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Investment in staff, technology and community keys to rapid growth
Canberra-based consultancy, Point Project Management was only founded in 2006, but has grown to become one of Australia’s largest specialist project management consultancies.
Within a short time, the company has won a slew of major construction projects and expanded its presence with offices in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Perth.
According to founder and Joint National Principal of Point Project Management, Michael Snare, embracing the latest in interactive IT tools, minimising overheads, and utilising highly efficient ISO accredited business processes has enabled them to offer the highest quality and proactive service at exceptional value for money.
Investing in staff and the community is also vital to their success, one such example was committing to raise nearly $100, 000 to help an employee receive treatment for cancer
Point’s successful business model was recognised by the judges of the Telstra Business Awards last year, awarding them the National Winner of the Panasonic Australia Medium Business Award.
According to Mr Snare, the win was just one benefit the company realised by participating in the Awards.
“The process of entering gave us an introspective assessment of our business. We had to focus on key issues such as where we are going to be in five years.
“As a result, we revised our business plan and added more detail about what we wanted the business to achieve in the next five to ten years.”
Another advantage was the extensive media exposure that Point Project Management gained from its win in the Awards, something that smaller businesses often struggle to achieve on their own.
“We had so many people telling us that they had seen us in the newspaper, which was really exciting. Having people congratulate us and acknowledge our achievements is an amazing feeling,” he explained.
“Following the win, we also saw an instant change in the demand for our services. We were receiving phone calls almost every day in the weeks following our win from potential clients and customers with new opportunities,” Mr Snare said.
“For our customers to know that we are at a level to win such a prestigious Award gives them added confidence, which is something that can’t be understated.
“Not long after our success, we won our first open tender, something we hadn’t been able to achieve prior to the Telstra Business Awards. While we can’t attribute this directly to the Awards, I’m sure that it was a contributing factor.”
For those who want to write but can't get started.
As a business owner, writing your own marketing material can be really difficult. Not just because writing (for many) is hard work but because it gets put on the ‘will do when I get time’ list – which generally means it never gets done. Or you mean to get around to it but other important things get in the way – like watching You Tube, eating lunch, updating Facebook or checking your junk mail.
If you’re one of the many who make procrastination an art, then I have good news for you. There are ways to circumvent this very private, very idiosyncratic habit that will make your life as business owner so much easier.
Here’s why. Research has shown that if you can get started at anything – not just writing – but exercise, doing your tax, cleaning out a filing cabinet, practicing the piano – pretty much anything – for just 15 minutes, chances are you’ll keep going for longer.
Here’s what will happen when you do start writing. You sit down - you don’t want to of course, but you do. You pick up the pen (or get on the computer) and start writing. In a very short space of time, you forget that you had resistance to it and you actually start to enjoy it (and if not enjoy it, you forget that you didn’t want to do it).
You get into ‘state’ and before you know it, you’re off and away and the task of writing the newsletter, sales letter or web page that eluded you for weeks, months, years is now being done, effortlessly.
The trick is to BEGIN; getting those first few words on the page. You see, once you begin, the hard part is over and the momentum kicks in. So, wouldn’t it be good if you had your own personal stash of ‘beginnings’ for all the things you need to write.
As a professional copywriter who struggles with procrastination as much as the next gal, I have to tell you that I use these ‘starters’ all the time. Half the time I don’t end up using them in the finished piece but it gets me started and that is, as I’ve outlined, half the battle.
These openers are great for websites, sales letters, brochures or advertisements. They get attention instantly and force you to include the benefits, which, after all, is what the reader is interested in.
The first technique is called Opening with a Question. Just a quick question before I begin: are you hot or cold right now?
(I confess – this was a trick question. I asked you a question and chances are, you answered it in your head with a ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘not sure’. I’m not trying to trick you here but to demonstrate that questions are brilliant openers because they force the brain to answer the question, even if it doesn’t want to.
Our brains are ‘answer-seeking’ devices so if we pose the right question, we can often get our readers to come up with the answer we want. As advertisers, that’s a pretty important realization. It means we have to be very clever (and ethical) with the questions we pose.
So here goes: take a look at these and see if any can work for you. (I won’t fill in the blanks right now – that’s your job – but I’ll give you some examples a bit later as to how they can be used.
And when I say ‘starters, or ‘openers’, I mean the very first line that the reader sees after the headline. (Of course, these can easily be used as headlines but there are other most potent formulas you can use for them.)
Here are the top 5 that I like:
Isn’t it time you…?
Are you still..?
Are you curious about…?
How can you cut the high cost of _____ ?
Confused about which________ to buy?
The trick to making these work for your own business is to identify what your product does for the user and then insert the benefit. Here are some examples I have written using a wide range of products and services.
1. Isn’t it time you…?
Isn’t it time you stopped using your shoebox for your receipts (a great headline for a book-keeping service)
Isn’t it time you drove a car that reflected who you truly are? (a touch manipulative but perfect for status-seeking individuals with ego issues)
2. Are you still..?
Are you still saving for that first home-loan deposit? (for a bank or property developer targeting first-home buyers)
Are you still living at home (and embarrassed about it)? (a great headline targeting freeloading young men living at home who know they shouldn’t be, mainly because it’s playing havoc with their love life).
3. Are you curious about…?
Are you curious about why women have such big hand-bags? (I can’t tell you what this would be good for but I’d sure like to know (especially as I’m one of them!)
Are you curious about why nice guys like you never get ahead? (this could target any number of products but is perfect for an executive coach who deals with nice guys in corporate land who continually get overlooked for promotion)
4. How can you cut the high cost of _____ ?
How can you cut the high cost of private school fees? (if I had an answer to this I wouldn’t be writing this article but it would make a great opener for someone who did have the answer )
How can you cut the high cost of family health insurance?
5. Confused about which________ to buy?
Confused about which high-speed printer to buy? (this opener works well for products that are complex and require lots of research)
Confused about which financial planner to choose?
Let’s move onto Opening with a Statement. Funnily enough, this technique is called Opening With A Statement.
These are equally powerful but work on the premise that we are presenting the reader with a very strong, almost self-evident proposition, a fact of life – and then following it up with a solution.
Here are my favourite top 3:
It’s no secret that…
You’ve probably noticed that…
If you’re like most people…
1. It’s no secret that…
It’s no secret that selling a house is stressful but there are ways to make it easier like…
This could work for real estate agents who have a customer service programme that help sellers in some unique way.
2. It’s no secret that losing weight is harder for women over 40 – especially if you’ve had children – but here’s a way that has been proven to work.
This is very emotive and would only work for a company that is highly ethical in their approach to weight loss but if you were in that target market – and I include myself in that – it would hit you right between the eyes and definitely pique your interest.
2. You’ve probably noticed that…
You’ve probably noticed that it’s getting harder and harder to buy an investment property for under $500,000 in …….. (insert the town/location). But there is a way. Contact us to find out more.
This opener is perfect for any real estate developer, bank, investment fund or anything to do with property.
2. You’ve probably noticed that boys aged 17-24 are more likely to be killed in a car accident than any other age group.
This would have to be used sensitively too but would be a start opener to an advertisement for road safety or learn-to-drive programme.
3. If you’re like most people…
1. If you’re like most people, you fall into bed exhausted at the end of the day saying ‘thank god that’s over.’
This statement targets busy people aged 35 and over, especially those with young families. It could work products or services like massage, naturopathy, yoga, comfy beds, weekend escapes – any number of products.
2. If you’re like most people, you hate doing your tax.
An ideal opener for an accountant, tax agent or financial planner.
These Statements work because they are true and the fact is all good, neigh, great advertising works because it’s based on truth. Think about it. The only reason any of those openers worked for you was probably because you recognized yourself in it or you had been through it yourself.
Great advertising is like great comedy. How many times have you been to a live comedy show (or watched Seinfeld for that matter) and nudged your mate after a particularly funny line and said “That’s so truuuuue”. That’s why it’s funny – because it’s true. If it wasn’t true, you wouldn’t recognize it as a facet of your life so it’d skip right over your head or you’d just say ‘so?’
So there you have it – a bunch of one-liners that will get you started, no matter what you’re writing or who you’re writing for.
Even if you get started using these openers and then end up not using it, that’s fine. What’s important is that you get started! Starting is everything. The rest is easy.
About the Author:
Bernadette Schwerdt is the founder of The Australian School of Copywriting. She is a freelance copywriter and business coach. She can be contacted on +61419891932 or at info@ copyschool.com. Visit http://www. copyschool.comfor details about seminar and home study courses on copywriting.
Get to a meeting early and sit quietly, outside if you can; breathe deeply; pause; centre yourself. Being still allows you to reconnect with your instincts.
Set your alarm in your phone to go off to remind you to take some big breaths.
2. Activate to Motivate!
Activity breeds energy. Once every couple of hours at least get up from your desk and take a Brisk power walk … outside if you can, inside if that’s all that’s available.
Run on the spot, grab a skipping rope or a hula hoop. You’ll be amazed at how much more enthusiastic you feel and how much more clearly and positively you’re thinking, even if it’s only for 5 minutes.
3. Learn to Say No!
Decide on your priorities and stick to them; you’re in charge of your own diary. Be proactive, not reactive. Be prepared with a reason: “Sorry, I’m already committed to … something for my child/ my boss/ my family, maybe next time,” and then, be firm!
4. Plan for Time Out
Time for yourself takes commitment and planning and is a conscious choice. Remember you’re in charge of your diary so block time out to regenerate in your diary.
It’s simpler than you think. If you usually take a shower, take a bath once a week. Plan a conversation with a friend or family member. Read for pleasure. Go to the movies or take a walk. Take up dancing or a sport.
5. Delegate ... and Appreciate
Give yourself a break by letting others help you. Be OK with how they do it, they have to start somewhere! And appreciate, appreciate, appreciate …
6. Develop Curiosity
Pick up a magazine or newspaper in the corner and actually read an article! Get down to your kid’s eye level and listen to their stories. Curiousity breeds energy. So tap into the world around you and increase your energy.
7. A Blast from the Past
Connect with what makes you tick. What did you love doing as a kid? Eating ice cream? Running in the rain? Drawing? Figure out what you used to love, and invite it back into your life.
8. Shake Things Up!
Do things differently. Go a different way to wherever you’re going and notice the different surroundings. Wear three inch high pink stilettos (maybe not if you’re a man ;) Ride a motorbike or horse or a rollercoaster. Watch a funny movie, laughter always feels great.
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
So why is Self Confidence important to business owners?
Having self-confidence is like having a magic wand in your pocket; like magic, it literally opens the doors of opportunities for you.
It’s so important in almost every aspect of our lives, yet so many people struggle to find it. And sadly, it can become a vicious circle; people who lack self-confidence can find it difficult to become successful.
Unquestionably, seeking to be a person of great self confidence is what most people desire. After all, without self confidence it can be almost impossible to achieve anything great in life.
Self confidence is often the difference between taking action and going for your goals no matter what and hesitating because of fear and uncertainty.
Your perception of yourself has an enormous impact on how others perceive you.
Perception is reality — the more self confidence you have, the more likely it is you’ll succeed . And success breeds success!
Low self-confidence can be self-destructive, often manifesting itself as negativity and uncertainty.
Self-confident people are generally more positive – they believe in themselves and their abilities, having the courage of their convictions and they also believe in the wonder of life and living life to the fullest.
Your level of self-confidence can show in so many ways; your behaviour, your body language, how you speak, what you say, and so on.
Both Certainty and Uncertainty are contagious. A lot of people are reluctant to back a project that's being pitched by someone who’s nervous, fumbling and overly apologetic.
On the other hand, most people are attracted to projects by someone who speaks clearly, who holds his or her head high, who answers questions assuredly, and who readily admits when he/she doesn’t know something.
Self-confident people inspire confidence in others: Their audience, their peers, their bosses, their customers, and their friends. Acquiring the confidence of others is one of the key ways in which a self-confident person finds success.
The good news is that self-confidence really can be learned and built on. And, whether you’re working on your own self-confidence or building the confidence of people around you, it’s well-worth the effort!
All other things being equal, self-confidence is often one of the single most important ingredients that distinguishes a successful person from someone less successful.
So how confident do you seem to others?
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
All successful men and women around the world are proficient in one common area in achieving their success. They’ve mastered the POWER OF THOUGHT.
It’s no secret. Really, in our hearts we’ve always realized that a mind so powerful that reality follows imagination is capable of a lot.
So why isn’t everyone enjoying success right now?
The greatest power humans possess is the power of thought. We all ‘know’ it. We simply don’t know how to utilize the immense possibilities this great power can do for us. And even when we do ‘know’, it’s sometimes hard to make the time to do the things we need to do, to utilize this great resource.
So how does the mind work?
Experts have it that the mind works towards its most current dominant thought. That means when we think consciously our mind, having a selective method of processing thoughts, focuses on what it sees as the most important thought we have right now and disregards the rest because it can only process so much information at any one time.
The mind is part of the central nervous system. As it focuses on the most important thought, it sends out signals to our physiology making our body correspond to our thoughts.
The power lies in:
• What you think
• How you think and
• What you do with what you think
So how do you think?
Consider the following:
• When you think a happy memory like a great holiday:
How do you feel?
Do you feel like smiling?
Do you feel your entire body lightening up?
• When you think hilarious thoughts, like a scene in a funny movie:
Does it bring smile to your face?
Does it make you laugh each time?
• When you think of a time when you were really confident , like when you attracted that great new client:
Does the memory make you feel excited and powerful?
Does your body stand straighter and taller?
• When you think about a painful loss , like the passing of a loved one,
Does your body correspond accordingly, your shoulders droop and you’re breathing become shallow?
• When you think about things that could go wrong like in your business:
Does the enthusiasm dry up inside you?
Is it hard to drag yourself out of bed and into the office?
You see, your mind and your thoughts govern your physiology. Whether you feel great or feel bad, it’s really the direct result of how you think or how you see any given situation.
How you think will have an effect on the outcome.
When all the news is focused on the global economic crisis how are you reacting? Are you focusing on how terrible it would be one of the businesses that does it tough?
Are you thinking of all the things that could go wrong? Because guess what … once you begin focusing on what could go wrong, it often does. The more you focus on what’s going wrong the more wrong things go.
Negative thoughts attract negative outcomes . When you think of how bad things are you’ll certainly always get more of how bad things are.
Positive thoughts attract positive outcomes .
So how can you create this type of thinking? How can you think about this situation as an opportunity?
It’s all in the questions you ask yourself! The key is asking yourself good quality questions like:
• How is this situation going to work for my business?
• What skills do I have?
• What am I good at and how can I profit from it?
• What other opportunities await me?
Focusing on the positive brings out your creative juices and lets you explore opportunities that you never thought viable before. Use your imagination!
The Law of Attraction states, you attract into your life more of what you think. So if you think of how bad today’s economic situation is, you’ll reap the results of those thoughts.
However you could choose to focus on the possibilities; what can you do to improve your way of living and expand your means?
REMEMBER:
FOCUS on what you REALLY want.
FOCUS on the solutions.
FOCUS on making life better.
Chances are if you do this, your physiology will follow and you’ll get the outcomes you’d really prefer.
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
No doubt you know intuitively, when you feel happy you feel better. But there's growing evidence showing that by making your happiness a priority, you’ll be significantly improving your overall health — physically and emotionally AND your productivity
Happiness and Your Emotional Wellbeing
Your brain is literally hard wired to be happy and there‘s numerous studies bearing that out. But studies aside, when you watch small children, what do you see? Are they usually happy and playful, or unhappy and sullen? Mostly happy, yes?
In the 1970s by Martin Seligman introduced the concept of Learned Helplessness, which revealed an irrefutable link between your happiness and state of mind.
Unhappy people, who believe they’ve no ability to control or change their circumstances rapidly descend into emotional despair. They lack energy, experience greater stress and a decline in their cognitive and problem-solving abilities; suffer from depression, lack motivation and have more relationship and other interpersonal problems.
Happiness and Your Physical Wellbeing
The effects of unhappiness on your physical health are just as dramatic. Stress and depression result in the manufacture of harmful chemicals and toxins detrimental to your health.
Constant unhappiness weakens your immune system, increasing your frequency of illnesses, like colds, flus, headaches etc.
Even more disturbing is the increase in the occurrence of major illness like heart attacks, strokes and cancer. And, recovery time for unhappy people is much longer.
By contrast, happiness and laughter, have the opposite effect.
Laughter triggers:
a physiological response, lowering blood pressure and increasing blood flow
the contraction of fifteen facial muscles, abdominal muscles, leg muscles, etc. and gives your body a physical work out
an increase in the production of T cells, the creation of antibodies, and helps to reduce excessive production of cortisol, which is harmful to the body.
Happiness and Your Productivity
Studies have shown that productivity in happy people who enjoy what they’re doing skyrockets.
Happy people:
have more energy,
connect with people more easily,
are more creative
implement change more quickly.
Generally speaking happy people get more done, with less effort!
The productivity gurus will tell you it’s all about having the right system; and they’re right naturally, prioritizing tasks, detailed logs and to do lists are necessary.
But that’s not where to start. The place to start is making the decision to LIKE what you do and who you’re doing it with.
The single most efficient way to increase productivity is to be happy at work. No system, tool or methodology in the world can beat the productivity boost you get from really, really enjoying your work.
I’m not knocking all the traditional productivity advice out there. It’s simply when you apply it in a job that basically doesn’t make you happy, you’re trying to fix something at a surface level when the problem goes much deeper.
Let’s Make It Real
Think back to a when you were performing well. A time where your output was among the highest and best it’s ever been. I’m willing to bet you were working at something that made you happy. Something you loved doing.
A Question Of Causation
There’s a clear link between happiness at work and productivity.
Does being productive make us happy or does being happy make us productive? The answer is, the link goes both ways …
But … it’s strongest from happiness to productivity – which means if you want to be more productive, the very best thing you can do is focus on being happy with what you do?
So how do you get to be happy at work?
1. Get happy in the job you have. There are about a million things you can do to improve your work situation – provided you choose to do something, rather than wait for someone else to come along and do it for you.
2. Find a new job where you can be happy. If your current job is not fixable, don’t wait – move on now!
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
We rush through life, running against the treadmill as fast as we can go, doing all the things we need and have to do, rarely pausing to see if this is the life we really want to be leading.
We find ourselves trying to be the person we think others expect us to be, rather than be ourselves only using the talents we're told will help us get a good job and become secure.
You've probably heard the average person uses only about 10% of their brain capacity in a lifetime. Add to this the fact that we each have a unique mix of natural talents and abilities, different to anyone else in human history.
So just how much untapped potential do reckon you might have lying deep within you?
Have you ever wondered how much talent you really have? Who are you really?
I don’t know if you’ve noticed it the way I have but the clock is ticking and the years just seem to be racing past. My father told me when I was younger, the older he got the faster the years seemed to go by. At the time my response was just ‘Yeah yeah Dad, sure.’ But you know, he was right!
So I’d like to ask you a question …
What would you really like to do with the rest of your life?
Take the time to stop and have a good hard look at yourself. Reflect on those life-enriching experiences you used to love but don't seem to have the time for these days.
Enjoyment is a life-expanding experience. You’re so much more productive when you’re doing something you enjoy doing including your work than when you’re doing those things you don’t enjoy.
When you lose yourself in an interest you really enjoy, you find yourself.
The real you comes to life when you’re doing something you’re so passionate about, that for a while you forget where you are. Time passes in bliss and you find yourself in that place referred to as seventh heaven, doing what you love doing and being the person you love to be. Yes or Yes?
Take the time now to Enjoy Being You ...
- Remind yourself of who you really are
- Encourage yourself by focusing on your natural-born talents, abilities and skills
- Unwrap the gifts of your hidden passions for the world to enjoy
- Inspire yourself to express yourself in your chosen way
- Strengthen your knowledge that you are a person of worth
When you get in touch with who you really are and enjoy being you once again its incredible how life begins to flow in every area. It sets synchronicity into action!
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
All true learning is stored in the unconscious mind and all change is unconscious. If you want to change the results you’re getting in your game of life, you simply need to change what your subconscious thinks!
Your subconscious mind’s agenda is quite literal; it believes exactly what it’s told and its role is to protect you at all costs. The subconscious is in charge of preserving your body, organizing and storing your memories, and repressing memories and unresolved emotions.
From the day we’re born and depending on your beliefs perhaps even earlier, your subconscious mind begins creating the beliefs it operates from. And your beliefs determine your actions and therefore your reality.
One means of working out what your beliefs are is to work backwards from your results. Objectively analyze your results and then work out what you would have to believe in order to have achieved those.
If you’re not happy with where you’re at in your game of life then it’s a simple matter to change the beliefs or “rules” you’re operating from. And yes, adjusting your subconscious beliefs is a very simple process and change is instantaneous at this level. The process begins with setting an intention to change.
As you’ve probably found out using willpower alone can be an ineffective means for creating long term change. This is because willpower is the tool of the conscious mind and the conscious mind only controls 1/6 th of your brainpower. Imagination is the tool of the subconscious mind and the means of creating long term change.
2 million bits of information come at you every second. In order for you to process that information, your conscious mind deletes, distorts and generalizes the information coming to it based on the beliefs your unconscious mind has created, down to 7 + or - 2 chunks. That’s a lot of stuff left out!
So bottom line, the quality of your life comes down to what you leave out . And what you leave out is based on the way you have processed information as it has been presented to you so far in your lifetime.
If you want to change your results you need to get your subconscious mind and your unconscious mind to work together by creating congruency between what you want and what your subconscious believes is possible.
So, just how do you do this?
Simple really, determine exactly what you would have to believe in order to achieve the life you want. You can do this by researching and analyzing people who have already achieved the life you desire. And then systematically feed those exact thoughts directly to your subconscious mind.
Your subconscious is really quite literal, it believes exactly what it’s told based on the decisions it has made and the beliefs it has stored. To get around this you simply need to bypass your conscious mind and deliver your messages directly to your subconscious mind.
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
Get your Mind Onside and Create the Wealth You Deserve
Whatever picture of wealth and wealth creating you hold in your mind, whatever definition of wealth you might have, you can achieve it.
The picture you hold in your mind of the wealth you have in the life you’re living is the wealth you have in the life you’re living.
There’s a quantum physics theory that you get what you think about, that your focus creates your reality. Let’s check that out with your reality as it is at present.
For instance, if you’re worried there’s not enough money to pay the bills or there’s not enough money to have any fun or there’s not enough money to pay the school fees check in with your reality and what’s happening? No reasons, no excuses just the facts.
The difference between the rich, the average and the poor is not in how much money they have, the difference that makes the difference is the mindset. That’s right, it’s the mindset that sets the difference between the rich and the poor.
It is possible for the average person to become truly wealthy. It is possible for the ‘poor’ person to become truly wealthy. And the great thing is that it’s never too late to start trying to build wealth. Some people have simply started developing the right mindset earlier than others.
Your inner beliefs and your wealth mindset help you meet your goals.
Ask yourself if you really believe that you can achieve your goal. If you don't believe you can do it, you’ll have to make some adjustments to your beliefs. And tbis is simple to do. It’s merely a matter of monitoring and analyzing your thoughts.
Write down a goal you’ve set for yourself. Set a timer for 15 minutes and underneath that goal write every single thought you have about its achievement. Uncensored! Every thought you have, the good the bad and the ugly. There is no right or wrong here. In fact, the more honest you are the better. Just let it all flow. This is the time to find out what you REALLY think.
The thoughts that you think have an impact on your achievement of your goal. So the more negative the thoughts that you unearth the greater the likelihood of dissolving them and the realize the achievement of your goal.
For example, with wealth goals a common underlying belief for a lot of people has to do with feelings of worthiness and deservedness. If these are beliefs which in the past you’ve held to be true, once you realize this, it’s a simple process to play around with a new, more helpful set of beliefs which support the realization of your goal(s).
Work with the new set of beliefs for a period of time, check in with your results and determine what impact they’ve had. And a tip here is to look for the things that have gone well. It may be that you need to step up the pace and speed up the process of incorporating the new beliefs or make some adjustments to them.
Understand this though, your subconscious mind is constantly at work for you creating the life you’re focussing on. It is therefore your responsibility to make sure that it works in the direction you REALLY want it to move in.
Gather around you the tools and create the environment that’s going to best support you to create the life you REALLY want to be living. Leave all the reasons and excuses in the past. Get excited when you face a hiccup because that’s one more that you can put behind you. Constantly guide your mind to look for your successes in the life you’re living. Start with the small ones and the big ones will follow, like day follows night.
Coach your unconscious mind with love and kindness and get it working for you to think you into the success you deserve and is your birthright.
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
A lot of people have lived with fear for so long they don't even realize they're living with it. And nothing compromises you more than the fear you've grown accustomed to.
Fear comes in many shapes and forms … anxiety, worry, frustration, anger, regret, resentment, the list goes on. Bottom line though, Fear is a ‘Possibility Stealer’. No-one is exempt from it, although some have got better at dealing with it.
For some of us fear entwines itself into our thoughts every time we decide to make a change. In that moment of decision, a trail of thoughts and feelings is ignited and weaves its way into minds … our baggage from the past … so that you can end up feeling that ‘Well … maybe this isn’t the best time …’ or other action hindering conclusions.
But what's at the bottom of it? And what can you do moment by moment to release it? Because let’s face it some people have developed efficient means of overcoming it and because some people have that means you can too.
Attention and Awareness are the keys. Fear takes over your mind when you take your attention and awareness off how you’re feeling and lose yourself in your thoughts. One thought leads to another, then another and before you know it … there’s a ‘reason’ to stop.
One way of dealing with fearful / negative feelings, which most of us have got quite proficient with, is to use it as a clue to stop what we’re doing and stay with what we know.
In some instances this is a true and sensible thing to do … in the case of putting your hand on a hotplate or stepping out into oncoming traffic. In other instances, this truly holds you back from realizing the awesome reality you were truly meant to be living.
So how can you stop that? How can you use fear as a … well as a catalyst to spur you onto bigger and better things?
Awareness and Attention to how we’re feeling are the keys. Fear creeps in, often not as a full on overpowering wave but as ‘clear, rational thinking’ presenting the downside often as those nebulous thoughts that leave you feeling deflated and/or out of sorts.
The thing is any time you entertain these nebulous, ‘rational’ thoughts, you’re asking for more of the same. So the trick is to maintain your Attention and Awareness on your thoughts and your feelings and use these as a ‘switch’ to refocus yourself on what you really want.
It’s a very simple process and as easy or straightforward as you’d care to make it. And what’s more, it can be done at any stage in the process even before it happens. That’s right Awareness and Attention can be used to ‘Prevent’ as well as to ‘Alter’ fearful thinking.
The keys to using fear as a catalyst are Attention and Awareness to what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling. The very moment you notice yourself feeling ‘stressed’ or out of sorts, is the very moment you need to reclaim your Attention and Awareness rather than consenting to go along with it.
And you can do this easily by maintaining your Awareness and Attention and changing the questions you ask yourself. Start your mind searching for the ‘reasons’ why you can be do and have all the awesome , beautiful, wonderful things you truly deserve in this life.
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
When you’re in charge of yourself, you’re in charge of you’re life. Once you’ve decided now, you’re in charge of you’re life, you’re on the path to joy and fulfilment. And yes, it is this simple.
This kind of personal mastery is available to anyone and everyone.
One of the foundation stones of personal mastery is taking responsibility for yourself and where you’re at in your life.
In taking responsibility for yourself and where you’re at in your life, you take control of how you think, feel and behave. This is what puts you in charge, because this gives you the power to choose and to choose to receive.
When I first heard about taking responsibility for myself and how I how feel, I got very caught up in the “excuses, guilt and blame game.” All the anger and resentment I had felt towards outside circumstances, I re-directed at myself. Surprise, surprise, this got me nowhere and was very far removed from taking 100% responsibility.
Taking responsibility is about letting go of excuses, guilt and blame and being accountable. It’s about creating and maintaining a productive internal relationship between you and yourself. It’s about developing a trust between you and your unconscious mind so that you become fully integrated on all levels of being; mind body and soul.
In developing this relationship with yourself, you develop a reliable resource for moving forward in your life, allowing you access to incredible sources of knowledge, judgment and wisdom. It’s this trust in yourself which allows you to feel the strength and centeredness of your own increasing personal mastery.
If you’ve taken the time to read this, then you, as well as I are on the path of personal mastery and as a result making the world a better place. For some that means grand and visionary dreams like Richard Branson and Christopher Howard. For others like Mother Theresa that means impacting the lives of those less fortunate than themselves. And for yet others it could be as simple as recognizing the beauty and wonder of the world around them.
Because you too are on the path of personal mastery that also means you’re aware of other successful people around you in many different areas of life and living and you’ll also know now that one very common trait of successful people is taking 100% responsibility for themselves and where they’re at. When something goes awry for a successful person what you’ll hear yourself say are things like:
“ I took my eye off the ball.”
“ I allowed my focus to become scattered.”
“ I didn’t do my research thoroughly.”
“ I didn’t listen to my intuition/gut feeling.”
“ This happened, but it allowed me to do this, and that’s meant I’ve now been able to ....”
Right here, right now you can begin letting go of excuses, blame and guilt and begin taking 100% responsibility for yourself and your outcomes and reclaim your personal power.
Once you’ve made the decision to allow yourself to be willing to take 100% responsibility for yourself and your outcomes, your whole life will change.
From this position of personal mastery and power you will enable yourself to let go of your limiting beliefs and decisions, stories and excuses you’ve created to account for where you’re at in your life.
If you really want to create the life of your dreams the bottom line is you have to be willing to draw your line in the sand and say to yourself:
“ I am the creator of my reality.”
Whatever you believe will show in the way you think, feel and behave and the outcomes you have had to date. Be really thankful for your past, because your past is a fabulous tool to show you what you can let go of in order to create the life of your dreams.
The process is this simple. I am not here to convince you that this is so because whatever you choose to believe you will be right. If you choose to believe this process of adjusting what you believe is hard, you will be right. If on the other hand you choose to believe it is easy you will also be right.
So, what do you choose?”
A useful belief to take on, if you choose now which will fast track the creation of the reality of your dreams is believing that you and only you are 100% responsible for the creation of your reality and that you achieve this easily and naturally right here, right now.
You choose your “luck.”
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
Isn’t it fascinating how everyone views the things that happen to them differently?
Some people are always looking on the downside, just “knowing” things will go wrong. Others expect nothing, that everything will remain “same old, same old.” And then there are those people “born with a golden spoon,” it doesn’t matter what happens they always expect to come out on top.
Everyone has their own “story” or “stories” they run their life by. Some of those stories serve you better than others.
I remember a Professional Development course I attended years ago when I was teaching. One of the “games” explored the presupposition that expectations affect outcomes.
The exact parameters of the “game” elude me, but the participants sat in a circle and there were counters involved. The object of the “game” was to collect as many counters as possible.
Unbeknownst to the participants the coordinators had “rigged” the game, so they were divided into three groups:
Group 1, could rarely win
Group 2, randomly won and lost
Group 3, could rarely lose
It was extraordinary watching the body language of the participants as the game progressed. All the participants began with a degree of curiosity and interest in what was happening. This changed dramatically as the game moved on.
Group 1’s interest in the game decreased markedly as time passed. This took longer for some than for others. But gradually they all succumbed.
Their posture wilted; their faces, heads and shoulders drooped. Energy and enthusiasm waned. Bickering and niggling with other participants increased as did verbal disparagement of the game and the coordinators. If by some chance they had a “win”, they were shocked and didn’t expect it to continue.
For this group decision making became laissez-faire at best. The prevailing attitude being “Why bother.”
Group 2’s reaction was much more varied. Some of the members of this group identified more strongly with Group 1. They had a greater expectation that things would go wrong.
Others identified more strongly with Group 3 and had the expectation that eventually everything would turn out for the best.
For this group decision making overall became much more of a challenge. They took longer to make decisions and less inclined to take risks because they were less confident of the outcome being to their liking and more attached to it.
Group 3’s reaction was equally as interesting. To begin with some members of this group couldn’t believe their “luck.”
With each “win” their enjoyment of the “game” increased, as did their energy and enthusiasm. They sat up straighter in their chairs, became more involved and alert, were chattier and generally had more fun. They were more supportive of the rest of the group and less inclined to make disparaging comments.
Within a short time frame winning came naturally to them. In fact they expected to win. If by some chance they incurred a loss, they saw this as unusual and they got over it and moved on quickly.
The most fascinating part of this game for the coordinators in particular was when they opened the game to its natural ebb and flow. The members of the groups maintained the expectations they had created in the first part of the game.
Group 1 expected to lose, even though with very little effort they could have changed this outcome. They now believed that winning was outside of their control and had stopped looking for opportunities because they believed they didn’t exist for them.
Group 2 were so worried about whether they would win or lose that they sometimes missed the opportunities until it was too late. Not all the time, just sometimes. It took them longer to recover from those ‘missed” opportunities and any losses they had.
Group 3 were so sure they were going to win they just expected to win. And they did.
In less than and hour no matter what story these people ran their lives from before, they had changed their stories, without them even realizing they were changing them.
Take a moment now and reflect back over the outcomes you’ve had in your life. And thinking now about those outcomes, what story or stories would you have been running to have achieved those outcomes? That’s right.
If you’ve achieved the life you always thought you would have, then the stories you’ve been running have been the right ones for you. If however your life is different to the one you thought you would have or you would prefer a different life then maybe you need to have a think about the stories you’ve been running and make some changes.
And yes, it is that simple. So to live the life you want to be living now what stories would you need to be running to achieve this? Is that easy or is it simple
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
Are you ready to be in my ZOOBA Pro Club Membership?
As you may have noticed, over the last couple of months we’ve gone through significant changes to our branding and services. First of all, we have successfully re-branded NWN – Nationwide Networking to ZOOBA. The feedback has been exceptional from our new and existing membership base. You may have also noticed one other thing.We have completely stopped selling our membership access online! Why? You see, I’m a bit of a perfectionist. Ok, not a bit, a lot! I’ve been working incredibly hard with our team here at ZOOBA over the past few months to create a resource offered by no one else on the web. Has it been easy? Um, no! But I have to admit the feedback has spurred us on even more so. For over eight years now I have worked with service based business professionals in helping them grow their business including speaking at over 60 major conferences each year for organisations such as; Toyota, Australian Institute of Company Directors, Real Estate Institute of Victoria, Safety Institute of Victoria, Tourism Alliance of Victoria and many government events featuring state and federal ministers for small business. You see, what I’ve noticed during this journey is that no one has satisfactorily serviced service based business professionals . You may in fact be one of them, i.e. a consultant, author, coach or even solo-preneur? Why have you been neglected to date? Well, it turns out that it is incredibly time consuming and expensive to provide all the resources a service based business needs to grow. Well, thankfully I’m more persistent than a bull at a gate. Because I have found a way despite the obvious hurdles! Since then we have introduced to our existing members the ZOOBA Pro Club Membership and in it our Pro Club members have gained exclusive access to key tools they can proactively utilise in their business to generate new clients, such as;
media guides
blog submission listings
networking activity templates
ability to promote one event per week in our email campaign
plus loads more.
And this is only just the beginning. We have a content schedule of over 52 resources scheduled to be released in our exclusive pro-club members area over the next 12 months that will see you boost your bottom line in no time!
In the meantime, if you haven’t had a chance to view my video on how to attract clients from Twitter, I suggest you opt in to our site now to gain exclusive access.
Simply enter your details on the left hand panel now and we'll send you out an email with the link to the video. Here’s to your success.
A well balanced life must be supported by a strong foundation of the basic building blocks of good living often called the five P's: Purpose, Power, Passion, Principles and Perspectives.
PURPOSE
Purpose is pretty basic really isn’t it? It’s your reason for being, giving meaning to life and is a primary cornerstone of happiness. The dictionary defines happiness as a state of well being and contentment however according to Aristotle, more than this, it’s the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.
To be happy we need both meaning and well-being in our lives, having both a sense of purpose and the experience of positive emotions. If we have no real overriding purpose we can feel aimless and dissatisfied with ourselves and our lives.
POWER
Our Personal Power is our core strengths. In this sense, it’s not the dominance of others, but the empowering of ourselves. It’s our own combination of distinctive and exceptional skills and abilities that define who we are and determine our uniqueness and individuality.
We’re all good at some things, but when we tap into our core strengths and get into our personal “flow” that’s when we excel.
PASSION
Our passions are the things we do in our lives; the things in life that allow us to really experience our Purpose. It’s the things which we’re passionate about that give us energy and are fulfilling.
If we’re always doing things which we have to do and none of the things we love to do we can feel tired and drained.
PRINCIPLES
Our principles are the rules of living we create for ourselves. Things like honesty, integrity, peace lovers, family, humour. We’re all different and we all have varying degrees of importance on different ‘guiding principles’ and these can vary in different situations as well.
Altruistically, if we use the governing principle that they’re ‘safe for ourselves, the people around us and the world we live in there is no right or wrong or good or bad.
