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By Joyce
Area 1: Identifying the Targets or Suspects, Marketing
Area 1 of your business includes marketing, referral partnerships, public relations, advertising, etc. It includes any and all efforts to get those individuals or companies who may be interested in your products and services to take action and connect with you.
Most companies, organizations, and industries don’t naturally have an abundance of targets. While a “hard” word, you can also call them suspects but they are in fact, the people who could benefit from your product or service. Marketing is a matter of educating them about the benefits of connecting with your company and getting them into position to work with you.
One of the most important principles to grasp that success in marketing, success in business , is governed by natural laws that affect all areas of life. I have a colleague who discovered over 110 of these natural laws to date. He never does anything small.
One of these laws is the Roller Coaster Principle. Inconsistent actions produce inconsistent results. Consistent actions produce consistent results. The real trick in any business is knowing which actions and systems produce consistent results.
Breaking the up-and-down cycle of the roller coaster requires an entire team who produces consistency.
In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins says it better than anyone:
“When I look over the good-to-great transformations, the one word that keeps coming to mind is consistency.”
Another word offered to me by physics professor R.J. Peterson is coherence.“What is one plus one?” he asks and then pauses for effect. “Four! In physics, we have been talking about the idea of coherence, the magnifying effect of one factor upon another. In reading about the flywheel, I couldn’t help but think of the principle of coherence.”
However you phrase it, the basic idea is the same: each piece of the system reinforces the other parts of the system to form an integrated whole that is much more powerful than the sum of the parts. It is only through consistency over time, through multiple generations, that you get maximum results.
“What would happen if you could get one referral from each of your prospects and/or clients?” Most people say, “It would increase my business.” Well, it not only would increase your business, but it would double your business indefinitely. We call this the “Cluster Principle.”
When the entire company culture embraces the Cluster Principle as well as other powerful laws and principles, it changes the way you do business forever.
By Joyce
Business Masteries LIVE! in Denver this past week was a huge success. I met an incredible amount of wonderful people wanting to grow their business to the next level. I suspect in the end we will work together and a few of them may even become good friends……”synergy” as I call it.
The most curious thing is, I had a lot of people in Denver come up to me and want to discuss with me how they can take their business online so they can prospect better.
Why do they ask me this?
One, I know a lot of online marketers and entrepreneurs, some I consider close confidants. They teach me what they know. I apply it to offline business owners. I discovered this past week a really dangerous, radical new theory:
1. Business owners are intoxicated by the notion of Social Media and the hype about free or no cost online prospecting.
Heck, I am too!
2. Very few people are doing this successfully.
Dangerous. Many Internet marketers and online business owners will not agree. They will even get angry. I know most of them.
Radical? No. Its just “The Emperor Has No Clothes” and many are not telling him or her. I guess I will. (sigh)
If your business structure is flawed offline, say you are a real estate or mortgage professional, then going online to prospect is going to sap your time, focus and revenue generating activities with little results. If you are reactive, scattered, lacking a system of prospect generation and referral depth offline, you will not be able to put one in place effectively online.
Just a theory I have, not backed by data, just my observations.
If your business structure is solid, you can still go online to prospect with little results because you may not know the right actions to take in the right way at the right time.
It’s a shame really, as to the few that are doing it well are getting very good results. These are the results that can be duplicated, replicated and expanded at will with a logical pressure point analysis. This is rare.
For every single person I talked with I recommended some offline business strategies first. There was one man I actually encouraged to expand his LinkedIn exposure and do a few things with some targeted groups and connections.
I also told the others to put away their Internet Marketing “follow these easy steps” to traffic and money programs. They are the online equivalent of fast and easy “dreams come true,” what I call morphine shots or IMLM – Internet Marketing MLM’s.
Solid business, built a solid way takes time. The fastest I’ve seen it is 2-1/2 years. It’s not overnight but t is enduring and profitable for years.
By Joyce
One of the biggest reasons for my success in any business venture I undertake, is that I approach them, each one, even the most complicated ones, with a simple, three step process.
The simple, three-step process to success is:
- Step 1: Examination
- Step 2: Solution(s)
- Step 3: Implementation
Why? The answer is simple, too. I call these the “Three Steps to Anything.”
