DARE TO DREAM AGAIN!

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."Teddy Roosevelt.

 

Do you remember when you were a child and no dream seemed too big? Some of us thought we would walk on the moon; some dreamed of riding with Roy Rogers; others imagined stepping to the plate in a big-league game. Every one of us, when we were young, had a common trait - we were dreamers. The world hadn't gotten to us yet to show us that we couldn't possibly achieve what our hearts longed for. And we were yet still years from realizing that in some cases we weren't built for achieving our dream (I realized about my junior year of high school that I was too short and to slow to play professional basketball. The dreamer is always the last to know).
Eventually we started to let our dreams die. People began to tell us that we couldn't do the things we wanted. It was impossible. Responsible people don't pursue their dreams. Settle down, get a job, be dependable. Take care of business, live the mundane, be content.
Do you know what I say to that? Hooey!
It is time to dream again!
Why? Here are just a few reasons:
Avoiding regret. The facts are in, and someday we will all lie on our deathbed looking back through the history of our lives. We will undoubtedly think about what we wished we had done or accomplished. I for one don't want to regret what could have been, what should have been. So I am deciding today to pursue my dreams.

• Making the world a better place. All of the great accomplishments that have ever happened began with a person who had a dream. Somebody rebuffed the nay-sayers and said to himself or herself, "This can be done, and I am the one who will do it." And in many instances they changed the world for the better. It isn't just the Martin Luther King's and the J.F.K's either. Think of all the people we have never heard of who have started things large and small that help people world-wide every day.

The world needs people like you to dream of something great and then to pursue it will all of your heart. Maybe you belong to a business, school, or organization that started out with good intentions but has settled into the same ol' same ol'. Shake them up and remind them of how they could really help people if only they would dream!

• Personal and family fulfillment. One of the things that happens when we stop pursuing our dreams is that a little piece of us dies and we become disheartened, if only in that area of our lives. Stepping up and pursuing your dream rekindles that passion and zeal that everyone has the capacity for and lets us experience fulfillment. Having a purpose puts the zip in our step and the zing in our emotions!
• Leaving a legacy. How will your children remember you? As one who sought all that life had to offer, using your gifts and talents to their fullest extent, leading the family with a zest for life, or as an overweight couch potato who could have been? Our children need to see that we dream; that we search for something better. They in turn will do the same!

So where do we start? Here are some ideas:

• Reconnect with your dream.
  Set aside some time to let yourself dream. What have you placed on the backburner in order to live the status quo? Settle on one or two dreams that you can and will pursue. Don't come up with too many. That will only deter you further.
• Decide that you will do it.
  This may seem elementary but many people never decide and commit fully to their dream. They simply keep "thinking" about it.
• Tell others that you are going to do it.
  This puts you on the record as to what you are dreaming about. It makes you accountable. It will help you do it if for no other reason than to avoid embarrassment!
• Develop a step-by-step plan.
  This is absolutely essential. You must sit down and write out a few things:
• A timeline.
  How long will it take to the end?
• Action steps.
  Point-by-point what you will do and when you will do them.
• Resources you will need to draw from.
  What will it take? Who will need to be involved for help or advice?
• An evaluation tool.
  You need to evaluate from time to time whether you are progressing or not.
• A celebration.
  Yep, when you are done you should already have planned what you will do to celebrate. Make it big!

I have found that there is no better time than now. So, set aside some time today to get started on your dream. Follow the action plan and set your sights for the top of the mountain! You will be glad you did!

 