Compromising our Principles can cause us much stress and naturally if we’re under stress we’re going to feel quite unbalanced.
PERSPECTIVE
Our perspective is the long view of life, it’s about what we believe in, the fundamental beliefs we hold about life, living, and ourselves and the Universe. Our religious beliefs or non-beliefs fall into this category.
Here again, we’re all different and if we respect each other’s right to our own beliefs and assume the guiding principle of safe for ourselves, the people around us and the world we live in, we’re pretty right.
As with Principles, compromising our Perspectives on life, can cause us to feel stressed and imbalanced.
THE FOUNDATION
A balanced life requires a strong foundation. What you’ll find is the decisions we make and the various life skills we all struggle with in our day to day business lives become so much easier to manage once we’ve worked out our 5 P’s.
We become anchored by our Life Purpose, emPOWERed when we’re doing the things we’re good at, energized when we’re engaged in activities aligned with our Passions and at one with ourselves when we’re living in accordance with our Principles and Perspectives.
So the tasks are:
Discover your Why (your Life Purpose)
Work out what you love to do (your Passions)
Recognize what you’re good at (your Powers)
Realize what your underlying values are (your Principles and
Determine your beliefs (your Perspectives)
When you’ve got a game plan for your business and your life based on the answers to these tasks, that’s when you’ll truly step into your “flow” and find you’ve created an absolute recipe for success.
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
Generally speaking when we think ab out Mind Games it traditionally has many negative connotations and associations. It brings to mind the manipulative, controlling people in the family, friendship or work groups. There is one person we generally don’t associate Mind Games with and that is ourselves.
Whether you like it or not e ach and everyday you play Mind Games inside your own head, but do you do it with ‘volition’ or does it just ‘happen’? That is the million dollar question and the answer quite frankly has an immediate effect on your outcomes.
Science and in particular Quantum physics has for many years now firmly establis hed the link between the what you think about and your reality. In fact athletes and top performers in business have used the power of thought to improve performance and achieve goals for years.
That sounds simple you might be thinking but if you’re reading this article my guess is you haven’t found it easy and you’re looking for a way to make it happen.
Your physiology has a big impact ton the way you think and as a result on the way you feel.
You may or may not have tried this before but play full out with me for a few moments now while you’re sitting in your chair and try a little experiment to see for yourself.
Example 1
Drop your eyes and look at the floor
Turn down the corners of your mouth
Drop your head
Slump your shoulders
Let you core muscles slacken
And now tell me (or rather acknowledge to yourself ) how are you feeling? My guess is, if you’ve played at 100% and you’re being truly honest with your self, is that you’re feeling somewhat unmotivated, a bit sluggish and possibly a little flat.
Now let’s have a go at Example 2:
Lift your eyes and look upwards
Raise the corners of your mouth
Raise your head
Straighten your shoulders
Gently tighten your core muscles
And how do you feel now? More motivated? Energetic? Cheerful? It’s more or less instant, isn’t it? Changing you physiology, changes the way you feel.
How powerful is that ? From this very simple but powerful experiment you’ve made the mind/body connection that by merely changing your physiology you can change the way you feel.
That’s a great association but just how can you utilize that in your life you ask?
As business owners it’s so easy to get caught up in the grind of working in our businesses and the administration tasks associated with it that we often don’t realize that really little changes can make a big difference to the way we feel and as a result how efficient we are and therefore our results.
From this very small experiment, you could easily create what in NLP terms is called a ‘Pattern Interrupt.’
A very basic one for those people with programmable watches and or mobile phones is to set an alarm to go off and each time the alarm goes off, look up, smile, raise your head, straighten your shoulder and gently tighten your core muscles.
For those people without those gadgets or have some technological challenges set a trigger in your everyday life to remind yourself. So it could be that every time you see a green traffic light you remember to take look up, take a long, slow, deep breath, smile, raise your head, straighten your shoulder and gently tighten your core muscles.
So just what are the Mind Games you’re playing with yourself propelling you towards?
A life that is the same old, same old or even worse spiraling out of control into a depressing mass of anxiety and insecurity?
Or are using the Mind Games you’re playing with yourself taking you towards an abundant, balanced and fulfilling future?
The choice is yours.
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
The buzz word of the moment is work/life balance. Every week in the papers and magazines you find articles telling you how important it is.
And with all the talk in the media about work related stress and creating a healthy work/life balance we can get really ‘stressed’ about creating that balance which kind of defeats the purpose really.
As you’ve probably discovered as a small business owner life is extremely changeable which means balance and routine is often easier said than done in the roles you play in your business, let alone adding in the roles you play in life.
The truth as you’ve probably discovered, is there’s ebb and flow in all areas and what works at one time is not necessarily going to work at another. A good example of this is the end of a financial year.
When you’re trying to achieve a “balance” between work and life, it can feel frustrating because it can often feel like you’re constantly having to make choices between work and having a life!
It’s a bit like a see-saw really, as one side goes up the other goes down. And guess what? That’s how it’s meant to be. If you’ve ever tried to create a perfect horizontal balance on a see-saw you’ll understand how difficult that is (unless you’re belong to the cirque de solei).
The very fact that the see-saw moves up and down is the whole point. In fact it’s actually what makes it fun! And it’s the same with life. Life is not static. In truth, if it was most of us would find it boring.
Life is all about growth and change. You’ve probably heard that old saying, ‘Dead and dying or green and growing.’
Work life balance realistically is probably better thought of as work/life ‘flow.’ So rather than thinking about creating balance in your life, how about thinking of it in terms of a stream.
The thing is a stream has to find its flow and realistically if it doesn’t, if it’s still for too long, it becomes stagnant, smelly and eventually dries up.
When you start out in business, it can be a bit of a trickle which moves in and around the rocks, gathers momentum and becomes a creek which turns into a river with lakes and eventually enters into the ocean.
Sometimes there’s a clear path and the creek just flows along at a steady pace. Sometimes there’s rocks and debris and it has to create its own path.
Sometimes there’s a gentle slope and the creek builds up a bit of momentum. And still at other times the land is pulled out from under it creating a waterfall. How big the drop is, determines how spectacular the waterfall is.
As the creek flows along there are flat bits where everything is calm and still, at other times it’s a gentle flow. At others it moves along at a manageable pace and at others it rushes along and depending on how many obstacles in its way it can turn into rapids. And then of course there are the waterfalls which turn into beautiful ponds at the bottom.
And this is exactly what its like in business!
As business owners it’s our role to look after ourselves well enough when everything is flowing along nicely so that when the flat times and the rapid times happen we can put systems in place to avoid stagnation and deal with any waterfalls that might turn up.
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
Life can sometimes seem uncontrollable leaving us feeling overwhelmed and frustrated like we’re being pulled in different directions. WE then label life as stressful!
However there’s no need to leave your job or your family or even run away and hide in a far away place just to feel at peace and in control. It’s often difficult to remember that keeping our life balanced is quite simple. The truth is, life balance begins within us first and foremost - regardless of what’s happening around us.
Here are three simple ways to help start us in our journey to finding inner peace, harmony and life balance:
1.Create time for reflection . Personal time for reflection is often one of the first things we forgo when life gets busy. We’re more likely to focus our energy on trying to accomplish the most we possibly can, helping others, multi-tasking, meeting goals and crossing off to-do lists.
It’s easy to feel we don’t have enough time for ourselves. It's funny though that when a new project comes up we need to allocate some time for, we’re able to find time for it.
To enjoy a balanced life, we need to remember that quiet time for ourselves is extremely necessary. It can re-energize you and make you more productive.
2.Create time for self-care . It’s vitally necessary to do the things we enjoy so we can refresh ourselves.
When we’re tired or stressed out, even the smallest problem can become a nightmare. When we’re rested and relaxed, it’s easier to find the positive in most situations.
When we take the time to take care of ourselves, we’re able to replace our burnt out energy quickly. It’s easier for us to handle difficult situations and easier for us to find joy and peace in our everyday lives.
3.Learn to be flexible . As business owners, high expectations is one of the biggest cause of stress. We’re all guilty of this at some point in time. We have a certain expectation on how our lives must be and we get frustrated when things don’t fall into place.
Relax! Take a deep breath and open yourself to the possibilities. One of the most challenging things I’ve found to come to terms with is not being attached to the means.
Rise above the stressful situation and look at it from a different angle.
Try to go with the flow? And if that doesn’t work you could try flowing with the go! When we allow ourselves to do this, we may find that our creativity is released. Imagine being like a tree bending with the breeze and moving through challenging situations with ease.
These three simple steps can dramatically change our state of well-being. And support us in creating a peaceful, joyful and a more balanced life.
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
No matter what has caused your unique point of view to come about - it has come about. YOU do exist; you are thinking; you are perceiving; you are asking - and you are being answered.
~Abraham/Esther Hicks
I thought this was a really interesting take on life and it really captured my imagination. So much so, I thought I'd share it with you.
If I exist; if I am thinking, if I am perceiving, if am asking and I am being answered then just what happens if I don't like what I'm getting? Sometimes we get so caught up in life that we don’t pause to think about the way we’re living our lives … at least as a business owner that’s what I’ve found.
THE TREADMILL
It seems quite difficult at times to get off the treadmill of working and bookwork and the wonderful GST.
Then I really have to stop and think ... just what am I asking for?
And the next question would be ... So just what do I really want?
CELEBRATE THE CHALLENGES
I’m not sure if you can relate to this or not but sometimes I find I get stuck in my stuff it. What I’ve found though it's not my stuff that's the challenge, it's how long you allow yourself to stay stuck in your stuff.
In actual fact having your stuff come up is a good thing and cause for celebration because it allows you to look at the beliefs underlying it, see if it still fits and release it if it's not.
SIMPLY RE-WRITE YOUR RULE BOOK
And it's that simple, when you pause and recognize it for what it really is: the opportunity to revise your beliefs or your rule book. It’s a simple process: pause, check out the fit, keep or discard and move on.
In the realm of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) there’s a process called 'Pattern Interupt' which is a process designed to 'interrupt' a behaviour or a pattern.
ITS EASY, ASK BETTER QUESTIONS
In its simplest form it’s a series of questions used to focus your mind on what you really want. Question such as:
So what do I really want?
Yeah, but what if I could have it all?
Yeah, but what if it did work?
The next time you find yourself in a position where you're presented with the idea that it's not possible to have something or you've 'received' something you would rather not have ... ask one of these questions and see how quickly you get your answer.
What I've found is ... the quicker and more often I ask myself the questions the quicker the answers come and the better the questions the better the answers.
Can you think of any questions to add to the list?
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
As Business Owners one of the things we can become acutely aware of is our energy levels. The Laws of Energy are in point of fact coded directly into our bodies. It’s one of the currencies of life because we’re constantly exchanging energy with everyone we come into contact with.
The simplest description of energy is movement, the motion of something. It can be as obviously dramatic as a hurricane or as tiny as the electrons in a light bulb as it’s turned on to illuminate a room.
We’re all born quite sensitive to energy in every form it comes in. We’re very quick to ‘read’ a person's energy, whether we like the way they move, sound, and express themselves. We often refer to this energy as a person's vibration, frequently called ‘vibe’ for short.
The currency of life is the exchange of energy. In actual fact, there’s plenty of energy. And since there’s an abundance of energy, that means there’s more than enough for every one. In reality however a lot of people feel they don’t get enough.
So what causes the imbalance? Why is it that some people seem to have so much energy and others struggle to have enough?
Commonly we all encounter situations where most of the energy isn’t. If the energy can’t flow, then we ultimately experience a sense of poverty. Those who are able to promote the flow of energy will always experience a sense of prosperity and abundance.
Surprisingly , generosity creates greater abundance, so you never need to worry about running out of energy. The more generous you are with whatever you’ve got, the greater will be the experience of your wealth in life! To make the most of your currency of life, keep your energy flowing. Giving and sharing your talents and vibe are the best assurance of prosperity!
The reason generosity produces such a positive balance of energy is because the most important factor about energy is that it continues to flow! When energy stays still, it loses power and value.
The moment energy is flowing, it increases in power and value. The best form of energy exchange is when it’s voluntary, pleasant, and reciprocal, giving and receiving similar amounts of good energy. This is called a balanced exchange.
Paradoxically, it’s those people who’ve tapped into the abundance of energy that feel the best and rarely feel that life is unfair.
So, what's your vibe like? Do you light up a room when you enter with your smile, the cheerful tone of your voice, the bounce in your step, and the good news you bring?
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
The best way to kick-start outstanding results in your business is to define your dreams and set your goals, however this is can be easier said than done!
A great way to approach defining your dreams and setting goals is to make:
a ‘ Wish List’ (your dreams) … then
a ‘ To Do ’ List (your goals)
THE STARTING POINT
VERY successful people are generally happy. This doesn’t mean that those who ‘make it’ are always joyful – however they’re generally happy and feel great about themselves and their lives.
They often talk about how happy they are to be doing what they love which can be misconstrued by many as a definition of their goal.
However when it’s used by someone who’s already succeeded it’s an indication that the work itself brings feelings of happiness and gratitude.
To be truly happy in your work is a good sign you’ll be successful in achieving your goals.
BOTTOM LINE: HAPPINESS COMES FIRST
Some people who are unhappy with their circumstances have the mistaken idea that if they could change their circumstances they’d be happy. This is backwards. Research into successful people shows that: When you decide to be happy, that’s the point when your circumstances change.
But, if there’s chaos and stress all around us, how can we be happy?
THE POWER OF DAY DREAMS
The answer lies in our so- called daydreams, something we were all really, good at as children.
As children you had no ‘social regulator’ so you would have expressed your deepest hopes, wishes and desires in describing your dreams. You would have been able to describe in great detail all the wonderful pictures of what you’d be doing with absolute faith that it would be so.
As we get older we learn to suppress these dreams not understanding how powerful they are and how happy we were when we were in them.
In order to be truly happy, achieve your goals and your heart’s desire, you need to become like that child again and explore your dreams and heart-felt wishes.
DREAMS RELATE TO THE ‘NOW’
Children’s dreams relate to the ‘Now’. They have a clear idea of the future with no concept of failure. To be happy, you need to do the same … i.e. to achieve your dreams you first have to live them in your mind.
At first, as an adult, this could take some real mental effort; you need to get really involved with all the feelings and sensations of your dreams.
How you recreate this dreaming state is irrelevant, just so long as you get yourself fully involved in your dreams AND the dream is yours. That’s right, yours.
Your dreams must be filled with the things, events, circumstances and achievements that YOU really want for YOU! This is not about the fulfillment of other people’s wants and needs.
YOUR WISH LIST: THE KEY TO ACHIEVEMENT AND SUCCESS
The more ‘daydreaming’ you do, the easier it becomes. It doesn’t have to take hours, just a few minutes each day, preferably morning and night … and heads up the more you do it the easier and quicker it becomes.
GETTING CLEAR
Set your intention to get clear on your ‘ Wish List’. Keep your mind open as you go about your day and makes notes of the things that ‘squeal your wheels’ or ‘ rock your boat’ .
Many people dream of having more money, a fancy car, a nice house but because of our social conditioning, which makes us feel daydreaming is a waste of time, most people only get as far as vague, undefined desires which quickly fade. We then tend to ‘settle for’ what we have and we remain disgruntled, disappointed and dissatisfied.
Don’t let that happen to your dreams.
USE YOUR DREAMS
Get involved; build a bright, tangible picture of your dreams. Collect pictures, build a collage or a vision board, a new screensaver for your computer, carry a very big cheque for your services, take that test drive, visit that display home or that exclusive boutique.
GET SPECIFIC
If you want more money , how much? When do you want it? How often do you want it?
If you want a new car, what sort? What model? What colour on the outside? What colour on the inside? What features?
Get in touch with the detail; make your dreams as tangible as possible.
GET IN TOUCH WITH THE FEELINGS OF HAVING IT NOW
One of the things which inhibits the realization of dreams is to continually feel that feeling of wishing. Lose that feeling of ‘are we there yet?’
Whatever’s happening in the ‘Real World’ make sure you stay in touch with the feelings of ‘ Having it Now .’
Staying in touch with the mindset that allows you to be happy in the moment, enjoy your daily progress toward your dream and strengthen your core desire really is the art of happiness.
THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF SUCCESS ARE:
Your excitement about what you’re doing
Your commitment to your dream
Your faith in your ability to persevere
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.Your SuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
Stress and exhaustion can be the result of running on the treadmill of personal and professional life if we cannot find a balance between the two, over a period of time.
A good attitude and positive affirmations can keep us going for a while however if we’re not doing the little things to take care of ourselves along the way then major conflicts can sometimes pull out the plug and cause us to short circuit.
Generally speaking feelings of being out of balance can be felt as discouragement, flatness agitation, impatience or maybe even aggressive behaviours. Personally I’ve come to notice that when things are becoming out of balance for me, my language becomes rather … colourful shall we say ;)
Naturally, there are periods of time when the scale tips one way or another when we’re in business for ourselves however it’s our responsibility to find that point where on average things are balanced.
For me, I find that my inner and outer awareness is like having one foot in and one foot out; more or less like I’m watching myself. This keeps me balanced and conscious of my emotional, physical and spiritual needs and at the same time I find I can be considerate of the people and experiences around me. Making healthy choices in the moment can keep us present and open.
I can remember a time, thankfully qujte a few years ago now, I was having a big whinge to a girlfriend and being the committed friend she was, she asked me ‘Why didn’t I just quit?’ It brought me up short and really made me think.
I realized at that moment, that the only person responsible for the way I felt was me. It was definitely one of the most defining moments in my life and quite frankly it’s been a tough realization! At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing or not doing, the buck stops with me.
I gotta tell you, there’s times when I really hate that realization because sometimes it just feels like everyone else is to blame and it’s because of them or the circumstances that I feel so bad. And what’s more, it’s up to them to make me feel great and happy again. However once I get over myself and step back into my own power, that’s when life gets back on its feet again.
I also realized that in the past, I’ve been known to control my days with busy-ness, trying to make success happen by working hard. It wasn’t until I shifted this belief and had faith that, when I was making healthy choices for myself the universe was working for me and providing support. Choosing to listen to the voice within inspires me to take care of my needs so that no one else has to.
If we can have faith and move through our days, making healthy choices for ourselves, the reflection of our life will be fulfilling.
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
All of us, yes that’s right all of us, have that little voice inside our heads. The prime directive of that little voice is to protect the being. Unfortunately, for a lot of people that little voice has become their worst critic. The ability to have a happy, fulfilling and successful life, whatever that means to you, is your ability to enrol your little voice into being your own best coach!
So, just how can you do that, you might well ask? Being a great coach is about respecting the individual. Assuming the best of everyone you meet. The presupposition being, everyone does the best they possibly can given their ability to process the resources, knowledge and information available to them at any given point in time, including you.
Your individual little voice inside your head, like everyone else’s, is designed to protect you based on the information you have deleted, stored and generalized over your lifetime. And where you are at the moment is the perfect place for you to be, given your ability to process the resources, knowledge and information available to you.
I would like to have you consider for a moment if you will, how much notice would you take of anyone who had no respect or appreciation for you as an individual?
Now, thinking for a moment about the little voice inside your head, just how much respect and appreciation have you given it for keeping you safe to this point in your life? That's exactly right! If you have thoughts, now or later, your little voice has done a pretty remarkable job.
The wonderful thing is, because you have thoughts, now or even in a moment, if you happen not to like those thoughts you’re thinking, you can choose to think different thoughts. That’s the truly remarkable thing about thoughts and inherently everyone knows that.
The thing some people do is beat themselves up for the thoughts they think rather than appreciating those thoughts and requesting a different set of parameters to search for.
The more you are able to appreciate the successes you've had in your life, the better your filters will become at sorting for successes. Because you are sorting for success the more successes you will notice.
Because you notice more successes, the more successes you will have. Because you have more successes, the more you will expect to have.
And because you expect to have more successes, the more successes you will have.
Imagine for a minute what your life would look like if every time your little voice set up a precautionary line of chatter, you were able to recognize it for what it was, your little voice doing the best job it knows how to protect you. In that instant you could choose to thank it for keeping you safe and offer it an alternative line of thought.
Naturally the choice is yours. This choice though, gives you the opportunity if you choose to accept it, of checking out other options.
You could for example ask yourself … Is this line of thought going to support me to get the outcome I want? Or do I need to revise it to achieve the outcome I really want?
Remember, be your own best coach and put yourself in the best possible position for success, whether that’s doing it on your own, asking for support from the people around you, finding a mentor, creating a mastermind group, taking a coach or a combination of approaches.
Remember: When the student is ready the teacher arrives. Unknown
About the Author
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
Whether you believe it or not Quantum Physics says your thoughts create your reality. It’s not just mumbo jumbo, science has actually proved this to be so.
Your thoughts create your reality. So just what is it that you're thinking?
Are you thinking of what you do want? Or are you consolidating more of what you don't want in your life?
How can I tell, you might well ask? This is a lot more simple than you might think; you merely need to check in with your results.
Are you living the life of your dreams? Or are there things you've wanted to do in your life that you aren't doing or even more importantly can't ever see yourself doing?
You're dreams don't have to be huge, not everyone wants to be a mega, multi millionaire. Not every one wants to put the time or the effort into creating this result or the commitment and/or the responsibility associated with attracting that much money.
Your dreams could very well include a nice house, in a nice friendly neighbourhood, with a happy family and your extended family who all get on really well, living nearby or at least communicating regularly.
Your dream might include the car that you drive, the people you associate with and/or the charities you donate your time and/or your money to.
Your dream might be simple or it might be complex ... the thing is ... it has to be YOUR dream, the one that rocks your boat or squeals your wheels ... not mine, or the person next door or the person up the street. YOURS. YOUR life. YOUR dream.
Whether your dream is world shattering in a global sense or world shattering on a more personal level makes it no less important. Ultimately, the world will be a much better place if it's full of happy, caring and productive individuals.
So why not organize your thinking. Decide what it is you really want. Start with something small if need be and believe it or not, focus on it, take some action, any action toward it. Then, just expect it to show up, letting go of the need to control where it comes from because once you do that, that’s when the magic begins. It’s amazing how it works once you let go of the need to control the outcome.
When that something small turns up in your life now, as it will if you focus on it as if it's already there, that means you can expect the bigger things to turn up as well.
So go ahead now, what is it you want?
About the Author
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
Allow your thoughts to excite you. Feel the fear of taking risks. Acknowledge that it is all a little scary. Then overcome your fears by thinking about the rewards, which can be limitless. Go with the flow! ~Lilian Too
Fear is a ‘Possibility Stealer’
No-one is exempt from it, although some have got better at dealing with it. A lot of people have lived with fear for so long they don't even realize they're living with it. Yet, nothing compromises you more than the fear you've grown accustomed to.
Fear can weave itself into your thoughts every time you decide to make a change or do something differently. In that moment of decision, a trail of thoughts and feelings is ignited and entwines its way into minds … our baggage from the past … so that you can end up feeling that ‘Well … maybe this isn’t the best time …’ or other action delaying conclusions.
Dealing with Fear
One way of dealing with fearful / negative feelings, which most of us have got quite proficient with, is to use it as a clue to stop what we’re doing and stay with what we know.
Fear takes over your mind when you take your attention and awareness off how you’re feeling and lose yourself in your thoughts. One thought leads to another, then another and before you know it … there’s a ‘reason’ or an ‘excuse’ to stop doing what you’re doing.
Rational Thoughts
And yet I’m sure you know someone who never seems to let fear take over thoughts. So why is it that some people deal efficiently with fear and others don’t?
Fear comes as those ‘rational’ thoughts which ‘make sense’ or confusion and inability to make a decision or worry, anxiety, regret, resentment, frustration or anger to name a few. It’s those nebulous thoughts which leave you feeling deflated and out of sorts.
Use Fear as a Catalyst For Change
Instead of using fear as a sign to avoid, put off or stop what you’re doing use it as a signal to take action, any action. It doesn’t matter how big or small it is simply keeping on keeping on will set a new range of parameters into your life.
Attention and Awareness are the Keys
The key to using fear as a catalyst are Attention and Awareness to what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling. The very moment you notice yourself feeling ‘stressed’ or out of sorts, is the very moment you need to reclaim your Attention and Awareness rather than consenting to go along with it.
And you can do this easily by maintaining your Awareness and Attention and changing the questions you ask yourself. Start your mind searching for the ‘reasons’ why you can be do and have all the awesome, beautiful, wonderful things you truly deserve in this life.
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
Over the past couple of decades, there’s been a substantial increase in working hours, due to a number of things like information technology and an intense, competitive work environment.
As a result work-related stress has become a major health and safety issue. The 1997 ACTU National Survey on Stress at Work found that one in four people took time off work because of stress.
Many people all over the world are experiencing burnout due to over work and increased stress. According to a recent study for the Centre for Work-Life Policy in the US, seventy percent of Americans, and eighty-one percent globally, say their jobs are affecting their health.
Of these between forty-six and fifty-nine percent of workers feel that stress is affecting their interpersonal and sexual relationships. Additionally, men feel that there is a certain stigma associated with saying “I can’t do this”.
As a small business owner, you’re probably very aware that the relationship between personal and business life can be tricky to say the least!
So just what is Work life balance?
Possibly one of the best ways I’ve heard it being described was in a Monash Uni Working Paper and was more about what it’s not … work-life conflict.
Cieri et al 2002 describe it as a form of inner role conflict in which the role pressures from work and other life domains, such as family are mutually incompatible in some respect, whereby participation in one role is made more difficult by the virtue of participation in the other.
Initially the concept of work/life conflict was focused on the impact of family demands on work. It now extends to the impact work has on individual stress, relationships and family well being.
So work life balance is in contrast, the maintenance of a balance between responsibilities at work and at home.
Work life balance is a multi-dimensional issue that has no single answer as there’s no single problem to solve. This means that developing and maintaining a healthy work-life balance can be delicate to say the least especially as a small business owner.
The thing is, there’s no perfect one-size fits all formula for a healthy work-life balance and this is where a lot of us come unstuck. Trying to create a schedule that’s the same every day and every week is unrealistic and possibly even soul destroying.
Life is fluid and changeable which means that your work-life balance will vary from month to month, week to week and sometimes even from day to day!
The right balance for you today will probably be quite different tomorrow and the next day.
The right balance will be different if you’re single or if you’re in a relationship and different again if your married or defacto.
The right balance will also be different if you have children or not, if you’re just starting out or if you’ve been in business a while or whether it’s tax time or not.
In the end, the key word is balance. You need to find the right balance that works for you. Celebrate your successes and don't dwell on your failures. Life is a process, and so is striving for balance in your life.
About the Author:
Leanne Watson is the Principal and founder of Your Successful Mind and creator of the MindRight audio concept - the mind and state re-programming tool for busy people that you back in the drivers seat of your life.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just because that's the way things have been in the past, that that's the way they have to be in the future. Your mind is a highly sophisticated tool which can be used to your advantage.
If you're serious about living a life on purpose and creating the life you really want, you'll benefit from joining the League of the Inspired www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/SubscribeNew
For most businesses there is a giant in their industry. A business who is a household name. They dominate your sector, although they are not pursuing your customers because they are the big end of town.
They don't even know you exist. And you ignore them because their clients are not yours.
Lets say you have a motor mechanics business with half a dozen staff. You don't see yourself in competition with the BMW service department in the next suburb. Your competition is a guy about the same size as you a few blocks away. So what you do, is check out what he is doing.
But, if you were able to get a million dollars of marketing advice, do you think you could blow him away? You can't afford the fees? What if you could get that advice for nothing?
Wander down to the BMW service centre and look around. See how clean their service area is. Check out their comfortable waiting rooms. Look at how their staff is presented. BMW spends millions on developing their image.
Now how difficult would it be to give your garage a lick of paint. Supply clean uniforms for your staff. Clean up your waiting room and put in today's paper and a coffee machine?
Don't try and copy the guy down the road, pick up your marketing ideas from the best in the business. While there are many things you can't afford to do that they do, there are probably plenty of things you can do.
And when you start to apply these ideas to your business, the guy down the road won't even be in the game.
And you can get this million dollar marketing advice for nothing by just opening your eyes and turning your head in the right direction.
May Your Business Be - As You Plan It.
About the author:
Dr Greg Chapman is the Director of Empower Business Solutions and The Australian Business Coaching Club and is the internationally recognized author of The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success. Visit www.FivePillarsBusinessSuccess.com and download his Free Mission Statements Made Easy Tool. You can also contact Dr. Chapman on info@empowersolutions.com.au and 03 9256 6215
Doing business the traditional way or online would not be complete without clients or customers. Whether you're selling a product or service, you will always have to attract people to what you're offering and encourage them to take action. Generating more clients is a priority for any business and should be done consistently.
There are easy ways you can build your list of regular customers or opt-in list online. You can start with one and then as you get positive feedback, you can try the other methods.
1. Offer a free newsletter. This newsletter method is very effective in building your list especially if it contains valuable information that people can use in their daily lives as well as engaging graphics and images. Sharing tips and strategies as well as interesting topics will make your newsletter attractive to people.
2. Provide a subscription form. You can offer your newsletter through a subscription. You can do this by providing a form on your site where visitors can register their name and email address in exchange for a free newsletter. Include a short description of what your newsletter is about.
3. Ensure quality content. Quality is what most web users look for in the sites that they visit and in the information (articles, blog posts, etc.) that they read. Quality content means information that is useful and interesting to read. Something that can influence people in their daily lives.
4. Post engaging articles. Providing well written and interesting articles is one surefire way of attracting people. You can post them not only your site but in other free article directories as well where you will be exposed to a bigger audience.
5. Write an ebook. An ebook need not be very detailed or professionally written. You can include a compilation of your best articles or tips and techniques. This is one great bonus you can give to your loyal subscribers and a good way to attract more subscribers. You can also offer this as a giveaway for any special event of your friends who have their own websites.
6. Launch an event. If you have the resources, you can organize even just a small event to gather like-minded people. As you promote this event on your site and other websites, you are sure to spark the curiosity of other people and get them to register.
7. Join forums. By taking part in discussion boards or forums, you can establish relationships with other members and eventually build your list.
8. Offer useful products. Make sure that what you offer to people is something useful in their lives. People nowadays want to get their money's worth.
9. Join social media sites. Create an account in Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and follow people to build your list.
10. Establish friendship with subscribers. If you make friends with your own list, you can get them to spread the word with their own list.
About the author:
Wendy Moore is a sought-after speaker, author and educator who is passionate about showing business owners and entrepreneurs how to better understand the internet to build a highly responsive, targeted list of clients specific to their business niche. To receive your FREE. Special Report, "How to Build a Customer List and Get Clients" plus subscribe to receive our weekly how-to articles to expand your online internet toolkit, visit www.savvywebwomen.com.
Our dog is not particularly active, suffering as he does from a touch of arthritis, but he loves his food. If you give him fillet steak, or just plain dog food from the can, he eats it with equal gusto.
He will eat what our cat doesn't finish from her bowl. In fact if she throws any of it up, he will eat that too. He is just not that fussy. In fact the only thing we have found he won't eat is brussels sprouts. (I can't say that I can blame him.)
Our cat on the other hand is quite fussy. She is rather partial to mince topside- and won't eat cheap cat food. It has to be the type of food you get from those small containers which are twice the cost of the larger cheap brands. If you put out something she regards as inferior, she will leave it. for our dog. She would never go near the dog's bowl.
So what are your customers like? Are they cats or dogs? Are they only interested in the premium cuts, or couldn't tell the difference between topside and reprocessed meat.
The problem many business owners create for themselves is trying to sell a service that only felines will appreciate and pay for to their canine clients and then are upset when they focus on price. There is nothing wrong with having canines as clients, but they will not appreciate and pay for topside.
If you have canine clients (and there are a lot more of them than the felines) make sure that your service is designed to meet their needs rather than your ego.
You can of course have both feline and canine clients but make sure the message you present to each does not confuse.
When you understand if your clients are dogs or cats, you will know what food they will appreciate and pay for and be able to keep them happy and faithful for many years.
May Your Business Be - As You Plan It!
About the Author:
Dr Greg Chapman is the Director of Empower Business Solutions and The Australian Business Coaching Club and is the internationally recognized author of The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success. Visit www.FivePillarsBusinessSuccess.com and download his Free Mission Statements Made Easy Tool. You can also contact Dr. Chapman on info@empowersolutions.com.au and 03 9256 6215
Service is all about meeting the Expectation of the Customer
Most businesses would like to think that they deliver good service and so would automatically assume that their customers or clients are happy. Technically this is correct, but in reality this assumption is fraught with loopholes.
Yes if we are in the service business where we are providing a service and or product, we must ensure that we have the appropriate business/people systems in place to promote best practice.
This covers a myriad of areas in business that I am not going to go into in this article as I am assuming for the sake of the exercise that you have these in place.
The question is ``Are we meeting the expectations of our customer/client.``
Adequate expectations
The lowest level of service that a customer should tolerate. This form of service should not even exist as customers will only tolerate this level of service for a short period and one day will just not return. The customers' expectations are met at a level that any competitor can provide a better service and so these businesses will probably not last too long in today`s competitive world.
Predictive expectation
What the customer thinks should happen. Customers these days experience different levels of service in a variety of different industries or businesses that they visit from time to time and so develop a benchmark related to that particular industry based on past experiences. So what is happening here is that the customer without your knowledge is comparing your service level to one they have experienced in a similar industry whenever they visit your business. The question is ``Do you pass?``
Equitable or deserved expectations
What the customer believe they should receive. Customers these days are savvy and so expect a certain level of service that is fair and justifies the price for the service or product bought. They want to be pampered and made feel special, whatever the industry. The question is ``Does your service level and or product justify the price that you are charging?``
Desired/ideal expectations
The optimal level of performance. This level of service is provided by your top echelon businesses. The ones that truly care and does understand that good service is not enough anymore but excellent service that actually not only meets the customer`s expectations but in a lot of cases over exceeds the expectations of the customer. The question is``How do we over exceed their expectations and how do we know when we do it.?
How do we create that WOW! factor?
Here are a few simple strategies:
1We need to do the little things well that ultimately make a big difference. 2)Be precise with your service levels and always have a backup plan. 3)Ensure that your business/people systems are customer friendly. 4)The biggest one of all is to get staff buy-in with pride that exudes professionalism and empathy.
About the Author:
Phillip Fernandez has acquired over 25 successful years making his mark in senior management roles with multinational companies like L`Oreal, Esselte ,Redken Schwarzkopf and Revlon to name a few. Phillip brings passion and enthusiam, hinged o practicality and humour when he speaks and trains on High Performance Leadership, Team Dynamics and Empowerment and Strategic Sales Management & Advance Frontline Selling. You can contact Philip on phillip@fernandez.id.au and 0402 213 813
Storytelling is a highly effective way to drawing customers into your organisation, but how do you apply it in your business? Press play to find out! Ben Angel ZOOBA Founding Director Author of 'Sleeping Your Way to The Top in Business'
P.S. Don't forget to subscribe to my youtube channel for cool business and marketing tips. www.youtube.com/inbedwithben
1. Put yourself in the shoes of the person you want to buy the product. Why should he or she want to buy it? What are their interests, their worries? Tap into them.
2. Be yourself. If you feel emotional about a product, chances are somebody else will share that feeling.
3. Try and work with a student who wants to be an art director. You can DIY, but your ideas will improve with the dialogue. You know the old saying, “Two heads are better than one”.
4. Be interested in life. Talk to people. See movies. Read books and magazines. Listen to music. Go to the theatre. Go to art galleries. See exhibitions of photography. Go to the supermarket and do the shopping. Watch how people behave. Save up all the good jokes that you hear.
5. Make sure your body copy has an interesting beginning, middle and end. The beginning should extend the thought in the headline, the middle should have a meaty fact to keep the reader’s interest. Ideally, the ending should take the reader back to the headline and an amusing twist on the original thought. After all, it stopped them in the first place.
6. Read your copy out loud as you write it. If it’s lumpy and unnatural you will hear it.
7. Imagine you’re talking to your best friend, explaining why they should buy the product.
8. Don’t worry about copying the style of another copywriter. Painters do it, as do musicians. It’s how we all learn. Eventually you find a voice of your own. (Although it’s important that your writing doesn’t become a formula, each product should have its own “voice”.)
9. Try and build a personality for the product. It’s back to that voice again.
10. Don’t be afraid of the word “you” in the headline or body copy. It personalises the ad and makes it more friendly.
11. Never throw away the headlines you don’t use. Those thoughts may work well in the body copy and give it some extra personality.
12. If you’re not sure about an idea or a piece of copy it’s probably wrong.
13. All writers “dry up” at some stage. Don’t worry about it. Go for a walk. Catch a movie. Read a book.
14. Know where the ad is going to appear. If it’s in a magazine or a newspaper there are very different readerships. The ‘Bulletin’ reader, for instance, has very different tastes to the ‘Woman’s Day’ reader. Bear that in mind when you’re writing.
15. Stick your concepts up on the wall and live with them. A good test of ads is the “overnight” test. Do you still like the ad the next day?
