Chris Fossenier 🛸

"If you’re not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold." ... This isn’t true for the big AI tools! Let me explain... I recently downloaded the ChatGPT desktop app for Windows. Side note: I love the built-in voice mode, but I don’t love that I can’t search chats like on the web version. Anyway, I've caught myself at least 10 times today navigating to Chrome to open ChatGPT, only to remember my conversation was in the desktop app. Why? Because it’s a habit. Just like some people check email as soon as they start their workday. Or open LinkedIn every time they unlock their phone. I riff back and forth with ChatGPT on most of my work and ideas. The big AI companies don’t want your personal data or sell it. In fact, they teach their AI to reject requests for private or sensitive information. They give it to you for free to help you build the habit. The more you use it, the more value you find in it. The more value you find, the more likely you are to pay for added functionality. The hard part of AI adoption isn’t the tools or technology—it’s the habits we already have. Which is why I advocate for an "AI-first" approach: to build the mindset, strategy, and habits to maximize AI tools. Do you have a go-to AI habit?

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The Most Intuitive dashboard deployed by activists. Data reveals everything. 😶 URL- https://lmiamap.ca The souce data is publically available to toy with.

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Ever feel like you're putting out great content but no one seems to notice? You're not alone. Many entrepreneurs find themselves lost in a crowded market, unsure how to stand out. Crafting a clear and compelling positioning statement can help you break through the noise. Key Lesson: It's not about you; it's about your client. Crafting a positioning statement that connects with your client's journey can make all the difference. A positioning statement helps you articulate why your target client would choose you over other options. It connects with their journey, focusing on how you can help them achieve their big goals. Steps to Take Action: 1. Understand Your Client's Journey: Write down the main goal your ideal client is striving to achieve. What are their hopes, dreams, and challenges? 2. Define Your Role: Describe how your product or service uniquely helps them move forward on their journey. 3. Combine Them into a Statement: Use this template to craft your positioning statement: "I help [target audience] achieve [their goal] by [your unique approach or product], making their journey [faster, easier, more successful]." 4. Refine and Simplify: Ensure your statement is clear and concise. Aim for one or two sentences and focus on creating curiousity vs explaining it all. Example Positioning Statement: "I help entrepreneurs gain clarity and focus to discover who they are as leaders, choose who they want to work with, and design their business to create life-changing transformations, setting themselves up for sustainable success." By taking just a few minutes to craft a clear, client-focused positioning statement, you'll start to define your brand more effectively. This small step can significantly increase your brand awareness by making it easier for your audience to understand how you can help them on their journey. 🎬 Action-Takers... when you're done... Drop your positioning statement in the comments and I'll give you some feedback on how to improve it! -------- May your quests always be successful and your victories sweet. Rooting for you this week, magically yours... 🪄💙 Christina "Blue" Hooper Your Friendly Neurodivergent Business Designer

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The Minefield of Inept Framing Framing questions that sidestep core issues are a minefield that blows up the best of intentions. That’s universally true. To illustrate, here is an abridged story from my upcoming book: "What’s Next" If you want to hear more of how it worked out, pose the question in your comment and I will tell you. Anne is a writer who works for a youth educational organization. She curates and edits books written by the youth in the organization’s programs. She works from home; loves her job. Twelve people in the organization work for the program in which Anne is engaged. Anne’s contract will soon end. The need for her work is ongoing. Anne and Harold, her boss, want to renew the contract for another year. But… Anne wants greater autonomy to make creative decisions about the books. She is the only person in the organization with the skills needed. She and Harold have often discussed her autonomy. Harold wants all program team members to provide input on creative decisions. He thinks that approach aligns with their cultural norms, creates a greater sense of team ownership, and stronger staff support. That sounds good on paper. But it's an unrealistic perception about what happens in real-life. Anne knows that getting input from inexperienced people slows the process, and reduces the quality of the published work.      Her initial thought was to ask: What would it take to negotiate a new contact that would allow me to have the autonomy I need to do even more outstanding work and still satisfy the needs of the organization?  It's the wrong question. Because Anne’s needs are addressed, but the question does not reveal the right context for discussing those needs. The core issue is missing, thus everyone is not on the same page.  The core issue is trust. Harold does not trust Anne’s approach. It conflicts with existing cultural norms. He fears it will erode teamwork, diminish group ownership, and upset camaraderie. Also, Harold wants to avoid the discomfort of change. He frames his discomfort in the context of cultural norms, so his position seems logical, and in the best interests of the organization. This is a classic example of fear disguised as leadership. Anne's question must frame both barriers – Harold’s fear and his lack of trust. The contract itself is not the issue; it only translates a mutual agreement to writing. Anne’s question should be, what would it take to structure my working agreement to allow me the editorial authority and freedom I need to produce outstanding work that meets or exceeds our current standards, and do it in a way that has everyone strongly supporting it. In this framing, Anne has addressed trust, and including staff support as part of the solution will eliminate the discomfort of working outside the organization’s cultural norms. Anne and Harold can now focus their discussion entirely on Harold’s self-created barriers. She used it. It worked.

