Leo Kanell

Author: leokanell

  • Social Media and How It Can Be Hacked By Your Daughter

    Putting together a top notch business in today’s world comes with certain checklists that you must cross off if you want to successful.  You need a solid website, a blog, lots of social media pages that attract followers and to be truly effective it certainly is a good idea to do some press releases and spend some money on them.

    So the last several weeks I have been working on doing just that, getting everything just right.  I put together a solid video to inspire my clients interested in starting a business, I built a website, and of course set up decent social media accounts.  With all of those items taken care of I next proceeded to write an article for a massive press release.  The article came together well and was accepted to be released.  The day after it was released I was pleased to see that various news organizations including tv and news organizations like the Boston Globe and Miami Herald had all picked it up.  I started clicking through some of the press releases of my article and noted some odd pictures of my twitter page with a profile picture not of myself, but of my daughter.  Next I saw that my youtube channel had several odd likes and comments about “mako mermaids.”  At that moment it became clear that my 10 year old daughter had hacked my social media accounts and posted what she liked on them including replacing my picture with a much better one of herself.  Hilarious indeed, but somewhat unfortunate given the investment in the press release.

    The moral to this story is to make sure that you communicate with all of your kids about the power of social media and how it should be used effectively especially as they grow up.  Social media can have powerful positive and negative effects for us all.  So this little blog will be posted on each of my social media sites and may it serve as a lesson for us all to be more aware of our need to talk with our kids about social media.

  • The Quest for Excellent Health

    So when it comes to your health there are not many priorities that rank higher.  You can have all of the power and money in the world and it will all mean absolutely nothing if you do not have good health to enjoy it.  Indeed no matter what is most important to you whether that is family, recreation or good ol-fashioned hard work to have good health is to be able to enjoy what you love.  So that said let’s take a look at some of the keys to good health today including diet, exercise and planning and focus.

    DIET

    Ok so we have all at various times experimented with a multitude of diets, so what is really effective?  The truth is that it completely depends on what your goals and focus are.  For example if you are looking to lose weight and fat and become more lean which the majority of the population is trying to do then a more refined diet is needed.  However, if you are looking to increase muscle mass and grow muscle size then your diet will differentiate substantially from that of someone looking to lose weight.  Let’s focus on what most people are looking to accomplish which is to lose fat, excess weight and increase energy.  I have spent countless hours researching this and when I was overweight and out of shape I found the following formula to be absolutely effective at cutting that nasty gunk and grime we call fat cells.  There are essentially 2 items in the foods we eat that absolutely lead to that frustrating spare tire, they are starches and sugars.  Starches refer to those tasty breads, pastas, cereals, french fries and most italian foods that provide energy but very few health benefits.  These foods are more difficult to digest, they slow down our metabolism and frankly put us to sleep.  Have you ever gone out to lunch at that great Italian place and then afterwards wanted nothing more than to take a long nap?  The reason is that starches simply slow us down from a physical standpoint.  Sugars while not having the negative slow down effect that their sisters carbs have have a similar impact on the fat cells we take on.  Sauces, sweets, candies, cakes, ice cream and any food with corn syrup and fructose are all foods that are going to often lead to unwanted fat gain.  So at this point you’re saying wow, this really sucks a lot of my favorite foods lead to straight up fat gain, yes this is sadly true, there are now more than ever tasty alternatives that I will share with you in future posts.  Bottom line you must focus on consuming lots of veggies, most fruits and lean meats, I love what one fitness coach said, “if man makes it don’t eat it, if nature makes it, eat it up!”  Suffice it to say you’re going to need to dig deeper and focus on avoiding starches and sugars if you want to kill the spare tire around your waist.

    EXERCISE

    There are a plethora and I do mean plethora of workout options in existence today and each of them is going to be better than sitting you butt on your couch and doing nothing day after day, but to get the best results there are some things to keep in mind.  Many workouts are either focused on cardio vascular (cardio) activity that gets you moving and your heart pumping or they are all about strength training.  What I have found to be most effective is a combination of both.  So 2-3 times a week I will do cardio and 2-3 times a week I will do strength training.  I typically rotate each day, so on Monday I may do cardio for 30 minutes and then, the next day on Tuesday I will do strength training.  Adding a little yoga, martial arts and pilates once a week can be extremely beneficial and lead to stronger joints and tendons.

