Informational Interviews

Is this the year you start your very own business? Do you want to be your own boss and have no superiors at all? Do you want to control what customers or clients you take on? Do you want to decide how many projects you handle, within one day? If you answered yes, then this is the time to get some advice.

When starting a business, advice can easily be turned into reality. One way to do that is by scheduling informational interviews. Having information interviews is much easier than going on a job interview. This will lead you down the journey that you really desire, rather than second guessing, did I actually get the position?

Start by making a list of your connections, that you think will be willing to speak to you. They could be a friend of a friend, connections on LinkedIn, members of an association you belong to, individuals on a forum and more... Basically, they can come from many different outlets.

Then, begin drafting up an email, but of course, always personalize the individual’s name before pushing the send button. People tend to respond better when it's more than just a generalized message.

Once you've received your replies, you can have a thirty minute phone call with them. Of course, be sure to take notes from their advice. You don't want to forget anything. Try to have approximately, three to five phone calls, and see what advice is consistent and what is actually unique.

Now, that you have feedback and ideas rolling around in your head, it is time to put them into action! Take the consistent advice first, since that is proven to work and then, add a little bit of you into the mix, in order to differentiate from the competition. Grab your niche and become the expert!

Follow Through

We have now entered a new year, 2017! Thus, begins your New Year's resolution! So, what are your business plans and goals? There are so many aspects to choose from, such as developing a marketing strategy, reviewing your demographics, updating and editing your current business plans, increasing sales revenue, building stronger customer relations, project management, email management and the list goes on and on…

However, no matter what you choose to focus on this year, simply give it your all. This is the year to make it a priority and have a real sense of urgency. This is the time to analyze your data and grow your business all around. All you need is a little motivation to get started and stay right on track. 

If you need extra help to get your details completed, then maybe it is time to consider hiring an assistant. You might feel overwhelmed or if you just want to be more economical, then why not consider a virtual assistant. Now, you happen to have a retail store, then you might need some sales associates added to your staff. Lastly, you might want to hire an administrative assistant or manager for your office needs. Of course, no matter what type of business, extra hands are almost always needed.

So, what projects need to be tackled immediately without hesitation? Do you have any specific deadlines, short or long term, in mind? Do you have a checklist to run through? These are the questions you should be asking yourself and much more... 

Now, the most important thing to remember is actually to take action! Just talking about it gets you nowhere fast. So, don't procrastinate because the months go by quickly.  Simply take two steps forward and zero steps back because one step back is not an option this year. 

10 Ways To Get Your Message In Front Of Your Customers

Here is a checklist of 10 ways to get your message in front of your customers. 

1) Get New Business From Existing Customers. Ask existing clients for more biz before you try warming up a stone cold lead.  Ask the happy clients for referrals to people they know that you don’t – and be sure to keep track of who referred whom.

2) Pitch a Stranger. It’s like bad advertising when you blow hot air when pitching to a new prospect.  In face-to-face mediating you’ve got to know what to say, and say it with conviction.

3) Give It To Me Straight.  No one has time for the “warm-up”. Prepare well honed phrases and practice them in front of a mirror.  People like it when you can get to the point rapidly and intelligently.  If it’s by email, make sure they don’t have to scroll down to read it all.

4) Talk About Your Failures.  Seriously! It builds credibility.  Everyone can’t be perfect all the time, and when you can tell a prospect why you lost a client and what you’ve learned it’s a welcome change.  They appreciate not getting the usual hot air & razzle-dazzle.Then...tell them about a success.

5) Offer a “Loss-Leader”.  People are less and less apt to buy impulsively from a person if they don’t have a good feeling about them.  Offering a loss-leader allows the relationship to mature over time.  This is very important in B2B clients. (Loss-leader is the practice of offering a product or service at a considerable discount and loss of profit to attract future business.)

6) Get Sold Yourself.  Pick the most successful competitors in your area and let them sell you.  Play customer and be aware of how you feel during each step, and see why their approach works so well.  Auto-makers buy each others cars and break them down to nuts and bolts.  You can do the same thing in your space.

7) Start an E-mail Newsletter.  This is much like #5.  Give them useful information week in and week out, or month in and month out.  Make them happy to see your name in the “from” field.  If they only hear from you when you want something, they’ll turn you off when they hear from you.

8) Develop How-To video tips. If you don’t have a You Tube channel...create one. You Tube is the second largest search engine behind Google.

9) Offer Testimonials.  Satisfied clients or customers can say things about you that you can never believable say about yourself.  Use the person’s full name if possible when doing this.  “KM from Buffalo” isn’t nearly as strong as “Kenneth Moore from Buffalo”.