AMELIA EARHART'S REAL CONTRIBUTION

This week there have been articles that the search for
Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, and their
doomed Electra may have succeeded. After many trips over at
least ten years, The International Group for Historic
Aircraft Recovery say they may have a sonar image of her
plane on the floor of the Pacific. That prompted me to re-
read Doris Rich's biography of Amelia Earhart. What struck
me was that Amelia's great gift was not about flying, but
about knowing her direction in life.
Obviously, Earhart is most famous for the records she set--
first woman to fly the Atlantic, first person to fly across
twice, her many speed and altitude records--and of course,
the mystery of her disappearance. What we often miss is the
genius of her living.
Earhart was a model of grand dreams and down-to-earth
practicality. She wrote and loved poetry, she was a
political activist, a feminist, a nurse and public speaker.
She was a social worker before she became famous, and she
understood the connection between our dreams and our
schemes.
Earhart understood that achieving our dreams requires a
practical SCHEME and the WILL to pursue it. That was her
real genius.
While I stand in awe of her skill as a pilot, what
impressed me even more was her capacity for hard work. She
regularly gave speeches (often two speeches per day) in a
different city every day, for weeks on end. She would
speak, sleep a few hours, drive all night, have a press
conference over breakfast, rest a couple hours, then give
her speech and repeat the process. Imagine doing that day
after day, for weeks!
Now, imagine speaking and traveling every day, while also
writing articles in your spare time, being politically
involved and working with Congress on the future of
aviation, and simultaneously preparing for another world-
record flight.  That is an amazing example of energy,
persistence, determination and force of will!
How did she do it?
Well, I have to admit that I think she had an extraordinary
genetic gift. That may be an excuse, because I can hardly
imagine the schedule she maintained, so I cop-out and claim
she was "different" than the rest of us!
But, how about the similarities?
Earhart always knew what she wanted and used her desire to
set her course.
Most of want so many things that we don't truly know what
we want most. We often want things that actually contradict
each other, like losing weight while eating more and more
food. We tolerate things that distract us, that drain our
energy, and take our focus away from our primary goals.
Earhart didn't fall into that trap. Her ability to say, "I
want to do this" and then to focus her spirit, her energy
and her will on achieving it were astonishing. 
Fortunately, we, too, can choose our directions, choose our
goals and focus our efforts.
If anyone had the excuse of "too much to do," it should
have been America's most famous woman. The demands on her
time were incredible, but she learned to choose her
battles, to focus her attention and discipline her efforts.
We can learn from that!
This summer, what are your most important goals? Of course
there will be the unexpected and unpredicted. Life will
tempt us in a thousand ways with a zillion opportunities, a
ton of problems and a dozen daily distractions, but through
it all, a few of us--the high achievers everyone else calls
"lucky"--will stay focused on their critical, passionate
goals. 
Earhart was clearly gifted, but more than anything else,
she worked hard, knew her destinations and let nothing blow
her off-course. We can learn from that. Know your
destination. Stay awake. Stay focused. Remain disciplined.
Keep going when others quit.

TO MAKE MORE, SERVE MORE

Recently, I talked with an entrepreneur whose sales,
production and profits have all been flat or falling in the
past 18 months, and he’s feeling desperate. He feels the
pressure of having to make more money!
He told me he's tried giving his staff more training. He's
tried giving more incentives (bonuses) and he's fired some
of his poor performers. Now he's talking about having to
raise prices because he "just can't live on what we’re
making."
You can imagine how our conversation went. I pointed out
that the market place never lies. We may not like the
message it sends us, but our customers never lie to us. If
sales are flat, it's because our customers no longer feel
we are giving them the bargain they want.
He may also need to let more of the right people know that
he and his services are available. (Reaching too few or the
wrong people is always a problem.) But for the most part,
the real problem is that his potential customers no longer
see him as a resource.
Our customers want stuff! They want more and better
service. They want to enrich their lives. They want to
achieve their goals, both personal and in business. People
will always buy goods and services if they believe the
purchase will serve them, at a price they are willing to
pay.
To make more money, you've got to do a better job of
serving people. When your customers understand you are
eager to help them get what they want, and will do it at a
price they are willing to pay, your success is assured.
To make more money, find a way to provide more and better
service.

MOVE OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

Any change, or even an attempt to change anything you are doing, makes you uncomfortable. Have you ever felt out of your comfort zone by attempting to change? Has change ever made you experience stress and tension? If the change is too extreme, your physical and mental health can be affected. You will experience sleeplessness, indigestion, or fatigue. You may react with impatience, irritability or anger. You will often feel as if you are on an emotional roller-coaster.

Raise Your Internal Standards

So if you want to sell more and earn more, you must increase your self-concept level of income. You must increase the amount you believe yourself capable of earning. You must raise your aspirations, set higher goals, and make detailed plans to achieve them. You must begin to see yourself and think about yourself as capable of being one of the highest earning salespeople in your field. You must take charge of developing a new self-concept for sales and income that is more consistent with what you really want to accomplish.

