Once, the rule.

Now, the exception.

 

Best Business Policy, eh?

You expected maybe some cataclysmic statement from the dregs of academia?

You thought maybe some esoteric pronouncement of apocalyptic proportions was about to come crashing down on the world of business owners and cause you to shift into fourth gear to keep up with the corporate bailout recipients?

Or, ah, a new way of thinking for 9AM tomorrow?

Sorry to disappoint you, but tonight’s message is a simple reminder of what you already know, but are perhaps occasionally tempted to forget about once in awhile. When, praytell, might you forget something as important as the Best Business Policy?

Well, it’s entirely possible that you may have overlooked it one recent night when the moon was full enough to see that business just isn’t happening like it was before the recession (which we’re now being told ended in June! What a wonderful thing! Must be that a new one started in July).

Anyway, it could have been that night when the bill-collector werewolves were howling on your doorstep.

Now, I’m not accusing anyone here. I’m just saying. Maybe your empty wallet had some off-stage role in the production? Or maybe –like that courageous town meeting questioner of White House “hope and change” promises earlier this week made note of– you and yours are doing franks and beans these days instead of Saturday night out on the town dinners?

There are many reasons, including of course the economy, that might have prompted you to forget that Best Business Policy and stray per chance for a brief, uncomfortable moment or two. THE “Policy”? Oh, right! It’s the same one you learned from a grandparent, or a religious leader, or a parent or friend or boss, or Uncle Abe. It’s called Honesty. 

But that, you might say, isn’t a BUSINESS policy. And you could no doubt produce a laundry list of other “Policies” that you think deserve to come far ahead on the “Best” list. Things like “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and “Money-Back” and “Giving priority to customer and employee relationships.”

Hey, you know what? Those things are all great; they’re fine policies to practice, but  n~o~t~h~i~n~g  builds trust like honesty. And, in business, TRUST wins every time! More so with today’s informed and value-and-green-conscious consumer than ever before.

Everyone (except maybe Mother Teresa) tells lies sometime. And some very few of those –measured by most moral standards– might be acceptable in special circumstances. But never in business. A real business leader doesn’t tell lies. A real sales professional doesn’t tell lies. A real entrepreneur who is focused on making her idea work doesn’t tell lies.

Business lies always come back to bite your butt.

People judge you by the truth you tell, in your personal exchanges and the ways your business treats everyone who comes in contact with it — inside as well as outside! Honesty, STILL, is the Best Business Policy. And practice makes perfect!    

302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Write that book!

Sing that song!

Change that battery!

Txt that msg!

There is no such thing as the right or wrong

time to take a step on your own behalf.

You are after all, the only one who will take a step on your own behalf. Oh, you no doubt have others who will get up to bat for you, and fill in when you’re preoccupied or not around. But –in the end– you are the only one who understands you (or has the potential to) and the only one with a clear vision of your business pursuits.

That translates to you needing to cultivate, practice, and boost your Action Attitude daily. Having a bias toward action doesn’t mean you need to adhere to some maniacal schedule of rushing from one thing to another 25 hours a day (and the clue to whether you fit this madman-paced lifestyle is wishing that you had 25 hours in a day!).

Making an Action Attitude be as important an ingredient in your life and your business pursuits doesn’t mean always being on your toes; it means always thinking on your toes.

Except perhaps during a ceremony, a religious service, or on the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped, some action is always better than no action! 

Having a bias toward action means always thinking and deciding in favor of forward motion regardless of delays or disarming or frustrating circumstances. It means never being lazy, except maybe on vacation. Action combined with trust is the foundation for leadership that makes a difference. 

No one travels to happiness or success by standing still. Why? Well, besides the obvious, it’s worth remembering the basic tenet of Gestalt-based teachings, that happiness IS the journey and success IS the journey. It is not a place to end. It is the process of getting there. We make that process happy and successful by having an Action Attitude.

I recently read someone’s business mission which stated in part, “Success starts with education followed by motivation.”

