What scares you? What causes you to be afraid? Fear is rooted in forecasting what you believe will happen based on emotion-filled past experiences that are most often remembered incorrectly. As an entrepreneur, I've learned to confront my fears, to "face the mad dog" when working with clients, working on challenging projects, and working with my business team. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself... It's all about interpretation and perception.

Not dictating or micro-managing a group requires self-directed group members who are ready and willing to explore what we know; what we need to know; and how will we find out what we need to know. This holds true for a marketing team, too! Independent workers on a marketing team must be committed to contributing to pieces of project puzzles. This takes a special type of person; someone who is mentally agile, willing to take risks, and comfortable with ambiguity.

How do I find exactly what I need? Every solution we're looking for doesn't require new creation. Frequently, "green feedback loop"—re-purpose, reuse, recycle—innovation can work!

It is an honor to share the Business Strategy genius of Angus Moloney, the founder ABEM Digital Creations. Recorded in May of 2015, Angus's message gets to the heart and soul of the essentials of marketing —know yourself, know your hook/offer, and know your customers. "It'll do no good to use a strawberry when you should use a worm" is one of the many witty and spot-on insights he shares.

Living in a place where hurricanes are common, it's clear that where you are determines the impact a storm will have. Whether you produce physical or digital products, neither is guaranteed permanence in this world or in "the cloud." To what degree are you prepared and able to protect your physical and/or digital products? Is your business resilient?

It takes a special type of conversation, communication, and trust to build effective teams. I am fortunate to have a dedicated team of professionals working with me as part of ABEM Digital Creations. We function rather like Voltron superheroes, each adding a superpower to contribute to the successful creation and execution of a client's customized sales and marketing campaign. Listen to learn of the ways our collaborations are fantastic as well as the ways that they need to be honed.

I admit it; I'm a program management tool hoarder. I have spent hundreds of dollars on subscriptions that are redundant and that don't really apply to what I need now but might apply to a future scenario. How crazy is that? I want to challenge the FOMO (fear of missing out) urgency, which I can let guide my decisions. Maybe it's time to do some smart re-assessing, make a commitment to 2-3 key tools, learn them well, and put them into practice.

M.A.D. during the Cold War days was a term used to describe "mutually assured destruction." MAD was a philosophy of nuclear deterrence: if the other side knew that initiating a nuclear strike would also lead to their own destruction, they would be irrational to press the button and start nuclear war. Let's consider MAD from a business perspective and consider how this does or doesn't fit with respect to business teams and clients!

The view and the exhilaration can be a rush, but before you step off the platform, make sure that your safety net is strong enough to catch you should you fall.

 Make sure you have the right ideal client avatar, or the hook/story/offer you create won't get results.