Build Your Self-Concept Level of Income

Your self-concept determines your levels of performance and effectiveness in everything you do. In sales, you have a series of mini-self-concepts that govern every activity of selling. You have a self-concept for prospecting, for using the telephone, for cold calling, for making appointments, for qualifying, for presenting, for answering questions, for closing, for getting referrals, and for making follow-up sales. You have a self-concept of your level of product knowledge, your personal management skills, your level of motivation and for the way that you relate to different types of customers. In every case, you will always perform in a manner consistent with your self-concept.

The Key to Peak Performance

Wherever you have a high self-concept, you perform well. If you enjoy working on the telephone, you look forward eagerly to telephone prospecting and selling and you do it well. If you have a high self-concept for making presentations or for closing sales, you feel comfortable and competent whenever you are doing them.
Wherever you feel tense or uneasy in selling, it means that you have a low self-concept in that area. You do not feel comfortable when you are engaged in that activity. You probably avoid that activity as much as possible.
This is normal and natural. The only question is, “What are you going to do about it?â€

Action Exercises

Here are two actions you can take immediately to get better results.
First, set a goal today to become one of the highest earning people in your field. Then, back your goal with action by committing to becoming very good in every area of selling.

Second, see yourself, imagine and visualize yourself as if you are already very good at what you do. Create within yourself the feeling of success and accomplishment.

SELECT YOUR COMPANY

Only the truly competent individual can be free of politics in an organization. When you're really good at what you do, you can rise above politics. Think about it. It's the mediocrities at work who have to play games and every study shows that although they sometimes succeed in the short-term, they invariably fail when everyone figures them out.

Do What You Have To Do

Select your work carefully and if you don't love what you're doing enough to want to be the best at it, get out! Flee from the boring or unsatisfying job as you would from a burning building. Working at something you don't care about is the very best way to waste your life. Remember, this life is not a rehearsal for something else.

Look for Pay for Performance

One key to getting onto the fast-track is for you to work for the right company and the right boss. The right company is one that respects its people and practices pay for performance. The right company is dynamic, growing, open to new ideas, and full of opportunities for people with ambition and initiative.

How to Make Progress

A woman spoke to me at a seminar recently and reminded me that she had asked me a question at a seminar about two years ago. She had told me that she was very ambitious and hard-working but that she wasn't making any progress in the large company where she worked. She felt it was because most of the senior executives were men in their fifties and sixties and that women had a hard time getting into positions of responsibility. What could she do?

Change Jobs When Necessary

I told her quite frankly that there was nothing she could do. The senior executives and the company were not going to change. If she was really as capable as she said, I told her to find a job with a young, growing company that wouldn't care whether she was a woman as long as she could do the job.

A Success Story

She told me that she had followed my advice, quit her job, much to the disapproval of her co-workers, and found a job with a small growing company - and it was exactly as I had said. She had been promoted twice in the last 14 months and was already earning 40% more than her best year with her previous company.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do to assure that you are in the right position.

First, make sure that you really enjoy your work and that you do it well. You will never be successful at a job that you don't like.

Second, be sure that there are lots of opportunities for you to grow, develop and advance in your company. Your future is too valuable to waste where there is no future.

