by | March 21, 2011 · 10:00 am

Apply sales techniques to all endeavors to skyrocket your results

by Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC
International Speaker and Author

On the occasion you have ever been disappointed that others did not understand your viewpoint or grant your request, you should give thought to learning sales techniques that work to your favor for obtaining the right job or the preferred clientele.  Most people unfortunately view sales as unethical.

My advice to overcome this negative perception is to view sales as simply making friends whether it is the hiring manager or your next prospect.  Work to build relationships and put the interests of the other person first.  As you build trust and confidence in you, the next step is finding commonality between you and the other party. You are now getting the idea that the low key and earnest sales approach works best.

The next tip is to grow your business exponentially and by that I use the concept of the Power of 10.  For every service or product you offer or interview you go on, try to multiply each by 10 to find amazing results.  For example, 3 services multiplied by 3 x 2 x 1 equals 6 possible audiences.  When you multiply 10 x 9 x 8 etc. the calculations comes to 3.6 million plus!

Using my own advice, I began with sales training.  Next came business coaching and the Smooth Sale product line followed by my writing Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results, Sourcebooks.  The book translated into several languages, was featured in TIME Magazine and grew into an International Best Seller.

My speaking practice grew, my website was overhauled and a blog was implemented.  Interviews came my way. Look into law firm web design tips if you decide to build a website for your business or practice.

Community service was always a piece of my business designed to help job seekers understand how to sell themselves on interviews.  My good deeds were rewarded with the realization that it was time to write, HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews, Career Press.

HIRED! provided a new venue for me to work with colleges.   College bookstores are carrying both books, and I am speaking to the student body, alumni, and training local communities along with the students.  Both media attention and sales attraction techniques on social media are helping to sell many more copies.

Given my books are successful, I have begun teaching others How to Write A Book and Sell More Copies Online in addition to providing the traditional sales training and how to build business exponentially.  I plan to write more business books and love providing motivational keynotes at conferences.

As you can see one venue develops into the next.  There are always setbacks.  But when you make a commitment to continual education and perseverance (the salesperson’s motto) your opportunity for success increases greatly and you soon experience the Smooth Sale!

You can listen to the audio from when Elinor was a guest of Blog Host, Gail Z. Martin’s Shared Dreams podcast here: https://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WDfwLsZs

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by | March 17, 2011 · 3:50 pm

“WHY is so yesterday, but What?” said the Cheshire cat

By Sheryl Eldene, MA, MBA, PCC

Recently, I heard someone ask the question, “What would you attempt to do if you knew that you couldn’t fail?”

I LOVE questions because when you ask a question, you MUST give yourself an answer. It’s not negotiable. As that question kicks around in your head – you inevitably decide on the answer.

The problems come when you ask yourself the wrong question. What’s the wrong question? WHY IS THE WRONG QUESTION.

WHY will inevitably take you to a place of self judgement – so let go of that one. It doesn’t matter WHY. It is probably way too late to fix WHY anyway.

  • Why should I care?
  • Why haven’t I done this already?
  • Why is this taking so long?
  • Why can others accomplish this goal, and I’m have such a hard time?
  • Why doesn’t anyone help me?
  • Why doesn’t my partner support me?………

So let’s get back to WHAT would you attempt if you knew you couldn’t fail?

Do you remember your dreams when you were little? One of my dreams was to be a surgeon! Later, I decided I wanted to be Homecoming Queen! When I was little, everything seemed possible. As children, we are natural masters at the Law of Attraction. Remember allowing your dreams to expand and fill your days with wonder? I lived in a neighborhood where there was a lot of home construction going on. My friends and I spent hours in those open building pretending that we were queens, presidents, big wig bosses and we’d act out all those dreams. I even had the lingo, the walk, the imagined wardrobe – enormous clarity around my dream.

My dreams of surgeon and Queen went away not due to lack of crystal clarity, but the failure to marry those dreams to action plans. Of course, I forgive my eight year old self for not creating an action plan toward medical school and my ten year old self for not having a clue how to become a queen.

Today I’m older and wiser. My dream of connecting my newest published book to those thousands of people who are looking for that wisdom is very clear, as is my action plan toward that vision. Here’s some questions that might help you turn your wonderful dreams into reality:

  1. What is my goal?
  2. What is my plan?
  3. What will I do today to get inspired?
  4. What specific steps will I take today toward that goal?
  5. What am I willing to do today, assuming I will be successful?
  6. How will I reward myself today for staying with my plan?

Add your voice the the conversation, what will you do today to get inspired?

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Filed under Business Planning, Intentions, Sheryl Eldene

by | March 16, 2011 · 10:07 am

How are those resolutions coming?

