Creating a tribe and leading them is how you make sales that matter in big ways.
The main thing to know about forming and growing your tribe is that numbers do not matter! They are a side thought. What matters is the quality of interaction you have with the members.
If you are serious about wanting to go tribal, you have to lay aside what you THINK you know about marketing, and learn a new and better way.
Consider getting out there on the web, or in your local neighborhood instead of hanging out within your 4 (or 400) walls. Check out groups with members who may have a need, desire for, or interest in your products. Join groups and contribute to them. Start and reply to discussion posts and forum questions, give great information and content, and be super helpful, not simply in your areas of business, but also in topics that you may have experience with. If you do have valuable input to share on a topic related to what you do, give the info without a sales pitch of any kind. If it is a local group that meets face-to-face, show up monthly or whenever they meet. Offer a valuable contribution—and NO, do not herald the link to your website or pass out your flyers or promote your next ad (It amazes me that most flyer or email campaigns are nothing but “buy this” blasts. There is no value to the recipient in that kind of silliness).
Within local gatherings and online forums, there will be a place and time to share your business contact information, so don’t try to infuse it into the conversations. Become a valuable part of the tribe rather than someone who showed up with a motive to just market to the tribe. Trust that if you become a giver, people will naturally want to know what you do and they will at some point want to do business with you. Allow yourself the process of becoming the “expert” in your field to the tribe members, rather than being a “salesperson”. Never throw your sales pitch. It’s ugly, and it is like spam. This will require “letting go” on your part but people will appreciate it.
“Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.” ~Frank Zappa
Many women are great at sales because most are naturally good communicators, and selling has so much to do with communication. Of course, that’s not all that makes a good salesperson, but it sure helps—a lot!
Today, we’ll touch on some important factors of selling like a girl. I won’t go into too much detail though, since I’ll do that in an upcoming issue of Furniture World Magazine, where I’ll get really serious about gender-selling, looking at the differences between how men and women approach business and selling. That way, you can take on the best of both worlds and benefit from the general selling styles of both sexes. I’ll keep you posted when that multi-part article comes out.
In the meantime, let’s look at how to sell like a girl, with all the softness, sensitivity, and connectivity of that wonderful gender!
• Start off Seeking to Make a New Friend
Be friendly and heartfelt from the beginning, leading more and more to engaging in a friendly and lively dialogue. That doesn’t mean your goal is to have lunch on Tuesday or golf next Saturday, but the essence of salesmanship is making a sincere and friendly connection based on a genuine interest in another human being. Girls totally get that. • Help Just to Be Helpful!
Women have a wonderful way of connecting just to connect, and helping just to help, and people can feel it. If you are concerned about others, you will want to help them. The motivation is intrinsic—it is there regardless of the promise of material reward or commission. • Let the Customer Tell You What They Want
It’s o.k. to dialog and ask questions, but telling the customer or client what they want is NOT o.k., and it is especially dangerous to do that before you even hear from them what they want. Picture the cocky sales-guy (o.k. — or the cocky sales-lady) who has the attitude of “Tell ya what I’m gonna do”. I’ll tell YOU—you’re gonna be sitting down at the unemployment line by next week if you’re not careful. • Respect the Customer’s Comfort-Level in Purchasing
Here’s where the pushy salesperson comes in. Of course you should help the customer to see all of the available options. Of course you should help the customer to see the many wonderful ad-ons that will increase the value of their purchase, but being pushy is different.
The customer must be in control, and yes, the customer must lead. THEY tell you what they want and need. Even if they do not know specifically what they want or need at first, you should dialog with them and ask meaningful questions to help them in this discovery. It is always done through respectful communication. You are there as a facilitator, guide, point of information, and in some ways a motivator, but you are never there to push the customer into a sale that they are not fully comfortable with.
Sure, you can charm, B.S., or manipulate your way into a sale, but you will lose a lifelong customer and all of their friends! The value of the life-long customer is so much more important that actual amount of the padded sale. When customers feel respected and in control, they will respect you and continue to do business with you. Today, prospects and customers have way too many options for us to be screwing around with pushy, selfish tactics. People will read them and run, or if they do purchase, they will likely never buy from you again. It’s just too much pressure for them to deal with. • Tell the Truth-ALWAYS
Little white lies—no such thing. A lie is a lie, and if you are ever found out, the distrust is permanent. There are few things more embarrassing than being caught in a lie, and few things worse for your career (unless you are a reality t.v. star).
You tell the customer the shipment didn’t come in yet (that it is back-ordered) because you sold the lamp to someone else, but another employee doesn’t know you said that, and reveals that the lamp was in fact on the shipment. Your customer may never let you know that they caught you in a lie, because most people prefer to avoid confrontation and conflict (I am not one of those peeps by the way). Most people will just never work with you again.
So the next time you are tempted to say “I sent you an email” when you didn’t, or, “I tried to call but it just rang and rang”, when it didn’t, FORGET ABOUT IT! Better to say, “Oh gosh, I am so very sorry, I dropped the ball. I got so tied up at work that I forgot to call. Please accept my sincerest apology”. • See and Be Supportive
Everyone likes to be seen and feel supported, even the tough guy on the Harley (my older brother)! Many salespeople won’t even go here because, “that’s not my job”. Oh, really? Then that’s not your big hunk of money in the savings account, either.
Giving customers a little emotional support is another arm of respect. It is in effect saying, “I care about your world”. In many industries, the bulk of the shoppers are women, and women love emotional support! It’s how many of us navigate through life. It turns out that men really like it too, they just bury it a little bit deeper.
Here’s a Great Example of “Selling Like a Girl” from My Childhood:
As a young kid on Long Island, my mom took us (my sisters and me) to Jerry’s Shoes every year to get our school shoes. The store was small, niche, upscale, and the shoes were INCREDIBLY UGLY—every last pair of them. We begged and pleaded with my mom, “PLEASE mommy, we don’t want to buy our shoes from Jerrry’s, they’re ugly”, but mom wouldn’t hear of it (even though we had free rein to buy ALL of our other school clothes from anywhere we wanted, just not the shoes). WHY?
