2. Avoid losing your passion
The digital landscape changes often and keeping up can often leave you feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. Create variety in your life in order to keep your passion. Maybe you need to take a walk, visit a national park or listen to some new music.

3. Avoid becoming complacent
It’s super easy to start making money in the digital space, especially when involved with social media strategy, business strategy, Branded Facebook Pages or iBooks like we are. When things take off or you find that niché you have been longing for, don’t become complacent. Instead, keep pushing the envelope, increasing your productivity and trying to achieve even more. But, it’s important to stay focused or you’ll head towards burnout and overworking yourself. Take breaks. Rest. And do some fun activities.

These are three areas to focus on avoiding in order to revamp your business as we are doing. We’ll be sharing more over the next few weeks and months in 2012 including a variety of topics to help you learn from our mistakes, learn from our successes and hopefully impart some advice to help you take your business to the next level!

What similarities do you notice above?

The top row everything begins with “iP” and the second row everything begins with “Mac.” Coincidence? Hardly.

The Apple brand is huge and its marketing is amazing. From cleverly crafted taglines to witty commercials, Apple pays extreme attention to detail. And thus its product line speaks loud and clear.

So how can this help your business or church? Easy.

1. Stay Consistent. Apple creates a clear message and repeats it over and over. This breeds consistency and trust.
2. Remain true to who you are. Apple was under tremendous pressure to change from it’s “iP” brand to “iS” when the iSlate become a frontrunner for its new product name. No doubt there were many who would have preferred that name over another. But ultimately they stayed true to who they were and now iPad is a noun.
3. Believe in yourself. The biggest key to Apple is their believability. When Steve Jobs takes the stage and talks about their products, you can tell he truly believes they are remarkable and magical. Oftentimes they are, but not at first. But no one cares because he sets the vision and he believes in it.

So from a business or church perspective, you need to stay consistent, remain true to who you are and ultimately believe in yourself and where you are going. This is an effective way to create a lasting impression on those around and develop not only followers, but passionate recruits that will help you further your cause.