Over a century ago, Russell Conwell travelled America
telling the story of a poor Persian farmer who heard about
the wealth diamonds could bring. According to the story, he
left his farm and wandered the world in search of diamonds,
only to return as an old man, exhausted by his failed
attempts to find diamonds. The story ends when he died and
the family dug his grave on the old family farm. As they
dug, they discovered the diamonds he had sought. It turns
out the old farm contained literally "acres of diamonds."
The moral is that we all have more undiscovered
opportunities around us than we fully appreciate.
This principle has been applied by dozens of business
consultants, among them Jay Abraham and Janet Switzer, who
have written extensively about the opportunities to "mine"
our relationships and our businesses for undiscovered value.
Every business has a customer list. What do those customers
need that you may not be able to supply directly, but which
you could help them locate? What value can you provide
beyond your primary business?
Can you partner with someone who provides a product or
service, and would they pay you a commission or "finders
fee" if you passed along a good word?
How can you expand or up-grade your current services to
provide extra value?
A bit of thinking, perhaps borrowing ideas from your
competition or from colleagues who serve a similar audience
can grow your business dramatically. Often all it requires
is some thought and a simple, one-time alliance. You can do
this! And the extra profits will fall directly to your
bottom line.
What "Acres of Diamonds" are you sitting on?
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