This made NO SENSE, but really it did. Jerry was wonderfully friendly and incredibly supportive of my mom. He was upbeat, kind, and wanted to know how things were going in our family. He helped my mom with us kids when we were all in the store. He asked how my dad was, and he measured all of our feet on a fancy foot measuring stool, leaving my mom to sit in a big chair and watch, as if she were the queen.
He told my mom how good the shoes would be for our feet, and how the shoes would help us in our bone development. He educated my mom and made her feel that she was a very smart shopper, and he always gave the kindness and the information, and left the decision up to her with no pressure. Jerry took care of it all, and we all really liked him, and even we kids liked the white-glove and friendly service (we just hated the dog-ugly shoes).
Jerry had figured out how to become our FAMILY SHOE GUY, and once you have a FAMILY SHOE GUY, you JUST CAN’T go anywhere else because YOU choose not to go outside the FAMILY. By the time we left Jerry’s shop each time, mom had purchased way more shoes than we needed (or wanted), each kid dragging out about three pair of shoes (and some candy), but mom felt great and she believed that to Jerry, she mattered. She also knew that her kids felt very much cared about by Jerry the shoe guy. We went back every year without fail until my sisters and I finally revolted as we approached our fashion forward Jr. high school years, but mom still bought her own shoes from Jerry! Selling Like a Girl is a Real Man’s Work!
It’s easy to skip all the “fluff” and get right to the sale, but life doesn’t work that way, so man up. Sell like a girl if you want to do business like a man. That way, you get to keep your customers and your big bag of money, too!
“The heart has eyes which the brain knows nothing of.” ~Charles H. Perkhurst
“The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.” ~ Edward R. Murrow
“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.” ~Henry David Thoreau
About three times a week, I drive through and get myself an iced tea (weaning myself off of Starbucks coffee). I usually go to the same fast food chain drive-through, but not necessarily the same location. This particular chain, SONIC, experiences a tremendous amount of traffic in any given hour.
I have made it a point when asked “How can I help you?” to first say, “Hi, how are you doing today?” in a very sincere and friendly voice. What a HUGE difference this has made in the service I receive.
I have always been polite at a drive-though, but now I slow down and take those extra few seconds to really acknowledge the individual who is helping me by asking how they are doing. They can hear in my voice that I really want to know. The result has been super friendly replies, like “I’m doing great, and how is your day going?” and other similar sentiments. I can totally tell by the surprised and almost shocked responses I get that most of the people I speak with this way rarely get a friendly greeting that speaks directly to them personally.
The other day, instead of driving through, I sat outside and ordered my tea from the ordering booth on the patio, using the same friendly tone. A car-hop brought me my drink and I sat down. Soon after, three individuals came to the patio to order, and they were somewhat demanding and unfriendly—although not really outright rude, just all about themselves—totally oblivious to the human spirit working diligently on the other side of the speaker. It made me a little sad for the way we go about unaware and unconscious a lot of the time.
Since using my new greeting consistently, I have been called “sweetie”, “hun”, and “love” by some overly appreciative sales girls (is that what you call the ladies who work at the drive-though?). I have to tell you, this simple gesture has really opened my eyes to how much we all just want to be “seen” (even though you can’t see someone at first in a drive through).
Being “Seen”
Being “seen” means being acknowledged and it also means experiencing a connection even if for a brief moment. Being seen means being appreciated and respected, even praised when it’s appropriate.
Seeing others means you come from the vantage point that all of our lives, all of our wallets, all of our jobs, and all of our time schedules matter and are valued just like we value our own.
Seeing others means dropping the manipulative tactics to get what we want, and letting go of the rudeness that tells someone we think they are less important than we are.
Seeing is believing, too. When we “see” our employees, they begin to believe in us more, and we in them. When we “see” our vendors, we embrace them as part of our team, not as adversaries that are out to stick us. When we “see” our co-workers, we understand that they are building their professional lives just as we are, and we see that is important to them just as it is important to us. When we “see” our customers, we are able to be amazingly thankful that with all of the many wonderful choices they have, and with all of the options at their disposal, they are willing to see us and give us a try—either for the first time or once again. When we ourselves are customers, and we “see” sales people, tellers, wait staff, professional service providers, clerks, and attendants, we open not only our eyes, but our hearts and our opportunities as well.
It takes only an instant to become aware in any given situation. It takes just a second to re-adjust bad thinking, and clear the air of any bad attitude that would cause us to not see another. The moment you notice yourself heading down the wrong communications road, it’s time to look and SEE.
The wonderful thing about seeing others is that by doing so you begin to see yourself, and best of all you also begin to be seen, and once again we come full circle (something I love to do).
So this week, see and be seen. Open your mind, your heart, your voice, your consideration to others, and see how it makes all the difference in your business and in your life (and of course it will never hurt your profits either).
As long as your going to be thinking anyway, think big. ~Donald Trump
You Can’t Just Transfer an Old Mindset to a New Medium
I saw a TV commercial the other day that was another piece of proof that there are still plenty of marketing decision-makers who just don’t “get” the “new” marketing (not so new anymore). The commercial—which showed one guy taking video of another guy so he could mischievously place it on YouTube—was another pathetic company attempt to prove to a new media audience that the company was “up on”, or savvy to, a new media world. In reality though, it showed that the company didn’t understand what’s really going on with marketing.
Just taking the same old “speak” about YOUR business and throwing in the fact that you have a Facebook account, a blog, or knowledge of YouTube doesn’t even begin to excite customers. It actually makes you look silly.
When I was in graduate school majoring in Adult Learning and Distance Ed, one of the things that was stressed (back when online education was just getting a real start) was that you cannot simply take classroom content and strategies and transfer them to the web. You had to know how to engage the learner with completely new tools and a totally new approach.
The same is absolutely true of the new media and new marketing. So many retailers and business pros think they can take a TV commercial and pop it up online (or at the very least, the elements of it). Not so. It just won’t work. The web is NOT TV. It’s a totally different animal.
Today’s It’s About Connecting, Relating, and Helping People to Decide
Today’s climate is not about getting a blog or a Facebook or Twitter account (and trust me, there are thousands more great social media sites we can become a part of) so you can transfer your old offline marketing model to the web to interrupt people and talk them into buying. Today is about relating, building relationships, educating, and delivering quality, helpful content and information WHEN people decide they need it. Showing people you know about or use social sites does not mean one bit that you are informing, engaging, interacting with, or building relationships with your prospects.
