Archive for the ‘Business Success’ Category
Business Success | December 31st, 2008 | 1 Comment »
There are many different sources of new product ideas for your business. Here are six of them.
Read Everything You Can
The first way to find a new product or service is to read newspaper stories, read articles, read advertisements, read the classified ads. Very often when people have new products or services available in a market or they’re looking for someone to sell it or distribute it, they advertise in the classifieds under business opportunities. Read all US publications that are written for businesspeople. Look for potential in new products or services everywhere.
Study Trade Magazines
The second way to find new products or services is to read trade magazines, especially in your field of knowledge or expertise. Libraries usually have them all. Go down to the library, take a look at all the magazines and then subscribe to the very best ones.
Visit Trade Shows
The third way to find a new product or service is to go to trade shows. You need only a business card to get into a trade show and they hold trade shows everywhere all the time. You can have business cards made up for you in 24 hours.
Talk to the Key People
Present yourself as a retail buyer. Sign up at the beginning, pay the entrance fee, and present yourself as a buyer looking to buy the products offered in the trade show. Then go in and talk to the key people there. Find out what they’re doing. What they’re selling. Where the market is going. What the industry trends are. What is successful and what is unsuccessful and so on.
Tap Into Your Network
The fourth way to find a new product or service is your friends. Tell them that you’re looking for new product ideas. Tell them you’re looking for something to sell, something to distribute. Have them keep an eye out for you. Sometimes your friends will see things that you won’t see, or they’ll see things when they’re traveling and so on.
Keep Your Eyes Open
The fifth way to find new products or services is to read Entrepreneur Magazine. Read Success Magazine. Read Inc. Magazine. Read magazines where people advertise new products or services or business opportunities. Read The Wall Street Journal. Read Money Magazine. Read Fortune. Read Business Week. Read everything that you possibly can.
Look Overseas For New Products
The sixth source of new products is foreign publications. There are three foreign publications that you can get if you look around for them. One is called Made In Europe, which has hundreds and hundreds of products that are made by European corporations who are seeking US distributors. Sometimes the distribution rights for those products are available for the asking. There’s also a book called Made In Hong Kong, which has hundreds and hundreds of products made by Hong Kong corporations. And then there’s another catalog from the Taiwanese Trade Consulate that’s available that lists hundreds of manufacturers of thousands of products who are looking for US distributors.
Remember, 95 percent of all products are never sold outside of the country that they’re manufactured in. Sometimes all you have to do is find a product that is selling well somewhere else and bring it into your market area and that can be the start of your successful business.
Action Exercises
First, take action immediately on at least one of these ideas. Buy and read magazines, visit trade shows or subscribe to foreign publications. The more information you have, the better decisions you will be able to make.
Second, ask for what you want. If you see a product or service for sale somewhere, write to the company and ask for the right to distribute it in your market area. You may be surprised.
The Power of Branding
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Posted in Business Success | 1 Comment »
Business Success | December 18th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Creativity is your key to the future.
All progress comes about as the result of finding better, faster, cheaper, easier or different ways to do things and this requires the continual honing of your creative thinking skills.
Your Key Job At Work
One of the key functions of the executive is problem solving, which takes up as much as 50 percent of executive time. It can be said with some confidence that your ability to deal with problems creatively and effectively is the key determinant of your success as a manager. It would be hard to imagine an effective executive who could not solve problems and make decisions with a high level of competence.
Step On Your Own Acceleration
I’ve studied and lectured on creative thinking for years and I’ve come to the conclusion that there is virtually no problem you cannot solve, no goal you cannot achieve, no obstacle you cannot overcome if you know how to apply the creative powers of your mind, like a laser beam, to cut through every difficulty in your life and your work.
Earn More, Faster
The benefits of functioning with more creativity can be enormous. Each of us wants to earn more money, be promoted faster, and enjoy greater status, prestige and recognition. In most cases however, we can only earn more by producing more or of better quality or cheaper or faster – and this requires doing things differently, using creativity.
Step On Your Own Acceleration
The good news is that creativity is a skill and a talent that can be learned and developed through practice. With this skill, you can dramatically accelerate your personal and professional growth. By sharpening your thinking skills and exercising your natural creative powers, you can multiply the value of your efforts and rapidly increase the quantity and quality of your rewards.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to be more creative.
