Recently, my friend and informal mentor, Larry Winget, posted a fairly controversial blog post entitled, “Passion Has No Value.” When I saw that post, I knew that once again, Larry was going to light some fires. And indeed, after a week and a lively debate on Larry’s site, it seems I was right.
I might have opted into the dialogue on Larry’s site, but I wanted to spend some time with this one, rolling it around in my brain.
My initial gut reaction to Larry’s post was that indeed, passion itself isn’t enough for success. As Larry and I have always agreed, it takes expertise (and other things) to be successful. Ultimately, you’ve got to have the goods to back up whatever you promise, there’s no way around that. If you’ve got passion but no expertise, you can look forward to a short business life, leaving a lot of unhappy clients and customers in your wake.
But…the whole “passion has no value” thing…that’s got me feeling like a doorknob snagged my sweater: I can’t shake it loose.
I admit, I’ve evolved over the last year. I don’t really talk much about “passion” these days. I admit, I have talked about passion’s role in the micro-entrepreneurial business, but I never really felt quite settled about it. Passion is a word that has been overused and misunderstood.
These days, instead of “passion,” I talk about “fervor,” which the dictionary defines as “great intensity of feeling or belief.” Why fervor? Because just about every mega-successful person I know is intense in his or her own way, including (and perhaps especially) Larry. Passion, though, as Larry suggests, is a word that refers to an “uncontrollable” emotion, that frankly, doesn’t have a place in business.
Emotion in general certainly has a role- it’s how we connect with people. After all, people do business with people and emotion plays a role in relationship-building. But uncontrolled emotion (passion) often gets in the way of an open, evolving, questioning mind, a necessary ingredient for success.
I do love working with entrepreneurs and I love helping small businesses grow. But I love the results I get more…and so do my clients.
And even if fervor and intensity are different from passion, they still aren’t enough for success. You can never exclude expertise from the equation. Without the “chops” to back up your fervor, you’ll never be successful (or at least, not for long). Successful business lies in the “sweet spot” that’s found in the cross-section of what you’re fervent about, what you’re really good at, and what sets you apart (the “power triad”).
I assume that Larry would agree with me that even if you’re great at what you do, you still have to find something that sets you apart, something that distinguishes you from the rest of the world (whether you’re an employee or an entrepreneur). Why do I assume Larry would agree with me? I mean…have you seen his boot collection alone? Larry himself has build a successful brand that fuses his unique personality (and fashion sense) with what he’s fervent about (cutting through the nonsense) and what he’s really good at (communicating that “straight shooter” vibe through multiple mediums).
I’ve worked with micro-entreprenuers who set up shop solely under the premise of turning their “passion into profits” and failed before looking for help. I’ve worked with small business owners who focused only on what they were good at, but didn’t enjoyed it and didn’t find much success before deciding to make a change. And I’ve worked with folks in both of those categories who never packaged their business in a way that set them apart from everyone else in their industry, couldn’t reach their audience, and didn’t understand why.
Fervor, expertise, and packaging (or branding) are the first keys in success. They’re not the only keys, but they’re a good place to start.
And as for passion…as Larry suggests, perhaps that uncontrolled emotion is perhaps best left to the personal realm. Passion is what you feel about the things you want to create in your life- the ultimate outcomes like more time with family or creating a feeling of stability, safety, and security. Passion about what you’re working towards is what keeps you motivated…and that does have value.
I’ve had a Sony Vaio laptop for three and a half years now. I used to turn technology over faster, back when I was doing more web development and technical stuff, but these days, most of what I do involves writing. Still, I’m what’s known as a “power user” and tend to overtax any computer I use, and the Sony Vaio is known for overheating and shutting down at random without notice…which is not cool when you’re doing something important and haven’t had a chance to save your work yet.
