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Gevril and Haurex Italia dinner during Baselworld in March 2011 with Larry Brauner standing in the background.
Baselworld 2012 March 8-15.
Dec
7
10 Not Simple Success Strategies for 2009
Filed Under Best of 2008, Personal Development and Success, Social Media and Social Networking Sites | 16 Comments
More Critical Success Factors
This time last year I posted on my blog 10 Simple Success Strategies for 2008. My strategies for 2009 are net very simple, or in any case, they’re not easy.
We were already aware that the mortgage crisis would badly hurt American home owners and the real estate industry, but few people realized that the crisis would quickly snowball into a major global recession.
While I stand by last years recommendations and believe that they are valid today, I feel that I need to add new critical success factors to the mix for 2009.
- Be flexible. What worked in the past may no longer work in the present economy. You may have to make some tough personal or business choices going forward.
- Focus on your finances. Spend less. Earn more, even if it’s difficult, and even if you have to compromise and do something that’s less than perfect for you. Pay down your credit cards, even if you have to sell some belongings. That’s the advice Dave Ramsey gives in his excellent book, The Total Money Makeover.
- Be cautious and use common sense. I hate to sound like a broken phonograph record, but while it is important to earn more, don’t fall prey to someone else’s hedge against recession. Before you invest substantial time or money, read Home Based Businesses Don’t Work and The Darker Side of Funded Proposals.
- Persevere. I noticed this year how many people failed to follow through on important plans and prematurely abandoned their blogs and social media projects they had started. Perhaps in some of the cases they should have done more soul searching beforehand, but on the whole I think people get frustrated and quit before their work has a chance to bear fruit. If you think you might lack motivation or need encouragement, create a support system for yourself or work closely with a mentor to whom you can be accountable.
- Reach out multiple ways. Network with people online and offline using online business and social networking sites and your local Small Business Association, Chamber of Commerce or BNI. Besides my new social networking site and other Ning social networking sites, I strongly recommend Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn. Connect to me at all these sites and let me know how I might be able to help you. It might be useful to you to visit Social Networking vs. Advertising, especially if you have never before seen that post.
- Develop expertise that will serve you now and in the future. In The 80/20 Rule I wrote, “Expertise is a valuable asset when it comes to personal branding. As an expert you can teach and mentor others and differentiate yourself from your competition.” I went on to explain that with a medium amount of reading, studying and experimentation, you can learn more about a subject than 80% of other people.
- Smile and laugh as much as you can. Laughter is good for you and for the people around you.
- Prepare not only for the recession, but also for afterward. These tough economic times won’t last forever. Think how you might be able to position yourself down the road to profit from the many new possibilities which will emerge in a couple of years.
- Keep the faith. No matter how hard life gets, don’t give up hope. Persist as best you can and be ready to start over. Keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities.
- Subscribe to my blog if you’re not yet a subscriber. I have a lot planned, and we can face 2009 together.
Now it’s your turn to share your ideas. Please feel free to comment.
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Tags: critical success factors, Facebook, funded proposal, mentoring, Personal Development and Success, social networking sites, success secrets, Success Strategies, Twitter
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Nov
30
Who Are We?
Filed Under Personal Development and Success | 17 Comments
Who Are We and What Makes Us Tick?
We subject ourselves to intelligence and personality tests so that we can understand ourselves, or so that others can evaluate us and learn who we are and what makes us tick.
I’ve taken my fair share of these exams over the years, and I suspect that you have as well.
While there is some value in IQ tests and personality testing, these tests don’t reveal what really makes us tick or indicate how we tend to deal with our work and all of life’s situations. Something is lacking in these familiar standardized examinations.
The Kolbe Concept®
Robin Kavall, an old friend from my chess tournament days and an accomplished actuary, recently introduced me to the marvelous work of Kathy Kolbe who developed the Kolbe Concept.
According to the Kolbe website:
The Kolbe Concept holds that creative instincts are the source of mental energy that drives people to take specific actions. This mental drive is separate and distinct from passive feeling and thoughts. Creative instincts are manifested in an innate pattern that determines an individual’s unique method of operation, or modus operandi (MO).