10) Ask Questions.  I can’t emphasize enough how important and how underused this tip is in business.  Simply allowing people to verbalize their needs makes them happy and tells them you listen.  It also allows you to hone in on the points to make when it’s your turn to talk.

It’s strange, but we become so busy doing business that we have a tendency to overlook what’s in front of our noses.  Most of the tips listed, would come about if we ever had the time to visit with our customers while doing business.

Change your Mindset and Change your Results,

Rich

Why We Need Mentors

As Gandhi once said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Mentors can be a force of change and they can influence many people, including you.

"Mentoring", this Greek term has been used in countless ways but it all refers to the same idea, giving guidance and advice to another person. 

Let’s take a quick look at where and what it means to be a mentor. 

It comes from the story of Homer and when he left on his journey, he asked his friend “Mentor” to look after his son. 

It means that this is a committed relationship between a young person and an adult. The adult has the patience to teach the young person whatever he knows from life and about life. 

It is the adult's responsibility to provide support, assistance, and guidance as the younger one faces new challenges and problems everyday. 

Mentors usually take the role of the parents when the parent is busy or unavailable during the critical stages of a person's life. 

Mentors are needed because they can be a positive influence on the mentee who is learning from them. 

There are two types of mentoring; the first is natural mentoring and the second is planned mentoring. 

Natural mentoring can come from everyday situations where anyone can be your mentor. You can learn through friendship, through teaching, or through counseling. 

Planned mentoring comes from a structured program where the mentor and the mentee are matched through a formal procedure. 

Mentoring is becoming increasingly popular in the workforce as well as for personal development. 

This is partly due to various testimonials among people who have tried it and found it has many advantages they both got out of the mentoring program. 

Mentors give back to society and make career growth, personal development, or intellectual achievement possible for the person they are mentoring. 

Mentoring is very helpful in the workplace because mentors can provide the necessary insights and perspectives on what a person should do to achieve his goals. 

A mentor is also a very helpful option in your personal development because the mentor can help you during tough personal and social stress and offer guidance just when you need it the most.

Why become a Mentor?

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated that, "You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late." 

Mentors are doing kindness when they take on the responsibility of helping other people learn from their experiences. 

A very nice quote from an unknown author read, "A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could." 

The mentor does just that, they believe that their mentees can do it. This, in itself, is usually encouragement enough for the mentee to do their best to succeed in life.

Change your Mindset and Change your Results,

Rich

5 Simple Steps To Boost Your Business With Positive Thinking

We all know how powerful our mind is. By being pessimistic, you attract negative things into your life. But by being optimistic, you are opening up your life to positive opportunities. 

I was leading a workshop with entrepreneurs and business owners and asked; “what are the 10 qualities of a great customers?” After they shared with the group, I asked them to circle the traits they themselves were doing. Guess how many they were doing? Not many, But 

"if you do what you value...then you will attract them."

Sounds like a great business strategy doesn’t it? But how does positive thinking work exactly? How can you boost your business with positive thinking?

There are a number of different ways you can utilize your positive mind for your business. However, don’t make the assumption that your mind will do all the work for you. You will also have to do something yourself to boost your business. Why don’t you try out some of these suggestions now and see where they take you? 

1) Be generous with praises.

Your business is not just a one-man team. It may consist of two to even a hundred members, depending on how large your company is. It is because of this that you have to learn how to give praises. 

Studies have shown that employees work better with positive reinforcement rather than harsh criticism. Not to say that you’re no longer allowed to give out constructive criticism. You’ll just have to be more careful with your words and even your timing. 

Some companies actually make a conscious effort to start and end their days with praise. You might be surprised at how a simple, “good job, Eric” can boost employee performance. 

2) Look at the brighter side.

Sometimes, things don’t go the way you expect them to. Perhaps this month’s sales have dropped 10% or maybe you’ve had a string of bad luck when it comes to your customers. But these are not reasons to give up and let depression take over. 

Look at the brighter side. You can put a positive spin on things if you simply look at the situation in a different light. Take the time to assess what has been happening in your company lately and make the necessary steps to fix the gaps. 

Perhaps this is life’s way of saying that you are now ready for bigger challenges or innovative solutions, and thus, ready for bigger percentage growth. As you overcome each situation, your business becomes stronger and more dependable. 

3) Put up positive posters.

Another way to boost your business with positive thinking is by putting up motivational posters in your office. You don’t have to cover every inch of your wall with them. Just a few copies in strategic locations would do. 

Maybe you can put one up by the lounge or one by the rest room. There are a lot of fun designs and fun words to choose from. Motivational posters are even considered art by some people. If you don’t have the budget to look for those framed posters, you can always just print a positive statement on a piece of bond paper and post it on the bulletin board. 