I decided it was time to make a decision: do I sent the Sony in for service (again) or break down and upgrade to something new? The answer came when I remembered a lesson my husband, Leo, shared with me, something he learned when he was a young musician. Leo is a drummer who has played professionally in bands around the world, and he told me that when he was starting out, he would only invest in equipment that could be used to generate income that would pay for itself and then some. The way he phrases it, “When you invest in your business, it always comes back.”
When I remembered him saying that, I realized that my laptop is an essential tool for my business and right now, the machine I had was holding me back- not helping me and certainly not paying for itself anymore. It’s time to move on and invest again in something that will “come back” again.
There are many ways to invest in your business. Making sure you have the right tools doesn’t just refer to technology, but also to projects like web design, consulting, and coaching. The question to ask when you’re evaluating a business purchase is, “Will this pay for itself and bring more money in?” If so, that’s an investment you should make, if you can.
Want to learn more? Why not come to my webinar, “The 7 Lessons of Mega-Successful Entrepreneurs” on November 29?
Mega-successful entrepreneurs are fervent. They’re passionate and energetic about what they do.
Mega-successful entrepreneurs create from within.
They learn from others but speak from their own experience.
Mega-successful entrepreneurs are strongly magnetic.
Their fervor and expertise (and their ultimate success) makes them attractive to others.
Mega-successful entrepreneurs rebound from mistakes and failures.
Most of the mega-successful entrepreneurs I know have big failures in their past. Remember: “This thing we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down.“ - Mary Pickford
Mega-successful entrepreneurs are works in progress, constantly learning and evolving.
Every mega-successful entrepreneur I know reads constantly, is always striving to improve, and trying to up their game.
Mega-successful entrepreneurs follow through and follow up.
Without following through on ideas and following up with people, whether they’re networking contacts, possible business partners, or potential clients and customers, one cannot be successful.
Mega-successful entrepreneurs are focused and driven.
Mega-successful entrepreneurs often have their own kind of self-discipline which may not look like what you’d expect, but they are always moving forward and taking action.
Mega-successful entrepreneurs manage their time wisely.
This one isn’t about whether you check e-mail in the morning or make a to-do list. It’s about choosing what you devote your time and energy to.
Mega-successful entrepreneurs are interesting and interested.
They’re both fascinating to talk to and curious about other people.
Mega-successful entrepreneurs know when to ask for help.
Entrepreneurs often think we have to do everything ourselves. Problem is, when you wait too long to resolve a challenge, it can turn into a problem. Mega-successful entrepreneurs know when it’s time to look for outside advice from coaches and consultants.
Mega-successful entrepreneurs are just like the rest of us- they doubt themselves, experience fear, and have moments of uncertainty. They just know how to wrestle their demons to the ground better. At the end of the day, mega-successful entrepreneurs are just like everyone else- they put their jeans on one leg at a time. But when it comes to the struggles that plague less-successful entrepreneurs, the mega-successful know what to do when those struggles emerge. They handle their business and move on to the next thing.
Want to know more about mega-successful entrepreneurs? Scroll up to the top of the page and subscribe to the Business in Blue Jeans e-zine and you’ll receive my “The 7 Lessons of Mega-Successful Entrepreneurs” for free!
Ross Faris, founder and owner of Your Neighbor's Garden (image from YNG)
I just received a heartbreaking e-mail from one of my favorite family-run businesses. Ross Faris, the founder and owner of Your Neighbor’s Garden, a small home market in the suburbs of Indianapolis (and I dare say, one of Indy’s best semi-kept secrets), passed away last night.
The story of Your Neighbor’s Garden has always held a special place in my heart, partly because it’s such a lovely family story, and partly because it’s such a perfect example of the business philosophy that is so near and dear to my heart. I’ll quote Ross’s own posting of the history of YNG from their web site:
“Thirty years ago my son Greg and daughter Anne asked me if they could have a lemonade stand. I suggested they could make more money selling vegetables from my garden. We started with the produce on a picnic table in our front yard along Grandview Drive. And soon we erected our LOCAL PRODUCE sign at the end of our driveway and moved closer to the house. Sales were brisk so I made my garden larger and started using other parcels of land to expand our garden business. I might add that I was in charge of production and the kids marketing. I took half the proceeds for my contribution and they took the other half.