In this “new” era, we need to be available to assist people in THEIR decision-making processes. Some business-people actually love this idea, because it is totally in line with being a helpful professional. Some business pros have been living this way all along, and now the web provides a wonderful outlet for their exceptional business philosophy. Those who haven’t been this way have got to start doing so NOW.
Online, people are seeking information at the very least, and NO NO NO, telling them that you are having a sale is NOT the information they are coming to the web to see. EVERYONE is having a sale. However, not everyone is becoming a part of the prospects’ lives.
People are also seeking meaningful connection, and companies that get that will get more customers. It all begins when we seek to relate.
We don’t relate when we are slamming folks with “No Money Down”, “15% Off”, “Blowout Sale”, or even worse, “Respond by Midnight”. We relate by showing we understand some basic things, like:
What might be going on in the mind of the customer?
What need or desire might they be addressing?
What text might they be putting into a search on the Internet?
What are the many reasons they might be buying, and
How might they be seeking a better way of life?
We also relate when we communicate that we are O.K. with the fact that buying may very well be a bit of a process, and that we are not there to rush people, but to help, educate and inform them, not just about OUR types of products and services, but about the climate, opinions, uses, thoughts, and research surrounding them.
People Seek REAL People
Today, buyers want to do business with REAL people who they can relate to. Today’s buyers are super turned off to overly-polished companies and stiff, robotic, mainstream businesses that look like they somehow managed to survive Madison Avenue.
I could go on for hours. But instead, let me sum it all up by giving you a good number of bullet points for you to follow that will help you create a great interactive web-based marketing approach that your customers and prospects will appreciate and better relate to—one that makes you approachable, user-friendly, a relationship builder, and even a leader. It’s time for you to have a web presence that makes sense.
Basic Guidelines for Marketing Online
• The old rules of marketing wont work on the web. Forget about putting your TV type ad on the internet (on your website, blog, or social sites) expecting it to gain leads or sales. People on the web are looking for info, not ads.
• Instead of advertising, RELATE. Messages should be full of great content and useful information and not one way communication where you are TELLING people what YOU want them to know just so the will buy.
• Don’t try too hard to gain people’s attention. Once someone comes to your site, you already have their attention. The question becomes, what will you do with it? The answer, ENGAGE THEM with GREAT CONTENT
• Don’t think people trust your advertising that touts your fabulous products and your fabulous prices. Trust must be earned. People to day have tremendous opportunities and a heck of a lot of choices
• Don’t be afraid to share. Tell folks all about your people, your philosophy of connecting, your manufacturing process, where the wood is grown that you use in your furniture, how you are helping to save the earth, how you helped a customer out of a big dilemma, how your mom show’s up at the office every Friday with eggplant parmesan for everyone, how much you love what you do, and how your products are so much more than just products.
• You are not in the driver’s seat (sorry, Charlie)! The person searching the web is. Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because you put an “ad” on the web, people will stop what they are doing to take a look at it. Instead, you need to have what people want and need precisely when THEY think they need it.
• People search the web when they need info. Your site should provide helpful content, not ads telling about low, low, financing or 15% off.
• Today, it’s about connection and building relationships of trust. Show your visitors that you want a relationship with them FIRST and foremost (yes, doing businesses like a girl)!
• Don’t try to sell the minute your visitors see your site. They are not there to buy YET. They first want information.
• PLEASE, don’t try to copy the advertising your competitors are doing. First of all, you have your own voice, so speak it. THAT’S what sets you apart. People want to do business with YOU because of your unique personality or position, not with a robot. Secondly, your competitors are likely doing it all wrong, EVEN if they have a blog, a website or use Twitter or YouTube.
• People don’t wait for you to “advertise” to them. They go online as an experience, looking for what they want to discover, learn about, and POSSIBLY buy.
• Provide useful reports, white papers, short videos, and even simple but informative e-books on your site for free. Don’t try so hard to be cute, clever, entertaining. If your content is awesome, that’s enough.
• Get to know the key words and key phrases your potential buyers are using to search information on the web (not necessarily the keywords and key phrases that industry experts use). Then, create content that will lead these “researchers” to your site.
• Don’t try to target the masses. Seek unique niche markets that value who you are and what you can do for them. They will be impressed that you cared so much.
• Don’t make the focus of your communication about selling your products. Make the focus meaningful interactions with others. The products will then sell themselves. This means, don’t focus on how great YOU are, focus on being a great resource for your desired customers.
• And finally, as I always tell you, BE YOURSELF and have fun doing it!
Have a Wild Week of New Marketing with a New Marketing Brain,
“It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.” ~ Tom Brokaw
This week I’m going to share with you a very personal letter I received from my sister a few years ago on the night of her college graduation. The letter was written by a woman (Kathy) in her forties who found her own voice and her own definition of success, and who turned her life around after many long years of opposition, obstacles, and enormous struggles.
I share this letter at the risk of seeming like I am tooting my own horn, but that is not my intention. I want to share it because every one of you has a letter much like this stashed away somewhere in your office, workroom, or home. Even if it is not in the form of a written letter, there is no doubt someone you know— who loves or admires you and who has greatly benefited because of you—who is walking around with a letter like this to you, clearly written on their heart.
Life is not always easy. Sometimes it is totally wonderful and extraordinary, and at other times we are boldly and fiercely challenged. As business owners and professionals, we have good “seasons” and not so good “seasons”, great days and difficult days where discouragement wants to fall on us like a heavy woolen blanket if we were to let it. I know, because I have had many challenges myself, but so what! That is NOT what defines us.
YOU (and I) have the power to infuse life and exceptional energy into the lives of others! WOW! Every day that you are alive, every day that you have the occasion to be in the presence of another human being, you have the opportunity to shine your light and leave your mark. It’s a great business strategy, too, and the profit you reap from living this large will extend far beyond just dollars.