THE POWER OF POSITIVE ADDICTIONS

This week, a friend of mine went skydiving for the first
time. He did it to celebrate his 50th birthday and it
reminded me that a few years ago, George Bush, the elder
(President 41, as he’s called), jumped out of an airplane
to celebrate his 85th birthday. I thought that was
remarkable and appreciated his comment that he did it to
remind all of us to keep doing new and interesting things.
I like that, and it made me wonder what new things I might
try in the next five years. How about you?
What will you achieve, learn, start (or stop) in the next
five years?
There’s an old quote that, "five years from now you’ll be
exactly who you are, and where you are today, except for
the people you meet and the books you read." I always like
to add that there are also many other ways to grow, but the
point is well taken. Getting older is automatic; growth is
a choice.
Many years ago, William Glasser wrote a wonderful little
book called, "Positive Addiction." Glasser wrote many books
and my impression is that this one sold fewer copies than
his others, and that’s a shame. Positive addictions are
wonderful things!
Glasser talked about being addicted to exercise and
fitness, or to the joys of relationships and creativity. I
want to propose that personal development fits in that
category. It’s a good thing and like most addictions, it
begins with a few clumsy or uncomfortable experiences, and
gradually becomes a core part of who we are.
Why not choose to be addicted to positive things?
I know people who are positively addicted to saving and
investment. They get a thrill from adding to their savings
account every paycheck. They watch their investment
balances go up and up. To relax on Saturdays, they look at
investment properties or read annual reports, looking for
the next opportunity.
Now, obviously, any positive addiction can go over-the-top
and become a destructive obsession. Many years ago I loved
running to the point that I gave myself a stress fracture--
broke my leg--from running in spite of pain! That’s not
good!
But here are some positive addictions I encourage you to
consider:
1. Reading. Books open the world to us. Through books we
get to know the most famous, creative, powerful and
interesting people who ever lived. We can travel to other
galaxies, expose ourselves to the past, and the future. We
can experience other cultures and learn skills. We can "try
on" ideas--and lives--we will never experience any other
way. Read!
2. Exercise. I’m talking about fitness and health and
movement and fun, not Olympic championships. For most of
us, exercise is about play and being alive. It’s about
tennis or golf with friends, or basketball with our kids.
It’s about climbing a mountain, hiking on a beach, or a
bike ride on Saturday morning. Exercise may add years to
our lives; it definitely adds life to our years.
3. Ponder. Long ago a philosopher said, "the unobserved
life is not worth living." I'm not sure I would go that
far, but taking time to observe, to wonder, to contemplate
and take notes definitely makes things better. Keep a
journal. Pray or meditate. Enjoy moments of solitude, or
respectfully debate the important things of life with a
trusted companion. A great life doesn't happen by accident.
It's the result of careful, thoughtful choices.
4. Save money. Brian Tracy once said that "if you cannot
save money, greatness is not in you." Again, that might be
a bit extreme, but money is a representation of our lives.
It’s the result of the work and skill and contribution we
make in the world. Saving creates opportunities and opens
doors. It's insurance against misfortune and a source of
self-respect. An addiction to saving definitely beats an
addiction to spending!
5. Be curious. One of the most important traits of high
achievers is that they are eager for new ideas and new
skills. They are always "beginners" in at least one
important area of life--willing to be clumsy while they
learn new things. I'll go so far as to say if you aren't
willing to be a beginner, you are refusing to grow and
that's a terrible thing. Try stuff!
You don’t have to jump out of airplanes to prove your
positive addiction to growth. It's just one way to do it!
Practice your addiction to exploring life. Whatever calls
you, explore it! Whatever challenges or excites you, pursue
it and see where it leads. Jim Rohn observed that the
importance of goals is not what we get from achieving them,
but what we become by pursuing them. Choose your addictions
wisely, then invest in them and see where they take you.

3 THINGS I'VE LEARNED FROM WARREN BUFFETT - BILL GATES

I’m looking forward to sharing posts from time to time about things I’ve learned in my career at Microsoft and the Gates Foundation. (I also post frequently on my blog.)

Last month, I went to Omaha for the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. It’s always a lot of fun, and not just because of the ping-pong matches and the newspaper-throwing contest I have with Warren Buffett. It’s also fun because I get to learn from Warren and gain insight into how he thinks.

Here are three things I’ve learned from Warren over the years:

1. It’s not just about investing.

The first thing people learn from Warren, of course, is how to think about investing. That’s natural, given his amazing track record. Unfortunately, that’s where a lot of people stop, and they miss out on the fact that he has a whole framework for business thinking that is very powerful. For example, he talks about looking for a company’s moat—its competitive advantage—and whether the moat is shrinking or growing. He says a shareholder has to act as if he owns the entire business, looking at the future profit stream and deciding what it’s worth. And you have to be willing to ignore the market rather than follow it, because you want to take advantage of the market’s mistakes—the companies that have been underpriced.

