Do you have a favorite quotation?

I don’t although I was recently intrigued by this one; "You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for a buck fifty in late charges at the public library." This is from the movie Good Will Hunting and was said by Will Hunting: played by Matt Damon.

The reason I say that it intrigued me is because many times a good University education is filled with old and tired ideas. I am not saying that all University education is that way, but we need to be aware. What that means to you is that you need to keep both your eyes and your ears open to new ideas.

A couple of years ago I made a speech in Louisiana. After my speech I was approached by a young man who complimented me on the information I had shared. What he told me; shocked me. He said that he had just got a MBA (Master of Business Administration) and he found out more in my speech about marketing than he had got during his four years in University.

What can you do today that will take what you know and improve on it?

Can you use other businesses ideas for your advantage?

In other words, can you take their ideas and make them your own and help your business progress?

I believe you can. The reason I say that is because if you view successful businesses, many have done this. Take for example Starbucks. The inspiration for the Starbucks enterprise was a man named Alfred Peet. He began importing fine Arabica coffees into the United States during the 1950s. All of the original owners of Starbucks were well acquainted with Alfred Peet's expertise. 

Starbucks began in 1971 when the three owners opened a store called Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice in Seattle. The partners shared a love of fine coffees and exotic teas and believed they could build a clientele in Seattle much like that had already materialized in the San Francisco area.

In 1981, Howard Schultz, was vice president and general manager of U.S. operations for Hammarplast—a Swedish maker of stylish kitchen equipment and house wares. He noticed that Starbucks was placing larger orders than Macy's was for a certain type of drip coffeemaker. Curious to learn what was going on, he decided to pay the company a visit. Schultz was impressed by the business philosophy of the business. It was clear from their discussions that Starbucks stood not just for good coffee, but that the founders were passionate. In 1988, the owners sold the Starbucks chain to Howard Schultz.

It was on a trip to Italy by Mr. Schultz's that produced a ground breaking revelation: he believed that Starbucks had completely missed the point. He believed that going to Starbucks should be an experience. He knew that recreating the Italian coffee-bar culture in the United States could be differentiating factor.

The rest they say is history. I do have a question for you though;

What business can you look at to improve upon their ideas to create your own success?

Isn’t life and business all about perception?

When you perceive something to be bad, is it really bad?

Let me share with you a story.

Many years ago, a large American shoe company sent two sales representatives out to different parts of the Australian outback to see if they could drum up some business among the Aborigines.

Some time later, the company received telegrams from both agents.

The first said, "No business here... natives don't wear shoes."

The second one said, "Great opportunity here... natives don't wear shoes!"

What can you do to change or improve your perception about an event or a situation the next time you view it as negative?

Did you ever have one of those days, when nothing seemed to work?

This happened to me some time ago, so I want to share an idea with you.

First of all I need to tell you that I do focus on my priorities on a regular basis, but! ‘But’ is the key word. There was an occasion when I had no focus at all. It appeared that I had lost all motivation and focus. I found that I was doing the trivial things and not getting what I needed to do get done.

I decided that I needed to keep track of all my activities for a couple of days. I did this so I could understand what my priorities or lack of priorities were. The list that I created was very revealing. I learned that I needed to avoid particular activities as they were not leading to any of my goals.

So what’s in it for you? Look at your days and itemize your actions. Then take the information and create two lists for yourself. The lists are;
•    What you need to avoid, and
•    What you need to focus on.

When can you create these lists?

How do you describe yourself?

In what way do you express what you can do for others?

Let me explain, you are in a social setting and one of your friends introduces you to another guest. You are chatting for a while then they ask you; ‘What do you do?’ You respond; ‘I’m a (business owner, sales person, scientist etc.).’ How does that person respond? You haven’t given them much to respond to, so they usually will say something as generic or bland as what you have said. This is because you have not given the person anything to be interested in. Your response is just to plain. So what can you do to improve it?

Recently I came across an article in Inc. magazine (the on-line edition) and Jeff Haden gave a wonderful explanation that I know you can use. The link follows.

One last question, when will you take this knowledge and use it?

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/10-ways-you-should-never-describe-yourself.html

Do you have a morning motivation plan to start your day?

Or do you roll out of bed and slide into the day?

I used to be the later, by that I mean I would just let things happen. I finally realized that it is up to me, to be on top of my motivation and energy level. I also know that there are 4 energy levels that I must increase in order to be the best version of myself. They are; physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Due to this knowledge I now exercise at least 5 times per week. I have a morning ‘focus’ plan that directs me on the other 3 energy levels that help me get me ready to meet all the challenges the day will offer.