16. Could a competitor run your ad? Is it unique to the brand?
17. Learn from your mistakes. Listen to the focus groups. Listen to the client. In fact, the ability to listen is an essential talent for copywriters.
18. Work your little cotton socks off. You are unlikely to get this opportunity again. Tell your mates that you’re sorry but you can’t go out. There will be plenty of time later.
19. Make sure you have fun. Advertising can be a giggle if you approach it in the right frame of mind.
20. Be resilient. Take criticism. The ability to bounce back with other ideas if the client says “no” is another important talent.
21. Research, research, research. You can’t do enough of that. Ask your friends why they might use a particular product that you’re advertising.
22. Should you write long or short copy? Just write all that you have to say about the product and stop. End of argument.
23. Don’t try to be too clever. Your creativity shouldn’t get in the way of the product benefit. It should present it in the best light. Advertising is like an advocate for the client’s product. Be simple and straightforward.
24. Seek criticism. All good Creatives have the confidence to seek out comment. “What do you think of this? Have you seen an idea like this before? Is it dull?”
25. Get out of town if you can. There’s another world out there. One with a push and pull of its own.
26. Think visually. Words do not live in splendid isolation. You need to think of the headline and picture as a whole. Showing a picture of a penguin with a headline that reads ‘A penguin is best’ does not advance the learning curve. If the headline read ‘Quick, think of a shirt’ the reader might think of Bonds.
27. Please yourself. You have to be pleased with your idea first. If you don’t like it, why bother?
28. Don’t be intimidated by not being able to draw. Many of the great art directors can’t either. Stick men can still tell the visual story adequately.
29. Tell everyone you know that you’re now a copywriter, even if you’ve just started out. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising and you’ll be surprised how much work there is when people know what you do.
Byline:
Bernadette Schwerdt is the founder of The Australian School of Copywriting. She is a freelance copywriter and business coach. She can be contacted on +61 419891932 or at info@copyschool.com. Visit http://www.copyschool.com for details about seminar and home study courses on copywriting.
Overview: Why have an offer? Because Offers (or incentives) make people sit up and take notice. Offers should stop the reader dead in their tracks and make them say "I want that!" If you don't have an offer, it's too easy for the reader to turn the page and move on. Even if they're interested in your product, they won't stop to do anything about it because they're just too darn busy. They'll probably say, "That looks interesting - I must get around to getting one of those." And of course, that day never comes. So how does it actually work?
Learning Outcomes:
In this article, we'll cover:
Why offers and incentives are vital to getting a response
How they work
How to motivate a consumer to ‘take action'
5 versions of unconditional offers you can use
The principle behind Offers is very simple:
1. Offers stop people from moving on. 2. Offers force the reader to take action.
Once you have intrigued your reader enough to keep them reading until the end of the ad, you need to get them to DO something.
This could be any one of the following:
Fill out a coupon/form
Make a telephone call
Click on a website
Send an email
Go to a store
What they all have in common is that they involve an action. That's our objective - to get our reader to do one or more of these things.
But the big question is:
How do we get the reader to be sufficiently inspired to want to take action? Well, we need to motivate them.
How do we do that? It's simple. We think about who they are, what they need, what's important to them and come up with an idea that's relevant, timely, interesting and genuine.
Here are some examples:
A carpet cleaning business may offer a 4th room cleaned for free
A fitness centre might offer a free dietary consultation or a free personal training session upon joining
A florist may offer free chocolates with every Valentine's Day purchase
A hairdresser might offer a free 15-minute head massage with every colour
A hotel might offer a free meal in the restaurant with every weekend package purchased
An interior designer could offer a free booklet about colour co-ordination for the bedroom
The secret to creating great offers is to offer the reader something interesting and relevant to their needs.
There's no point offering a free carpet cleaning with every gym membership sold, or a free 15 minute head massage with every bunch of flowers sold.
Neither of these offers are targeted or relevant to the consumer.
You'll also notice that all the offers listed above cost very little to provide, yet have great intrinsic value to the customer.
How to make a customer choose your product over the competitors:
In many cases, what we're trying to do is convince the customer to come with us; to buy our product. There are other competing products out there, bursting to get noticed, so all we have to do is offer something that they're not offering, and we've won our customer over.
Sometimes it doesn't take much to convert a customer over to another supplier but there always has to be a reason for them to do so.
Providing a great offer can help bring that customer over. What's more, it doesn't have to cost a lot to create a compelling offer.
Example:
Including a few chocolates with the Valentine's Day flowers may cost under $5 but the value of the entire purchase of flowers could be well over $100.
The gym membership offer of a free dietary consultation may cost up to $30 but the gym membership could be worth well over $500 per year, or more.
People love to get something for nothing, no matter how small the offer might be. Never forget this.
Types of Offers:
Here is a wide selection of Offers that you can choose from:
1. Unconditional Offers
These are designed as lead generators i.e. they get prospects (people who have never bought from you before) to say, metaphorically speaking, that they ‘are interested'.
There are no strings attached to unconditional offers. You simply fill out a coupon or phone a number and you receive the offer free - usually a free report, information pack or a free seminar.
Unconditional ‘lead generating' offers are highly effective for attracting leads however you must bear in mind that a large proportion of these leads will be unqualified.
You see, a percentage of the population is simply responding just to get the offer and not because they're in the market to buy your products/services.
Responses tend to be high with this approach so even though you generate a proportion of unqualified leads there are certainly many qualified leads in there also.
Why do it? Because it provides you with a mailing list. If you keep in touch with these people there's a good chance they'll do business with you down the track.
Who should use them?
Unconditional offers are ideal for businesses that are in a start-up phase where their aim is to get a large amount of exposure in a short space of time.
Here are some examples of unconditional offers:
a. Free report or information pack
If you offer a product or service that is reasonably complex or requires some knowledge, a free report or information pack is ideal. How does this help? It builds your credibility by offering advice, and it educates your prospect as to what sort of things they should consider. Information packs containing tapes, DVDs and videos can be very effective too because people perceive them to have a high value, even if it only costs you a few cents to duplicate. And you get to promote your business as they're listening to you!
Stores like Bunnings offer Fact Sheets. This helps the store build credibility and refers people back to the products in the store.
b. Free consultations
Accountants, interior designers, financial planners, marketing consultants and other services benefit greatly by offering a free consultation. Once you've met with a prospect and had a chance to show your wares, you're in a much better position to build a relationship and hence, a sale.
Some will be looking for freebie advice but that's okay. You'll quickly identify who they are and move on.
c. Free trial
Newspapers and magazines use this offer very successfully. If you agree to receive a free copy, chances are you'll get to like it and then continue to buy it.
d. Samples
Women's magazines use these to great effect. It's been said that sales of their magazines triple if there is a valuable sample attached to the front page, like a lipstick, perfume or a blush brush.
e. Free lessons
Free lessons help people overcome their initial inertia in getting involved with a product. Teachers, schools and other educational institutions often hold open days to attract new people.
This is a great way to add value to prospects and customers. An open day will involve ‘how to' demonstrations that show prospects how to build, create or make things that relate to the products you sell. It helps people experience the product before they buy, thereby reducing their risk of making a bad decision.
Summary:
For many businesses, it's very difficult to find a Unique Selling Proposition, ie. something that sets them apart from the competitors. But by creating a unqiue, relevant, cost efficient offer, you can make your business stand out from the crowd, without spending a fortune.
All you have to do is offer something that they're not, and you've won the customer over.
Byline:
Bernadette Schwerdt is the founder of The Australian School of Copywriting. She is a freelance copywriter and business coach. She can be contacted on +61419891932 or at info@copyschool.com. Visit http://www.copyschool.comfor details about seminar and home study courses on copywriting.
If so, you’ll know that advertising is expensive. So how do you make small space advertising work for you?
The secret to success for small space advertising is The Headline. If you can capture their attention, you’ve succeeded.
If you don’t, you’ve wasted your money.
The headline is VITAL if you want your advertisement to be seen.
Here’s the Top 19 Power Words to include in your next headline.
These classic, foolproof headline words can work for any business.
1. Do you 2. How to 3. Amazing 4. At last 5. Bargains 6. Little-known secrets 7. The Secrets of 8. Life 9. Breakthrough 10. Only 11. The Truth About 12. Now 13. Sale 14. How Would 15. Advice To 16. Love 17. Facts 18. Discover 19. Confessions of
Here’s an example of how they can be used in headlines:
1. How To Raise Your Child’s IQ Before It Is Even Born 2. The Secret Of Being Wealthy 3. Do You Make These Mistakes In Job Interviews? 4. A Breakthrough Idea For Those Who Want To Act In Movies 5. How Would You Like To Earn A Six Figure Income From Home? 6. Confessions Of A Disbarred Lawyer 7. The Truth About Low GI Foods
They may sound a bit cheesy here, all lined up in a row.
But like them not, they work. That’s why people continue to use them. Sure, it’s not the most creative technique ever devised, but who cares about creativity, so long as it works!
On a small budget, you can’t play with imagery, branding and logos the way Coke, Nike and Sony do. It costs big bucks to promote a brand. Small businesses can’t afford to brand. It takes too long and too much money.
Promote your business by telling the consumer what they’ll get when they buy your product. It’s as simple as that.
That’s the secret to small business advertising.
Byline:
Bernadette Schwerdt is the founder of The Australian School of Copywriting. She is a freelance copywriter and business coach. She can be contacted on +61 419891932 or at info@copyschool.com. Visit http://www.copyschool.com for details about seminar and home study courses on copywriting.
The 5 Top Mistakes Most People Make When Writing For The Web
Writing for the web is similar to writing for any other medium but it does have some unique protocols that must be followed. This article outlines the 5 big mistakes business owners make when writing website copy and how to avoid them.
1. No relevant key words on the Home Page:
Google rank your website based on the number and density of key words featured on your website, and in particular, on your Home Page. The only way Google can tell if your site is a relevant search result is by the words you use on your web pages. As a result, it’s definitely in your interest to load up your page with significant key words.
For example, if you were called Melbourne Family Lawyers, you’d make sure that your pages were liberally sprinkled with key words like: Melbourne, Family, Lawyers; and the phrase “Melbourne Family Lawyers.”
So how do you know what key words you should use? Simple. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and figure out what key words they type into Google to find you. You can also use programmes like Word Tracker and Overture to help you identify your key words.
By the way, you can’t just dump a bunch of key words on the page that don’t make sense and hope for the best - Google is smart and can pick up context too! Finding a copywriter who can write elegant copy whilst incorporating your major key words is a good investment in your business.
2. No attention-grabbing headline:
Think about it. When you land on a new website, what’s the first thing you look for? Relevancy, right? In other words, does this site give me what I’m looking for?
The only way you can find this out is by reading the headline and the first paragraph. If those two sections don’t answer the key questions of: “So What?” and “What’s In It For Me?” then your website is a lost cause.
Your headline also needs to be specific. Take a look at this headline. It’s not particularly clever but it’s very specific which helps attract attention and convey credibility.
“ The Australian Education Programme helps 32,000 families put their children through school every year. Established in 1971, it now has $2.2 billion funds under management.”
What gains your attention are the specific figures of 32,000, 1971 and $1.2 billion. Taken in isolation, each of these figures serve a function.
32,000 - this figure demonstrates that a lot of other people have put their trust in this company and therefore it’s safe for you to do so too.
1971 – by promoting longevity the company reassures prospects that they’re not ‘fly by nighters’.
2.2 billion – this proves the company is large, reputable and a significant player.
In just 25 words, they’ve told us what they do, when they started and how much money they manage. Not only that, the specificity builds the all-important credibility factor that every site absolutely must have. Which brings me to my next point.
3. No attempt to build credibility:
The fastest way to encourage people to purchase online is to remove doubt and build credibility.
Written and videod testimonials, case studies and statistics all provide evidence that you are worthy of the consumer’s trust. We all know that testimonials can be works of fiction, so include as much detail as you can so there’s no room for doubt.
For example, take a look at these two testimonials. Which one sounds more credible to you?
A. ”With Harry’s coaching, profits have increased from 22% to a whopping 67%.” — J.S., Brighton.
Or
B. ”With Harry’s coaching, profits have increased from 22% to a whopping 67%.” — Jonathan Seery, Managing Director, Subaru City, Brighton, Victoria
It’s fair to say the second testimonial is more powerful because it’s clear that Jonathan Seery is a real person.
4. They don’t tell people what they sell
Can you pinpoint exactly what you sell and express it in on your Home Page in 10 words or less? If you can’t, this could be why your website marketing is letting you down.
Let me clarify. Most business owners know what they’re selling, but they don’t know how to say it (or “package” it) correctly. As a result, they offer the same old, same old that everyone else offers and wonders why they don’t get any sales.
Here’s an example to demonstrate my point.
I recently decided to hire a personal trainer to help me get into shape for my up coming wedding. I didn’t know any trainers personally so I was pretty much flying blind. However, imagine my surprise when I saw a website headline promoting the “Shape Up For The Wedding” Personal Training Package. Just what I was looking for! – a high-intensity programme for brides who’ve had one too many pieces of cake before the big day.
As it turns out, this trainer wasn’t just brawny, he was brainy as well. In his ‘Wedding Package” he included the following items:
10 x 1-hour sessions with a personal trainer
10 -week menu planner
Weekly motivational emails
1 x teleseminar each week with the trainer
10-page e-book: “How To Lose or Gain Weight With Low GI Foods”
I noticed he also had the “Baby Boomers Pack” for the over 55s looking to get rid of that spare tyre; the “Triathletes Pack” for elite athletes training for Iron Man events and the “Yummy Mummies Pack” for women who’ve just given birth and want to get back into shape.
This trainer was inundated with work and I could see why. He told people exactly what he sold and what they would get when they hired him.
The reason this ‘packaging’ concept works so well is because you can sum up in a few words what you do and communicate that quickly in the headline.
5. No relevant Offer:
It was my mother’s birthday a few weeks ago. Seeing as I’d left it too late to send a present in the mail, I did what all forgetful daughters do and sent flowers.
I searched for a while and came across a site that offered free chocolates with every order over $60.00. At the risk of sounding like a cheapskate, I took up that offer. Why? Because it gave me something for nothing. And everyone likes a bargain.
To differentiate yourself from the competitors, come up with an offer that’s interesting, relevant and useful. It could be a free report, a free CD, or an invitation to a seminar. The offer doesn’t have to be expensive either. Those chocolates probably cost $3 wholesale. I spent $80.00 on flowers so investing $3 to make $80.00 is good business.
Investing time to make your website the best it can be is time well spent. Look at your site as if you were looking at it for the first time and see if you’ve made any of the mistakes listed here. If you do, pick one thing you’d like to change and start with that. Don’t get overwhelmed with changing everything at once. Start small, hire a good website copywriter and you’ll find your site will be listed on Page One of Google in no time at all.
Byline:
Bernadette Schwerdt is the founder of The Australian School of Copywriting. She is a freelance copywriter and business coach. She can be contacted on +61 419891932 or at info@copyschool.com. Visit http://www.copyschool.com for details about seminar and home study courses on copywriting.
Uncovering Your Hidden Gems: How To Tell The Difference Between A Feature and Benefit and Why It Matters!
I saw an advertisement a while back that promoted the benefits of getting your doona dry cleaned. In fact, I liked the advertisement so much that I actually took my doona in to get dry cleaned, only to find out that the cost to dry clean it was almost double the price of what I paid for it. Needless to say, I didn’t proceed.
But here’s what was interesting. The advertisement stopped me in my tracks and compelled me to say “Gee, I need this service” when, three seconds before, I had never even heard of it. It also highlighted a previously unknown ‘problem’ that I had (an unclean doona) which compelled me to take action and to visit the store.
So, what was it about this advertisement that caught my eye? I mean, how interesting can a dry cleaning ad be?
Well, the headline was great – simple but effective:
“7 Reasons To Dry Clean Your Doona”
The advertisement worked for me because I hadn’t ever thought about getting my doona dry cleaned and here was this informative advertisement telling me that there were lots of good reasons to get my doona dry cleaned - and not just one reason, but seven! So, it fulfilled Rule # 1 with Headlines – it grabbed the reader’s attention.
The second thing it did was list the benefits of getting my doona cleaned. Now, this is where they really hit the jackpot and it’s where most companies get it wrong.
Here’s a sample of what they said:
1. Your body drips approximately 75 milligrams of body fluid into your doona every night.
2. Bed bugs, dust mites and other nasty little creatures breed and nest in your doona and then burrow deep into your skin pores and bite you whilst you sleep.
3. Dust mites can cause asthma so your doona could quite conceivably be the reason you or your children get asthma or unexplained coughs and colds.
They then went on to explain what they do to the doona when they dry clean it. They said:
We puff it up with new feathers so it’s like having a new doona without the price tag
We steam clean it so that it looks and feels like new
We deodorize it so that it smells as fresh and clean as the day you bought it
We inject it with slow-release chemicals that’ll kill stray bed bugs for up to 3 months so you (and your children) won’t get bitten ever again
We give you an extra bag of feathers so you can top it up at regular intervals
We aerate it to rejuvenate the feathers so it feels lighter and softer than ever before
It’s sounding good isn’t it?
Now, I’m not saying that this advertisement isn’t slightly emotionally manipulative (it is) or that it wasn’t sensationalist and slightly extreme in its claims (it is), but it did a fabulous job of highlighting the features and benefits of a very boring product.
The Key To Marketing Success - Turning Features into Benefits:
Let’s have a look at what they did and how they made this run-of-the-mill service sound so compelling and necessary.
The first thing they did was take a feature and then, by asking “which means that’ they found their all-important benefit.
Feature: Which means that… Benefit:
We puff it up with new feathers..;. It’s like having a new doona without the price tag
We steam clean it… It looks and feels like new
We deodorize it… It smells fresh and clean
We inject it with chemicals… You and your family are kept safe
We give you an extra bag of feathers…You have a puffy, fluffy doona all the time without paying any extra to get it
…and so on.
This is good marketing and it’s what you should be doing with any copy you write - state the feature, add the benefit.
So, how do you extract the benefit from the feature? It’s simple. But first you have to identify what is the feature and then work out why it’s great.
It’s all about asking some key questions about your product and thinking laterally.
Key Questions To Ask To Uncover Your Hidden Benefits:
Here’s how you do it.
Firstly, make a list of features of your product or service. The best way to extract the features is to ask some questions. By the way, this exercise does require you to have some passion for your product. If you don’t, that’s okay (for now), just fake it as best you can.
You also need to imagine that someone who is genuinely interested in your product is sitting opposite you and they have asked you to tell them more. (If that’s impossible to imagine as well, then maybe you should be thinking about moving into a new line of work or scrapping your business altogether. Just joking. Sort of.)
So, as you imagine this mythical person sitting opposite you, waiting with baited breath to hear you wax lyrical about your product, here are the ‘launch questions’ you should use to get your creative juices flowing so you can work out what exactly your product offers:
“ I think this product/service is fantastic for you because…”(and then fill in the blanks)
“ What’s great about this product is…”
“ The best part about it is….”
“ What sets it apart from the others is that it ….”
“ If you don’t buy this, you run the risk of …”
“ If you buy this, this is what you’re going to get…”
Now, the reason these questions are so powerful is because they force you to consider even more questions:
What is it I actually offer my customer?
What will it do for them if they buy it?
What will happen if they don’t buy it?
Why is my product better than the others?
These questions are even more powerful because they are the exact questions the consumer is thinking about, (and need answered), before they can buy.
So if you can figure out all the potential objections as to why people wouldn’t buy your product, and then answer them in a nicely-worded way, you’ll have a never-ending supply of customers.
Tell The Customer What’s In It For Them:
One last thing about that doona ad. The reason it works so well and has been so successful is because they took features that every single other dry cleaner operator offers, shone the spotlight on it, outlined an emotive and relevant benefit, and told the customer what was in it for them.
I did a bit of research after that (clearly, I have nothing better to do than to talk to dry cleaners all day) and discovered that most dry cleaners do what this company are doing – fluffing, steaming, injecting, aerating etc – but they just don’t mention it in their advertising. They just assume that people expect those things to be done to their doona when it’s sent for dry cleaning.
Never Assume What The Customer Knows About Your Service:
And that’s where all of those dry cleaners, (and most other businesses) get it wrong – they assume too much and as a result, fail to fully explain to the customer what their product is, what it will do, what’s involved, why they do it, why it’s more expensive than the others and what will happen if they don’t use it.
So here’s your opportunity to find out what gems are lying undiscovered in your business - get out the spotlight, shine it on your business and see how many ways you can share the story of why your product is so brilliant.
Byline:
Bernadette Schwerdt is the founder of The Australian School of Copywriting. She is a freelance copywriter and business coach. She can be contacted on +61 419891932 or at info@copyschool.com. Visit http://www.copyschool.com for details about seminar and home study courses on copywriting.
14 Simple Writing Secrets You Must Know If You Want To Be A Part Of The Lucrative World Of Web Writing.
If you understand these simple tips, you’ll know more about web writing than 97% of the population.
1.Don’t use clever headlines that force people to think. Tell the reader what the page is about. They’ve come there for information and will click out in seconds if they don’t get it quickly.
2.When quoting numbers, always use an odd number. “93% of farmers use Zitrus Fertiliser” sounds more believeable than 90%.
3. Use the word FREE a lot. The culture of the internet is rooted in free and open exchange of ideas and information without payment. Play by the rules of the medium and you’ll be rewarded.
4.Make sure there’s plenty of white space on the page. The page has to catch the eye before it catches the brain.
5. Rewriting is the key. Write it. Let it sit for at least 24 hours. Rewrite. And then rewrite it again. Despite popular opinion, the first draft is almost never the best draft.
6.Vary the length of your sentences. If the sentences all have 10 words, it won’t have rhythm or impact.
As a rule, sentences on the web shouldn’t contain more than 14 words. Here’s a reference guide to keep it simple: Sentence length: Very easy: 8 or less words Easy: 9-11 Fairly easy: 12-14 Standard: 15-17 Fairly difficult: 18-21 Difficult: 22-25 Very difficult: 26-30
7. Stick to the formula: The old formula AIDCA still applies to web writing.
a) Attention – Start with your strongest benefit. b) Interest – Use sub-headings. Tell them what’s in it for them. c) Desire – Offer samples, trials, demonstrations d) Conviction – Offer a Q and A section. e) Action – Create a time-limited offer.
8.Writing for the web is different to writing for print. Be succinct: delete 50% of your brochure copy before you even think about putting it on the web.
9.Use hypertext. It splits up long passages of information that might not be interesting to everyone. It also helps people navigate the site more easily.
10.People don’t read the net. They scan. Make sure the key words that relate to your product are mentioned on the home page.
11.Use bullet points instead of long sentences. It’s easier on the eye which means it’s easier to read.
12. Use sub headings. See above.
13. Make it simple. Don’t use big words when you can use little words. Short is better than long. Here’s some examples: Before: Subsequently we will require your signature. After: We need your signature. Before: Illumination is required to be extinguished on these premises after nightfall. After: Lights out after dark.
14. Start with the end in mind. Write down your marketing objective before you begin. Do you want to generate leads? Build a database? Get an order? Let the reader know early on what you want them to do. It’s okay to be blunt. It’s okay to be obvious: Eg. Please fill out the form and email it back to us today.
Byline:
Bernadette Schwerdt is the founder of The Australian School of Copywriting. She is a freelance copywriter and business coach. She can be contacted on +61 419891932 or at info@copyschool.com. Visit http://www.copyschool.com for details about seminar and home study courses on copywriting.
We fear what we don’t understand and there’s a lot to understand about selling, so let’s start with how you view the profession of sales. Firstly, do you even think of it as a profession, because ‘profession’ implies a set of rules and boundaries concerning conduct? When you think of salespeople, do you automatically think of disinterested shop assistants and pushy reps? What about the oily car salesman, the money-hungry realtor, the relentless multi-level marketer? Yes? Then it’s no surprise that you have a fear of selling, because why on earth would a switched-on new age woman like you want to be like these people? If everything you stand for is in direct opposition to what these types of people represent, how can you reconcile selling anything to anyone? Surely if you do the same things as these people do, day after day, you’ll wind up just like them, people you detest? Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world. What you think becomes your reality, so if you’re thinking along these lines, you have a pretty strong motivation to avoid selling, don’t you think?
Overcome Fear with Knowledge
A healthy dose of fear could be a good thing if it prompts you to consider the reasons for it and then take action. The reason for your fear in this instance is that you don’t know enough about sales to avoid the pitfalls of becoming a product peddler, a quote-giver, an order taker; those types of salespeople we all dislike. But these are not your only choices. Add “Problem Solver” and “Friend in the Business” into the mix and suddenly the outlook brightens. These are people who believe that your needs are paramount; who know how to determine exactly what those needs are, even if you’re a little hazy on the details and who, on principle, wouldn’t sell you something that didn’t fit your needs. They love what they do and it shows. They’re salespeople you go out of your way to buy from, because they’ve made such a positive impact on you in the past. There would be no shame at all in emulating them, so how do you overcome your fear enough to get to be like them?
Start by learning what they learn.
Recognise that “You don’t know what you don’t know” and find some means of finding out just what it is about sales that you don’t know.
Discover your optimal learning style and acquire training which appeals to that style, for example, if you do your best learning from reading, do your homework, find out who has the best books on the topic and read them.
Find a mentor, someone you admire for their skilfulness in sales and ask them for their help.
Practise, practise, practise.
Adjust your attitude.
View the positive qualities of professional salespeople as worthy of emulation.
As a small business person, to be cost effective and competitive you often need to wear many different hats; the roles of “boss”, “marketing manager”, “bookkeeper”, “production manager”, to mention a few. When you start out in your own business, you may not necessarily know all there is to know about bookkeeping for example, but you talk to people, ask around, study and practice and eventually you gain proficiency. With one notable exception, the same can be said for sales. There are many different skills involved in selling and you need to become proficient in all of them in order to successfully sell your product or service.
And that one exception? Selling is pivotal. If you don’t get good at bookkeeping or management or marketing, things could get a bit messy, but it’s not fatal. If you don’t get good at selling, you have no business. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. So you have a vested interest in learning as much about sales as you can.
“Natural” Salespeople
On the other end of the spectrum are those people who eschew any need to learn more about sales because they’re “natural” salespeople. I’m certain such people exist, just as there are natural scientists, natural musicians and natural linguists, but someone still had to teach them what a Bunsen burner was, how to hold a guitar, how to accurately translate Chekhov. Sure, they have natural or innate talent, but all the talent in the world is meaningless unless you have the skills to go with it. The wonderful thing about sales skills is that with time, application and practice, anyone can learn them.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
I was out walking the other day and happened upon a major electrical chain store. On impulse, I walked in. My clothes dryer had been making funny noises lately and it occurred to me that it might be time to get a new one. This delightfully charming salesman approached me and asked the ubiquitous...”Can I help you?”
I said, “Yes, where are the Fisher and Paykel dryers?” He took me to them. I’ve had my current Fisher and Paykel dryer for nine years and I love it. I have convinced myself I wouldn’t buy anything else. He took a good 15 minutes showing me the latest model, told me all about it, demonstrated how it worked, all the things a salesman in an electrical store is supposed to do, right? Not exactly.
“Does it come in a bigger size?” I asked.
“No, they only make it in this size. If you’re keen on this one, there’s going to be a price increase at the end of the month, so it would pay you to get in soon.” A weak attempt at a “Deadline Close” but someone must have fallen for it once upon a time, because I’ll bet he uses that line often.
I could see the salesman was struggling so I offered him a lifeline. “My dryer is about ready to spit the dummy. It’s making funny noises. “
“What kind of noises?”
“A loud screeching noise. I’m afraid it’s going to pack it in any minute.”
“It’s probably just a button or the underwire from a bra that’s caught in it. Do yourself a favour, go home, open it up and check for things inside that might account for the noise, ” he advised helpfully. I knew there wasn’t anything stuck in the dryer, but I took his advice. Not the part about opening it up though, the advice I took was the “go home” part.
What could that salesman have done better? What would have made me buy the dryer on the spot? I felt sorry for him and even offered him a clue, but he didn’t recognise it. He needed to find out what my motivation was and the way to do that is to ask questions....lots and lots of questions. What do you think would have happened if he’d asked me.....
“How old is your current dryer?” Me: “About nine years.” Him: “Hmmm, well that’s getting to be pretty old.”
“How often do you use it?” Me: “Every day. I do at least one load because I wash the boys’ school uniforms every day.” They only have one set of clothes for school.
“What would happen if it stopped working?” Me, horrified at the prospect: “I’d be in deep trouble. The kids have to wear their uniforms to school...”
“What would that mean to you?” Me: “It would be disastrous. The boys aren’t allowed to go to school in anything other than their uniforms.” At this point, I would be thinking about the dire consequences of not having the boys’ school uniforms ready and starting to feel a little edgy.
“You asked about the size of the dryer. How do you mean?” Me: “Well, I hoped that Fisher and Paykel made a bigger dryer, because the one I have is too small. When I do my bed linens, I have to do two loads.”
“What does that mean to you?” Me: “It really bugs me. I have to wait around the house until the first load is finished. All that waiting, waiting, waiting...... I have far better things to do.”
By this time, I would be focused on what I would do if the boys clothes could not be dried for school the next day and how annoying it was to waste time waiting on the second load. I would be more than ready to buy the first thing he showed me that solved my problems. I wouldn’t care if the bigger dryer he should have sold me was not Fisher and Paykel, as long as he could convince me that I would no longer have to sit around waiting for the second load. I’d have bought any dryer, no matter what the price, as long as it saved me from that dreadful waiting, waiting, waiting.
Find a need and fill it. Find out what your customer needs by asking lots of questions. Start with general questions and gradually hone in on what they’re really looking for. It’s usually not the product itself, it’s what the product can do that makes the difference. I may have said I was looking for a dryer, but what I really wanted was something that would save me time. If the salesman had asked the right questions, he would have quickly discovered this and would then be in a position to offer me a solution. Instead of trying to create a sense of urgency regarding the price change at the end of the month, he could have discovered that the thought of losing the use of my dryer for just one night would be all the urgency I needed to commit to a sale on the spot.
But of course, he didn’t know all that because he didn’t ask.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
It’s no coincidence that those old time miners, enduring the elements and living with uncertainty in their quest for gold have a lot in common with sales reps, also enduring the elements and living with uncertainty in their quest for new business. They’re both prospecting and they both have to turn over a lot of worthless rocks before they find gold. Those old gold miners did it because they knew if they struck a good vein their future would be assured, their fortune would be made.. It’s the same story for sales reps, strange then that most of them don’t see it quite like that.
Why don’t most sales reps prospect? Simple. They don’t like it. They see it as a chore and a bore. The chances of rejection are high and nobody likes being rejected, do they? If you consider prospecting a waste of time, take a minute or two and think about it from a slightly different perspective. Prospecting is just another sales call, albeit one without an appointment. There’s no doubt this makes it more challenging, but aren’t challenges the very things we sales professionals thrive on? Sure, everyone loves the client who is falling all over themselves to get to a pen so they can put their name to your ridiculously over-inflated price. Who wouldn’t like a sale that sold itself? But really, where’s the fun in that? You might as well get a job slinging burgers at a fast food outlet for all the intellectual stimulation you’d get from sales like that.
We Sales Professionals want to showcase our skills. We want to earn our bragging rights around the water cooler. We love the tales of the ones that gave us the hardest time, but the ones we got in the end. It’s a battle, them versus us, and we really love to win. Prospecting gives you the thrill of the chase, the chance every time you walk through a new door without an appointment, to make a truly memorable sale. A sale that you earned with all your skill and salesmanship. Think how you’ll feel when you close that sale. Now hold that thought. It’s the thing that will keep you going through the nine doors that close before you find the tenth one that opens.
What can you do to maximise the opportunities you’ll find when prospecting? Prepare. Make yourself a list of prospects to call each day, week or month. Write yourself a script and edit it when you find things that work for you and things that don’t. Mentally prepare yourself, not by letting that wave of dread wash over you, but by thinking of the tenth door.
Our research has shown that one of the key characteristics of Top Sales Professionals is their ability to prospect on an on-going basis, to have a constant source of new prospects. What makes a good prospector? There are several different aspects of prospecting to consider but before you even pick up the phone or step out the door to go prospecting, take time to properly prepare yourself mentally and physically.
Mental Preparation
Reframe the negative . Tell yourself you love prospecting and let the power of your own beliefs make it so. You may choose to reframe things you’re not yet comfortable with, by working them into your affirmation. “I can prospect with the best of them,” “I will spot the buying signals”, “I will handle their objections beautifully.”
Focus on the client. Make up your mind to make your prospective client the centre of your attention. Know with certainty that you will do your very best for them and they will become satisfied clients. Their word of mouth will be your very best source of new business.
Visualise the prospect as positive, friendly, kind and eager to see you, they’re hoping you will have solutions for them.
Mentally frame the sales call in its entirety. Step through everything you plan to say and do, how you’ll respond to the most common objections, the questions you’ll need to ask, then picture yourself closing with a positive outcome.
Decide where the big pay-off will be in your prospecting. Where are you most likely to find potential clients? Now’s a good time to start thinking outside the box. It’s not just about your business contacts. Who do you know who may know someone who might help you get through the next door you knock on? How about the people at your gym? What about that marketing guy you ran into at the pub. How about your girlfriend’s hairdresser’s boyfriend? Isn’t he in the industry you’re trying to tap into. Maybe he knows someone. Just a name is all you need to help you overcome the first and often biggest hurdle, the receptionist.
Develop a mix of big prospects who often have a longer decision making process with smaller prospects who usually will make fast decisions. By all means, spend some quality time thinking about landing those huge clients that will make your monthly budget with just one sale, but while you’re running around jumping through hoops to get them, don’t forget your bread and butter. It helps to be able to feed yourself while you’re waiting for the big fish to land.
Research your market . Where are you most likely to find new clients? What’s going on in the marketplace? What’s changing? Changes often create opportunities for you to capitalise on, but you need to know what’s happening around you to in order to take advantage of brief windows of opportunity.
Make a checklist. Which criteria do your clients need to possess in order to be a worthwhile target for your attention? Do they have the right kind of business? Are they a large enough player in the marketplace? What other criteria are there that might help you define and identify the ideal client? Once you know these, it’s a simple step to figure out where to find them. The aim is to work smart, not necessarily hard.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
We fear what we don’t understand and there’s a lot to understand about selling, so let’s start with how you view the profession of sales. Firstly, do you even think of it as a profession, because ‘profession’ implies a set of rules and boundaries concerning conduct? When you think of salespeople, do you automatically think of disinterested shop assistants and pushy reps? What about the oily car salesman, the money-hungry realtor, the relentless multi-level marketer? Yes? Then it’s no surprise that you have a fear of selling, because why on earth would a switched-on new age person like you want to be like these people? If everything you stand for is in direct opposition to what these types of people represent, how can you reconcile selling anything to anyone? Surely if you do the same things as these people do, day after day, you’ll wind up just like them, people you detest? Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world. What you think becomes your reality, so if you’re thinking along these lines, you have a pretty strong motivation to avoid selling, don’t you think?
Overcome Fear with Knowledge
A healthy dose of fear could be a good thing if it prompts you to consider the reasons for it and then take action. The reason for your fear in this instance is that you don’t know enough about sales to avoid the pitfalls of becoming a product peddler, a quote-giver, an order taker; those types of salespeople we all dislike. But these are not your only choices. Add “Problem Solver” and “Friend in the Business” into the mix and suddenly the outlook brightens. These are people who believe that your needs are paramount; who know how to determine exactly what those needs are, even if you’re a little hazy on the details and who, on principle, wouldn’t sell you something that didn’t fit your needs. They love what they do and it shows. They’re salespeople you go out of your way to buy from, because they’ve made such a positive impact on you in the past. There would be no shame at all in emulating them, so how do you overcome your fear enough to get to be like them?
Start by learning what they learn.
Recognise that “You don’t know what you don’t know” and find some means of finding out just what it is about sales that you don’t know.
Discover your optimal learning style and acquire training which appeals to that style, for example, if you do your best learning from reading, do your homework, find out who has the best books on the topic and read them.
Find a mentor, someone you admire for their skilfulness in sales and ask them for their help.
Practise, practise, practise.
Adjust your attitude.
View the positive qualities of professional salespeople as worthy of emulation.
As a small business person, to be cost effective and competitive you often need to wear many different hats; the roles of “boss”, “marketing manager”, “bookkeeper”, “production manager”, to mention a few. When you start out in your own business, you may not necessarily know all there is to know about bookkeeping for example, but you talk to people, ask around, study and practice and eventually you gain proficiency. With one notable exception, the same can be said for sales. There are many different skills involved in selling and you need to become proficient in all of them in order to successfully sell your product or service.
And that one exception? Selling is pivotal. If you don’t get good at bookkeeping or management or marketing, things could get a bit messy, but it’s not fatal. If you don’t get good at selling, you have no business. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. So you have a vested interest in learning as much about sales as you can.
