"Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud, and one
sees the stars."
-- Frederick Langbridge, A Cluster of Quiet Thoughts
If you've made a bad decision at work that wound up in a loss, will
you jump for joy and push for better results the next time or will
you be discouraged and find an excuse not to stick your neck out
and attempt big things again?
In life, you are always filled with choices. You may opt to have a
pessimist's view and live a self-defeated life or you may decide to
take the optimist's route and live a challenging and fulfilling
life.
In an increasingly cynical society, optimism has, in many circles,
become synonymous with naivety and foolishness. In fact, when I was
growing up, someone thought to be too happy and too optimistic
would be called a "Pollyanna."
Well, I think Pollyanna got a raw deal. What was her big crime? She
always looked for things she could be glad about in the midst of
seemigly bad situations. And, in the end, when she was confronted
with possibly being paralyzed for life, it was the entire town
(that her "glad game" had positively affected) that wound up
bringing that message of hope back to her so she could have the
courage to move on. Am I missing something? Is this a bad thing?
One of my favorite theater productions is Les Miserables. So, I was
amazed when one of my business associates told me they saw it
and felt it was terribly depressing. While he was looking at the
horrible plight of those in the show, I was focused on the
indomitable spirit that allowed some to experience bits of joy in
their plight and empowered others to rise above their plight in the
end. (Note: this is not a social commentary on the French
Revolution as I believe lobbing off heads of aristocracy to be
pretty nasty business and a bad reaction to an equally horrible
system of injustice.)
So, what difference does it make? Don't we need to look at
things "realistically?" Why bother to be optimistic?
Well, optimism has been linked to positive mood and good morale; to
academic, athletic, military, occupational and political success;
to popularity; to good health and even to long life and freedom
from trauma.
On the other hand, pessimism has been linked to growing rates of
depression. It affects middle-aged adults the same way it hits
younger people. The mean age of onset has gone from 30 to 15 ... no
longer a middle-aged homemaker's disorder but a teenager's
disorder, as well.
OPTIMISTS EXPECT THE BEST
The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to
believe bad events will last longer than they usually do,
undermine everything they do and are their own fault.
The truth is optimists are confronted with the same hard knocks of
this world. What differs is the way they explain their
misfortune... Exactly theopposite way. They tend to believe defeat
is just a temporary setback, that its causes are confined to this
one case. And, if it truly was their fault, they're happy to know
so that they can make sure it won't happen again in the future.
Optimists tend to focus on the lessons within the 'problem' at
hand. They use 'positive re-framing.' In other words, they most
likely reinterpret a negative experience in a way that helps them
learn and grow. Such people are unfazed by bad situation, they
perceive it is a challenge and try harder.
They won't say "things will never get better," "If I failed
once, it will happen again" and "If I experience misfortune in
one part of my life, then it will happen in my whole life."
Because optimists look for opportunities in times of crisis, they
are able to capitalize on them. In doing so, they will either
lessen the negative impact of their crisis situation, or, they'll
somehow find the opportunity within it to grow and improve and
build something spectacular out of the same crisis that cripples
another. Whether it is a John Walsh of America's Most Wanted, or
direct marketing millionaire, Jeff Paul, living in the basement of
a family member's house because his business went bust, history is
filled with those who took tragedy and turned it into triumph.
PEOPLE RESPOND POSITIVELY TO OPTIMISTS
Optimists are proactive and less dependent on others for their
happiness. They find no need to control or manipulate people. They
usually draw people towards them. Their optimistic view of the
world can be contagious and influence those they are with.
In life, these people often win elections; get voted most congenial
and sought for advice.
WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, OPTIMISTS GET TOUGHER
Optimists typically maintain higher levels of subjective
well-being during times of stress than do people who are less
optimistic. In contrast, pessimists are likely to react to
stressful events by denying that they exist or by avoiding
dealing with problems. Pessimists are more likely to quit
trying when difficulties arise.
Optimists persevere. They don't just not give up easily - they are
also known for their patience; inching their way a step closer
to that goal or elusive dream.
OPTIMISTS ARE HEALTHIER AND LIVE LONGER
Medical research has justified that simple pleasures and a
positive outlook can cause a measurable increase in the body's
ability to fight disease.
Optimists' health is unusually good. They age well, much freer
than most people from the usual physical ills of middle age.
And they get to outlive those prone to negative thoughts.
We are all raised with different patterns of behavior. Optimism may
not be your natural state. It isn't mine. That is why I keep
filling my mind with great teaching and lessons from positive and
proactive thinkers. I fill the wall of my office with verses,
quotes and thoughts to remind myself of who I am and how I want to
be. One of these quotes is from George Bernard Shaw. It says:
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the
unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to
himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable
man."
So why not be an unreasonable optimist today? And bring
progress to your own life and the lives of those around you.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
A guest article by my friend and business partner ...
"But I Could Never Sell! ..." By Bob Burg
Several weeks ago, as I took my seat in the crowded airplane, the woman in the next seat over smiled. "Headed home?" she asked.I nodded. "Jupiter, Florida."
"My, you're a long way from home!" she exclaimed. We were on the tarmac in Regina, Saskatchewan. "What brought you to Regina?"
I told her I had been conducting a seminar for a direct selling organization. She wrinkled her nose. "Oh," she pronounced, "I could never sell."
This wasn't the first time I'd heard this. In fact, most people not actually in sales seem to feel this way. I asked her, if she didn't mind, how would she define "selling"? I was curious as to what it was she felt she could never do.