I have to admit, when I first met Warren, the fact that he had this framework was a real surprise to me. I met him at a dinner my mother had put together. On my way there, I thought, “Why would I want to meet this guy who picks stocks?” I thought he just used various market-related things—like volume, or how the price had changed over time—to make his decisions. But when we started talking that day, he didn’t ask me about any of those things. Instead he started asking big questions about the fundamentals of our business. “Why can’t IBM do what Microsoft does? Why has Microsoft been so profitable?” That’s when I realized he thought about business in a much more profound way than I’d given him credit for.

2. Use your platform.

A lot of business leaders write letters to their shareholders, but Warren is justly famous for his. Partly that’s because his natural good humor shines through. Partly it’s because people think it will help them invest better (and they’re right). But it’s also because he’s been willing to speak frankly and criticize things like stock options and financial derivatives. He’s not afraid to take positions, like his stand on raising taxes on the rich, that run counter to his self-interest. Warren inspired me to start writing my own annual letter about the foundation’s work. I still have a ways to go before mine is as good as Warren’s, but it’s been helpful to sit down once a year and explain the results we’re seeing, both good and bad.

3. Know how valuable your time is.

No matter how much money you have, you can’t buy more time. There are only 24 hours in everyone’s day. Warren has a keen sense of this. He doesn’t let his calendar get filled up with useless meetings. On the other hand, he’s very generous with his time for the people he trusts. He gives his close advisers at Berkshire his phone number, and they can just call him up and he’ll answer the phone.

Although Warren makes a point of meeting with dozens of university classes every year, not many people get to ask him for advice on a regular basis. I feel very lucky in that regard: The dialogue has been invaluable to me, and not only at Microsoft. When Melinda and I started our foundation, I turned to him for advice. We talked a lot about the idea that philanthropy could be just as impactful in its own way as software had been. It turns out that Warren’s brilliant way of looking at the world is just as useful in attacking poverty and disease as it is in building a business. He’s one of a kind.

THE PARETO PRINCIPLE - 80/20 RULE

The 80/20 Rule is one of the most helpful of all concepts of time and life management. It is also called the "Pareto Principle" after its founder, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who first wrote about it in 1895. Pareto noticed that people in his society seemed to divide naturally into what he called the "vital few", the top 20 percent in terms of money and influence, and the "trivial many", the bottom 80 percent.
He later discovered that virtually all economic activity was subject to this principle as well. For example, this principle says that 20 percent of your activities will account for 80 percent of your results, 20 percent of your customers will account for 80 percent of your sales, 20 percent of your products or services will account for 80 percent of your profits, 20 percent of your tasks will account for 80 percent of the value of what you do, and so on. This means that if you have a list of ten items to do, two of those items will turn out to be worth five or ten times or more than the other eight items put together.
Number of Tasks versus Importance of Tasks
Here is an interesting discovery. Each of the ten tasks may take the same amount of time to accomplish. But one or two of those tasks will contribute five or ten times the value of any of the others.
 Often, one item on a list of ten tasks that you have to do can be worth more than all the other nine items put together. This task is invariably the frog that you should eat first.
Focus on Activities, Not Accomplishments
The most valuable tasks you can do each day are often the hardest and most complex. But the payoff and rewards for completing these tasks efficiently can be tremendous. For this reason, you must adamantly refuse to work on tasks in the bottom 80 percent while you still have tasks in the top 20 percent left to be done.
 Before you begin work, always ask yourself, "Is this task in the top 20 percent of my activities or in the bottom 80 percent?"
 The hardest part of any important task is getting started on it in the first place. Once you actually begin work on a valuable task, you will be naturally motivated to continue. A part of your mind loves to be busy working on significant tasks that can really make a difference. Your job is to feed this part of your mind continually.
Motivate Yourself
Just thinking about starting and finishing an important task motivates you and helps you to overcome procrastination. Time management is really life management, personal management. It is really taking control of the sequence of events. Time management is having control over what you do next. And you are always free to choose the task that you will do next. Your ability to choose between the important and the unimportant is the key determinant of your success in life and work.
Effective, productive people discipline themselves to start on the most important task that is before them. They force themselves to eat that frog, whatever it is. As a result, they accomplish vastly more than the average person and are much happier as a result. This should be your way of working as well.