When we act in concert with our instincts, we have enormous energy and achieve high levels of performance.
While the cognitive part of our minds controls our thinking and the affective part controls our feeling, according to Kolbe our instincts manifest themselves through the conative part of our minds that controls our doing.
Some aspects of conation are drive, instinct, necessity, mental energy, innate force, and talents. Conative attributes, distinct from intelligence, attitudes, values and emotions, are not generally factored into standardized psychological testing.
The Kolbe A™ Index
Kathy Kolbe identified four universal instincts that shape the way we tackle life’s problems. Although these instincts cannot be directly measured, they can be inferred by examining our behaviors.
The Kolbe A Index characterizes and helps us understand our behaviors that pertain to the four classes of action that correspond to our fundamental instincts:
- Fact Finder - how we gather and share information, i.e., simplify, explain or specify
- Follow Thru - how we arrange and design, i.e., adapt, maintain or systematize
- Quick Start - how we deal with risk and uncertainty, i.e., stabilize, modify or improvise
- Implementor - how we handle space and tangible things, i.e., imagine, restore, or build
All the terms used here have specific well-defined and clearly explained meanings within Kathy Kolbe’s system.
The Kolbe A™ Index Illustrated
My own Kolbe A Index is: specify, maintain, improvise and imagine. Here’s the overall summary of my index and what makes me tick:
Your Kolbe A™ Index result shows you are excellent at coming up with unique strategies, prioritizing opportunities, and dealing with the unknowns in complex problems. You are the go-to person when elaborate projects are in trouble.
You may access my Kolbe A Index results to get a clearer picture of what the index is, how it’s reported and what my MO is.
Learn More about the Kolbe A™ Index
In this article, I only scratch the surface of understanding of the Kolbe Index and its enormous value. Extensive information about other Kolbe tests and how all Kolbe testing can help us to maximize our potential and personal fulfillment is available at the Kolbe website.
You comments and feedback are welcome.
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Tags: Kathy Kolbe, Kolbe Index, psychological testing, Robin KavallSharing is Caring!
Nov
16
Which is Better Job or Business?
Filed Under Best of 2008, Personal Development and Success | 43 Comments
A Brief Historical Note
I’m old enough to remember when the norm in the America was to work 40 years for a corporation and retire at age 65 with Social Security benefits and a company pension. I grew up with such an expectation.
Technology and economics reshaped the workplace during the last part of the 20th century, and nowadays people will necessarily change jobs a number of times during their careers and receive little or no employer help along the way meeting their long term financial objectives.
Employment relationships are severed with little reluctance by either party. Employees have become a commodity. Both job security and employee loyalty are very much relics of the past.
It is certainly difficult to assert that business is risky but that jobs are risk free, especially during troubled financial times like these. People in all sectors of the economy are losing their jobs, and unemployment will get much worse before it gets any better.
Robert Kiyosaki Revisited
Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Cashflow Quadrant, compares four different ways to generate income:
- Job - You work for an employer. You earn income by selling your limited time. You’re overtaxed by the government. You may however acquire valuable skills and receive access to affordable health insurance.
- Self-Employment - You own your job and must work very hard. You receive tax breaks but still earn your income by selling your limited time. You pay in full for your health insurance. You have some autonomy but must nevertheless satisfy your clients’ demands.
- Business - You own a system, and you leverage other people’s time and various resources at your disposal such as the Internet. You work hard, but you essentially earn your income by selling other people’s time. Since you’re not selling your limited time, your income potential is unlimited. Many types of business are very risky, but there are others that are not very risky at all. Businesses have many tax advantages.
- Investing - You own assets that are called investments. You earn income from these investments. Knowledgeable investors use insurance such as stock options to manage and eliminate the risk of investing. They also achieve the most favorable tax treatment for their income.
Where Theory and Practice Intersect
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that business and investing income are much superior to job and self-employment income — all other things being equal — and having a business and investing mindset is a wonderful personal asset.
Yet there’s a catch.
Most people are not in a position initially to rely either on business or investing to provide the income that they need for life’s basics. Some people may not have the wherewithal now or ever to make a business or investing work for them.