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I finally cracked it: The Generative AI Equation. I don't often get asked, "Should we roll out AI to our organization?" Instead, it’s usually, "We're not allowed to use ChatGPT," or "How do we use AI without sharing sensitive information?" As shown in the picture, there are four primary drivers for deciding if it's worth using generative AI. Two of these (top) are factors you want to increase. The other two (bottom) are factors you aim to decrease. 1. How frequently will the AI tool be used? (Goal: Increase) 2.How much value will the AI tool bring? (Goal: Increase) 3. What is the likelihood of sharing confidential information? (Goal: Decrease) 4. What is the concern around sharing confidential information? (Goal: Decrease if possible) Why a division equation instead of addition? If you can make the bottom part equal zero, you’re golden. If there’s zero chance of sharing confidential information, or you don’t care about it, then AI is worth using—even if the benefit is minimal. On the other hand, if there’s any chance of data leakage and confidentiality matters, the benefit of AI has to be extremely high to justify the risk. Here are some ways to make AI worth it: 1. Increase AI usage frequency by: → Blocking time in your calendar to explore AI tools → Setting your homepage or bookmarks to your favorite AI tools → Giving yourself extra time for tasks to try AI → Giving yourself less time so AI becomes a necessity 2. Increase the effectiveness of AI by: → Trying it more often (see above) → Taking courses → Sharing use cases and prompts with colleagues → Following leaders in the space (LinkedIn, YouTube, newsletters) 3. Decrease the likelihood of sharing confidential information by: → Opting out of "improving" the model → Paying for higher-security subscriptions → Creating policies, processes, training, and audits → Building a culture of safety 4. Decrease concern about sharing confidential information by: → Understanding how AI models work (most companies don’t want your data) What’s the biggest driver you’ve seen that’s influenced organizations to dive into or avoid AI? P.S. Yes, I borrowed this concept from Alex Hormozi’s value equation. Good artists copy; great artists steal.

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Fall in love with reflecting before writing on LinkedIn. Your content will become 100x better if it comes from a place of reflection rather than an annoying box on your endless to-do list. Start by not even worrying about hitting ‘post’. Block 30 minutes in your calendar. Use the time to reflect on  → a success this week  → a moment of raw failure → a moment that caught you off guard → that one thing that has been on your mind Just write it down. Start there, fall in love with the process, and see posting on LinkedIn become a lot easier.

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Do your prospects and clients REALLY know your Competitive Advantage? For our May 16th our Vistage Trusted Advisor (TA) meeting, we've invited Jaynie Smith, CEO of Smart Advantage to discuss "How well are you Communicating a Compelling Competitive Advantage?" Our group consists of CEOs of smaller firms and BizDev-focused staff in companies of all sizes. They attend both live-in-New York and globally via Zoom. This interactive workshop will help you identify important service/product differentiators you’re likely NOT using.  Your team must be able to communicate a compelling and consistent reason why customers should choose your product/service. Using statistically valid evidence of this dangerous disconnect for most organizations, she’ll guide you to find value propositions that resonate with prospects and/or clients. Armed with competitive advantages, a true value proposition minimizes price as an issue! For a guest invitation, contact me directly: [email protected].  

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I was interviewed on the CBC today about the role of customer reviews in customer's buyer decisions. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gVQuib8u Thanks to Meegan Read and CBC/Radio-Canada! #CX #Capterra #customerexperience #customerreviews

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👔 Board members and executives often serve as the organization's ambassadors. Speaking engagements, media appearances, and conferences offer opportunities to showcase expertise and reinforce the company’s brand and values. How do you promote your organization’s brand and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry? 🥏 #vCISO #CanadaCISO #RiskAwareCo #CyberCanada #PublicSpeaking #PublicSpeakingSkills #BrandPromotion

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Alright here's one to keep an eye on, specifically in Ontario: Bill 194. This one is really centered on digital trust. At first glance, it sounds like it sets guidelines around the use of artificial intelligence in the public sector, as well as creating new privacy regulations that impact persons under the age of 18. (I'm writing this quickly, will clarify as needed later.) The emphasis on this being a "flexible tool" makes me a little skeptical as we all know that too much flexibility can lead to misuse/misunderstandings in the future. I'll be looking for more precision. I'll go through it more thoroughly later, but if you're in this space in Ontario, it's one you'll want to look at, too. Direct link to the bill:

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Llama 7 bill #AI bot can consume the entire 37 page PDF #Bill185 by Ontario Government | Gouvernement de l’Ontario and give you detailed answers with reference to the source sections. Ask it "What is a person?" and Bill 185 has a very different definition to what you think! 🤣 Who needs Dentons or Osler to give you a summary? Try it for #free at https://poe.com/ONBill185

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IT leaders, your .NET framework is a critical component of your digital infrastructure. Ignoring upgrades risks security breaches, slowdowns, and costly disruptions. Framework updates are like software patches. Ignoring them can leave your system vulnerable to attacks and slow performance. Protect your organization by prioritizing .NET updates.