THE VALUE OF VICES

Winston Churchill is one of my heroes. I've read several
biographies and one of my goals is to visit his home at
Chartwell and see the bunkers where he led England through
WW II. One of Churchill's many famous quotes is an insult
he directed at a Member of Parliament: "He has all the
virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
I love that! One of my mother's less-appreciated
admonitions when I was a mischievous boy (something I've
long-since outgrown!) was, "Behave yourself!" If I was
feeling particularly cantankerous, I'd reply, "I am
behaving myself. Just not the way you'd prefer!"
We've all learned to "behave ourselves." As adults we learn
to "go along to get along." We learn to be polite, pay our
taxes, work hard, be responsible, and to "play well with
others." We learn "the way things are done" and to be
sociable. There's nothing wrong with that. Except, of
course, when there is.
Sometimes, going along with convention and being "normal"
truly stifles our creativity, our individuality and our
greatness.
I love eccentrics. Eccentricities are simply another way of
describing our individuality. Eccentrics have made all--or
certainly most--of the great advances in history. It's
weird and eccentric to question reality, to doubt
convention, and insist there has to be a better way.
The Wright brothers were obsessed with flying, of all the
crazy ideas! Edison and Tesla were obsessed with
electricity, and changed our world. Einstein was obsessed
with light and images of trains, and changed our
understanding of the universe. In the 1930's, a guy named
Werner von Braun thought it might be fun to go to the moon.
Madame Currie played with things that glow in the dark, and
an abused little kid named Oprah Winfrey thought she could
make the world a better place.
Eccentrics and their ideas are our heroes!
Our eccentricities and, yes, even our vices make us who we
are. They make us unique and when they are deployed in
useful ways, they make us rich while making the world a
better place for everyone.
Now, clearly there are vices and eccentricities that are
neither noble nor useful. Swearing and cursing, having a
bad temper or being intolerant of others probably adds
little to the quality of life. Addictions of all sorts and
simply being obnoxious are rarely good things. We can all
think of vices that rob us of our freedom, shorten life or
deprive it of richness. I doubt these are good things or
worth defending.
But we all have vices that enrich our lives, that make us
who we are, and that allow us to stand tall and speak our
truth. We all have passions for things that drive others
crazy or cause them to doubt our sanity at times. We love
golf, or hate wasting time. We crave knowledge or obsess
over art, music, poetry or nature. We are committed to our
politics or to our spirituality. We are "crazy" for good
food, good health, for collecting little figurines or for
fishing.
To achieve the ultimate success in life, value your vices.
Follow them where they lead you. Cherish them and immerse
yourself in them. See where they take you, go boldly
through whatever doors they open for you. Few will follow
and some will criticize, and that's alright. Visionaries
have always been misunderstood.
Choose your vices wisely, then value them highly.

9 WAYS TO BUILD CREDIBILITY IN BUSINESS

Credibility is one of the most important "intangibles" a business has. Traditionally, business owners built credibility over time through repeated positive interactions with their customers or clients--usually through face-to-face meetings or telephone conversations. But in today's world, where business is often conducted virtually and trust levels are low across the board, credibility is often difficult to establish.

Many online business owners, particularly those in the information-marketing world, establish credibility by using testimonials from their clients. It's an extremely effective technique because study after study shows that people most trust "someone like me." In other words, a recommendation from a friend, family member or colleague is worth a lot more than a claim made by a company in marketing materials or during a sales pitch.

But testimonials are only one way of establishing credibility; they shouldn't be the only method that you rely on. So here are 9 other techniques that can help boost your credibility and, in return, drive more sales.

1.) Before & After Photos.
As we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words. Image consultants, organizational experts, general contractors and personal trainers use this technique all the time. But if you are a coach or consultant, think about what you do that can be shown visually. For example, has your client's website or brand been completely transformed, illustrating the business makeover you helped orchestrate? Or maybe you've helped a speaker go from presenting to a room of 25 people to 2,500. Wouldn't a photo contrasting the before and after be powerful?

Hint: The key here is to think and plan ahead. When you bring on a new client, look for anything visual that you can capture to illustrate where they are now versus where they will be AFTER having worked with you.