Jobs or self-employment provide immediate income for food, clothing and shelter. In that sense they can be a good thing.
If you have a job and the right mindset, you can use the base of income afforded by your job as a springboard to future business and investing. You’ll seek ways to develop new business, and you’ll use part of your paycheck and business proceeds to buy income producing assets.
Your progress might be slow at first, but it will accelerate over time as your results are compounded.
My Change of Heart
I used to put down jobs saying that J.O.B. stood for “just over broke”. While there’s much truth in that, I believe today that I was stuck in all-or-nothing thinking.
So don’t you think job or business. Think job and business, or whatever makes sense.
Your comments and input are invited.
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Tags: careers, Cash Flow Quadrant, home business, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, starting a small business, Success StrategiesSharing is Caring!
Nov
9
Stacey Chadwell once asked me, How do you maintain focus?
On this first anniversary of my Online Social Networking blog, Stacey’s question caused me to think and take stock.
I imagine that many blogs launched last year have long since been abandoned. How is it that I maintained my focus over the past year while many other new bloggers did not?
It has been suggested that FOCUS stands for “follow one course until successful”.
While this representation is simplistic, it is nevertheless more true than not. To accomplish something substantial, some degree of obsession and narrow focus is a prerequisite for success.
Revisiting the Ultimate Success Secret
As I indicated in Critical Success Factors, I take my cue from The Ultimate Secret to Getting Absolutely Everything You Want by Mike Hernacki in which he wrote:
“In order to accomplish something, you must know what you want and be willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish it.”
In other words, focus arises from intention and is maintained through commitment.
This principle is the key to sustaining focus and achieving eventual success.
To demonstrate my commitment, I was willing to:
- blog for months before seeing tangible results
- ignore doubts expressed by friends and family
- read books about blogging and search engine optimization
- mastermind with other bloggers to get their opinions
- experiment, learn from my mistakes and backtrack as needed
- put some of my other objectives on hold
Today I have more than 100 regular readers and receive thousands of visitors to my blog each month. My articles have been featured on top news sites.
I have a Google PageRank of 3 and high search engine rankings for lots of keywords that I researched and targeted.
I was willing to do what many others were not and was able to maintain my focus throughout the year.
Planning the Next Year
During the next twelve months I would like to take my blog to the next level, for sure.
However, I plan to apply the same kind of commitment and narrow focus to new projects such as developing my new Ning social networking site and mastering the intricacies of web analytics.
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Tags: Blogging, focus, Mike Hernacki, Stacey Chadwell, Success Strategies, The Ultimate Secret to Getting Absolutely EverythingSharing is Caring!
Sep
28
The 80/20 Rule
Filed Under Best of 2008, Outside the Box, Personal Development and Success | 39 Comments
According to Wikipedia, the 80/20 Rule or Pareto principle “states that, for many events, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes”.
The 80 and the 20 are not exact. The 80/20 Rule is what’s commonly known as a rule of thumb.
The 80 20 Rule is an abstract concept, but it’s important to understand it, so let me provide you with some concrete examples that I believe will help.
The 80/20 Rule and You
Approximately 80% of all income is paid to 20% of all people.
The highest paid people earn substantially more than the lowest paid ones. This is a phenomenon of which nearly all of us are acutely aware, and it often seems unfair.
However, 80% of all productivity comes from the efforts of 20% of all people. These 20% of people are the ones who:
- have a good measure of internal motivation
- have a high level of personal productivity
- consistently invest in personal development
- commit to their goals and focus their efforts
- leverage their money and their time
Needless to say 80% of all people follow the 20% of all people who lead them.
While 80% of people spend their disposable income on what Robert Kiyosaki points to as worthless items which they think are assets, the 20% live frugally and spend as much as possible on income producing investments that pay them over and over again.
While 80% of people trade their time for money, the 20% use their time to develop businesses that leverage the time of the 80% – employees — and also outsource and sub-contract to other businesses in order to gain even more leverage.
The 80% of people tend to take it easy or look for get rich schemes and shortcuts to success. They follow the path of least resistance, and they settle for much less than they really want.
