Posted 7/31/2004 by Josh Hinds

Customers For Life
by Brian Tracy

What is the purpose of a business? Every time I ask this question during a business seminar, the immediate answer that I get back is, "To make a profit."

THE REAL PURPOSE OF A BUSINESS

But this answer is wrong. The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer. If a business successfully creates and keeps customers in a cost-effective way, it will make a profit while continuing to survive and thrive. If, for any reason, a business fails to attract or sustain a sufficient number of customers, it will experience losses. Too many losses will lead to the demise of the enterprise.

WHY BUSINESSES FAIL

According to Dun and Bradstreet, the single, most important reason for the failure of businesses in America is lack of sales. And, of course, this refers to re-sales as well as initial sales.

So your company's job is to create and keep a customer, and your job is exactly the same. Remember no matter what your official title is, you are a salesperson for yourself and your company. And the best way to increase your value as a salesperson is to build your customer base.

WHY BUSINESSES SUCCEED

The two most important words to keep in mind in developing a successful customer base are Positioning and Differentiation.

Positioning refers to the way your customers think and talk about you and your company when you are not there. The position that you hold in the customer's mind determines all of his reactions and interactions with you. Your position determines whether or not your customer buys, whether he buys again and whether he refers others to you. Everything that you do with regard to your customer affects the way your customer thinks about you.

THE KEY TO COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Differentiation refers to your ability to separate yourself and your product or service from that of your competitors. And it is the key to building a maintaining a competitive advantage. This is the advantage that you and your company have over your competitors in the same marketplace¾the unique and special benefits that no one else can give your customer.

SELECT YOUR CUSTOMERS CAREFULLY

When you begin to think about acquiring and keeping customers for life, you need to think about the particular types of customers for whom your competitive advantage is so important that they would be poorly served by using anyone else's product. You need to then emphasize again and again that the special features and benefits you offer are so important that they should not even think of going somewhere else. If, for any reason, you fail to do this, you may lose the customer and all the work you've done in building that relationship in the first place.

ACTION EXERCISES

First, determine exactly what your current positioning is today with your customers. How do they think about you and what do they say? How could you improve your positioning?

Second, determine your exact competitive advantage, your area of superiority in what you do. How can you increase in your area of excellence and then convey it better to your customers?
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Brian Tracy is one of the world's leading authorities on personal and business success. His fast-moving talks and seminars on leadership, sales, managerial effectiveness and business strategy are loaded with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that people can apply immediately to get better results in every area. Visit Brian's web site by clicking here -- and take advantage of his FREE audio program offer - 21 Success Secrets Of Self Made Millionaires, or 21 Great Ways To Manage Your Time And Double Your Productivity.

Posted 7/30/2004 by Josh Hinds

Focus on Your Dream
by Sandy Karn

Do you have a dream? Do you have a vision for what you really want for your business? For your personal life? There is ample evidence that people with a clear dream for what they want to bring about in their lives are considerably more likely to experience the success they desire.

Let’s look at three steps to this process. The first step is to know what you really want. Surprisingly, most people do not. If you ask the average person what he or she really wants in life, they may say that they don't know. Some may begin to ramble about some things that they think they might like to experience.

If you do not know what you want, it is unlikely you will ever get it. So be sure you know what it is that you really want.

The second step is to focus your dream. Often we have a general idea of what we want; however our mental picture is quite vague. Perhaps we just haven't taken the time to work out the details.

Sometimes we think about several alternatives that we would find acceptable. This approach sends out mixed messages to your subconscious and to the Universe, diffusing their effectiveness and reducing your chance for success.

It is important to have a single clear vision of what you want, complete with as much detail as possible. The Universe, of course, may not provide precisely what you envision. This is when flexibility is important.

It is often desirable to accept and embrace what is provided to you, even though it is not exactly what you had requested. This may require modifying your ultimate vision, although it is still important to keep it specific.

The final step is to remain focused on your dream. With all the things going on in your life, it is easy to get distracted and to lose sight of your dreams. It is important to keep your dream in mind on a regular basis. One way of doing this is by using an affirmation on a regular basis.

Sometimes a photo or an object can be used to draw your attention to your dream several times each day. It is the reinforcement of this clear vision that transmits your dream to your subconscious and releases your desire into the universe.

Your goal: To focus on your dream on a regular basis.

The result: You will make much greater progress toward achieving your dream, taking full advantage of the power of your subconscious and the beneficence of the Universe.

Your assignment: Clarify and refine your dream. Take time to determine precisely what you want. Turn that desire into a dream by developing a clear mental image of your dream and what your life will be like after that dream has been realized. Then focus on that dream on a regular basis, utilizing an affirmation, visual reminder, or other tool to help ensure that you revisit your dream daily.

