The first thing most people do when they meet someone is search for ways to make themselves look good. I would like to propose that you do just the opposite.
Instead of focusing on yourself when you make contact with people, search for ways to make them look good.
This practice isn’t complicated but it does take some time, effort, and discipline. Before you meet someone, take a moment to think of some simple ways you can encourage them. The reward will be the positive impact it leaves on those you come in contact with.
Not only does this rule apply to business; it applies to any relationship you have. I challenge you to take 30 seconds with each person you meet today to add value to them!
Proving something with information doesn’t prove anything to someone who doesn’t want to believe.
Notifications from Facebook, tweets from twitter, Diggs from Diggit… if we’re not careful, information can drown out faith. Without faith, it’s tough to jump into a new business venture. Without faith, it’s stressful to develop a different way of thinking. Without faith, it’s impossible to believe there’s a God of creation.
The problem is no amount of information is enough to prove something to someone who chooses not to believe.
So, whether you are in sales, marketing, in a marriage, or trying to grow a church, the mission is to connect emotionally with people. Without that emotional connection, it’s just a big dose of irrelevant information.
This post is not about a logo or creating a brand on paper. This is about your individual brand as a person.
When others think about you and how you position yourself in your profession, what image do they produce in their minds?
What does integrity, character, accountability, reliability and success have in common with lying, dishonesty, procrastination and failure. Each one is based on a choice that you make.
Here are a few “success” quotes that have ended up in my possession in one way or another. I don’t take credit for the quotes, just for bringing them together in one place for you.
“Successful people are successful because they form the habits of doing those things that failures don’t like to do.”
“Success is connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
“At the end of the day, it’s not what you do for your kids, it’s what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful in life.”
“Success is simple… know what you are doing, love what you are doing, believe in what you are doing.”
“It is the attitude at the beginning of the task which will determine the success of its outcome.”
How many great ideas did you have during 2009 that you did nothing with? Creating a business from an idea is like eating an elephant. You eat an elephant one bite at a time.
The first ‘bite’ of creating a new business is making sure the business name is available as a domain name.
So, 2010 is here in a few hours.
Take your first bite and grab your domain name. It’s a $10 investment.
Here are a few domain names we grabbed this year:
www.SalesTaxPaid.com
www.HungerMagnet.com
www.bentonVSbryant.com
www.SocialMediaShepherd.com
What are you waiting for? Go get your domain name for your next big idea before somebody else does!
Throughout history, there has been a gradual shift in what determines one’s wealth and stature:
Early on, those who held possession of land were the ones with wealth.
Then, during the Industrial Age, the wealthy were those who owned factories.
Today, information is often the key determinant in one’s wealth and position. As the old saying goes, knowledge is power!!! So, the more you know, the farther you can go in life!
The same is true for your business success!
Ready to apply this principle to every area of your business, from advertising to social media to web design?
It’s difficult to change when you think that you must change everything in order to succeed. Changing everything is too difficult.
In nature as in business, the eternal rule is “adapt or die.”
Don’t over think your change strategy…
Keep your customers, but change what you sell to them.
Keep your staff, but change what you do.
Keep your products, but change the way you market them.
Keep your customers, but change how much you sell each one.
2009 has been a challenging year for many marketers. Yet some companies have found ways to thrive by working not just harder, but smarter. Here are some of the key ways they did this:
When demand is soft, make your value rock solid. This year customers were more skeptical than ever. To overcome that anxiety, the clarity of your value proposition is paramount.
When you have few resources, make your page do more. Many marketing budgets have taken a hit in 2009, and marketers are often asked to do more with less. But your website may be the most overlooked member of your marketing team.
When customers are overwhelmed, change your focus. What are you focused on? Your product? Or the best way to communicate your product to your customer? It may seem like splitting hairs, but take a step back to find a new approach to communicating your value proposition that you may have overlooked.
When it matters most, measure what matters. It’s easy to be overwhelmed with the array of measurement options offered by web analytics. And while many of these numbers may be good intermediary measurements to guide your testing efforts, you must never lose sight of the big picture.
Smart marketers understand that the word ‘right’ in “The customer is always right” doesn’t mean that they’d win in court or a debate. It means, “If you want the customer to remain a customer, you need to permit him to believe he’s right.”
If someone thinks they are unhappy, they are.
If you have a choice between acknowledging that your customer is upset or proving to her that she is wrong, which will you choose? You can’t do both.
Try saying this: “I agree that my communication with you should have been better. I also understand that you are upset, unhappy and maybe even angry. You have my undivided attention because I value your business and I will do my best to prevent lapses of communication in the future.”
Is being right the right thing to do? If you still think so, fire your customer because they’re going to leave anyway.
(Try applying this in your personal relationships and life will be better!)