2.) Video.
With today's handheld flip cameras and YouTube, anyone can create and post a video in minutes at virtually no cost. And if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million! Just look at the video posted above. This is from Blendtec's brilliant "Will it blend?" campaign. How better to show the durability of a blender than tossing in things that should NEVER be blended -- like an iPhone! (And hey, aren't there times we'd all like to blend our darn cell phones to bits?!) But you don't have to have a product to make use of video. In fact, video is one of the best ways to make an intangible service offering, such as your consulting or coaching process, more understandable.

3.) Accreditation, Certification or Degree.
It's one thing to call yourself an expert. It's another thing entirely to PROVE that you're an expert by completing an accreditation, certification or degree program. Have you ever wondered what those letters are after my name? ABC stands for Accredited Business Communicator by the International Association of Business Communicators and APR stands for Accredited in Public Relations from the Public Relations Society of America. Both take a significant investment of experience and demonstrated knowledge in PR, marketing and communications. Having a third party acknowledge this expertise increases my credibility with clients considerably.

4.) Media Coverage.
So many entrepreneurs and small business owners don't appreciate the value of media relations because it doesn't necessarily translate immediately into sales. But one thing it most certainly does boost is your credibility. When you're quoted in an article about your area of knowledge, it immediately positions you as an expert. You can also write articles and submit them to publications. Once you get coverage, be sure to make the most of it. Tweet it. Post updates to Facebook and LinkedIn and post it on your website.

5.) Third-Party Research & Statistics.
Always be on the lookout for new studies and research reports related to your industry or service area as they can help prove the need for or value of what you're selling. For example, productivity consultants can leverage studies that show how much time people waste each year looking for things in their office. (By the way, according to the Wall Street Journal, it's SIX WEEKS!) Marketing consultants can show just how influential branding is in the buying decision. Coaches can demonstrate the bottom line improvement for those who work with one. And personal trainers can leverage information that shows the consequences of not exercising or eating right.

6.) Polls.
Instead of using someone else's research, you can do your own. Both LinkedIn and Facebook allow you to create polls for either your followers or the general public. In addition, free-web-polls.com allows you to create up to 15 free polls for your own website, and Survey Monkey lets you ask more in-depth questions. You can then turn the results into proof points, such as why your service or product is a good investment or that 95%+ of your clients are very satisfied.

7.) Information Products.
Writing white papers, special reports, e-books and toolkits helps to immediately establish you as an expert in your field. After all, if you've "written the book on it" then you MUST be an expert, right? (They're also a great passive-revenue-generating stream!)

8.) Personal Experience.
Even though you may never meet many of your customers or clients face-to-face (particularly true for internet marketers), you can still establish a trusted relationship by sharing your personal story or experience. If you yourself have created a successful business, are a champion tri-athlete, have an award-winning system, etc. then you are a credible source for business coaching, personal training, and so on.

9.) Offer a Guarantee.
Perhaps the best way to create credibility is to stand behind your product or service 100%. Think about the companies that do: Tylenol. Oreck. Nordstrom. When you know the company is delivering a quality product or service and believes in it so much that it's willing to give you your money back without question, you're more likely to trust them. Putting your name behind your product and backing it up with a guarantee will put potential customers' minds at ease and help erase an objections to placing that order.

Try using any one of these strategies and watch as your business begins to increase!   

FOUR WINNING WAYS TO MEET YOUR NUMBERS

Faced with ever-looming deadlines, salespeople are under constant pressure to meet quota and revenue targets. Delivering new, larger clients is always top of mind. This may tempt individuals, and their sales managers, to consider pulling in any business possible – whether it produces a Win-Win result or not.

Defaulting to a situation in which the salesperson closes a sale that is not good for the customer or to one where the buyer gets significant advantages, such as an unsustainable discount, just to make your numbers is short sighted. Ideally, every sale is a positive for both the buyer and the seller. Any sale in which one party “loses” ultimately harms the relationship – and the potential for future business with the customer.
Proactive Options
 Top-performers adhere to a process to put the right resources into the right opportunities. So if your sales funnel is clogged – or empty – get back to basics by examining your sales process. Ask yourself whether you have missed steps or whether you have asked the hard questions, such as:

• Ask: Does your sales process allow for easy review and offer insights into your opportunities? Where are you spending your time?
  • Consider: From prospecting, to deal selection to close, a strong sales process gives salespeople a framework and logical, repeatable steps to follow that includes a way to score and rank each opportunity.
• Ask: Which opportunities are truly viable? Which prospects fit your company’s Ideal Customer Profile?  
  • Consider: Pursuing the right deals – the ones that have a higher probability of closing – increases your Win-Win potential.
• Ask: Are you ignoring danger signs? Have you been able to ask prospects tough questions – and get straight answers?
  • Consider: Evasive, incomplete responses hint at underlying issues that may range from budgets to competitors.
• Ask: Are you talking to the right people – those who make the decision to buy?
• Consider: Building numerous relationships within a customer’s organization is a key factor in successful complex selling situations.

