Don’t Make Success Too Complicated
Is there a magic formula for career success? A set of steps that will guarantee you rapid growth as an employee? A surefire plan for becoming the “golden boy” in your company? Perhaps. Examine this list and see if you think it covers all the bases: 1. Build your competencies.…
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What to Do When a Prospective Client Doesn’t Respond to Your Proposal
Five tried and true techniques that I – and people I know – use to speed up the process of starting a conversation with a prospective client.
READ MOREAn Idea For You From Bill Gates That Will Help You Take A Giant Step Forward
Have you ever noticed that some of your best ideas come to you when you are on vacation? It’s a common phenomenon. And there are three good reasons that it happens so frequently: 1. When you are far away from the quotidian emergencies of your busy life, you can begin…
READ MORE5 Business-Building Lessons Re-Learned in Nicaragua
I just returned from my monthly business trip to Nicaragua, where my partners and I are developing 3,000 acres of immensely beautiful land on the Pacific Ocean. It’s been a seven-year project. When we first invested there, our friends and colleagues thought we were crazy. “It’s dangerous,” they warned us.…
READ MORESay It Ain’t So, Jose
There’s no question that some people feel cheated by the likelihood that the home-run boom of the past decade in Major League Baseball has been, at least to some extent, a result of players using performance-enhancing substances. It appears, however, that these purist fans are in the minority when it…
READ MOREProfit and Purpose
Do you know exactly where your business will be in five years? Can you tell me its size? Its status? It’s production numbers and it’s profitability? Do you know what kind of good or evil it will be doing? And if you think you know, how can you be sure?…
READ MOREHelp Your Customers Get What They Want
One of the greatest secrets of success in selling is this one: “Show people what they want most, and they will move heaven and earth to get it.” In Frank Bettger’s wonderful book “How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling”, he gives a great example of how…
READ MOREThe Money Men, Part 2
In last week’s essay, I showed you how, if you find the right real estate deal at the right price, you can get the financing. Now, let’s take that discussion a step further. Today, let’s look at how you can do profitable deals even if you’re not a typical “qualified”…
READ MOREWhen Audacious Advertising Works Against You
An article in Inc. Magazine titled “Over the Edge” made the point that lots of businesses today, hoping to create a name for themselves or break into new markets, are relying on increasingly dramatic advertising campaigns. One example: a promotion for a hair-replacement product developed by Maverick Marketing that showed…
READ MOREDon’t Make Excuses . . . Just Apologize
Your customers are usually smarter than you think. Some of them are even smarter than you are. I used to work for a business that thought differently. When we created products, we thought, “Why kind of idiotic stuff will they fall for next?” When we wrote advertising copy, we always…
READ MOREHow to Choose a Health-Insurance Plan
Punting my office job for the freedom of freelance copywriting was the best decision I ever made. However, one scary aspect of that leap was leaving behind the health insurance my employer provided. It turns out, though, that you CAN get good coverage at a reasonable cost. In fact, our…
READ MOREThe Massive Leverage of Relationships
Over the past three weeks, I’ve explained that marketing, strategy, and business plans are three of the key leverage-producing “drivers” of business growth. Today, let’s look at one more: your relationships. What are the various leverage relationships you have? The business relationships you have, the professional relationships you have, the…
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