She frowned in thought. "I don't know," she said after a moment. "I guess, maybe, 'pushing things on other people.' "
"Ah. Well in that case, I wouldn't be very good at it either," I replied. "I don't really like it when people do that to me. Do you?"
"Not at all," she answered promptly.
"Do you buy from those people?"
"No way!" she said.
"Me neither." We both smiled. After a moment, I went on. "But what if," I paused and thought for a moment, "what if we defined selling as 'Helping someone get something they want or need?' What if we defined it as adding value to someone's life? Did you know that the original Old English word sellan meant to give?"
She shook her head.
"I didn't either, but I looked it up. Amazing, isn't it?"
She nodded.
"What if we saw selling that way, as giving - as sharing the benefits of a product that we ourselves love, and helping others get those same benefits? If we saw it that way, do you think you'd feel it was something you might be able to do?"
"If I really believed in it myself?" she said. "Well ... definitely!"
"So, maybe it isn't that you could never sell," I suggested, "just that you'd really need to feel you were helping someone, adding value to their life, giving value and sharing the benefits of something that you yourself truly believed in."
"Yes" she replied excitedly. "That, I could definitely do."
"Me too!" I replied. "I think just about everyone could. And that's exactly what I was just teaching at the sales conference. That's the essence of selling."
At the end of the flight I introduced her to one of the women from the direct selling conference where I'd spoken who happened to be on the flight. As I rushed to my next gate, I left the two of them in animated conversation about the possibilities in store for this young woman in the exciting field of direct selling.
The day after arriving home, I had another exchange about selling. At a local lunch place I often frequent, I passed by Bill, an architect and genuinely nice guy whom I see there often, and with whom I typically share cordial "How are you?" type greetings. Bill commented that he hadn't seen me for a week. "On another speaking trip?" he surmised. Yes, I told him, I had been. "You look happy - bet you sold a lot while you were gone!" he said with a twinkle in his eye. I laughed and said, "Of course, of course." He shook his head and said benignly, "Sales ... the necessary evil of business, right?"
I could have launched into the same sort of explanation I'd shared with the woman on the plane, but Bill and I were just passing each other in a restaurant line. It was neither the time nor place to launch into an explanation of the benevolent nobility of the selling profession. Another time ...
Still, it's a shame. The necessary evil of business ... There are people who see it this way. Personally, I think of selling as the most positive aspect of business.
We all have products and services that enrich our lives, that we need, want and even love. The fact is, we love to buy and we love to own - and it often takes a sales person to educate us and help us connect our needs and desires with the benefits that those products and services provide our lives. This not only benefits us personally, it also provides the basis for a vibrant and growing free market economy.
Selling is giving - giving time, education, advice, counsel, value - and the more you give, the more you get.
Knowing that, how could anyone not sell ... and not be proud to do so?
____________
Would you like to view a brief video about the true art of selling? Then visit www.EndlessReferralsVideo.com. I think you’ll really enjoy it. At the end, you’ll be able to download (with our compliments) Chapter One of Bob Burg’s underground bestseller, Endless Referrals: Network Your Everyday Contacts into Sales (over 175,000 copies sold). You may also want to add value to someone else by passing along a link for this brief video. It may inspire — and it will let them know (without you saying it) what kind of principles you stand for in the world of sales.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Roadmaps for our journeys
"What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and
it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in
which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to
quit until he finds it."
-- Alexander Graham Bell
-----------------------------------------
Okay... I know. It's been forever since I wrote my last article. I am back in the saddle and will start posting at least once a week from now on. (I was recently at an intense workshop with Stephanie Frank -- www.TheAccidentalMillionaire.com and am working through all I learned to make sure that I schedule more time for the important and not just the urgent.
So, it's summer vacation time. If you're like my gang, with the logistics of 6 kids and all that
comes with them, you are likely long past the freespirited younger days when you could
take off accross the country with a bathing suit, two pairs of shorts, some deodorant, toothbrush and a wallet - not even knowing or caring where you are going. Nope... for most of us, vacations take some planning - sometimes, a lot of it!
In reflecting on our family vacations, I had some thoughts about the Life journey that
we all find ourselves on.
* A Roadmap for Your Life
-Thom Scott, Managing Partner, Burg-Scott Communications, Inc.
It may have taken me the first 40 years of my life to really
embrace, but "success" is more than economic gains, titles, and
degrees. To me, real success is about reaching the destination that
you have chosen... the one that you have been uniquely created for
- AND enjoying the journey along the way. As with any journey, in
order to successfully reach your destination, you will need to
create a personal plan (or roadmap) - just like most of us do for
our own family vacations - that defines the following details:
starting point, destination, vehicle, luggage, landmarks, and route.
Starting Point: Who you are
You can't get where you want to go, without knowing where you are.
The starting point on your Roadmap For Life is who you are right
now. Most people when asked to introduce themselves would say, "Hi,
I'm John. I'm an electrician," or some such similar statement. That
does not tell you about who John is; it only tells you his present
occupation. To gain insights about yourself, you need to look
closely at your beliefs, values, and principles aside from your
economic, professional, cultural, and civil status. Moreover, you
can also reflect on your experiences to give you insights on your
good AND not-so-good traits, skills, knowledge, strengths, and
weaknesses. Upon introspection, John may realize that he is highly
motivated, generous, service-oriented, but impatient. His
inclination is in making things work correctly. Furthermore, he
believes that life must serve a purpose.
Note: If you are like many who have a hard time identifying their
strengths, try finding them in your weaknesses/challenges.