Not in this lifetime. Not in this country. And certainly not in the business world.

Success starts with an Action Attitude.

And as we all know from stories of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs, that their accomplishments had very little –if anything– to do with education.

Now, don’t all you teacher-types go getting your bowels in an uproar. I consider myself an educator as well as a writer and business coach. I taught part and full time college for 13 years. I designed and delivered management training workshops for 20 years. Educational achievements have little to do with life or business success.

My happiest and most successful students were typically lousy test performers with great drive, ambition, and a burning desire to make their ideas succeed. Most dropped out of formal classes and worked their way into experience levels that they parlayed into building and growing their own enterprises. Most have made a real difference in business, and with charitable contributions.

Winners don’t dwell on either the starting line OR the finish line. They pay attention to concentrating on each step they take. So having an Action Attitude means first and foremost being tuned in to “the here and now” present moment, every passing moment, as much as possible, throughout as many waking hours as possible, each day.

It is an Action Attitude focus that produces meaningful

and satisfying lives and productive, rewarding businesses.

931.854.0474 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

It’s supposed to be

7 words or less, but

look what just 3 can do!

Take this 125-SECONDS business creativity stimulation test!

When you set out on the path to developing a branding line, slogan, themeline –whatever you want to call it– marketing experts suggest targeting seven words or less. Sounds easy until you realize they also prescribe that the seven words tell a story with a beginning, a middle, and an ending . . . oh, yeah, and by the way, be persuasive! Yikes!

Well, in case you’re not word-challenged enough (and willing to admit it) that you decide the best route is to find yourself one of those marketers of few words to create your verbal image, here’s a simple creativity stimulation exercise:

Allow yourself five seconds of what I call “Freefall Thinking” for each of the following 25 three-word sets.

(Yes, I know that’s a whole 125 seconds out of your life, but what the hey, you’re an entrepreneur who takes reasonable risks, right? So go for it! You might surprise yourself!).

Be aware that each three-word set could be a book title — so don’t dwell on any one of them. Breeze through the list as you scribble notes to yourself, but do make a mental note of appreciation for how MUCH each three-word set can conjure up in your imagination. 

Jot down (yes, on a real, live piece of paper) the first thing about your business that comes into your mind as you read each line. No you will not be required to pass these papers in; you can stick ’em in your pocket for 21 days though, and rest assured that your notes will make  you think of something VERY exciting!

Ready. Set. Read and Jot!

• Get it done!

• Girls are smarter.

• World Wide Web.

• Not Enough Time.

• Walk this way!

• You have cancer.

• New and Improved!

• Work. Work. Work.

• It’s A Boy!

• This won’t hurt.

• Take it away!

• Make it count!

• I Love You.

• Tow-Away Zone.

• One More Round.

• Up in smoke.

• I Pledge Allegience.

• Take a vacation!

• Dog Day Afternoon.

• Wine. Women. Song.

• Around the world.

• I don’t care! 

• Aw, come on!

• Health and happiness.

• Benefits, not features!

And the winner is . . . you.

There is no scoring here. Oh, I know that’s a terrible thing for you to have put yourself through and not have some way to rate your performance. The point is that you know how hard or easy this 3-word expression association test is for you.

And you know better than anyone whether you need just a little fine-tune coaching, or to dump the whole task in a competent lap and walk away because it’s too time-consuming, or that you get it and you’ve got it, and you’ll do it yourself!

If you really do this exercise, you will:  

A) Produce some awesome idea that will have major impact on your business, and maybe even your life! (No joke about the 21 days!)

B) Prove to yourself that you really DO have a way with words and should start attacking that 7-word themeline on your own or  

C) Underscore that you are a disaster with words and creative verbal expression and it might be a very good time to start shopping around for one of those marketing wordsmith wizards.

www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Seeing Yourself Win

At Business,

Makes It Happen!

(And when you can make it happen, you can make a difference!)