Step 1: The Examination
I’m not a doctor but I model my process after one. A doctor would never present a solution without doing a thorough examination. It’s a pretty good model, too, despite what you may think about doctors. You must do a thorough examination of the facts of any simple business situation.
It is critical you complete an effective examination. This step may involve a simple, short series of questions. Or it may entail a much more comprehensive, thorough series for an in-depth examination. It should really but up to the complexity of the situation or the client.
Step 2: Present Solutions
Anyone who is presenting solutions without doing a thorough examination is selling you something rather than seeking what’s best for you. Run the other way! At the same time, understand your client has the same perception. Ask questions first, formulate solutions to those specific answers your client or prospect gave you.
I like presenting solutions in groups of three: a basic, an intermediate, and an advanced plan for their success based on the examination. Which plan they pursue is their choice. I can deliver all of them.
Step 3: Implementation
Implement the best solution for your client, no matter which level they picked. Some clients have a great sense of urgency and want to implement a solution immediately. Others take their time and ease into their new strategy.
I find that individuals and companies who tend to see the greatest success in implementation have a high sense of urgency coupled with being powerfully motivated, open-minded, trusting of themselves and me, and quick to respond. In business, I have found that the slower you react, the more money it can cost you. These people tend to take on intermediate to advanced solutions in the implementation phase of things.
Individuals who tend to procrastinate often don’t trust themselves to “fail successfully” and likewise won’t trust me. These typically take on no or basic level solutions. To overcome procrastination, at times I must push them to take action without all the data and without supporting evidence. Such a step often feels counter-intuitive, risky, and doomed to failure.
Remember, waiting to gather all the data before implementing a solution can be just as risky! Sometimes we need to trust our intuition—our “gut feel”—and just take action! My best business students don’t ask for a plan or for more detail. They will simply just ask, “What is the one action you’d recommend that I take right here and now?” because they watched me take them through the “Three Steps to Anything.”
By Joyce
Now that you are clear, as a business owner, a CEO, that setting goals and having the proper motivation to go after them, is critical to your business success, I’m going to twist your head around today!
Goal setting is a tricky business.
This is especially true for the entrepreneur with huge goals in mind.
I have a theory that if you reach your goals all the time, you are not setting them high enough.
Ever fail? It’s the most painful time and the time that you will learn the most. What are you learning when you achieve your goals all the time?
Failure and success is a balancing act with a CEO. I love it when I fail. Do you? I learn from it, adjust, do it again with a different approach, and see if my efforts work. Try, fail, adjust, try, fail adjust, get lucky, adjust and succeed. This is really what goal setting is all about. It is, in my mind, what it means: always moving forward towards an end result.
You will have to set the goals high enough so some failure occurs. High goals mean you are in unchartered waters. The waters could be shark infested, too. In taking business owners into unchartered waters, they usually, not all the time, but usually, freak out. I like pushing them to their limits and then beyond because it tests their sincerity in reaching their goals and dreams. Many want it, few reach them, and so I just get right to it to see who I’m dealing with.
The correct method of goal setting is to set the bar so high you must fail. As a matter of fact, several failures are good. I find the large, stupendous goals are reached by the few business owners that get pummeled by their incredible failures along the way.
So, first step today: pick one goal you want to reach in the next 12 months. Make sure you then tie in some very real, tangible, almost scientific components to it:
- What does your goal feel like
- What does you goal look like
- What does you goal taste like
- What does your goal smell like
- What does your goal emotionally feel like
For those of you with NLP training, you’ll get it. For those of you new to this, you will get it.
Work this out on paper, with a pencil. There is a direct correlation between the pencil tip, your fingertips and the nerves that go up your arm and into your brain, I believe. It matters that you physically write this out.
When you’re finished, double your goal in size and scope. Or, half the time you think it will take to get there. Freaked out? Wait until next week’s tip…..you should be as lucky as to have me as your business trainer!
By Joyce
It’s time to dive deeper into your business motivation. If you own your own business, you are a CEO. Act like one. CEO’s move their business and company forward constantly. Do you? As I mentioned before, motivation is tricky. Let’s look at what this means.
I’m an incredibly positive, “can do” individual. My first reaction to any roadblock or situation is, “Hm, how can this work?” Today, however, I want to start with, “Why don’t you feel motivated?” Especially with change, if you understand why you aren’t doing something, you can actually find the answer more easily than finding the reasons to do something.