Here’s the letter (used with permission from Kathy):
Dear Margarett,
I just wanted to write this letter to thank you for all you have done for me these past couple of years. You have been an awesome sister and support for me. I know that tonight is my graduation but if it were not for you I believe I would not have come this far. You would never let me give up, and when I felt I could not go any further in my education you supported me and encouraged me like no one else. You believed in me the many times I did not believe in myself.
When I made a “C” in a class, instead of saying “Is that the best you could do”, you said, ”Woo-hoo, that is awesome”. You have been so proud of me and it has shown in everything you have done to help me. In times when I needed you the most, no matter how busy you were, you always made time to help. When I thought I could not teach myself how to study, you stepped in and taught me yourself, and it paid off so much. I just wanted you to know how much of an impact you had on me.
I can truly say that I would not be walking across this stage without your love, guidance, and support. So tonight, as I walk across this stage I want you to give yourself a pat on the back because I am here because of you. I love you.
Kathy
When I first read this letter, Kathy’s very kind words brought tears to my eyes. Of course I knew that she was the one who did all of the work and made all of the effort to earn that degree, but I so appreciated her letting me know that my light and mark mattered to her. For me, this letter came full circle because so many caring individuals showed up on my life’s path throughout the years, making incredible deposits into my life and towards my future success.
Today, I try to always make a meaningful connection with others, no matter where they are coming from or where they are going (within reason, of course). The connection may last for seconds, minutes, or hours. It doesn’t matter. I know that my little light—be it shining on a customer, colleague, or friend— could be the twinkle they need to keep on going, and my unique mark—be it written on a business associate, vendor, or family member— could be a part of the cumulative text that eventually leads to the story of their amazing success!
“Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.” ~Peter F. Drucker
We have all heard of the 80/20 rule (also known as the Pareto Principle) at one time or another, but we tend to ignore its real power in our work and personal lives.
The concept of the 80/20 rule was first written about by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, way back in 1895, hence the name Pareto Principle. This savvy economist noticed that in his society, there was a clear distinction of types of people in regard to money, prestige, power, and influence. He saw that there was a “top” 20% which he coined the “vital few”, and a “bottom” 80% which he termed the “trivial many”.
This economic finding caused Pareto to look further into his premise of an 80/20 rule, and he discovered that almost all activity was in line with this principle, too, which basically states that 20% of effort and activity will produce 80% of the results from that effort or activity. This is a phenomenal finding, and one that can help us to be more successful in our day and not waste time, money, or effort in our lives and in our businesses.
Based on the 80/20 rule, 80% of what you wear comes from only 20% of your wardrobe and 80% of what you eat when you go out for meals comes from a measly 20% of the restaurants you frequent! 80% of the free time you use visiting with the people you know well is spent with just 20% of those people.
Now let’s apply the principle to your business. You could bet that approximately 80% of all of your sales comes from just 20% of your customers, and about 80% of all of the profits in you business come from only about 20% of the products and services you offer. A whopping 80% of what your customers complain about likely comes from 20% of your offerings.
You can further assume that roughly 20% of the activities you spend your time on will result in 80% of the meaningful results you desire. So out of every ten things you set out to do, two of those activities will pack a powerful punch in terms of getting you moving ahead in a substantial way, and they will benefit you more than the other eight put together! Best of all, those two activities may take the same amount of time, or even less time, than any of the other eight taken individually.
Obviously then, you need to take a long hard look at your to do list each and every day, and try to decipher, from past experience, from the experiences of others, from past results, from your GUT, and from your good common sense, which one or two activities you should focus on or do first and foremost each day, and let the other tasks take a back seat (you can also delegate these). Spend your first efforts daily on the “vital few” activities, and AVOID doing the “trivial many” activities if your “vital few” are not yet done. Spending time on the “vital few” or the most results-oriented tasks is KEY to your definite success.
The vital activities that deserve your focus can be finding ways of improving products that are not working, or eliminating them altogether. Or your vital activities may be calling customers who you value most. Vital activities could be finding the team members who are producing, connecting, and innovating, and spending time with them, or finding ways to use their skills to help others in the organization or to help the organization itself. Your vital activities may involve organizing strategic creativity sessions with the intent of developing one new product. Your vital activities may be to finish developing a meaningful product or service that you halted because you got sidetracked.
As a business person, business manager, or manager of self, FOCUS on what matters most. Avoid the constant trivial interruptions that take your focus away, and especially avoid the overly-needy people who sap your energy and time. Learn to delegate tasks, and learn to assign sales associates or employees to a mentor who can help them, or simply remove the bottom 20% of tasks that are not necessary, and the bottom 20% people who are stagnant, lazy, disruptive, unwilling, or who will not think for themselves once they have been taught the ropes.
The Pareto Principle is a useful tool we can all use to manage our businesses and our lives. If you have a choice concerning which activities to invest your time in (and you do), which people to visit and associate with, which customers to follow up on and stay in contact with, which products and services to sell, and which projects to develop further, choose the 20% that will bring the most desirable, the most peaceful, and the moist profitable results.
Now do the math for your own personal life and business, and get ready to see AMAZING things begin to happen for you and those around you.
“Whatever you say, say it with conviction” ~Mark Twain
Whether you are a sales consultant, a speaker, a PR professional, a coach, or a designer, confidence and connection are a must for your business and sales success. With them you have nothing to tie you to your prospects and customers in an emotional way (that’s right, emotion is always a part of the process).
This 9 minute and 38 second audio (an except from my business training for Certified Interior Environment Coaches) will help new as well as seasoned sales consultants and a variety of other professionals from just about every filed of endeavor.
Listen when you have a chance, and if you don’t have 10 minutes, then play it on fast speed and listen that way (I do that all the time).
This audio is especially good for new sales consultants, so business owners, let your employees and sales staff take a listen, too.
“Who is wise? He that learns from everyone. Who is powerful? He that governs his passions. Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody.” ~Benjamin Franklin
“We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Everyone wants to get rich quick, and there are a mazillion experts ready to take your money and tell you how. But don’t blame them. There are mazillions more who want to know how to get as much money as they can, so they can finally be happy. With that frame of mind, unfortunately, few will ever experience true wealth.
That’s because being RICH has NOTHING to do with money! It has everything to do with the way you live your life and the happiness you feel every day. To get rich, you have to first stop thinking about money, and start thinking about what drives you with excitement and passion.