First, see yourself as a professional problem-solver and look upon every difficulty or challenge as an opportunity to develop your creative powers.
Second, look for problems you can solve and obstacles you can overcome. The more you seek for answers and ideas, the smarter and more creative you become.
How You Can Start, Build, Manage or Turn Around Any Business Home Study Course
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Posted in Business Success | 1 Comment »
Business Success | December 11th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Whenever I give a speech, make a presentation or participate in a workshop, entrepreneurs and startup business owners ask me the same key questions:
"How can I generate more leads?"
"How do I close more sales?"
"What do I need to do to make bigger profits and more money?"
And they ask me what my formula for success is.
I’m delighted when they ask me the last question, because it provides the answer to the previous three.
A. Think Big
Over and over I talk to entrepreneurs who are struggling to get the next sale so they can cover current expenses. Or they want to make two more sales per day or per month.
Their biggest problem is that they’re thinking too small. If you’re only aiming for a couple of additional sales a month, you’ll never plan big and you’ll never be truly successful. You might be a little better off than you are now, but I bet you want more than that.
What do I mean by thinking big, and how do you do it? Find out how the top marketers and sales experts think. Tap into their minds, and use the same approach.
B. Find Out How The Most Successful Marketers and Business Owners Did It
As a young child, I was embarrassed when my Dad would stop and ask for directions when we were on car trips. Dad was supposed to know everything — and he wasn’t supposed to let on if he didn’t. There are far too many small business owners who still think this way.
Just because you created and launched your business, don’t assume you’re supposed to have all the answers. Seek out the expert advice you need to succeed.
Over the years, I’ve built Brian Tracy International through hard work, smart marketing, and a dedication to helping my clients succeed. I also got some help along the way; help from people who have "been there, done that" and were willing to share with me some of the things they had done to become incredibly successful.
With a little bit of knowledge and a small nudge from the right people, your sales and your profits will boom.
C. Don’t Throw Money Away
Any smart entrepreneur knows that it’s not only sales that count; it’s profits that matter. Now, let me ask you a question. Ever take a hundred dollar bill and flush it down the toilet — or throw a whole handful of bills into the fireplace and watch them burn?
Of course not! You’d never do that. Or would you? I see many small business owners throwing money at marketing, and in most cases it not only isn’t working, it’s hurting their sales. And then they do it again. They’re killing their profits.
Let me tell you a secret about marketing.
Some of the most effective ways to generate leads, get more sales and double or triple profits are practically free. The key is knowing what works and what doesn’t and when to use each strategy.
21 Great Ways to Start and Build Your Own Successful Business
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Posted in Business Success | 1 Comment »
Business Success | November 26th, 2008 | No Comments »
A major stimulant to creative thinking is focused questions.
There is something about a well-worded question that often penetrates to the heart of the matter and triggers new ideas and insights.
Questions Stimulate Creative Thinking
Some of the best questions I’ve found for business problem solving are the following:
Clarify Your Desired Result
Question #1 "What are we trying to do?" Whenever you become frustrated with slow progress for any reason, step back and ask this again and again, "What are we trying to do?"
Analyze Your Current Methods
Question #2 "How are we trying to do it?" If you are experiencing resistance, perhaps your method is wrong. Be willing to objectively analyze your approach by asking, "How are we trying to do it?" Is this the right way? Could there be a better way? What if our method was completely wrong? How else could we approach it?
Could You Be Wrong?
It requires courage to face the possibility that you may be wrong but it also leads to your seeing new possibilities. The rule is: Always decide what’s right before worrying about who’s right.
Question Your Assumptions
Another good question is, "What are our assumptions?" About the person, the product, the market, the business? What are our assumptions? Could we be assuming something that is incorrect? Someone once said that "Errant assumptions lie at the root of every failure".
What if your unspoken or implied assumptions were wrong? What would you have to do differently?
Put Past Decisions on Trial
Another form of focused questioning is what I call "Zero based thinking." This method requires that you put every past decision on trial for its life regularly by asking, "If I had not made this decision, knowing what I now know, would I make it?" If I had not hired this person or gotten involved in this project, knowing what I now know, would I do it over again?