Wishing You the Very Best!
Sandy Karn
Results Specialist
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Sandy Karn is president of her own company, Creative Results Sources, Inc., a consulting and training company of over 30 years. Take her Self Development Quiz!

Posted 7/28/2004 by Josh Hinds

Don't Quit
by Vic Johnson
(excerpted from Day by Day with James Allen)

For many years I have carried around a poem called Don't Quit. One of the lines says, "stick to the fight when you're hardest hit – It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit." In our darkest hour it's hard to see the end of our circumstance. All we can think of is our conditions worsening. But it's usually at this time that our greatest growth can occur if we'll see the moment as a growth opportunity. If we'll see it as a time to learn how to control our thoughts toward an ideal that we cherish.

One thing I share with people who seek my advice when they think their life has come apart, is to help them understand the power that even the tiniest of actions can have when taken in a negative situation. Remember in Science class when we learned that "a body at rest tends to remain at rest or a body in motion tends to remain in motion." This is especially true when overcoming circumstances because "paralysis" usually keeps us in the condition longer than we'd like.

But even more important, is that once we've started in motion, even thought it may not seem like much, know this – it's now only a matter of time before you're out, totally out, of the situation that has got you down today.

My long-time favorite poem by an anonymous author is worth remembering today:

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill.
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns.
And many a fellow turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man.
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar.
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

And that's worth thinking about.

Vic Johnson
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Vic Johnson speaker and founder of a host of personal development websites. You can grab your complimentary copy of "As A Man Thinketh" by James Allen's, a timeless success classic by clicking here.

Posted 7/26/2004 by Josh Hinds

Know Where You're Going: Create a Dream Blueprint
By Marcia Wieder

The next step on this journey is creating a Dream Blueprint. "Blueprinting," is developing strategies and tactics, and then creating a plan. In the same way a blueprint tells an architect how to build a building, your Dream Blueprint tells you how to build what you're dreaming.

First, choose a dream to turn into a project. A Dream Project is always something very specific; for instance, one of mine was, "Go On A Free and Fun Cruise To An Exotic Place Within The Next Three Months." Once you have the project in mind, you can create the strategies and tactics necessary to get you there. Strategies define the approaches you take to achieve your dream. Tactics are the specific step-by-step items to accomplish the strategies.

It's important to be clear about your strategies -- they have to be in alignment with your project. In my case, for instance, the strategy of buying a ticket wouldn't have been appropriate, because I wanted a free cruise. Better strategies were: finding someone to pay for my trip, or entering a contest to win a free cruise. In the end, I chose to create a bartering relationship, booking my workshop on a cruise ship in return for a free trip.

The tactics to accomplish the strategy were clear: create topics for a workshop; prepare a biography, develop promotional materials; get the name and number of several cruise lines to talk to; make contact and pitch my idea. I ultimately decided to send my material to only one cruise line.

By understanding the project, strategy, and tactics, I had a clear Blueprint to make this dream come true. I sent out a package, and scheduled a date by which I wanted to set sail. Before I had a chance to make a follow-up call to see if they were interested, they called me! I was quickly booked to go on the cruise, all expenses paid for two, in exchange for presenting three twenty-minute talks on how to make dreams come true. What a story I was going to have for my audience!

Blueprinting works because it breaks down To-Dos into bite-sized elements (strategies and tactics). In doing so, not only do you have a clear map showing you where you’re going, but also a step-by-step plan for how to get there!
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Marcia Wieder is a motivational speaker, specializing in goal setting, visionary thinking and team building. Her clients include Lucent, AT&T, American Express and the Young Presidents Organization. She is the author of four books, and is currently featured in her own PBS television special called Making Your Dreams Come True and is the founder of Dream University(R), her week-long program on igniting passion and discovering your purpose. Visit her website at www.marciaw.com

Posted 7/11/2004 by Josh Hinds

Here's a bit of news I'm excited to announce. I just updated the "Free Inspirational, Motivation, and Self-improvement Tools section of this site :-)

Inside you'll find a number of what are called, WisdomFlash. I'm sure you're wondering what in the world they are so... Here's the short version:

"A WisdomFlash is a modern-day poem. It is the combination of visual beauty, inspiring music and a message of wisdom all put together to create a magical experience in your heart. Each WisdomFlash is presented to you through a dynamic, multi-media flash animation containing messages from some of the world's most insightful authors."

To experience these for yourself click here. I have a feeling that after you have, like a lot of others you'll find yourself going back to that section of the site each day to start it off on the right foot with these powerful inspirational messages ... To your success, Josh Hinds :-)

Posted 7/08/2004 by Josh Hinds

Getting Unstoppable Confidence
By Kent Sayre

Unstoppable confidence is the unshakable belief in yourself and what you are capable of. What separates the people who achieve their dreams and the people who languish is confidence. With confidence, people pursue their goals and persevere until they achieve them. Without confidence, time passes as the people stay stuck in their rigid comfort zones, unable to escape.