Oftentimes, a weakness is a strength that's being used the wrong
way, or for the wrong reasons. For instance, a parent who easily
slips into scolding and yelling often possesses the seeds of great
leadership. They are decisive and goal-oriented. The skills just
need to be developed. Someone who struggles with shyness is often
very good at cultivating deep, quality relationships versus a
plethora of acquaintances. You get the idea.
Destination: A vision of who you want to be
One of the amazing things about the way we humans are created is
that we don't have to settle for who or where we are in life. We
can become who and what we desire. So,who do want to be? What do
you want to spend your time doing? What do you want to have? Who do
you want to help? this is your vision. Knowing yourself (where your
starting point is) will help you develop a clearer idea of who you
want to be; and the things you want to change whether they are
attitudes, habits, or points of view. If you hardly know yourself,
then your vision and targets for the future will also be unclear.
Your destination should cover all the aspects of your being: the
physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Continuing John,
after he defines his beliefs, values, and principles in life, he
may decide that he wants to have a life dedicated to creating a
legacy for his children.
Vehicle: Your Mission
A vehicle is the means by which you can reach your destination. It
can be analogized to your mission in life. Your mission is a
natural extension of your vision for your life. For instance, we
see that John has decided that he wants to have a life dedicated to
creating a legacy for his children. He may choose to accomplish
this by raising them to be responsible members of society,
developing a business that is a financial asset long after he is
gone and by being a consistent example of a great husband and
father as well as a "servant leader" of others.
Luggage (not to be confused with baggage): Your knowledge, skills,
and attitudes
Clothing, food, drinks, medicines, and other travelling necessities
are often packed for physical trips that we embark upon. Applying
this concept to the Roadmap For Your Life, you also bring with you
certain knowledge, skills, and attitudes. These determine your
competence and help you in attaining your vision. Given such, there
is a need for you to assess what knowledge, skills, and attitudes
you have at present and what you need to gain along the way. This
two-fold assessment will give you insights on your landmarks or
measures of success. John may have realized that he needed to gain
professional knowledge and skills to transform his current
self-employed situation (most often trading time for dollars) into
a true walk-away business that can be an asset for his kids. He may
have also determined that he needed to learn better coaching and
persuasion skills in order to have greater influence in his kids'
lives.
Landmarks and Routes: Breaking your trip down into sections.
Living in Central Florida, if I want to travel to Georgia, I can
get in my car and power on through without stopping in order to
arrive at my destination within a few hours. However, if I'm going
to drive to Los Angeles, I will need to break my trip down into
manageable daily sections. Landmarks (sub-goals) confirm if you are
on the right track and if your pace will be able to deliver you to
your destination in the period of time that you desire. Your routes
are the specific tasks that you perform every day that are either
moving you closer to your landmarks and destination, or further
away. Thus, in planning out the Roadmap For Your Life, you will
also need to have landmarks and a route.
Your landmarks (subgoals) must be specific, measurable, attainable,
realistic, and time bound. I cannot realistically drive to Los
Angeles in 30 straight hours. At just over 2,500 miles, it will
take 36 hours in driving time alone, not including pit stops and
sleep. Likewise, it may not be realistic to set a landmark of
earning a master's degree and a doctorate degree within a period of
three years, since the standard number of years to complete a
master's degree is two years.
There are many different routes which can be chosen to reach any
given destination. The key is to choose routes that fit your
lifestyle and personality so that you can truly enjoy the journey
rather than "gritting your teeth" and being miserable till you
finally get to where you want to be.
Anticipate Turns, Detours, and Potholes
This one is very difficult for me and may seem counterintuitive for
those of us who try to think positively. It is important that you
"expect the best, but plan for the worst." I've learned, with much
trial and error and self-inflicted pain, that despite all my plans
and route mapping, detours, delays and potholes happen. I can
either fight them (and wind up in a ditch at the side of the road
that I want to take), or I can follow the detour signs - as long as
I see that I'm still progessing on the journey to my destiny.
In the Bible, Proverbs 16:9 tells us, "In his heart, a man plans
his way [read "route"], but the Lord determines his steps." Of
course, we often want the quickest, most direct route to our
destination. But, more often than not, our route will be more
circuitous and bring us on some detours that we would rather not
take. In those moments, we can choose to be grateful for the route
that is there and examine the sights and learn from the experiences
that come with the perceived inconveniences. Or, we can curse the
road and all the drivers around us, slam on the brakes, or attempt
to drive past guard rails and warning signs to get to the road that
we believe (often falsely) is best for us. Peace and progress or
strife and struggling ... the choice is ours.
There is no right or wrong in creating the Roadmap For Your Life -
as long as it is all based on the real desires and uniqueness that
you were created with. The important thing is that you actually
create one - so that you can know, every day, that you are living a
life on purpose and always growing and moving towards your chosen
destination. Having a Roadmap for Your Life will ensure that your
daily choices (route selections) are heading in the right
direction. With greater clarity than you've ever had, you will
eliminate the hasty and spur-of-the-moment default decisions that
cause others to lose their way. You will confidently know that you
will arrive at your destination and you will be truly free to enjoy
the journey along the way.
it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in
which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to
quit until he finds it."
-- Alexander Graham Bell
-----------------------------------------
Okay... I know. It's been forever since I wrote my last article. I am back in the saddle and will start posting at least once a week from now on. (I was recently at an intense workshop with Stephanie Frank -- www.TheAccidentalMillionaire.com and am working through all I learned to make sure that I schedule more time for the important and not just the urgent.