Yes, business is a game.And let’s face it, there’s probably never been a more exasperating, more struggling time in American history than right now to try and launch or rocket-boost a business. The economy is in shambles and continues to sink daily.

It is unfortunately only going to continue to get worse until something more substantial than lip-service is paid to the stimulation of small business job creation. This will take real and significant tax incentives extended to entrepreneurs. Small businesses that have been laying around for years are the economy’s engines, but new entrepreneurial enterprises are the fuel!

New businesses create jobs. Job creation is (for the zillionth time on this blog site) the ONLY solution to our ever-sinking economy.

The Administration lacks business experience and knowhow to the point of patheticness (even if there’s no such word, that’s what it is). 

To have even thought that “stimulus” (tax dollar) money for corporate giants was the answer, is both naive and dumb.

To think that the nonstop reckless spending patterns being flaunted by government, and that politically-motivated tax increase and ill-conceived healthcare proposals represent an answer, is pure lunacy. They simply serve to compound the financial collapse of those very businesses that hold the key to revitalization.

How does an entrepreneur with a new venture face employee healthcare requirements and increased taxes with every innovation that has the potential to create jobs?

Competitive businesses (are there any other kind?) are beating each other’s brains in. Strategic alliances and collaborative efforts have made valiant efforts to rise above the fray — trying to cooperate, lock arms, hold hands, and march shoulder-to-shoulder was a nice diversion as times got tighter, but those are just new game applications. They don’t change the basic free-market-enterprise-doing-business-to-make-a-profit game!

And what else is business for but to innovate, create jobs, and make a profit?

Social reform? Sure, that’s great when it’s affordable.

History has proven at every turn that social causes underwritten by businesses that stand solidly on strong financial foundations are more successful than those causes underwritten from a position of weakness.

How can you truly help less fortunate people and causes when you are struggling to pay your own bills? Charity must come from the heart, but effective large-scale charity must also come from financial strength.

The bottom line remains that it takes sales to produce revenues and it takes revenues to pay overhead and open the door to profits. The problem with all this is that government controls strangle business sales initiatives. And corporate bailouts were a failure-ready-to-happen before they ever happened. Their sole accomplishment was to increase the deficit by adding more debt.

What options are left? If you own or run a new business (since 2001), your best option is to make a winner of your business by seeing it be a winner every day and every night, every waking hour possible (after personal, family, spiritual and community time).

That means closing your eyes and “seeing” the customers you want coming in your door or to your site. It means imagining each growth step taking place, including employee loyalty and leadership development, bank deposits being made, bill payments becoming a minor event, investments in operations and job creation zooming. Then, fully supporting the charity of your choice.

Every great athlete and sports psychologist will tell you that seeing yourself in your mind as a winner, doing winning things in winning ways, produces victory. It’s no different for business owners, except there may be more diversions to deal with. But when all is said and done, you become what you think about, and so does your business!

Try it. Be Tenacious. You’ll like it. It works. 

# # #

931.854.0474     Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals!

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Loose Lips DO Sink Ships . . .

When to keep your

mouth shut, and how.

You’re a self-confident entrepreneur, maybe even cocky. The likelihood is that you have a high sense of self-esteem and a big fat ego that sometimes gets in the way of your success —  an ego that you find yourself tripping over every once in awhile.

Your $50-necktie-and-$100-white-shirt corporate brother-in-law thinks you’re a smart-ass know-it-all. The guy you’ve been busting a gut trying to get business from can’t get past the fact that you’ve been everywhere, done everything, and have the same amount (or more) experience that he has. People who work for you start to yawn when you begin ticking off your accomplishments.

“A time for everything under heaven”

is true for sure.

But believing it and acting it

may be two separate issues.

How hard is it to keep your mouth shut when a customer, prospect, employee, or supplier starts offering an opinion on something you see differently, based on your firsthand knowledge?

Do you shut down your listening skills because you’re in a hurry to impress the other person that you already know the details, the scoop, the inside story, the whatever?