We first called ourselves FARIS FRUITS AND VEGGIES and after a few years we changed our name to YOUR NEIGHBOR’S GARDEN because at the beginning our Highland Kessler neighbors were our main customers.”
The YNG story continued after the children grew up, and Ross ran YNG part-time for thirteen more years before he retired from a successful career and took the market on full-time, finally satisfying his life-long small business aspirations.
I didn’t know Ross very well. I went to YNG fairly often for fresh, local produce, but more often than not, Ross was busy unloading produce or puttering around in the garage next to the market itself. He was quick with a smile and a friendly hello, and always made sure we had everything we needed. He was a really nice guy, that much I know.
Your Neighbor's Garden home market (image from 4thfrog.blogspot.com)
Your Neighbor’s Garden is (despite the uncertain future of YNG, I hold out hope that Ross’s legacy will continue, so I’m writing in the present tense) the embodiment of what I imagine I would have discovered, if I’d known Ross Faris better. It’s welcoming, friendly, and the kind of place that returns you to a time when we all trusted one another. You see, Your Neighbor’s Garden operates on the honor system. There’s no cashier. There’s a locked cashbox, where you put the money for your produce, or, if you don’t have the right cash on-hand, a handwritten IOU (and you always pay the IOU, because in this day and age, if someone trusts you to give them an IOU, you never want to disappoint them!)
Your Neighbor’s Garden is housed in a small shed next to the Faris’s house. The shed is air-conditioned and there’s a fridge in the back where 4H students and other kids sometimes sell eggs from their chickens. By the street hangs a wooden sign that lists the various kinds of produce in stock. It’s very homey and sweet.
Sign for Your Neighbor's Garden (image from goinglocal-info.com)
I remember the first time I went to Your Neighbor’s Garden. I’d heard about it for years, even drove by without realizing what it was. The first time I actually visited, though, I worried that I might be trespassing on someone’s private property. When I got out of my car, Ross welcomed me with his big smile and I knew I was in the right place.
Over the years, the Faris’s added a small parking lot, started working with other local farmers, and selling at the weekly farmer’s markets in town. And if you’re a “regular” to the home market, then you encounter the same welcoming friendliness when you see YNG staff at the local weekly farmer’s markets around town.
Ross Faris was a brilliant example of a parent teaching his children about small business. Many of us started out with lemonade stands (myself included), but how many kids left their lemonade dreams behind and stopped dreaming the entrepreneurial dream? Ross not only kept the dream alive for 30 years, but transformed it the embodiment of his own small business vision.
I decided to write about this today because I’m so saddened by the loss of Ross Faris from a personal perspective, but also because I also wanted to share his story from a business perspective. So often those with small business dreams think that they have to come up with a grandiose idea or a big invention. So often, people who fantasize about leaving corporate careers behind think they have to spend a lot of money to start a business.
Ross Faris and Your Neighbor’s Garden are a testament to the idea that you can start a business inexpensively, doing what you love, do it in your own style, do it on your terms, and you can do it extremely well.From where I sit, that’s the perfect illustration of a successful Business in Blue Jeans.
Recently, Leo and I discovered a Japanese game show called “Ninja Warrior.” In this show, athletes from around the world (but primarily Japan) test their skill and strength at a seemingly unbeatable obstacle course, in the hopes of becoming a champion worthy of the title, “Ninja Warrior.” The other day, as Leo and I watched yet one more round of warrior athletes performing what seemed like impossible stunts, I reflected on the business and life lessons one might take away from this extraordinary show.
Do something you think you can’t. Ninja Warrior tests are incredibly challenging and often seem impossible. But the competitors are rarely daunted. They always try whatever seems impossible…and even if they can’t defeat the obstacle course, they almost always go home and train for a full six months before returning for the next Ninja Warrior competition and conquering the obstacle that tripped them up last time. Likewise, if you see a challenge and think you can’t do it, try it anyway. Then, if you don’t succeed, train harder until you can do it.