I know that some people use affirmations to get them motivated to start their day. Others have what has been called a daily accountability list, which get them motivated to take action. The choice is yours.

When will you take action to create a plan to bring more motivation to your day?

Are you destroying your tomorrow, with your actions today?

You may not realize it, because your negative attitude and action today do have an effect.

Let me give you an example. You are having a great day; then all of a sudden there is a big challenge that came out of the blue, a totally unexpected negative situation. You take it as a personal insult to what you’ve done. You rant and rage at the people you are working with. You don’t notice it, but they are concerned about your actions. In fact they wonder if you have lost your mind. After you’ve calmed down, every one of them is very quiet. They are walking around like their stepping on broken glass.

Do you think they will be good co-workers the next day? Of course not! They are going to be timid and not as effective as they could have been.

What actions can you take to make sure you control your reactions, in order to be a more attractive co-worker?

Is there value in the challenges that life offer us?

Do you learn and grow from the problems in your life?

I believe learning is one of the keys to being a valued person, both personal and in business. If we don’t consciously learn, we are doomed. I say that because if you aren’t learning and growing you are no better than you were before. Who wants to be the type of person that does not develop and grow?

What can you do today that will help you learn, develop and grow as a person?

Is your work all about what you do?

Or is it all about what you say?

I hope all of what you are is based on your actions. The reason I say that is because words are cheap. What that means to you is anyone can say anything, and you know that actions speak louder than words.

What can you do today to prove the type of person you really are?

How do you handle the chaos and confusion of today’s world?

What do you do when all hell breaks loose?

Let me give you an example. You started your business a number of years ago. Business is starting to flourish, and you can see that all your work is starting to pay off.

The next thing you see is that there is another competitor in your area. They appear to be well-financed and look very professional. All of a sudden you can see that they are starting to take large amounts of your business away from you. What do you do?

Do you get nasty? No! Do you start a large advertising campaign? No! My suggestion is to take a step back and review what you’ve been doing. This review must be done in the proper perspective. You’ve got to be honest with yourself and admit that some of the actions you’ve taken were not good. Then you’ve got to find some humor in what you’ve done. Some of you who are reading this are thinking that this guy is crazy, but no I am not.

Humor is the greatest release any of us have in our lives. If we can laugh at our mistakes, we will grow as a person. We will look at situations differently and start to create better plans. Give it a try, you will be pleased.

When will you take action on this?

What are you doing to make every moment count?

Or are you just going through the motions.

The reason for my focus on the moment is that we have only the present moment to live and to act. There is no doubt that we can’t live in the past, as those moments are done. We can’t live in the future as those are yet to occur. So there is only this moment! It is the only time that we have a bit of control over. I stress a bit of control, and that is because we have the opportunity to control our thoughts. We can make all the plans, but unfortunate things happen. It is when those unfortunate things happen that we need to have control over one thing – that is control of our thoughts. Those thoughts will make all the difference in the world.

This is how to make every moment count. If you can control your thoughts, you can control your world.

What will you do today to make every moment count?

Why would anyone pay attention to what you are saying?

Yes, why would anyone listen to you speak?

In the past week I made a speech at our local Toastmaster’s meeting. It was meant to entertain. While I am a confident person who does not mind sharing my opinions with others, this speech scared me. The reason why it scared me is that in order to entertain I felt that I had to tell stories about me and my family. I knew these stories as I had lived them, but I wasn’t sure that they would be entertaining. The bottom-line is that my fears were without cause, as the evaluations I received said that the audience were not bored or fidgeting, as I was an excellent story teller. Why did I tell you this?

It is because if you want to hold anyone’s attention you need to believe what you are saying and be passionate about it.

What can you do to improve your speaking skills the next time you are speaking to anyone?

Is what you are offering different than what your competitor is offering?

Prove it!

That is what all your potential customers are saying. Prove that what you are offering is different or unique from all the others.

You can do that by becoming known for the uniqueness of the product/service differentiation. In other words, you need to be the ‘subject matter expert’ in a distinctive niche of your industry. So how do you do that?

It goes down to understanding what it is you offer on a deeper level. It is asking yourself – what is it that we do that attracts our type of customer? It is also asking your customer’s – what is it that we do that attracted you to become our client?

When you get answers to these questions, start to compare them. The one’s that share a commonality are your unique niche. Then you have to promote that uniqueness in a special way.

When are you going to take action on this?

What type of service do you offer?

This question is due to a recent experience with my internet provider.