By Gail Z. Martin

Do you remember what your New Year resolutions were?  Have you given up on them, or are you still trying to make them happen?  Two of my resolutions included losing some weight and scheduling more speaking engagements.  Both are coming along, although the speaking part is happening a little faster.  And as I head back on the road with out-of-town presentations, I’m realizing that increasing the speaking events has a definite impact on how easy it is to shave off some pounds, due to missed time at the gym and hotel/airport food.  The good news is, at a recent convention I teamed up with another artist friend to take long morning walks despite the cold, and we kept each other honest on the dinner buffet.  I’ve gotten better at finding healthy options at airports, and I’m not as likely to just eat whatever’s easiest at a reception.

In other words, I’m making progress even though it’s not big and flashy.  I talk a lot about my Rule of 30 in my 30 Days to Social Media Success book.  The Rule of 30 days that any action you repeat 30 times begins to create impact.  The action doesn’t have to be big, it just has to be targeted and repeated.  So….making connections to land new speaking engagements count toward my Rule of 30.  Every time I make a better food choice and pass up a not-so-good choice, it’s part of that Rule of 30.

Sometimes it’s hard to see how the little things add up.  But the truth is, most of the time little things are all we can do in the short term.  There are very few opportunities to make huge sweeping changes in life, business or world politics.  On the other hand, history proves that small actions can lead to amazing changes.

How will you apply the Rule of 30 to your New Year’s resolutions?

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by | March 14, 2011 · 10:00 am

Finding Time to Write

by Mindy Gibbins-Klein

Are you finding enough time to write?  Most people don’t.  Over many years of coaching aspiring authors, I have heard all kinds of excuses, but it all boils down to one idea: you need to make time for your writing.  Notice that I said make time, not find time.  You won’t find any time anywhere.  You need to consciously carve that time out of your busy schedule to ensure you deliver your book.

Successful authors treat their writing seriously, like the business project it is.  They make sacrifices and make it a priority so that it actually happens.  You may need to get up early or stay up later for the duration of your book project.  You may do well setting aside 3-hour chunks of time before, during or after the business day and even at weekends.  I don’t recommend spending more than 3-4 hours at a time on the writing because you will become less effective and all the other things you have to do will be mounting up the whole time.  But do put the exact times in your calendar.  Don’t leave it to chance and don’t add “write book” to an already full “to do” list.  That will just create pressure and stress which won’t help your flow.

You may find you need to skip business or social gatherings that are not absolutely critical.  You may need to explain to family and friends that your book is a top priority and other things have to go on the back-burner.

Books don’t write themselves.  In my experience, with the right level of planning and focus, you can write a full-length non-fiction book in about 100 hours.  The problem is most people do not set aside the 100 hours to make it happen.

Mindy Gibbins-Klein is best known as founder of The Book Midwife and founder/director of Ecademy Press business publishing.  She works with aspiring authors to guide them all the way through the planning and writing process, ideally starting before they even write one word.

She is an international speaker, trainer and consultant with 20 years of marketing, training and coaching experience, and over 300 clients who have written and published excellent books quickly using the Book Midwife methodology.  www.bookmidwife.com

You can listen to the audio from when Mindy was a guest of Blog Host, Gail Z. Martin’s Shared Dreams podcast here: https://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WW7XbC07

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by | March 10, 2011 · 4:15 pm

Following your Bliss or your Blisters?

By Sheryl Eldene, MA, MBA,

As you prepare your second quarter action plans, now might be a good time to observe if those plans represent a desire to follow your bliss or your blisters. Here are four tips to consider:

  1. Is that action step a reaction to a first quarter problem? If so, excellent, the business can continue to improve by evaluating what isn’t working and changing a policy, a practice, or an attitude that is detracting from your goals.
  2. Is that action step aligned with your annual goal? If so, excellent, your job as the Chief Operating Officer of your business is to keep your eye on the big annual goal and to make sure that those weekly, monthly, and quarterly action steps will take you to that objective.
  3. Is that action step aligned with you Big Dream? If so, excellent, your job as Chief Executive Officer is to set the mission and vision of your company and be sure that your company continues to be a picture your original vision.
  4. As you think about your second quarter, are you mostly a step one, a step two, or a step three. It is very easy, as an owner of a small business, to live in the put-out-fire zone(stage one), visit the COO zone(stage two), and forget the CEO zone(stage three).
    • Try setting the tone for each quarter with a week-end retreat to get back in touch with your mission and your own deeply held values and WHY for doing what you do.
    • Plan a week annual retreat to set the tone, mission, and vision for each year
    • Use your coach as a means to regularly check in on all three levels and keep yourself on track.