Always compete against yourself, not against others. One of the characteristics that drew us to Ninja Warrior in the first place was that it’s not a competition where participants compete against each other. It’s every man (or woman) against the obstacle course. So rather than worrying about what anyone else is doing, each competitor is focused on doing his or her best. Similarly, in business, we’re often focused on the “old school” concept of watching the competition and worrying about what they’re up to. Instead, focus on you and what you can do to improve and grow, and cheer on your peers. Their success has little to nothing to do with you.
If you fail, keep trying. There’s a group of Ninja Warrior “All Stars” who have participated in many of the Ninja Warrior competitions. If you watched the show from the beginning (as we have) you’d see these competitors go from young upstarts to family men with successful careers. And they just keep coming back to try to conquer the Ninja Warrior obstacle course again and again and again, hoping to succeed where they have failed before (of course, a couple of these All Stars have actually completed the course, but they continue to return to try to conquer the course as it has evolved). In business, if you don’t succeed at something, that doesn’t mean you should give up. In a recent The Experts Series interview with a bestselling author, I learned that this author’s book was rejected two hundred times before he got his book deal that shot him into bestselling status. If you fail, go back and try again and again and again.
Never give up in the middle. Something that keeps us in awe of this show is that none of the competitors ever gives up. Even if a competitor knows the clock is running out and he may not complete the course, he never stops giving his full effort- not until that last second when the buzzer sounds. Likewise, in business, give it everything you’ve got until that buzzer sounds- until you know for sure that what you’re doing isn’t going to work.
Always be gracious and find the fun. Leo and I are constantly impressed with the graciousness of the Ninja Warrior athletes. They cheer each other on, seem genuinely sorry when their comrades fail, and vitually all of the contestants maintain a friendly, lighthearted spirit and focus on the fun of the game. Your business may seem very serious to you, but if you’re too serious or too desperate to succeed, your attitude might be standing in the way of your success. Instead, try to look for the fun in what you’re doing and be as gracious as you can- to your clients, to your competitors, to everyone you encounter.
“Ninja Warrior” isn’t business- it’s a game. But it’s a game with some really powerful lessons that can be applied to business. Ultimately, what Ninja Warrior teaches us is to be as strong as you can, test your limits, never give up, and remember to find the fun in everything you do.
I’ve noticed something in many of the folks who come to me for help. It’s a new phenomenon that I’m adding to my list of “entrepreneurial illnesses,” something I call “Expert ADD.” In today’s article, I’ll explain what Expert ADD is, tell you why it’s a problem, and show you how to avoid it.
When new entrepreneurs or struggling business owners become aware that they need help growing their businesses, they usually start with a Google search. Before long, they have a list of folks who claim they can help, and most likely, have signed up for a wealth of e-mail newsletters and e-zines, hoping that someone, anyone, will have the magic bullet – that one thing, that one answer, that will give them the clarity they need and solve all of their business problems.
Soon, the e-mails start coming in. Suddenly, there are too many answers. I’ve had clients come to me with a list of “to dos” so long and so diverse, they’d need a full team and a full year to get just half of the list done.
Here’s what happens: most “experts” and “gurus” have specialties. They focus on e-zines or public speaking or viral videos or internet marketing or sales…the point is, they focus on a specific part of the marketing or business process. Each expert says you should be doing whatever it is that they focus on. So you’ve got an e-zine specialist telling you that to grow your business, you need to focus on e-zines. And a social media expert tells you the best way to market your business is to put all of your energies into social media. And so on.
The result is “Expert ADD” (referring, of course, to “attention deficit disorder”), where you’re reading so many experts’ opinions that you think you have to be putting effort into all of these things to grow your business. This creates overwhelm and confusion.