Are you in the 80% or the 20%?
If you’re in the 80%, ask yourself what shift in thinking could transform you into one of the 20%.
The 80/20 Rule and Other People
If you’re in the 20%, then you need to apply the 80-20 Rule to the people around you:
- 80% of your work is done by 20% or your workers. Spend 80% of your time developing your most productive workers.
- So too in a direct or networking sales business: 80% of your results will come from 20% of your team. Spend 80% of your time developing your most productive team members.
- 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients or customers. Your time should be spent conducting business with your best clients. There are some business experts who would go as far as firing the 80% of unprofitable clients. That may not always be feasible. In many industries such as health care or telecom firing costly customers could result in a public relations nightmare.
The 80/20 Rule and Social Marketing
Here are some Internet and social media applications of the 80-20 principle:
- 80% of all blogging is done by 20% of all bloggers
- 80% of all blog comments are made by 20% of all blog readers
- 80% of all online social networking is done by 20% of all online networkers
- 80% of all networkers flock to 20% of all social networking sites
- 80% of all traffic goes to 20% of all websites
- 80% of all spam is generated by 20% of all spammers
You can add to the list when you comment on this post — assuming of course that you’re one of the 20% of all readers.
You Can’t Know Everything
Expertise is a valuable asset when it comes to personal branding. As an expert you can teach and mentor others and differentiate yourself from your competition.
To become a top expert in any field requires years of dedication. You still won’t know everything there is to know.
You can generally acquire more knowledge than 80% of all people with 20% of the effort it takes to become a top expert. This feat often takes much less than a year. To overtake and pass the remaining 20% of all people might take many years or even a lifetime.
I like to call this particular aspect of the Pareto principle The Law of Diminishing Returns. Beyond a certain point each successive increment of result will require more effort than the previous increment. It becomes harder and harder to justify additional time investments.
In this era of specialization you can read a few books on a subject and know more about a subject than nearly everybody else. That’s the kind of expertise I’m recommending — coupled of course with some practical hands-on experience.
Invest your time to acquire knowledge that your prospective clients or customers will appreciate.
When I was a teen I worked and struggled obsessively to become a top chess player, and I succeeded.
Nowadays I prefer to grasp multiple subjects and to seek synergies among them: many types of data analysis, search engine optimization, marketing, social networking, blogging, etc.
My broad base of knowledge — fused with solid logic, trusted intuition and other abilities and skills — fuels my overall critical thinking outside the box strategy.
You Can’t Do Everything
Like it or not we can’t follow up on every idea or opportunity that presents itself. The Law of Diminishing Returns guarantees that. Therefore we must make value judgments and set priorities every day.
Fortunately the 80/20 Rule is on our side.
80% of all benefit accrues to us by accomplishing 20% of everything on our plate. Each day we ought to focus on a half dozen high priority agenda items that will move our businesses and our lives forward.
If only we did that consistently each and every day our lives would be filled with accomplishments and satisfaction.
Nobody however is perfect. We all have bad days. Yet, the 20% group prioritizes and moves forward with much greater focus and consistency than the 80% group.
Please don’t underestimate the power of the 80/20 Rule and the enormous potential of a modest 20 percent.
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Tags: 80 20 Rule, consistency, critical thinking, Law of Diminishing Returns, Marketing, personal branding, Robert Kiyosaki, thinking outside of the box
Sep
11
Home Based Businesses Don’t Work
Filed Under Best of 2008, Career Choices, Home Based Business, Networking and Marketing Strategy, Personal Development and Success | 22 Comments
Home Business Survival Crash Course
People launch all types of businesses every day.
Despite enormous investment and months or years of preparation most new businesses fail. Their once well lit storefronts and offices are now dark, and their employees are searching for new jobs.
I don’t have precise statistics for a home based business. I estimate that perhaps 98% of new home businesses never earn a dime. If my estimate is too high, it can’t be too high by much. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.
My first home business with Excel Communications lost money for five years before finally turning a profit. I have since embarked on other ventures. Some have worked out well, and others not.