If any of this sounds even vaguely familiar, you may be setting yourself up for failure. Consider that no one likes to be upstaged. No one likes not being heard or paid attention to.

Try asking questions instead of offering opinions. Remember that true entrepreneurs who start and run successful ventures seek always to find others smarter than they are to run and manage their operations 

Surely you’ve heard some grandparent

warn a child to “hold your tongue!”

It’s actually very good and often productive advice. Try putting the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth (it’s very hard to speak coherently that way) when someone else starts in on a subject about which you consider yourself well-informed.

It will force you to pay attention and wait. It will force you to take the time to present your ideas in a less offensive, more productive manner.       

If someone else is trying to impress you, it almost always means that that person is already impressed with you.

If the exchangeis a potentially good one for either and/or both of you, tolerance may get you more respect than rebuttals or one-upmanship. Respect generates trust and cooperation and sales. Information presented in a way that others might interpret as bragging does not.

Leadership is about balance.

Balanced communications is the magic combination that opens the lock. Listening, active listening — eye contact, nodding, expressing agreement and understanding, asking for examples and diagrams, questioning instead of telling and offering opinions, paraphrasing, taking notes, showing genuine interest and concern — are leadership behaviors that create balance. 

Anytime you’re tempted to pounce on a discussion topic with with a tsunami of personal experience, supportive data, resource recommendations, evidence you consider conclusive to support your position . . . STOP! Ask yourself if you are more interested in impressing someone with how much you know or are capable of, than you are with growing or boosting your business.

When you can respond instead of react,

you can never over-react!

302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Daily Notes or Recordings

Work Wonders With

Business Pursuits 

They heal damaged ventures and egos. They explore new ideas and avenues of strategic planning. They reveal new awarenesses and cultivate creativity. They stimulate innovation and fuel productive relationships.

They save time, money and effort. They reduce stress and soothe neurological systems.They need never be shared with anyone. They don’t take more than 3-5 minutes a day.

No, “They” are not vitamin supplements or exercises or illusionist tricks. “They” are journals. When you keep a journal, you open yourself up to all of the above opportunities.  

Do they REALLY work? Yes. I have dozens of business (and personal) journals on my shelf. Referring to them and the notes I’ve made has accomplished everything noted in the opening paragraph, and more.

A great many college and management training session students I’ve prescribed journaling to, have told me it was the single most valuable tool they ever learned about and used. It can be a combination savior and rocket booster for any entrepreneur or small business owner or manager. It can be a major career and personal/professional development tool for anyone, regardless of business attachments. 

The best part of keeping track of my daily thoughts in writing –besides teaching me more about myself and my life and business choices– is that once thoughts leave my brain and travel down my arm and into my fingers and through my pen and onto paper, I no longer need to carry them around in my brain.

Once my thoughts are sitting in a notebook that I can pick up and look at anytime I want; there’s more room in my brain for focusing on what’s important that’s going on here and now (instead of recreating and resurrecting past experiences or worrying about or planning for or fantasizing about stuff that’s in the future, and that may never happen or show up anyway).

I can tell you firsthand that there’s no better investment of time you can make, over time. And your potential ROI paybacks can be staggering. On top of all that, it’s free!

Getting started . . .

1) Make the commitment to yourself that you will try it faithfully for 21 days in a row.

2) On every left-hand page, put the date. Across the top write “WHAT HAPPENED” and proceed to jot down an objective, rational, report of some incident(s) that occurred or thoughts or ideas you had.

3) On every facing right-hand page, write across the top “HOW I FELT” and proceed to editorialize, offer opinions, be biased, express your “take” on whatever is represented on the left-hand page.

What kinds of entries work best . . .

An idea. A thought. An observation. A word. A sentence. A paragraph. A diagram. An example. A poem. A drawing. Scribble. Your goals. Goal progress. A doodle. Spit. A coffee stain. Whatever is taking up valuable think space that you don’t want to forget, but that’s getting in the way of immediacy.