4) Sponsor positive thinking seminars.

Companies often send their employees out for business seminars. However, only a few actually expose their staff to positive thinking or motivational seminars. You can put up as many posters as you want or be so positive yourself, but it might be difficult for the others to grasp the concept. 

So why not give them the opportunity to soak it all up from the people who know the positive thinking strategy very well? After the seminar, you can ask those who attended to create reports. You can see for yourself just how much of their perspective will have changed. 

Lightbulb moment: You can ask those same people to lead positive thinking seminars in your own company in the future!

5) Encourage positive values in the office.

While it is not your duty to instill positive values in your employees, it will probably help your business grow if you do. It’s always better to work with people who are on the same page as you. 

So how do you encourage positive values in the office? Well, a lot of people like to have an employee of the month system. However, you can take the idea one step further and perhaps add a few more to the roster. 

How about giving rewards to the person who has the best customer relations or the person who is the most determined. You don’t have to give out huge prizes, but you can at least acknowledge that these values are highly recognized in your company.  

These are just the various ways you can boost your business with positive thinking. Ultimately, it starts with you. It is then adopted by the people you meet and work with. 

That’s the beauty of positive thinking. You can pass what you know to other people and they in turn will pass it to others. Your business, being a hub for positive thinking, will definitely draw in more customers. There’s something different about a business that is filled with positive aura. You can easily make your own business a positive haven just by following the suggestions mentioned above. 

When you Change Your Mindset…You Will Change Your Results,

Rich

Leadership Is Not Motivation by Intimidation

I have been around CEO’s who believe, leadership is all about power. In fact, in speaking to people in D.C. they have something they call “Potomac Fever”. What is it?…Power.

Taken to the extreme, I have seen leaders and CEO’s use their power as a club. Leadership is not about getting what you want using fear. Leadership is not “Motivation by Intimidation.”

It is about encouraging and coaching others towards the goal of the organization and themselves. It is about getting everyone on the same page and helping him or her see the big picture of the organization. You must be a leader not a boss.

People follow others when they see a clear sense of purpose. People will only follow you if they see that you know where you are going.

If you do not know where you're headed, why would people follow you? Imagine having a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Imagine the box does not have a picture of what the completed puzzle looks like. Leaders must have a vision of what the future looks like and communicate it.

Being a leader is not about what you make others do. It's about who you are, what you know, and what you do. You are a reflection of what you're subordinates must be.

Studies have shown that one trait of good leadership is the trust and confidence your subordinates have in you. Trust and confidence is built on good relationships, trustworthiness, and high ethics.

Once you have their trust and confidence, you may now continue to communicate the goals and objectives you are to undertake.

Communication is a very important key to good leadership. The knowledge and technical expertise you have must be clearly communicated to other people. You must be able to assess situations, weigh the pros and cons of any decision, and actively seek out an answer.

Leaders are not do-it-all heroes. You should not claim to know everything, and you should not rely upon your skills alone. You should recognize the skills and talents your subordinates have. Only when you come to this realization will you be able to work as one cohesive unit.

The bottom line is this…"Leadership is Not Motivation by Intimidation...It is Through Inspiration.”

Change your Mindset and Change your Results,

Rich

Are You Stuck In The Comfort Zone?

Have you ever been stuck in the comfort zone? We all have at one or another in our life. One of the people I coach as part of my mastermind group asked me; " How can I get out of my comfort zone?" I told him to answer these seven questions.

1) What do I really want?

Interesting, to know we rarely take time to figure this out. What do you really want to do with your life.  Figure out what you enjoy doing and be the you that you want to be.

2) Do I really want to change?

Asking yourself this question will help you decide if you are already doing something that you do well and enjoy.  Maybe you just aren't focused on a part of your life that you'd like to see grow.

3) What's the positive intent?

With so much happening around us we think there is no room for even considering  there might be light at the end of the tunnel. Look for the positive intent and by the way there is always one...if you allow yourself to find it. 

4) Am I OK with what I'm doing?

Sometimes we end doing something for someone else and not for ourselves. Are you trying to please them or yourself?  

5) Am I happy where I am right now?

If the answer is yes, then grab onto this and be the best you can be.  

6) How much could I have?

Here is what I want to say to you...Be a pig! Because in this case there is no such thing as having too much or too little, but it's more about on how much you want it. 

7) What motivates me?

What motivates you? I cannot nor can anyone else motivate you. It's an answer you have to discover for yourself. 

Seek and you will find the answer in you...it has always been there...waiting for the opportunity to answer...when asked. 

Go ahead...ask.

 Remember When You Change Your Mindset...You Change Your Results!

Rich