Let’s discuss why home based businesses usually fail and what you might be able to do to succeed. First I’ll share my thoughts about this, and then you’ll have a turn to express your point of view.
Reasons for Failure
The following list of causes for failure is arranged with readability in mind, rather than the relative importance of the contributing factors:
- YOURSELF - You have an uphill battle if you lack internal motivation, commitment, relevant skills (such as organization, communication, sales, marketing, online social networking or prospecting), proper training, posture, preparation, productivity, or some combination of these.
- Others - Other people can lack all of the above. Sadly, they can also lack integrity. I believe that people not doing as they say they will is very disappointing and the greatest business obstacle. Read the story of Orovo and Network Success Builders for a good example of this.
- Hype - Exaggeration and misrepresentation of products, services and business opportunities are all too common today as people try desperately to differentiate themselves from their competition in an over-crowded marketplace.
- Company Affiliations - Your success is likely to be tied to the success of a parent company. New companies are unstable and inherently risky to do business with. However, old companies tend to have insufficient momentum.
- Wrong Side of the Marketing Equation - Your cost per acquisition or sale exceeds the value of the sale. The more you sell, the more money you lose. Every business, even a major corporation, can find itself on the wrong side of the marketing equation.
- Over-Reliance on Systems - Your business depends on a system, and when that system stops working, just as systems usually do, your business also stops working. People who preach that people don’t duplicate but systems do are lying big time. Do not fall for this one! What is the truth? Please read on.
Work on Number One
You are #1. Your long term business success hinges upon your mastery of life and business skills and upon your growth as a person. Read books such as biographies, business books and books on personal development. Read blogs, watch videos and associate with successful people. You will improve your chances of succeeding in your personal life and your business endeavors.
Check Out People and Companies
Do the best you can to check people’s backgrounds. Request references.
Look up companies at the Better Business Bureau, and see if they belong to the Direct Selling Association — even though neither guarantees a company’s legitimacy!
Google people and companies alike, and don’t stop after page one or two. Keep going. Try adding in keywords such as scam, rip-off, accused, alleged, cheated, lied, stole, swindled, cheated, convicted, etc.
Limit the extent to which your success depends on people and organizations doing exactly as they say they will. Try to diversify your business so that it doesn’t collapse if a single person or company flakes or rips you off.
If you’re honest like I am, you’ll tend to place too much trust in others. Trusting people is good, but be sure to limit that trust and the damage that any single person or business can inflict on you.
Don’t Fall for Hype
Do you believe everything you hear? Then I know somebody who will sell you the Brooklyn Bridge. Old New York joke, but I can assure you that the joke doesn’t date back to before 1883.
All kidding aside, there are people out there who will say just about anything to get you to buy from them or to recruit you into something.
Do your homework. Use common sense. If something sounds not quite right or too good to be true, assume that it is until you believe that you’re proven wrong.
Consider getting a second opinion from a highly knowledgeable independent third party. Don’t ask Uncle Harry, your neighbor or your accountant. Ask an expert. You will probably have to pay for the advice you get, but the time and money you can save by avoiding a scam or jumping into a business with the wrong expectations may far exceed the cost of a qualified consultant.
Old vs. New Companies
Mange your risk.
Younger people can assume more risk than older people, because they have more time to recover from setbacks. A startup business will best suit a young person. High risks, high rewards.
Older people ought to be more conservative and choose a business with a proven track record.
If you are middle aged or older, here’s another option for you. Spend part of your time and energy on a new business that’s just launching and the rest of your time and energy building something safer.
Even a young entrepreneur can use this strategy, but it does have a drawback. It’s harder to focus on two ventures than on one.
Business Analysis 101
If you’re math phobic, this one is going to be difficult, but help is available.
Your cost per acquisition should be less than the net present value of your expected future profits from the acquisition, also called the customer lifetime value.
CPA < NPV
In plain English, don’t let your cost per sale (in both time and out-of-pocket dollars) wipe out your profit. You can never make it up in volume.
If you cannot figure this one out, get help from a business analyst or a qualified accountant. You’ll have to do your part. You will need to track your sales and your expenses very carefully in order to reach a correct conclusion.