For example, I am RICH. I live my life with a mindset that is positive and that also draws me to opportunities where I can help others, enjoy my days, and make great money, too. I had to be RICH before I could ever be financially well-off.
My passion—what drives me every day of my life—is empowering others to find their unique gifts and use them to create amazing lives and businesses. I would do this for free. It is who I am.
For you it may be designing and creating off-the-hook interior spaces, or mentoring others to be their very best, or helping people to get well and strong and energized, or it may be informing and entertaining your tribe through exciting seminars and special events. Your passion may be connecting with clients in the selling situation because you know you are changing their lives in unprecedented ways through the exceptional products that you sell.
To GET RICH QUICK, quit thinking that RICH means money, and get a brand new mindset. You must be RICH well before you will ever see the first shiny dime of your small business fortune.
Getting rich quick starts with your decision to drop a very dangerously deceptive mentality—the one that says you can be successful without a lot of effort or without putting a reasonable amount of time into your business.
If you are involved in the fallacy that one day you will “make it big” and never have to work again, I can bet that you are not tapping into your passion—you are not doing what you truly love. The people who become highly successful are so motivated, so inspired to help others, and so driven to always have a RICH quality of life, that they never even desire a day when they can quit “doing” what they love.
Research proves over and over again that doing what you are passionate about, or at the very minimum what you are peaceful about and extremely motivated to do, is the key to financial rewards. This is because you end up in a zone of productivity, often called “flow”, that continues to drive you through all obstacles, and the energy you emit from doing what is meaningful to you actually draws others your way, and many of these “others” have money to spend.
Do you still want to get rich quick? Maybe so. I think you should. Here’s how–here’s the RICH mindset you need in order to be financially wealthy and incredibly happy, too:
R- Reclaim your personal passion and redirect all of your efforts towards it.
I-Invest in yourself and in your business: education, extreme self care, marketing activities that have proven results and move you forward, and leisure time spent doing the things that make you happy and bring you peace.
C-Createenvironments where you can thrive: Ditch negative energy, spend less time with saboteurs and gossipy people, make your home a place of refuge, expression, and fun, and your office a station of peak productivity, connection, and creativity.
H-Hire Help. Spend time doing what you are good at, and delegate the tasks that are not directly tied to building your profits or caring for self. If you don’t, you will burn out because you are not doing activities that are profitable or that you are passionate about. Let someone else do your monthly newsletters or your daily books. If you are a designer, put together a small team of design assistants for the less complicated work. Hire a housekeeper because the money you pay for that is LESS than the money you lose on the sales you are not bringing in while you’re vacuuming the carpet!
And there it is. Now, to get rich quick (which precedes gobs of money), simply get clear on what it is you really love to do, and do it FULL THROTTLE. My friend Gary Vaynerchuk says “CRUSH IT”! I say “smash the heck out of it, and do it with all of your might”. Either way, bring your passion to the table, take great care of your mind and body, engage yourself in pertinent, consistent activities to bring you towards your goals, surround yourself with good vibrations, delegate what slows you down, then buckle your seat belt to take the ride of your life to financial independence and true personal empowerment.
Following is a post reflecting an exact email I just sent to 1ShoppingCart, the service I use for many of my broadcasts and products.
I post it because I want you to be aware of what businesses try to “pull” on us, and that we have a choice and a voice, and a wallet that we can pull out or keep in our trousers.
I want YOU to be a savvy customer and business person, don’t settle for bad service and products, or bad policy, and don’t deliver them either. Hopefully we can all learn something from my mini fiasco this morning with 1ShoppingCart.
Their new policy has them charging people for phone support. The alternative? A 48 hour we’ll get back to you on that email “support” system (with a structure and technology that rarely work every time I personally have tried to use it, and rude or uninformed and misinformed reps to boot).
After I shared my frustration with the rep on the phone this morning– about not having phone support– he informed me in a rather cocky manner that nothing is going to change. That the “systems” were in place and they will be staying that way.
I let him know that WE are the customers, and if we vote with our wallets, they will HAVE to change or go out of business. This is NOT the day to ignore the voice of the customer. It is business suicide.
Here is the email I sent AFTER the phone call that went absolutely nowhere:
To begin with, your customer service reps are horribly rude. They DO NOT LISTEN.
Please do not think that you can ignore customers and be in business in 2 years.
I also think it is insane that I have to pay for phone support.
I think it is equally detrimental to your company that you have a 48 hour get back to the customer policy–IN THIS NEW MEDIA WORLD that is business suicide.
I try to use the online portal but it kicks me out, saying “Email already taken”, and “User name already taken”.
So I am forced to call (which should be free and not a money making portal for you).
I call, and then I am penalized for that by being told I will be charged for the phone call to tell you that the online portal does not work.
I am frustrated and getting very bad service. I tell the customer service person, “I know this is not your fault but please pass my concerns on”. Your customer service people tell me they have no direct line to pass my concerns to the people who can do something about it. Too bad for 1ShoppingCart.
Your customer service rep also rudely reminded me that “I have now told you three times what the email address is for submitting your complaint”. How very rude of him to treat me that way. By the way, two of the times he told me was while I was talking and while he was clearly not listening.
MY ISSUE, besides the issue of having enormous trouble telling you my issue:
When I send out a broadcast to multiple lists, the people who are on multiple lists get many of the same email. I have requested help with this 2 times in the past and both times I was given the wrong advice.
PLEASE tell me the way to avoid sending duplicate emails to the same email addresses for people who are on different lists.
Thank You.
Margo –
Margo DeGange, M.Ed.
Business Empowerment and Personal Performance Coach
Embrace Your Opportunities, Take Action, and Live Your Dream! www.MargoDeGange.com
UPDATE
It is now April 15th, and 1 Shopping Cart has still not bothered to get back with me by email concerning the ticket I opened with them on 4-12-2010. This proves to me–or at the very least leads me to believe– that their “Email Support”, which has taken the place of their phone support (which you now have to pay a premium for—are they kidding?) is just a way for them to not have to deal with me, their customer.