When I begin working with a new client, one of the first things I ask of them is that they “turn off” their “guru” e-mails for awhile. The reason is that our first goal is to create clarity and a manageable plan. If you’re still getting pulled in ten or twenty different directions, then achieving real clarity and developing a plan that rids your life of the overwhelm will be difficult.
I can always tell when a client hasn’t turned off the e-mails. Instead of doing their “homework” and making regular, methodical progress toward their goals, our weekly sessions usually include conversations about new directions and ideas. Instead of helping them make progress, paying attention to too many “gurus” actually gets in the way of them achieving success.
So how do you avoid “Expert ADD?”
First, take inventory of the experts you’ve been following and start paring down to only those who are authentic, honest, and truly have your best interests at heart. I’ve heard from a lot of folks that even if they decide to stop following someone, they keep reading their e-mails to learn what not to do. I actually did that myself, for awhile, but quickly learned that it didn’t serve me to maintain any ties with someone I didn’t respect and didn’t think I could learn from. So pare down, but really pare down.
Second, when you choose to work with a business coach or consultant, allow them to guide you so that you can make progress toward your goals. Why hire someone if you’re not going to let them help you?
Finally, remember that you don’t need to do everything for your business to grow. Choose one or two avenues to focus on and put your attention there for awhile. Measure your results and see which marketing strategies are most effective for you, before adding more to the mix.
“Expert ADD” can be a huge obstacle, if you let it. Instead, protect yourself by taking in just the information you need, and discarding the rest, so you stay away from that paralyzing overwhelm and confusion and maintain a positive, motivated, and organized perspective.
Customer service is one of the most important things in today’s marketplace. In this article, I’ll show you how one big company got their customer service wrong, and how you can learn from their mistakes and take your small business customer service to the next level.
Last Christmas, when Leo and I took the kids to Spain for the holidays, we experienced several hours of delay in London Heathrow Airport. After our delay, our flight was boarded then de-boarded, and then we spent several more hours in the chaos of baggage claim, trying to get our suitcases back. British Airways made no public announcements, made no real effort to provide accurate information (except to first class passengers, and even that effort was minimal, at best), and no one seemed to be in charge. Not only that, but my bag was lost for an entire week, and we received Leo’s bag a week after that, the day before we left to come home, and the entire time the bags were lost, no one at British Airways seemed to have a clue what was going on.
And believe it or not, that wasn’t even the worst part of the customer service catastrophe. After the holidays, on the train back to London, I filed the claims for our canceled flights and reimbursement for what we purchased while we awaited deliver of our lost baggage. I heard back from BA by February, but in March, they stopped responding to my e-mails. It took until May to get a response, and only because I e-mailed the CEO of British Airways, and then it took another two and a half months to get them to issue a reimbursement check. The final insult? The check they sent covered less than half of the claim I submitted.
Where did British Airways go wrong here? Everywhere. So…what could they do better, and more importantly, what can you learn about about small business from my bad experience with British Airways?
The customer or client should be at the forefront of everything you do.
I’ve said it hundreds of times – your priority should be to meet the needs of your target market. You have to know who they are and what they want so you can design everything for them. When you develop your brand, ask yourself: will this appeal to my target market? When you have a web site created for you, ask yourself: will my target market be able to navigate this? When you set up customer service guideline and procedures, ask yourself: does this serve my clients and customers?
I’d wager that when BA execs sit down to plan something new, they don’t consider the customer at all. It’s evident in their hard-to-navigate web site, their lack of easily-accessible customer service phone lines, and their lack of consideration for the customer in virtually every aspect of travel. Make sure you don’t make the same mistake.
Have emergency backup plans in place. No matter what business you’re in, there will always be moments when something goes wrong. If you have a contingency plan in place before things go wrong, you won’t have to scramble to figure out what to do. Your response time will be faster and your customers will be satisfied sooner…and you won’t feel frazzled, because you’ll know exactly what’s going on and what to do about it.
If British Airways had an emergency backup plan in place for what happened when we traveled back in December, there would’ve been BA personnel telling people what was going on and what to do next, and no one would’ve spent the night sitting in baggage claim.