Does it have to be in writing? Can’t a laptop serve the purpose? Historically, writing stuff down on paper has always worked best. Tape recordings are next best. Laptops do not offer the same impact value. I really recommend to put it in writing on paper in a (preferably) bound blank book or (second best) bound notebook. (“Bound” because removable pages encourage time-wasting second thoughts, and nurture perfectionism, which is not productive.)

Stop worrying about how pages will look and put stuff down. Something (literally any thing) every day is better that writing volumes once or twice a week.

Keeping track of your daily thoughts may feel awkward at first, but reviews over time will prove that you have created true value from nothing, and serve to demonstrate how really smart you always thought you were but never had a way to back up your convictions. And who knows? Maybe it will end up a best-seller or full-length movie! :<)

Serious: Do it. Start today.

www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Disagreements are

triggered by real or

perceived threats,

 injustices, and

unmet expectations.

If you’re not seeking a win-win result,

you lose. If, however, you are seeking for

both sides to walk away winners, check this…

Here’s a helpful checklist of steps to keep handy as you seek to negotiate your way through any disagreement with another person or group of people. Following these guidelines can help to disarm real or perceived threats, injustices, and unmet expectations by putting it all on the table and by facilitating (with pleasant assertiveness) forward movement…on the job, or off: 

1)   BOTH SIDES MUST ACCEPT

that the responsibility for striking up a successful relationship, or renegotiating a pre-existing one, is shared.

“Before we set out to produce a useful contract, we both (all) need to accept and act from a position of 50-50 ownership.”  

2)   A FREE, UNRESTRICTED ATTITUDE

must prevail. Agreements that are manipulated or coerced will not last. Those who do not freely choose to agree are not ready to contract with others at any level.

“Before we build this bridge over troubled waters, let us (all) agree to not exert any external stresses on the materials we use, the time we decide on, the people and equipment we choose to do the job, or the costs involved”

3)   BOTH SIDES MUST BE WILLING

 to give fair consideration to one another’s situations, circumstances, opinions, assertions, evidence, concerns, experience, skill, knowledge, and financial and physical and spiritual limitations. Even boss-employee relationships cannot produce something from nothing.

“I’m happy to give you the benefit of some extra hours (days) off if you are willing to put the extra effort in that we need right now, and can get the job done the right way on schedule.”

4)   ANYTHING ANYBODY WANTS

is legitimate. It may not be desirable, advisable, or affordable, but there’s nothing wrong with expressing desires (that are, of course, legal and nonviolent).

“You want a hundred million dollars for this land assessed at $900,000? Okay, you’re entitled to want that.”

5)   Remember the song: “YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT” ?

It’s true, and that’s okay too!

6)   YOU CAN CHOOSE TO REFUSE.

You may not want to deal with the consequences of refusing, but you can always simply say “No!”

7)   THE ONLY DEAL ITEMS 

you can put on the table are behavior, results, time and money. Attitudes and emotions cannot be contracted for.

8)   IF YOU OR THE OTHER PARTY

doesn’t have or is unable to provide something, don’t waste time and energy seeking it.

9)   PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT PRESENT

cannot be contracted with.

10)  PUT IT IN WRITING. PUT IT IN WRITING. PUT IT IN WRITING.

11)  BUILD IN  “What Happens If” CONTINGENCY ARRANGEMENTS.

Always take the time to consider “worst case scenario” possibilities. 

12)  MAKE SURE TO SET UP A WAY TO MEASURE PROGRESS.

It’s hard to know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been.   

This adaptation was inspired by a 1985 guideline “When You’re Negotiating” published by Designed Learning, Inc.

302.933.0116    Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

When tug-of-wars threaten 

family business . . .

call TIME OUT!

Not to act is to act… Not to stop the roller coaster long enough to raise the issues (and question yourself), puts you out of control!

Conflict is inevitable in any business. But eliminating conflict can destroy a business overnight because it pulls away the blanket of trust and blocks the path to innovation all in one fell swoop.

