You never know who you might bump into. A chance encounter on an airplane could lead to your next big sale. Or the person in line behind you at the grocery store just might be the strategic business partner that helps take your brand global.
As they say, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." The question is, how prepared are you when opportunities like these arise?
If you want to be right 90% of the time, then say "No" to every new idea.
But don't expect to grow or move forward or reach new heights.
Think back to all the times in your life when you felt most fulfilled. Think about your greatest achievements and happiest moments...
Chances are, those moments were only realized because you said "Yes!" to something.
Is there a decision you've been putting off?
Are you stuck in a rut, saying: "Someday I'll do this... Or someday I'll do that"?
Every day you choose NOT to take action, you are essentially saying "no." You have a calling or an urge or a desire, but what are you doing to advance it and set it in motion?
Nothing. Or at least not today. Maybe tomorrow? Maybe someday I'll take that first step.
But at some point, don't we have to say to ourselves: "Someday is either NOW ... or never."
Do you have something weighing on your mind? Something pulling you in the direction of your dreams? What if today you stopped saying "no" and instead dared to say "Yes!"?
By Patrick Mahan In his bestselling book, Tribes, author Seth Godin says:
"Managers have employees. Leaders have followers."
Are you a Manager ... or a Leader? Do you have employees ... or followers? These are important distinctions. And your answer may be the single greatest predictor of the success - or failure - of your business. Why? Because people don't want to follow orders. They want to follow a passionate leader. They want to be led, not pushed. They want to be inspired, not directed. Do you want to get the most out of your team? Then stop giving orders and start becoming someone worth following. When you inspire people to rally around a common goal and encourage them to become part of something meaningful and bigger than themselves, then together you will create a synergy that is capable of producing extraordinary results! I think this quote says it best ...
"If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
By Patrick Mahan Last summer, I wanted to make the grass in my front yard
look like a baseball field (or golf course). I tried all kinds of strategies. Aerate, overseed, water, fertilize... but the grass wasn't growing like
I wanted it to.
I asked an expert and he told me the pH balance in the
soil was off. It was too acidic. He said you can try all sorts of strategies
and tactics, but if the underlying chemistry isn't right, then nothing will
grow.
I think this is a good business analogy. If the chemistry isn't right, nothing can
grow.
So dig below the surface and look at the chemistry of your team or company. Is it acidic?
You can try all sorts of "topical treatments"... bonuses, incentives, corporate restructuring, mergers, acquisitions, new marketing campaigns, strategic planning, etc. But the real roadblock to growth and sustainability often lies below the surface.
And the solution may be changing your chemistry rather than your strategy.
"Synergy comes before strategy." - John Calipari, head coach of the University of Kentucky Wildcats, 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions
Miracle on 34th Street is not only a classic Christmas movie, it's also one of the most powerful marketing lessons of all-time.
In the movie, Macy's department store discovers their Santa Claus is sending customers to competitors. If Macy's doesn't have the item, or if a competitor sells it for less money, Santa Claus tells the parents where they can go to get it.
This outrages the manager of the toy department. But when Mr. Macy receives hundreds of telegrams from thankful parents expressing their gratitude for placing customers ahead of profits, Mr. Macy quickly embraces the radical new policy. The store becomes the talk of the town and sales shoot out the roof.
This is a powerful lesson in customer service, the power of word-of-mouth marketing, and the impact front-line employees can have on the success (or failure) of your brand.
Below is the dialogue from the movie...
Mr. Macy speaking to his executive team:
"On the face of it, I admit this plan sounds idiotic and impossible. Imagine, Macy's Santa Claus sending customers to Gimbels. But, gentlemen, you cannot argue with success. Look at this. Telegrams, messages, telephone calls. The governor's wife, the mayor's wife... over 500 thankful parents expressing undying gratitude to Macy's. Never in my entire career have I seen such a tremendous and immediate response to a merchandising policy. And I'm positive, if we expand our policy, we'll expand our results as well. Therefore, from now on, not only will our Santa Claus continue in this manner, but I want every salesperson in this store to do precisely the same thing. If we haven't got exactly what the customer wants, we'll send him where he can get it. No high pressuring and forcing a customer to take something he doesn't really want. We'll be known as the helpful store, the friendly store, the store with a heart, the store that places public service ahead of profits. And, consequently, we'll make more profits than ever before."
Are you brave enough to implement this "customers first" strategy? Or do you believe this stuff only works in the movies?
