Tips and stories to add value to you and your organisation
When is a door not a door? …When it’s ajar!
When is a business not a business? …When it’s half-hearted!
One of these statements is a joke and the other one is a reality. I’ve been taking a straw poll of people who ask me about my current success and have noticed a key difference between them and me. Our conversations have tended to run like this:
Person: So Richard are you busy?
Me: Yes, I am rushed off my feet and have a number of new clients this year who are great to work with.
Person: Gosh that’s good! (Wistful gaze) I could do with a bit more work, what’s your secret?
Me: Well, I have weekly networking meetings with all sorts of people, I go to a business breakfast once a month, I write a blog every week (for four years now), I have a sales PA who is a technical whizz and sets up tweets and we send out Mail Chimp email offers and blogs to my database, I put blogs on LinkedIn, I have delivered free introductory workshops to corporate clients to generate interest, I maintain a sales spreadsheet which tracks every prospect and generates follow up actions, I can up-sell official ILM courses and also have a brilliant personality profile called LaunchPad which clients like, I have a Facebook page too and also every week give 3 hours of my time to charity where I meet new people (the radio show is volunteer based and I love the discipline of it). What do you do?
Person: Um, er, none of that.
Me: That’s ok and if you want more work maybe choose something you could do?
Person: (Half-hearted voice) Yes, I suppose I could do a bit more networking…
I bet they do nothing!
I love my business and am so pleased that I have really properly learned what it takes to run a business proactively. In essence I’ve learned that to be successful I need to be either delivering (coaching, consulting, lecturing and so on) or selling (chatting, eating cake, listening and so on) …and that’s it.
If we want to have a successful business we need to do a lot of selling. That includes marketing, networking, positioning, exploring, offering, chatting, emailing, tweeting and making new friends.
Be honest here….if my level of sales activity is 80% (I can always do more) how much is yours compared to mine? Are you at 100%? Do you do the maximum you can?
What do you really need to do more of?
Remember – Don’t do a little…do lots! That’s the secret of success!
Next week: 3 Useful Books
**Christmas Day Rich** Get a bit of festive-Rich inside you on Christmas Day! My Future Radio Business Life show is broadcast 12.00 to 2.00pm as live (we recorded it last week and it’s great fun). Listen online via a radio player app on your tablet or smartphone, or on 107.8FM …music and fun stories and me and the team. Tune in and smile when you’re peeling sprouts! Go for it!
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Brilliant ways to increase performance, stay employed and keep the money rolling in
Published 2011 Marshall Cavendish
208pp
Secrets and skills to sell yourself effectively in the Modern Age
Published 2010 Marshall Cavendish
260pp