    SCHEDULE IT OR FAIL

    The number one reason that the majority of Americans and good people around the world are overweight and obese is not because they are lazy, but because they simply do not schedule their diet and exercise plan.  The key to success with anything is to have a concise time when you make your game plan, the New England Patriots and their outstanding coaching staff have every minute of their practice and game film study planned to the t, there is no wasted time or movement everything is done with purpose, if you want to be physically fit then you need goals and schedules, if you know you work from 9 to 5 Monday thru Friday and that you must leave your house by 8:30 am to get to work on time, then you either need to schedule your workout at 6:30 or 7:00 am or 6;30 or 7:00 pm at night.  For most people there isn’t a snow ball’s chance in hell that they will work out after a grueling day at the office so working out first thing in the morning is the best time, if you schedule it then the fitness will come.  Additionally with your diet if you don’t plan out your means and what you will buy at the grocery store then plan on failing at your fitness.  You should plan out your meals and groceries at least once a week to stay on target.

     

    Well that is a solid generic game plan that will lead to being healthy, hot and fit!

    For more tips at health transformation just check in to our blog.

  • 3 Keys to Double Your Business

    Whether you have recently started a business or have been successfully running your business for several years there are 3 key elements to focus on when it comes to growing your business.

    1.  Increase Sales Through Distribution Channels

    If your business is a Starbucks location, then to double business you need to set up another location to double sales, if your business is a monthly subscription service then you need double the amount of subscriptions you have, at the end of the day business is not rocket science, but one of the most important factors for doubling your business is to increase distribution channels, if you aren’t sure what distribution channels are then you need to figure that out quickly.  We recently helped a client in Silicon Valley secure money who literally doubled his business from 2012 to 2013, for his business to double he simply needed larger clients who paid more.  His business provides cloud and database services for medium size and large companies.  They recently landed a big client, maybe you’ve heard of them, Facebook.  In order to double their annual sales he focused on working in networks with larger companies and therefore larger needs, the end result was he doubled his annual sales, profits and overall business.

    1.  Increase your Sales force

    Whether you sell insurance or technology service or tires, at the end of the day people and human capital are often your most valuable resource, in order to grow and double your business, you must increase your sales force.  Recruiting and properly training your Sales Force is a definite key when it comes to doubling your business.  When thinking about how best to strategically grow your sales force, each business and owner are different, some owners will say be very selective about hiring the right sales person and still others will say take quantity over quality and hire as many as possible and fill the market with your sales reps.  Typically I would take the position of neither extreme, you want to hire quality Sales Reps, but if you try to attract only the best and brightest you will surely miss out on other sales people that would have done well and helped to boost your company’s bottom line, at the same time there must be some qualifying formula that you follow when bringing in sales people based on the criteria that you use to hire sales reps.  Focusing on a down the middle approach to bring in qualified, but also an adequate number of representatives to build more brand awareness and reach for your business is paramount to doubling and growing your business in a short time.

    1.  Make Sure you Are Well Capitalized

    In order to grow and double your business you must have adequate growth capital and cash on hand to finance it, whether that means securing a better location, purchasing more inventory, increasing advertising investment or dramatically increasing your sales force, each of those actions will require significant capital needed to grow your business.  We are all aware that most businesses fail due to running out of money and capital so securing lines of credit, working capital loans and financing for a new location or much needed equipment is essential for a company to double their sales/revenues.

    When you increase your distribution channels, increase your sales force and secure growth capital you are well on your way to growing and even doubling your business!

  • Leo Kanell Knows Freedom is the Key

    You may ask yourself how is it that in the last 240 years has the world in general progressed so incredibly with technology and improving the way we live as humanity.  According to Leo Kanell the truth is it all begins with freedom, there is a reason that technology did not evolve quite so rapidly under certain elements of time versus others.  For example, much of the development began with the Italian renaissance where there was sufficient freedom to develop new products and inventions.  Many great artists and scientists like Leonardo Da Vinci (who Leo Kanell was named after) and Michaelangelo came during that time.  Where there is true freedom the opportunity to prosper exists.

    So with such unprecedented freedom in existence in society today in the year 2015 how is it that so many people really still live with so little freedom.  To me freedom is the ability to make our own choices, maybe that means I’m not going to work tomorrow, but will instead go wakeboarding on the lake with my family all day.  Perhaps it means that I will travel to learn more about a new culture or way of life.  In reality though the majority of people are not free to make such decisions and we all know exactly why that is.  Leo Kanell says it is because the majority of the population is subservient to those that control and mange their own enterprises.  I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, but to obtain true freedom it all begins with one question, are you an employer or an employee?  It really is that simple, either I work to create my own freedom through wealth creation or I am working to help someone else create their freedom through my efforts.

    In the Count of Monte Cristo novel, Napoleon Bonaparte truthfully states, “in life we are kings or pawns.”  Truer words were never spoken, so which will it be for you, king or pawn?