Thoughts for the Day
"Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure."
---Jim Rohn
"If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading or do things worth reading about."
---Benjamin Franklin
"With the recession lingering across the country, many people have been fearful of losing their jobs. But the people who will come out on top are those who take the recession as an opportunity to invigorate their lives. These are the people who are masters of their own destiny, the people with the self-confidence to take charge of their own lives."
---Les Brown
"When you are through changing, you are through."
---Bruce Barton
the advertising legend who created Betty Crocker
"Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs."
---Peter Drucker
Beware Your Fears
On March 3rd, 1943, an air raid siren sounded in London. The citizens of London knew they were at war with Germany and that a retaliation attack was possible. But with nothing but the sound of the siren, panic and mass hysteria were the result. Fifteen hundred people tried to get down the steps of the Bethnal Green Train Station tunnel for protection. One lady, carrying her small baby, tripped on the stairs and fell. Within a few seconds, 300 people were crushed into the tiny stairwell. Some thought that they were being blocked and became even more aggressive at forcing the massive domino effect. The chaos lasted less than 15 minutes, but 172 people were dead at the scene, with one more dying the next day.
No German bombs fell that day. And just for the record, the largest number killed by any single bomb in the entire war in England was 68. The crush at Bethnal Green was the largest loss of civilian life in the UK in World War II. But bombs didn't kill those people---fear did.
"If a man harbors any sort of fear, it percolates through all his thinking, damages his personality, makes him a landlord to a ghost."
---Lloyd C. Douglas
Perhaps the threat of bombs dropping is a harsh analogy. Fortunately, most of us do not live with that daily possibility.
But even if you're focused on minor fears you:
- Will not start a business in this economy. It's too risky.
- Will not buy a house. If I ever get behind on payments, the bank could forclose.
- Will never love deeply. What if I'm not loved in return.
- Will not dream richly. I've got to be "practical" and "realistic" in these trying times.
If you're living in fear, you will never reach your full potential. You are stifling your ability to create, earn, give, love, and receive. I know you don't want to live like that. You don't have to wait until "things" get better. As Brian Tracy says, "Things will get better when you get better." When you increase your faith your fear will diminish.
How to Thrive NOW!
Here's how your business can thrive NOW!
By Jay Abraham
Did you know that, in a bad market, you can take 15 to 20 percent of the business away from many of your top competitors, obtain 20 to 30 percent of all the new business coming in, and achieve 30 to 40 percent more sales conversions from the people who are coming to you? I'm not pulling these numbers out of thin air; I've seen them in action time and again.
Are you stuck with erratic business volume? Businesses should take only those actions that always-not sometimes, but always--advance and enhance the long term, well-reasoned game plan of attracting prospects, converting them to clients, and creating a lasting, repeat-buying relationship with them. Anything that impedes this logical progression is a chink in your business's armor.
The mere fact that your client has made one purchase doesn't mean he should now be left alone, on the assumption that he'll make a second purchase and all future re-purchases on his own, with no help, guidance, direction, or instruction from you or your sales force. Now that you h
ave a strong, valuable asset in this client, you must strategically and systematically nurture the relationship. Allow it to grow and flourish under your direction so that it can aid in sustaining and enriching your business.
Strategizing, analyzing, and systemizing: These are the three keys to busting the erratic business volume blues. It's that simple-as easy as one, two, three.
Let's look at an example of two businessmen and the difference these concepts can make:
A few years ago, I had two friends who each discovered the same business opportunity but approached it in radically different ways---one tactical and shortsighted, the other strategic and focused on the long term.
The first, Tom, was a gifted copywriter who saw potential in the overlooked market of simulated diamonds, or cubic zirconium. For $30,000, he ran a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times announcing his new enterprise, the Beverly Hills Diamond Company, and its key product, a loose, one-karat stone that sold for $39. The wonderfully crafted ad pulled in about $42,000 worth of sales, which amounted to about $3000 profit after all expenses. Tom, who was used to making massive, front end profits, didn't see enough profit in the concept, so he folded his tent and left.
The second friend, Larry, didn't possess Tom's copywriting prowess, but he was a world-class strategist---and strategy will always trump copy. Larry soldiered into the very same marketplace, armed with a game plan for an identical product but a very different result. His ad wasn't as well written, and so Van Pliss and Tissany (his take on Van Cleef & Arpel and Tiffany, which were hot brands at the time) pulled in only $28,000 from his $30,000 ad---meaning he'd lost $2000 before he'd even counted overhead.
But instead of getting frustrated, Larry continued with the next phase of his strategy. Whereas Tom had mailed his product in a chintzy cardboard box, Larry delivered his in a high-end jeweler's case, which in turn was placed in a velvet bag-packaging that cost a pretty penny beyond what he'd already spent on the ad. Along with that, Larry included a letter:
Thank you for purchasing your Van Pliss and Tissany one-karat gemstone. When you remove its beautiful jeweler's case, you'll immediately notice its fiery brilliance, which is even more beautiful than we promised.
You may notice that the stone is smaller than you expected-but that's the nature of the Van Pliss diamond. IN order to achieve such extraordinary brilliance, our gem is denser, which makes it 25 percent smaller than most people expect. However, the brilliance of the diamond inspires many of our buyers to upgrade to larger five and ten-karat stones, which they hope to then set. Because we've experienced this so often, we've set some of our most magnificent five and ten-karat stones in fourteen and eighteen-karat rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets, which you can find in the accompanying catalog. We are slashing the price by 50 percent of what you would pay for the same product from a jewelry store.
We would like to offer you the chance to upgrade: Not only have we included a pre-paid return carton and UPS form, but we are also extending you double credit. In addition, any purchase you make with us will not be considered binding on your part until you've had the set jewelry item in your possession for thirty days. If your family and friends don't remark on how beautiful your new gem is, or if you find that buying the same piece from a jeweler would have saved you money, you may return your gemstone and setting, no questions asked.
What was the difference between Tom's tactics and Larry's strategy? Whereas Tom made $3000 and promptly quit, Larry's strategy lost $2000 up front, then netted him $25 million in his first year of business alone.
That's the difference! How can you apply a similar strategy in your business?