If the basic marketing equation (CPA < NPV) doesn’t balance in your favor, consider using an ethical funded proposal to fix the problem.
Sell another more profitable product or service to “get the customer in the door”. Then sell your main product, service or business opportunity to the customer on the back end.
Systems Don’t Work
Last but not least, despite all the hype about the SpiderWeb System and the Reverse Funnel, systems don’t duplicate. They don’t work for long. In the home business world these systems produce a bunch of clones that run around competing with each other. Believe me, that’s not a pretty sight.
Unfortunately people don’t duplicate either. We know this from the childhood game of Telephone. The message always gets distorted. Any person can become a weak link in the duplication process.
Now, the one thing that does duplicate…
Leadership
Leadership does duplicate. Leaders will get the job done. If more leaders are needed, they will find them.
How do you find leaders?
Be one! Leaders attract leaders.
Now It’s Your Turn
Be a leader. Write a comment.
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Tags: home businessSharing is Caring!
Sep
3
My Private Classroom Opens to Public
Filed Under Announcements, Blogging, Home Based Business, News, Personal Development and Success, Social Media and Social Networking Sites | 22 Comments
I’m working on an in-depth business article, but I decided to take a breather to make an important announcement.Free Social Media Marketing Training
Until now access to the Web 2.0 social media training at My Private Classroom for Marketers had been restricted to private membership. Today that has changed. My Private Classroom is now open to all absolutely free.
My Private Classroom is a regular Ning social networking site, and you can add me there as a friend just as you would at other social networking sites.You will learn online social networking strategy, video marketing, social bookmarking, personal development and much more.A Word of Caution
Before you head over to My Private Classroom, I recommend that you carefully read The Darker Side of Funded Proposals. A word to the wise will hopefully be sufficient.
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Tags: My Private ClassroomSharing is Caring!
Jun
22
Critical Success Factors
Filed Under Best of 2008, Outside the Box, Personal Development and Success | 8 Comments
This post is somewhat longer than usual. Sorry for that, but I put a lot of work into it. I hope you like it.
Last Wednesday during my regular bi-weekly business mentoring tele-conference I revealed several powerful business success secrets.
While I was specifically addressing entrepreneurs, small business owners and sales professionals, these principles apply to all people and to all areas of our lives, not only business success.
Have you noticed? The year 2008 is half over.
Near the end of 2007 I posted Personal Development: 10 Simple Success Strategies to “help turbo charge your personal development in the New Year”. This may be worth re-reading if some of your goals and objectives have lost much of their earlier inertia.
Commitment
What are you committed to?
Mike Hernacki in The Ultimate Secret to Getting Absolutely Everything You Want wrote:
“In order to accomplish something, you must know what you want and be willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish it.”
It sounds too simple, doesn’t it? However, it is your intention and commitment that set The Law of Attraction into motion on your behalf.
Want proof?
Reflect back on your most important accomplishments, such as raising a child, getting a college degree, running a marathon, starting a business, or developing an Internet presence, and you’ll agree that your commitment to your success was absolute.
It wasn’t that you felt obligated. Rather you felt that the goal was extremely important to you, and that you would deal with any obstacle that might arise — without knowing in advance exactly what would be demanded of you on your way to success.
Without total commitment The Law of Attraction would have probably delivered an obstacle that you would not have been willing to handle, and you would have failed.
This success secret is so important that I’ve read Mike Hernacki’s timeless book about a dozen times over the past decade.
Acquiring New Skills
I am commited to ongoing personal development and acquisition of new knowledge and skills. I read mind expanding books, blogs and e-books.
Your objective may require the mastery of new skills – or it may not. Your willingness to do what it takes is what really matters. If new skills are required, then you must be ready and willing to learn them.
Working Hard
You may be required to apply a great amount of effort. When I wanted to run the New York Marathon in 1984, strenuous preparation was absolutely necessary. In 1985 that was still true but to a lesser extent, since I had maintained a high level of fitness in the interim.
Tenacity and Persistence
Let’s bring this home.
You want to develop a presence at one of your favorite social networking sites – or you want to write a blog – or you want to build an Internet presence. These objectives usually require a high degree of tenacity.