They say their “Email Support” will get back to you within 48 hours (are they kidding? In this day of speed?) of you opening a trouble ticket. It has now been 3 days! UN-BELIEVE-ABLE!
Here was MY follow-up email to THEM (should be the other way around, I know) today:
I opened a ticket on 4-12 and have NOT HEARD BACK!
(This email is to remind you of an issue I have—besides the issue of having enormous trouble telling you my issue, putting up with rude customer service, paying for phone support when your email support does not work, and being charged for phone support even if email support did work):
This is the second email on this issue. The first was sent to you on 4-12-2010 and I have not heard back at all.
MY ISSUE:
When I send out a broadcast to multiple lists, the people who are on multiple lists get many of the same email. I have requested help with this 2 times in the past and both times I was given the wrong advice.
PLEASE tell me the way to avoid sending duplicate emails to the same email addresses for people who are on different lists. AND PLEASE ACTUALLY GET BACK WITH ME.
Thank You.
Margo
One More Thing
I now have ANOTHER issue that I have to talk to them about. Shipping charges are not showing up on the checkout page. I have done everything right, but no shipping charges show up. HMMMMMMMM, should I open another trouble ticket with 1 shopping cart? WHY BOTHER. They do not get back to me anyway, and if I call them they will charge me (maybe that is their plan, who knows). I guess I will have to call them, and then fight with them about the fact that they should not charge me for the call since their “EMAIL SUPPORT” is just not “SOPPORTIVE”.
Can anyone recommend a great shopping cart service with auto-responders and real people, who are nice, and who want my business, and who see that actually talking to me could be beneficial to both of us (I might upgrade or buy more of their products if they are nice enough and actually talk to me)?
Shame on you 1 Shopping cart for treating your customer this way. In today’s climate, this is simply business suicide.
ANOTHER SHOPPING CART UPDATE
It is April 19th now. One week since I opened my trouble ticket with the shopping cart service (they still have not called me to get more information that will actually help them in the future).
This morning, in my inbox I received a survey from my shopping cart company. That is almost hilarious to me, but oh well. I took the time to answer the 5 questions. Each had three choices for answers:
Above Expectations
Met Expectations
Below Expectations
(No, there was none for “totally sucked”)
There was no comment area after each of the 5 questions. There was one comment section at the very end (cumulative, too bad for them if they really wanted to get accurate data).
YES, I just HAD TO put something special in that comment box. Here is what I wrote:
If you had a button for FAR BELOW EXPECTATIONS I would have selected it.
I tried to do the email support (like I am told to do since now you CHARGE for phone support–which is business suicide for you), but the system was messed up and every time I tried to put my user name and email in, a message would come back with “that email address taken” or “that username taken” so I HAD to call. The Customer service rep was rude. I also asked him to pass my concerns on to someone who could do something with the info, and he said there is no process for him to do that–which is either a blatant lie or totally ludicrous.
I also waited THREE DAYS for an answer by email–THREE DAYS! That is insane in today’s market.
I am telling you this as a business owner and someone who blogs about business practices: People will not put up with this for long, and you WILL lose market share (remember, K-Mart and Sears thought they had it made).
Also, I think I may have been charged for the phone call I made to you (because the email system was NOT working), in which case, shame on you. I will have to check my statement.
I think you have a good product, but unfortunately you are looking at customer service as a liability, and so you try to avoid dealing with people by hiding behind email and not getting back to people right away, and by not allowing people’s voices and concerns to be heard and respected.
Customer service is an ASSET. It is a potential revenue stream for you. It is an opportunity for you to become a hero by solving problems and showing how much you care.
Since it really seems that you don’t care about me, I am considering breaking up. I am now asking around my networks to see if there is another shopping cart I can switch to that has the features I need (as yours does) but with great service (as yours does not).
Sincerely,
Margo
979-777-2229
An aside…
OH, and by the way, this SHOPPING CART company–who sells an online software system– had to use Survey Monkey for their survey. Now, I love Survey Monkey a lot (as a small business, you should use them if you don’t sell communication software), but if I were one of the big wigs at a cosmetics company, like Avon, I would not send corporate gifts from Cover Girl, and if I was the CEO of IBM, I would not use a Yahoo email address.
For Gosh sakes Shopping Cart Peeps, give us some confidence in what you can do. SURELY if you are selling a software system with broadcast and auto-responder abilities, you could send a survey created from your own software and system. I’m just sayin’
OK, I am NOT KIDDING about this:
I just got another survey (the same one) from the shopping cart peeps. It arrived via email just a few hours after I completed a duplicate survey they sent this morning (see post above). In other words, I already did the survey! This is starting to be sort of fun, like a comical game. This was my reply to them:
Are you guys serious?
I already did the survey. Maybe you should read it instead of sending me another survey!
“Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character” ~ T. Alan Armstrong
A few mornings ago, after my fitness boot camp workout, one of the coaches said to me as I was leaving “eat like a champion today”. As I got in my car and drove away, I thought more and more about those words and how very empowering they were (and still are). I immediately peeled the banana that was in my car! Of course, you know all too well that I just had to apply this to business (it is who I am)!
I started thinking that we should all live like champions, and that the concept shouldn’t intimidate us, either. If you said to some people, “live like a champion today”, they might become pressured by it and take it to mean that living like a champion requires over-the-top, relentless “A” game strategies every moment of every day. Actually, it is much more liberating than that to live like a champion. Bottom line, it means to be exceptionally good to yourself, which is something we all can OWN.
I am ON IT! I will live like a champion everyday. I will be my best without distress! That means that during my morning workouts with Coach Cliff, I will go at MY OWN PACE and push myself to MY best. It means if my marriage seems a little crusty, I will tell my honey how thankful I am that he is in my life. For my business, it means that if sales are slow, I will call a few people who I know need my help, because I have time. It means that I will make the best use of my resources each day, focusing on those activities that are in line with my goals and that will propel me forward, and I will delegate or ditch the rest.
Living like a champion means I deserve to have a prosperous business that makes money and does not needlessly leak funds. Knowing that so many real, average, normal people have built incredibly successful and extremely prosperous businesses testifies that I can too. SO every day I work at being a champion. I keep a good attitude and stay in the moment. I try new things and measure what is working, I repeat those activities that bring results, and I drop the rest. I hone in on my ideal customers more and more each year, and focus my marketing efforts on them alone. I open myself to new ideas and new ways of applying old ideas, and I listen to others, apply the feedback, and I learn. I am a champion, so I NEVER stop learning.