Keep your customers informed. The worst thing you can do when things go wrong is to cut your customers out of the loop. Maintain regular communication with your clients and customers, even if you can’t tell them what they want to hear. They want to know that you’re working on solving their problem.
A great example of this is how American Airlines handled a problem I recently had with a ticket. They’d made a mistake and ticketed something wrong and I was on the phone with their customer service agent, trying to solve the problem. The agent had to put me on hold for a very long time so his supervisor could work with another department to fix the issue. Every couple of minutes, though, he’d come back and say, “I’m sorry this is taking so long, Mrs. Baroncini-Moe, but I just wanted to check in and let you know that we’re still working on this and I just need to have you hold a bit longer. Is that okay?” And because I knew what was going on, I was fine with the lengthy hold.
British Airways could’ve gone a long way with customer service by having someone in the baggage claim area telling people they weren’t sure what was going on, but they were in the process of finding out and were going to let us know just as soon as they had answers, having someone call my hotel to let me know they were still trying to get our bags to us and updating me on their progress (even if there hadn’t been any), and, instead of going for three months without replying to my e-mails, having someone contact me to let me know they were researching my receipts and working on figuring out the reimbursement, which brings me to my next point.
Respond quickly and communicate regularly. When customers contact you and let you know there’s a problem, respond immediately. Let them know you’re willing to take action to resolve the issue, and you are on their side. Your goal is to preserve the relationship, and one of the ways to do that is to keep the lines of communication open. Make sure they know you’re continuing to work on resolving things and keep them updated on your progress.
Obviously, if British Airways had communicating effectively and regularly from the start, we wouldn’t have spent the night waiting for our suitcases, and obviously I wouldn’t have spent three months trying to get them to respond to e-mails. Beyond that, if just once, a member of the BA staff had picked up the phone and called me, instead of relying on the impersonal medium of e-mail, I think I would’ve felt like they cared a little.
Go an extra step beyond to satisfy your customers, and apologize. Be exceptional. Go overboard. Do what it takes and go beyond just what you “have” to do to resolve any problems. British Airways sent me reimbursement for half of what their mistakes cost me. I would’ve been happy if they’d sent me exactly what I spent on replacement clothes, toiletries, and, as this was our Christmas trip, replacements for the kids’ Christmas stockings and stuffers, but do you know what I never received, even to this date? An apology. If, at any point during this process, anyone from BA had called me to say, “We are so sorry for how this has been handled, and we’re going to make this right,” I wouldn’t have felt so frustrated and angry as I practically forced them to resolve the problem.
My point in this post is to show you exactly where this big company went wrong in their customer service, and how you, as a small business, can do better. Good customer service matters – people talk about that. So make your customer service about caring for your clients and customers in an unparalleled way. Go the extra mile, and dare to be exceptional. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers and clients and ask yourself, “What can I do to put this relationship first and delight this person?” Do that and you’ll find your customers becoming more and more loyal, until you have your very own volunteer marketing team.
How would you like your business to grow? Slowly, and in small steps, or quickly, in leaps and bounds? In this article, I’ll show you how to create exponential growth using strategic, joint venture relationships. Read more…
Brian Tracy recently suggested that I try out his new Business Growth Strategies program, and who am I to say no to one of the greatest minds in small business success and personal development? Brian Tracy has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and addressed more than 4,000,000 people in 4,000 talks and seminars around the globe. He’s the top-selling author of over 45 books that have been translated into dozens of languages and has written and produced more than 300 audio and video learning programs, including the worldwide, best-selling Psychology of Achievement. So, you know, he’s major. And you simply have to know that Brian is the best at what he does.
Obviously, if someone like Brian Tracy personally recommends that you try something out, well, even if it’s his product, I just think you do it. So I immediately took the $1 trial and gave it a whirl.
*BTW, in the interests of full disclosure, please note that I do not have any sort of affiliate relationship with Brian Tracy. Period.