So often people abandon online social networking, blogging or social media optimization without realizing their objectives. They weren’t willing to persist. Perhaps their belief system was weak.
I have been social networking online for many years. I have continuously posted to this blog for nearly eight months.
Why?
I know what I want, and I’m willing to persist until I achieve it.
Belief
As I stated in Personal Development: The Law of Belief, “Our motivation and how we act is determined by our underlying beliefs.
“If we don’t believe that something is possible, we won’t even try to make it happen. Please listen to a conference call I recorded on 8/22/07 that illustrates this concept.”
A healthy belief system is critical to success in business and life.
Treat Your Business Like a Business
Production
Showing up counts for something, but it doesn’t count for enough.
Success in business and life depends on producing value either directly or indirectly through people you influence.
If you have a job and don’t produce, you won’t get very far, and sooner or later you won’t have a job.
If you have a business and don’t produce, you won’t have money in the bank.
If you don’t come through for people, you won’t have their friendship.
You must make a positive contribution in order to be successful.
One way to ensure that you’re productive is to set daily or weekly goals or benchmarks.
For example, let’s suppose you’re in sales. You need to make six product sales per month to meet your business objectives. In order to make six sales, you need to make 15 presentations. To get 15 appointments, you’ll need to speak to 60 people.
You work about 20 days per month. On average you will have to speak to three people per day in order to speak to 60 per month.
Your benchmark or goal becomes three a day. If you focus on 3+ per day with consistency, you will likely make your six product sales per month.
You’ve succeeded at breaking down your abstract monthly goal into concrete daily actions.
Diversification
Big corporations employ a wide variety of media and messages to bring their product to market. They advertise on television, radio, in print and through direct mail. They experiment with many versions of their ad copy.
You cannot do everything a giant company can do, but why not learn from their example?
If you use half a dozen methods to reach out to your potential clients, you’ll enjoy these benefits:
- You’ll achieve success with some approaches, even if others fail.
- You’ll attract a wider variety of clients than using a single method.
- You’ll be able to see which methods perform better relative to each other, so that you can refine your marketing plan.
- You’ll lower your overall risk through diversification.
Here are some of my favorite marketing channels:
- Online social networking at social networking sites
- Offline business networking at a business networking group such as Network Plus, facilitated by Ted Fattoross, the group’s founder
- My Online Social Networking blog that you’re reading right now coupled with keyword research and search engine optimization
- Social media sites and social bookmarking sites
- Classified advertising in small weekly newspapers
Over time you’ll develop your own favorite marketing channels if you haven’t already done so.
Tracking and Analysis
If you want to make informed business decisions, you must track your results and analyze your data. If you can’t do it yourself, then you must get an expert to do it for you or show you how to do it.
Tracking and analysis are not something optional.
Let me ask you, would you even consider driving your car with your eyes shut?
You can’t afford to run your business with your eyes shut or even partially covered.
Cost per Acquisition
One of the most basic marketing measurements is cost per acquisition, the amount that you’re spending on average to complete a sale using each marketing method. Simply put, it’s the total spend divided by the total number of sales.
It is important to consider your staff costs including your own time, not just the out-of-pocket expenditures for design and media.
Cost per acquisition is an excellent way to compare marketing channels, but there is one very important caveat. Customers from one marketing channel may be more valuable than from another. Therefore marketers must take into account customer long term value, the other side of the equation.
Customer Long Term Value
Customer long term value can be difficult to calculate, but it is generally approximated as the income you expect to earn from a customer over a 12 to 24 month period. If your business is on the risky side, lean towards 12 months. If it is very stable, then 24 months may be appropriate.
To be successful, cost per acquisition cannot exceed customer long term value. It ought to be less.
Trend Data
You can also track your performance or the performance of your staff. Trending performance data and marketing data over time will help you see the bigger picture.
Masterminding and Mentoring
As stated in my post Even Mentors Need Mentors, “I learn from reading many books, e-books and blogs, and from speaking frequently with friends and mentors. Having mentors has greatly shortened my learning curve.”
