Comments on: Adding SPARK To Your Business

By: Rosa Say

Rosa Say — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 16:18:04 +0000

Aloha Chris, thank you for visiting Talking Story. This article was written by John Richardson of Success Begins Today, for a guest author forum here called Joyful Jubilant Learning. Be sure to take the “Related posts” links at the end of the article to read more of what John offers – great stuff.
And of course, we always welcome you back here too for more of Talking Story!

By: chris

chris — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 12:59:10 +0000

hello, great article, I actually stumbled upon this article while searching for articles for small business recognition awards. I love the spark theory. Every business should implement something like spark, if not that business will just be another place with dead end jobs. Every business needs a face, and some direction. Thank you for this article and its intriguing ideas.
*chris

By: David

David — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:08:43 +0000

“Three things come quickly to mind. Innovation, Value, and Excellence.
All three of these constantly drive my buying decisions and I suspect they influence yours too. Things that are new and fresh inspire our imaginations. New colors, new scents, new songs… they all drive our purchasing decisions.”
Very insightful. Excellent advice. The advent of business blogging has allowed Exquisite Safaris to tell stories about innovation in tourism, the value of philanthropic travel and excellence in our service more than ever before.
-David

By: tim

tim — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 17:48:06 +0000

Great post John. The SPARK acronym is catchy and meaningful. I am a fan of Kaufman’s list as well. It’s always been interesting how many organizations don’t pay attention to the “A” part of your equation. I appreciated you including their online presence in that. There are many times where I have left a site because it’s in disarray or their purchasing links are so hard to figure out.

By: Debra Estep

Debra Estep — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 08:51:25 +0000

Hello John,
I wanted to comment on the topic
of audiobooks.
There are quite a few online locations
where you can download free audiobooks.
Project Gutenberg
19,000 free ebooks
http://www.gutenberg.org
LibriVox
Audiobooks
“Accoustical liberation of books
in the public domain”
http://www.librivox.org
Also check out your local library online.
Mine has a digital catalog where members
can download ebooks and audiobooks.
Ebooks can be downloaded in Adobe format.
Excerpt from the description of the digital catalog …..
“Enjoy library materials while relaxing in your favorite chair, listen while you exercise, or take them along when you travel. There are never any overdue fees. All media will play on your PC or
laptop as well as select portable devices
(including some cell phones), and you can copy audio onto a CD to play in your car.”
Many elderly folks give up on reading,
and sadly on learning, due to poor vision.
Now audiobooks will be the answer,
and they can CRANK the volume. :)
Maybe a CD player and audiobooks
might be an option for that difficult
holiday gift for Mom, Dad or Grandparents.

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 17:32:47 +0000

John
AS I read your very thought-provoking article I was doing some mental box-ticking. Somethings I might have done not too badly on but I know for instance that the “products” I offer are not clearly define or easy to get to.
Oh dear!! If only I could wave a magic wand and get things in order in a flash!
Excellent food for thought.

By: Rosa Say

Rosa Say — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 16:07:02 +0000

John, I am very appreciative of how you have taken your thesis and made it so concise for our forum, thank you. Note to readers: On his own Success Begins Today blog, John elaborated on each SPARK component in a separate posting – start at the “Creating Spark” related link he offers.
However while the businesswoman in me loves your acronym, the coach in me is cheering for your learning process, i.e. a) the way you have taken Josh Kaufman’s suggestion and made it your own private AND public learning vehicle with MBA on the Run, and b) in searching for a tangible result, how you have challenged yourself in coming up with a meaningful thesis.
This is disciplined, self-motivating learning at its best.

By: Steve Sherlock

Steve Sherlock — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 14:16:16 +0000

Great posting John! I like the summary and SPARK acronym, makes it easy to recall.