There’s a couple of free resources on my Facebook page so please go and help yourself. Look for the posts on Jan 16 and Jan 18 2012.
Here’s the link: cool free stuff on 80-20 Center’s Facebook page
Zero cost resources
January 23rd, 2012How to get the time …
November 16th, 2011Simple post today folks … here’s a cool little article about how to free up time for the real money making stuff. Enjoy: How To Get Off The “Time=Money” Treadmill
The golden thread …
November 1st, 2011Just off the phone from Keith … a smart and nice-personality lawyer (those two characteristics do not always co-exist within the one lawyer body).
We recently re-activated some of his clients through a simple direct mail campaign.
Keith asked if he should include a PS requesting referrals in the post-service thank you letter. After some chatting I said yes.
Here’s why:
The chances of a client responding to that form of referral request is not great. Perhaps one a month or one every three months.
However it’s impossible to tell how much business might come from the one response.
Case in point: last year my good friend and Time Queen Robyn Pearce referred me to a potential Joint Venture partner. The potential JV partner politely said “no, I don’t do that sort of thing” but referred me to a second potential JV partner who said “you bet, let’s do it!).
I ran an event for her (we’ll call her “Sue”) and got no new clients. “Ah well. Ding! Next please …” I thought.
Then Sue was called by an international conference organizer who was looking for a speaker and she put my name forward.
Short version: I gained extra market place credibility by speaking on the same platform as some truly great international experts and gained 10 new clients.
I then ran another event for Sue and gained another 5 new clients.
Two of those clients have without prompting introduced me to other JV partners one of which has already agreed to proceed.
“What’s the point?” you ask.
It’s this: 15 new clients and ongoing sales and referrals from the same, 2 successful J.V. relationships which I can go back to every year to attract more clients and referrals, plus 1 more J.V. ready to go and 1 more in the waiting … all from 1 referral who said “no”.
Morale of the story: NOTHING beats marketing activity. Even if you stink at it, NOTHING beats you being active in the market place.
You’ve got to be in to win.
I’m going out on a limb here but …
October 5th, 2011… when it comes to choosing a supplier or adviser there is no place for your feelings .
There, I’ve said it.
Now the explain: this morning a client of mine who is offering very good marketing training had a rejection from a graphic designer.
Said graphic designer really needs new clients. My client can show her how to get them. Guaranteed.
So why didn’t the graphic designer go ahead with paying over the $300 to get proven, double guaranteed, effective strategies for getting new clients? The potential return on investment here is mind-numbingly spectacular.
Well the reason she gave is that she didn’t “click” with the presentation. “Good content”, she said. But it just didn’t “feel” right.
All too often people are their own worst self-defeating enemies.
I mean, how hard is she making it for herself? She desperately wants new clients, the price of proven advice is low AND it comes with a money back guarantee.
Helloooooo???
And she’s very likely someone who keeps asking “the universe” for help. Good luck with that as a marketing strategy.
People confuse feelings with intuition. The former is an emotion whereas the latter is devoid of emotion; it’s a “knowing”.
So please, don’t let what is simply a programmed chemical release in your brain sabotage your success.
I prefer to learn from people I like but I also have no problem in learning from someone who is grumpy, ugly, obnoxious, impatient, temperamental, bald, fat, thin, pimple-faced, slow, fast or standing upside down in a clown’s suit picking their nose.
SO LONG AS THEIR ADVICE WORKS.
End of story.
Magical…
September 16th, 2011… well almost.
That’s how I describe effective marketing.
It’s not so easy to get right but my oh my, when you hit that sweet spot and the orders come in (22 in the last 24 hours) it feels soooooooooooooo good!
(Shameless self promoting plug: I’ve got a brand new Super Quick Start Marketing Program commencing later this month. You can check it out by clicking here: Quick Start Marketing Program – use the Coupon Code “NEWCLIENTS” to reduce the price to a super low AU$15.)
The feeling (of seeing the orders/cash flowing in) must be similar to hitting that little tiny eensy weensy golf ball and seeing it soar straight down the middle of the fairway.
Apologies to golfers, whom in my experience appear to be irrationally fanatical, but I hate golf so I’ll never know what the aforementioned experience feels like.
There’s a couple of reasons I hate it.
The first one is that I’m impatient and I have to wait too long in between whacking the ball. With badminton, squash and tennis … all of which I love … I get to belt the hell out of the shuttle/ball every second or two.
The second is that yes, it must be a good feeling when the golf ball sails down that fairway but my observation is that amateurs have 100 attempts that result in frustration and despair for every one that creates a feeling of pleasure.
These are not the sort of “attempt : pleasure” ratios that I want to partake of.
I’d rather stick to better ratios like the 1:1 ratio that food, beer/wine and … dare I say it … sex provides (okay … maybe closer to 9:10 but still a whole lot better than golf.)
Anyhow, back to the subject at hand (so to speak).
Get your marketing right and almost EVERYTHING else gets easier because the flow of money is easier. Like golf, it takes practice to get it right but also like golf, if you practice with the wrong technique you’ll never get better results.
And so if you want to get the right marketing techniques to practice then you’ll want to check out my new Quick Start Marketing Program that I mentioned above (if you sign up use the Coupon Code “NEWCLIENTS” to reduce the price to a super low AU$15.
