Expert Author: Mark Silver | Category: Business I just googled 'Passion in Business' and came up with 82,900,000 hits. And, according to the first several pages of hits, everyone says that you must have passion to succeed in business. 'Fuel your passion' is the watchword. Why this quest for passion? Of course, passion can feel wonderful, but do you really need it to succeed in business? What happens when you don't have it?
It's a given for your business: you want next year to be different than this year. And so all kinds of projects and tasks end up on your to-do list. Marketing, office structures, product/offer creation, client care, technology. Very important, this doing of things. Without action, very little manifests, no matter how clear your intentions are. And yet, will next year look different? What gives? Is it too much action?
Expert Author: Mark Silver | Category: Business You're sitting in class, and the teacher at the front has just said something that doesn't entirely make sense to you. "You see, the world is flat. It's always been flat. And it always will be flat. Flat, flat, flat." The year is 1400 A.D., and you're thinking, "But, what if it isn't flat? What if it's round?" Do you stick your hand up and tell the teacher?
Expert Author: Mark Silver | Category: Business Imagine you're ten years old, and there are huge stacks of cardboard boxes towering over you. It's a maze. It's a fortress. And you're allowed to climb all over them. Inside every single one of those boxes is a dozen bottles. Fine wines, liquor, you name it. It may sound like a caterer's dream, but I was just hanging out in the warehouse of my grandfather's wine store. My parents worked with him, and so I kinda grew up there.
Expert Author: Mark Silver | Category: Success I'm guessing you spend a certain amount of time daydreaming... Daydreaming of what it will be like when you hit 'the big time.' When your finances are really abundant. When you become well-known in your field. When you make that next big step, whatever it is. Dreams of lolling around on silk sheets with peeled grapes and fizzy drinks. Dreams of giving away as generously as you've always wanted to. Dreams coming true.
Expert Author: Mark Silver | Category: Marketing Don't you hate it when a client emails you: "You know, I feel really ignored. Why haven't you responded to my last email?" Or how about: "This class isn't working for me. I'm in a completely different place with my situation from the other participants, and you aren't following me at all." You make mistakes with them all the time. Really heartening, ain't it?
The tide's coming in, fast. Your kayak is there on the sand, starting to get gently nudged. Meanwhile you're flat out on a beach towel. Hot sun. Cool breeze. Iced tea. Are you going to get up in time to save your kayak from floating out to sea? Your business may be calling, all kinds of important things to get done. But who can lift a finger when the sun is so bright?
Have you put off, or given up entirely, the idea of writing that book, or creating a CD or DVD, for your business? Maybe you've let that idea slip away because you thought your business wasn't suited to it. I mean, what you do is so individual and personal, or too complicated to explain, or so intuitive in nature, that it can't be captured in a product.
Ready to write an article? You even made the big step of scheduling time to do it. So here it is, and you're sitting at your desk, staring blankly at the screen. Just like you've been doing for the last two weeks. And still no article. Despite the fact it was supposed to go out 10 days ago. Ugh.
Expert Author: Mark Silver | Category: Sales Someone calls you up and is interested in your offer. So, they start asking questions. And more questions. And more questions. Suddenly, you've been on the phone for over an hour. And, when you hang up, they still didn't sign up for your offer.
Expert Author: Mark Silver | Category: Sales Sooner or later you will have to ask someone to buy something from you. Whether you have a retail store, and a couple has been admiring an expensive couch for the last 20 minutes, or you are a consultant or coach who has just finished an initial conversation with a potential client, the question is waiting to be asked. "So, are you ready to buy?"
Advertising. Curse? Money hole? Or powerful venue? It seems so obvious: where else, for a few hundred dollars, could you get in front of thousands of people? And it's true that many of them are really wanting what you're offering. Unfortunately, the vast majority of advertising ends up being good to wrap fish in, and not much else. People cry up "But it's getting me exposure," and that's true, to a point. Is it really increasing sales?
Expert Author: Mark Silver | Category: Marketing You may be offering a guarantee, but nervously, or perhaps not offering one at all. What if a bunch of your clients ask for their money back? Sluuurrrrrpppp... there goes your business, down the drain. What makes a guarantee safe for you?
Expert Author: Mark Silver | Category: Business When you're doing your best work with your clients, it's magical, sacred. There is almost something holy about what you do, like you aren't there at all. And that's what your clients love most too- those moments of transcendance. Yet, when you try to talk about this sacredness in your marketing, it doesn't make an impact. It gets swallowed up in the marketplace, like an insignificant cotton ball swept away in a hurricaine. What gives?
Expert Author: Mark Silver | Category: Business You've planned the class. You've marketed it like all git-out. The early-bird deadline has come and gone. You're five days out, and you've got 3 people registered. The big question: Do you cancel?
Expert Author: Mark Silver | Category: Business Question: What would you think of someone who said this to a five year old? "It's about time you start earning your keep! I want you to get out there and get a job so you can pay your share of the mortgage. And, while you're at it, here's the keys to the car". Doesn't make sense, does it? This person is either cruel, crazy, or out to lunch on the next planet over. This is exactly what many folks do to their new businesses.
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