The goal needs to be to manage conflict productively, not chase it away. Properly managed conflict can breed creative thinking, mutual respect, and boost business growth.

If you want to get technical, some organizational development experts and behavioral scientists would insist that the inability to manage agreement is a far more critical issue to address than the inability to manage conflict.

Experience with hundreds of family businesses though seems to dictate that where conflict is present, manage that first. It’s hard to agree to much of anything once fists are flying.

__________________________________________________

Start by questioning yourself >>> What do I need to do when a conflict issue is critically important to me but not to others? >>>Am I inflating or accelerating an issue and making it worse than it really is? >>> How important is it for me (and for me to help others) to speak up, and not “hint”? >>> For issues that are critical to others but not me, can I mediate better with active listening and questioning?

_____________________________________________

Here are some quick-fix rules of thumb that can lead you out of the dark tangles and into the sunlight:

1) Be willing to listen more. Ask the presenter(s) to slow down so you can write down a bullet list of items he/she/they want to deal with (When you do this, you slow down the attack potential and reduce the odds of getting overwhelmed with a bombardment of unrelated issues. When it’s agreed that the list is complete, ask for help prioritizing it, then focus on #1 only until it’s resolved, before moving to #2, etc. Divide and conquer the issues.

2) Stay 100% focused on the issues and on behaviors, not on the individuals themselves or their personality defects or character traits.

3) Resist being defensive or attacking back. Rebuttals only stimulate more rebuttals. Even if you’re right and win the battle, you can lose the war.

4) Be pleasantly direct about expressing what you want and feel. Use assertive language that respects others and their rights, that is objective and clear. More use of words like “I” instead of “you.” If things get heated, call TIME OUT! and follow with statements like “I came here to discuss, not argue” and “I want to know your feelings about this” and “I want to hear your position on this.”

5) Practice substituting the word “and” for the word “but” when trying to work through differences [“I agree with your thinking that we need to increase sales, but I think how that happens should be the responsibility of the sales department” is NOT as effective as “I agree with your thinking that we need to increase sales, and I think how that happens should be the responsibility of the sales department.”] Words like “but” (and “though” and “however” which are simply polite “buts”) serve to discredit…whereas “and” suggests a process of building on a mutually agreeable idea.

To deal effectively with another person’s anger, you must –above all– not get hooked by it.

Second, accept it as belonging to the other person.

Third, affirm the other person’s angry feelings as real, and that you hear and understand them.

Fourth, acknowledge that you may or do feel defensive, and state clearly how you feel about having any anger directed at you.

Fifth, ASK for clarification, for examples, for diagrams; diagnose the cause — take it apart piece at a time.

Sixth, renegotiate the relationship.

And remember what grandma used to say: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

(or call or email Hal -see below- for some free pointers)

Resolving conflicts? It’s always worth doing. It’s your business.

302.933.0911 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Your business has just been 

beaten up. NOW what?????

The Small Business ER. Paperwork. Name? Date of birth? sole proprietorship, Sub-S or LLC? Address? History of ailments? Next of kin? Organ donor? 

The Business Doctor. A diagnostic work-up. What seems to be the problem? Take a deep breath! http://bit.ly/bo3ZJy Where does it hurt? Let’s see – does this hurt? 

What did you do, get mugged on the way to a sales presentation?

No insurance? Hmmmm. Ah, Helen, let’s see if we can slide this business in under some kind of federal coverage — maybe one of those stimulus plans?

Sooooo, the good news is you’re not gonna die from this. Take your business home, ice it, give it aspirin and lots of rest; keep the bank loans floating, drink prune juice and call me in the morning.

In the meantime, I’m giving you a rehab prescription — you’ll need physical and mental therapy both, but it may only be for six months to a year.

If by then, things haven’t straightened out, we’ll need to do some MRIs and consider a frontal lobotomy, or we may decide it’s just best for you to simply fold your venture and go to work for the government or a large corporation …which would be something like a lobotomy anyway.