I continually indulge myself in sessions, seminars, and conferences that energize me and keep me up on the latest technologies that apply to my field. I stay sharp to always be there for myself as well as for others. I eat right, I make my body move because I am its boss, and I guard my sleep (a new activity for me) so I am well-rested when I do my work and enjoy my play.
I am a champion, and that means I am amazing, and I deserve love and goodness from myself. If others give it to me fine, but I am not waiting for that. I am the one who gives that to me, and I can therefore give to others. My friends and family “get” me, my colleagues appreciate and value me, my clients love me, and I respect me.
YOU are a champion. It does not matter if you feel like one or not. You are because you want to be. You are synergetic. Each step you take in your life—in your business— to build something big and meaningful may seem enormously small, but when you add all of those important little steps up over time, you gain phenomenal results because the sum of your steps is far greater than each part.
You will not notice much happening as you go along, but a champion lives in the moment. You tick and you tock and you keep a constant, consistent cadence with channeled activity you know is moving you forward, inches at a time, until one day, you see it. You have gained something incredible, and it is finally here, and so you keep going. You are building, forming, creating, envisioning, and the synergy gets richer, thicker, grander, until the little steps accumulated become giant steps seamlessly tied together with a business stride that causes you to fly— and to go on to win the race— YOUR race.
That’s how it works! You are a champion. Today, you made it to your desk. You fueled your body wisely. You thought about your goals, and you focused on one. You moved your joints, your mind, and your business and marketing plan. Way to go! Now just keep up with the movement and stay on course. Be steady and consistent, and be gentle on yourself, too. If your engine stalls, restart it. If you veer off course, ease back on. Tell yourself how exceptional you are. Tell yourself “this is easy”. Tell yourself you deserve all of the financial freedom that is in your life and all that is coming your way. Embrace every small task you have the privilege to work on, and silently celebrate every actualized goal, no matter the size.
You ARE a champion! You may as well live like one!
Monday Message from Margo 3-15-2010 “Comfort zones are most often expanded through discomfort.” ~Peter McWilliams
I would bet my 13 pound kitty (whom I love very much) that the first time you ever kissed someone, the first time you ever flew on an airplane, and the first time you ever got up in front of an audience, you were in a place of definite discomfort (I know I’ll get to keep my kitty with this one).
During your most nerve-wracking life moments, while behaving like an enterprising human being who dared to try something different, you allowed yourself to be in an unfamiliar and even scary position, in order to attain to something you thought of as positively wonderful, or to gain what you did not yet have, be it a special friend, an exhilarating life experience, or an exciting new client.
If you have developed and grown much as an individual and as a professional, you have embraced some meaningful measure of discomfort, and the degree to which you have allowed it, has determined where you are today.
On the flip side, have you ever met someone—and I’m talking grown-ups here—who thought that going to the UPS office to mail a box was a major event, or who stressed to the point of hives about having three people over for pie, or who went nuts and practically needed counseling because they had to call someone up whom they did not know? Successful T.V. shows like Seinfeld were built on psyches like this, and we find this kind of entertainment hilarious because we can all relate. We all know—YOU know—someone like this, someone who has not allowed discomfort to be a catalyst for growth. Perhaps it is a relative or long-time friend. Have you noticed that people like this, no matter how kind, loving, and sweet, never really get very far in life in terms of accomplishment and material reward?
Obviously, there is absolutely nothing wrong with not seeking prominence, position, professional accomplishment, material wealth, success, or financial freedom. Lots of wonderful people don’t, and have no desire to ever begin, and that’s fine. However, this is about YOU, not them. If YOU want to build these things—to whatever degree— you MUST get COMFORTABLE with the concept of DISCOMFORT. You must embrace it as a friend, as a fundamental, vital, and healthy part of living, and especially of growing! In order to get from one place to another, from one level of professionalism to another, from one life position to another, you MUST be willing to be uncomfortable, at least for a time.
Discomfort is without a doubt a wonderful thing. Being uncomfortable is the tension you feel just before the thrill of a new life ride or just before a fresh and un-chartered experience. Discomfort can be rather magical, IF you let it work for you. GET COMFORTABLE WITH DISCOMFORT, and be matter-of-fact about the fact that you will be uneasy, uncomfortable, and unfamiliar on many occasions as you develop yourself personally and professionally, and that’s O.K. In fact, it’s exciting!
What do you want?
You want something, or you would not be reading this. You want to expand yourself into the arena of fabulous possibilities and realities. Is what you want a bit of a reach, or is it way out there?
Reel it in a little at a time. Going for what you want does not mean you have to live constantly in discomfort, it just means you have to visit that palace now and again. Visit, stay for a while, gain some benefit, then sit back in a place of comfort once again. Then, go back and re-visit the place of stretching yourself—the place of discomfort. Repeat as necessary, and so it goes. Soon, being uncomfortable will actually be comfortable to you. You will relax into it, knowing that the unknown almost always unfolds itself in something wonderful, something that makes you feel that you are glad you ventured out.
Those who step outside of their recognizable zone of comfort, and stretch themselves to higher elevations, will likely enjoy a richer life, more embellishments, a deeper connection to others, and even better coffee than the average Joe.
In this day of constant innovation, quick change, brilliant ideas, new marketing, and new media, we have ample opportunity to be in discomfort every time a groundbreaking social media outlet comes onto the scene, every time an amazingly helpful technology breaks through the e-curtain, and every time a colleague asks us to be involved in a project we don’t yet understand. WHAT WILL YOU DO? Will you embrace them, engage, learn, and come to higher ground, knowing discomfort is just a small part of personal growth and business improvement? I’ll bet my kitty’s collar you will.
Go ahead and open yourself to discomfort. Make your life a NO WHINING ZONE, and allow the things that take effort and a sprinkle or two of uncertainty and nervousness to be a regular part of your professional protocol. Occasional discomfort is a very small price to pay to live an amazing life—to find your dreams right here in this comfortable place of reality.