Motivation means you have a reason to move. If you don’t have a reason to move forward you are unmotivated. So let’s look at this. If you wake up in the morning and you are not in top form, depressed or just don’t want to get out of bed, you may think you are unmotivated. Chances are, you have lost touch with your reasons to get out of bed or you simply don’t have one.
Most people like this do not have a great, big, giant, juicy goal for themselves.
Feeling unmotivated? Create a big, giant, juicy goal.
What is your big, giant, juicy goal as a successful CEO?
Just do it. It will work.
How and why this works is done by what is called the Carrot Principle. It’s like dangling a big, sweet, juicy carrot in front of the horse so it will move a few steps forward in order to take bite out of it. The Carrot Principle will get you out of bed in the morning. If you’ve got a big, juicy reason to get out of bed and get after your day, your company, you will be motivated to do so.
If you have this juicy goal you will not have a problem doing the things you need to do, doing the things laid out in this book, you need to do to be a successful CEO. You speak to the right people, do the right deals, make the right decisions because you have the most basic yet powerful thing you can have: motivation.
For most CEO’s that are struggling, chances are they are not clear about their goals. Without clarity in those goals, your motivation is murky.
What do you want?
Why do you want it?
You need to have a powerful reason why and then you need to know what it will look like when you get it. The why is, “Why do I want this?” and the how is, “What will it look like when I get it?”
When you can get clear on these two things you become a very powerful force to be reckoned with. Suddenly, you have purpose. Purpose is powerful. When you have purpose you don’t need motivation. Think about the great people who have changed the world simply with purpose: Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, George Washington, FDR, Winston Churchill, Ghandi, Mother Theresa. It is no different in being a successful CEO. How big is your goal?
Be very clear on what you want.
Be very clear on why you want it.
A final word on motivation: if you don’t think you are motivated, think again. The human brain is always moving and thinking and heading towards something. You control and direct your motivation or you let your mind randomly choose it.
By Joyce
Building Success and Entrepreneurial Coaching
Breaking through the entrepreneurial glass ceiling is not easy for an entrepreneur. However, yes, it can be done.
What is the Entrepreneurial Glass Ceiling? It’s simple: we start our business, we work all areas of it ourselves. We think of it, we work it, we sacrifice day in and day out. Nobody can do it as well as we can nor can they do it with the same drive and dedication.
We skip time off and go ten years without a vacation. We endlessly hire and eventually fire people always searching for employees that are the clone of ourselves. It is an endless cycle where we are trapped within the limits of time and energy. There are only so many hours in the day that we can do it all. Eventually a limit is reached. That limit is the Entrepreneurial Glass Ceiling where we, as one person, can do no more.
When things go wrong, we go in like a bull in a china shop, shake things up and start again, building another cycle that will eventually end this way. There are very few entrepreneurs that have not experienced this endless cycle. Breaking through is again, possible, with the right actions done in the right way.
What are those actions?
The actions, an outline of what to do, will stem from setting up the big picture goal of getting your business to a point where it can run and make a profit without you. Most entrepreneurs, even on paper as an owner of a business, really only have a job. They are ironically trapped in a job within a company they own. The following three action steps, the “Three Steps to Anything,” can begin to free a business owner from their endless cycle.
Action Step 1
Do a thorough examination. No doctor will ever prescribe a medicine without performing an examination, and neither should you. Tinkering with your business can be catastrophic unless you know exactly what to do. So, step back and examine it first.
Action Step 2
Find solutions. Look at everything. Forget whether you like the solutions or not, just list them out. At a later time you can filter through whether they are positive or negative or you like or dislike them.
Action Step 3
Take action. Put the right solution in place for you and your business.
These are the three steps to owning a business, not a job. These are the three steps to breaking through the entrepreneurial glass ceiling.
Individuals and companies who tend to see the greatest success in developing and implementing powerful solutions that help their business to make a profit independently of themselves are motivated, open-minded, trusting of themselves and others, and quick to respond. In other words, they do these steps, they take action.
In business, the slower you react, the more money it can cost you as an entrepreneur. Individuals who tend to procrastinate often don’t trust themselves to “fail successfully” and likewise won’t trust others. Taking action will put the right systems in place to eventually free you from your job. It will create a business that support you, your skills and your lifestyle.
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