Someone here to drive you? Good. You should feel better in a year or two. Have a great day! 

Yuh! Well, things could be worse, said the bloated cow that hadn’t been milked for three days.

The point is that very little compares with the mental anguish, and painful feelings associated with your business taking a beating at the hands of incompetent government agencies, overly-aggressive industry or professional competition, the two-faced-forked-tongue media, the IRS, or your cousin Vinny.

But YOU are an ENTREPRENEUR! Everybody calls you that. You have a reputation to uphold. You’re a free spirit. Nothing gets you down (well, almost nothing).

So the bottom line is that it’s time to get up off the floor (or examination room gurney) and pick up the pieces and set some new goals that are realistic, specific, flexible, and have a due date. http://bit.ly/95XCJN

Yes, it’s true that entrepreneurs typically do not like to plan anything, but the point here is that when your business and/or business ideas have been assaulted, and you’re thinking about chucking it all and heading for the islands, you need to PLAN.

Most recoveries of any type do not generally occur miraculously. They take planning. http://bit.ly/c4puBz Just as you set goals for yourself when you started your business, set them anew for making a recovery.

You CAN do this.

You know why? Because it’s a choice! http://bit.ly/9GydiP 

www.TWWsells.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

How you see

your business

is not how

others see it!

We see what we want to see. We hear what we want to hear. We feel what we want to feel.

How others experience your business and your business message has almost nothing to do with you. It’s all about selective perception.

Pretend your business

is sponsoring a special event . . . a charity fundraising reception, for example. Your biggest customer has donated a pile of merchandise for the feature event drawing. Your assistant has done all the decorations. Your major suppliers have donated hor’ devours and beverages, the local newspaper and TV news reporters are covering the reception. The Mayor is there.

Selective perception

dictates that your biggest customer heads directly to check out the donated prizes when she comes through the door (and to make sure the reporters get the charitable company’s name and address right), your assistant will be fussing with the ribbons and streamers and balloons, your major suppliers will head straight for the bar and foodservice trays (along with the media people who are only there for the freebies), and the Mayor is working the room for votes.

Most attendees are there to be seen.

Getting people to attend an event that they’ve contributed to in some way is easy. Getting them to pay attention to your message and the reason YOU wanted them to be there is not. And the people representing the charity think every one’s there to spotlight and assist their needs. But reality is that everyone who attends, attends for their own reasons, and searches out their own payoffs.

No, it’s not being cynical; it’s being honest. Most people will never admit that they go to or participate in a charity event for any reason other than to help the charity, but the truth is there’s something more in it for them. Nothing wrong with that because –in the end– the charity benefits, but don’t kid yourself into believing that others see things the same ways you do.

The charitable event is merely an example. Others fail to see your perspective in the ways you represent your products and services. Probably 100% of customers and prospects could care less about all the great product and service features you embrace. The “What’s in it for me” benefits are all that really matter.

Are you triggering their emotional

buying motives…or yours?

In fact, NO ONE sees things the same ways you do. No ones sees and hears and processes things in exactly the same ways as anyone else. The perceptual filters in every brain vary with age, health, environment, experience, and circumstances among other factors…and they can change at the drop of a hat.

Some people still walk around blaming a bad upbringing or poor potty training as reasons for certain shortcomings or personality defects. They don’t see the world (or your business) the same way you do.

Well, that may all strike you as fairly depressing news, but there’s nothing depressing about having a heightened awareness of the fact that you need to reach customers and prospects with the sets of words that appeal most to THEM, not you. That’s important stuff!

You might want to consider having a professional experienced, sales-focused  marketing writer with strong psychology training handle the creation and production of the words that represent your business. Your business messages need to feel solid to your target market. Having that happen is not a matter of luck.

Look for someone who knows how to capture and excite a broad spectrum of selective perception filters, who can help direct attention your way, and who can create messages that will trigger emotional buying motives for you.   

Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!