Tagged With "McDonald"

"Stressiest" love it!

All three are great points, good stuff West!

5 Business Lessons the New Horizons Mission to Pluto Can Teach Us Posted on July 14, 2015 by Print Audit By West McDonald, Vice President of Business Development, Print Audit / Owner, FocusMPS Today marks an incredible moment in the history of humankind: The New Horizons spacecraft will finally reach Pluto, whizzing by at a blazing 30,800 miles per hour (49,600 kilometres/hour for the rest of the Space community!). It has already delivered some of the highest resolution images of our 9th...

Dealers Speak Out on Seat Based Billing Posted on June 17, 2015 by Print Audit By West McDonald, Vice President of Business Development, Print Audit & Owner, FocusMPS There has been a great deal of buzz in the industry around “Seat Based Billing (SBB)” for Managed Print. I personally have spoken on the topic at numerous trade shows and events in the last 3 years. I have also had the chance to meet with some of the leading thought leaders in the space to discuss the topic. Personally I...

Eating Crow: 6 Reasons It Will Help Your Career By West McDonald, Jan 30, 2017 2:10:25 PM Whether you’re new to the office or a veteran closing in on retirement, one of the least appreciated skills is eating crow and it’s one of the most important skills required for a successful career. It’s uncomfortable, often embarrassing, yet comes with more benefits than most people understand. Read more »

Business Travel Getting You Down? Not Me, And Here’s Why By West McDonald, Oct 13, 2016 11:26:44 AM Whether you are a seasoned business traveller in the million mile club or a young professional just getting started as a road warrior, business travel can become tiresome and aggravating. As a Canadian business traveller with mostly U.S. customers I stack up a lot of miles during the year. Between visiting with my customers, going to tradeshows and events and a host of other obligations that...

How To Stop Talking About Innovation and Finally Do It By West McDonald, Nov 1, 2016 10:01:32 AM We all talk about innovation and disruption but few of us actually do anything about it. Sometimes we say we don’t need to Innovate, we just need to hunker down and be better at what we already do. That’s okay. Sometimes. But other times we know it’s not okay and that we need to innovate to survive and thrive. The problem: few know the secrets to successfully move thoughts about innovation into...

You Could Be Selling Lies By West McDonald, Dec 7, 2016 10:53:38 AM In this modern age of social media and other sharing platforms we have access to more “facts” than ever before. If you are in sales (and come on, we’re ALL in sales to one degree or another) you may use the internet or content shared by colleagues to aide in your selling efforts. Unfortunately those facts are often untrue. Fake “memes” or quotes overlaid on pictures of famous people are particularly prone to fooling us. Let...

Print Audit: A Year In Review By West McDonald, Dec 19, 2016 8:00:00 AM As you’ve no doubt noticed Print Audit has been very, very busy. Our mission this year was to save the office equipment industry through transformation ! In 2016 we decided to put all of our efforts into this mission, and the results have been incredible. Our Premier and Premier Plus members know this first hand, but for others, you might be surprised at all the new things we’ve developed to the betterment of the channel...

By West McDonald, Vice President of Business Development, Print Audit & Owner, FocusMPS Office print and copy is essential to running our businesses but takes a huge toll on the environment. From the power printing devices consume to the paper they print on, the cost to both our pocket books and our planet are considerable. Whether you’re a Fortune 500 Company or a 5 person SOHO operation, most of us would like to do more to decrease our environmental footprint. We’ve all had copier and...

Want to Grow Your Office Equipment Business? You'd Better Start Liking Frogs By West McDonald, Aug 10, 2017 7:30:00 AM I just got back from a week off. I wish I could tell you that I was on some grand adventure filled with excitement and unforgettable vistas, but alas, not the case. I was home doing some renovations. Our upstairs bathroom was in desperate need of a do over and instead of hiring somebody to do it I thought I would tackle it myself. I should state for the record that I’m not...

Top 10 Awesome Things I Witnessed At ITEX 2017: A Photojournal By West McDonald, Apr 25, 2017 10:41:17 AM This year’s ITEX had a lot of expectations. For the last couple of years people have been openly questioning whether or not ITEX would become a thing of the past like World Expo and Recharger. Another footnote in wake of more change than the events could deal with. Marc Spring, the guy that brought ITEX to our industry in the first place, brought the event back and promised us that this...

Want To Be A High Performer? You May Need More Stress, Not Less By West McDonald, May 9, 2017 10:16:30 AM Before I go any further, disclaimer time! I’m not a psychologist and this is not a “self help” column. I’m just a 30 year sales and marketing veteran. This article is not mental health advice. This is a reflection on my own career and insights designed to get people thinking about what I believe is a critical ingredient to high performance: Optimal STRESS. If you need advice related to...

Use ‘em or Lose ‘em: Why Vacation Days Need to Be Taken By West McDonald, Oct 24, 2017 1:36:24 PM There are some eye opening statistics when it comes to U.S. workers and vacation time: Read more »

No Mere Child’s Play: Toys “R” Us Chapter 11 and What We Can Learn From It By West McDonald, Oct 10, 2017 1:31:02 PM If you’ve been following the news you may have discovered, like I did, that Toys “R” Us has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company employs over 65,000 employees around the world and operates over 1,000 brick and mortar store locations as well as being a giant online retailer. Somehow they’ve accumulated over $5 billion dollars in long-term debt and find...