How to Close a Sale
Even people who have been in sales for years have difficulty with closing the sale, so if the idea of “the close” makes them nervous, what must it do to people just starting out or people with limited sales experience? The topic is such a hot one that countless books have been written on the subject, providing all sorts of clever and convoluted methods of closing a sale. And every author has their own pet close, the one that is “guaranteed” to work every time. If that were true, there would be a whole lot of closing going on and no-one would ever bother asking the question, “How do I close?”
The answer really is simple. Start as you mean to finish. If you start the sale correctly, building trust with your customer, asking the right questions and uncovering the obligatory objections, either real or smokescreens, the sale closes itself. It’s a natural progression through the sales process. It doesn’t have to be fraught. It doesn’t have to be the cause of consternation, fear or loathing. Closing is just one more step in the sales process, which, when done properly, occurs seamlessly.
How do you view the whole sales process? Do you see it as an adversarial proposition? You versus the customer? Do you think your role is to sway the customer to your point of view, to make them want to buy whatever it is you’ve got to sell? If you’re having trouble closing the sale, perhaps the answer lies right here. If closing is your problem, focusing on the close is probably not going to solve it. Look to how you start the sale to find out how you should finish it. Look at how you build rapport. Examine the questions you ask your customer. Are you finding out what they really want? They’ll tell you anything if they trust you and you ask them the right questions. All you have to do is learn how.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
Wouldn’t it be great if you never had to door knock again? It would be even better if you still got all that new business you usually get from door-knocking without actually having to bruise your knuckles on another door. Ah yes, that would be a perfect world indeed. Aren’t you lucky then to be reading this today, because your perfect world is here right now!....read more.
The door to this perfect world is called referral prospecting and its key is called The Referral Book. Here’s how it works;
Get yourself a notebook and write “Referral Book” on the cover. Make it look good. My “Referral Book” idea worked so well with one of my clients, they had them specifically printed for all their salespeople with their company logo and “Referral Book” embossed on the cover. After the first month of using them, they discovered that their sales had increased by 10% and this increase was directly attributed to the Referral Book. Even better, because they maintained a steady increase each month thereafter, they made using the Referral Book a performance standard.
Carry your Referral Book with you on every sales call and make sure it is in clear sight. Your customer’s curiosity may become aroused and they may ask you what it is, giving you a perfect entrée to discuss referrals with them. Even if they don’t notice it, having it in plain sight reminds you to use it.
Ask every client you see to provide you with referrals, whether you’ve successfully done business with them or not. They may know someone who needs what you’ve got, even if they don’t need it themselves. Don’t just stop at one. Just because they’ve already given you a referral in the past, doesn’t mean you can’t ask them again. In fact, because you’ve obtained a referral from them in the past, you absolutely SHOULD ask them again, because they’ve already displayed a willingness to help you.
Don’t just limit yourself to asking clients for referrals. Ask anyone who may know someone who conceivably may be interested in your product or service....friends, family members, people your church, club, gym, pub.
Write in as much detail as you can get about the referral. Their name, company name and phone number are just for starters. If you can find out more specific information by asking questions, then absolutely do so. The more you know, the better, when the time comes to contact the referral. Keep track of the date the referral was given to you and most importantly, keep track of the person who gave you the referral in the first place.
Action the referral as soon as possible after obtaining it. If the referee happens to contact the person they have referred it’s possible they may mention they’ve given their name to you. If you don’t bother actioning the referral for a month or two, it can make you look either lazy or disinterested or both. When calling to make an appointment with the referral, mention the referee by name. i.e. “Hello Joe, Andrew Davis at Diversified Technology suggested I give you a call...”
After you have contacted the referral, thank the person who originally gave it to you and let them know the outcome, even if it’s not positive. Sending a small thank you card is a nice touch and also a memorable one. It demonstrates that you value their help and may just encourage them to help you with more referrals in the future.
Prospecting doesn’t have to be a chore and a bore. With your referral book doing your prospecting for you, your foot is already in the door. Of course, if you wanted to keep knocking on a few doors and making a few (hundred) prospecting phone calls each week, in addition to using your Referral Book, you’d be putting yourself way out in front.
If you’re having trouble knowing what to say when prospecting, check out our Wendy Weapon Prospecting DVD. It provides comprehensive training in how to prospect, what to say and when to say it, along with step-by-step advice on how to make appointments over the phone, how to make the most from each referral and how to use prospecting ratios to reach and exceed your goals.
If you need general help with sales techniques and need to learn sell more and better, buy our books. They’re packed full of solid advice and they’re incredibly easy to read. There’s help with prospecting in there too. At only $39.95 they represent an exceptional value and dollar for dollar, the best investment in your career you will ever make.
Strapped for cash? Then you really need to do a bit more prospecting! Get our Prospecting e-chapter here. It’s only $5 and the information it contains is invaluable.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
If only our customers were this obvious about raising objections, it would be much easier to deal with them, wouldn’t it? Instead they tell you they’re “just looking” or they want to look around a bit more, or they need a couple more quotes, or the size isn’t right, or the colour, or the specifications. In fact they tell you so many lies and half truths that it’s no wonder many salespeople quote the saying “Buyers are Liars”.
That’s a bit harsh because what they’re really saying usually isn’t “I don’t want to buy from you”, it’s more a case of “I need you to convince me why I should buy from you.” And they use smokescreen objections to do just that. Now you can believe them if you really don’t feel like selling anything today, or you can figure out an effective strategy for dealing with these types of objections.
The first step in your “handling objections strategy” is to recognise the objection for what it is...a request for more information.
Most sales professionals give up after only ONE objection! So of course, step two in your strategy is; Don’t give up. The only time to give up is when you are certain the objection they’ve given you is real and you can’t handle it. About the only time this happens is when they genuinely don’t have any money or genuinely don’t have any need.
And that brings us to step 3, needs analysis. You should have already asked them lots of questions to figure out what their real needs are and what will motivate them to buy, but in case you overlooked this vital step, do it now.
Step four is putting the objection to one side for a minute, just to test the temperature a bit. “Just suppose for a minute Mrs Client, that delivery dates were not a concern, would you go ahead and buy the rocket launchers and matching hand grenades?” Yes? Then the delivery dates are a real concern and once you deal with that, she’s just told you that you have the deal. Did you notice?
Step five is getting to the bottom of the objection and to do that we say these magic little words.... “Obviously you have a reason for saying that. Do you mind if I ask what it is?” and it works like this... “Let’s suppose Mr Customer, that price was not a concern, would you still be interested in purchasing our fully automated laser guidance system?” No? Obviously you have a reason for saying that, do you mind if I ask what it is?”
Keep going until you find out what their real objection is and when you do, answer it.
Objection Over-ruled!
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
We’ve all been there…..your sales manager is on your case to write more, it’s got so bad that you duck into the ladies’ room whenever you see him coming (and you’re a bloke!), half of your colleagues are writing big bucks like it’s going out of style and the other half are just as long-faced and down-in-the-dumps as you are. When everything around you seems to be falling apart, it’s easy to get yourself on a real downward spiral, which is precisely what happened to “Sarah” a Sales Rep for a marketing company. She’d written to me asking for help. I thought it was a timely topic, so I’m sharing my response with you.
Find yourself an “ Unreasonable Friend”; one who cares about you, yet can remain objective, one that you can unload on – take that bucket of negativity you’ve been storing up and dump it on them. You’ll feel better, lighter when you’re not lugging around all that heavy stuff; you can start to fill up your bucket with more helpful stuff, like positive affirmations (I feel good, I look good, I AM GOOD). Your unreasonable friend might be able to help you here. I’m sure they can manage to convince you that you have at least one or two outstanding qualities.
Now hold those thoughts! You can’t hold a negative thought while you’re holding a positive one, so you get to make a choice and the choice is always yours, even if it seems like outside factors are conspiring against you and forcing you into thinking negatively. You know the scenarios….the customer who cancels the big order just after you’ve finished the four hours of paperwork it took to process it, the colleague who always lands the big deals while you’re left with the crumbs…. The fact remains that you choose how you will react, how you will frame whatever is influencing you, how you will either turn it to your advantage or turn it against yourself. You can turn negatives into positives, so which is it going to be?
Take a good hard look at your skills. Are you as sharp as you could be? Are there things you need to learn, is there room for improvement? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, there’s a good chance you don’t know what you don’t know. Get our free download of the 14 Crucial Determinants of Top Performing Salespeople or if you’re in retail, the 14 Crucial Determinants of Top Performing RETAIL Salespeople and take the self assessment test to pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses. Listen carefully to your own self talk, that voice in your head that tells you where you stand. Is it saying, “I’m confident, I know my stuff?” or “I know everything I need to know to be my best self today?” Or do the phrases “I sometimes feel uncomfortable/worried/scared when I’m selling” or “I don’t know enough but I muddle through” have a more familiar ring to them? Then take actionnow.Learn something new today, even if it’s only one little thing you didn’t know before. Then learn another new thing tomorrow. (Our e-chapters and books might just help you out here!)
Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world. What is going on inside of you always shows, in many subtle ways, on the outside of you. If you’re feeling down, your customers will pick up on this and will react accordingly. If you feel nervous, lack confidence, feel unprepared, you can bet your customers will pick up on this too, and they’ll feel nervous, unconfident and unprepared about doing business with you. Feel confident and in command of yourself and your environment and your customers will focus in on these qualities and will in turn respond accordingly. Try it, even if you have to force that smile on your face at first. Pretty soon it will happen without you even having to think about it.
Instill fear in your client. No, that’s not a typo, I really did say FEAR. Make them scared of what will happen if they don’t go ahead with your product or service. Remind them of what might happen if they don’t proceed. In times like these it’s easy to instill fear in your customers. Many of them are psyched into believing the sky is already falling, so it should be a small step for you to give them a push, then lean forward with a sturdy umbrella. That’s the best thing about instilling fear…. once you’ve got them good and worried, you throw them a lifeline and get to be their hero.
Many of you will already know most of the things we’ve mentioned today, but sometimes it helps to get a reminder. Sometimes, when we’re wallowing in self-pity it seems really difficult to snap ourselves out of it, but it really only takes one step.
In tough economic times, we all recognize that the strong survive and the weak disappear. This applies to businesses but it also applies to people. Strong salespeople with great skills are far more likely not only to survive, but thrive in these trying times and that’s because of an interesting phenomenon. Sure, the pressure goes on, the marketplace shrinks, there’s less to go around and the weak are crushed. Everyone knows this and are girding themselves to withstand the onslaught, praying they’re not going to become victims of a global recession.
But what many of you may not know is that once the weak are out of the picture, the market actually expands, leaving more opportunities for savvy players. You don’t have to just sit around blaming Wall Street; waiting with your fingers crossed that you don’t fall prey to situations beyond your control. While your competitors are still in “safety mode” trying to protect their slice of market share, you should be ramping up your activities, seeking new business, picking up the clients left behind in the meltdown. Now is the time to ensure your skills are up to par, not only so that you survive the shrinking marketplace, but to guarantee you will be one of the few who thrive; who are skilled enough to seize the opportunities that will soon cross your path. And if there are any gaps in your selling skill set, we’re here to help you.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website;www.wendyberry.com.au
“Treating them mean to keep them keen doesn’t work in retail” according to noted speaker and sales trainer Wendy Berry, “but isn’t it curious how many salespeople use this technique?”
You’ve spent all this time, effort and money on getting the punters into your shop only to have them drift back out again murmuring something that sounds vaguely like “I’ll think about it”. You watch them wander down the street to your competition, trying to stop kicking yourself for spending all those advertising dollars that brought them right to your competitors’ doors. But wait a second, you’ve muttered the ubiquitous “I’ll think about it” yourself at some time or another, have you ever stopped to think why? Why do customers not buy? Or more particularly, why do they not buy from you?
It always comes back to relationships. The skill of the person your customer first makes contact with will determine whether they ultimately stay and spend in your shop or choose to spend elsewhere. In that first instant, that moment of truth, are your salespeople up to it? Are they immediately involved in building rapport with that customer, engaging their attention or are they showing the customer, in so many subtle ways how much they don’t care?
People shop around not because they’re looking for a better deal; they shop around because they’re looking for a better relationship. They want to speak with a salesperson who is interested in them, who shows they care about their needs and will go out of their way, if necessary, to help them. They want to deal with someone who knows what they’re talking about, or at the very least can steer them in the right direction. They need to be understood and they only way they can feel this is when your staff are truly focussed on serving them. I’m not talking about obsequious pandering here. The only thing worse than a salesperson who perpetually hovers over a customer grovelling in anticipation of a fat commission is the salesperson who practically shouts “I hate my job, I wish I were anywhere but here and most of all, I hate the %^#&# customers.” They don’t even have to say the words; the vacant or bored looks on their faces say it all. Salespeople act this way because they lack skills. It’s difficult to get excited about your sales job when you don’t know how to sell.
Customers buy on emotion and justify with logic. Most salespeople don’t understand what that means. The emotions have to become engaged in order for the sale to proceed. A skilled salesperson can ask the right questions and get to the customer’s real motivation to buy, engaging their emotional responsiveness, they can identify their customer’s personality style and sell to them the way they prefer to be sold to, but most importantly they build relationships, making sure their customers feel understood.
As a customer, you always know when you’re dealing with a skilled salesperson, even though you may not be particularly aware of it while they’re selling to you. You’ll know it because you’ll be smiling when you walk out of the shop with your new purchase satisfied that you got what you really wanted, no matter how much it cost.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
Cultural Alignment sounds a bit like one of those new catch phrases that promise a lot but don’t really mean anything. Nothing could be further from the truth. According to Andrew Cavanagh, Programme Director at Monash University’s Australian Centre for Retail Studies, cultural alignment is not only important, it’s the most important thing companies can do for themselves in order to get ahead. So what is it? In a nutshell, it’s a set of expectations and guidelines that permeate every aspect of a business. This ensures that every person in the business is on the same page when it comes to the aspirations and goals of the company and their efforts all contribute to these goals. They’re all headed in the same direction.
It’s easier to understand if you think of it in more familiar terms. If you grew up with siblings, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents, there’s a good chance you’re all culturally aligned. You speak the same language, literally and figuratively. You have the same accents and idiomatic phrasing. You share mannerisms, etiquette, values and you do the most basic things in the same way. Your brothers and sisters are most closely aligned with you because you were taught the same family rules by the same parents. In my family we always had roast dinners on Sunday after church. So did my cousins. So did my grandparents. It was just how we did things and no-one questioned why. Cultural alignment!
In a culturally aligned company, everyone knows where they stand and what is required of them. Every aspect of the business comes under the cultural alignment umbrella, so if product ordering is done a certain way in one department, it will be done in the same way in every department. If the phone is answered in a certain way in the sales department, it will be answered in the same way in human resources, billing and customer service. If the shop floor is laid out in a certain way in one branch, it will be laid out in the same or similar way in every other branch. The shelves will be stocked the same way. If Branch A is short-staffed, someone from Branch B can easily fill in without having to be specifically trained in how Branch A is run, because it’s exactly the same as Branch B. If the little day to day things are culturally aligned, it makes it easier for the big stuff like company objectives, to be aligned too. It just makes sense. And making sense is the crux of cultural alignment.
When I conduct sales training within a company, it’s easy to tell which of the salespeople have been trained by me. They all speak “Wendy speak”. They use the same terminology; they talk about the sales process in the same way. They all use “The Wendy Weapon” sales training processes and because they’ve undergone the same training, they are better placed to help each other, compete with each other and cumulatively achieve group goals. A common sense of purpose breeds hopefulness and the expectation of a brighter future, valuable commodities in these trying times.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
A young woman from a promotional products company recently came to see Abe, a wheeling, dealing entrepreneur and good friend of mine. She’d just flown in from Sydney especially for the meeting, so he knew she placed a priority on doing business with him and why not? If she pulled off the deal they were discussing, it would mean a large commission for her and a steady income for her company. She was a very pretty woman and Abe has a healthy appreciation of pretty women, but that’s not what he first noticed about her. All he could think about was how tacky she looked.
It was apparent to Abe that this woman didn’t care about her appearance. Her hair was greasy and uncombed, her make-up was smeared and lipstick worn out, as were her down-at-heel shoes. When she offered her hand to shake, Abe noticed her nails were not only unmanicured, they were dirty. Her wrinkled clothing could be put down to the flight from Sydney, but the loose thread hanging from her shirt button couldn’t. When she placed her laptop on the desk, Abe saw that it too was dirty and didn’t want it on his desk. When she later turned it on, he wasn’t focused on the powerpoint she was showing him, he was wondering if the papers it was sitting on would get dirty marks on them.
Abe had several telephone discussions with the young woman prior to their meeting and had already made up his mind to accept the deal if the numbers stacked up. He was so distracted by her appearance that during her presentation, he missed half of what she had to say. She left empty-handed.
It doesn’t cost anything to make sure your clothes are ironed, shoes are clean and hair is combed. It sure can cost you if they’re not. This young woman left Abe’s office wondering what had gone wrong. She didn’t realise that something as basic as personal presentation could kill the sale. Abe looks at it like this; if she didn’t care enough to look after herself, then she wouldn’t care enough to look after his business.
You only get one shot at a first impression, so make it count. Speaking of counting, here are the numbers. First impressions comprise 7% verbal communication (what we say), 38% non-verbal cues (the mood we are in, the look on your face, feelings). The other 55% is based solely on your appearance. To ensure your appearance is the best it can be, run through The Appearance Check-List every day. Here it is:
Make sure you keep healthy, with plenty of sleep, healthy food and exercise.
Dress in the best quality, most appropriate clothing you can afford . Smart, conservative clothing is generally preferable.
Make sure your look is up-to-date but not trendy .
Ensure your clothes are in good repair, no missing buttons, stains or holes. No worn out or dirty cuffs or collars.
Wear clean unscuffed shoes , the best quality you can afford.
Get your hair cut in a neat and tidy contemporary style that you can easily maintain.
Wash your hair when it needs it and comb it regularly.
Clean teeth and fresh breath are absolute musts. Keep a supply of breath mints handy and use them regularly. Do not suck them while you’re with a client. Don’t chew gum either.
Keep hands clean and manicured. If you can’t afford a professional manicure, learn to do it yourself.
Shower daily and use an antiperspirant deodorant. Some people may need to re-apply this throughout the day. NEVER let them see you sweat!
Take care of facial hair as appropriate. If you shave, make sure you’re clean-shaven. If you wear a beard or moustache, groom them regularly, making sure they are scrupulously clean.
Ensure aftershave or perfume is subtle, not cheap or over-powering.
If wearing make-up, don’t overdo it. No garish colours, no heavy handed blushers or eyeshadows. Refresh it halfway through your workday. Re-apply lipstick when needed.
Avoid overdoing accessories. Don’t let them become the focal point when your client looks at you. If they’re focusing on your 25 jangling silver bracelets or the thick gold chains around your neck, they’re not giving your message 100% of their attention.
Any equipment you use in your presentation must be clean and in good repair, including laptop and briefcase.
Ensure anything you plan to give to clients is in the best condition. No dog-eared proposals, ripped brochures or crumpled business cards.
Simple, isn’t it? Yet many sales people pay time, money and attention to acquiring selling skills, only to let themselves down by failing to address the most basic tenets of personal presentation. They make it just that little bit harder for themselves by always having to start on the back foot. Don’t be one of them.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
When all your competitors are circling the wagons, hunkering down, consolidating their resources while bracing for the onslaught of a shattering downturn, it takes a brave soul to buck the trend and head out into the wilderness on their own.
Noted speaker and sales trainer, Wendy Berry of Sales Evolution claims now is the time to take advantage of your competitors’ downtime. While they’re busily trimming expenditure, carefully cutting back wherever they can, slashing advertising and training budgets because there’s no funding for “soft” projects like these, Wendy recommends you take the opposite tack. Aggressively grow your business, focus on increasing advertising, get skilled at negotiating hard for beneficial rates. Raise your training budget to make sure your salespeople are as ready as they’ll ever be to take advantage of every single sales opportunity.
The prophets of doom are already out, forecasting long term recession, possibly even worsening to depression. Wendy believes that the time is ripe for savvy businesses to reap the profits, despite the dire predictions of gloom merchants. “Consumers still have needs and they’ll still spend as long as they can be thoroughly convinced that they’re getting value for money and their real needs are addressed. It takes finely honed sales skills to ensure the customer’s needs are properly met, giving them no reason to shop around with your competitors. This doesn’t mean dropping prices and tightening margins, it means adding value, and the biggest value you can add is to ensure you fully understand exactly what your customer needs and providing it for them.”
“It comes down to attitude, ” Berry states, “You can believe that the doom and gloom predictions are fact, so you act accordingly. You go into “safety mode” to try to hang on to what you’ve got, while bit by bit, it trickles away because you’ve ceased aggressive money-making activities. Instead, believe that the recession is for other people and choose not to participate. Treat it as an opportunity for you to overtake your competitors while they’ve chosen to temporarily take
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
How powerful would it be if you knew how to communicate with people on their own wavelength, speak their language, be immediately understood and recognised as belonging amongst them? Personality profiling will help you do all that and more.
Have you ever met someone who rubbed you up the wrong way? From the moment you met them, everything they said and did grated on you and set your teeth on edge. In all likelihood their personality style clashed with yours and neither of you knew how to match your style to reflect theirs. If you had, conflict over! Personality profiling isn’t about categorising people and putting them into little boxes. It’s more about recognising how others think and act so that you may then model your own behaviour to more closely align with theirs. This breaks down barriers to communication that might otherwise make conducting business difficult.
I recently went on a sales call with a sales rep who has a “Relator” personality type. The first words out of the prospective client’s mouth were, “Well, let’s get down to business.” In the short time we were with him, he answered three phone calls, sent someone else a text message, left us in his office while he dealt with something urgent on the shop floor, then insisted she give him a full sales presentation on the spot. The bewildered rep wondered what had hit her. She had run into a classic “Director” personality type. All of her Relator behavioural instincts demanded that she get as far away from this man as possible. Instead, she subtly altered her behaviour, picked up the pace of her speech, introduced short sharp hand gestures into her conversation, choosing similar gestures to those of the client. These slight changes in her approach were enough to grab the Director’s attention. He started to speak to her, not at her. He accepted her as being just like him and responded accordingly. Remarkably, he also accepted her contention that she needed information from him before he was going to get that full presentation he had demanded, so answered every question she threw at him.
If she had maintained her Relator personality style with this client, she would have been dog tucker. Directors usually find Relators to be namby-pamby time-wasters and are often impatient, annoyed and dismissive when dealing with them. Relators find Directors arrogant, rude, high-handed and far too full of themselves to bother with. In order to communicate effectively, something or someone has to give, but total capitulation isn’t necessary when simply mirroring the other party’s style is enough to get the lines of communication humming.
If you knew that providing your client with loads of statistics, diagrams, facts and figures would drive them crazy, you wouldn’t do it, would you? But what about the client who needs all that information before they can make a decision? Personality profiling provides you with the tools to be able immediately recognise the difference between these two conflicting styles and guides you in determining how to tailor your own behaviour so that it is easily accepted by everyone with whom you have dealings. So what’s your type?
There are four separate and distinct types and each person has elements of every type in their make-up, though one particular style will dominate with other styles showing themselves to lesser degrees.
Director
If you tend to tell people rather than ask them, if you’re job focussed and results are the most important thing to you, then you’re likely to be a Director personality type. Control is important to Directors; they’re busy people with tight schedules and abhor time wasters. To deal with a Director, keep your speech patterns direct and to the point, don’t waste time over-explaining. Focus on the job at hand and provide brief, insightful and incisive information that relates directly to them and their concerns.
Socialisers
If you’re friendly, out-going, always on the go and care about relationships, it’s likely you’re a Socialiser. Socialisers tend to tell rather than ask and they share the same rapid speech pattern as Directors, but there the similarity ends. Socialisers like to know all about you on a personal level. They want to know where you fit on the social pecking order, do you have friends and acquaintances in common? Social contacts are important to socialisers and you won’t successfully get the business done without addressing this.
Thinkers
Thorough, systematic and analytical, Thinkers revel in details. They thrive on information and the more you give them, the better they like it. They need things around them to be well organised and if they’re not, don’t expect them to be able to function well until they are. They’re task focussed and see themselves as highly efficient problem-solvers. They ask lots of questions and appreciate time to mull over your answers. To get on their wavelength, slow everything down including the pace of your speech. Avoid surprises and try not to hurry them or finish their sentences.
Relators
If you’re a warm, nurturing people person, then you’re sure to be a Relator. In dealing with Relators, the chief currency is trust. If you don’t have theirs, you won’t get their business. They’re happiest when everyone around them is thriving, which is why they make such outstanding Managing Directors. They have a deep fear of confrontation and feel very uncomfortable around high-pressured situations and people. To successfully do business with a Relator, first you must build a relationship of mutual trust. Tone it down, tap into your emotions and then tap into theirs.
Personality typing is used in many different ways in business. You may have already taken a personality profile test as part of a recruitment process as the information they elicit aids in placing people in situations, teams or occupations where they will work at their optimum. When in a selling situation, there are numerous practical applications of personality profiling. These range from style matching to mirroring, from stress management to stress inducement, yes inducement! Sometimes it’s handy to be able to turn up the heat a little. Whichever way you choose to use personality profiling, you’ll find that dealing with people on their own wavelength, in their own comfort zone will not only improve your sales results, it will enhance your overall communication skills in business and in your personal life too. How to determine your type.
Using the diagram, place an “x” along the red “task-oriented – relationship-oriented” horizontal axis. If you’re more task focussed, caring more about the job at hand, then your “x” should be closer to the left. If you’re more people focussed, caring about group dynamics and interpersonal relationships, then your “x” should be more to the right. The more intense the behaviour, the more to the right or left your “x” should be. Now do the same with the purple vertical “fast-paced – slow-paced” axis. If you charge at things like a bull at a gate, your “x” should be at the top of the axis. If you prefer to take your time and pay attention to detail, then your “x” will be nearer the bottom of the vertical axis. Now drawn a line between the two “x’s”. Whichever style the line passes through is your primary personality type.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
Forget Cirque du Soleil and children’s birthday party performers, far and away the best jugglers I know are all working mothers. It takes skill, daring and tenacity to throw all those balls up in the air; it takes dedication, commitment and outstanding time management to keep them there.
It’s flu season and your youngest has the sniffles. What do you do? You’re giving a major presentation to your company’s biggest client but it means an overnighter on the same night as your daughter’s piano recital. What do you do? Your ex-husband is late with the child support again and this is the third weekend in a row when he’s failed to pick up the kids. What do you do?
The biggest obstacle in attaining a Work-Life balance is guilt. You feel guilty when you’re at work because your kids are in child care and you find yourself worrying about them all day. You feel guilty because you’re at home with the kids and all you want to do is sneak away to your office and finish that report you’ve been working on. Or worse yet, you’ve put in a hard day at work, the kids have been fighting from the moment you got home and you’re too tired to give your husband a goodnight kiss, let alone anything else, so of course you feel guilty about that too.
So where is all this guilt getting you? Exactly nowhere. Unlike other more robust emotions, like anger or jealousy which often prompt us to take action, guilt just sits there festering. It doesn’t compel you to act, there is no hope that guilt will help you make things better. Guilt simply drains your energy so that you feel powerless to change things. So, first on the agenda? Lose the guilt!
You do that by living in the moment, being present in the here and now. When you’re at home with the kids, be there in that moment both physically and mentally. Don’t allow your mind to wander to what you “should” be doing, because the fact of the matter is that you should be exactly where you are. When you’re at work, be there one hundred percent. Worrying about your children will not help them or you; all worry does is make you less effective for the task at hand. “BUT....!” I hear you cry, “what if......” When “what if” actually happens, you deal with it, but until it does, move on.
It helps to have contingency plans for all those “what if” moments. I don’t mean that you should sit down and think up every disaster imaginable and have a plan of action for each one. I mean you should have a general plan of action for predictable problems like your child getting a cold and being unable to go to school or day care, or your boss offering you a big advancement opportunity contingent upon doing work you haven’t scheduled. Knowing what you will do under these circumstances takes the worry out of the equation. You already have it covered, so there’s nothing to worry about.
Make agreements and stick to them. If you need to work for an hour after dinner every day but the kids keep interrupting, or fighting, or crying or generally finding other “kid” ways of getting your attention, make a deal with them. If they leave you in peace and quiet for one hour, then they get your undivided attention for the rest of the night. It’s always tempting to over-compensate and bribe them with food, gifts or outings. Avoid this because it sets a nasty precedent that they will exploit because they’re kids and that’s what kids do. Their reward must be your undivided time and attention. When you’re with them, be WITH them.
Teaching the value of time to your children is a great gift; one that will hold them in good stead for the rest of their lives, so plan your time. With a time management plan in place, everyone knows what’s expected of them. Write up a daily plan on a calendar and put it on the fridge door. Explain how it works and encourage your children and spouse to add their special events to it. If you run into conflicting timetables, negotiate. Aim for win/win outcomes. Teaching them to negotiate for time gives them a sense of priorities.
The most important part of any balancing act is the pivot or central point on which the balance depends. If it’s not strong enough, everything falls apart. If it’s not alert enough, all the balls hit the floor. In this balancing act, you’re the pivot, so look after yourself. Allocate “Me Time” and treat yourself well. Make sure you’re not always sacrificing your personal time to fulfil the needs of others. If you’re not replenishing yourself, giving yourself the luxury of “Me Time”, you’ll run out of resources and will be useless, not only to yourself, but for all those who rely on you to keep juggling. Putting your needs first ensures you’ll remain strong and alert enough to keep all your balls in the air.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
"I'm the Boss of You" or "How to Kill the Sale with your Personality"
A friend of mine, Marie, a no-nonsense type, couldn’t figure out where she was going wrong. She was smart, articulate and direct, yet many of her customers found her abrasive and arrogant and this was not conducive to closing sales. What was it about her that rubbed people up the wrong way and more importantly, how could she fix it?
Marie’s fast/direct personality style was partially to blame. She was a quintessential Director-type; to the point, straight down to business, no chit-chat and let’s get the job done with a minimum of fuss. The rest of the blame lay in the personality styles of her customers. Unfortunately, Marie couldn’t change their personalities; her only option was to modify her own. But how could she do that without sacrificing her own sense of identity?
Each one of us possesses traits in varying degrees of the four basic personality or behavioural styles in our make-up. Director-type Marie might have only a trace of the slow-paced, people oriented Relater-type, but she has enough of it to tap into it and use it to her advantage.
If you think of behavioural styles as different languages, it becomes somewhat easier to grasp. Socialiser-types speak quickly, use their hands expressively and are very people-oriented, so let’s say they’re the Italians of the behavioural style spectrum. Thinker-types are slow, methodical, focussed on the task at hand and revel in details. With their love of perfection and order, we’ll call them the Germans. Relater-types are people-oriented; slow to make decisions and are fearful of making mistakes that could hurt other people. I think they’d be ideal peace-making Belgians. Then of course, we have types like my friend Marie, fast-paced and direct, their focus is on the job at hand and they don’t suffer fools gladly. They like things to be done their way because they know best. We’ll call them the Americans.
Now imagine that the Belgian-speaking Relater is your customer and you’re the American. The Relater only speaks Belgian so how do you communicate? Fortunately, you’ve spent some time around other Belgians, so you know a smattering of the language. You know enough to speak slowly, to show your warm empathic side, to gently reassure the Belgian that they’re making the right decision and that everyone concerned will benefit from the choice they have made. But of course, you can only do that if you know your customer is Belgian.
How about if you’re the cool, methodical German and your customer is a hot-blooded Italian, all hand gestures and emotion? How can you possibly speak their language? You don’t have to be fluent, you just have to know key words and gestures that will make the Italian feel that you understand them and are just like them. You’ll speed up your pace, become more animated and talk about the things Italians like to discuss.
In modifying your own behaviour, you’re seeking to speak your customer’s language and they’ll be far more amenable to receiving your message if they can actually understand it in their own native “tongue”.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
The only thing worse than not giving your customer enough information is giving them too much. If you’ve ever been subjected to a salesperson inundating you with facts and figures you never asked for and couldn’t give a hoot about, then you know exactly what I mean. Many salespeople have the mistaken idea that as long as they’re still talking, their customer is still interested. Nothing could be further from the truth.
As a salesperson in the early stages of the sale, if you’re not asking questions, you shouldn’t be talking. You most definitely should not be offering recommendations or spouting a bunch of facts and features. The only times this is acceptable is either when you have already determined your customer’s needs through judicious questioning or when your customer has asked you a direct question that requires a factual answer, and perhaps not even then!
Your job is to determine exactly what your customer needs and this is not necessarily the same as what they want. The only way you can do this is by asking them questions, often very many questions. Start with broad “ice-breaker” questions, making sure they’re not closed questions that can be answered with only a “Yes” or “No”. You’re seeking information and yes or no answers are not going to be helpful enough in acquiring the kind of information you need.
Once you have a general outline of your customer’s needs, it’s time to start asking more focussed questions in an effort to narrow down the possible solutions you can provide for them. These questions are not along the lines of...”Well, do you like this one or that one?” They’re more concerned with how the customer is going to use your product, what their expectations are, what perceived drawbacks they might feel and what issues could be dealbreakers for them.
When and only when you have determined what your customer’s needs are should you make a recommendation, for it is only then that you can be confident that what you’re recommending will fit with your customer’s requirements as they have outlined them to you. Whichever way you look at it, the quality and accuracy of your recommendation always comes back to the questions you ask.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
When budgets are being slashed why would anyone in their right mind consider implementing a brand spanking new training program? Wendy Berry, founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Top Gun Business Academy has some pretty convincing reasons why training should be your first priority.
We’re all fairly certain there are rocky roads ahead. All the signs point to the fact that the time is ripe to take your business out of cruise control and really start to drive it. If you don’t, you’re left eating your competitors’ dust. So what are your plans to cope? You won’t have the fat advertising budgets to entice customers to buy your products and services. In fact, fat from every department inevitably gets trimmed when the accountants get a little nervous. You’ll need to become leaner and meaner just to survive, so where does that leave your ability to generate business? Firmly in the hands of your sales team. Are they up to it?
During good times there’s plenty of wiggle room. If you don’t make this sale, then you’ll get the next one. Your sales team doesn’t even have to be that good in order to bring in the orders. There’s wealth a-plenty for everyone. Some of your sales reps aren’t exactly pulling their weight? So what! They’re bringing in enough to cover their cost and perhaps a bit more to make it worthwhile keeping them, at least for now. Besides, it’s been a tough labour market and finding good people hasn’t been easy. Perhaps you’ve had to settle for hiring a few salespeople who would never have got through your front door in a more lenient labour climate. Now you’re stuck with them.
Even your best salespeople have been cruising lately. They haven’t needed to sharpen their skills, because things came easily when everyone was spending. Let’s face it, it’s been a bit of a gravy train, but not for much longer. Take a good hard look at your sales team. Do it right now! Do you feel comfortable placing your future and the future of your company in the hands of these people? Do they have the skills they need to keep your company humming during an economic downturn or even, dare I say it, a recession? And if they don’t, what’s your plan B?
The actions we take affect the results we end up with. Our results then affect our attitude, confirming that our potential is just what we thought it was all along. We call this the Success Spiral. It’s easy to maintain a great attitude when everything is going well. We feel strong and certain so we’re not afraid to take action. Dealing from a position of strength, whether it’s real or perceived, our actions produce great results. The great results leave us feeling pretty darned pleased with ourselves, this feeds out positive attitude which leads us to feel we’re living up to our potential. This then feeds into the next spin of the spiral. We feel good - we take positive action, et cetera.
Unfortunately, the spiral works in both directions. Spiral up and break out the champagne and caviar, spiral down and cry into your beer and crackers. Worse yet, that downward spiral just keeps on going and going, building a momentum all of it’s own. We continue going round in the same old circles, getting the same lousy results, unable to break the pattern.
I’m not just talking about your sales team here. You’re not immune from the effects of the downward spiral yourself. The decisions you make today and the actions you take based on those decisions will undoubtedly affect your results, your results affect your attitude and your attitude affects your potential to make sound decisions. If your spiral is headed in a downward direction what can you do to stop the momentum? The only way to break the spiral is to tap into it with actions. But how can we change our actions when our actions are already firmly entrenched within the grip of the spiral? Through the skills we develop! And the skills you need to break the spiral don’t just fall out of the sky into your lap, they must be identified, taught and retained.
In lean times, the first thing that usually gets the chop is the training budget, if you even have one in the first place. Sure, you can maybe, just maybe rationalise spending on sales training when times are good, but when times are tough, it’s a case of all hands on deck! There’s no money and no time for fancy sales training, after all, all training does is pump up and energise the sales team for a few weeks, then the effects wear off and they’re all back to their same old tricks, right? Well no.
Remember the spiral? Skills break the momentum of a downward spiral and cause an upward swing. Even if you’re already on an upward track, the introduction of skills will increase the rate of improvement in attitude, actions and results, making the most of innate potential that otherwise would have remained untapped. A few skills build it slowly, add a few more and the momentum increases. Before you know it, your skill base has grown along with your sales results.