Business Growth Strategies: What is it?
Brian Tracy’s Business Growth Strategies is a seriously high-powered system of videos and written instructions to take you from where you are now to where you want to go with your business.
You start with a Business Profitability Assessment that examines 30 areas of your business. It’s comprehensive, but don’t be afraid- the whole assessment only takes about 10 minutes. That said, beware: this assessment shines a fairly harsh light on your business. I thought I had a pretty good setup with my business, but darned if I didn’t discover pretty quickly that there were at least 12 major areas where I could stand improvement.
What’s pretty cool, though, is that throughout the process, Brian is there, walking you through via video, and he’s just such a nice man and so encouraging that it helps soften the blow when you realize how much help you need (even if, for some bizarre reason I have yet to understand, the videos do tend to remind me a little bit of those Darma Initiative videos from Lost, which also strangely makes the whole thing even more pleasant…if you figure that one out, let me know).
Once you’ve gotten through the assessment, you learn all the areas where you need help and you can start getting into the actual meat of the content.
What you’ll learn:
Business Growth Strategies provides tangible help with just about any aspect of small business growth that you can think of. You learn a lot of theory about business growth, from setting up the right systems, making sure you’re properly capitalized, business planning, sales, marketing, time management, effectiveness, advertising….there’s almost nothing that isn’t covered. Business Growth Strategies is more comprehensive than you can possibly imagine. There are 52 lessons with more than 250 videos recorded by Brian Tracy himself, and every lesson comes with written materials, exercises, and action steps.
Pedagogically speaking…
From a teaching standpoint, the combination of mediums is really smart. You need to watch the videos to get the most out of everything, and probably it’s better if you watch them all more than one time, but you can download and (if you’re so inclined) print out the written instructions to make a pretty awesome workbook with exercises and action steps, so you know exactly what you’re supposed to do.
Although you can skip around the program and focus on whatever topic you want, they’ve set it up so that you get a lesson plan based on your Business Profitability Assessment. That’s pretty wise, because without that lesson plan, the massive amount of material available can get a little overwhelming and daunting.
If you go into this and want to be successful, I’d probably recommend that you plan to stay in the program for six months to a year. That way you can do one lesson a week and really maximize your learning and have plenty of time to take action and implement the recommended strategies.
Who does Business Growth Strategies rock for?
Business Growth Strategies is awesome if you’re just starting a business. You’ll start out the right way and with Brian as your de facto coach, you’ll have a clear plan and strategies in place to smooth out the often bumpy startup road.
It’s also great if you’ve been in business for awhile, especially if you’ve flat-lined. Your business will get a sound tune-up, you’ll find out exactly what you’ve been missing, and you’ll be back on an upward swing.
And, Business Growth Strategies would work especially well for people in a brick-and-mortar businesses who are looking to grow their businesses in traditional ways.
What do I wish Business Growth Strategies included?
Business Growth Strategies is soundly grounded in old-school business principles. You’d expect nothing else from Brian Tracy. So there’s no doubt in my mind that the content is top-notch and of the highest quality.
Still, as much value as the program brings, I’m left wishing that Business Growth Strategies had a small injection of “new school” business principles that factored in newer technologies like internet marketing and social media networking, which is an interesting thing to say since the entire program is internet-based.
That said, business is business, and too many folks in business today think it’s okay to bypass class business principles and as much as we entrepreneurs just love to fast-track stuff, in the end, that just doesn’t work as well. So as much as I’d like to infuse the program with just a wee bit of new school stuff, it’s probably okay that it doesn’t include much of it, because there’s plenty of that out here already.
Overall thoughts…
Do I recommend Business Growth Strategies? Yep. It pretty much rocks the house. It’s solid content, through and through. I didn’t feel sold on other stuff, and really, once you’re in, you’ll just spend time in the program learning. And learning. And learning. Brian Tracy just continues to prove over and over that he’s still got it, and he shows no sign of slowing down.