A Lesson for the Office Equipment Channel from the Alleged Reality Winner Leaks By West McDonald, Jun 14, 2017 11:55:47 AM It’s all over the news: Reality Winner, a contractor with Pluribus International Corporation who was doing work for the U.S. government is alleged to have been the source of a leak of classified information surrounding Russia’s attempts to hack elements of the U.S. election system. Big news for sure. Read more »

Is Building A “Personal Brand” Doing You More Harm Than Good? By West McDonald, Jun 20, 2017 11:11:18 AM If you do a Google search on “personal brand” you get about 98,500,000 results! It’s been written about in a positive light in Forbes Magazine and a host of other legitimate media sources. Everybody you talk to will bring up personal brand in one conversation or another, it’s the talk of the town. PWC (Price Waterhouse Cooper) has a 42 page workbook designed to help their employees build...

Convergence Radio Episode 1: Spectre of Convergence By West McDonald, Nov 14, 2016 2:13:49 PM Whether you are sitting at your computer, commuting to work, hammering out a few miles on the treadmill or relaxing at home, podcasts are a great way to consume content no matter how busy you are. Print Audit has just released its first podcast for a new program called Convergence Radio . It has been designed to make it easy for you to help improve how you do business in an age of convergence. It is...

By West McDonald, Vice President of Business Development, Print Audit & Owner, FocusMPS Whether you are a seasoned sales veteran driving a 7-series BMW or a newbie looking to get to your first President’s Club, the job of Selling can sometimes get the best of us. All of us, at one time or another in our Sales career, lose our Mojo and we are left wondering if we can ever get it back. Before you pack it all in, quit your job and head for a Kabala, realize that there are less drastic and...

2017 Print Audit Year In Review By West McDonald, Dec 20, 2017 1:33:49 PM 2017 has been an incredibly busy and exciting year for Print Audit and as the year draws to a close we are excited to share some of the highlights. For this year’s “Year In Review” you get to meet and hear from the senior management team members for both Print Audit and NeoStream. There are some new faces on the executive team and we thought you’d like the chance to get to know them a little better. Everybody was asked...

The One That Didn’t Get Away: 6 Fishing Secrets To Energize Your Business By West McDonald, Sep 6, 2017 12:32:11 PM As I write this morning I can hear the waves crashing in on the shore just outside of my window. The winds have kicked up and the water is looking quite lively. I’m a little bummed out this morning as all my guests have gone back to their respective homes and the house is a little quiet. I’m sure a lot of you reading this have the same feeling as the kids go back to school and...

3 Sales Traps and How To Avoid Them By West McDonald, Sep 12, 2017 12:51:36 PM Some of you reading this have probably been in sales longer than I’ve been alive. If that’s the case, some of you are really, really old! ;) Some of you reading this could be new to a career in selling and looking for ways to increase your wins. Either way, you are lucky enough to be in one of the most incredible careers you could have hoped for. No 2 days will be the same, the money can be phenomenal, and you’re...

Year-End SOS! The Stressiest Time of The Year Is Here (or is it?) By West McDonald, Nov 28, 2017 11:12:36 AM If you’re in sales or if you’re a business owner then you know that year-end is a time of year for mixed feelings. On one hand you are excited to spend well earned time relaxing with family and friends. On the other hand you have a boat load of deals yet to close and the stress levels are off the charts! One minute you are feeling excited for the holidays and the next you are dripping...

Dominate 2018 by Making Regular Learning A Thing By West McDonald, Jan 3, 2018 1:34:48 PM I’ve always been fascinated by the power of a new year to inspire people to make big changes in their lives. Dogs don’t do it, fish don’t do it, palm trees don’t do it. Just us bipedal homosapiens at the top of the evolutionary food chain. The “New Year’s Resolution” is one of the most human of all human things to do in the new year. The top 3 New Year’s resolutions: Eat better, start going to the gym...

MPSA names new leadership The Managed Print Services Association named new executives: Eric Crump is new president (Director at Ringdale Solutions) Barry Burress is new VP (VP of Oberon Americas) Mark Hart is new treasurer (VP of ACDI) Robin Fonck is new secretary (Director at GreatAmerica Financial) The board of directors now includes: Laura Blackmer – Konica Minolta Anthony Chen – In Time Tec Mitchel Filby – First Rock Consulting Deborah Hawkins – Keypoint Intelligence Russ Kromminga –...

For a few years I've been involved with the Top 100 group which was a great that meets each week and we had conversations about the print industry. The group was sponsored by Tiger Pay, however Tiger Paw was purchased a dew months ago. West McDonald hosted the event weekly and has started his own group. That group is now Influencers Circle. This group is not limited to print and encompasses the entire office technology. I'm still hoping to learn from others and apply it to my daily sales ...