May you always follow your bliss, and treat those blisters – and let us know how are those second quarter plans coming.

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by | March 9, 2011 · 10:03 am

Civility

<div class=\"postavatar\">Civility</div>

by Gail Z. Martin

The whole civility topic has stayed with me.  All the anger spewed by talk radio and politicians, and all the fear that makes for news show ratings is making us sick—and I mean that literally.

We know that stress is a big contributor to disease.  Stress contributes to cancer, heart disease, inflammatory conditions, auto-immune disorders, sleep problems, overeating, substance abuse and domestic violence.  Life has unavoidable stresses, but we can choose to eliminate the phony ones by refusing to listen to radio and TV personalities shout at each other, by withdrawing support when politicians act like middle school bullies, and by being watchful of the tone of the conversation that is allowed in our minds and in our homes.

What does this have to do with marketing and business?  Everything.  When people are afraid, they spend less money on goods and services.  Businesses horde extra cash instead of hiring, “just in case.”  Investors pull out of markets.  Lenders refuse to lend.  It’s all based on a mindset of scarcity, the fear that there isn’t enough to go around.

What happens if we change the channel?  What happens when we focus on gratitude instead of fear, on building instead of scarcity?  It changes everything—personally and in business.

When you focus on gratitude, your intuition will feel like the volume has been turned up.  Suddenly, you’re highly receptive to other people—and they’re receptive to you.  Your intuition seems to speak to you more often when your mind isn’t blocked by anger and fear.  You’ll see new business opportunities, forge new partnerships and take risks to grow.  Not only that, but a business approach based on gratitude (with some intuitive hints along the way) will make you attractive to people who see you as an oasis of calm and confidence.

What are you grateful for in the New Year?  In your business?

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by | March 7, 2011 · 10:00 am

An Awesome Attitude Can Make a BIG Difference

by Deborah Shane

How important is attitude?

There is an expression that “when you look at challenge differently, it starts looking different to you”. There are a few people lately that are amazing examples to me of “attitude in action” in dealing with their own life altering situations. They are going through personal and professional crisis that really can try a person’s faith and belief, but they persevere with grace and poise. Some days they are just not ok and good, but they share that with their support team anyway.

All around us there are people we know in crisis and change, from jobs to homes, to health, family and finances.Which people in your sphere’s have that “awesome attitude” and how can that make a BIG difference not only to them but to others?

I know for me, the past four years has been a relentless series of changes on all the areas I mentioned above and yet I am choosing to stay positive, keep evolving, growing and moving forward. There are many things that are NOT the same, but I still have love, health, family, friends, opportunity and fun in my life.

So what is attitude?

A-action
T-time management
T-tenacity
I-inspiration
T-temperance
U-unafraid
D-daring
E-empathy

What defines your attitude? Never underestimate how it can help someone you don’t know or haven’t met yet!

Coming Early 2011-


Career Transition-make the shift
The 5 Steps for Successful Career Reinvention

Deborah Shane, is an author, entrepreneur, speaker and expert. She is the founder and Chief Motivator, Educator and Catalyst at Train With Shane, which delivers business education and professional development through speaking, events and training in the career, sales, social marketing, and motivation fields. Deborah is also founder of the Women’s Empowerment Series Conferences and The Career Transition Series Intensives. Her new book Career Transition Make the Shift-The 5 Steps to Successful Career Transition comes out early in 2011. Reach Deborah through www.deborahshane.com, TrainWithShane.com, her blog deborahshanetoolbox.com on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn at Deborah Shane, and at Blogtalkradio.com/trainwithshane.

You can listen to the audio from when Deborah was a guest of Blog Host, Gail Z. Martin’s Shared Dreams podcast here: https://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WyNtfW3X

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by | March 3, 2011 · 6:12 pm

Timid or Careful?

by Sheryl Eldene, MA, MBA, PCC

A forty five year old software engineer finally found employment after being laid off for 18 months. Her boss asks her to alter the financial reporting programs in a way that feels unethical to her. She’s been on the job for only two months, and doesn’t know the hierarchy in her new company and if what she is being asked to do is consistent with company policy, or is being done on the Q-T. She decides to work slower than usual on the project while she does some canvassing to find out what the legitimacy of this request really is. Is she being timid or careful?

A seventy year old woman with osteoporosis is walking across the street in the rain. She feels unsure of her footing, and is walking slowly, and more stiffly than usual in an attempt to protect herself from falling. Unfortunately, walking with this kind of tenseness increases her chances of losing her footing. Would you say she’s being timid and/or careful?