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Ready for liftoff? 🚀 Captain Time is taking productivity to new heights at the Edmonton Productivity Summit on October 24th! Blast off with us and discover game-changing strategies for email management, video workflows, habit formation, and AI integration. Don't miss this chance to skyrocket your efficiency and network with fellow productivity enthusiasts. Secure your spot now at edmontonproductivity.com and prepare for a day that'll launch your productivity into orbit! 🌟⏰ #EdmontonProductivitySummit #ProductivityBoost #CaptainTime

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As we enter the second week of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, I sit back, so proud of how the Information Security industry bands together at this time to spread awareness, increase individual armour through information, protecting citizens and organizations alike. Have you checked out the resources below?

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📧 New Email Limits on Microsoft Exchange Online - Important Update for Canadian Organizations! 🚀 Starting January 2025, Microsoft Exchange Online will introduce stricter limits on bulk email sends, setting a cap at 2,000 emails per mailbox per day to external recipients. These changes are key to boosting the security of digital communications and aligning closely with the principles of the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), which emphasizes the necessity for clear consent and unsubscribe mechanisms. Essential Actions for Tech Teams: - Ensure Compliance: Align your email marketing strategies with both CASL and the new Microsoft policies to prevent penalties and disruptions. - Strategize Effectively: Modify your approach to manage the distribution of bulk emails, considering spreading out campaigns or exploring alternative communication tools. - Tech Integration: Implement robust email automation technologies that can handle subscriber segmentation, schedule emails according to new limits, and manage compliance requirements efficiently. This update is certainly a step in the right direction. I still receive far to many unsolicited communications that originate from the major cloud email providers. 🔗 For detailed guidelines on adapting to these new regulations, check the full updates on Microsoft's tech community blog and contact Fusion Computing Limited to learn more. References: 1. https://lnkd.in/gF9r7jTh 2. https://lnkd.in/gfYSsP4k #MicrosoftExchange #EmailMarketing #ITSecurity #CyberSecureCanada #CASL 🛡️📧

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Start. You don't have to go all in, yet. That's the advice from Deb Pimentel, IBM Canada's President and GM Technology, on how businesses should start on the generative AI adoption path. Watch our conversation at THINK Toronto to learn more about picking the right partner and why focusing on the non-negotiables is essential throughout this process. #ThinkToronto #IBMCanada #Partner IBM

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Do you want to know what's a weird feeling? Starting a meeting early and having five AI notetakers jump on the call, only to have no people join the call when the meeting starts. Based on this, I can see a lot of organizations rethinking how they do meetings... "People are sending their AI notetakers and not attending meetings... maybe these meetings are pointless?" ↓ "Could this be a video recording that people can watch on their own time?" ↓ "Do people need a video recording, could this be an email?" ↓ "Do people need an email, or could this be a quick Slack/Teams message?" ↓ "Do people need a message, or could this be handled by AI entirely?" ↓ "Do we even need to meet or communicate about this at all?" Not only is AI going to change processes, it's going to help us rethink processes and value from the ground up. THIS is what I'm really excited about. What excites you as it relates to AI?

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Let’s just put it out there – its cool to have a custom email address for your business instead of a gmail or telus or an outlook account. Your custom email like [email protected] is a matter of pride and fun! It’s symbolic of your dream to produce significant change in your customers' lives; of your deep seated desire to change things for better. And it’s the realization of a dream that you’ve harbored for much time and for some of us, decades. “What’s in a name” – people ask. “Everything” is our answer. 🙂 If this much is not enough for you to consider ditching your generic email to your own custom address, read on to know the benefits: https://lnkd.in/gxqyF3Gp #OffiicalEmail #CustomEmail #smallbusinessbc #vancouver #surrey #burnaby #newwestminster #smallbiz #smallbiztips #PrasnaIT #humanizedIT

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🎉 Exciting News! Early Bird Registration Now Open for CanITCon 2024 in Kelowna, BC! 🎉 Are you an MSP owner or working in an MSP? Feeling the stress of navigating the ever-evolving industry landscape? Worried about the direction your MSP is heading? Look no further! CanITCon, Canada’s premier technology conference for MSPs, is just around the corner, and it’s the perfect opportunity to gain insights, network with industry leaders, and supercharge your business. 📅 When: September 8-10, 2024 📍 Where: Luxurious Delta Grand Okanagan Resort, Kelowna, BC At CanITCon, you’ll: 🤝 Network with Experts: Connect with fellow MSPs, potential partners, and customers. Share experiences, learn from others, and build valuable relationships. 🚀 Stay Ahead of the Curve: Get ahead of industry trends and technologies through informative sessions and panel discussions. Learn from successful professionals who’ve been there and done that. 💡 Showcase Your Innovations: Highlight your innovative products and services. Establish yourself as a thought leader in the field and gain visibility. 🌟 Recharge Your Business: Leave the conference feeling empowered and motivated to take your MSP to new heights. Gain actionable insights to improve efficiency and increase revenue. Don’t miss out! Register now for CanITCon 2024 and unlock the tools you need to thrive in the MSP world. With only 24 days left until the event, secure your spot at CanITCon.ca and get ready for an inspiring experience! 🚀🔗 #CanITCon2024 #MSP #TechnologyConference 12

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