In preparation for my recent interview with Bob Burg (if you missed it, download the recording here), I invited subscribers to share with me their top business challenges. I wasn’t surprised by the answers:
“sales,” “communicating with potential customers,” “sales,” “the telephone,” “sales,” “how do I increase my lead pipeline?” “how to market my business,” “where will I find my next client?” “growing my business,” “sales,”
90% of the questions I got were about sales and marketing, and the reason is that folks believe that sales and marketing are where you actually make the money. Well…you’re wrong.
If your top small business concerns are sales and marketing, you’re focusing on the wrong stuff.
“But…but how can that be true, when there’s an entire industry just build around sales and marketing???”
Ah, there’s the rub. Well, I’m not saying sales and marketing aren’t important. I’m saying that sales and marketing shouldn’t actually be your biggest “challenges.” And yes, I’m prepared to back that up. Here goes:
1) You should know your target market inside-out.
I’ll bet if you’re struggling with sales and marketing in your small business, you don’t know your target market well enough. If you did, you’d know everything from what their likely objections are to where to find them to what kind of marketing they’ll respond to. And when you know that, you really don’t have to wonder if your branding appeals to them or if you’re meeting their needs. You’ll know.
How do you get to know them? Well, first, you have to choose them. Narrow down the people you serve into a clear, definable subset of the population. It’s okay to do this, I promise. It doesn’t mean that you can’t work with people outside your target market. My target market is primarily female entrepreneurs in their 30s and 40s, but I work with women and men, and I have clients in their 60s. Your target market is who you work best with, who you understand the most, and who you like working with, combined with who wants what you have to offer.
Second, once you’ve narrowed down who your target market is, if you want to get to know them, ask them. Survey your list and if you don’t have a big list yet, look for places to find your peeps and invite them to take your survey. It’s not rocket science, but I do have a few recommendations: 1) Offer a high-quality freebie as a gift for taking the survey, 2) Limit your survey to 20-25 questions and only about 25% of those questions should be open-ended, 3) Ask them what you need to know as well as what you want to know. Get basic demographics, but also ask what keeps them up at night.
When your survey is over and you tabulate you responses, you should know a lot more about your target market, where to find them, and what they need and want. Everything else flows from there.
2) Once you know your target market inside out, you can focus on meeting their needs and providing value.
The people you serve are people. I’ve been saying that for a long time. They’re real people with real worries and real fears that keep them up at night. How can you serve them? How can you help address those worries and fears so that they can rest easy and get some sleep? If you’re addressing those needs and bringing enough value, not just in your products and services, but in how you’re showing up in the world, sales won’t really be a challenge anymore.
And remember, bringing value comes in many forms, too. This isn’t necessarily about giving your services away for free (although there may be times when that makes sense). As Bob and John talk about in Go-Givers Sell More, you can bring value in several ways. Bob and John mention five key ways to bring value that I really love: excellence, consistency, attention, empathy, and appreciation. And sometimes, just listening brings value. Who knew?
3) If you focus on bringing real value to people’s lives, sales will follow as a natural consequence.
One of the great things I picked up in my interview with Bob is that the top 10% of successful people in the world understand that giving and receiving are two sides of the same coin. They’re a part of the same thing – as Bob put it, they’re like inhaling and exhaling.
So many of us think that “it’s better to give than to receive,” but actually, being a “go-giver” means you’re focused on giving value, but you’re open to receiving. And as such, if you’re focused on the other person and bringing real value, the natural consequence is that you’ll be rewarded. One of my favorite lines from Go-Givers Sell More is, “The task here is not to create value in order to create a sale or in order to anything. It’s to create value, period…Right now, your total job is to focus on one thing and one thing only: providing value to other people. If you do that well, sales—and money—will find you.”
The bottom line is that sales isn’t about sales. It isn’t even about the thing you sell. And marketing isn’t about the thing you sell, either. They’re both all about value. What value do you bring to the lives of other people? That should be your biggest challenge. Once you master that, sales and marketing shouldn’t be an issue.