Masterminding with your peers and seeking out mentors will help you as much or more than any other single strategy mentioned in this article.
Please feel free to comment and share those strategies that have made the biggest difference in your business and personal endeavors.
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Tags: belief system, Business Networking, business networking group, consistency, critical success factors, entrepreneur, keyword research, mentoring, network plus, SEO, social bookmarking sites, starting a small business, Strategies, success secrets, Success Strategies, Ted FattorossSharing is Caring!
Jun
6
Even Mentors Need Mentors
Filed Under Acknowledgment, Books, News, Personal Development and Success | 1 Comment
Yesterday I was asked how it is that I’ve learned so much so quickly about social media marketing and search engine optimization.
My response was simple.
I learn from reading many books, e-books and blogs, and from speaking frequently with friends and mentors. Having mentors has greatly shortened my learning curve.
I do admit that I am a much more focused learner than the average person. I was able to finish high school math at 15 and by 19 I was one of the top chess players in New York.
As an adult I’ve gone on to acquire skills and expertise in many areas including business analysis, social media marketing, search engine marketing, and online social networking at social networking sites, the original motivation for this site.
One of my greatest teachers and mentors was Eric Marder, founder of Eric Marder Associates and my employer for 23 years. One fundamental thing he taught me about business was that I should always seek the truth.
At 56, I still place a very high priority on continuing education, personal development and masterminding with my mentors and peers. You can ask any of the friends with whom I consult most often, David Alexander, Ivo Jackson, and Tom Long.
Other friends and mentors whom I wish to acknowledge:
- Bill Weber of Direct Matches, who taught me to build it right
- Diane Hochman of My Private Classroom who develops leaders through her training
- Mike Litman who taught me that You Don’t Have to Get It Right, you just have to get it going
- Also Ann Sieg of The Renegade System, Mark Wieser of Surefire Sponsoring, Mike Dillard of Magnetic Sponsoring, and Tim Draayer, a master blogger
Diane Hochman of My Private Classroom, like myself, offers free tele-seminars and webinars. To receive announcements and invitations to these classes, join my e-mail list at my free social media training site.I used to recommend the training Bill Arnold offers through Network Success Builders, but came to realize, as I wrote in Orovo and Network Success Builders, that Network Success Builder’s training was mediocre and that Bill Arnold lacked personal and business integrity.
Make a commitment to read at least one business or marketing book each month. Choose mentors to guide you and then set aside time each week to learn something from them.
Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to my RSS feed or by e-mail. Also, visit my About, Services, Media Buzz and Connect pages to learn about me and my social media and web marketing services.
Tags: Ann Sieg, Bill Weber, Books, David Alexander, Diane Hochman, Direct Matches, I.C. Jackson, Magnetic Sponsoring, Mark Wieser, Marketing, marketing books, Mike Dillard, mike litman, My Private Classroom, Network Success Builders, online social networking, search engine marketing, social media marketing, The Renegade System, Tim Draayer, Tom LongSharing is Caring!
Apr
24
Don’t Follow the Flock
Filed Under Networking and Marketing Strategy, Personal Development and Success, Social Media and Social Networking Sites | 5 Comments
Tonight Diane Hochman speaking on a free My Private Classroom webinar revealed the top seven Internet screw-ups of the average marketer.
My favorite was following the flock.
Facebook is hot. Very hot. There are scores of top networkers on the Facebook scene.
Is that where you want to be? Do you want to follow the flock to Facebook in the hope of successfully competing with some of the world’s greatest networkers?
You might be successful. But instead, why not carve out a niche for yourself somewhere else? There are hundreds of social networking sites. Why not lead the flock instead of following?
Whenever everybody zigs, be a leader and zag. If they zag, you zig.
Diane made a number of other excellent points. Then she summed up her insightful and inspiring talk with the following advice. Above all, you should use common sense and be yourself.
For an invitation to the next free My Private Classroom webinar, complete the subscription form on my Social Networking Project site devoted to online social networking and social media marketing training.
Don’t miss any posts. Register, it’s easy, or subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Business Networking, Diane Hochman, My Private Classroom, networkers, online social networking, social media marketing training, social networking sites