The simplest and least expensive method of increasing your sales result is, without doubt, through the judicious use of targeted training. You could leave it up to your sales force to seek out and obtain their own methods of self-improvement. Some of them already actively pursue career-enhancing courses, motivational seminars and sales aids like books and CD’s. These are the salespeople who are most likely to succeed anyway. They’ve already recognised that they need help and have taken their own steps to ensure they get it. Not everyone is so astute.
Many salespeople exist in a state of unconscious incompetence. They don’t have the skills they need to perform to their potential. What a waste of talent! Even worse, they don’t even know it! But they’re not alone in that. Often, their management don’t know it either, which explains their resistance to spending money on training.
If the unconsciously incompetent salesperson is lucky, someone or something happens to make them aware of their lack. They then move into conscious incompetence. They’re still not skilled, but at least they know they’re not and can choose to do something about it. They get some training, learn a skill or two and become consciously competent. If they focus on their lessons, putting what they’ve learned into practice, eventually they advance to a state of unconscious competence, where they’ve completely absorbed their training and it becomes second nature to them. If you ever learned to ride a bike, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
Remember the first time you tried it? If you’re anything like me, you wobbled a bit, maybe even fell down. A few grazed knees and quite a few tears later, I was adamant I was going to give up. Fortunately, my teacher was a very patient man (good old Dad) and wouldn’t consider my failure as an option. Soon the front wheel stopped wobbling. With a bit more persistence, I could use the brakes properly without falling off the bike. I practised, grew confident and before I even realised it, I was riding like I’d done it all my life. I haven’t ridden a bike in years, but I know that if I got back on one right this minute, I’d still be able to ride it. Unconscious competence! That’s what good training does. You perform the newly acquired skill without even needing to think about it.
It doesn’t end there. Back they go into a temporary state of unconscious incompetence until they identify the next skill they lack. I say temporary, because once they’re introduced to a training environment, they’re more likely to discover just how much they don’t know and precisely which skills they need to acquire or enhance. The more competent they become, the more valuable they are to you and your company. The more skills they acquire, the better equipped they are to see you through the rough times that sooner or later will be upon us all. Indeed, why wait for the doom and gloom to hit you when you could be profiting from your sales team’s new skills acquisition right now? That decision to take pre-emptive action and implement an appropriate training regime is a positive and empowering step in your own success spiral.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and salesprofessional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon -Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
You have a great product or service. In fact, it’s so good everyone would want to buy it if they only loved it as much as you do. Having passion for your product is wonderful. Believing in it is crucial. Expecting other people to share your enthusiasm may be a step too far. How then do you know when you’re pushing too hard, when you’re letting your enthusiasm run away with you?
The key to a successful sales outcome lies in marrying your prospective customer’s needs with your product’s features and benefits. First, you need to find out just what your prospect’s needs are and you do this by asking questions. Lots and lots of questions. But be wary.... this is not an interrogation and you don’t want your prospect to feel they’re undergoing a reincarnation of the Spanish Inquisition! Fit your questions into general conversation, in just the same way as you would if you met someone at a party. When your prospect makes a statement, ask them what they mean. Take every opening they give you to elicit more information. What are good questions?
A good question is one that gets your prospective customer thinking about your product or service and where it fits into their grand scheme of things. It’s not a sales pitch thinly disguised as a question. It’s a genuine attempt to attain information that will help your client decide if your product is a good fit for them. If they bought your product, how would it make their life better, easier? In other words, what will it do for them? Sometimes the best questions are the simplest. “How do you mean?” “How did that make you feel?” “What happened then?” Whenever you meet a prospective client, begin by asking them questions about themselves. These are serious and incisive questions, though they should seem rather harmless to the person you are talking to. These questions will vary depending upon the industry you are in and the types of people you are selling to. They will always have one thing in common; they are designed to get your prospective customer talking. Talking about things in general, and talking about your industry and your product or service in particular. Common sense and practice will determine which questions will work for you.
One good question always leads to another and a good question is always open. Learn to ask open questions, those that need to be answered with information, not just “Yes” or “No”. The more information you uncover; the more leverage you have when the time comes to sell to your prospect. If you sell comfortable beds and you learn that your prospect hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in years, do you think knowing this would help you in selling them a bed? Then if you knew the reason they didn’t sleep well was because their partner moved a lot in their sleep and kept waking them, do you think this information would be useful to you in determining just what type of bed you would sell to them? If you’re selling a house-hold cleaning service, do you think it would help you to know that your prospect hates housework and would rather spend $40 per hour to get someone else to do it? Do you think it would also help to know that she earns $80 per hour so not only can she easily justify hiring someone to do the housework for her, she’s economically better off in hiring your service because the four hours she wastes in cleaning would be better spent working at her job? How about learning that she would prefer to spend her weekends playing with her kids, or spending time with her boyfriend or visiting her sick aunty? If you knew these priorities, do you think it would help you when the time came to close the sale, especially if you could clearly convey that your service was not just about cleaning her house, it was about giving her the time to do what she really valued.
Given the opportunity, most people like to talk about themselves and when their listener is someone who is obviously interested in what they have to say, it’s often hard to get them to stop talking! And of course you’re interested, because what they’re saying is giving you the key to selling to them. Whether selling is your primary occupation or it’s peripheral to your business, perfecting the art of asking brilliant questions will see you well on your way to becoming skilled in sales.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
You’ve just spent months and thousands renovating your property, everything is done and it’s time for payday. Before you reach for the phone to call a Real Estate agent, consider the benefits of selling it yourself. The first thing that comes to mind is all the commission you’ll save and there’s no denying that the money spent on commission would be a lot nicer in your pocket than in your agent’s. But let’s think for a minute, Real Estate salespeople generally bring a host of specific skills to the table when it comes to selling property and you’ve never sold a house before, surely the odds are stacked against you?
Let’s take a look at the skills you’ll need. You may already possess them and if not, you may be able to acquire them.
Product Knowledge – A professional salesperson will know their product inside-out and if they don’t they will know where to get their hands on the information required, most often from you, the seller! You have the clear advantage in this case. You know your product far better than any Real Estate salesperson and you have the answers at your fingertips. Just be careful with how you impart that information. Don’t go spewing it all out the moment a prospective knocks on the door. You’ll either bore them or scare them off. Take time, instead to get to know your buyer, what they’re looking for and what they’re not. Let them do the talking.
Understanding the Legalities – Most Real Estate salespeople have an understanding of Real Estate Law, what they can and cannot say to a seller or a buyer. Are you legally required to tell the purchaser that a tap is dripping and it will cost $30 to fix it? How about that the water heater is about to give up the ghost and it will cost $3,000 to fix? Real Estate Salespeople also have an extensive contract that covers all the nitty-gritty items like who gets the curtains and are the carpets and flowerpots part of the deal. It also provides the legal description of the property to ensure you’re selling the right place within its correct boundaries. Naturally, your lawyer will be checking all these details when he does the conveyancing, but it’s important to have the correct information in the first place. If you choose to sell your property yourself, you can get a basic contract from your lawyer. Do a little homework and learn how to write up a simple contract covering the basic outlines of the sale. Leave the fine details to the lawyers.
Marketing Skills – Real Estate salespeople have access to people who are looking to buy a property. Buyers come to them because they know they have properties to sell and they come because the Real Estate salesperson has told them this. There is no reason why you cannot do the same. Generally speaking, Real Estate agents don’t know the person who will ultimately buy a property before it goes on the market. They find the buyer during the marketing process and they do this by placing advertising in appropriate places and by using signage on the property itself to attract people who may be driving past and to let people in the neighbourhood know that your house is for sale. If you recall the steps you took to find the property you purchased, you’ll gain an understanding of the most logical places to place advertising to attract buyers. Set yourself an advertising budget and stick to it. Don’t waste time and money advertising in niche publications or websites. Target the most obvious places first. If everyone else is advertising there, it’s a sure bet it’s because it works.
Distance – Emotional distance is an important factor in selling your property. Real Estate salespeople are emotionally removed from the situation, they don’t take it personally. When a prospective buyer criticises that gorgeous moulding that took you weeks to sand, paint and install, your natural instinct is to set them straight or attack their ignorance and poor taste. It’s difficult to just grin and bear it, after all, how can you not take it personally when you have poured your heart and soul into this place? Take a step back, see it from the buyer’s perspective and don’t buy into their negative comments. They are possibly just ploys to get the price down .
Ability to find the “Hot Button”- The most important skill any salesperson can have is their ability to find out exactly what will motivate their prospective buyer to actually buy, (their “Hot Button”) and then relate that information back to the product they have to sell. In other words, they need to be able to ask a lot of questions without interrogating the prospect and once they understand what the prospect really needs, they can highlight those aspects in their sales presentation. This skill is easily learned, though it’s not as simple as you might think. It comes down to asking the right questions at the right time and knowing when to speak and when it’s far more beneficial to listen. There are many books available on learning how to sell, not least of which is our own, “Don’t Stuff Up The Sale”, an easy read which will guide you through the sales process step-by-step.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
Remember the last time you met someone you took an instant dislike to? Chances are, you can’t explain why, all you know is they rubbed you up the wrong way. Everything about them was annoying. If you’re lucky it was in a social situation and you could ignore them or leave or even tell them exactly what you thought of them, but what do you do when it happens at work?
Your options are considerably more limited and your future considerably more bleak especially if the person you have taken an instant dislike to is your new boss or worse yet, the company’s biggest client you’ve just been assigned to work with. With a little luck and a large dose of professionalism, you cope. But what about the other side of the coin? What if the new boss or the biggest client has taken an instant dislike to you?
You could try ingratiating yourself, bribery has been known to work wonders, or you could try a little behavioural style modification. That simply means altering your personality style to more closely match the person you’re having problems with. Pay attention to five key areas, pace, directness, openness, relationship orientation and task orientation and you’ll easily be able to bring your own style more closely into alignment with them.
Pace
Do they speak quickly or slowly? Do they move fast or take their time? Do they make quick decisions and move on? Or do they take their time and ponder all the details? If they’re fast, pick up your own pace a bit, if they’re slow, take a deep breath and slow yourself down.
Directness
Do they tell you or ask you? If they want something done, do they say “Would you mind getting me the figures for the report?” or is it more a case of “Get me those report figures by lunchtime.” It may take a little practise, but you can modify your style to deal with this. If they ask, you ask. If they tell, you tell.
Openness
Can you read them like a book or do they tend to keep their thoughts to themselves? Are they happy to tell you their entire life story or is getting anything personal out of them trickier than pulling all their teeth? If they’re open, feel free to share your own hopes, dreams and aspirations. If they’re more self-contained, keep a lid on it.
Relationship-Oriented
Are they a people person, concerned with other people’s feelings and very community conscious or are they very socially connected, often talking about who they know, who is doing what to whom, the latest party they attended, and which school you attended? Both of these examples are relationship-oriented people, though often in very different ways and to get on with them, you need to play their game.
Task-Oriented
Not into all that touchy-feely stuff? Then it’s likely they’re task-oriented, much more concerned with getting the job done than examining how they feel about it. Maybe they want all the facts and figures and time to mull them over, or perhaps they just want to know the high-points and get on with it. Either way, their focus is on the job at hand and to relate well with them, yours should be too.
If your difficult boss or client only speaks Swahili, you’d learn the language wouldn’t you? Matching behavioural styles is a lot like that.
Wendy’s Behavioural Styles workshop is on in Melbourne next week. If you haven’t attended any of her Learn in Your Lunchtime Workshops yet, you MUST see this one! No-one conveys the intricacies of personality types better than Wendy and its enormous fun. She has her audiences laughing so hard it brings tears to their eyes. All that and learning too!
If you’d like more in-depth information on behavioural styles and how it can help you sell more, see our Wendy Weapon DVD on Behavioural Styles.
Naturally, there’s a comprehensive chapter on behavioural styles in our books and you can find out about them here. Or spend a huge $5 and pick up an e-chapter on this fascinating topic.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
I spoke with a woman this week who worked as a sales rep for a medical supply company. She told me that prospecting was a waste of time in her industry because she only dealt with hospitals and District Health Boards and she already knew who they were and they all knew of her company. On the face of it, this might seem like a reasonable approach, after all, why waste time prospecting when you don’t have to? But she missed the point. Prospecting is not about getting appointments with people you don’t know or who don’t know you, it’s really about getting appointments with people you should be doing business with, but aren’t, whether you already know them or not.
Now it’s entirely possible that she knew all of the buyers in all of the hospitals in her area but when I asked her if she was doing business with all of them, she said “No.” Naturally I asked her why not and she said that her competitors were already entrenched with many of the buyers, so there really was no point in approaching them. I then asked her what would happen if one of these buyers became unhappy with their existing supplier. She told me that the buyer might ring a few other suppliers and she was confident her company would be on their list.
Still sounds reasonable? Let’s just consider another way of looking at the same scenario. What do you think would happen if she regularly rang her competitors’ clients? Would they get annoyed with her for bothering them? Quite possibly, or maybe they’d be glad to know they rated on somebody’s radar. Perhaps they’d be interested in learning what else was available to them, new advances in product lines, better service, a viable alternative if their current arrangement ever turned to custard, the certainty of continuous supply if they ever needed another supplier. All of these things could be relevant to the buyer, but this sales rep will never know, because she never called.
She never found out about the buyer who was tired of delivery problems with her competition. She didn’t learn about the prospective customer who was in the market for a new supplier until the new supplier was appointed and it wasn’t her. She didn’t know that there were quality issues with one of her competitors because of course, they kept it very hush-hush, but if she’d just called the buyer, they’d have gladly told her of the dilemma they were faced with.
Making those monthly, quarterly or even annual phone calls to prospects you already know but don’t do business with reminds them of your existence and lets them know they have alternatives. Keeping in touch helps you keep abreast of changes in your industry before they occur. You’ll know in advance when someone is being promoted and their replacement may want a new way of doing things and that includes getting their own suppliers.
Keep a prospecting list and keep calling, building the relationship every time you speak with them. Eventually, you’ll get an appointment. No matter what business you’re in, whether competitive or not, if you’re not prospecting, you’re not growing your business. It’s as plain and simple as that.
About the Author:
Wendy Berry renowned speaker, sales trainer and founder of Wendy Berry Sales Evolution and Jo-Anne Cole, entrepreneur, businesswoman and sales professional, co-authored the best selling book series "Don't Stuff Up The Sale - The Definitive Guide to the Sales Process" and "The Wendy Weapon - Interactive Sales Training DVD Series" available through their website; www.wendyberry.com.au
The definition of "flirt", according to the dictionary is:
to court triflingly or act amorously without serious intentions or
to trifle or toy, as with an idea.
While many may jump to a pre-mature conclusion (no double entendre intended), flirting is not synonymous with short skirts, sex, massages and unwarranted promotions etc. I would never advocate using overt sexuality to get business or a promotion. It simply isn't appropriate, professional or effective. What I am speaking about is very simple - it is about two objectives (1) being memorable and (2) developing rapport with another person for the purposes of enhancing your work relationship.
In my career, I have had the privilege to work in some of the top corporations both in Australia and North America - largely in male dominated industries. Having been in senior management positions in law, chartered accounting and retail management (FMCG), I have learned a few critical things about what it takes to be successful as a woman in business. In my experience a woman must be careful to remove sexuality from the equation yet maintain the strength of her feminity - her connection to emotions, intuition and communication - ALL of which are influential and valuable attributes in business.
People don't buy products or services - they buy the feeling they get from the purchase – they buy the experience.
Flirting (as long as it doesn't cross the line and become something that is not professional) is one powerful way to develop rapport. If you can make someone smile, feel relaxed and truly heard/listened to....then you have essentially sold them! This isn't a male/female issue. It isn't about sexuality, it is about body language, listening skills and being unforgettable....for ALL the RIGHT reasons.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
What can YOU Do In Your Business To Thrive in Uncertain Economic Times?
I suggest that you spring clean your business.
By this I mean reinvigorate some of the housekeeping that you may have overlooked in recent times. Over the last few years you may have found it possible to get away with a few loose ends and haphazard processes, but not any more.
So here are ten tactics to tidy-up and recession-proof your business.
1. Have a plan Position your business for the year ahead. Decide on your strategy, set your goals and work on your tactics. Put these together in a one or two page business plan. Uncertain times call for certain actions.
2. Forecast your cash flows Maintain a cash flow forecast so you can use it as an early warning system. The sooner you get an indication that your cash is tightening the more time you will have up your sleeve to take action. 3. Collect your debtors more quickly On average how long do your debtors take to pay you? Aim to reduce this by at least 10 days - if your annual revenue is $1 million you could save yourself $3,000
4. Reintroduce credit checks Have you got a bit lazy about running credit checks? Reintroduce them.
5. Monitor your customers debtor history Are any of your customers starting to take more credit than usual? Keep a close eye on them. They could be feeling the squeeze so be careful about extending too much credit.
6. Evaluate your customers Do you know who your best and worse customers are? How much profit are you making from each customer? If you don’t know, now is the right time to set up systems to track this and….
7. Cull your bottom customers Harsh as it may sound, concentrate on your best customers. Lavish them with attention. If you have unprofitable customers, cull them. You have no room for passengers.
8. Trim your product range If you are carrying a wide range of stock trim it. Do this by calculating which of you stock lines are your worst performers; sell those lines quickly to release some cash. Reduce your overall investment in stock.
9. Look at your processes Mistakes are costly so take a look at your processes. What can you tighten up or do differently to lower the chance of errors?
10. Have a budget Having a budget isn’t about cutting costs, it is about managing costs. So budget your expenditure for the year and track your actual costs closely. If you see costs starting to climb take steps to reduce your non essential expenditure.
So in the face of rising interest rates and a global economic downturn the best thing that you can do is to tighten your business; get it right and you might not need to tighten your belt
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
Why Flying More Frequently is The Only Cure For A Travel Phobia...
Why Flying More Frequently is The Only Cure For A Travel Phobia...
Many people ask me whether travel phobias – fear of flying, boating, automobile travel etc. - are justified or irrational.
I would be hard pressed to think of a single travel-related phobia that is “justified” per se. If a person has been in a serious car/plane accident and is therefore, afraid to return to that method of travel, his/her fear could possibly be said to be “justified” under the circumstances. However, most phobias related to travel are based on worries that simply will never eventuate.
By its very definition, a phobia is not a rational process. It is mainly an irrational fear of something that poses no real, impending danger. Take for example one of the most common phobias – fear of flying. Fear of flying is a partly rational and partly irrational fear. Yes, planes do crash from time to time and it is remotely possible that the one you are thinking of travelling on, could crash. But the likelihood of that happening is miniscule. You have a better chance of winning the lottery.
No doubt you are aware that it is statistically more dangerous to walk the streets or travel by car. We know all of these facts “intellectually” but this does not stop many from dreading or fearing travel by plane. In fact, it is estimated that as many as 8 to 10 out of every 100 individuals suffers from some sort of travel related phobia (with symptoms ranging from mild to severe).
Because phobias are not a rational process, facts, safety precautions and statistics do little to calm the fears of anyone who suffers. It is simply a learned emotional response in which your imagination causes a powerful surge of fear and anxiety. Once triggered, the phobic response is fuelled by runaway emotions and powerful imagery created by the subconscious mind.
The critical point here is that although the event (i.e. a flight or the thought of taking a flight) triggers this chain of events, it is purely our imagination that fuels it, maintains it, and makes us dread the next time. And if we continue to avoid travelling in order to avoid the phobic reaction, our avoidance actually intensifies the phobia related to flying. In essence, all phobias are the result of not knowing how to manage our own imagination.
And to successfully overcome phobias we need methods to successfully manage our own thoughts so that they do not produce the phobic feelings. Ironically, despite the prevalence of phobias related to air travel, most suffers do still choose to travel by air and many use drugs or relaxation as their primary method to overcome the physical symptoms. Neither of these is a cure but rather a temporary fix.
Ironically, the best way to treat the aerophobia (fear of flying) is to fly more frequently. Every successful flight will build hard evidence to support the belief that air catastrophes are an exception rather than the rule. However, this may not be palatable for many sufferers (esp. those whose symptoms are the most severe). There are a few common approaches that I do not recommend. They either do not effectively cure the problem or they require the client to subject themselves to an unnecessary amount of sessions revisiting the past.
Depending upon the client and the particular phobia, I recommend using either NLP, clinical hypnotherapy or Thought Field Therapy (or a combination of these techniques).
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) was developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the early 70's – based on their observations of the work of Virginia Satir, Fritz Perls and Milton Erickson. NLP was created to help us understand how verbal and nonverbal communication affects the human brain. It gives all of us the opportunity to learn how to gain more control over the automatic functions of our own brain neurology. Essentially, if you know the structure of behaviour (i.e. a phobia), you can change it....and you can change it quickly. It is not necessary to analyse the reasons or causes for the behaviour.
Hypnotherapy minimises the symptoms of phobias by reprogramming the existing thought patterns that are stored in the subconscious mind - which bring about the fears. The thought-feeling reactions created form a chain of events, much like a string of pearls: A “string” is created from the initial sensitising event (or “ISE”) to each of the subsequent events that reinforce those particular thoughts and feelings. The ability to trace back the presenting issue/problem to the first time it was ever a problem for the client (ISE) and break the thought feeling connection, is the key to eliminating the problem and the symptoms forever. The key is to identify the problem (not merely the symptoms) and to uncover the ISE.
Energy Psychology (i.e. Thought Field Therapy) is one of the newer approaches that dramatically reduces emotional distress and restores emotional well-being by clearing the flow of the body's "energy system”. It is effective in treating phobias because it is safe, effective and long lasting. Energy psychology is based on the centuries old philosophy that there are lines of energy, called meridians that run through the body. Every negative emotion that we experience is simply a blockage of energy somewhere in the body. The symptoms of blocked energy can include emotions such as fear, anxiety, etc. and behaviours such as phobias. Many of these symptoms will simply fade away on their own if you clear the blocked energy. This is done by tapping on a series of points on the body, usually while focusing on the specific problem, either as an image, or by saying a word or sentence out loud. When your energy is balanced and runs clear, your emotional distress goes away on its own. There is no need to explore it, analyse it, or subject to lengthy therapy sessions.
In my own practice, more often than not, I will use either TFT or NLP to assist clients with phobias. From time to time I use clinical hypnotherapy.
The results from NLP and TFT are usually immediate (1-2 sessions depending on the presenting issue) and permanent. Also, these do not subject the client [unnecessarily] to revisit painful memories from the past.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
And significantly increase the number of articles you write and submit!
Twitter is a hoot! It can be wildly addictive – and beneficial to your business. But did you know that Twitter can actually make you a better, faster Expert Author?
Hemingway was a master at boiling things down to their essence and writing simply – but profoundly . He kept only that which was important.
Twitter can give you the practice you need to become a better, faster, more concise and clear writer. Discovering this will make your articles all the more well-written while also adding speed to the overall authoring process.
Embrace Simplicity
Tweeting makes you think and write simply. With only 140 characters available to you, you can’t spend your time thinking about the longest adjectives to use. I’ve seen middle school writing classes where they are teaching kids how to use elaborate adjectives and adverbs to enhance their writing. I always want to tell the teacher that when these kids get to college, they’ll need to learn to write simply and effectively. Twitter teaches that too. Start simple and end simple.
Focus on Just One Thing
Ninety-eight percent of writing is knowing what to leave out. One often hears at a newspaper office, or when writing a personal essay or memoir “Well, that might be important to you…but no one else really cares.” Twitter helps you to sort out the “nice to know” from the “need to know”. You’re forced to trim away the unimportant details until you’re left with only a precise nugget of wisdom.
On Twitter, you have to decide what you want to say – you can’t tell them everything. Just say what you came to say and write about something else another time.
Be Observant
Now, while your fellow Tweeters don’t need to know that you are currently eating a sandwich, being observant of the world around you will help you Tweet better – and write better. By noticing the little things, you can bring great interest to previously mundane topics.
Finish Your Thought
Twitter forces you to finish your thought. Right there. Right then. You can’t write “to be continued,” or “part two later.” You have to finish it. Now. This will only help you in your article writing as well. You’ll learn to focus your article ideas and complete your thoughts in one well-written article as opposed to meandering over two or three.
Hemingway said, “Write the truest sentence you know.” If you do that in at least 50 percent of your Tweets, you’ll be a better writer in no time at all. You may have to Tweet a little less, but your Tweets will be more effective!
Leave a comment and tell us how Twitter has made you a better writer…
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
Many different factors have the potential to cause stress in a person’s life. If you take a look around you will see that some people have learned to manage and control their levels of stress much better than others. Even though there is no 1 specific key or “secret” to managing stress, the answer lies in learning to balance of a combination of little things and your physiology.
High levels of stress can lead to various medical conditions , negatively impact your daily routine and impair your ability learn and recall. The hormones which the brain releases in stressful situations are meant for fight or flight situations only - over use of these can actually be detrimental to the health of your brain and body.
Work (whether you own your own business or not) is filled with challenges, obstacles and opportunities that have the potential to cause stress. Knowing how this impacts you physically is the first step leading you to new insights and understandings on how to manage and control your reactions in an empowering way.
Your body language is a powerful indication of your ability to handle stress and problems. When your body encounters a stressful situation, hormones are automatically released into your adrenal glands to counterbalance the cortisol in your brain. Equilibrium is established when these stimulating and tranquilizing forces become equal. When one is greater than the other, you will experience a sense of imbalance, commonly referred to as stress.
In fact, your body goes to great lengths to prevent you from experiencing imbalance or stress. Your sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system essentially battle each other to bring your body back to equilibrium. This fight or flight response to stress also necessitates the shutting down of many of the other key systems in the body – which makes it much more difficult to reason, react and communicate while in this agitated state.
It is next to impossible to eliminate stress completely from your life. Some stress is actually good for us. However, l earning how to quickly and reliably relieve stress and become focused will enable you to tackle challenges with a clear head, communicate clearly and navigate tense situations. In fact, the best way to reduce stress quickly and reliably is through managing the sensory input received by the body: through sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Each person responds differently to various levels and types of sensory input – the trick is to find out what works best for you.
We all have different preferences, tolerances and needs. For example, certain kinds of music or distinctive smells may relax one person but irritate another. Take the time to discover what works best for you at home, in your car, at the office, or wherever you may encounter stress. Simple deep breathing and relaxation techniques also work wonders and they are free, easy to implement and produce quick results.
Harnessing the power of sensory stress-busting techniques will provide you with a powerful technique for staying calm, collected and in control. You’ll have the assurance to face adversity and challenge in every aspect of your life, knowing that you have the ability to bring your body back into a state of equilibrium and ease.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
How To Distribute Content Online To Attract 200+ Visitors per day
I often get asked to speak on content marketing – specifically what do I do (besides the obvious stuff like SEO) to get good qualified organic traffic onto my website. Here are some of my top tips which cost very little (or nothing) and are highly effective and easy to implement.
Regular eNewsletters – place excerpt [only] in newsletter and direct reader to your website or to the URL of the article posted elsewhere on the internet (i.e. Ezinearticles.com)
Partner with complementary businesses to provide content for their sites and Enewsletter in exchange for links back to your site and banner advertising
Turn all eNewsletter content into an article, blog post and a press release
Press releases will get you media attention AND the search engine traffic via Google.com, Yahoo, MSN etc is amazing
Ask your business colleagues and customers to rate and comment on your articles to improve ranking
Visit blogs related to what you do and post intelligent replies – get to know the blogger and do not push your product/service on them overtly
If you have a book or eBook, register the content with Googlebooks.com
Build a Facebook group or fanpage and distribute all articles online with a link back to your website and a call to action
Twitter little snippets related to your expertise and use links to PRs and video and remember to link your twitter account to your Facebook profile – spend the time to ensure that your followers can easily find their way to your website and give them a good reason to actually go there
Turn all your content into audio or video files that you can either sell or distribute a teaser for free online
Investigate free sites like www.businessmelbourne.com , adoos.com.au and hotfrog.com.au to create backlinks to your site for events and products
Offer free excerpts of your content via websites of like-minded businesses – drive them to your site with a good offer
Use linkedin.com to establish your credibility and post online content (can upload ppt presentations, promote your book etc.)
Register your blog with Networked blogs and link this to the home page of your Facebook profile
Actively spend 30 minutes a day building your online following on Twitter and Facebook – take the time to reply to messages and send helpful/useful message out to your database that directs people back to your website for more information and purchases
Create short 2 minute videos answering the key questions that your target market is interested in and post them to youtube.com and other video sites
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
Many people believe that depression can result from anger turned inwards. Anger and depression are simply states of mind just like sadness, frustration, confusion etc.
Anger does not cause (nor is it a symptom of depression) . In my clinical experience, persistent anger does often co-exist with MANY other negative emotions – frustration, despair etc. However, in assisting clients to release these deeply ingrained patterns of negative emotions, it is often necessary to work with and release anger first as it is a strong, dominant, primary emotion. Often, unless anger is released first, it is impossible to face or address the underlying issue(s).
However, I do not believe anger causes or is a symptom of depression per se.
Depression often presents when a person is constantly worried about problems they perceive they have no control over. It results from a tendency to focus exclusively on the negative – thought, spoken word, physiology etc. Like anger, depression is not something that happens to us – it can be created and exacerbated by our thoughts, words and physiology over time. Over long periods of time, it is possible to develop a habit of being angry all the time and/or a habit of being depressed.
Statistics prove that the majority of us focus more of our attention on what we don’t want (or are afraid of) and we tend to do it with passion! Science has already proven that anything we do with strong emotion and passion creates a deeper engram (impression) on our minds.
Changing deeply ingrained habits or repetitive states of mind (whether they be positive or negative) requires repetitive autosuggestion over a period of at least 21 days . This fact was discovered in the 60’s by a plastic surgeon named Maxwell Maltz.
What this means is that we are always in control of our experience of the world – our emotions, our meanings and the habits we develop over time. No one causes us to feel angry or depressed. It is something that we choose to do ourselves, in response to our life experiences. The good news is that we can take responsibility and “unchoose” the unproductive states of mind or habits....thereby changing forever our results and our destiny.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
Warning: Legislation To Mandate More Women on Boards is Not The Answer
When I first arrived in this country several years ago, I struggled to find anyone who would hire me in a senior management capacity. I found this puzzling since I have two degrees, two professional designations and very solid work experience with recognized international brands. The MAIN reason I was given by organizations was that I “lacked Australian work experience”. I found this reason to be puzzling. We live in a world where there are few global trading boundaries. Every business is susceptible to the threat of losing customers to internet-based businesses (which in many cases sell the same products for less – i.e. travel, books, ink cartridges etc.) and we need to think outside of the square to compete and maintain market share.
My track record in business speaks for itself - plus I was named Online Retailer of the Year for Canada in 2001 by the Retail Sales Council of Canada. And yet, I struggled to get a job because I didn’t have enough Australian experience. Doesn’t everyone else in these organizations have Australian experience? Why must I have it in order to add value? Shouldn’t my international experience and internet retailing experience make a welcome, diverse addition to any team?
It seems to me that the biggest thing holding Australian businesses back right now is the “me too” syndrome. I do not consider this merely a sexist thing – that there are not enough women on boards and in senior management positions. What I mean is that there is an ingrained corporate culture that says the leaders and directors want to hire others that are “like them”. So if your management team orBoard of Directors is made up largely of white, middle aged Anglo Saxon males with accounting or legal backgrounds, then that is who will tend to get the new board appointments. There is also a strong hint of nepotism – hiring mates and mates that they know vs. recruiting from the wider talent pool of all eligible and interested parties.
I would bet that if someone did a survey, they would find that most directors are of a certain age, background and educational/work pedigree. I doubt you would find much diversity at all in terms of age, sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, education and international work experience. In my estimation if there are 10 directors sitting around the table and 9-10 of them are coming at the issues from the exact same perspective/paradigm (because they have the same background and experience), then 9 of them should not be there. It’s that simple. If you want to create a culture of innovation and creativity, you cannot have 10 black hats (to use the famous coloured hat analogy of Edward de Bono) sitting around the boardroom table.
In my estimation it is in times of desperation or perspiration that real change happens. This global financial crisis may be exactly what the doctor ordered to initiate some real, progressive change around here. We cannot continue to do what we have always done. For many businesses, that is clearly not working any more. Did you know that more millionaires were made and more inventions were created in the Great Depression than in any other comparable time in history?
A change in global financial circumstances and a demand for innovation, improved customer service and sophistication in products may create more PULL to get women into senior leadership positions than any federal legislation designed to PUSH women in there. There can be no doubt that women are good communicators and skilful at developing long term relationships. In this next decade I believe we will see companies steer away from boards comprised largely of white, middle aged Anglo Saxon men and more towards a unique/disparate mix of qualified candidates from all walks of life who contribute synergistically through their diversity.
In the end, I believe there is no need to push and shove women (or any other minority group) onto boards. That sort of behaviour might be expected (but not tolerated) in the sandbox of your local kindergarten but, in my opinion, it has no place in the boardrooms of corporate Australia.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails." William Arthur Ward
I was reminded of this brilliant principle last week when I spoke to one of my business coaching clients. There can be no doubt that we are living in interesting times.... the global financial crisis has impacted overall spending and consumer sentiment – and this has hurt many small businesses around the country. It’s no good hoping that circumstances will change – in order to survive we all need to dig deep and find creative ways to work smarter not harder.
Jim Collins, in his book, “Good to Great ,” talks about this very interesting paradox that he calls “The Stockdale Principle”. According to Collins, “you have to be realistic about your current situation and yet, stay optimistic about the future”.
General Stockdale was the highest ranking American prisoner of war in Hanoi, Vietnam. Over the years he began to notice an interesting phenomenon – optimism could in fact be a liability. His fellow prisoners (who were the eternal optimists) constantly set themselves up for disappointment. They set huge milestones – “we will be rescued by Christmas” - but those milestones came and went year after year and with it... their will to live.
Conversely, the prisoners who looked at the painful day-to-day reality they were in and channelled their energies to the right places survived. This is not to say that the second group were pessimists but rather realists that maintained an unwavering faith in the end game, and a commitment to survive despite the brutal fact of their incarceration and torture over a period of years.
Here’s how Stockdale put it in his own words:
“ I never lost faith in the end of the story. I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”
How many of us would look back on seven years of detention – with regular torture, dismal living conditions and an uncertain future – as an experience we would not trade? Do you regard the greatest obstacles or challenges in your life as the defining moment that shaped who you are today or do you choose to look at them as an excuse or reason why you have not achieved more?
Have you ever sat back and thought how this distinction between optimism versus reality could apply to your business/career or your life in general? Where in your life are you ignoring reality in favour of being optimistic and missing a crucial opportunity to take action?
Take for example my business coaching client that I mentioned above. She has an employee who doesn’t take responsibility for her actions, doesn’t pay attention to details and is often defensive and reluctant to take direction and feedback. This employee is negatively impacting the entire work environment as everyone gets caught up in the drama of it all. My client doesn’t want to let the employee go and is resisting doing what she knows that she must. She hopes that it will somehow improve without any action on her part – she is now learning the distinction between reality and optimism. When she sees the difference for what it is, then and only then, will she become decisive and take action.
Another area where it’s easy to be blinded by optimism is in the financial arena. Do you have detailed financial reports, KPIs and cashflow forecasts in place to drive your decision making or are you simply relying on your optimism instead of reality? Failure to effectively plan in this area (especially in these tough times) could lead to a cash crunch and the demise of your business.
Take a moment today to examine your relationship to optimism, pessimism and realism. Success belongs to those who operate from both sides of the Stockdale Paradox. The key is balance – knowing when to accept reality and take appropriate action AND never losing faith in the end of the story. If you can walk this delicate line of balance and responsibility, you increase your odds of making good decisions and this will lead to your inevitable success and breakthrough results.
In life, we will all experience setbacks, disappointments, loss and challenges. What separates successful people from the rest is how you deal with those inevitable struggles. This is a very important distinction and it is what divides the winners from the losers. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which is something that you can never afford to lose sight of — with the discipline to confront the brutal facts and reality of your current situation, whatever that might be.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
First let’s get one thing straight – happiness and optimism are not the same thing. Happiness is an emotion, a feeling, a state of mind that can be changed in an instant. Optimism is something quite different – it is a belief about the future.
Optimists trust that the future will be mostly good - they also believe their decisions, choices and actions shape their destinies. There is evidence to suggest that optimists tend to have better coping mechanisms and tend to be less negatively impacted but life’s little ups and downs. They recover faster, tend to eat right and exercise, are less likely to smoke, suffer less from aches and pains and are at a much lower risk for dementia and other diseases.
But what if you're not a natural born optimist? Studies seem to indicate that optimism is only slightly influenced by genetics – 20% at best. In fact your experiences, the language you use to describe them and the meanings that you have attributed to them shape your world and your future outlook. Every single one of us can learn to become optimistic. However optimism is not achieved by making a decision one day to be optimistic – it takes more than attempting to change your feelings or outlook consciously.