So, it's summer vacation time. If you're like my gang, with the logistics of 6 kids and all that
comes with them, you are likely long past the freespirited younger days when you could
take off accross the country with a bathing suit, two pairs of shorts, some deodorant, toothbrush and a wallet - not even knowing or caring where you are going. Nope... for most of us, vacations take some planning - sometimes, a lot of it!
In reflecting on our family vacations, I had some thoughts about the Life journey that
we all find ourselves on.
* A Roadmap for Your Life
-Thom Scott, Managing Partner, Burg-Scott Communications, Inc.
It may have taken me the first 40 years of my life to really
embrace, but "success" is more than economic gains, titles, and
degrees. To me, real success is about reaching the destination that
you have chosen... the one that you have been uniquely created for
- AND enjoying the journey along the way. As with any journey, in
order to successfully reach your destination, you will need to
create a personal plan (or roadmap) - just like most of us do for
our own family vacations - that defines the following details:
starting point, destination, vehicle, luggage, landmarks, and route.
Starting Point: Who you are
You can't get where you want to go, without knowing where you are.
The starting point on your Roadmap For Life is who you are right
now. Most people when asked to introduce themselves would say, "Hi,
I'm John. I'm an electrician," or some such similar statement. That
does not tell you about who John is; it only tells you his present
occupation. To gain insights about yourself, you need to look
closely at your beliefs, values, and principles aside from your
economic, professional, cultural, and civil status. Moreover, you
can also reflect on your experiences to give you insights on your
good AND not-so-good traits, skills, knowledge, strengths, and
weaknesses. Upon introspection, John may realize that he is highly
motivated, generous, service-oriented, but impatient. His
inclination is in making things work correctly. Furthermore, he
believes that life must serve a purpose.
Note: If you are like many who have a hard time identifying their
strengths, try finding them in your weaknesses/challenges.
Oftentimes, a weakness is a strength that's being used the wrong
way, or for the wrong reasons. For instance, a parent who easily
slips into scolding and yelling often possesses the seeds of great
leadership. They are decisive and goal-oriented. The skills just
need to be developed. Someone who struggles with shyness is often
very good at cultivating deep, quality relationships versus a
plethora of acquaintances. You get the idea.
Destination: A vision of who you want to be
One of the amazing things about the way we humans are created is
that we don't have to settle for who or where we are in life. We
can become who and what we desire. So,who do want to be? What do
you want to spend your time doing? What do you want to have? Who do
you want to help? this is your vision. Knowing yourself (where your
starting point is) will help you develop a clearer idea of who you
want to be; and the things you want to change whether they are
attitudes, habits, or points of view. If you hardly know yourself,
then your vision and targets for the future will also be unclear.
Your destination should cover all the aspects of your being: the
physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Continuing John,
after he defines his beliefs, values, and principles in life, he
may decide that he wants to have a life dedicated to creating a
legacy for his children.
Vehicle: Your Mission
A vehicle is the means by which you can reach your destination. It
can be analogized to your mission in life. Your mission is a
natural extension of your vision for your life. For instance, we
see that John has decided that he wants to have a life dedicated to
creating a legacy for his children. He may choose to accomplish
this by raising them to be responsible members of society,
developing a business that is a financial asset long after he is
gone and by being a consistent example of a great husband and
father as well as a "servant leader" of others.
Luggage (not to be confused with baggage): Your knowledge, skills,
and attitudes
Clothing, food, drinks, medicines, and other travelling necessities
are often packed for physical trips that we embark upon. Applying
this concept to the Roadmap For Your Life, you also bring with you
certain knowledge, skills, and attitudes. These determine your
competence and help you in attaining your vision. Given such, there
is a need for you to assess what knowledge, skills, and attitudes
you have at present and what you need to gain along the way. This
two-fold assessment will give you insights on your landmarks or
measures of success. John may have realized that he needed to gain
professional knowledge and skills to transform his current
self-employed situation (most often trading time for dollars) into
a true walk-away business that can be an asset for his kids. He may
have also determined that he needed to learn better coaching and
persuasion skills in order to have greater influence in his kids'
lives.
Landmarks and Routes: Breaking your trip down into sections.
Living in Central Florida, if I want to travel to Georgia, I can
get in my car and power on through without stopping in order to
arrive at my destination within a few hours. However, if I'm going
to drive to Los Angeles, I will need to break my trip down into
manageable daily sections. Landmarks (sub-goals) confirm if you are
on the right track and if your pace will be able to deliver you to
your destination in the period of time that you desire. Your routes
are the specific tasks that you perform every day that are either
moving you closer to your landmarks and destination, or further
away. Thus, in planning out the Roadmap For Your Life, you will
also need to have landmarks and a route.
Your landmarks (subgoals) must be specific, measurable, attainable,
realistic, and time bound. I cannot realistically drive to Los
Angeles in 30 straight hours. At just over 2,500 miles, it will
take 36 hours in driving time alone, not including pit stops and
sleep. Likewise, it may not be realistic to set a landmark of
earning a master's degree and a doctorate degree within a period of
three years, since the standard number of years to complete a
master's degree is two years.
There are many different routes which can be chosen to reach any
given destination. The key is to choose routes that fit your
lifestyle and personality so that you can truly enjoy the journey
rather than "gritting your teeth" and being miserable till you
finally get to where you want to be.
Anticipate Turns, Detours, and Potholes
This one is very difficult for me and may seem counterintuitive for
those of us who try to think positively. It is important that you
"expect the best, but plan for the worst." I've learned, with much
trial and error and self-inflicted pain, that despite all my plans
and route mapping, detours, delays and potholes happen. I can
either fight them (and wind up in a ditch at the side of the road
that I want to take), or I can follow the detour signs - as long as
I see that I'm still progessing on the journey to my destiny.
