theideamechanic — I help people sell. How? Stories, demonstrations, & experiences.

Rick Benjamin

by Doug Foster on July 10, 2010

Rick Benjamin is without a doubt one of the best on and off camera media talents I know.

A 20-plus year veteran of major-market and national television and radio, Rick has served as a local news anchor, producer, owner, consultant, and college instructor. In addition Rick has extensive work hosting major motorsports and live action sporting events on networks including CBS, NBC, SPEED, and the Panthers Radio Network.

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Tell

Tagged as: media talent, motorsports, video production

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Short Stories that Sell – So what do you do?

June 30, 2010

Sometimes you can tell what a person does by looking at them. Most of the time you can’t.

I met a fellow the other month at a networking event. “So what do you do?” he asked. I replied simply “I help people sell.” He was stunned. He looked at me, smiled, and said “Wow, that’s simple. I wish I could tell people what I did so quickly.”

“Thanks.” I said. “Why, what do you do?” With that he rolled in to a several minute description of his job and his business. In the end I had to paraphrase it back to him: “So you’re a … and you … ?” “Yes.” he responded. Then he looked at me and said “You know, maybe you could help me work on that a bit …”

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Telling the EBF3 story

June 14, 2010

Through one of my clients – Fuentek – I get to work with NASA scientists and engineers. How cool is that!

I learn about technology they develop, then help them find licensing opportunities for the Intellectual Property.

Here’s the idea: sometimes you need more than printed words to tell a convincing story. Consider adding pictures and audio. You can build a powerful multimedia learning tool – at a fraction of the time and cost you would need to create a video.

Here’s an example: Electron Beam Free Form Fabrication (EBF3). EBF3 is a technology that was jointly developed by NASA’s Langley Research Center and Johnson Space Center …

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My favorite story, my favorite place

June 1, 2010

This has got to be my favorite movie.

Why? Why not!

The story is fun. The Pirates of the Caribbean is classic Disney, who wouldn’t like it?

The characters are fun. Depp’s persona for Jack Sparrow was genius. After seeing him in the role, there is only one Captain Jack Sparrow.

Some movies have no storyline, they only have a thread of a story that ties all the special effects scenes together. Not this one, the special effects tip the scale, they don’t break it.

I love the Caribbean. I could spend my life down there.

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Five Principles of Selling

May 26, 2010

Chuck Robbins is the Senior Vice President for U.S. Enterprise, Commercial and Canada with Cisco Systems in San Jose, California.

“As a senior executive at Cisco, every quarter I’m responsible for making sure my North American team closes thousands of sales, generates hundred-million-dollar revenues, and guarantees every customer we come in contact with is a satisfied customer.

What I’ve found is that the same sales skills my former colleague Doug Foster and I have used for years are just as effective now that I’m leading a team. Here are my five principles for effective selling …”

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Got an idea? Write for theideamechanic!

January 25, 2010

Writing for the ideamechanic is a great opportunity to give back.

You can help others learn from the lessons you’ve learned, become inspired from your success stories, or grow their skills by sharing tips and techniques that have made you a master craftsman in your trade.

When you help others, you never know how big a difference you may have in their business or their life.

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