And no, do not invite me to your golf club in the hope that I might suddenly see the light. You’d have more chance of converting the Pope to Islam.
Another reason …
September 13th, 2011Report received today from the UK which states that at least one economic research agency expects disposable income to decline over the next ten years.
Maybe, maybe not.
The old joke about the definition of an economist still stands: “An economist is someone who has successfully predicted 7 out of the last 2 recessions.”
Either way, there is no use worrying about it. What will be, will be.
There still remains one tried and tested way that you can help both the economy and yourself simultaneously: get better at your marketing and get people spending money with you.
The economy and you are like a wave and a surfer. You can’t control it, you can only get better at riding it.
The recovery will be led by people like you and me who get good at getting people to spend.
How to be a genius
August 29th, 2011I’ve no idea who came up with the 10,000 hour theory but it’s probably not far off the mark.
The idea is that is you practice/study/work at something for 10,000 hours (that’s 1,250 eight hour days or 250 normal working weeks or 5 working years just doing that one thing) then you’ll be reeeeaaaally good at it.
Hitting golf balls, playing the cello, designing stuff, counseling … pretty much anything probably (although I doubt that 10,000 hours of drinking beer and watching rugby would count – bit of a shame but there you go).
But the thing is this: if those 10,000 hour are simply 1 hour repeated 10,000 times then you may not be rubbing shoulders with Einstein, metaphorically speaking.
Focus is clearly one part of the genius equation but so is thinking about what you are doing, observing what is working and changing your behavior if you want a better result.
Genius comes from a lot of practice and a lot of thinking. 10,000 hours of each should do the job.
That may sound like a long journey but it’s really only 10 years away and it’ll be here soon enough and if you stay focused then it’s very likely that the attraction of new clients will become a whole lot easier. Geniuses have a way of attracting followers.
In regard to genius status, the worst mistake is trying to be all things to everyone. #2 mistake is probably something like spending most of your time reacting versus being proactive … the pinball in a pinball machine versus the flipper.
It really truly does come down to …
July 27th, 2011Attitude.
Not who you are, where you are, what you do, which school you went to, who your parents are, who you know or how much money you have … it’s your thoughts that will immediately create your experience of reality and ultimately they will also reshape reality itself.
I still find it fascinating how many of the most successful business owners that I’ve interviewed persist with problems and challenges like my dog does with a bone. Unlike the “I want it quick and easy” brigade, they daily pay the price that success demands (moderately intelligent and persistent effort) and they never ever make excuses.
They won’t let a dream go. They really wouldn’t know how. And they don’t give up on a goal. They always … always … always … find a way.
Even when it means packing up and starting again … they ultimately find a way to get to where they want to go.
And in their hearts and minds they “know” they will ultimately succeed. They have no doubts about their final destination. The only flexible factors are how long it will take and what they will have to do to get there.
They are much less like the “go-with-the-flow” jellyfish people who believe that “the universe” is going to do it all for them, and much more like a relentless waterfall that reshapes the landscape below.
I’ve observed so many of these people who don’t have the money for what they want/need to do and then find it or figure out a way to get what they want without the money or with someone else’s money.
I’ve seen them not have enough time and then find the time.
I’ve been with some of them when they’ve been hit with a major setback and I’ve also been there when they’ve bounced back and overcome the obstacle.
BTW: they are not super human. They suffer from self-doubt the same as everyone does.
And they have others doubts as well – about their plans, about other people – but interestingly they only have one major fear.
And it drives them beyond the ordinary and into the league of business greatness … their only major fear is NOT that they will fail (they are prepared to do that repeatedly if necessary) but rather that one day they will give up.
Which is why it will never happen.
The real secret to making progress
July 20th, 2011I probably have a warped sense of humor.
Which would explain why I still find myself, after some 31 years of working with clients, having a little chuckle when one of them starts beating herself/himself up over a lack of perfection.
What happens is this: we begin working together and they undergo training and coaching and eventually we craft a strategic marketing plan and they begin to implement.
And then something happens … they run over their cat or a client resigns or their wife/mother/husband/father/child/dog get sick or a supplier lets them down or, or, or … in other words: life happens.
And our lovely plan goes out the window while they (quite rightly) attend to more urgent matters.
Or sometimes they simply get busy and bury themselves in minutia.
Either way the result is that we meet for our review and they apologise for the lack of follow through.
So I say something like this: “Hey … welcome to the human condition … which is one of imperfection and inconsistency. And please, relax into the knowledge that these characteristics are a part of your DNA and whilst you can get better at staying focused and following through more consistently … you ain’t EVER going to be perfect. Just get back on the horse and re-commit”.
This attitude is not a cop-out. It’s a balanced recognition of reality.
So the next time you notice that you just got seduced by emails or way-laid by a problem – just smile to yourself and say “of course!”
And then do the only thing that is left to do … which is NOT to beat yourself up … but rather to re-commit to your marketing plan (you do have a marketing plan, don’t you? If not then you better click here) .
Conclusion: outside of MBA theory and “look-at-me-I-am-a-hero” type business speeches, real progress is made by real humans who inconsistently and imperfectly persist.
And that my friends is the real secret to making progress: imperfect persistence