In the Bible, Proverbs 16:9 tells us, "In his heart, a man plans
his way [read "route"], but the Lord determines his steps." Of
course, we often want the quickest, most direct route to our
destination. But, more often than not, our route will be more
circuitous and bring us on some detours that we would rather not
take. In those moments, we can choose to be grateful for the route
that is there and examine the sights and learn from the experiences
that come with the perceived inconveniences. Or, we can curse the
road and all the drivers around us, slam on the brakes, or attempt
to drive past guard rails and warning signs to get to the road that
we believe (often falsely) is best for us. Peace and progress or
strife and struggling ... the choice is ours.
There is no right or wrong in creating the Roadmap For Your Life -
as long as it is all based on the real desires and uniqueness that
you were created with. The important thing is that you actually
create one - so that you can know, every day, that you are living a
life on purpose and always growing and moving towards your chosen
destination. Having a Roadmap for Your Life will ensure that your
daily choices (route selections) are heading in the right
direction. With greater clarity than you've ever had, you will
eliminate the hasty and spur-of-the-moment default decisions that
cause others to lose their way. You will confidently know that you
will arrive at your destination and you will be truly free to enjoy
the journey along the way.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
A Marketing Tactic To Be Aware Of
As I promised yesterday, now I'm going to tell you about the new secret weapon I'm using for getting videos onto the 30 top video sites on the web - in all of about 10 minutes!
It's called Traffic Geyser and it's simple, but really cool. In short, it eliminates having to manually go to each video site on the net, remember my passcodes, manually input submission forms and then upload my video to each (which, depending on the size of the video and internet connection speed, can be anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour per site). Now, I can upload my new video once onto the Traffic Geyser system, complete a single submission form and hit "send." The system takes it from there and submits it to all the sites automatically.
In order to prepare the first time, I did have to get registered with each of the sites and input the username and password for each on the Traffic Geyser system. Once that was done, however, it now takes me just about 15-20 minutes to submit to all 30! That's a cool thing. There are even some tools on the system that I don't use, but that are still pretty neat... like for those that aren't video savvy, Traffic Geyser has a built in video creator that enables you to take an audio and upload some graphics to create a video file that can be posted.
So, what do video postings do for business? Well, lets just say that typically, I would not have submitted to THAT many video sites - probably just sticking with the big 5. And, I certainly wouldn't have taken the time to submit all at once. So, imagine my surprise when I use Traffic Geyser the very first time and wind up crashing our server because of the flood of traffic that it caused! Now, crashing a server is NOT a good thing. But, lesson learned ... it IS good to know how to create that kind of traffic. Also, the search engine ranking on the sites I've used it for is rising pretty quickly due to the additional backlinks that it's generating.
Now, as with ALL tactics, this WILL come to an end - or at least change significantly. As more and more people start to post their advertising videos on these sites, it will become like the old ezine article submitters, when ezine publishers had to eventually make it a more controlled and personalized submission process to avoid the spam that was resulting. At the point when video websites like Google Video and all the others start to block submissions from services like Traffic Geyser, either the service itself will evolve or there will be something completely new out there.
Yet another reason to not get so wrapped up in tactics. They change too rapidly and their effectiveness comes and goes with their popularization. Instead, if you want to be the best and most successful entrepreneur you can be, focus on the overall skills and principles you need - the ones I mentioned in my post here on Tuesday of this week. THEN, hire and partner with the tacticians you need who will keep up to date on the latest, greatest tools. That's the difference between working on your business and in your business! That's why we created The Success Mechanics Extreme Business Makeovers Seminar and we're bringing in the experts like Fran Tarkenton, Bob Proctor and Stephanie Frank - to teach you how to get to that point where your business is totally working for you... instead of you working for it!
All The Best,
Thom
It's called Traffic Geyser and it's simple, but really cool. In short, it eliminates having to manually go to each video site on the net, remember my passcodes, manually input submission forms and then upload my video to each (which, depending on the size of the video and internet connection speed, can be anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour per site). Now, I can upload my new video once onto the Traffic Geyser system, complete a single submission form and hit "send." The system takes it from there and submits it to all the sites automatically.
In order to prepare the first time, I did have to get registered with each of the sites and input the username and password for each on the Traffic Geyser system. Once that was done, however, it now takes me just about 15-20 minutes to submit to all 30! That's a cool thing. There are even some tools on the system that I don't use, but that are still pretty neat... like for those that aren't video savvy, Traffic Geyser has a built in video creator that enables you to take an audio and upload some graphics to create a video file that can be posted.
So, what do video postings do for business? Well, lets just say that typically, I would not have submitted to THAT many video sites - probably just sticking with the big 5. And, I certainly wouldn't have taken the time to submit all at once. So, imagine my surprise when I use Traffic Geyser the very first time and wind up crashing our server because of the flood of traffic that it caused! Now, crashing a server is NOT a good thing. But, lesson learned ... it IS good to know how to create that kind of traffic. Also, the search engine ranking on the sites I've used it for is rising pretty quickly due to the additional backlinks that it's generating.
Now, as with ALL tactics, this WILL come to an end - or at least change significantly. As more and more people start to post their advertising videos on these sites, it will become like the old ezine article submitters, when ezine publishers had to eventually make it a more controlled and personalized submission process to avoid the spam that was resulting. At the point when video websites like Google Video and all the others start to block submissions from services like Traffic Geyser, either the service itself will evolve or there will be something completely new out there.