How can you immediately gain more confidence? There are a huge number of ways. All of them have been put into my bestselling book, “Unstoppable Confidence”, available at Unstoppable-Confidence.com Of course, I’m not recreating the book here so let me give you just one way.

One way to immediately gain confidence is to reclaim lost perspective in things. If people are uncertain or afraid of something new, it’s often times a result of them magnifying the event or circumstance in their minds to the point where it’s seemingly a “life-or-death situation”.

Take, for example, a nervous company employee having to make a speech to their peers at work. They sweat bullets, their stomach tightens, they go weak in the knees, their mind races, etc. Why? All that’s about to happen is them speaking to someone else. In fact, public speaking is the number one fear of adults. More so than even death.

The reason is because they’ve magnified the event of them speaking to others as something very, very, super duper important where they feel like their life depends on their performance. Nonsense. To immediately regain perspective, I’ve distilled this mental process into a few specific, immediately applicable steps.

This example is for overcoming the fear of public speaking and it’s applicable for any fear. When you apply this technique, your life will instantly change for the better. Best of all, I’m giving you this million dollar technique for FREE.

1.) Close your eyes and picture a mental movie screen

2.) Now, picture yourself giving a speech to your peers at work on this movie screen

3.) Take the image of yourself and make yourself HUGE, like as big as Godzilla

4.) Take the image of the people watching your speech and shrink them down to a very small size, like the size of ants (Imagine ant-sized people sitting in chairs watching a Godzilla-sized you giving your speech)

5.) Now, step into this movie and see through the eyes of the HUGE you, hear yourself speak confidently, and FEEL the confidence now as you deliver a speech to ant-sized humans; Notice how confident you are!

This technique works because it changes your perspective. Many people, in order to feel afraid, do the opposite. They make themselves ant-sized and make their listeners Godzilla-sized. If you don’t believe me and want to torture yourself, try it out. It can make anyone feel anxious.

Practice this technique whenever you need more confidence. Pretty soon you’ll have it down as a habit. And when you do, you’ll look back at this article and smile with the knowledge it made a difference to you.
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"Unstoppable Confidence is a book based on tested-and-proven techniques to skyrocket your confidence. In fact, you have to dramatically explode your confidence or you don't pay a thing. Kent Sayre was literally the shyest person on the face of the planet. He was able to overcome it using the techniques revealed in his book. Now if he can do it, that means that you can shatter all your limiting beliefs and become the confident person you were always meant to be. Click here to discover for yourself the secrets of truly becoming confident."

Posted 7/08/2004 by Josh Hinds

Just a few quick notes.... When I read the following quote I thought it was worth sharing here:

"It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen." -- Claude M. Bristol (1891-1951, Author of "The Magic of Believing").

I've got the book myself in my personal success library and try to find time once or so a year to re-read it. It's that good (in my humble opinion).

I also wanted to say that if you aren't aware of it yet -- I co-founded a members site called AudioMotivtion.com -- In a nutshell, it's an ever-expanding success library of motivation, self-improvement, and business leaders have agreed to do audio interview sessions...

At the time of this posting we're up to about 57 or so, and we add at least 3 new ones each week. I'd like to invite you to have a closer look, hear some samples -- and consider signing up by clicking here....

All the best, Josh Hinds :-)

Posted 7/06/2004 by Josh Hinds

I've updated the Articles Library with several more self-help and motivational "goodies" you're sure to enjoy. They include:

Experience Flow by Jon Gordon

Manifestation 101 by Brad Yates

Riding The Waves To Success by Bob Scheinfeld

No Problem – "Think Solution" by Bob Burg

The Three Focuses Of Working Network Marketing by Doug Firebaugh

To your success,
Josh Hinds :0)

Posted 7/02/2004 by Josh Hinds

Quotes on Leadership -- Well worth giving some thought to if I do say so myself...

“Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” - Tom Peters

“Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish." - Sam Walton

“Leaders don’t force people to follow, they invite them on a journey." - Charles S. Lauer

“Leadership is doing what is right when no one is watching.” - George Van Valkenburg

“Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.” - Thomas J. Watson

“Leadership is action, not position.” - Donald H. McGannon

“Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you’re in control, they’re in control.” - Tom Landry

“A chief is a man who assumes responsibility. He says ‘I was beaten,’ he does not say ‘My men were beaten.’” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“A leader is a dealer in hope.” - Napoleon Bonaparte

“A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit. - John C. Maxwell

“A leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances.” - General George S. Patton

“Management works in the system. Leadership works on the system." - Stephen R. Covey