Insights With Trent Munday

I'm a huge believer in the Power of Serendipity. But, that doesn't mean you should leave it all to chance. Even that random meeting with someone as you pass each other in the street...doesn't happen unless you get off your bum and walk down the street. It sure wouldn't have happened if you just sat at home on the couch. You need to give Serendipity a bit of a nudge. That nudge can be as simple as publishing a blog, contributing to an article of even just a simple social media post. Do that. Put it out there. Then just watch the Serendipity happen! #serendipity #dothework #makeithappen

Confidence grows with action and shrinks with idleness. So says @TheStoicEmperor. And I reckon that pretty much sums it up. So often we defer the start because we lack confidence. We're worried about the outcome. We're worried about failing. But just sitting around waiting for confidence to appear is probably not going to help. You need to start. That will generate the confidence you're looking for. BTW - If you're looking for some help with confidence, check out the Confidence Connoisseur herself...Beverley Spencer - https://bit.ly/3uHUfcH #confidence #noexcuses #juststart

Many companies have an Assets Register to keep track of that company's physical assets like computers, furniture, etc. But surely one of the most valuable asset of any company is its Learnings. The lessons learned, from both successes and failures, are invaluable company assets. Unfortunately, we often fail to recall the lessons we learned when we need them most. So, why create a Learnings Register? This situation occurred - We did this - The result was this - This is what we learned. As simple as that. Then, the next time a similar or relevant situation occurs in the future, we just refer back to our Learning's Register to improve on the outcome this time around. Does anyone know of any company that has implemented a Learnings Register? Would love to hear about it. #learnings #lessonslearned #assets

Thanks to streaming services like Netflix and services like BitTorrent, we no longer need to wait till next week for the next episode. These days, we can consume the whole story, from start to finish, in one session. So, if that's the way we are consuming stories, how does it effect the way we tell the story of our business or brand? Do we need to change the way we tell our story? Maybe. Have a listen... #storytelling #consumerbehaviour #businesslessons

It's great to be Optimistic. But that's not necessarily the same thing as Wishful Thinking. Optimism usually suggest some base in rationality and reality. Wishful Thinking, on the other hand, is little more than you hoping for something to be. If you get yourself locked into Wishful Thinking, there's a good chance you'll end up being disappointed. Looking to the future with Optimism, however, sounds like a pretty good way to approach life. #optimism #wishfulthinking #grounded

The experts will tell you that you must contextualise your social media content to the platform you're posting on. Tik Tok skews younger and music is a big part of the platform. So your content should reflect that. And that same video that works on Tik Tok, wouldn't really suit Linkedin, which is a business / professional network. I agree with that. BUT...I don't do it! Why?  Simply because I'm not willing to put in the time and effort to reformat the content for each platform. And I say...that's ok. Even without contextualising the content for the platform, it is still expanding my Reach. Sure, the posts may not perform as well on the other platforms. But that's ok. As in life, social media is never a matter of all or nothing. #socialmediaplatforms #socialmediacontent #reach

I've noticed a lot more ambulance sirens around lately.  Must be due to the spike in Covid-19 cases here in Malaysia. Or maybe, neither is the case. I certainly don't know if all those people in ambulances are Covid-19 patients. And I don't know if there even are more ambulances around. Maybe, it's just that I'm more aware of them now? With the surge in cases here in Malaysia, Covid-19 is all we ever seem to talk about. It's front of mind for everyone. So, of course I'm going to have a heightened awareness around ambulances. But that doesn't mean there's actually more of them. Just because we're more aware of something, doesn't mean there is more of it. #awareness #cognitivebias #perception

People who have been the same type of job or the same industry for several years can sometimes feel they are pigeonholed into being 'that guy'. After I'd been in the hotel industry for several years, I was known as a 'Hotel Guy'.  And that's the type of career opportunities that I got. The best was to avoid being pigeonholed is to view your skills and experiences from a Meta level, not a technical level. For example, a hotel Food & Beverage Manager has specific technical skills that fit that role. But...if she takes a Meta view...she's a manager of people, systems and processes'. With those skills, she can cross over to just about any industry. Once you've established the Meta view, just ensure all of your messaging around yourself - you resume, Linkedin profile, social media posts, etc - all come from that Meta viewpoint, not the narrower, more technical one. Good luck! #careeradvice #careerchange #resumetips

Self-Driving Cars are basically here already. As the 5G network becomes mainstream, that may be the final piece needed to make fully autonomous vehicles a practical reality. Some say that will take another 5 years. Others say it's maybe 10 or 15 years away. Regardless, most would agree that it's going to happen sooner rather than later. When it does, I believe it opens up a potentially lucrative niche market for Seniors Domestic Tourism. The would-be traveller that can no longer just get in a car and drive themselves to a holiday spot 2, 3 4 or more hours away. But they could jump in a car, tell it where to go...and sit back and relax. And now could be a really good time to start establishing yourself as the leading expert in this soon to emerge new space. #selfdrivingcars #businessideas #seniors

Seth Godin suggests that 'Changes in the culture often happen when someone is gutsy enough to reorganize the time stack.' We've established generally accepted time frames for things in our life. This is how long a doctor's appointment will be. This is how long a spa treatment will be. This is how long it will take to build a new house or a new car. And if you, in your business, spend about the same amount of time as everyone else is spending to do those things, you'll end up with roughly the same result. The way to stand out, says Seth, is to change the Time Stack. Maybe you spend a lot MORE TIME making your product or delivering your service. And in so doing, you can hopefully now charge more for the high quality you have created. Or, you spend LESS TIME. Get it done quickly. Then move on to other things. new innovations and ideas. Or marketing your thing to a wider market. Either is fine. But, if you want to create a significantly different value proposition, you'll probably need to choose one. #