Yet another reason to not get so wrapped up in tactics. They change too rapidly and their effectiveness comes and goes with their popularization. Instead, if you want to be the best and most successful entrepreneur you can be, focus on the overall skills and principles you need - the ones I mentioned in my post here on Tuesday of this week. THEN, hire and partner with the tacticians you need who will keep up to date on the latest, greatest tools. That's the difference between working on your business and in your business! That's why we created The Success Mechanics Extreme Business Makeovers Seminar and we're bringing in the experts like Fran Tarkenton, Bob Proctor and Stephanie Frank - to teach you how to get to that point where your business is totally working for you... instead of you working for it!
All The Best,
Thom
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
The new Extreme Business Makeovers online commercial was just finished!
Check this out! It's a cool new online commercial that I just had made. And, YES, that's really Fran Tarkenton speaking. He's a featured speaker in an upcoming event that Bob Burg and I are hosting and he was gracious enough to help us out with a voiceover for the commercial.
I'd never let a "down and dirty" piece like this air on national television, but it's a perfect format to generate some heat on the web.
My new friend, Arik, at CommercialMaker.com put this together for me. As soon as he had it finished - without even time for the "pixels to dry" so to speak - I had it uploaded to 27 different online video sites (like Google Video, YouTube, etc...). That type of thing used to take me a few hours just to submit to 5 of them. I'll let you know how I did that tomorrow.
Anyway, as excited as I am about the video, I'm even MORE excited about the Extreme Business Makeovers program itself. It's in my backyard of Orlando on February 23 and 24 and we've got a great lineup of speakers - each targeting one of the 10 key entrepreneurial skill areas that I talked about yesterday. In addition to Fran Tarkenton, we've got Bob Proctor of "The Secret," Stephanie Frank, Christopher Guerriero, Bob Burg, Drew Miles, John Di Lemme, Bo Short, Cameron Johnson (a 21 year old multi-millionaire who started with $50) and our Emcee, Al Walker. It's going to be 2 days JAM-PACKED with incredible information to help entrepreneurs transform their businesses.
Anyway... enjoy the video and check out the web site www.thesuccessmechanics.com.
All The Best,
Thom
I'd never let a "down and dirty" piece like this air on national television, but it's a perfect format to generate some heat on the web.
My new friend, Arik, at CommercialMaker.com put this together for me. As soon as he had it finished - without even time for the "pixels to dry" so to speak - I had it uploaded to 27 different online video sites (like Google Video, YouTube, etc...). That type of thing used to take me a few hours just to submit to 5 of them. I'll let you know how I did that tomorrow.
Anyway, as excited as I am about the video, I'm even MORE excited about the Extreme Business Makeovers program itself. It's in my backyard of Orlando on February 23 and 24 and we've got a great lineup of speakers - each targeting one of the 10 key entrepreneurial skill areas that I talked about yesterday. In addition to Fran Tarkenton, we've got Bob Proctor of "The Secret," Stephanie Frank, Christopher Guerriero, Bob Burg, Drew Miles, John Di Lemme, Bo Short, Cameron Johnson (a 21 year old multi-millionaire who started with $50) and our Emcee, Al Walker. It's going to be 2 days JAM-PACKED with incredible information to help entrepreneurs transform their businesses.
Anyway... enjoy the video and check out the web site www.thesuccessmechanics.com.
All The Best,
Thom
Bring Your Business To The Next Level This Year
Whether your business is already successful, or perhaps you’re struggling a little – working too hard for your business, instead of having your business work hard for you, a new year is a great time to plan and make changes that will bring you to new levels of success.
Of course, there are a lot of people ready to tell you how to get your business past its present plateau. Your biggest challenge is trying to figure out which of the thousands of books, ebooks, seminars, and web sites you should be paying attention to.
In this present business culture of emotional selling, as well as short-term thinking, much of the information you seek will leave you with either fluffy motivational hype that makes you feel good but accomplishes little else, or gives you simple 1-2-3 tactics that may or may not work for your present situation, but do little to really help you tackle most future projects or challenges.
The bottom line is you walk away with a short-term solution at best. That's why my advice is to avoid the temptation of seeking tactics to solve just your immediately perceived needs and instead, focus on real entrepreneurial skill development. These are time-proven, principle-based skills that will help you attain a greater level of success now as well as in the future.
It doesn't matter if you're the owner of a small business, a “serial entrepreneur” with numerous businesses to your credit, or even a young person who wants to start off with a huge advantage over your peers. These highly-effective skills - which help you to decide what you want, create a plan to attain it, then overcome every conceivable obstacle along the way - are just about all you need to earn a mountain of money and gain true freedom that real entrepreneurship delivers.
In researching over 250 business owners, professors and notable experts on the subject, I compiled a list 27 distinct areas of business skills that were mentioned as important for maximum entrepreneurial success. However, there are 10 particular business and life skills that were noted by the vast majority of those I studied. These are the skill areas that, when developed by themselves, all produce solid gains in performance. However, when they are developed – even slightly – in combination with each other, the synergistic effect produces tremendous increases in success.
1. Vision and Perseverance – Much has been written about Vision, yet some of what has been said is so overly complicated and daunting that very few have actually taken the time to write out what the vision for their business really is.
For maximum business success, you simply have to hold in your mind a clear picture of what you want your business to become. This type of vision keeps the potter from making an ashtray when she was working on an urn. Likewise, it will ensure that you grow your business into one that gives you deep satisfaction and financial rewards, instead of one that taxes your time and energy. Having a clear vision will also help you to develop your will and responses to overcome any challenge and come back from any setback - stronger than ever.