A strong sales process allows you to spend your limited selling time on opportunities most likely to result in closed sales. Any outcome other than a Win-Win should be unacceptable. Making a sale now may produce immediate revenue, but what about next year? Maintaining and expanding an existing relationship can be an efficient, and profitable, use of your time. Meeting short-term requirements at the expense of long-term gains may doom future business.

THE CHALLENGE OF SUMMER SUCCESS

Big goals are great! Everyone needs a
sense of direction and a life of purpose, and 20-year, or
even 100-year goals help us with that. They fill us with
awe and wonder. They inspire us, and as we pursue them,
they transform our lives and draw out the best that is in
us.
Dream big! Have a 100-year goal and some 20- or 30-year
projects. Build a legacy. Inspire your kids and confound
that aunt or uncle who's always had doubts about you! Make
it your business to transform this small planet--it's not
very big and it's not that hard if you put your mind and
will, your time and effort and all your talent into it!
And that's where your Summer of Success comes in. Big goals
require smaller steps along the way. Changing your life and
your fortune, and ultimately transforming the planet begins
with baby steps and prototypes, test projects, and a
variety of experiments to prove you can do it. It's sort of
fun to "show off" once in a while! That's why 90-day
campaigns are so important.
You don't want to risk everything on any one project.
Investors know the rule of diversification--never put all
your eggs in one basket. The same principle applies to
achieving great things. It's almost impossible for most
human beings to set out directly on a major 10-year goal.
There are too many doubts and too many critics. If the goal
is big and worthwhile, there will be set-backs, a few
failures and false starts along the way. Prove you can walk
before you brag about how well you can run.
Begin with a simple "proof of concept." Every successful
entrepreneur builds a prototype before building a factory.
Before announcing a goal to earn $10 million in ten years,
prove you can earn $100,000 this year. Before putting your
life savings into a new business, spend a year working in a
similar business, or start part-time, or buy 10% of a small
business and help your partner double its sales.
Which brings us back, once again, to your Summer of
Success. Everyone else is slowing down, planning a
vacation, heading for the beach or a mountain cabin. Most
folks are more focused on their tan or mastering their
barbeque, or going fishing than on achieving great things
in the next three months.
But not you! If your "Big" goal is fitness, determine to
lose a few pounds or run a 10k race by Labor Day. If your
"Big" goal is to spend a year sailing around the world,
spend this summer learning to sail. Writing the Great
American Novel starts with writing and publishing some
short-stories this summer.
Launching and building a successful business over the next
ten years might begin with writing a solid-as-a-rock
business plan this summer and getting an enthusiastic
handshake from a key investor by September.
You'll need a calendar, a budget, some discipline and
perhaps a mentor. You'll need measurable milestones and
clear feedback. Develop an over-view of the summer, with
month-by-month benchmarks and a specific finish-line in
August or early September. Write it all down. Spell it out
in detail.
Then, do the work.
Once you've got your plans for the summer, get very, very
specific for the month of June. What has to be done
immediately, this week? What will you challenge yourself to
accomplish next week, and the week after? Put all of this
on your calendar. Spell it out. Then, do the work!
Make this your Summer of Success. Talk with the family and
get their support. Tell your MasterMind team what you plan
to do and invite their questions, even their criticism, so
long as it is supportive and problem-solving in
orientation. While others are at the beach, you stay
focused on the life of your dreams. While others are
camping or taking the kids to Disneyland, you be about the
business of creating the life you truly want.
Use these long, warm, energized days of summer to your
advantage. Success builds on success! Never be afraid to
start small--it's the preview of coming attractions! Let
this be the summer that changes your life forever!