Nuggets To Share

I am an avid reader, in fact, my goal is to read one book a week. I just wanted to share a few nuggets I have come across in the latest readings:

"You are free to choose, but the choices you make today will determine what you will have, be and do in the tomorrow of your life." Zig Ziglar

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself." Harvey S. Firestone

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." John Wooden

"Have you ever said: 'I'll be happy when . . . I lose 20 pounds, live in a bigger house . . . get a new boyfriend/girlfriend . . . make more money, etc.?' You get the picture. Someday Isle is not a dream vacation spot. It's an imaginary destination to which you will never arrive. It is the carrot on the stick perpetually in front of you. So close you can see it, yet you will never reach it. Don't vacation on Someday Isle." Frank F. Lunn, Author of Stack the Logs!

If It's Good Enough for Ford

As always, I am researching to get ready for my Business Marketing Gym launch. I am so excited about the whole Mastermind concept. Then I came across this quote:

Henry Ford's Mastermind Group In "Think and Grow Rich", Napoleon Hill talks about Henry Ford's Mastermind Group:

"Men take on the nature and the habits and the power of thought of those with whom they associate in a spirit of sympathy and harmony. Through his association with Edison, Burbank, Burroughs, and Firestone, Mr. Ford added to his own brain power the sum and substance of the intelligence, experience, knowledge, and spiritual forces of these four men. Moreover, he appropriated and made use of the Master Mind principle."

Who are we to doubt these business leaders.

Entrepreneural Moments

I had the pleasure of hosting a local networking group at my new office. I was very excited. I have only been in my new office for nine days. As always the meeting went well. We discussed what we were looking for and challenges we were facing.

After the meeting was over we talked about the challenges of being "micro-businesses" trying to become big businesses. One of my fellow networking buddies shared that he sees value in what we do because the people that are members of our group have become an informal advisory board. It further validated my decision to launch my Business Marketing Gym in May. There is a need for people to get together to brainstorm new ideas, discuss challenges and share each others successes. I am very excited about the concept.


Andy Andrews who wrote the book "The Travelers Gift" discusses the concept of a personal advisory board in his video about the book. In the video "The Seven Decisions" he talks about surrounding yourself with people who are where you want to be in a certain area of your life and learning from them. It seem so simple, but why is it not done more often? I will keep you posted on the launch of the Business Marketing Gym. I think sparks will be flying.

212 Degrees - The Extra Degree

What is the difference between 211° and 212°? Yes, just one degree. It is also the difference between hot water and boiling water. Once water boils it gives off steam which then gives off power which can move a locomotive. One degree turns water into power. This is true about people and effort. How many people are out there just coasting along around the boiling point but not actually boiling? What if you put in just a little extra effort, what difference would that make in your business? It could be one extra cold call? It could be one extra follow-up call? It could be a card or letter sent to a former client. Could that little effort yield big results? You won't know until you try. I say make the effort and find out. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Thank you Sam Parker for your words of wisdom in the priceless book.

Picture of Success

I recently started working with a large sales organization that is pretty amazing. They have an amazing program and spirit. Even though they are spread out all over the United States they use technology to run their business like they are next door. I had the privilege to go to one of their regional conferences to speak. I felt like I was preaching to the choir. They were so amazing I remember feeling, what is left to be said. I recently came across a quote by John Maxwell that epitomizes what I saw at this conference and their team.

"To achieve all that is possible, we must attempt the impossible.
To be all we can be, we must dream of being more.
To reach our dream, we must reach out to others."

This team does all of the above and it shows.

Lessons Learned

Today I was privileged to train a group of 20 insurance sales professionals. I must admit I was nervous going in, especially when I found out the President of the group was going to stay. As we got into the training, I felt more relaxed and felt I was able to connect with most of the team. I really love what I do because of the people I get to meet. They are so awesome.

When I got back to the office I took time to look at the evaluations. Overall they were favorable. After reflecting on the evaluations and thinking back on the training I was struck by a common theme. The Get Clients Now! systems was well received. It is easy to put together and easy to implement. The need for follow-up is critical. There needs to be accountability built in through the on-going coaching. Finally, if you get just one thing from the program, you are already ahead of the game.

I want to elaborate on the last comment. You see all of these sales professionals are very busy, working under tight deadlines with high expectations. On top of that, some of the seasoned professional are already successful doing business the way they currently do business. So the idea of adding something new to their already full plate may seem a bit daunting to say the least.