2. Wealth Mindset and Attraction – Unfortunately, many still consider mindset and attraction principles to be a sort of spiritual “hocus pocus.” However, the more we study Quantum Physics and the power of the mind, the more society is beginning to recognize this as real science with a solid set of “how-to” principles. The more you get to know the mind that your Creator endowed you with and how it has been wired to work, the more you will be able to accomplish even your most lofty goals without striving and working around the clock to make things happen.
3. Business Systems – We all know that systems are important. They are key to your building a walk away business that is a real asset, as opposed to just having a high-paying job that you’ve given yourself. Through learning more about real ways to quickly and easily create systems for your business, even the most disorganized among us can put together a step-by-step system to transform our businesses from a “job” into a real profit machine.
4. Energy and Fitness – Typically overlooked by most entrepreneurs, including myself, having superior levels of energy and fitness can be an invaluable business asset. Not only will having peak energy levels enable you to stay healthier and accomplish more, but it also adds to your personal attractiveness and helps you to project a winning, top-notch, vibrant image.
5. Tax Reduction and Asset Protection – It has been reported that when asked what the #1 secret to his success was, Microsoft Founder, Bill Gates replied, “Having a working knowledge of the tax code.” Yet, how many of us are so focused on ways to make an extra 10% a year selling our “widgets,” when we ignorantly overpay larger amounts than that in personal income and corporate taxes. Unfortunately, with over 66,498 pages in the current US tax code, most well-meaning CPAs don’t even know about many of the completely legal and ethical methods that are designed into the laws to help businesses thrive and produce for our economy.
Learning how to properly structure your business will enable you to take home more money – even without an increase in business. It will also help you to become virtually bulletproof to today's deluge of frivolous and unmerited lawsuits.
6. Motivation – Anyone can go to a seminar or watch a show that leaves them feeling charged up and ready to tackle the world. However, this feeling often fades pretty quickly when the light of reality and normal day to day challenges hit. Learning how to tap into your personal passion and develop a method for self-motivation will infuse your business with a more consistent energy and enthusiasm and attract others to help in the process.
7. Leadership and Influence - To accomplish anything of significant size or value, you simply cannot go it alone. You'll go farther and faster if you surround yourself with great people who can help you succeed. From individuals or employees who support your efforts, to the management and legal experts who can help you make the best decisions and even those friends and colleagues who advise and motivate you -- your rise to the top requires a great team. Attracting and motivating a superior team requires developing superior leadership skills.
8. Networking and Referrals – These are, perhaps, two of the most misunderstood and misused words in business. Yet, networking and generating referrals can provide incredible gains to your business. Learning a tried-and-true system for cultivating a rich, never-ending supply of prospects and referrals can help you predictably deliver these gains, year after year, without increasing your advertising expenditures.
9. Marketing – Do you have a comprehensive strategy that consistently delivers new customers and profits again and again? If not, then this is the year you need to get beyond employing the same old mainstream advertising tactics and develop a real marketing “machine” to predictably deliver increases in sales – whenever you want them.
10. Entrepreneurship – There’s a big difference between selling your skills, talents or specialized knowledge and being a real entrepreneur – one who can consistently create profits from different ventures time after time. The truest of entrepreneurs have all learned how to recognize, evaluate and act on opportunities. When you learn these skills you will be able to build businesses to be assets that deliver passive profits or can be sold for huge gains. You’ll also have the freedom that comes with knowing you could start over and do it from scratch if you ever needed or wanted to.
Admittedly, a list of ten different entrepreneurial skill areas like this can be overwhelming to think about. There are several that I am personally working on improving right now.
Being created for growth, the learning and improvement will never end. That thought can be both empowering and exhausting at the same time. However, beginning by focusing initially on even 2 or 3 of these areas will quickly jump start the process and create the synergy to help you make huge rapid improvements in both your personal and professional life. So that when you look back on 2007, you’ll be amazed at what you managed to finally accomplished (perhaps even things that you’ve wanted to do for many years).
By concentrating first on these universally applied skills and principles versus short-sighted tactics like learning a specific type of investment strategy or a particular method of online or offline marketing, you will be equipping yourself for greater success in all your undertakings in 2007 and beyond!
Thom Scott (www.coachthom.com) is a co-Founder of The Success Mechanics. Their next Extreme Business Makeovers Seminar – featuring Fran Tarkenton - is being held in conjunction with the kickoff of EntrepreneurshipWeek USA on February 23 and 24 in Orlando, Florida. Visit http://www.thesuccessmechanics.com for complimentary audios and reports from The Success Mechanics team of experts.
Of course, there are a lot of people ready to tell you how to get your business past its present plateau. Your biggest challenge is trying to figure out which of the thousands of books, ebooks, seminars, and web sites you should be paying attention to.
In this present business culture of emotional selling, as well as short-term thinking, much of the information you seek will leave you with either fluffy motivational hype that makes you feel good but accomplishes little else, or gives you simple 1-2-3 tactics that may or may not work for your present situation, but do little to really help you tackle most future projects or challenges.
The bottom line is you walk away with a short-term solution at best. That's why my advice is to avoid the temptation of seeking tactics to solve just your immediately perceived needs and instead, focus on real entrepreneurial skill development. These are time-proven, principle-based skills that will help you attain a greater level of success now as well as in the future.
It doesn't matter if you're the owner of a small business, a “serial entrepreneur” with numerous businesses to your credit, or even a young person who wants to start off with a huge advantage over your peers. These highly-effective skills - which help you to decide what you want, create a plan to attain it, then overcome every conceivable obstacle along the way - are just about all you need to earn a mountain of money and gain true freedom that real entrepreneurship delivers.
