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Tag: Millionaire Mind Intensive

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The Real Problem is…

Posted on by 43
man with hands on face

Last month we explored how sometimes we just need to be able to identify what we’re frustrated at in order to begin addressing it. When there are consistent frustrations in a business, we can usually address them by putting systems in place that minimize inconsistencies and produce more of the results we’re really looking for.

It’s another one of those no-duh, no brainers that may not appear like much until those frustrations build to the point of blinding us from the most direct solutions.

But we now want to articulate the impact of that frustration on our business condition. How does this thing impact you? What results aren’t you getting? What’s happening? What’s not happening that you want to happen, or don’t want to happen?

We don’t want to be working on anything that doesn’t really matter. If you’re frustrated because your partner starts their day later than you do, does it really matter as long as the work is getting done? But if that lateness means missing calls from earlier time zones, that could have an impact, yes?

So it’s one thing to name a frustration, and it’s another to know exactly what that frustration translates into toward your bottom line. You’ve got to probe, measure, and quantify that frustration. You might find at the end of the day, you’re really getting bothered over something trivial—or you could find that your frustrations are indeed warranted.

If you have a complex system you’re looking at, this process can take months. So how about a more simple formula?

“The real problem in my business is the absence …” It could be a system that will cost effectively generate leads rather than be a costly guessing game every time. Or a system that staff can follow consistently rather than doing it their own way each time, producing mediocre or inconsistent results. Or it could be the absence of a system for strategic planning rather than primarily responding to a competitor’s moves.

It’s just a generic way of focusing. You’re not actually formulating a system yet. What you’ll find is some of these things that you describe can actually be purchased as software programs, or you can easily hire consultants who do them much better than you would. But once you’ve figured out what the problem actually is, reformulating starts to become easier.

“The real problem in my business is the absence of a system that will …” Fill in the blank with that generic system solution and then write down your original frustrating condition.

You should start to feel a shift in your energy in terms of some of these things that are frustrating you. The question that you simply have to ask now is: Is this frustration worth fixing? Is this frustration that you named—if it’s not stemming from within you—something you have to address quickly or is it lower on the priority scale?

Do you really want to remedy this frustrating condition or would you rather just live with it? That’s the question that you have to answer.

What do you think? What are some frustrating aspects of running a business that you’ve encountered, and how did you remedy them? Did you find value in naming and understanding the impact of those frustrations? Were some of them really nothing? Make sure to leave me a comment and let me know your experiences with frustrations in business (and how you handled them) – or even how you handled frustration and overcame it in other parts of your life!

For Your Freedom,

 harvsignature

Sealing the Deal

Posted on by 63
hundred dollar bill

There’s no way around it: those who aren’t extraordinary athletes or entertainers but who still want to get rich have to get good at sales. Whatever that may be, even for artists, or whoever. You have to more specifically not only get good at sales, but good at closing sales.

Now how do you close a sale? There’s three or four ways to do it. The best way is the invitational close. ‘Do you like this? How does this sound?’ You invite feedback. ‘If it sounds pretty good, why don’t you give it a try?’ Assume that when you’ve answered a question or an objection, it’s the equivalent of them having decided to buy.

Or you can use what’s called an alternative close. ‘Would you prefer this or that?’ You offer a choice between A or B. The probability of them picking one or the other goes up dramatically if they have a choice, and whichever one they say ‘Yes’ to, you’ve made a sale.

Here’s a neat trick from one of the masters, Brian Tracy: if you get the customer to give you a single piece of information, you’ve successfully used the power of suggestion. ‘How do you spell your last name exactly?’ If they give you the spelling of their last name, they’ve bought the product. It’s very powerful.

In the end, the most important quality for sales success is boldness. All qualities are habits, habits of thought and action. Because of childhood conditioning, we have these fears of failure and rejection, but those are learned because children have no fears. We learn them as we grow up, but that also means we can unlearn them. The way you unlearn the fear of failure and rejection is by doing the opposite of what you would do in a failure or rejection situation.

When we back away from the fear, it grows and grows. Soon it dominates our whole life, and it paralyzes us. But when you confront the fear; when you do the thing you fear, it gets smaller and smaller and becomes manageable. So for the rest of your life, you make a habit of doing the thing you fear. You make a habit of confronting the fear.