The take aways I tried to leave them with were:

• If you do one thing different, you will improve sales.
• It only takes a little extra effort to make a big difference in your sales.
• When they suddenly become distracted by some new initiative, they now have a plan to go back to refocus their efforts. With out the plan, they would just feel lost as to what to do next. That was very frustrating.
• Having a plan is better than not having a plan. It's a place to start and then restart.

The Experts Agree -- Make Time for Marketing

I hear it a lot from the business owners I work with; "I don't have time to market." Yet the reason I am working with them is because they are frustrated by the "Feast or Famine Cycle" of their businesses. So how do you handle this paradox of being too busy to market but concerned about becoming not be too busy with billable work? CJ Hayden speaks to this very subject in this excellent article entitled: Making Time for Marketing. As you know I am a licensed facilitator for her program because I feel her program is the most effective program of marketing a business owner can implement in their business. Read this article and see why I love CJ Hayden, her program and her marketing philosophy.

Blogging & Social Media -- What's all the buzz

Unless you have been living under a rock, you probably have heard about blogs. But what about social media? What is all that about? Is it for business?


Here are some statistics to show you just what is being said about Social Media:

• 48% of business leaders spend 2-5 hours a week using social media tools to generate leads and find new clients (Source: socialmediaiq.com)
• 42% of sales managers view blogs and podcasts as very important sales generating tools (Source: MarketingSherpa)
• Of the Top 8 most visited sites worldwide, 5 are social networking websites – MySpace, Facebook, Orkut, Live.com, YouTube (Source: eMarketer)

I had the pleasure of meeting Leesa Barnes in September at a conference that we both attended. Her book Podcasting for Profit was literally in the presses and being published the next week. I learned a lot from her about Social Media. I wasn't surprise then when I got an email about her telesummit she is putting on about this subject. I must say I think it is very exciting and very innovative. I am also amazed the low investment to be able to learn cutting edge material from all the experts in this field. If you want to know more about Social Media and how you can use it to blow your business out of the water and take it to new heights, then I recommend you check out this site: Social Media Telesummit 2008. I think you will be amazed by what you will learn.

It's a New Year . . . So Now What

We've all been there. It seems like months of preparation and the holidays are over in just a few hours. Then you find yourself looking in the mirror and wondering, now what? What have I accomplished? What's next? Or is that just me.

I must say I had a good year. I had my ups and downs, but overall I feel like I accomplished a lot and found my grove. The most important part of 2007 is realizing that I need to build a business around the lifestyle I want and not build a lifestyle around my business. When I tried to fit in a lifestyle around my business, it never happened. When I planned my business activities around my lifestyle, I was actually doing what I had hoped I could do. Looking back on that now, it seems so simple, but it was not so when I was working too much and not having the lifestyle I wanted.

So what did you learn from last year? What are you going to do differently this year? How will that change your life? I'd love to hear from you.

It's December?

It is so funny how something you know is coming every year, seems to sneak up on you. Here we are again, the last month of the year. Why is it when this time rolls around, business owners are just saying to themselves, I should have made more money. December is the wrong time to think about how to increase revenues. Financials must be reviewed on a quarterly basis if not monthly. Then you have time to adjust the plan. It is sort of like a sail boat. You don't adjust the sails on a ship when you have reached your destination only to find out you are in the wrong place. You need to adjust along the trip. That requires a plan, then reviewing the plan and the behaviors, and finally adjusting the behavior and plan based on the results. I hope as you head into December it is to enjoy the season and not to look back with regret. If not, cheer up, you can still change the course for next year.

You want me to do what?

I was talking with one of my mastermind buddies. I was saying that when I work with my clients, they are always excited about the possibilities. They love the ideas we generate together. We always enjoy our time together. Then the reality sets in, who is going to do all this work? Most of my clients are Entrepreneurs who have limited staff and even more limited time. Each task we generate to be part of their business development strategy seems daunting at best. To me, it is like the saying "it hurts so good." You have to do the work, pay the price, invest the time. But who, where, when, what and how?

The task that is most daunting and needed is a way to communicate with their customers on a regular basis. How do you create an email with a call to action? How do you create an email newsletter? What about the whole email opt-in situation?

I have done my research and read lots of good material from forums and boards. I think for the novice who is serious about creating a culture of high touch marketing, AWeber is the way to go. Their pricing is great, they offer a money back guarantee and a free trial. The have a robust support system and indoctrinate you into their system by demonstrating to you the power of autoresponders the minute you sign up with them. Within an hour you could have an email campaign launched and producing for you. Aweber is the tool I chose to use.