In researching over 250 business owners, professors and notable experts on the subject, I compiled a list 27 distinct areas of business skills that were mentioned as important for maximum entrepreneurial success. However, there are 10 particular business and life skills that were noted by the vast majority of those I studied. These are the skill areas that, when developed by themselves, all produce solid gains in performance. However, when they are developed – even slightly – in combination with each other, the synergistic effect produces tremendous increases in success.
1. Vision and Perseverance – Much has been written about Vision, yet some of what has been said is so overly complicated and daunting that very few have actually taken the time to write out what the vision for their business really is.
For maximum business success, you simply have to hold in your mind a clear picture of what you want your business to become. This type of vision keeps the potter from making an ashtray when she was working on an urn. Likewise, it will ensure that you grow your business into one that gives you deep satisfaction and financial rewards, instead of one that taxes your time and energy. Having a clear vision will also help you to develop your will and responses to overcome any challenge and come back from any setback - stronger than ever.
2. Wealth Mindset and Attraction – Unfortunately, many still consider mindset and attraction principles to be a sort of spiritual “hocus pocus.” However, the more we study Quantum Physics and the power of the mind, the more society is beginning to recognize this as real science with a solid set of “how-to” principles. The more you get to know the mind that your Creator endowed you with and how it has been wired to work, the more you will be able to accomplish even your most lofty goals without striving and working around the clock to make things happen.
3. Business Systems – We all know that systems are important. They are key to your building a walk away business that is a real asset, as opposed to just having a high-paying job that you’ve given yourself. Through learning more about real ways to quickly and easily create systems for your business, even the most disorganized among us can put together a step-by-step system to transform our businesses from a “job” into a real profit machine.
4. Energy and Fitness – Typically overlooked by most entrepreneurs, including myself, having superior levels of energy and fitness can be an invaluable business asset. Not only will having peak energy levels enable you to stay healthier and accomplish more, but it also adds to your personal attractiveness and helps you to project a winning, top-notch, vibrant image.
5. Tax Reduction and Asset Protection – It has been reported that when asked what the #1 secret to his success was, Microsoft Founder, Bill Gates replied, “Having a working knowledge of the tax code.” Yet, how many of us are so focused on ways to make an extra 10% a year selling our “widgets,” when we ignorantly overpay larger amounts than that in personal income and corporate taxes. Unfortunately, with over 66,498 pages in the current US tax code, most well-meaning CPAs don’t even know about many of the completely legal and ethical methods that are designed into the laws to help businesses thrive and produce for our economy.
Learning how to properly structure your business will enable you to take home more money – even without an increase in business. It will also help you to become virtually bulletproof to today's deluge of frivolous and unmerited lawsuits.
6. Motivation – Anyone can go to a seminar or watch a show that leaves them feeling charged up and ready to tackle the world. However, this feeling often fades pretty quickly when the light of reality and normal day to day challenges hit. Learning how to tap into your personal passion and develop a method for self-motivation will infuse your business with a more consistent energy and enthusiasm and attract others to help in the process.
7. Leadership and Influence - To accomplish anything of significant size or value, you simply cannot go it alone. You'll go farther and faster if you surround yourself with great people who can help you succeed. From individuals or employees who support your efforts, to the management and legal experts who can help you make the best decisions and even those friends and colleagues who advise and motivate you -- your rise to the top requires a great team. Attracting and motivating a superior team requires developing superior leadership skills.
8. Networking and Referrals – These are, perhaps, two of the most misunderstood and misused words in business. Yet, networking and generating referrals can provide incredible gains to your business. Learning a tried-and-true system for cultivating a rich, never-ending supply of prospects and referrals can help you predictably deliver these gains, year after year, without increasing your advertising expenditures.
9. Marketing – Do you have a comprehensive strategy that consistently delivers new customers and profits again and again? If not, then this is the year you need to get beyond employing the same old mainstream advertising tactics and develop a real marketing “machine” to predictably deliver increases in sales – whenever you want them.
10. Entrepreneurship – There’s a big difference between selling your skills, talents or specialized knowledge and being a real entrepreneur – one who can consistently create profits from different ventures time after time. The truest of entrepreneurs have all learned how to recognize, evaluate and act on opportunities. When you learn these skills you will be able to build businesses to be assets that deliver passive profits or can be sold for huge gains. You’ll also have the freedom that comes with knowing you could start over and do it from scratch if you ever needed or wanted to.
Admittedly, a list of ten different entrepreneurial skill areas like this can be overwhelming to think about. There are several that I am personally working on improving right now.
Being created for growth, the learning and improvement will never end. That thought can be both empowering and exhausting at the same time. However, beginning by focusing initially on even 2 or 3 of these areas will quickly jump start the process and create the synergy to help you make huge rapid improvements in both your personal and professional life. So that when you look back on 2007, you’ll be amazed at what you managed to finally accomplished (perhaps even things that you’ve wanted to do for many years).
By concentrating first on these universally applied skills and principles versus short-sighted tactics like learning a specific type of investment strategy or a particular method of online or offline marketing, you will be equipping yourself for greater success in all your undertakings in 2007 and beyond!
Thom Scott (www.coachthom.com) is a co-Founder of The Success Mechanics. Their next Extreme Business Makeovers Seminar – featuring Fran Tarkenton - is being held in conjunction with the kickoff of EntrepreneurshipWeek USA on February 23 and 24 in Orlando, Florida. Visit http://www.thesuccessmechanics.com for complimentary audios and reports from The Success Mechanics team of experts.
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