An entrepreneur whose business has flat lined over the last 24 months is both pleased that she is weathering the recession and nervous that neither her profits nor her market share are growing. She is contemplating a new social media marketing campaign the includes a new blog site, a new branding and new messaging to reach a more specific target market. The cost of creating this move represents about 25% of her current profits. She has had the proposal on her desk for three months now. Is she being timid or careful?

A two year old intently leaves the security of her hold on the end table and teeters toward her mother, slowly and carefully. Falls down, and tries again, holding onto that table for a little longer this time. Is she timid or careful? And clearly determined and focused!

Interestingly,TIMID, CAREFUL, and STUCK can all look the same. How are you doing in your business this quarter? Timid, Careful, Stuck or determined and moving slowly?

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by | March 2, 2011 · 10:01 am

Anger and the lizard brain.

<div class=\"postavatar\">Anger and the lizard brain.</div>

by Gail Z. Martin

I’ve told the story about the two warring wolves inside each of us—the light one that is brave and true and the dark one that is dangerous.  The wolf that wins is the wolf we feed.

I tackled my own “wolf problem” when it came to feeling angry.  Now I’ve already shared my reaction to the over-hyped, over-dramatized TV news.  But once I realized how much the doom-and-gloom drumbeat of the news affected my mood, I went looking for other culprits in order to take back my wolf.
A friend of mine who is a psychologist told me that the oldest part of the brain is focused on survival.  It’s programmed to fight, reproduce and grab all the resources for itself, because that’s how wild animals survive.  Interestingly enough, this old part of the brain is what lights up when we’re angry.  And even more interesting, when we’re angry, the body redirects blood from the more advanced parts of the brain (that control logic, reasoning and decision-making) to fuel the fight-or-flight old brain.

Do you realize what that means?  When we’re angry, we’re using our lizard brain, not the new improved frontal lobe reasoning brain.  In other words—and this is important—anger turns off the ability to think.

Now consider how angry our society has become.  Road rage. Politicians who barely avoid fist fights and call each other names. Flamers and trolls on the Internet who post nasty comments.  School bullying that makes kids commit suicide.  Talk radio. Anger turns off the ability to think.
What would happen if you pulled the plug on the anger-makers?  Skip the morning drive talk radio show that leaves you with an upset stomach and a bad mood.  Stop reading the Letters to the Editor and the comments on news blogs.  Look for a non-partisan source for news that tries its best to provide the facts and let you decide.  Take time to breathe.

Anger turns off the ability to think—and it also drowns out your intuition.  When you’re angry, there are too many survival chemicals flooding your system for you to hear the soft whisper of intuition and opportunity.

Make just one change this week to pull the plug on the anger-makers and let me know how it changes your life and awakens your intuition.

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Filed under Balance, Gail Z. Martin, Image & Identity, Inspiration, Passion & Potential, Personal Transitions

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by | February 28, 2011 · 10:00 am

What’s in a BRAND?

LaFern K. Batie, MBA
Business Strategist & Executive Coach

If I say “safe, luxury automobile” or “no frills, go anywhere airline” what comes to mind?

Regardless of the automobile or airline you chose, their brand power is in the eyes of you, the consumer, based on how you connect what you see, hear or experience with a perceived value. We are loyal to the seemingly simple and complex alike — from our favorite paper towel to the investment firm we choose to manage our life savings. What is a personal brand? Your brand, like any other commodity, connotes the value you promise. It sets you apart. Does it align with what others perceive in you?

When others see you, they see your business. Fair or not, you are a 24/7 walking, breathing billboard who has the capacity to present a strong, consistent and excellent image of what you represent. With so many resources available, where do you begin? With a personal inventory:

• Who are you? Identify your five core values – those aspects of your life that are most important to you. How do they show up in the way that you lead and conduct business? Who you are and what you desire must align!

• How do others see you? When you walk in the door, who do others see? Ask five individuals who care about you and will tell you the truth to provide five words describing you. Your business coach and personal advisory board members are excellent resources. Do they see you as intimidating rather than confident? Or less contemplative and more timid? Which perceptions need your immediate attention?

• How do you desire to be known? Whether or not you give it intentional focus, your brand has been established. Are you the epitome of effective leadership or are you waiting on a pivotal opportunity before you show up as such? Among your colleagues or clients, what is different because you are present?

From personal image to business performance, your total brand speaks volumes to others about who you are, what you represent and your business’s capability to deliver on the promises that you proclaim. Now, what does your brand say?

My book, Marketing Brand You®: Moving from Chaos to Clarity, is available for purchase at:  https://thebatiegroup.com/products.php

You can listen to the audio from when LaFern was a guest of Blog Host, Gail Z. Martin’s Shared Dreams podcast here: https://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WB4cfHjk

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