Particularly in this time of economic uncertainty, faith and optimism are powerful belief structures. Arguably however, b oth are habits and need to be developed and nurtured over time. In fact 99% of what we do is pure habit – the domain of the subconscious .
Positive thinking alone is inherently undependable . Sustained optimism requires more than The Secret, The Law of Attraction and a few positive affirmations. Optimism is not something you are born with – it is a learned behaviour/habit. The same is true of pessimism. When the going gets tough, affirmations fly out the door and the subconscious habits will kick back in and cause all of us to sabotage our own success. In actual fact, each of us is our own worst enemy.
At the end of the day, it is not what happens to you that matters . It is about who you are and what you become because of, not despite, what happens. Change your perspective today...change your life forever!
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
The good news is that media outlets are constantly searching for stories and people who will capture and captivate the attention of their audiences. What this means for you and your organization is that right now (TODAY) is the best time for you to reach out and earn some of the millions of dollars of free publicity that is available every day.
So just how do you impress the media and stick out in a sea of wannabes? First and foremost, don’t waste their valuable time. Virtually, every media outlet today is operating in this tough economic climate with fewer staff than they had last year. This means that they still have the same pressing deadlines and space to fill but they don’t have enough staff to do it.
If you want your pitch to stick out above and beyond the tens of thousands that cross their desk today – it has to be memorable, relevant and thorough.
In fact here are my TOP 5 Tips to guarantee you attract and maintain media attention no matter what product or service you are selling.
1. What is going on in the news? Do yourself a favour and keep up to date on the latest newsworthy headlines and happenings? Who’s hot and who’s not? What is the general public worried about right now TODAY? You can never hope to “make the news” if you have no idea what is going on in the news. You will never gain publicity by trying to sell your product or service to the media. The key is to make what you do relevant in the context of what is happening today in the news. Tie what you do to someone or something that is newsworthy and you will become the go-to-expert for top shows, magazines and newspapers.
2. Custom Tailor The Story To EACH Audience - In order to receive publicity you need to offer custom-tailored that appeal to a media outlet's target audience (in terms of appeal, style and structure). If you don’t read a particular publication, chances are that it will be almost impossible for you to hit the target with the editor. Reporters get thousands of pitches every day – if it doesn’t fit squarely within what they do, they will simply toss it in the garbage. It is better to send out 2 custom pitches a day that are carefully crafted than 100 generic emails or faxes that are too broad to appeal to anyone.
3. When in doubt, create your own news – The other day I got a call from a national news organization who heard that 1/3 of the population suffers from insomnia. They immediately wanted to come down to my office that very day and interview me about it. Now, insomnia has been around since the beginning of time. Why did it become a pressing national news story that Tuesday at 9am in Melbourne? The answer is because it became relevant to someone in real terms. 1/3 of the general population is a lot of people. If something affects a lot of people, it becomes instantly newsworthy. The trick is to take some aspect of what you do and make it tangible and real (as a problem) to the lives of many.
4. Promote News - Most story ideas in the media are created almost verbatim from press releases that are submitted. In fact sometimes, they will take your story and print it without even bothering to contact you for more information. Spend the time to build a short and concise (fully-contained story). If you make it easy for them to utilize you and your work, you will be rewarded handsomely for it.
5. Follow the story and add to it – If you watch carefully you will notice that the media tends to follow a story for an extended period of time. Take the “chick-chick-boom girl” or “Cory the bogan party boy”. Even though there was no real underlying story, how long did the general public have to endure the national news coverage of those two talent-poor individuals? Enough said. It is absolutely critical to track the pulse of hot news stories and be on the lookout for opportunities to enhance the story by contributing insights and expert commentary. When it comes to major breaking stories, the media will constantly be on the look-out for related subjects which add to the story or new angles that are fresh and captivating.
At the end of the day, the media runs on news and they are not in the business of selling your products or services. Follow the news and become newsworthy and you will increase your chances of becoming tomorrow’s breaking news – in a good way!
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
6 Simple Ways To Find Your Footing and Reach Your Business Targets
Owning a business is a risky and challenging endeavour. If you're like most entrepreneurs, you've taken numerous risks with both your time and your money, only to see your best efforts produce little or no tangible results. No doubt you have from time to time felt frustrated and reluctant to put yourself out there and take another gamble.
However, the more we focus on the negative aspects of small business ownership the more negative results we will actually attract to ourselves. Learning how to deal with challenges and obstacles is the key to avoiding failure and becoming even more successful now. Those entrepreneurs who never learn to deal with impediments and uncertainty will often become overwhelmed, hesitant and will therefore witness their businesses slide backwards. Habitual negative thinking is often at the core or epicentre of small business demise.
So how exactly do you stop being so negative? Some might have you believe that you can do it by consistently trying to stay focused on success so that you can start attracting into your life the results you desire. There’s truth to the statement that “our own thinking impacts our environment”. If you've ever read a self-help book or watched a talk show you've probably heard this before. However, what you may not know is that the forebrain or conscious mind is a puny weakling compared to the powerhouse of the subconscious mind.
In fact, no amount of “willpower”, positive thinking or affirmations will turn around habitual negative thinking without engaging the underlying causes for negativity in the subconscious mind. Attempting to make lasting change by addressing the conscious mind alone is a bit like trying to bludgeon your mind with a wet noodle. You can keep hitting it over and over but real change will take forever because the noodle is soft and has no real impact. In fact, in a battle between willpower and the imagination (the domain of the subconscious), the imagination will win almost every single time! This is why most business owners find it difficult to turn around chronic pessimistic thinking by making a few lists and reading some affirmations.
Does this mean that you should give up and not bother trying to think positive thoughts? Of course not! However, you need to uncover and investigate the underlying cause of the negative thinking. In my experience working with hundreds of business owners, it often comes down to the “meaning” that they have attributed to the events they have experienced in their businesses. The events themselves have no inherent meaning or power other than that which we attribute to them. Said another way, it is never the obstacle or burden that breaks you but rather the manner in which you choose to carry it.
Below is a quick guide to finding your footing and changing your outlook which will help you to achieve your goals.
Notice when you encounter an obstacle or challenge in your business. Take note of it and ensure that you hit it square on rather than trying to ignore it, carry it around or go around it.
Take note of the meaning that you attribute to the challenge or hindrance that you encounter. Does the meaning that you have given this event or occurrence empower you or disempower you?
If you look around and do not see any obstacles – be very afraid! It may be a sign that you are wandering around aimlessly in your business with no real direction. Make sure you sit down and set some goals that will challenge and inspire both you and your team.
Discuss solutions not obstacles – be “pro” something as opposed to “anti-obstacle” focused.
Revisit your goals on a regular basis – take some time each day to really try on what it will be like when you achieve them. What will you do? What will you feel? What will you say?
Surround yourself with people who are enthusiastic, passionate and inspired about building their businesses. Napoleon Hill the author of Think and Grow Rich suggested forming Mastermind groups which is an excellent idea. Be willing to put yourself out there and really make a valuable contribution without expecting something in return. Success breeds success.
Consistency and emotion are the keys to real and lasting change in your business. Don't let a day go by when you don't put in practice the suggestions listed above. Better yet, enlist the help of your team or Mastermind group to add to the list and keep you accountable. You'll be able to find your footing, change your business and produce results you can see almost immediately!
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
How To Identify Self-Sabotaging Patterns and Destroy Them For Good
Are you sabotaging your own success? Here are some tell-tale signs that you might be:
1. Do you sometimes jump into a project or enterprise before fully comprehending what you need to do?
2. Have you ever undertaken a task that you know you will probably abandon as soon as something more interesting comes along?
3. Do you allow yourself to get so sidetracked by details that you lose track of your original objective?
4. Have you ever put off making a decision or getting started on a project because “things are just fine the way they are”?
If you answered “Yes” to any of these, self-sabotage may be preventing you from achieving what you say that you want on a conscious level. Self-sabotage often exists when there is underlying incongruence between what you say that you want and what you feel is possible, realistic or “what you deserve”.
The first step to eliminating self-sabotage once and for all is being aware that it may be a factor. Step back from you present situation and analyse your conscious desire(s) and your underlying intention(s). Begin to ask questions and peel back the layers to determine just what it is that's keeping you from your goals. Are you afraid of change? Is there a secondary gain or benefit you get from not achieving your goals? Do you fear the loss of love of someone if you should fail (or even succeed)? Are you afraid what people might say? Is there some part of you that feels you do not deserve to have the result that you desire?
Did You Know...
In a study in Stanford University a group of participants were asked to eat something particularly decadent. They were able to choose what that item was, for some it was a chocolate cake, for others cream cakes or donuts smothered in jam. It was found that regardless of the chosen treat, the thing that made the biggest difference was the intention given to that food. For example, those that ate the food while feeling guilty about how much damage they would be doing their bodies showed a dip in immune function. Those that ate without any reservations, remorse or worry showed a rise in immune function. The item of food made no immediate difference to the body other than the increase or decrease of the immune system; the change depended on the intent or meaning given to the experience, not the food itself .
Own up to “it”, whatever “it” is, and work through “it” so you can move forward. Success isn't some unattainable, elusive destination. Science has already proven that your brain is a natural goal seeking mechanism – once there is congruence between what you say that you want and what you believe to be true in your subconscious mind, your mind cannot help but oblige you and deliver the results you long for.
You already have all of the answers and resources you need to heal yourself and achieve your dreams … They already exist in your own mind right now. There is nothing missing or broken or deficient – you just need to learn how re-connect to this wisdom and power of your underlying intentions and the infinite resourcefulness of the subconscious mind.
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
5 Techniques/Questions Business Owners Can Use To Stay Focused and on Track
We live in a world with a million possible distractions, pressures, emergencies and interruptions, how can we stay possibly stay focused (on our goals) and sane?
There are always going to be several things constantly competing for my your time – marketing campaigns to design, team members to manage, customers to respond to, business opportunities to explore, issues to follow up, personal commitments etc. However, whenever you try to work on too many things at the same time, inevitably none of them ever gets done.
To assist my clients in staying on track and keeping things simple, I developed the following list of 5 simple techniques/questions to put things into perspective. When in doubt – check the list for guidance.
Has anyone died? If not, relax and calm down. As long as no one has died, it’s really not that serious and there is a solution to every challenge you face.
Am I trying to eat an elephant in one sitting? Breaking things into bite sized chunks makes the world of difference. Having broad high level goals are good but having an actionable plan is essential. A detailed, step by step plan can help you to identify how you can get from where you are to where you want to be. Remember, a journey of 1000 miles begins with one step.
Am I In A Bad Neighbourhood? If you are not in a good place emotionally, change your physiology immediately. That means get up and get moving, put on your favourite song or do the “dance of joy”. Whatever it takes, do it NOW.
Am I Grateful For What I Already Have? It is impossible to bring more of what you want into your life if you are feeling ungrateful about what you already have. It has been said that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. In many ways gratitude is a bit like that – it’s not what you say, the mere words that count, but sum of the words and the heartfelt emotion behind them.
Am I focused on what I want or don’t want? Whether we realise it or not, we are visualising things all the time – visualising either what we want or don’t want. If you are relentlessly focused on the negative outcome and are riddled by fear that WILL impact your reality.
It's very easy to get so caught up in the emotion of emergencies, disruptions and day to day activities that you can easily lose sight of what is most important to your success and well-being. These simple tips and questions will help you stay more in touch which is what is most essential to you and your compelling future. These techniques (and keeping a sense of humour) are vital to helping you to stay in focus with your ultimate goals.
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
Now You Dont Have To Be Warren Buffet to Make Your Business Thrive!
Discipline and attention to details is more important than ever if you want to succeed in challenging economic times. Take a look around... competitors are closing their doors - which means more potential customers for the businesses that DO survive. And in times like these, it’s going to take more than “thinking outside the box” and goodwill with existing customers to secure the survival of your business.
You may have been lucky over the past few years - you may have found it possible to operate without a detailed, written plan and systems/processes. But the global economic crisis has changed all of that. If you want to thrive, there is only one thing that is for sure – uncertain times call for deliberate decisions and proven practices.
So here are & top tactics to recession-proof your business.
1. Begin with the end in mind If you don’t know exactly where you are going, how will you know when you get there? Now is the second best time to decide on your strategy, set your goals and document tactics and timelines. Keep it simple – write a 2-3 page summary of what you intend to accomplish in 3 months, 6 months and 12 months.
2. Focus on cash flow not profit You cannot buy a house or a new car with “profit” from your business. Make it your mission this year to develop and maintain a weekly/monthly cash flow forecast for your business. This is not hard to do but it does require discipline and a simple excel spreadsheet. If you need help, I recommend that you consider signing up for Imagineering Profit. With just a few numbers from your Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss statement, Imagineering Profit can calculate your cashflow for you and give you the insight that you need to get your company operating in the black! 3. Collect your debt NOW! How many days does it take to collect your debts on average? Whatever it is, make it your goals to reduce this by at least 10 days. You may be surprised to know that if your annual revenue is around $500,000, you could save yourself up to $2,500 in interest carrying charges simply by collecting your debts 10 days quicker on average. Pay attention to customers who are taking longer than usual to pay. Now is not the time to be extending too much credit if you are concerned about their ability to pay.
4. Rank your customers Do you know who your best and worse customers are? Have you ever tried to calculate how much profit you are making from each customer or group of customers? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, today is the best time to start tracking and measuring this.
5. Fire your worst customers Everyone knows that is cheaper and easier to garner incremental business from existing customers. Some even argue that it is 6 times cheaper and 75% easier to convert a sale from someone who already knows and trusts you. If you have unprofitable customers, get rid of them and focus your attention on your best customers.
6. Trim your product range Contrary to popular belief, it is better to have money in your back pocket than tied up in stock sitting on your shelves for months on end. The longer it sits and does not turn over, the more it actually costs you in lost opportunities. Spend 2 hours today calculating which of your SKUs or stock lines are your worst performers; make it a priority to sell those quickly to release some much needed cash. Consider reducing your overall investment in stock. Compile a spreadsheet of all the SKUs you carry and then run two separate columns – one for how many units you sell on average of each per month and the other being the total units on hand. If your stock gets delivered quickly, you should never be carrying more than one month’s worth of sales at any given time.
7. Monitor your breakeven and key numbers The most important day of the month is the day that you break even and start making a profit. If you don’t know which day of the month that is, you need to find out today. Knowing this number allows you to monitor your performance and take measures to correct issues right now. Waiting until the end of the year for your accountant to produce financial statements is not a good idea – if you are behind, you need to know now so that you can correct the situation.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
5 Secrets That Will Make You Irresistible To The Media
How do you get the media to take notice of and feature your announcement, company and product details? How do you land invaluable coverage in a top newspaper, magazine or an interview on a popular radio program? The key is to consistently distribute media announcements that elicit attention and to master the art of pitching directly to the media.
Unfortunately, most business owners and marketing professionals don’t know how to write effective media releases or speak about their business. In their attempt to supply the media with ALL the information that they need to sell their product or service, they inadvertently end up with a long winded, lacklustre and uninspiring advertisement that never gets picked up....or worse, ends up in the garbage.
Here are a few proven tips you can use to generate attention and interest in your story when you are pitching the media directly.
1. Do your homework
Before you decide to pitch a story, make sure that you have spent some time getting to know the person you are pitching to. Review their work and pay attention to their interests and unique perspectives. This ensures that you will present your ideas in the best light possible and that you are making it easier for them to fit you into their publication or program.
2. Early bird gets the worm
Never pitch a story late in the afternoon or leave a voice message as your first contact with the media – I recommend sending a release or making calls between 8am-9am as you are most likely to catch them at their desk, in a good mood and with a few moments to spare. In order to put your best foot forward, aim to speak with the contact directly and be prepared to deliver your pitch in 2 minutes or less. In fact, speaking to them (as opposed to leaving a message) will triple your chances of proceeding further.
3. Know when to shut up
It will not serve you well to speak the entire time. A reporter is in the business of asking questions – give them an opportunity to ask you some! Give them just enough in your 2 minute pitch to be intrigued and the space to enquire further and delve into the finer details. They may surprise you by asking a novel question or taking your story into an interesting and unexpected direction.
4. Learn from the best
Consider media coaching with someone who knows what they are doing. There is no point re-inventing the wheel and learning everything from scratch. If you want to know how to develop a press kit and pitch top radio stations, find someone who has a proven track record and can coach you in this area. This is particularly important if you intend to appear on TV - there are certain, specific rules and strategies related to body language (which represents 55% of your communication) that will be critical to your success.
5. Persistence, persistence, persistence
Follow up every pitch and press releases with a telephone call and ask for feedback – the key is to uncover the secret angle or hook that will grab attention and garner you some editorial coverage or an appearance on radio or TV. If possible, send a hand written note. 99% of people never follow up let alone send a hand written note. The key in media is to stand out (for all the right reasons) and build relationships.
Simply put, do what your competition is unwilling to do and you will exponentially increase your chance of becoming irresistible to the media.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
Right now you are probably asking yourself “how does she know that?”.
I haven’t even seen any of your press releases... and that’s ok, I don’t need to. I already know the answer. Trust me!
First of all they are WAY too long.
Second, you don't have any bullets in them. Media people have the attention spans of mosquitoes and you need to feed your story idea to them in 30 second sound bites.
Third, no one cares about your product, service, company or book. You need to react to what is in the news today! You aren’t doing that, are you? How does what you have to sell relate to the latest footy sex scandal, celebrity melt down, internet scam or politician who has accepted a free flight on Qantas? Does it fix a major problem that listeners/readers have today?
Fourth, no one is reading your press release because you are mailing or faxing them out in bulk and not following up. You need to electronically send them out to several places (both local media and big online services like prlog.com) and follow them up with an actual phone call.
Finally, make sure you turn your press releases into an article and send them out to Ezine release companies, post them on your blog, mention them on Twitter and include them in an Enewsletter blast to your database. Remember, you will be lucky if you receive a response to your first press release. The key is to be short, sharp, newsworthy, interesting and persistent. Relevancy, follow up and persistency are the 3 crucial keys to your success.
Stay tuned for my next instalment where I am going to show you how to write a $10m Press Release!
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
8 Ways Business Owners Sabotage Their Success & What You Can Do About It
As a business owner, I’ll bet you’re incredibly busy and find that there never seems to be enough hours in the day to complete all your work.
Have you ever noticed that some of your everyday activities are just deeply ingrained habits - driving your car, putting on your watch, brushing your teeth or taking a shower? You wouldn’t dream of not doing them, they are part of your routine and they just seem to happen automatically. In your business you also have habits such as checking your website, opening the mail, reading emails, grabbing a coffee and glancing at your diary. You do them without conscious “thought” and they seem to fill up hours in your day...
But what about all the actions you need to take in order to build a more profitable and efficient business? Like following up with your best customers, asking for referrals, strategic planning and goal setting to grow your business? When do you do these activities? Do they often get relegated to “tomorrow” or “sometime soon”?
If you’ve ever spent your day stuck in back to back meetings, answering routine questions from your team, responding to emails, helping other people, doing paperwork or tidying your office – you already know that these are “make busy” activities, and they will keep you trapped where you already are – just simply maintaining, not growing your business. By filling your days with these tasks, you are in effect avoiding the very activities that you know will really move your business forward and produce tangible results.
Your “make busy” work or habits create the magnificent illusion that you are hard at work, simply because you feel “flat out” and your day is full of tasks. Let’s be honest, you would actually rather do anything than face the activities you know would radically accelerate your business success NOW! In fact, you often get to the end of the day and say to yourself “It’s OK, I was really busy, I’ll just get to that marketing plan tomorrow.” Or “I just couldn’t find the time today to make that seminar on leadership or customer loyalty.”
If you are waiting for the right or best time to do these critical activities in your business, it will simply never come! There will always be other “busy work” to fill all of your available time. You need to find a way to make your business building activities an ingrained habit too, if you want to grow your bottom line and live the lifestyle of your dreams.
Do you relate to or identify with any of these common sabotage habits?
Perfectionism – this tactic is insidious. It often immobilizes us from making a decision, starting a project or activity and signing off on a piece of important work. Most tasks don’t have to be 100% perfect, they just need to be good enough. The other way that this can show up is when you deceive yourself into believing that no-one else can do the job (even simple routine tasks) to your exacting standard, so you must do it ALL yourself. Follow the 80/20 rule, delegate what you do not have to do yourself and give yourself permission to be human!
Refusing to Let Go of The Past – Have you ever heard yourself say “last time I tried that, it didn’t work”? Or have you ever simply avoided doing something that you know you should or need to do but were afraid to do because “last time it didn’t work out the way you wanted it to”? Even though it’s a good idea to stop doing what clearly doesn’t work, it’s important to remember that the past does not necessarily equal the future. If you catch yourself finding reasons from the past to justify why you are not moving ahead toward your compelling future, stop NOW and take a good hard look at whether these are just cleverly disguised forms of self-sabotage.
Lack of Accountability – who is holding you accountable to the decisions you make and the actions you take in your own company? Isn’t that why you went into business for yourself in the first place – so that you could be the boss and do things your way? Find someone outside your business – a coach, mentor or trusted advisor that can act as a sounding board and hold you accountable to staying on track.
Lack of vision, planning and specificity – if you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there? Enough said. If you don’t have a 90 day, 1 year and 3 year business plan, you need to make this your number one priority in your business. Set a weekend aside and find a place where you will not be disturbed by anyone or anything. Set down your goals clearly and succinctly – get clear about the specifics (who, what, where, when and why) and set realistic deadlines for completion. Goals need to be written down in detail to allow your mind – which is a goal seeking mechanism – to do its magic.
Lack of focus – stay focused on the important task you are currently working on and only allow yourself to be diverted by real emergencies.
Fear of Financials – you cannot have a truly successful business if you don’t know your numbers. Not knowing your numbers has already cost you time and money. Find someone who can explain your financials to you in plain English – learn the key drivers and indexes in your business (such as break even, productivity ratios, inventory turns, gross profit margins etc.) and track them daily.
No USP – the greatest product or service in the world will not sell if you have not clearly defined why someone should buy from you instead of your competitors. “Build it and they will come is a fallacy.” If you have not yet figured out what is unique about your product or service and found a compelling and cost effective way to communicate it in everything you do, you are literally flushing your marketing budget down the toilette.
No Testing and Measuring – this is the most-often overlooked activity by small business owners. The simple act of testing and measuring everything in your business...and I mean everything...will save you thousands of dollars this year. No matter what “it” is, if you haven’t tested and measured “it”, you don’t really know if “it” works. And until you know if it works, you don’t have a reliable, predictable business that will run without out.
Unfortunately, there are no quick fixes. As you already know or suspect, some of the most common forms of self-sabotage are habits because they are deeply ingrained behaviours that take time to establish or eliminate. In the 1960’s a highly regarded plastic surgeon, Dr. Maxwell Maltz discovered that it took 21 days for amputees to cease feeling phantom sensations in their amputated limb. From further observations and significant research he established that it takes 21 days to create a new habit.
Brain circuits take engrams (which are essentially “memory traces”) and produce neuroconnections and neuropathways only if they are bombarded for 21 days in a row. This means that our brain does not accept new data or information for a change of habit unless it is repeated each day (without fail) for at least 21 days. Changing habits (whether positive or negative) can be done but it takes time and consistent effort.
Do yourself a favour and identify today which form of self-sabotage is the primary one that is holding you back from having the business and lifestyle of your dreams. Make a plan on paper – specific decisions and actions that you can take to move forward in this aspect every single day for the next month. It is imperative to track your progress each day and I highly recommend finding an objective person outside of your business to hold you accountable to your plan, actions and results.
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
6 Secrets You Dont Know About Twitter That Could Actually Help You To Get More Bang for Your Buck
How can an online service that only lets you write 140 characters per message be worth using to build your business or further your career? After all, it seems to be full of MLM marketers, life coaches and people who are only too happy to tell you exactly what they are doing, every 10 minutes of their day!
Twitter can be a powerful way to make connections, get feedback, test headlines and put your finger on the pulse of what is hot in your industry – in fact, Twitter can be an asset if used for good, not evil. Indulge me for a moment while I highlight some very useful strategies that will make your online efforts simply Twitterific.
1. Connect With Likeminded People
Regardless of whether you are employed, unemployed or self employed, Twitter may just be the best place on the internet to connect with people who are professionals in your field - Twellow, Just Tweet It and Tweetdeck can help you to locate them quickly and easily. Once you are following them, consider responding to questions they have, Re Tweet their posts, or initiate a conversation that mentions them or invites others to follow them. This will increase the likelihood of them following you back and the start of a beautiful friendship. People tend to be more likely to buy from and do business with people who they like – so take your time to build a solid relationship.
2. Relationship First, Sales Second
As with other mediums, t here is a right and a wrong way to promote your products or services Twitter. Invest in the relationship with your followers. Write helpful information, ask and answer questions, post links to only your best articles/blogs/videos, help others to get their content further by re tweeting and refrain from posting links to your own site/blog/videos more than once a day. Be on the look-out for interesting content and valuable information – always give credit to the work of others when you quote or mention it. Make it easy for people on your website to find you on Twitter (and other social media sites) and ensure your Twitter page mentions clearly what you do, your websites and products/services. If your followers like what you have to say, they can easily connect with your website to learn more about what you do and how they might be able to work with you.
3. Don’t Be Afraid To Ask
If you have a link that you want your followers to re tweet, the best thing that you can do is simply ask. Being upfront and asking for what you want is an excellent strategy – I have found that most people want to help and are very generous with their time. In fact, most will go out of their way to help you if you simply ask. Be respectful of this privilege and always remember to say thank you. If you can, return the favor. Gratitude has a way of attracting even more positive energy and success.
4. Filter Out The Unnecessary
A person could waste hours online following all of the Twitter posts. If you want to filter out all the irrelevant stuff and only focus on what or who is important to you, think of Tweet Deck as your new best friend. Tweet Deck allows you to separate your contacts into columns, prioritize the people you want to follow and watch who is mentioning you and your profile. By simply typing “ http://” in the filter box into the box, you can locate all the great links your friends have found throughout the day. “ RT @” will give you all the links that people found to be good enough to Re Tweet. You can also search for username, keyword and time of a post.
5. Concentrate on Key Followers
Twitter will allow most users under normal conditions to follow up to 2000 others. That’s a lot of people to watch and correspond with at one time. If you have attracted many followers who do not share your interests there is now an easy way to cull this down without having to unfollow each of them one at a time. Using a simple service like Tweetpular to bulk unfollow people who are not following you can help you to get your list back down to a manageable amount – or at least down to the ones who are actually interested in getting to know more about you.
6. Be Relevant
Watch the Recent trends column on your homepage to see what others are talking about. This column often contains a list of topics and “hashta gs” that are receiving a large percentage of posts. To increase the number of your followers consider following these trends by posting comments that are on point and relevant. Hashtags were developed as a means to create "groupings" on Twitter . You can create a hashtag simply by prefixing a word with a hash symbol: #hashtag . This allows others to search, filter and post for all relevant comments on a topic, quickly and easily.
Twitter is an amazing tool for personal and business applications. Everyday new applications and tools come online to streamline your efforts and help to make Twitter easier to use and manage. With a little effort and help, Twitter can become a useful tool and an excellent resource to build relationships, increase brand awareness and generate sales.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
In 1949, thirteen (out of a highly skilled team of sixteen men) died battling a relatively small blaze that turned deadly in Mann Gulch, Montana. Upon investigating the circumstances of why thirteen of the “smoke jumpers” died while only three lived, Norman Maclean wrote a book entitled “ Young Men and Fire ”, which is the true story account of that fateful expedition of the “smoke jumpers” - fire fighters who parachute into the back country to fight fires.
Maclean found some startling and interesting facts. Mann Gulch is surrounded by steep canyon walls with the northern slope at a 75% incline. When the wind turned suddenly on the smoke jumpers, they were in a race with the fire up those steep walls. Unexpectedly, the fire started to spread much faster than anticipated.
One of the amazing and notable things that Maclean discovered was that the thirteen who died had carried their tools - heavy poleaxes, saws, shovels and heavy back packs - while attempting to out run the fire up those steep walls. In other words, the thirteen had run as far as they could with all their equipment, even though that equipment was worse than useless in a race with the fire. Their inability to drop their heavy tools and packs ultimately prevented them from being able to outrun the fire. To these seasoned fire fighters, their tools were more than simple objects - they represented who they were, why they were there and what they were trained to do. Dropping their tools would have meant abandoning their knowledge, beliefs, training and experience.
This might not seem like a hard choice to make to you, but because these specialized fire fighters hadn't been trained for such an unpredictable moment, they had no alternative models or maps for behaviour. In moments of uncertainty and imminent danger, clinging to the old "right" way might seem like a good idea... but more often than not, it is actually deadly.
The three survivors of the blaze were forced to think outside the box and develop alternative methods of escaping the fire. Once they figured out they were no longer “fighting the fire” but were instead “trying to escape from it”, they realized they had to drop all of their useless equipment. One survivor used an innovative technique called the 'escape fire' where he took a match and lit a ring around him so that the fire would "jump" over him. When he tried to suggest it to the other men, they continued running up the steep slope because the 'escape fire' technique had not been part of their extensive training. Their inability to drop the tools and equipment that weren't working and seek new methods to escape is what ultimately led to them being engulfed by flames and smoke.
My question to you is this: What are the poleaxes, shovels and backpacks you're currently running with?
What are the tired, worn out strategies and tools which you are lugging around? What existing beliefs and models of behaviour do you need to drop in order for you to survive and prosper? What training, attitudes, decisions or experience needs to be abandoned in favour of a new, innovative approach?
It has often been said that “the thinking that got you to here, won’t get you to there”. Never has the simplicity and wisdom of this statement been more poignant, than it is today. Those of you who adopt and learn the critical skills, tools and mind-set necessary to survive (and even thrive) will be the winners in all of this. But, this has always been true. Survivors and successful people triumph because they are flexible and willing to do whatever it takes to get the results they desire. New or changing circumstances always necessitate a new perspective or approach: The alternative, “doing the same thing over and over again” is the definition of insanity and can only lead to suffering, disappointment and pain.
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
Who Else Wants To Know 6 Simple Ways to Find Your Footing and Reach Your Business Targets...
Owning a business is a risky and challenging endeavour. If you're like most entrepreneurs, you've taken numerous risks with both your time and your money, only to see your best efforts produce little or no tangible results. No doubt you have from time to time felt frustrated and reluctant to put yourself out there and take another gamble.
However, the more we focus on the negative aspects of small business ownership the more negative results we will actually attract to ourselves. Learning how to deal with challenges and obstacles is the key to avoiding failure and becoming even more successful now. Those entrepreneurs who never learn to deal with impediments and uncertainty will often become overwhelmed, hesitant and will therefore witness their businesses slide backwards. Habitual negative thinking is often at the core or epicentre of small business demise.
So how exactly do you stop being so negative? Some might have you believe that you can do it by consistently trying to stay focused on success so that you can start attracting into your life the results you desire. There’s truth to the statement that “our own thinking impacts our environment”. If you've ever read a self-help book or watched a talk show you've probably heard this before. However, what you may not know is that the forebrain or conscious mind is a puny weakling compared to the powerhouse of the subconscious mind.
In fact, no amount of “willpower”, positive thinking or affirmations will turn around habitual negative thinking without engaging the underlying causes for negativity in the subconscious mind. Attempting to make lasting change by addressing the conscious mind alone is a bit like trying to bludgeon your mind with a wet noodle. You can keep hitting it over and over but real change will take forever because the noodle is soft and has no real impact. In fact, in a battle between willpower and the imagination (the domain of the subconscious), the imagination will win almost every single time! This is why most business owners find it difficult to turn around chronic pessimistic thinking by making a few lists and reading some affirmations.
Does this mean that you should give up and not bother trying to think positive thoughts? Of course not! However, you need to uncover and investigate the underlying cause of the negative thinking. In my experience working with hundreds of business owners, it often comes down to the “meaning” that they have attributed to the events they have experienced in their businesses. The events themselves have no inherent meaning or power other than that which we attribute to them. Said another way, it is never the obstacle or burden that breaks you but rather the manner in which you choose to carry it.
Below is a quick guide to finding your footing and changing your outlook which will help you to achieve your goals.
Notice when you encounter an obstacle or challenge in your business. Take note of it and ensure that you hit it square on rather than trying to ignore it, carry it around or go around it.
Take note of the meaning that you attribute to the challenge or hindrance that you encounter. Does the meaning that you have given this event or occurrence empower you or disempower you?
If you look around and do not see any obstacles – be very afraid! It may be a sign that you are wandering around aimlessly in your business with no real direction. Make sure you sit down and set some goals that will challenge and inspire both you and your team.
Discuss solutions not obstacles – be “pro” something as opposed to “anti-obstacle” focused.
Revisit your goals on a regular basis – take some time each day to really try on what it will be like when you achieve them. What will you do? What will you feel? What will you say?
Surround yourself with people who are enthusiastic, passionate and inspired about building their businesses. Napoleon Hill the author of Think and Grow Rich suggested forming Mastermind groups which is an excellent idea. Be willing to put yourself out there and really make a valuable contribution without expecting something in return. Success breeds success.
Consistency and emotion are the keys to real and lasting change in your business. Don't let a day go by when you don't put in practice the suggestions listed above. Better yet, enlist the help of your team or Mastermind group to add to the list and keep you accountable. You'll be able to find your footing, change your business and produce results you can see almost immediately!
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
The 7 Most Powerful Ways To Drive Sales To Your Website
Want to learn the secrets to driving qualified traffic to your website right now? These proven tips will save you time & will cost you less than $100 per month. Why spend your money on advertising (which is largely untargeted and difficult to measure in terms of ROI) when you can speak directly to customers who are interested in what you do!
Build a List – it’s the MOST valuable asset in your business, it is 75% easier to sell to someone who actually knows/trusts you
Communicate often and offer valuable info – the offer is always secondary but must be compelling
Article/content marketing – turn your Enewsletter and blog content into articles and utilize top directories like EzineArticles, GoArticles, Buzzle, the American Chronicle, ArticlesBase, and SearchWarp
Syndicate articles, write guest posts in blogs, write for other companies that have ezines relevant to what you do, post to Facebook, advertise links in Twitter
Blogging is one of the best things you can do for your business - great way to get to know your readers. Plus, blogging can play a major role in getting valuable search engine traffic from Google, Yahoo, and MSN
Submit your articles to Blog Carnivals - a collection of blog posts on a particular subject that are posted together on on blog - called a host. The host (who is also a blogger), publishes the carnival on their blog, with links to each blog post that has been submitted. This is one of the easiest ways to create one-way backlinks coming into your site, which is a major factors when it comes to ranking high on search engines.
Forum Marketing - Forums are another way to drive targeted visitors to your website. The key to getting quality traffic from forums is to find a forum that is highly targeted to your website, become involved in the community, and create a benefit-laden signature that links back to your website. It’s critical that you use your signature to offer something of extreme value along with a good call-to-action. Otherwise, why would anybody click?
Give something away for free to entice sales and get users to make the all-important first purchase with you. For example, when I offered a free list of Top 7 Ways to Spot and Stop Self Sabotage and an audio CD worth $30 with each book sale, my conversion rate more than tripled.
Interviews are another great way to generate targeted traffic and sales. The person who interviews you essentially endorses your product/service to their own database. The sales potential is massive because the interviewer has huge credibility with his/her followers and can sell your product/service better and easier than you can sell yourself.
Video Marketing - Video sites have quickly become some of the most highly trafficked sites on the Internet – did you know 52% of web traffic is now going to these sites and over 70% of online users are watching video? One study suggested that the average Youtube.com visitor spends 27 minutes a day watching online videos.
Video on your own website allows users to connect with you personally which makes it easier to convert them to purchasers.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
What Everybody Ought to Know About The Power of Focus...
For the first time in history we are able to prove through empirical scientific study just how relevant our thoughts are. We are able to show that our thoughts do influence the world around us in a measurable way.
The emotionalised dominating thoughts we have on a habitual basis somehow impact the quantum field and influence the outcome. But don’t get too excited – every passing fancy that you may have about how you would like your life to be will not suddenly materialise. The only thought with any power is long-term habitual, emotionalised thought.
The bad news is that most people don’t apply long-term habitual emotionalised thought to anything positive. That sort of thinking is the domain of worry and anxiety. It’s the type of thought that keeps you up at night for all the wrong reasons. Few of us ever learn to apply that habitual long-term thinking to positive outcomes.
Whether we realise it or not, we are visualising things all the time – visualising either what we want or don’t want. Like a spider continually spinning a web , we are persistently thinking or imagining what might happen. If we are relentlessly focused on the negative outcome and are riddled by fear - that WILL impact our reality.
According to quantum physics, the force that transforms habitual emotional thought into reality will do so for positive or negative outcomes alike. So make sure you focus your thinking on what YOU WANT not on what you don’t want.
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
WARNING: Is "Procrassination" Killing Your Business/Career?