I was having a small challenge so I called their service department. Sadly the technical support person did not know anything about service or listening skills. Every time I said something, his response was ‘I agree with you, but…’ It is the ‘but’ that was the challenge. When people say the word ‘but’ after agreeing what they are saying is ‘but you are wrong’. All that he had to say was ‘I agree with you, and did you consider this‘. Then he would have had me, and we could have had a discussion.

The next time you are in a discussion with someone of the opposite view, watch yourself and the other person for how many times the word ‘but’ is used. Then change your response from the word ‘but’ to ‘and’ and you will see an improvement in how the other person listens to you.

When can you do this, today?

How long does it take you from idea to selling your product or service?

In the automobile business it is usually between 5 and 7 years.

Are you asking, ‘What does that have to do with me?’ The short answer is everything. The long answer is that unless you are thinking ahead and coming up with new ideas on a regular basis your business or industry is falling behind.

I can’t tell you what to do, but I can ask you this question;
Do you want to be first with new ideas or do you want to be playing catch-up all the time?

What is your product/service guarantee policy?

You don’t have one, maybe you should read on.

When Domino’s Pizza was originally started they stated that their customer’s would have delivery in 30 minutes or less, or it would be free. That was quite a plan, and it caused nothing but grief for their competitor’s. It has changed over the years due to a number of circumstances, but this policy helped make Domino’s Pizza into a recognized brand.

The key thing to remember is that they never promised the best tasting pizza or even a good pizza - they just focused on fast delivery.

What can you do today that will knock the socks off of your competitor’s?

What plan or policy can you implement that will cause your competitor’s grief?

Would you like to become a professional gatherer?

In yesterdays blog I spoke about the difference between being a hunter and a gatherer.

In order to become a gatherer you need to change your focus by moving away from being a product/service pusher. To do that you need to follow these steps;
1.    Identify who your ideal customers are and what they need.
2.    Ask more questions and speak less about your product or service.
3.    Learn your product/service in other words you need to understand every feature of your product or service and how these features will benefit your potential clients.
4.    Lastly, you need to develop unique and different ways to attract your ideal customers.

When can you start this process?

If you find you need help, please contact me at 519-539-2267.

Are you a hunter or a gatherer?

There is a big difference which I will describe to you.

If you are a hunter you are always on the prowl for prospective clients. When you are on the prowl you roam in search of a victim. Sadly many sales people look like a wild cat looking to kill and eat the innocent victim. This type of approach produces resistance.

If you are a gatherer, you are out in the market place making people aware of your product or services. You do this with passion and focus. You are eager to help people, as you know that the law of reciprocity will occur. This law means that if you help enough people get what they want, they will help you get what you want at some time in the future.

Do you want to be a hunter or gatherer today?

On this 4th of July I want to pay tribute to American’s.

If you look at the history books you can read about the American entrepreneurial spirit and the never say quit attitude when the times get tough.

In the American national anthem it talks about being ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave’. In my mind this means that they have the freedom to take personal positive action and they are a courageous people. I believe they show it.

What ‘being free and brave’ means to me is that they have the freedom to take steps to become better than they are today. They are also a daring people thus they are willing to take calculated risks. I believe that is why American’s have such a fearless spirit and are willing to pursue their goals.

The rest of the world has a lot to learn from American’s, my compliments.

Would you like to avoid confusing your web-site viewers?

I understand that no-one tries out to confuse their website visitors - but sadly it is easy to do - by mistake. Website visitors are anxious and if your words aren't immediately clear to them, they won’t stay on your site for long.

A number of months ago I had an editor/wordsmith develop some copy for my business. It was a great move on my part. I think you would agree that at times all it takes is a bit of fine-tuning to streamline and tighten up the words to improve your marketing material. This is because you want your potential client’s to get your message loud and clear, don’t you?

I am going to suggest that you contact Maggie Dennison at (805) 965 9173 or go to her web-site at; http:// www.mymarketingmessage.com, to help you in your marketing efforts.

She had a positive effect on my marketing, so why don’t you give your business a real treat?

Did you accept ‘The Secret’ assumption wholeheartedly?

I really struggled with it because it was built on what I thought was a flawed principle.

That flawed principle was - thinking about something will make an idea work. I know that this is not true because you can think about a lot of ideas, but it isn’t until you take action that good things happen.

This is the same with any business. Until a sale is made you are a non-profit business. In order to make a sale you need to take action, learn, and then take more action. This needs to be done on a continuous basis. Of course all of this requires taking a risk. That is the risk of getting out of your ‘comfort zone’.

When will you get out of your ‘comfort zone’?