The next question is who? Well to start I suggest you look it over and see what you are comfortable doing. The good news is there are lots of great Virtual Assistants (VAs) out there that can do this for you. They will set it up and update if for you as well as manage it. So it could be really not a burden at all. And the return on investment will be well worth any effort you put into it.

Go check out Aweber.com to see how easy it is to use.

Get Clients Now! It Works if You Work It

I had a great training session today with a group of 8 entrepreneurs. Each was unique in their offerings and business models. They all shared one goal, to get more clients. As we worked through the program and developed the plan, it became clear that they were feeling alone in their struggle to build their business; frustrated and feeling isolated. It was very nice to see the room relax and lighten up as each shared their struggles, goals and aspirations. It was amazing how they all had so much in common even though their businesses are so very different.

I share this because I think there are a lot of entrepreneurs out there thinking, no one understands what it's like to have someone hang up the phone on them. No one knows what its like to get rejected. And yet, I find that cannot be further from the truth. Owning your own business, being your own boss can be very rewarding and also very daunting. The key is to create a community so you are not alone. For me the Get Clients Now! program does just that. The eight people that sat at that table today will always have a connection. Whether they stay in touch or not, there is someone out there that knows what they are going through and is rooting for them. And if they are lucky, if they use the system, they are helping them stay accountable.

Cool Resource

I was on an online board recently and stumbled across this site. CJ Hayden actually recommended it. It is a collection of resources in the sales arena. It's worth a look. I am always looking for new and cool ideas. Here is a one stop shop for sales. Check it out at www.salesopedia.com.

It's not a Fad

Entrepreneurs are here to stay. Check out this recent blog post based on an entrepreneurial study done by the SBA:

Growing Firms in the Entrepreneurial Economy
Recent reports from the SBA find that entrepreneurial firms are now over 50% of the GDP, and have created about 78% of all new jobs every single year for the past twenty years. (To read the rest follow the link.)

The point is not only are entrepreneurs responsible for job growth, but their businesses are sustainable. I say that is good new!

Why am I so amazed?

It has been a good week. There have been a lot of reasons for this. The main reason is because I have been doing what I tell my clients to do, consistently behave. After four steady weeks of good marketing behavior it is finally paying off.



The next step -- to continue behaving. It would be really easy to sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor. The truth is there is still more work to be done. Just like planting a crop, the job is not done at the harvest. The soil needs to be taken care of afterwords. So to in marketing. As I continue to care for my clients, plan for my meetings and seminars, I must still cultivate. For without cultivation, there is no future harvest.

It's a process . . .

"It's not so much what you get from goals that matters, it's what you had to become to get it that's yours forever." ~ Jim Rohn

Believe to Achieve

"If you see it in your mind, you're going to hold it in your hand." Bob Proctor

I have always believed this and it is wonderful to see it come true. I worked with a client who was working on a dream. It was a big dream that was one of those uphill battles. Today I was able to see it is coming true. The amazing thing is they always knew it would.

In the movie South Pacific, there is a song that talks about having a dream and the words go something like this: "You have to have a dream, cause if you don't have a dream, how you going to have a dream come true."

What is your dream? Can you see it? It should be like a movie picture in your mind. Walk in it, smell the smells, taste the tastes, hear the sounds and be in the space. It's your dream and you can make it come true.

Know your audience

I have the privilege of giving a 10 minute presentation next week to a networking group I just joined. I honestly was not sure what to present. My business is very diverse. After talking with a couple of colleagues I decided to take an informal survey of the group to see what their biggest marketing challenge is. I am already getting responses. The good news is now I can try to tailor my presentation to the needs of the group.

Lesson learned: Know your audience, take a survey and give the results in your next presentation.

Virtually Yours

It's true, you can run a business and never leave your office. I have the pleasure of working with a new client who happens to be located about 500 miles away. We have never met in person, it was a referral from a happy client. What makes this so nice is that I never asked for the referral. It came all on it's own. My client was talking to an associate and marketing came up. He then mentioned what I was doing for him. Next thing I know I am working this his associate. So remember two things:

• First, if you have a phone and the internet, you can do business anywhere with anyone.
• Second, if you take care of your clients, they will take care of you.

Have a great day, where ever you are!

Networking - It works

I invited a client to a networking meeting I go to. He was skeptical, he's been to other programs and found them to be not productive. It was a great feeling to watch as he bonded quickly with the group and walked away with three good referrals. What made the experience exceptional for me is I prepared him for the meeting. He came ready and because he was prepared, he was successful.

The lesson learned: Research the networking venue before you go. Show up prepared and then work the meeting.