A couple of days ago on Facebook and Twitter , I coined a new word “ procrassination ” – the untimely death of your business/career due to your inability to take decisive action now! The response from followers was overwhelming. Apparently, it struck a chord with many...
Do you often put off your most important tasks until later, while you fill your day with the emergencies of others and the jobs you know are not really that important?
Do you lie to yourself and say that you will have more time tomorrow to start the task and do it properly?
Do you fool yourself into believing that you work better under pressure when the deadline is imminent?
Do you hesitate and worry when you need to make a decision?
It has often been said that hard work is really just the easy work that you chose not to at the proper time. If you often see yourself in these stressful, low productivity situations, then it is imperative that you break the procrastination habit once and for all.
The first step is identifying that procrastination is an issue – why and when do you procrastinate? Here are a few of the most common situations to consider:
Waiting for the right/perfect time
Lack of clear goals and priorities
Underestimating the time required to complete tasks
Uncertain tasks and/or outcomes
Lack of control – a sense the tasks are imposed on you from outsideP
Poor decision making skills
Fear of failure/success
The need to be perfect in the execution of the task
To make lasting change to deeply ingrained habits (like procrastination) using willpower and positive affirmations alone is not realistic............Everyone knows that positive thinking is undependable and produces inconsistent results, at best. The self-image on the other hand underpins our level of emotional intelligence (EQ), which is now recognised as being an even more important measurement for success than the IQ.
It has been scientifically proven that our brain circuits take engrams or memory traces, and produce neuro connections only if they are bombarded with the information for 21 days in a row. This means that our brain does not accept ‘new’ data or habit changes unless they are repeated each day for at least 21 days, without missing a day.
The subconscious mind can only ACT or CREATE based upon what is of VALUE – and it is this value component that is influenced by our map of reality, our habits and the questions that we repeatedly ask ourselves. Remember, 99% of what we do as human beings is purely habit – good or bad. And these habits can be removed, retrained or instilled in the mind by consistently delivering the right information directly to the subconscious over a period of at least 21 consecutive days.
Your mind is a natural goal seeking mechanism and you are always successful at getting exactly what the mind thinks that you want. That is why the quality of your habits and questions directly affect your decisions, your actions, your results and ultimately your life!
Imagineering Your Destiny was designed specifically to help people just like you to unlearn negative habits and instil good and productive habits that will empower you to achieve your goals. Imagineering Your Destiny is a highly effective and proven tool which gives every person the capacity to re-write negative conditioning and self sabotage patterns in order to enjoy high self-image. Over 28 days, for just 30 minutes a day, this revolutionary 6 CD program promotes the self-image by combining the crucial elements of goal setting, guided relaxation, creative visualisation and repetitive auto-suggestion in order to promote rapid results, lasting success and sustained motivation.
Imagineering Your Destiny is available online for AUS $247.00 . And as our special gift to you, we will also throw in FREE shipping to any destinationworldwide and a FREE audio CD that will inspire you to see your own life through new eyes (valued at $30)! Act NOW to take advantage of this not-to-be-repeated offer.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
5 Little Known Ways to Promote A Successful Workshops or Event
Have you ever tried to sell tickets to a workshop, training event, expo or product launch? When is the last time you ran an event and just barely broke even? Regardless of what business you are in (retail, manufacturing, trade, coaching, distribution etc.), VIP events, seminars and workshops are an excellent opportunity to build client relationships, add value and increase your sales and bottom line. Learning how to develop, promote and run them effectively could mean thousands of dollars to you in profit.
However, promoting an event or workshop is vastly different from raising the profile of a business and thus requires a completely different strategy. Here’s my TOP 5 TIPS to making your next event an overwhelming success.
1. Get clear about WHY you are holding this event
Are you looking for direct product sales and referrals or are you simply looking for an opportunity to train/educate your customers and strengthen relationships? Being clear about your intention upfront can save you a lot of time and money. If you are looking for product sales, then spend the bulk of your time on explaining the benefits and building offers that are irresistible. Give away the tickets (if you have to) but make sure the room is packed and that you have made it easy (and risk free) to buy from you.
If you intend to educate and build relationships, spend the bulk of your time ensuring that you deliver value. Err on the side of over-delivering in terms of providing information and value for money. Ensure that all of your clients attend and incentivize them to bring a friend. If ticket sales or bookings are low, consider a teleconference (or a booking incentive) for people to get to know you and your products/services. I find many clients relax and give better presentations once they take the sales pressure off of themselves and concentrate on building long term relationships with their customers and potential customers.
2. Focus on your #1 asset
No matter what product or service you are selling, your #1 asset is your database/list. It represents the permission that you have gained to speak to them about what you do and to add value by providing information. Be careful to respect the consent that has been entrusted to you – it’s not a license to flog endless reams of offers and products. View it as a long term relationship - focus your attention on adding value and communicating regularly and consistently.... and the rest will follow.
3. Do Your Research
Is there really a demand for the workshop or event that you are planning? How do you know? Have you considered asking your target market what they want?
Remember, he who is most flexible and open to change wins. Just because something worked or was hot last year doesn’t mean that it is still relevant today. Success lies in your ability to spot trends and give your customers what they want, when they want it.
4. I’ll Scratch Yours if You Scratch Mine...
STOP trying to do everything yourself! Knowing who to ask and asking for help are the two best skills that you can learn in your business. Look for people who have access to the kind of people you want to reach (i.e. your ideal target market)and be prepared to make it worth their while. Everyone wants to know WIFM (what’s in it for me?). Depending upon the strategic potential, you may want to consider a commission or affiliate fee, a free place or table at your event, assistance with another project, the opportunity to give an offer to your attendees etc. Think of this as a chance to develop a mutually beneficial relationship for the long term.
5. Don’t Be Afraid to Give Away Something For FREE
Pre-event teleconferences and early booking offers (i.e. if you book before X date you will receive an audio CD and an eBook worth $X, FREE of charge). Both of these are an excellent way to double or triple your registrations and they cost you very little in time or money to do. The more value you provide, the more likely prospects will part with their hard earned cash to attend your event!
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
4 Secrets To Producing a $10 Million Press Release
What prompted you to click on and read this article? I bet the HEADLINE had something to do with it?
Most of you are making this common, fatal mistake…. Your press releases have headlines that are pathetic!
ABC International is attending an obscure sales conference in Timbuktu
XYZ Co has just released a new mousetrap (that’s pretty much the same as every other mousetrap)
Susan Smith has just started up a new business (for no compelling reason) and she wants you to check it out
Plus, a lame headline is often followed up by even more lifeless copy in the body of the release. Believe me, these are not the types of stories that end up on the front page of The Sydney Morning Herald or The New York Times . They will never get you on Community TV, let alone Oprah!
Over the years, I've seen and sent many more releases than the average entrepreneur…and if I had known these 4 powerful secrets from day one, it would have saved me a lot of time, grief and money.
Less is More
A good press release should be between 200 and 400 words. Less is more. The priority is to give only enough information to whet the appetite of the reporters and entice them to contact you to for the main course.
Most make the mistake of thinking that a press release is the opportunity to give every conceivable fact and overload the media with data. A press release is really just an elevator pitch--something you could comfortably say to someone in about 30 seconds. You wouldn’t dream of giving a three-hour lecture in order to get someone’s phone number at a bar. Similarly, you don't need a 1,000-word press release to get booked in a newspaper or on a radio show. Keep it short, news worthy and intriguing.
Next time - Have a Point!
If your product is really "the best" or "world famous", you shouldn’t have to tell us….we’ve already heard of it. Pretending to be something that you are not is the quickest way to have your PR end up in the deleted box or the garbage bin. Next time, do something really novel – Have a Point! The story should be about how what you do/sell relates to something newsworthy or will help the audience to fix an annoying or costly problem once and for all. If you don’t have a point, put your pen down now or stop typing and go back to square one.
Remember to make it easy for the media to get in contact with you: an e-mail and phone number work best. Invest in a domain that says you are a professional and not some fly by night operator. Dennisbrowndoggydoesdaycare@gmail.com isn’t going to cut the mustard. The media doesn’t want to sort through reams of paper and type lengthy, difficult phrases to get in contact with you.
Maximize Search Engine Traffic
Did you know that most individuals and businesses are posting press releases purely to boost website traffic? A press release is much more than just a way to get media attention and free editorial. It can also be a great way to increase the organic traffic you get from Google and other search engines. The online press release services focus time and money on search engine optimization and rank extremely well in search results. You can literally piggyback all of this for next to nothing!
According to top website VisiblePR.com (a free search engine optimization tool for press releases), your press release body should contain 3-5% keywords. For example, if your release is about self sabotage and the body copy is about 100 words long, the phrase "self sabotage" should appear at least three times - but no more than five times. Conversely, your headline can contain 15-20% keyword density.
Aside from organic traffic, search engine optimization has the potential to produce radio and TV bookings months after your release is sent out and long after you have forgotten that you even sent it! Think about it, a busy, overworked journalist, booker or producer may search on Google for "self sabotage experts" only to find your well-written, opinionated and informative release appearing on the first page – and a direct link to your website!
Persistence, Persistence, Persistence
Most of the success that we have had either for Imagineering Unlimited or our coaching clients was a result of multiple press releases, constantly refined, tweaked and improved over time. Follow up your press releases with a telephone call and ask for feedback – the key is to uncover the secret angle or hook that will grab attention and garner you some editorial coverage or an appearance on radio or TV.
Ensure your press release is revamped to tie into holidays (if applicable) and newsworthy events (I.e. Is Brittany Spears Crazy or Just a Simple Victim of Self-Sabotage?). Be topical – who in the Western World doesn’t want to know the answer to that question?
And remember, above all, persistence is everything.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North
5 Things You MUST Do Immediately To Boost Sales to Existing Customers
Even though it’s important to pursue new customers and new markets, it’s absolutely crucial not to neglect the customers that have supported and given you the success you enjoy today. Everyone knows that is cheaper and easier to garner incremental business from existing customers. Some even argue that it is 6 times cheaper and 75% easier to convert a sale from someone who already knows and trusts you.
So, if everyone knows it is easier and cheaper, why are most businesses NOT focusing the majority of their marketing attention and budget on their existing customer base? The answer to that question is unclear. But what is clear is that there are “5 Simple HAVE’s” that every business owner CAN and MUST do immediately, in order to boost sales from their existing customers.
1. Have Loyalty - Reward Best Customers and Team Members
One of this easiest ways to keep a customer coming back and retain your team members is to reward them for doing what you want them to do. *Note, this does not necessarily mean you must have a traditional “loyalty program”. In my opinion, far too many businesses get bogged down in the semantics of the program and miss the importance and priority of putting the customer and team members at the centre of the business. Giving something away for free after their 10th purchase is not going to build customer loyalty or increase the profitability of your business.
You first need to understand what your customers want and what a profitable sale and valuable long term customer relationship actually look like to your business. Spend the time to ask customers (and your team) what you are doing right and what you could do better. Why do they shop with you? More importantly, what can you do to make sure they don’t shop with your competitors? Don’t kid yourself – consumers are inherently promiscuous and will often switch brands or buy online for reasons that might surprise you.
The rewards (for both customers and team members) need to drive profitable behaviours in your business and be clear, transparent and easy to communicate. Avoid spending too much money in above the line advertising (i.e. newspapers, print media etc.) to the masses. In my experience, having previously been the Commercial Manager for the largest loyalty program in the country, every $1 spent on engaging your team to take ownership of and evangelize the program is worth at least $50 in above the line advertising. Simply put, your team can make or break your program. They speak to your customers every single day and have the greatest impact on their decision to connect with your business and your program.
2. Have Focus – Spend 80% of Marketing Budget on Existing Customers
Existing customers have already purchased from you and there is [hopefully] already a basic foundation of trust and permission. From this auspicious vantage point, you now have a platform to build upon that relationship and introduce other products and services. It has been proven empirically that the top 20% of your customers account for 80% of your revenues. Many businesses could literally lose all of their other customers ( who are not as profitable ) and their business would still survive.
Yet why do so many insist on spending the majority of their budget on yellow pages, mailbox drops and newspaper advertising? Primarily it is because we have been taught to chase new customers when common sense and studies from leading businesses around the world have shown that we should merely focus on our existing customer base – retaining them, up selling and keeping them happy.
Spend some time today going through your Top 20% of customers. Set aside time in your diary to send them each a personalized card thanking them for their business and welcoming them back again. Studies have shown that this one simple act can increase your sales by as much as 12-18%. Next, compile a list of everything they have purchased in the past and devise a strategy for introducing them to complementary (and if possible, highly profitable) products and services. Dedicate a sizeable portion of your budget on marketing these products and services directly to your best customers. Finally, identify other good customers who have the potential to become better or even Top 20% customers. Dedicate time and resources to directly market to this important, up and coming segment of customers.
Wherever possible, you must test and measure the result of all campaigns. Do not spend another dime unless you first have determined you will make a positive return on your investment and have set up an easy, fool proof strategy to capture the results, trace the sales and measure the success in quantifiable terms.
3. Have Leverage - Become a Social Media Marketer
To increase the potential of gaining more clients, join social networks. To publicize your product, sign up to relevant social networking sites and forums. This is where people go to connect to one another. Promoting your products on these sites will probably generate more sales since people are here to chat and talk about what is in. Write articles for the local newspaper get on public television/radio or do a regular show for the community.
Then get involved with Internet media shows. Of course you have to promote these offline shows on the web and the Internet marketing shows through offline means. This helps you to expand your reach and increase your frequency of exposure which are the two major keys to successful advertising.
4. Have Flexibility - Repurpose What You Do (Instead of Approaching In The Same Old Way)
The brochures you've always had look exactly like the ones that everyone else is handing out. Just because you've presented your business in one format before doesn't mean you have to do the same thing now. Instead of sending print newsletters, try audio and/or video. Instead of just handing out business cards and brochures, offer to do a demonstration of your products or services to give instant information.
Be the first to be different by taking what you have and using it in a new way to attract attention. Look for ways to partner with other professionals and develop new package offerings of products and services. For example, maybe you have a skin care line and she has a stress reduction program. Together you offer a "look better and live longer" package at special pricing.
5. Have a Point – Make What You Do Irresistible!
Pay attention to the local news, business and announcements sections. Look for the people who get promoted, have babies, buy and sell homes and start up new businesses. There may be leads here for your product or service.
If your product is really "the best" or "world famous", you shouldn’t have to tell us….we’ve already heard of it. Pretending to be something that you are not is the quickest way to have your ad, direct mail flyer or PR end up in the deleted box or the garbage bin. Next time, do something really novel – Have a Point! The best sales pitch is about how what you do/sell relates to something newsworthy or will help the customer fix an annoying or costly problem once and for all. If you don’t have a point, put your pen down now or stop typing and go back to square one.
Remember to make it easy for people to get in contact with you: an e-mail and phone number work best. Invest in a domain that says you are a professional and not some fly by night operator.
Dennisbrowndoggydoesdaycare@gmail.com isn’t going to cut the mustard. No one wants to sort through reams of paper and type lengthy, difficult phrases to get in contact with you.
If you are not currently writing press releases and sending regular direct mail pieces to your existing customers, you are literally leaving thousands of dollars on the table (or worse, in your competitor’s pockets). The most important elements are a good strong headline (that identifies pain) and a compelling call to action. Spend 75% of your time and 75% of the real estate on the page for these 2 crucial elements.
Remember, it is always cheaper, easier and more profitable to focus the majority of your marketing efforts and budget on existing customers. In a tough economy, you can save yourself valuable time, resources and money by re-directing the bulk of your budget to direct communications with existing customers. If you HAVE loyalty, focus, leverage, flexibility and a point....you will find that you have significantly more profit and free time to show for your efforts!
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
The #1Most Powerful Secret To Motivate Your Team in a Recession
It is critical, particularly during challenging economic times, that business owners recognize their employees for all their hard work. If you can reaffirm and re-enforce your team members' value and contribution while your organization is coping with the global downturn, you stand a better chance of retaining your best people when the economy turns around and opportunities to leave become plentiful.
When we think of recognition, most may think of praise and financial rewards. However, it will require a holistic and integrated approach to ensure that members of your team know their importance to your continued success. Nearly everything we do as business owners in the workplace either contributes to or takes away from how recognized and appreciated our employees feel. If you, as the owner and leader of the organization, go into work feeling and acting as if you are a victim of the down economy, your team will follow your lead and adopt a helpless attitude and blame external factors for lack of growth and sales.
Recognition can be used strategically by employers to reward good behaviour and keep team members “present” and accountable for favourable results. It builds and reinforces the belief that they work for a company that cares and it reminds them to look for solutions (as opposed to focusing on problems or what is not working in the business).
But all recognition is not created equal. Almost all businesses use varying combinations of intrinsic recognition - health-care benefits, flexible work hours, time-in-lieu for volunteer activities, training opportunities and annual awards.
But recent studies (surveying thousands of workers across Australia) have clearly shown that the cornerstone of meaningful recognition is actually “opportunity”. An award may be a tangible, formal sign of recognition, but employees view opportunity as the primary indicator that their manager values them.
Opportunities don't have to be expensive to be effective. You can provide the chance for a team member to better themselves by doing something as simple as trusting them with VIP customers or introducing them to a key figure inside or outside of the organization. It's also been proven that employees find recognition more inherently valuable when it's administered individually (i.e. in private) rather than in public.
The business owner or manager is the essential component when it comes to effectively recognizing valuable team members. Companies should employ the 80-20 rule—keeping in mind that employees respond best to a blend of diverse mix of recognition. Only a small percentage (20%) of an employee's overall recognition can come from peers and financial means before it loses its effect. The remaining 80 percent should come from the business (i.e. intrinsic recognition) and direct praise must always come from the manager, and be delivered in private, in order to maximize the impact.
When you consider it from the perspective of the employee, it makes perfect sense. The manager or business owner ultimately decides who gets hired, who gets fired and who gets promoted. Timely approval and recognition from the owner or manager is the best way for an employee to judge his/her progress and stay accountable by focusing on targets and solutions. Opportunity is in fact the #1 motivator – and it often won’t cost the business a cent, which is great news in challenging times like these.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North
Why You Won't Sleep Tonight Until You Discover 5 Secrets To Gain New Customers
Is your business growth starting to plateau or stagnate? It’s easy to sit back, take the foot off the accelerator and watch the sales roll in, especially if you are satisfied with how well your business is doing. But keep in mind that if you slack off too much, your competitors will soon catch up and eventually put you out of business.
Marketing your business is even more important than ever if you want to succeed in challenging economic times. Competitors are closing their doors - which means more potential customers for the businesses that do survive. Today is the best time to take steps to revamp your marketing efforts and respond to the needs of your target market. In these times, it’s going to take more than “thinking outside the box” and goodwill with existing customers to secure the survival of your business.
What you need are new and innovative ways to bring attention and profitable sales to your business instead of depending on the “old ways” to get people to learn about you. Here are “ 5 New & Innovative BE’s ” to market you business during challenging economic times. Use these little known ways to increase your market share and watch your business soar.
1. Be Resourceful – It’s Not Stealing, It’s Called “ Market Research”
Steal, don’t invent your success from scratch! Watch what other successful companies do – take their innovative ideas, adapt them to your own business and then apply them.
For example, even small or mid size businesses can benefit from carving out a unique image for their vehicles (whether you have 1 car or 100). Think of how quickly you recognize a yellow taxi cab, an emergency vehicle, a Linfox truck. All of these well known icons have been developed because of necessity, purpose and design. You don’t need to spend $1000 to make your branding impactful and memorable either – stickers, magnetic signs and personalized license plates can start from as little as $150. On an average day commuting back and forth to work in traffic, how many vehicles do you think you might see? Statistics indicate that in a busy city like Melbourne, the average commuter is exposed to 5000+ vehicles/hour. That’s 5000+ opportunities to get your brand and contact details out there for very little cost. Can you afford not to try it?
Do yourself a massive favour and STOP concentrating on selling 1 thing to 1 person. What can you do right now to sell your product/service in bunches or bulk? If you are a bookseller, look for opportunities to form alliances with schools, book clubs or companies to generate large orders or group sales. Coaches and trainers may want to consider holding workshops and seminars to increase their leverage and reach. Even if you are in the dry cleaning business, you could arrange to stop by a corporate office on Friday to pick up a pile of orders and then deliver the clean, pressed garments on Monday. I don’t care what business you are in – if you can sell to one person (or business), you can make more money for virtually the same time and effort selling to 10 or 100 people (or companies). Think about it – thinking BIG and selling BIG is the best use of your time.
You may even want to go so far as to consider bribing a “significant other” in order to attract a new, dream client or get in front of a key decision maker. If there is a person that you really want to meet but you can’t seem to get your foot in the door to have an appointment with him/her, you may want to get resourceful and win the backing of a key motivator – i.e. the producer of the radio host’s show, the spouse of the client, the EA (or right hand) of the decision maker etc. Find out what that person likes – whether it’s chocolate, flowers or tickets to a sports event or music concert – and use it to build a relationship and get your foot in the door with the endorsement of this influencer. You will find it pays huge dividends to be sincere and generous!
2. Be Partners – I’ll Scratch Your Back, If You Scratch Mine
This strategy follows along the same lines as what we just discussed above. Question – if given the choice at a networking function, would you rather find one potential customer or a strategic alliance that could help you win 10 customers?
This is not a trick question – of course you would rather develop a relationship with a complementary business or strategic partner who can recommend or refer you to many customers. But how many of you go to events and spend the majority of the time talking about what you do and trying to sell your products/services to anyone who will listen? You only have one mouth and two ears – the key to getting the best result and really growing your business is to use each in the correct proportion. Spend at least 2/3 of the time asking questions and really finding out (1) what is important to the other business and (2) who their customers and suppliers are. Great companies develop great people who really know how to listen. Unfortunately in most prospecting or networking conversations, both people are just waiting for the other person to finish! If you are not listening, you are likely missing opportunities and buying signals.
Be patient and persist - sometimes the synergies are not immediately obvious. I was at a networking event myself last year and met a woman with a small IT company. On the face of it, our businesses really had very little in common. However, after chatting for some time I discovered that one of her suppliers was a company that I was very interested in working with and she also had many contacts (from her previous career in HR) that could be extremely beneficial for my business. She also revealed that she really needed solid business content for her website and ezines that I could provide very easily, at no cost and with little incremental effort on my part. Always think Win-Win.
The easiest way to find potential partners and alliances is to start off by making a list of all of the businesses that might be interested in working with you. Where else does your ideal customer shop? What other products and services do they need? What are they interested in? Get as many ideas down on paper as you can and then sort by order of priority – write a note on your to do list each week to contact 5 people or businesses from this list to set up a meeting and discuss ways that you can work together to become even more successful. It may be as simple as having a commission in place for referrals between you or as complicated as providing special pricing to customers on bundled packages of goods. Perhaps you may even want to offer free trials of your product to the best customers of your new alliance? This may make perfect sense if the acquisition cost of a customer is high in your industry or if you are looking to break into an established market where there are well known players who dominate the market.
When looking for potential partners, contemplate:
Businesses in your same industry
Businesses that sell items that naturally go along with what you are selling
Businesses that sell similar items but do not compete directly with you
There are an unlimited number of options available – the ways that you can work together and produce a mutually beneficial result are limited only by your imagination. Consider:
Giving out promotional materials on behalf of your partner with every sale
Trading existing customer and mailing lists
Selling your products cooperatively
Holding a closed door sale or VIP night where both companies cooperate to offer excellent value and enticements
Linking to each other’s websites
Offering tickets to a joint workshop or seminar
FREE trials/demos to best customers on each other’s database
Combining sales teams or shipping on bulky items (or items that go out each month)
Press releases out to media or best customers about how you are working together to make it easier/better for your customers
Coalition loyalty (giving great value back for purchases by customers across multiple brands)
Writing a joint newsletter or combining materials into a book or audio file that customers can get for free
Remember to do your due diligence and thoroughly research your potential partners online and offline. Google searches are an excellent way to get a preliminary feel about your potential partners and it will also reveal how committed they are to promoting themselves and growing their business.
3. Be Out There – Master PR & Social Media
A good press release should be between 200 and 400 words. Less is more. The priority is to give only enough information to whet the appetite of the reporters and entice them to contact you to for the main course.
Most make the mistake of thinking that a press release is the opportunity to give every conceivable fact and overload the media with data. A press release is really just an elevator pitch--something you could comfortably say to someone in about 30 seconds. You wouldn’t dream of giving a three-hour lecture in order to get someone’s phone number at a bar. Similarly, you don't need a 1,000-word press release to get booked in a newspaper or on a radio show. Keep it short, news worthy and intriguing.
The story should be about how what you do/sell relates to something newsworthy or will help the audience to fix an annoying or costly problem once and for all.
Did you know that most individuals and businesses are posting press releases purely to boost website traffic? A press release is much more than just a way to get media attention and free editorial. It can also be a great way to increase the organic traffic you get from Google and other search engines. The online press release services focus time and money on search engine optimization and rank extremely well in search results. You can literally piggyback all of this for next to nothing! All of these links create more ways for your potential customers to find you PLUS you receive the added bonus of appearing to be the expert in your field. You can literally receive thousands of visits to your website, without paying a dime on advertising.
Aside from organic traffic, search engine optimization has the potential to produce radio and TV bookings months after your release is sent out and long after you have forgotten that you even sent it! Think about it, a busy, overworked journalist, booker or producer may search on Google for "self sabotage experts" only to find your well-written, opinionated and informative release appearing on the first page – and a direct link to your website!
In addition to the above, social media and viral marketing are the latest phenomena to generate massive exposure and rocket people/companies from relative obscurity to international fame. If you are not involved (or don’t even know what I am talking about), you need to seriously assess your commitment to your business. Facebook, Twitter, youTube, MySpace, Linked In, blogs etc. are just some of the many ways to build your community and get the “word out” globally about what you do, your products and services, for little or no cost.
In my experience working with the Top 22 brands in this country, 90% of their customers lived within a 10km radius of their office/store. However, the biggest competitor to almost every single one of these businesses was the internet – not another physical location or office. Yet most companies focus on marketing to a set pool of customers. They fall into a fatal trap of doing mail drops and advertising in local newspapers to customers within a certain distance from their store. There is a huge fallacy in this level of thinking – if 20,000 people live within 10km of your business this year, you can bet that the same 20,000 (or similar group) also live within the same radius next year. You are effectively marketing to the same group of people over and over again but you are not reaching many new customers or addressing your #1 competitor – the internet.
Your customers are online right now looking for various goods and services and they are watching the youTube videos, Facebook profiles and blogs about your competitors. If you continue to ignore the power and reach of the internet, you will do so at your peril. If you want to build a successful business and prosper despite what is happening in the global economy, you need to educate yourself on what is available and what will work best to build relationships with your potential customers. Many of these mediums deliver audio and video right to the computers of your customers – what better way to make a good, personal first impression?
And don’t make the mistake of thinking that the Baby Boomers and retirees are not online. A recent national study showed that this demographic was one of the fastest growing consumer segments in online research and purchases for travel, insurance, health care and several other categories. No matter what business you are in, someone somewhere is selling a similar product/service online and is capturing the trust, interest, permission and sales of your potential customers. When is NOW a good time to do something about it?
4. Be Direct - Ask For Referrals
Chances are your best customers hang around with or know other [potential] best customers. Asking for referrals is the best way to capture opportunities and acquire new customers that have the ability to become best customers.
And speaking as someone who knows, the best way to encourage a customer to refer new customers to you is to offer a referral bonus. Do not fall into the trap of blindly offering them a $20 bonus, 15% off or free merchandise for every new sales lead. The key to preserving the relationship and building the lifetime value of your existing customer is to give them a valuable offer (if possible) on a product they do not already purchase from you. Giving them a discount on what they would already buy erodes your profitability on existing sales. This is not a good strategy for you in the long term.
You want to increase their business with you by introducing them to additional products and services that they could buy from you. The key is to identify something that is of value and give them an irresistible offer. Make it easy for your customer to refer others to you – keep your offer simple and concise. Consider holding a special by-invitation only event where they can bring a friend and remember to follow up with a hand-written thank you note and their bonus in a timely fashion. Statistics show that a simple, personalized thank you (with no actual offer) has the potential to increase sales by 12-18%!
In my experience, this simple and effective strategy is overlooked by about 90% of businesses. This is by far the most lucrative and cost effective strategy to get new customers. If you are not doing it, you are likely missing out on about 20-25% of sales from top [potential] customers. Can you afford to continue throwing money out the window on mass advertising when you are not doing this 1 simple strategy that could cost you less than $1/customer?
It is not enough to casually ask your customers to come back and bring their friends – you need to put it in writing and make it worth their while. You are essentially asking them to sell your business for you and they will gladly do it, if you reward and thank them for their effort.
5. Be Unique - Do What Others Don’t
Stop right now and make a list of everything that you (and your competitors) do not do for your customers. Next, I want you to start asking customers what they want. If you want to succeed you will take a good hard look at both of these lists and find a way to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to win customers and keep them. Those who are unwilling to do this will never build a truly successful business. End of story.
I had a couple come to me once for advice and coaching – both the business (they were partners in a retail shop) and the relationship, were at the breaking point. The husband said to me “I don’t understand it. I do everything humanly possible for my wife and she doesn’t appreciate me and I don’t think I can possibly do anything more to satisfy my customers – they are never happy and always want more.”
My answer to this age old dilemma is simple and it applies to both relationships and business. “Sounds like you may be doing a lot. Too bad it’s everything BUT what your partner and customers want.”
Let’s take a moment of silence now to contemplate the obvious implications of this poignant story for your own business...
I don’t really care what you are doing or how hard you are working. There is no prize for volume or quantity here....what counts is quality. Are you giving your customers what they want and are you willing to do whatever it takes to give them what they want? More of the “same old same old” is not going to differentiate you from the pack, build trust, win customers and grow a business.
Take some time today to really think about what you offer and how it could be improved (either simply or via a complete overhaul) to revolutionize your business. If all of your customers were to leave today, what would you need to do in order to attract new customers? Consider:
Everyone loves a freebie – can you offer a free trial or sample?
Do you offer a guarantee that takes 100% of the risk out of trying your product?
Is someone (who is respected) willing to endorse your product/service?
Are you on the cutting edge of technology – are your products/services able to better fulfil a need or fix a problem?
Do you make it easier than your competitors for customers to buy from you?
Can you offer free installation or maintenance?
Is there a unique way to introduce what you do to prospective customers – without all the pressure of a typical sales meeting?
Can you offer free upgrades or special financing terms?
Can you negotiate other products/services for your customers at no charge?
Can you create a sense of community for your customers that will be perceived as valuable?
Do you incorporate customer feedback into your product improvements or customer service standards?
Do you offer free training, manuals and assistance?
Does the relationship with your customer begin or end with the sale itself?
Do your team members believe in the product and are they willing to go the extra mile for your customers?
At the end of the day, price is never the determining factor. People will always be willing to pay a fair price for a superior product and for the peace of mind that comes with excellent service and a strong guarantee. If you solely focus on having the lowest price, it will eventually put you out of business. Take stock of what the competition is not willing to do and what your customers want most from you. Do something unique – listen and be willing to do whatever it takes to deliver what they want. Anything less, is simply a lot of time, energy and money wasted on all the things that don’t really matter.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
Peak Performance Insider Reveals 7 Proven Ways To Spot And STOP Self Sabotage...
Are you?
Having trouble reaching your goals?
Concerned “something” seems to be blocking your way?
Constantly doing things you know are not helpful/productive?
Not doing (or avoiding) some of the things you know you should be doing?
You may be a victim of self-sabotage... But WHY on earth would you want to sabotage yourself? That's a complicated question with a very simple answer... Because your mind is wired that way: Sabotage is an automatic response of the subconscious mind.
Here Are 7 Proven Ways to Spot and STOP Self-Sabotage:
1. Face Your FEARS
Problem: Do you worry a lot about the future and what “might” happen? Are you thinking about your fears (and what you don’t want) so much that you take no action because of what might occur?
Action: Put 100% of your focus on the present moment and what you want. You can't control or predict the future or other people's actions but you can control what you choose to do right now. Courage is not bred of fear or fearlessness but rather by the unyielding embrace of a calling that is far greater than fear. Connect with your “WHY” – your calling that is greater than your fear – and you will move easily through and past your fears. 2. Eliminate Problem-Gazing or Procrastination
Problem: Do you focus most of your time and attention on what is not working (or not right)? Do you talk on and on about your problems to anyone who will listen? Begin to notice how your language pre-determines your outcomes...
Action: Ask yourself a new question: "What can I do differently in order to have the result that I want?” Or “what is going right?" Notice all the things, no matter how small, that are working - write them down daily. The quality of your questions affects your decisions. The quality of your decisions affects your actions. The quality of your actions affects the quality of your results and ultimately your life. Asking yourself productive questions is the first step toward changing your destiny. 3. Rebuild Self-Esteem and Confidence
Problem: Do you minimize your accomplishments, criticize yourself and have difficulty accepting compliments? Do you obsess about the past, think of yourself as a failure or feel success is too hard or not possible for you?
Action: Limiting beliefs are predominately unconscious – they influence what we consider to be ‘normal’ and ‘possible’. Refer to Chapter 27 of On The Shoulders of Giants - start to become aware of all thoughts that do not serve/empower you to achieve your goals. It is possible to change these thoughts by repeatedly engaging your frontal lobe – the home of intention, decision making and inspiration. However, unless we do this repeatedly for at least 21 days, we are destined to repeat the past because it has been proven the nerve cells in the brain that fire together wire together. Imagineering Your Destiny audio series makes it simple and easy for everyone to re-write negative conditioning and make positive changes to unconscious default settings using a simple relaxation technique. I highly recommend this program if you want to move beyond your past and perceived limitations and begin living the life you were meant to live.
4. Quit Comparing Yourself to Others
Problem: Do you constantly compare yourself to (or feel you’re not meeting the expectations of) others?
Action: There is little to be gained by comparing yourself to others. The only real measure is how you fair against your own personal best. If you constantly ask more of yourself, make small shifts in your thinking, expectations and results - you can make massive shifts over the long term. Rome wasn’t built in a day – neither were you! Forget what others think and forget what you have previously expected of yourself. Compete with your own personal best and as you improve your thinking, your future will transform.
5. Take Your Life In A New Direction – Set Some Goals
Problem: Are you wandering aimlessly? Do you have goals? Are they clearly written down? Do you make the common mistake of worrying about “how” you will achieve them?
Action: The mind is a natural goal seeking mechanism - our physical brain and nervous system form a kind of machine – a ‘servo-mechanism’. In our conscious mind we decide to set a goal. Once we set a goal, our subconscious mind takes us to that destination – acting like a guided missile or a plane on autopilot. Too many of us get limited in our goal setting by the constraints of our own imagination. We would all like to make an extra $10,000 a year but we have no powerful, compelling reason ‘WHY’. What exactly would you do with another $10,000? That is the critical question to ask. Connect with ‘WHY’ and the ‘how’ will take care of itself.
6. STOP Running Away or Using Avoidance Tactics
Problem: What are you most afraid of – failing or succeeding? Sabotage most often stems from the belief that you will fail if you attempt something uncomfortable, difficult or risky.
Action: There is no such thing as “failure” , only feedback. It isn’t about assigning blame or beating yourself up – it’s about being responsible for your response and deciding how best to move forward to attract the results that you want. Setbacks occur – they are part of the learning process. Nothing was ever invented or created by people who were afraid to try because they had previously “failed” at some endeavour. Look at any successful person from history and you will find a person who continued to try and who refused to believe that their past would foreshadow their destiny. Your biography does not pre-determine your destiny – your past has absolutely no bearing on your future but if you continue to do what you have always done then you will get what you’ve always got! Make a decision and take action today...even if it is only a small step forward.
7. Cultivate Passion and Purpose
Problem: Do you sometimes feel that you have no reason for being? Have you lost your sense of purpose? Do you miss feeling truly passionate about something or someone?
Action: Isn’t it always easier to perspire when you are inspired? We all deserve to live inspired, abundant and purposeful lives, regardless of our upbringing or the significant emotional events that we have encountered in the past. “ Imagineering” will allow you to create a vision that is so real, vibrant and compelling that you cannot continue to merely sleep through your life. It’s a wake-up call – to open your eyes and realise that you can see, do and have more than you ever thought possible. Take the time now to re-discover what you are truly passionate about – it will ignite both your mind and your soul.
In summary, some of the most common forms of self-sabotage are habits because they are deeply ingrained behaviours that take time to establish or eliminate. In the 1960's, Dr. Maxwell Maltz discovered that it took 21 days for amputees to cease feeling phantom sensations in their amputated limb. From further observations he established that it actually takes 21 days to change or create a new habit.
Do yourself a favour and identify today which forms of self-sabotage are holding you back from having the lifestyle of your dreams. Make a plan on paper - specific decisions and actions that you can take to move forward every single day for the next month. Track your progress each day and find someone to hold you accountable to your plan, actions and results. If you want to know more about Imagineering Your Destiny – visit our website and take your first step toward becoming even more successful!