If the answer is "NO" to one of these questions, then your aim should be to get out of the decision as fast as possible. Be willing to "cut your losses," and try something else.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to trigger more and better ideas.
First, be very clear about exactly what it is that you are trying to do. Write it down and describe it as if it were already achieved.
Second, question your assumptions continually. What if there were a better way? Be willing to try something completely different.
The Power of Branding
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Business Success | November 20th, 2008 | 10 Comments »
Is your business struggling?
Are you looking for a way to ramp up sales and keep your business growing, even in this economy?
If you’re like most entrepreneurs and business owners, you know that a website should be part of your marketing strategy. And you also are smart enough to know that most websites don’t work.
Most websites are like boats: holes people pour money into. I should know; I pour money into my boat on a regular basis…but I don’t mind because I don’t expect to make a profit from my boat.
My website is different. The purpose of my website is to maximize revenue, not swallow up cash.
Are you pouring time and money into the hole that is your website?
Do you want to know how to use your website to maximize your revenue?
The Secret To Making Money In This Economy
Want to know the secret to making money with your website?
Simply having a website isn’t going to help you make more money. And if you think all you need is more traffic, you’re wrong (although that can help)…lots of visitors doesn’t equal lots of money.
So what’s the secret to making money with your website? The secret is having a system that converts prospects into profits.
Ready to discover how easy it is to convert more prospects in profits?
The #1 way to make money online is to use a simple set of steps to convert website visitors — your prospects — into profits. That’s the simple strategy we’ve used with incredible success here at Brian Tracy International.
Making money online isn’t rocket science, but it’s not obvious, either. If it were, everyone would be doing it. So how, then, do you create a system that turns prospects into profits?
The System We Use
Our website at Brian Tracy International has always had a good conversion ratio, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t always looking to improve it.
In early 2007 my staff discovered the "Insider Secrets to Creating Web Sites That Sell", created by Internet marketing expert Charlie Cook. What we discovered was an easy-to-implement, step-by-step system that helped us turn our web visitors into massive web profits.
Want to benefit from the same online success strategy?
Within just a few weeks of using Charlie’s system, our conversion ratio had increased — along with our profitability — and our business was growing.
Even today — with the economy struggling — we are turning huge profits by converting online prospects into paying customers.
The "Insider Secrets to Creating Web Sites That Sell" spells out the steps you need to take in order to create a system that will convert prospects into profits. It is easy to use and it works.
Find out for yourself how much more you could be making with your website.
How You Can Turn Prospects Into Profits — Fast
With a tough economy, I know you can use higher profits without increasing your costs. That’s why I convinced Charlie Cook to make a special offer to Brian Tracy subscribers.
Charlie’s "Insider Secrets to Creating Web Sites That Sell" is the fastest way to increase your profits in this market and he has agreed to offer Brian Tracy subscribers an exclusive risk-free 30-day test drive for only $2.95.
If you want to make more money with your website and maximize your profits, I highly recommend you pick up Charlie’s system today.
Use this web marketing system to transform prospects to profits.We did. Take action today. I’ve persuaded Charlie Cook to give Brian Tracy subscribers an exclusive, risk-free 30-day test-drive for only $2.95.
Claim your trial copy here.
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Posted in Business Success | 10 Comments »
Business Success | November 10th, 2008 | No Comments »
Your job is to organize your life and work so as to minimize surprises and problems.
However, this is not always possible, in spite of your best efforts.
Use the Worry Buster
If you are already facing a fear- or worry-inducing situation, here are the four steps of what we refer to as the "worry buster."
Clarity is Everything
Step Number One: Define the worry situation clearly in writing – fully half of all problems can be solved just by clearly defining them. Remember, "Accurate diagnosis is half the cure."
Determine the Worst
Step Number Two: Determine the worst possible outcome of the situation. What is the absolute worst that can happen?
Be Willing to Have it So
Step Number Three: Resolve to accept the worst should it occur. The first step in dealing with any negative situation is to be willing to have it so. Once you resolve to accept the worst, your mind will become calm and clear and you’ll be ready to take some constructive action.
Neutralize stress with the Maximum Achievement Affirmation CD.
Take Action
Step Number Four: The final step is to immediately begin doing everything you possibly can to improve upon the worst.