Corporate Gifts have long been a big business...and they still are. They represent any opportunity for companies and brands to stay front-of-mind for their customers and clients. "We really appreciate your business. Here. Please accept this little (branded) gift with our compliments." In a Covid-19 world where all things 'touch' are bad, a No-Touch Tool would make a great corporate gift. You loyal customers can put it on their key ring or keep it in their pocket and use it whenever they need to open a door, press an elevator button or even open a bottle of beer. Some of them now even come with a rubber nub on the end so you can use them on your smart phones or other touch screen surfaces. Here's a link to a great article on what to look for and some great examples... https://hiconsumption.com/best-no-touch-tools/ #corporategifts #covid19marketing #notouch

There were any number of paths for you to choose over the course of your life. You chose the path you did. So here we are today. What about the future? The same applies. Just as your past was not predetermined, neither is your future. From here on out there will be many different paths for you to choose. It's up to you. The decisions you make. The choices you make. The path you choose. Exciting...isn't it?!?!? NB: Thanks to Tim Urban (https://twitter.com/waitbutwhy) over on Twitter for the awesome graphic that inspired this episode. #choose #paths #thefutureisyours

The best product or service in the market is not necessarily the best available. It may just be the best that the market knows about. There may well be better versions out there, but they're just not known. Don't be naive. It is not enough to simply build a better product or service offering. You need to be seen to be better. You must be known to be better. #better #marketing #awareness

Thanks to the internet and social media, anybody who wants to have a voice can have one. If you want to add your thoughts to the debate, you can. But just because you can...doesn't mean you should. Unless you can add something of value to the discussion, then you're really just adding to the noise. To be clear, 'value' doesn't have to be new data or research or knowledge. Simply saying the same thing a different way can actually be of value. But if you have nothing of value to add...maybe you should just do that...add nothing. #addingvalue #contribution #opinions

Lots of people ask for feedback. But not always do they really want to hear it. I mean, I get it. We don't like to hear something negative. Something harsh.  Especially if it's about a project we've put our heart and soul into. However, it's far better to get that harsh criticism now than to wait until your project fails - until your harsh outcome. At least take it on board. Consider it. Maybe it's just that person's opinion and is not reflective of the overall market. Or maybe there might just be something in that harsh feedback that you can learn from to make your thing just that much better. So, not only should you embrace harsh feedback...you should actively seek it out. NB: Thanks to @TheStoicEmperor for the quote. #constructivefeedback #harsh #critcism

I was asked by our finance folks if the drop in revenue from March to April this year could be explained by 'seasonality'. Well, I guess it could....but that's not really the reason. We are still so far off normality that it's still way too early to blaming seasonality for the ebbs and flows in revenues. But it did get me thinking about how easily in past we would use seasonality as the excuse. Sure, we all know we have high seasons and low seasons. But think about that for a second...we KNOW. So, if we know it's coming, what are we doing to try to counteract it's impact? And I'm not talking about dropping the prices or offering special local residents discounts. I mean really significantly tweaking or morphing our business...just like many of us have been forced to do over this past year or so. Not so long ago we would have just said it's not worth the effort. It's not our core business. It's just a few months anyway. But maybe if there's one thing we've learned from COVID-19 is how quickly and sig

People generally like Familiarity. It makes us feel comfortable.  That's why I always go to the same supermarket for my weekly shop...until I couldn't! When I had to shop at a new supermarket recently, I hated it. The items were all in different places. They didn't have my favourite brands. Nightmare! But, as they say, Familiarity Breeds Contempt. So, throw in just 10% of Different to help keep it fresh. #comfort #consistency #rulesofsuccess

If you're selling a product or service these days, chances are you spend a fair amount of time trying to not offend some people. To maintain a level of political correctness. But if you have a product designed for slim young women, it's ok that your website doesn't feature bigger, older women.  They're not your market. They're not your customer. It doesn't make sense for them to be the face of your product. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for diversity at a business level. Indeed, I think it's critical. But when it comes to your product or service, usually what works best is a targeted, focussed marketing strategy. And if that means you upset those who don't align with your demographic, that's ok. #politicalcorrectness #targetedaudience #truetoyourself    

Way back in Ep. 487 of this show I spoke about how I'm ok with a Wrong Decision as long as it's not a Bad Decision. And what defines a Bad Decision is one where you simply haven't done the work. You haven't put the effort into considering all the data, all the possible outcomes and scenarios, etc. Here's a link to Ep. 487 - Bad Decisions vs Wrong Decisions - https://bit.ly/3j5J0oV Billionaire investor Ray Dalio has a similar perspective in his Principles. He suggests we spend too much time focussing on the Conclusion and not enough talking about the Reasoning behind that conclusion. And that's where the real value and learning is - in the Reasoning. So, if you want to provide value, talk less about your Conclusion and more about your Reasoning. NB:  Here's a link to Ray Dalio's Principles - https://bit.ly/3uVp0M7 #reasoning #learning #decisionmaking

Whenever we're telling someone about what we do for a job, we tend to focus on our Responsibilities in our job role. And for most of us, this carries through to our Resumes as well. This was the Job Title I had. These were my Responsibilities. But that's not really what a potential future employer wants to know. What they really want to know is what you accomplished. What Impact did you have in that role? So, the next time someone asks you what you do for a job, try to craft the response in terms of the Impact that you have at work. And, oh yeah, go ahead and craft your Resume in the same way. NB: Thanks to Rohan Mahtani for that little gem. #resumetips #jobhuntingtips #resumewriting