“What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
You hear it all the time, “Life is short, so you should live it fully”. For some people that means keeping the keg going, or grabbing as much money and fame as they can squeeze into every one of life’s transactions. Regardless of whether or not life is really “short”, the fact that we are here, that we are alive, and that we are cognitively aware, is a huge signal that at the very least, we should be living lives of purpose and meaning, not just running after the green stuff, the skirts, youth, and all of the other misleading bells, whistles, and detours this earthly existence can offer.
Since you have the opportunity—and somewhere deep down, the desire—why not spend your life doing the things you are really passionate about, the things you dreamed about doing, and doing them in the way you dreamed about being? It’s a good idea, but first you have to get still for a bit, and allow your personal desires to resurface. You may even have to conjure up a few from scratch, and that’s o.k. No matter what you are doing now, you can and should re-ignite with the passionate desires that once motivated you to see life as an exciting and rich experience. No matter where you are currently, you CAN live your life based on your deepest desires, and you CAN find, develop, and then live, your dreams.
That’s what I want to talk to you about—your dreams. There are two kinds of dreams: those you encounter while you are fast asleep, and those you bring into play while you are wide awake. For the rest of this message, I’d like to visit with you about the second kind, those you activate when you are awake—the ones you have total control over authoring and bringing to some type of fruition.
Dreams can be fantastic, fabulous, or even a little freaky! Dreams are more thanhopes, because you play a crucial role in fulfilling them. They are not left to chance. Dreams have the element of creation and animation built right into them. Dreaming is something you do, something you engage in, and something you are involved with. When you dream, you are first daring to believe that you can have more, then you are suggesting to yourself ways to create that. On top of that, the very act of dreaming fuels you to take the actions necessary to actualize what you know you want.
Dreaming is exciting because it stirs up your passions, and convinces you that what you desire is worth going after.
Dreams are dynamic, not static. They are moving, developing, unwinding, unfolding, and even changing as you go towards them with the determination to see them take shape. Dreams become realities through a structured process of applying yourself and your resources towards them in a “take action” manner.
That’s what it is all about, taking action. Here is a DREAM RECIPE that you can follow to create a delicious dish of your very own dreams, those that will feed you with more excitement, more meaning, and more personal passion going forward. Living your dreams actually forces all of the energy fields surrounding them to make more room for more dreams. It is a contagious and exhilarating process. It touches the lives of others, too. To live your deepest desires—your dreams—is to live divine.
As you create, plan, and actualize your dreams, remember this:
It is not so much the exact and perfectly literal expression of a dream that is important— although with proper planning you will see many of your dreams almost perfectly come to pass. It is the act of being present with your dreams that is the powerful part, because going towards your dreams leads you to your true destiny. Your true destiny is where the magic begins.
DREAM RECIPE
1. Pretend for a moment that you have no constraints, that YOU (not a false you) can have anything that you want, and that you can be anyone that you desire.
2. Think about what you would do in life (with your minutes, days, weeks, months, and years) if no matter what you did, you received the exact same financial reward and the exact same praise from others for doing it (so the motive is not money, recognition, or fame).
3. Get clear about your personal dreams. Jot down eight dreams you would like to see come to pass in your life over the next one to five years (or even a few years longer if need be). Include ONLY things you are passionate about—that excite you, thrill you, or invigorate you in some meaningful way (leave the other, less exciting ideas for another day).
4. Prioritize your dreams. Go back and circle from the above list, the four dreams that are the absolute most important to you AT THIS TIME IN YOUR LIFE (they may all be equally important, but which one are MOST important now. For example, you could want to have a child and also want to get a masters degree so you can teach, but the degree may be most important AT THIS TIME IN YOUR LIFE, leaving the plans for building a family for a later time).
5. Plan for fueling your way to your dreams. Dreams take resources, which may include money, time, collaboration with specific people, trading favors, or a combination. Get out four pieces of paper, and on each piece write out one of the four dreams you circled above. Then in the space below each dream, give a rough estimate of how much time you need to accomplish the dream, what some of the needed resources will be, and what some of the potential challenges you might face will be. Also include—and this is very important—what personal value each dream will help you to live out. Do this for all four. Next, get a little more specific about the action steps you will have to take to realize each dream. The more specific you are, the more likely your dreams will actually take form in “real life”.
6. Pick one of the four dreams to focus on NOW. You probably won’t be able to focus well on more than one dream at a time, so pick one of the four—the one that seems the most feasible at this time based on the resources needed, the obstacles you may face, and the value the dream will help you to live out. You can still make steps towards the other dreams as you focus mainly on one (for example, if one of the dreams is to write a book and another is to go back to college, you can begin writing the rough outline for your book during the same time you save money for your coming education).
7. Take at least one action step toward your focus dream within the next 36 hours. Anyone can write down a dream, but only those who take action bit-by-bit to accomplish them will get to live them out, and share the fruits of those dreams with others (the best part). Let’s say that your dream is to own a retail shop in Aspen, Colorado and you currently live in another state. An easy and first step could be to get online and start checking rental property rates and real estate prices for commercial properties in Aspen or you could find out what types of licenses or permits are need to do business in the state of Colorado.
8. Each week, purpose to take another step toward actualizing your current focus dream. Make the commitment to yourself to make realizing your dreams, one at a time, a lifestyle. Always be working on a dream you are passionate about and one you know is good and healthy for you and others. In the same way you decide to be a healthy eater by making many smart choices each day, allow every day to move you closer to living out your destiny. Make experiencing your dreams a lifestyle.
Dreams are not hard to attain, but doing so does take consistent effort over acertain period of time. Most people do not believe they are worth the investment and the steady, regular, continual effort. Believe me, you absolutely, positively ARE!
September 11, 2010 1885 D.H Lawrence 1862 O. Henry 1885 D.H. Lawrence 1938 Sir Edward George 1940 Bernie Dwyer 1947 Julie Covington 1949 Roger Uttley 1950 Barry Sheene 1967 Harry Connick Jnr
In 2002, the National Research Council, a US Congressionally chartered group, said that there are about 400,000 online subscription sites with adult entertainment content worldwide, or about 1.5% of all Internet content.
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