The Real Antidote to Worry
Remember, worry is merely a sustained form of fear caused by indecision. The only real antidote to worry is purposeful action. Get so busy doing something about your situation that you don’t have time to worry. As you take action, your confidence, courage and sense of control will return and wipe away your fears.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to get rid of your worries:
First, make a list, down one side of a page, of all the situations causing you any stress or worry at the moment.
Second, on the other side of the page, write out the worst possible thing that could happen as a result. You’ll be amazed to see much of your worry disappear with this exercise.
Maximum Achievement Affirmation
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Business Success | October 30th, 2008 | No Comments »
Improve the Quality of Your Thinking
Human beings are mental organisms. Everything we are or ever will be, will be as the direct result of the way we think. If we improve the quality of our thinking, we must improve the quality of our lives. And, there is no other way to do it.
Youth and Creativity
In one series of I.Q. tests given to children age 2 – 4 years, 95% of the children were found to be highly creative with curious, questioning minds and an ability for abstract thinking.
When the same children were tested again at age 7, only 5% still demonstrated high levels of creativity. In the ensuing years, they had learned to conform; "If you want to get along, you had better go along," is what they had discovered.
The Dangers of Conformity
They had learned to color between the lines, to sit in neat little rows, to do and say what the other kids did and said, and to do as they were told. Over time, they lost the wonderful fearless spontaneity of youth and learned to suppress ideas and insights that were unusual or different.
Aggressively Seek New Ideas
Most of us have had similar experiences. The "Not invented-here" syndrome in many large companies is simply the adult version of "not rocking the boat." But fortunately, since creativity is your birth right, a fundamental part of your nature, you can tap into it at any time, no matter how long it has been since you really used it.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to start thinking outside of your mental box.
First, imagine that there was a vastly better, cheaper, faster way to do your job – and somebody else had already discovered it and was going to put you out of business.
Second, imagine doing exactly the opposite of what you are doing today. Allow your mind to float freely and consider how current trends will change your business.
Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life
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Business Success | October 16th, 2008 | No Comments »
The way you can stand out from your competitors is for you to position your self as a business part ner, always looking for ways to improve your customer’s business.
Help Your Customer’s Business
When you deal with a business person, you can be sure of one thing: that person thinks about his business day and night. It is very close to him. It is dear to his heart. And if you come in and talk to him and ask him questions about his business, looking for ways to help him run his business better, the customer is going to warm up to you and want to be associated with you and your company.
Differentiate Your self from Your Competitors
As a part ner, you should always be looking to help your customer to cut costs and improve results in his or her area of resp onsibility. You should look for ways to help your customer in non-business areas as well. You should position your self as someone who cares more about the success of your customer than anything else, even more than you care about selling your product or service. This approach to partnering in profit with your customer is a key way to differentiate your self and to keep your customer for the indefinite future.
Practice the Reciprocity Principle
There is a principle of reciprocity in business that is very powerful. It is simply this: If you do something nice for someone else, they will feel obligated to do something nice for you. You should be looking for opportunities to go the extra mile, to do more than you are p aid for, to put in more than you take out. By extending your self, you improve your positioning in the customer’s mind and increasingly differentiate your self and your company from your competitors who are after the same business. If you do this long enough and strong enough, you will eventually develop the partnership to the point where your competitors don’t have a chance against you.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, think about how you can help your customer’s customer with your product or service. Take time to understand how your customer uses your product to do his business better.
Second, focus on increasing your customer’s profits and fin ancial results. Show your customer that doing business with you is both satisfying and profit able in the long run.
Customers for Life
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Business Success | October 9th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Here’s an exercise for you.
Imagine that it’s possible for you to earn ten times your current annual wage. If you’re earning $25,000, imagine for a moment that it’s possible for you to earn $250,000, a 1000% increase.
Don’t Sell Yourself Short
The first reaction of most people to that exercise is to smile briefly and then to begin thinking about why it isn’t possible. One man said to me, "If you knew how many years it’s taken for me to get to what I’m earning today you wouldn’t be suggesting that I could earn ten times as much."
Never A Good Excuse
Mark Twain once wrote that there are a thousand excuses for every failure but never a good reason. The tragedy of the average American is that whereas his or her main preoccupation seems to be money, or the lack thereof, the average person has the inherent potential to earn far more than he or she is doing currently.