Pretty soon, you develop the habit of courage. You reach the point where you’re not afraid of anything. The key to your success as a person and as an entrepreneur is to develop the habit of courage. The way that you do it is every single time you feel a little bit scared or nervous, you attack. You move toward the fear situation. You pick up the phone. You make the call. You knock on the door. You ask for the order.

Whenever you feel afraid, do the thing you fear. In a week, a month, a year from now, your fears will diminish. As your fears go down, your confidence and your self esteem go up, and you start to feel fabulous about yourself. You start to feel unstoppable.

What were some of the fears you’ve had to overcome in your life that held you back from success? What once seemed like a mountain but now more resembles a molehill? Give us your feedback. We want to hear from you!

For Your Freedom,

harvsignature

The Money is in the Message

Posted on by 67
verizon guy

“Can you hear me now? Good!”

I’m a marketing fanatic as many of you know, so I try to appreciate great ideas communicated brilliantly when I see it. Verizon’s cell phone television ad campaign articulated and took advantage of a simple but powerful truth— with other cell phone carriers, lots of people were experiencing the frustration of dropped calls in the middle of important conversations.

You’ll never have to worry about that with us, Verizon basically said, with commercial after commercial of the same Verizon field test guy in the most remote areas of the country still being heard, still good.

The number of Verizon subscribers jumped from 32.2 million at the start of that campaign in January 2002 to 43.8 million in two years. They also poured billions into their network infrastructure; continually investing in what they said they would deliver on—fewer dropped calls anywhere.

I’m not a Verizon spokesman or advocate, I just use the example to illustrate the power of a simple message communicated to the tune of more customers, and more money. The money is in the message. Marketing and promotion is how you get customers to your business, and customers are how you get more money.

This is exactly the problem most businesses have, though—communicating clearly and concisely what they do and how it benefits their potential customers. It’s one thing for you to know what you do, who you help and how they benefit, but it’s quite another thing for other people to know the same thing.

One of the most essential skills you can have is the ability to articulate what you do in a powerful and concise way. Clarity leads to power, for both you and your customers. It empowers them to understand exactly what you can do for them and why they should buy from you. The reason most people fail in business is that they have a very poor message.

Your message has to cut through like a knife to the core. You have to be very selective and specific about what you say. You might have lots of different things to offer, but you can’t put them all in a 30-second sound bite. Don’t try to be all things to all people. Keep it simple. Less is more. You want to leave people saying, “That sounds interesting.”

What’s your “thumbprint”? What’s unique about you? Why should someone do business with you versus the person next door?

If you don’t have this, you are chopping your income in half. As soon as you have a strong sound bite, and deliver on your promise, you can double your income.

The only way you’ll ever know what works is to try something out and see if it works. You always test first, and then you sprint out of the gate when you have a winning proposition.

How about you? Have you experienced a difference in success when you changed your persona—your “calling card” so to speak—as you sold yourself or a product? What was it that specifically made a difference? Was it how you perceived yourself or how others perceived you? Let us know in the comments below!

To Your Success,

harvsignature

When in Winter, Hibernate

Posted on by 463
cat sleeping in front of fire

Think back to a time in your past—five, 10, 15, or even 20 years ago. Maybe you envisioned a happy future making more money, having more fun, a family of your own, or living in a bigger place than you did previously.

Few things turn out perfectly, but chances are that at least one area of your life saw some growth and improvement. The standards of a 30 or 40-something-year-old adult are going to be necessarily different than those of a late teenager. In that sense, most of us have undergone economic, personal, and career upgrades, even if you might be disappointed with the outcome thus far.

All life on this planet goes through seasons. We’ll experience spring-like blooms, the reaping of summer, the preparations of fall, and the chill and severity that winter brings. These cycles affect us individually and globally. Overall, the world is experiencing something akin to a severe economic winter.

However, if we can remember that we’ve all experienced times of growth and improvement in our individual lives after a period of lack and want, we can re-adjust back to a mindset that focuses on a future we can look forward to again. That starts with accepting and embracing the now.

By far, the toughest cycle we’ll experience are our “winter times,” whether it’s cold outside or not. Even  the grasshopper needs to be told by the Ant to prepare for winter, so the old story goes. The other seasons are easier if not more enjoyable.