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
7 Hidden Secrets Your Competition Prays You'll Never Find Out About...
Even though the global economy is experiencing the most significant downturn in years, that doesn't mean it's impossible for businesses to generate new sales and increase profits.
It is widely known that during periods of economic downturn more innovations are conceived and more business owners have made their fortunes, than in comparable times of economic stability or prosperity. Gains made by companies during these challenging times have often resulted from better cost management, new products/services, retaining best customers and effectively tapping into new business ventures.
In fact, downturns can actually serve as an ideal time for businesses to experiment with unconventional and creative ways to boost sales and gain market share. Here are “7 Proven Go’s” to ensure your business not only survives, but thrives, despite the economic downturn:
1. Go Further - Use the Internet to further your reach
In 2008, a small Kiwi company, Flightcell International was approached by The Texas Department of Public Safety to supply satellite-based communication and tracking systems for their new Eurocopter helicopters. Flightcell's adaptive position reporting system allows aircraft to be tracked continuously, thereby enhancing safety and operational management.
This contract was not the first to be landed by Flightcell in America – it had been previously been called upon to supply high-tech communications kits to help aircraft crew with relief efforts in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. The state requested 85 of Flightcell's kits to help Army reserve helicopter pilots and rescue crew talk to other aircraft and people on the ground during the disaster relief effort. This technology was vital because it allows pilots to use satellite phones and mobile phones hands free by linking them up to a helmet or headset.
Instead of being limited to working in a 50-mile radius of its Nelson office (where it employs only 4 staff), now Flightcell is drawing business from the whole of North America, Australia and other overseas markets. By working over the Internet, this small company’s geographic boundaries have literally disappeared.
Many other companies have also chosen to add a multilingual component to their web sites. The boost in sales abroad makes sense as customers tend to respond more often — and more positively to communications in their native tongue.
2. Go Untapped – break into underserved markets
One largely-ignored market opportunity is often referred to as the "bottom of the pyramid." This term is often used to describe the largest and poorest socioeconomic group or the mass market. This large pool of consumers is often overlooked as a viable/lucrative target market because it is believed to be much more price conscious than the other segments.
A rags to riches Australian retailer story clearly i llustrates what can be achieved by bringing economically priced products to the mass market – by placing tools into the hands of millions of DIY users ,as opposed to competing alongside established competitors for the business of qualified industry trades people. Brisbane-based do-it-yourself auto parts business, Super Cheap Auto, capitalised on the unmet demand for parts in the DIY market. Now it employs over 3,500 staff, has over 200 non-franchised stores in Australia and New Zealand and is approaching sales of $500 million. Though founded originally in 1974 as a mail-order business, exponential growth occurred under the stewardship of Bob Thorn. In 2004, Thorn was awarded Australian Entrepreneur of the Year by the National Retail Association and Super Cheap was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2004 with a market capitalisation of $200 million. Not a bad business for one that started out (and still does) target the “bottom of the pyramid”.
3. Go Bigger - Expand without expanding your costs
I was recently approached by a client who wanted us to assist with the business plan and set up of a venture in the take-away food industry. The premise for this business was very intriguing – to provide nutritious, gourmet meals to young professionals and families. Her thinking was that customers would attend at select retail outlets across the city, make their selections for the week and then take home the meals – which only needed to be warmed (as they were pre-cooked).
According to the IBIS reports in Australia, the average consumer spends more on fast food in a week than they spend on meat, vegetables and non-alcoholic beverages at the grocery store. This might explain in part why obesity has become such an issue in this country. In light of these statistics…I think it’s fair to say that she was on to a very interesting and potentially lucrative idea.
Even though the idea was fantastic - she had never owned a business before, had no food experience and was struggling to decide where to put the retail outlets and how to manage all the staff remotely. But those weren’t the only challenges she faced…. The biggest problem that she faced was the sheer cost of establishing the retail outlets in key areas where traffic of her core demographic, busy professionals, was high. Landlords in the CBD of Melbourne were asking $800-$1000/sq metre – which translated to rent of over $200,000 plus fit outs.
So we got creative and advised the client to employ a mobile outlet. For a total cost of about $50,000, she could buy, retrofit a van and begin cruising the streets during the lunch hour and the 4:30-6:30pm commuter rush. This would allow her to be exactly where her customers would be (i.e. the train stations, busy street corners) and make adjustments as necessary. For less money, she could extend her reach and she wouldn’t be tied to any bricks and mortar establishment that didn’t have the walk by traffic that was advertised by the landlord.
Even if a mobile retail outlet isn’t right for your particular business, you could consider a virtual office as a way to expand cost effectively and professionally into a new market or inter-state.
4. Go Deeper - Become your customer's customer
Everyone knows good business is all about relationships. And supporting your client's business is one of the best ways to build trust and strengthen the relationship. Next time you find yourself needing a cleaner, a copy writer, office furniture, printer cartridges or web development team, make a concerted effort to approach your customers that work in those fields to do the job. Granted, you must first get to know who your customers are and exactly what they do. Spend some time talking to your customers and make note of what you find out. Any time you invest in your customer, it further deepens your relationship and will lead, without a doubt, to future customer referrals and win-win outcomes.
5. Go Public - Profit from your own reputation and expertise
Presumably, you know your business (and industry) inside and out… Why not utilize that knowledge to expand into a new area that typically has low start-up costs and high contribution margins….consulting! Take for example Tracey, the owner of Simply Salons in Brisbane, Queensland. She utilizes her former career as a beauty salon owner to regularly provide marketing and customer service advice to salon owners around the country.
Even if you don’t want to consult, you can share your skills and expertise (and make incremental sales and profits) though paid speaking engagements, board appointments and networking groups. Another amazing way to commercialize the intellectual capital that you have amassed over your career is to write articles, publish or ghost write a book or simply sell audio/video presentations of your material. It has become incredibly cost effective to do this in recent years and websites like uTube, Facebook, Twitter, eBay, guru.com and eLance.com have made it easy for you to expand and reach customers and opportunities globally. 6. Go personal - increase your personal networking opportunities
Shake hands, meet people, and follow up with new acquaintances. Look for opportunities you might have missed before and find new ones to make personal connections. Spend time getting your business cards and brochures (with a real, compelling offer) updated and ready to distribute. Remember, it has been estimated that you may need to let people see you 7+ times before many make a buying decision - find new ways to get in front of more people, more often.
Is your stack of 500 business cards burning a hole in your desk drawer? Every day when you leave the house take ten business cards with you and make it a point to give them away. That’s ten cards times five work days – you do the math. In my experience, most business owners underestimate the value of exchanging business cards. In fact, I regularly see owners and senior executives attend networking events without a single card on them! Why would you throw $500-1000 away on a newspaper ad to potentially attract 5 new [potential] shoppers when you are ignoring an opportunity to spend less than $5 to meet and get the contact details of 10 good, qualified leads or strategic alliances? In my opinion, it’s the definition of insanity…
Have you ever heard of The Goldilocks strategy? Well, hear me out on this one - it is one of my personal favorites. Almost every one of us has a barber or hairstylist that they use on a regular basis. When is the last time you really paid attention to what goes on in a hair salon? It’s full of people sitting in chairs talking about nothing – the weather, the last movie they saw, a great book they read, the hot date they went on last week etc. Trust me, your hairstylist needs new material to talk about every single day. Have you ever thought of offering them a flat fee or a commission based on every referral that you get from them? Simply give them some business cards or brochures and give them an idea of the type of customers you are looking for.
Not only have I personally received business from placing my brochures in my favorite hair salon I’ve even picked up business myself while getting my hair cut. Opportunities to reach your ideal customer by marketing in the periphery (everywhere but the obvious places like newspapers, magazines and radio) are plentiful and very cost effective. Unlike mass media, you only have to pay for the actual referrals that you get which makes your return on investment very lucrative. These personal, creative, “guerilla” type tactics are all around you and are much more likely to result in converted sales because they are pre-qualified leads. 7. Go live - provide seminars/workshops on topics related to your product or servicesHolding seminars and workshops is a great way, low cost way to establish your credibility and introduce what you do to groups in a non-threatening, relaxed environment. Consider delivering some dynamic training events or spend 1-2 hours providing new insights into topics (related to your business) that will help your attendees to become more profitable and successful. Be generous with your time and offer real, useful and practical solutions. If you come from a place of integrity and demonstrate a genuine intent to help and provide value, it will create trust and result in huge dividends to you in the long term.
Take for example Alex Carroll, the best-selling author of “ Beat The Cops ” (a book about how he has beat 8/10 speeding tickets and can show you how to do it too). I recently met Alex at a seminar for authors in New York and was amazed at how much time and valuable insights/advice he was willing to share. He wasn’t one of those speakers who brought up an idea and then said “but you will have to buy my book to find out exactly how to do that”. In fact he was so willing to help and to provide useful tips and strategies that we could all use right now to become more successful at selling our books via radio appearances that attendees were literally lined up afterwards to buy his suite of lists and products for $999!
Which brings me to my last point – make sure you have your special offers clearly explained and ready to go at the end of the event and “value add” (throw in extras to make it more attractive, never discount your prices) for immediate sign-ups on the day.
And remember, this global recession might be the best thing that ever happened to your business – that is, if you are willing to be flexible and experiment with some powerful, unconventional and creative ways to boost sales and gain market share. More fortunes were made in the Great Depression than in any other time and history. What are you waiting for?
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
How to Avoid Self-Sabotage - Your brain wants you to succeed--so get out of the way.
I once heard a presenter ask a room full of people what they thought about cooking a cheeseburger in their exhaust pipe. The audible disgust was instant. The collective brain in the room immediately shut down any possibility of the idea going any further. Your brain already knows how to help you succeed--so get out of the way.
This particularly cool, but deceptively sabotaging feature of the brain is known as "danger surfing." Way back when life was a matter of survival, each morning our ancestors came out of the cave and were instantly on high alert. They would “surf” the horizon for danger; danger surfing is what saved their lives. We still roam around with that ancient wiring and understanding it will help you to overcome the sabotage danger surfing can create when your organization is coming up with the next big idea.
You’ll see danger surfing in your workplace over less obvious dangerous ideas. It happens when someone proposes a new idea and the listener’s instinctual reaction is to find all the ways the idea might fail or hurt the individual or organization. So, what do they do? They “save people from themselves” and rip their idea to shreds, or slyly convince them it’s not such a good one. Instead of building upon the idea the way inventors, innovators and creative types do, they find everything and anything wrong with the proposed idea and put up a big stop sign. Sound familiar?
Danger surfing sabotages your success--it gets old to hear your cynical views. Danger surfing stops the idea from progressing as rapidly as it might and often shuts it down completely. Inventions don’t typically come to light because of all the things you said no to. While ideas need to be analyzed and critiqued, danger surfing becomes a knee-jerk default and should be consciously overridden to create more successful, creative and positive results.
Your brain knows the business of people, and all of the post-graduate courses on the latest process probably won’t teach you what your brain is aching to do for you if you’ll just pay attention to it. When you become aware of the cool little devices harbored in the folds of your white and grey matter, you can out-smart your competition.
Tips to Avoid Danger Surfing
“ Yes and...” Do what improv actors do; play the “yes and…” game. Instead of looking for the flaws, be additive to the idea. The next time someone comes to you with an idea, no matter how half-baked, put your “but” out to pasture and expand on the idea. Not only will this be collaborative and lead to more creativity, it will also show you what an attractor behavior is like.
Create and evaluate separately. The formation of ideas and the evaluation of them are two entirely different brain processes. Let’s say you want to start a new venture, so you pull together your best business whiz pals in a meeting to help you with the idea. You’ll want to spring for two pizza-and-beer parties. One is to collect every whacked-out idea they can come up with in relation to your idea--no evaluation of the ideas, the brain will shut down creativity if you do. The second meeting is to evaluate and prioritize. Allow at least a week in between formation and evaluation so the brain can incubate. At the end of the first meeting, ask everyone to be thinking about the best possible combinations of ideas around your venture.
Count to ten. It takes approximately six seconds from the time a negative emotion is felt (i.e., disgust or disdain) and the dissipation of the hormones that make you want to blurt out a nasty remark. Your mom was right--count to ten before you speak. Let the visceral feelings die down, then speak. And remember to be additive.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
The 1 Simple Question Standing Between You and Your Success...
Do you find yourself asking for THIS and THAT with the Law of Attraction... and not getting the results that you want? The secret to manifesting your desires may be as simple as asking the right question...
The critical question to ask is: WHY do you want the _____ (desire)?
Do you believe that getting it will mean that you'll finally have ____ (the real result you desire)? Is having the ____ (real result) the driving force of you getting the ____ (desire), or is there a much deeper reason _____ (a deeper meaning)?
For example let’s use a profession like coaching. WHY do you want to be a coach? Do you believe that being a coach intrinsically means you'll make more money, have more flexibility, be in charge of your own destiny, be happier or have more satisfaction? Is having a huge bank account the driving force behind coaching or is it passion for helping others and confronting new challenges everyday that fulfills you?
You may want the coaching business, to get money, prestige, fame or variety... You may want to coach for the simple pleasure of helping others. You may want to coach to fulfill your own desire to be needed, listened to, respected or admired. More likely, you may want all of your desires fulfilled so that you can FINALLY BE HAPPY.
Therefore, does being a coach (or any other job or profession) = happiness?
For some it may....but for MOST it’s just barely enough motivation to make you get off the couch in the morning and make something happen. The end result HAPPINESS is so intangible, seemingly elusive and far out in the distance. It just doesn’t seem real because it is something that we are constantly striving towards but that we never truly seem to reach.
In my experience, having the result or desire of happiness, fulfillment or success (or substitute any state of mind that you like) is not enough to drive you toward your goals. Happiness, success and peace are in the here and now. They are not an end destination – something that you drive towards or “try” to obtain. No matter how many goals you set and hours that you work, you will never end up at the train station of happiness or success. You need to get on the train of happiness or success now and see where it leads you. Happiness and success are who you are already – or at the very least, who you are capable of being right now if you choose to be. Therefore, they can’t possibly be something that motivates you to achieve your goals.
If you are currently struggling with a goal or a dream that is not manifesting, I want you to stop right now, sit down and examine what the real and deeper meaning is for you. The real “WHY” that you want to have a result or an outcome. Once you connect to this real WHY – and you will know it when you have stated it because you will connect to some REAL EMOTION - that will be the moment when the tires hit the pavement and you begin to get real traction and momentum towards achieving your goal(s).
From my own experience I can tell you that writing and publishing a book is not easy. If I simply wanted to have happiness or to make a few dollars selling the book, it simply would not have been enough to keep me moving forward when things got tough. For me, the driving force behind the book has always been 2 THINGS (1) I want for my mother’s life to have meant something and for her love and kindness to live on forever and (2) I want to be in a position to financially support children from disadvantaged backgrounds to have the food, clothing, supplies and support that they need to stay in school.
Now I don’t know what the REAL WHY will be for you....but I do know that when you find it, you will become UNSTOPPABLE and your success will become INEVITABLE!
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
Are You Making This Common Mistake & Getting Everything You DON'T Want?
Have you ever heard somebody say to another person "Don't spill that coffee." and seen that exact thing happen, that you know will happen.... which is that they do spill the coffee by accident!
Right now you are laughing because it is funny. It is funny because it happens all the time. For some reason it seems the more you tell someone NOT to do something, the more likely it is that it WILL happen. Why is that? Sometimes we attribute it to simple disobedience – for example a child testing a parent, when the parent has said "don't do that."
However, it is more than just a simple testing of the boundaries. There is a biological, scientific reason for this and it has to do with the way that our brains are wired.
So why do we always seem to do the very thing that we are told not to do?
Our Subconscious brain struggles to process negatives. In effect it hears and acts upon the command to do the very thing that we DON’T want it to do – i.e. "smoke" or "spill the coffee."
In fact, the subconscious mind cannot think - it can only ACT or CREATE based upon what is of VALUE. That value is a product of our map of reality and every event we have experienced over a lifetime. The subconscious is actually 100x more powerful than the conscious mind and the subconscious is an AUTOMATIC mechanism. It kicks in and acts about 1/2 second before the conscious mind does.
If you say to yourself over and over “Don’t spill the drink” or you tell a child “Don’t miss the ball”, you are focusing the attention of the subconscious mind on the opposite of what is desired. Instead of saying “carry the drink safely to the counter” or “hit the ball son”, you have commanded the automatic mechanism to do exactly what you DON’T want. The automatic mechanism of the mind is focusing on missing the ball. It’s not that the mind doesn’t hear the word “Don’t” (or cannot understand it) it’s that the ENTIRE SENTENCE is designed to create the opposite of what is wanted. You have to look at the sentence in its entirety to understand why it will not work to create the desired effect.
That is in fact why many books self help books, DVDs and audio CDs DON’T work to deter unwanted habits and behaviours. Many of the NLP and hypnosis practitioners have loaded their materials with imbedded commands like “you will not have any problems sleeping”, “you will not want to have any more cigarettes” or “you will no longer have cravings for fried chicken and beer”. Unfortunately, these programs are doomed from the start. They only serve to further entrench these undesirable patterns.
If you want to change behaviour or get around a problem you must think of new ways to phrase the desired behaviour in a positive way. This requires the removal of all negatives or references to the problem in the sentence. Rather than saying "Don't mess up the calculations" you could say "Be careful to ensure all the calculations in the spreadsheet are double checked and correct”. Instead of saying to your child "Don't throw that toy at your sister" you should say "Put the toy down now and come to me".
Instead of telling yourself what NOT to do , focus exclusively on what you want do to (or have happen). It can be difficult for some to unlearn old patterns and pessimistic language. However with practice and the positive reinforcement that comes from achieving the results that you desire most, you will find yourself speaking and behaving in new and empowering ways.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
7 Most Powerful Ways to Drive Traffic & Sales To Your Website
Targeted traffic is the lifeblood of any successful business. In this article, I’m going to show you how to get laser targeted traffic in just a few simple steps.
1. Article Marketing - One of the best ways to drive targeted traffic to your website is through the use of article marketing. This is one of the oldest techniques for generating traffic, but it’s still one of the best.
Once you have written your article, you can then submit it to some of the top article directories like EzineArticles, GoArticles, Buzzle, the American Chronicle, ArticlesBase, and SearchWarp. For a list of the top article directories online, go to… Article Directory List | Article Directory Rank | MasonWorld Internet Marketing Strategy | Internet Based Marketing Blog You can also publish your website to Web 2.0 sites like Squidoo, HubPages, Zimbio, and Gather.com.
For a complete list of Web 2.0 sites, go to… Web 2.0 Directory : eConsultant Article marketing is even more powerful when you submit exclusive articles to bloggers and owners of newsletters. This technique has sent me thousands of visitors with a single article. The key is to find the right distribution outlets.
Just imagine if you spend just one hour each day writing and distributing one article. In three months you would have 100 articles all sending you traffic on a daily basis.So get out there and start syndicating your articles, submitting guests posts, and writing for online newsletters.
2. Viral Ebooks - Why not bundle your articles together and create a viral ebook? Giving away free ebooks is one of the best ways to generate traffic online. It’s also one of the best ways to build your mailing list. You can submit your PDF ebooks to Scribd, eSnips, DocStoc, Calameo, Issuu, Yudu, FreeIQ, and ButterflyReports. For a complete list of ebook directories you can submit to, go to Free Ebook Directories
Quick Tip: You can also convert your ebooks to exe files and submit them to all the different software directories online. You can convert your ebooks using a free piece of software called WebsiteZip Packer.
3. Blogging - Blogging is one of the best things you can do for your business. Blogging is a great way to get to know your readers. Plus, blogging can play a major role in getting valuable search engine traffic from Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
4. Submit your articles to Blog Carnivals. A blog carnival is a collection of blog posts on a particular subject. They are then posted together on on blog - called a host. The host (who is also a blogger), publishes the carnival on their blog, with links to each blog post that has been submitted.
This creates an excellent opportunity to get your blog posts shared on other blogs. There are a number of benefits to participating in blog carnivals. Not only will you generate extra traffic, but it also provides you with quality backlinks and an excellent opportunity to connect with other bloggers.
To submit your article to a blog carnival, go to Blog Carnival - Blog Communities Publishing Magazines. For extra exposure, submit to multiple blog carnivals. Just make sure they’re all relevant to your topic.
This is one of the easiest ways to create one-way backlinks coming into your site, which is one of the biggest factors when it comes to ranking high in Google.
5. Submit your blog posts to social bookmarking sites. Social Bookmarking is one of the easiest ways to get extra traffic and links coming into your blog. Social bookmarking allows Internet users to save and organize bookmarks to a public website, tag them with keywords, share them with others, and browse what others have bookmarked. Digg, Delicious, Mixx, and Digg are just a few of the social bookmarking sites you can use to maximize your exposure.
You can do a semi-automated submission to over 50 social bookmarking sites at AutoPoster.com. You can also encourage your blog readers to bookmark your posts as well with a Wordpress plugin called ShareThis.
6. Ustream.tv - Ustream allows you to create your very own tv station on the Web. However, it’s better than TV because it’s a live, interactive experience. While you’re broadcasting the video, you’re also getting feedback from the live chatroom.
Ustream gives your business a human face and a real personality. This is extremely valuable, because people like to buy and interact with people, not impersonal companies.
Live video allows you to reach entirely new audiences and develop a much greater level of engagement. A deeper level of engagement almost allows equates to a higher conversion rate when done correctly.It’s also an excellent way to get feedback from your audience.
7. Forum Marketing - Forums are another way to drive targeted visitors to your website. The key to getting quality traffic from forums is to find a forum that is highly targeted to your website, become involved in the community, and create a benefit-laden signature.
You can put a link back to your website in your signature. It’s critical that you use your signature to offer something of extreme value along with a good call-to-action. Otherwise, why would anybody click?
The biggest benefit of marketing in forums is that they are centered around a very tight group of people who are all interested in the same subject. This is essentially a community of raving fans for a particular topic, making them extremely targeted prospects. Forums are also an excellent way to connect with other bloggers, meet other marketers, and gain insights into your market.
8. Interviews are another great way to generate traffic. When you interview a fellow blogger, they will almost always publish a link to the interview on their blog. At the same time, you are also sending traffic to their website by posting the interview on your own blog. This can be a very effective technique for generating traffic and meeting new bloggers. Unfortunately, most people are just afraid to ask.
9. Build a List - If you’re not building a list, you’re missing out on a major source of ongoing traffic. Your list is the most valuable asset in your business. Best of all, it can be leveraged at anytime to drive a funnel of visitors to your website.
10. Video Marketing - Video sites have quickly become some of the most highly trafficked sites on the Internet, making them one of the best places to generate lots of extra traffic. Don’t worry, your video doesn’t have to be a Spielberg classic. In fact, it can just be a PowerPoint presentation with audio. Even simple videos can drive thousands of visitors to your site.
Once you’ve created your video, you can then submit it to the top video submission sites with a tool called TubeMogul.
And finally, My Favorite… Search Engine Optimization is one of the best ways to generate extremely targeted traffic online. By following just a few basic principles, you can get lots of traffic from the search engines every month.
About the Author:
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North American radio shows and publications.
You Dont Have to Be Oprah To Be Popular on Twitter!
More important than originality or intrigue, is the ability for a writer to help us experience the world in new and meaningful ways. Far beyond the obvious - the power of words to make you hear, to make you feel, to make you see—and above all to make you dream. Words hold the power to define and eradicate boundaries – both physical and mental.
Twitter has the potential to separate the literary men (and women) from the mice! Where else can you say so little or so much with 140 mere characters? I would advocate that if you can master the following Twitter secrets, you will have learned all that there is to become a better, faster, more concise, compelling and articulate writer.
· Keep it Simple
Tweeting forces each of us to think and write simply. With only 140 characters available, it is imperative to get to the point and be succinct.
· Know When Enough is Enough
Ninety-eight percent of communication is knowing what to say AND what not to say. Enough said.
· Be Relevant
Pay attention to what is newsworthy and topical. Be prepared to break new ground and have a unique or controversial opinion. In particular, watching the current trends (and items which are hash tagged) will allow you to put your finger on the pulse of public opinion and shed new light and insight on hot topics.
· Get To The Point...the Entire Point NOW!
With Twitter, you have no choice but to start and finish your thought(s) in one short sentence. This necessity will enable you to focus your mind, idea and words in every aspect of your writing – articles, blogs, books etc.
I sometimes wonder what the great literary geniuses – Hemingway, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Frost, Austen and Chaucer – would have thought of Twitter. I doubt they would have bothered to bore us with the details of their everyday movements online and I have no do ubt their true genius and literary prowess would have shone through and put us all to shame – in 140 characters or less.
About the author
Rhondalynn believes that each one of us has the potential and ability to SEE, DO and HAVE anything we set our minds to! From humble beginnings and despite formidable obstacles, to success as a leader, writer and entrepreneur, she has learned what it takes to succeed in business (and in life). She is a fully qualified lawyer, chartered accountant, clinical hypnotherapist and Master of NLP and is considered a leading expert at business acceleration, the power of influence and mental toughness. She is the author of "On The Shoulders of Giants" and "Financial Foreplay" and is featured regularly on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sunday Life magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3AW, The Leader newspapers, JoyFM and many North
How to Maximise Your Online Marketing Using Videos, Photos and Audio Files
The world of media leaves many of us with more questions then it does answers. Our teenagers tend to know more about it and get a grasp of it faster then we can consider it. However, there is some good news. Technology today has provided us with the opportunity to utilise multiple forms of media with ease and style. It’s just a matter of being shown ‘how’. You don’t even need top of the line equipment. Because files need to be compressed before they can be uploaded, you don’t need state of the art gear, you just need to know some basics.
These days more and more people are expecting to see or hear something on your website as opposed to just reading about it. Think about it – wouldn’t you much rather watch a 3 minute video of someone talking about what they do as opposed to having to read a mountain of text? And please be considerate of those visual people like me who love to see interesting pictures and colors on a page.
And let’s not forget the world of pod casting and mp3 files. I would rather download an audio, save it on a portable player and listen to it while I’m at the gym then have to read a heap of text on a page. Essentially, by using these varied forms, you are reaching a broader group of people. You see, we all have different ways of receiving information and by incorporating these into your marketing you will be attracting a broader spectrum of viewers.
Since I began utilising these forms of media, my hits per month have doubled. I get regular feedback on how much they are liked and how my clients appreciate the effort (albeit it little) that I put into it.
I’m going to give you some very simple, quick ideas on how to use these forms of media on your website. I’ll share ideas on why and how you can use them on your website, blog and e-marketing.
Videos
These days most people have a home video camera. They have gone from being a luxury item that some families had, to something that most of us now own. These home video cameras are all you need to begin your film making career. You can also use your webcam on your laptop/desktop to begin with. It doesn’t matter as long as you have a recording device, you have a video.
Most PCs these days also have free video editing software such as Windows Movie Maker. Apple Mac’s have IMovie. All you need to do is shoot your footage, import into the editing program, add some titles and upload it to a free directory such as ‘You Tube’. From there you can imbed the link into your website for all your clients to view.
Audios
A good, free audio program to use is Audacity. You can download it for free from their website. With this program and a microphone that you can pick up for as little as $20 in an electrical store you are all set to go.
Some ideas for using audio files are:
Greet your website visitors with a weekly message. You can give them updates on what’s been happening, any specials you might have or a persuasive reason why they should sign up for your newsletter.
You could audio record your e-zine or articles and have that as an alternate way for your customers to receive your information. They can then download it to their portable music player and listen to it at their own leisure.
Let’s face it, who has time these days to read through the wades of newsletters and e-zines that plague our inbox each week?
You could take this concept one step further and create a weekly pod cast full of information in your area of expertise. You could even produce your own weekly radio show!
Photos
Using photos is a must for any website and if you are not using some images you might be losing a lot of potential customers. Any digital camera will do. Again, it doesn’t have to be an expensive one, it just needs to take the shot.
Remember the saying, a picture tells a thousand words? Well a thousand words is a lot to read. Taking the right photo will help you to grab their attention sooner.
The trick with photos is to make sure they are interesting and that something is happening in them. Don’t just use static images that don’t say anything, unless it is a promo shot of you. Even then, be somewhere e.g. the beach or in a garden so that the photo has more depth and interest.
You also need to make sure that they are no larger the 800 x 600 otherwise they will take too long to load and frustrate your viewers. Therefore, the chance of them bouncing out of your website is higher.
You can use a simple, free program like ‘Paint’ to shrink your images.
The sort of photos you might use on your site are of events that you hold, your staff, where you work, your family (yes, it creates a sense of connection). You can also put the photos on your home page, your newsletters or even your blog posts.
Also, if you are looking for high quality images that are the right size for your website, for as little as $1 per image, you can download them from photo library websites like ‘IStock’.
Once you begin to dabble in these forms of communication you will be amazed at the response you’ll receive. Just be careful that you don’t get so caught up in it that you overload your website. You don’t want to confuse your customers; you want to draw them in. So subtlety is important.
I hope you found this helpful. If you need any support in this area it happens to be my area of expertise. My previous business was ‘In Focus Productions’, a TV and Video production company. I was an independent producer for Optus Vision and produced and directed over 100 episodes of television.
Ludwina Dautovic is the director and founder of The Red Tent Woman, an organisation supporting women in small and home based businesses. They host networking events, offer business mentoring and provide online and offline resources. Ludwina specialises in low cost and innovative online marketing strategies such as multimedia marketing and brand identity.
The Red Tent Woman is the 2008 MCEI National Marketing Award Winner for the ‘Women in Business’ Category.
How Choosing the Right Category can Affect the Success of Your Article
The internet, as an information superhighway, has a wealth of information that people use every day.
This being the case, it would be great to know how to find what you are looking for using categories.
By utilizing different categories, it would be easier to search for the right information you need.
When you use the services of online stores such as eBay and Amazon, there are various categories available to help you find the products you're looking for. When you go to business directories, companies and organizations listed there are also classified into categories. When you submit to article submission directories, you also need to specify the category where your writeup should be listed.
A category refers to a group or subject that includes a list of more specific topics. The subjects that fall under the main category can be considered sub-categories.
Let's take an example.
Business can be one major category. Under this, the list can include printing, car washing, hair salon, dry cleaning, catering, internet marketing, real estate and so on. Under internet marketing, you can have more sub-categories which can include ecommerce, article writing, network marketing, online advertising, blogs and so on.
If you're involved in a particular business and want to advertise or promote your products and services online, you need to choose the right category. Additionally, if you aim to promote yourself as an expert in a particular field, you should submit articles in the appropriate category to ensure that your write-ups get read by your target audience. If you choose the wrong category, your article may even get rejected by the editors and won't get published online at all.
For example, the family category has often been wrongly associated with articles that are supposed to be covered under home, health and even pets. Sometimes, articles related to travel and family trips are wrongly included in the holiday category which is actually meant for celebrations and other festivals (particular on US directories).
Take a few moments before you decide on what category your article or business should be included.
Doing so will ensure your article is approved and published quickly and your business will easily be found online, under the correct search terms.
By Wendy Moore Copyright 2009 Savvy Web Women Pty Ltd
What the original Material Girl has that you don't!
“Go Brand Yourself!”
That’s fantastic advice, but it’s certainly nothing new. You’ve probably known for some time now that personal branding is the next phase of marketing. But what does it really mean and how can it make your life easier when being surrounded by fierce competitors?
One of the key aspects of personal branding is; personal expression amplified to influence and command attention. How do we achieve this? Simply by being interesting. So to help, here are my tips on how to jolt your audience into paying attention and finding your own ‘x’ factor.
Reinvent Yourself
Madonna has perfected the art of reinventing herself to not only gain mass appeal but to engage generation after generation with her music. She does this in a few ways. Not only does she reinvent her look and go with a new theme for each new release, she brings on board musical collaborations with other performers who already have mass appeal with the next generation. In the past few years, she’s collaborated with Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake to attract an audience that has never been exposed to her cone bras.
Where does this fit within your business model?
Have you noticed that the age of your clients has shifted considerably? As the baby boomers gradually retire, we have a new market of individuals to target. What worked for the past generation may not work for the next. You may need to reinvent key things in your business: graphics on your website, the language in your promotional material and the way you engage your target audience. However, never - and I repeat never - change your logo unless absolutely necessary. If you’ve been around for quite a long time, this already carries substantial weight and prior investment. Innovate within boundaries. Refresh your look and messages in key areas to re-engage your existing audience and the next generation of clients to come. Each reinvention has the potential to make you newsworthy.
You’re boring the crap out of me!
Consumers everywhere are being showered with marketing. Not only do we need to position ourselves very carefully, we need to create interesting stories and ways in which our markets can engage with us. People don’t care about your business. They care about what you can do for them. They care even more if you’ve experienced the same kind of distress and challenges they’ve experienced. You just have to have the balls to share it with them.
In Australia we have a habit of keeping our dirty laundry tight to our chests, to make sure that others don’t judge us. Get over it! That’s how you engage people. The greatest amount of power comes from vulnerability. When you’re not trying so desperately to protect yourself, you can get on with the job at hand. No, we don’t need to hear stories from the boudoir. But we do need to hear stories of where you first began in business, the challenges you went through and how you got to where you are now. And it must be shared in such a way that it contains zero promotion. This highly powerful marketing message doesn’t cost you a cent. The trick here is to put it into context and reveal to potential clients how your story relates to them and how you can assist them with their challenges.
The art of being interesting
To be truly interesting and stand out from your competitors, there are key elements you can throw into your marketing mix periodically to instigate discussion in your industry. To achieve this, consider the following:
Controversial: Cover taboo topics within your field that others dare not touch.
Quirky: Find a new, quirky angle on an otherwise dull topic. We’re sick and tired of hearing the same old stuff.
Be right, be wrong: Article marketing is a fantastic way to engage your audience. Be willing to be right and wrong within your articles. Criticism means people are paying attention to you.
Credibility: Team up with big wigs within your industry and work on projects together. This will assist building trust and credibility for your business quickly.
Close to Home: Make it highly targeted and close to home for your market. Is there something in particular within your industry that has affected them of late, i.e. the economy? Discuss this openly.
Since the advent of the internet, businesses have posted substantial amounts of information on their sites to hit it big on Google. You may hold the number one position, but that’s no good if you can’t engage visitors when they click on your site. The next generation is seeking greater engagement on all levels, including relationships. Just how is your business going to connect with the next generation during this economic turmoil?
From the Bed of Ben
Grab a copy of Ben Angel’s controversial new book, ‘Sleeping Your Way to The Top in Business – The Ultimate Guide to Attracting & Seducing More Customers’ by visiting www.benangel.com.au today! Copyright 2009 owned by Ben Angel
The internet is indeed one of the best avenues of communication these days.
With its global reach, it has connected people from all over the world regardless of age, race and religious beliefs. In fact, most people now use the internet in searching for important information on just about anything they want to know – be it useful information, products or services.
Content plays a key role in helping web users find the information they need.
Since most users are busy people – professionals, businessmen and students, short and easy to read content is more ideal to them. Studies have found that people who surf the internet do not actually read the full details but rather scan information. In addition, people tend to read from computer screens 25 percent slower than when they read on paper.
So if you’re a person who wants to write for the web whether for websites, blogs or article submission sites, keep your articles and posts concise and interesting to read. Your goal should be to share new ideas and information with people and attract as many readers as possible. For articles, sticking to a word count of 400 to 500 is acceptable.
First, think of a topic which you are comfortable writing about.
It should be something that you know very well and that which you can expound without much difficulty. For instance, if you love flowers, you can write about a certain type of flower that you like and include details about its characteristics, history and how you can grow it in your backyard.
Next, write as if you are just talking to somebody.
In other words, use simple English and sentences that can be easily understood by your readers. Remember that web users just scan information so you wouldn’t want to give them a hard time reading and understanding your article. Write in a conversational and informal style to attract readers.
It would be ideal to go straight to the point when writing your articles.
It may be okay for newspapers to publish long articles with too many details and several segments but this is not recommended for the web. When writing for the internet, use the inverted pyramid style. In other words, keep important information in the first part of the body instead of putting it in the latter part. Sometimes, providing a summary at the topmost part after your title is helpful in capturing your readers’ attention.
Write your article in the most interesting way as much as possible.
Readers shy away from serious posts but are more interested in articles written in a light and engaging manner. Providing catchy titles as well as updated and objective information is just one way of grabbing the attention of web users.
Using simple fonts is vital. The most widely used are the Arial, Verdana and Calibri because they are friendly to the eyes.
If you are submitting your articles to article submission sites, don’t forget to include a short bio and link of your blog or website at the end of your writeup. This should inform readers about you and where they can access you if they want to read more of your articles.
About the Author:
Wendy Moore is founder of www.savvywebwomen.com and creator of the Savvy Web Secrets Mentoring Program - the step-by-step, hold your hand program that gives you the tools and confidence to take your business online. To receive your F.R.E.E. Special Report and weekly how-to articles to expand your online internet toolkit, visit www.savvywebwomen.com .