Increase your income by Motivating Yourself to Peak Performance!
Is the manager earning $250,000 per year ten times as smart as the manager earning $25,000? 10 times as experienced? Does he or she work 10 times harder? Of course not. None of these are physically or mentally possible, but there are people in every business earning many times more than others with the same average age, experience and intelligence.
The Results Are In
In fact, a few years ago in New York, a thousand men and women were selected at random and tested for I.Q. Between the one having the highest I.Q. in this sample and the one with the lowest, there was a difference of only 2 1/2 times. But between the person earning the most, who by the way, was not the one with the highest I.Q. and the one earning the least, who was not the one with the lowest I.Q., there was a difference of 100X in income.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to start increasing your earnings.
First, identify the highest earning, most successful people in your field and find out what it is that they are doing differently from others who aren’t doing as well. Copy them every day.
Second, set a goal to double your earnings over the next two or three years and then figure out how to accomplish that goal.
Motivating Yourself to Peak Performance
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Posted in Business Success | 1 Comment »
Business Success | October 2nd, 2008 | 3 Comments »
There are four strategies you can use to find a new product or service to start or build your own business.
Search Your Own Field
The first strategy is to find a new product or service in your own field or skills. You may have a million dollar idea in your own mind. Many people have had the experience of having an idea for a product or service nag at them over and over again, and you keep pushing it away or ignoring it.
They say the average person has four ideas each year driving to and from work, any one of which would make them a millionaire if they would just follow it up. So look into your own field or skills. Look into your own mind. Look into your own ideas.
Keep Your Eyes Open
The second strategy is to find a new product or service while you travel. Keep your eyes open for opportunities.
A very good friend of mine who is now a multi-millionaire, started his fortune by traveling east and seeing a unique type of orange drink called Orange Julius and then getting the exclusive rights to sell it in a large Western city. From there, he expanded into other restaurants, into real estate, and into apartments. He developed a high positive cash flow from his Orange Julius business that made him a millionaire.
Sometimes just finding a new product or service that is doing well somewhere else that hasn’t come to your market area can make you wealthy.
Get the Rights to Sell It
Remember your objective, when you find a new product or service, is to acquire the rights to sell the product or service exclusively in your market area. Sometimes these rights are available for the asking.
A gentleman I know named Peter Thomas got the rights for Century 21 to Canada simply by going to the offices and asking for them when Century 21 was a young company. From that, he turned Century 21 into one of the most successful real estate franchises in Canada. He is now worth millions of dollars, having taken the cash flow from Century 21 and channeled it into other real estate investments.
Create a great referral system with Power Networking.
Be Sure it is Already Successful
Sometimes just asking for the right to sell it in your market area is all you have to do. Here’s the key, though. Before you bring a new product or service back to your market area, be absolutely sure that it sells well somewhere else. Many people advertise products outside their market area because they are not selling inside their market area, so make very sure that the product is selling well already in other markets.
Look For Business Opportunities
Strategy number three is to keep your eyes and ears open and alert to new business opportunities occurring around you. Develop a money-making attitude. A friend of mine became very successful by building commercial property across the street from a new shopping center that was being developed. The traffic from the shopping center made that commercial space extremely valuable. He opened two businesses in it, and started his fortune. So be alert to what is going on around you.
Be Sure You Believe In Your Product
And strategy number four is this. Remember you will only be successful marketing and selling something that you believe in, use yourself and would recommend to your best friend.
Many times, I see people who make the critical mistake of trying to sell a product or service that they themselves would neither use nor afford, nor would they recommend to someone else, but they think that other people will buy it even though they wouldn’t. So remember you must really, really believe it the product. You must be excited about the product. You must absolutely believe that this product can enhance the life or work of someone else and then be eager to tell them about it.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put these business building strategies to work in your own life:
First, develop a new business mentality. Continually look around you for new products and services that people need, want and are willing to pay for.
Second, develop a money making attitude. Look around you for opportunities to sell products or services that are not currently being offered, at either higher prices or in greater quantities. The possibilities are everywhere.
Power Networking
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Posted in Business Success | 3 Comments »
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