As tough as things can seem during harsh times, winter provides opportunity to recover and start planning for the next spring ahead—the same kind of spring that gave us relief before and will bring us relief again.

You can do this by defining what you want to create. Be specific. Sometimes luck helps, but there’s no way to get what you want until you’ve defined what that is, and, just as important, why you want it. Your motivations will steer you through any winter storm.

Also, taking inventory. List those attributes that enhance the quality of your life right here and now—family, friends, the network of colleagues who might help you take that next step; resources that are helping you economically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. You might be surprised at just how many resources are at your disposal.

Lastly, be grateful. For every “negative” thing that may be happening to you, someone else is undergoing more pressing challenges. Gratitude has a way of dispelling fear, anxiety, and a self-defeating attitude. You can’t focus on what you don’t have when you’re grateful for what you do have. How we progress through the seasons isn’t based on what we don’t have, or what we might’ve done or not done in the past. It’s about how we use what we do have now, sowing seeds of growth that we can reap later.

Winters can seem to go on forever, but they don’t. Somewhere, right now, someone is enjoying summer. That’s as true for the world as it is in our individual lives. When in winter, use this time to re-focus, heal, enjoy your blessings, and start planning your next spring now.

Give us your thoughts on life’s “seasons,” whether they apply to your personal or professional lives. Where are you in your life’s cycle? How do you navigate your seasons? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Each and every one of your comments is meaningful and valuable.

Happy Holidays!

For Your Freedom,

harvsignature

Rich Intentions

Posted on by 1066
dollar sign with roots

Whether you’re rich now, on your way to being rich, or just thinking about it, everyone has fantasized about what it would be like for money—or rather lack of it—not to be a problem.

Most people stay in the realm of fantasy, maybe dipping out occasionally to buy a lottery ticket. Another group, not satisfied with the 9 to 5 grind, takes a few more risks and pours their energy into business ideas, opportunities and companies. Most will fail within three to five years.

But there are those fewer people with the skill (which can be learned through modeling), willpower and creativity who are successful. There is another attribute, though, that separates them from the poor, and that is intention.

Most people say their financial goal is to make money. Yes or yes? That’s a good reason, but the issue is that’s not specific enough. If you have a wishy-washy intention, you’re going to get a wishy-washy result.

Rich Business People Have Three Financial Intentions:

  1. To have a very high working income

  2. To create passive income

  3. Dramatically enhance the value of their company

What’s the intention that poor people have? To earn a living. To earn a decent living. That’s what they’re in business for. They don’t even consider they’re in a business as a way to create passive income and even more importantly to create wealth.

A business is not a job. A business is too much work with too many challenges to just go out there to earn a decent living.

The business is designed to be a vehicle to set you free and create nothing short of wealth! Rich people understand that business is simply two components: either buy or create something and sell it for more than it costs you. That’s it!

Most broke people have struggles, put most of their energy and attention not on the buying, creating, and selling but on the administrative and operations arena—the organizing of those two things—and that is a mistake.

Operations are very important, but it’s not the essence of the business. Go back to the cave people: ‘Here’s a piece of meat. I want your stick.’ That’s it! There’s no customer service. There’s no tech support. There’s no finance department. There’s no reporting. There’s no furniture and there’s no computers. ‘Your stick, my meat! Let’s go!’ That’s business!

Buying and creating and selling. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

This knowledge helps focus the intention of why we’re talking millionaire success strategies. The basics help, but the intention has to come from the simplest truth. When we’re going into business, we’re not going halfway. You could, but would that be much better than working a typical job?

When we’re talking about our money blueprints, these basics of why we go into business have to be drawn up into the foundation. It’s so simple and powerful yet not very well understood. Knowing this helps put you back into focus when the inevitable challenges arise, or when you face disappointments and setbacks.

You are doing this because you are going to be rich! Whatever other intentions are attached to that—for family, to buy nice things, to travel, to be an artist, whatever—don’t have to conflict with this truth.

You are doing this to be rich and to be free!

Now it’s your turn!  What are you financial intentions?  Are they wishy-washy and you need to change them now?  Are they solid and moving you forward?  Share below—I want to hear from you!

For Your Freedom,

harvsignature

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