By Patrick Mahan Every marketer is looking for the perfect email subject line to increase open rates. Lots of How To articles have been written on the topic. Most recommend writing subject lines that invoke curiosity. Or ask a question. Or speak directly to the reader. Or announce breaking news. One research study concluded that the most successful subject line of all-time was the phrase: "You are not alone." But what if we take an entirely different approach? We spend our time and energy trying to craft creative (and sometimes deceptive) subject lines in an effort to get more people to open our emails. But here's the thing ... you should be more concerned about the NAME that appears in the "From" line and less concerned about the CONTENT that appears in the "subject" line. I receive newsletters from several authors that I have come to know, like and trust. When I see their name in the From Line, the Subject Line has little influence on my decision to open their email. So... as usual, it all comes down to building a reputation for yourself (and/or your company) as someone people know, like and trust. Develop a reputation for delivering content that is personal, timely, relevant and valuable. When you focus your efforts on becoming someone of value, offering something of value, then you'll discover the "subject line" is the least important part of your email marketing strategy.
Sports and business are a lot alike. Some of the best coaches in history were not the best strategist, but rather the best chemist. They knew team chemistry was more important to success than individual talent or even X's and O's. They knew how to get everyone pulling in the same direction toward a common goal. Unfortunately, most business strategy often neglects team building and focuses more on profits. But profits are like wins, a by-product of great chemistry.
"Synergy comes before strategy." - John Calipari, head coach of the University of Kentucky Wildcats, 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions
By Patrick Mahan
In order to turn your wishes into reality, it's important to understand the evolution of a wish. Step 1 =WISH Everything begins with a wish. A thought enters your head such as, “I wish I had a new house.” A wish is an important first step, but a wish is weak. Step 2 = DESIRE A wish must evolve into a desire. The stronger the desire, the more likely you are to achieve it. Look at the word desire, de- (meaning from), sire (meaning father). So, in a spiritual sense, a desire comes "from the Father". When a wish pops into your head, believe that it wouldn't have popped into your head unless you had the power to achieve it. To give your wish strength, you must emotionalize it. Emotions provide the fuel to mobilize your wish. Charge it with emotions until it becomes a burning desire, something you crave. Step 3 = INTENTION The next stage is Intention. Once you have a burning desire, you must set a clear intention. “I intend to purchase a new house.” An intention is an anticipated outcome. It is a strong declaration. At this stage, you have fully internalized and visualized the accomplishment coming to pass. Step 4 = CONVICTION In the courtroom, you need EVIDENCE to get a conviction. It's the same in life. In order to achieve your dreams, you must turn your "weak wishes" into "strong convictions". At this stage, you are firm in your belief. So firm that you carry forward despite what others may say to dissuade you. You'll need strong supporting evidence (past successes, examples from your own life and the lives of others, that this goal is possible to achieve). In 1954, Roger Bannister become the first person EVER to run a mile in under 4 minutes. But then, within a year, 20 more people broke the 4-minute mile barrier. The barrier wasn't physical. Like most things, it was mental. Once Bannister presented "evidence" that it could be done, others were then filled with a conviction that they could do it too. And they did. Step 5 = INSPIRATION The final stage in the evolution of a wish—leading to fulfillment—is inspiration. When you reach this stage, your wish has fully matured. Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “Motivation is when you grab hold of an idea and carry it through to the end. But inspiration is when an idea grabs hold of you and carries YOU through to the end.” You must be fully inspired to make your dreams a reality. Step 6 = FULFILLMENT This is where you take ownership of your “gift” and most importantly… show gratitude. You'll find the more gratitude you show, the more wishes will be fulfilled.
Things don't have to be complicated to be effective.
I've been thinking a lot lately, trying to pinpoint the basic ingredients that make some businesses great. Here's what I came up with—a very basic five step business plan...
1. Employees come first. You can't pull the cart all by yourself. So treat your team members like gold and they'll pull harder for you.
2. Create something (a product or service or idea) that is truly remarkable and wrap it in a story that people can relate to and want to share.
3. Get it into as many hands as possible (give it away at first if you have to).
4. Reward the people who are telling your story. Treat them like royalty and they'll reward you with loyalty.
5. Profits start flowing when loyal customers begin evangelizing for you. Take a big chunk of those profits and re-invest it into improving the Customer Experience.
What do you think? What would you add (or change)?
Seth Godin is a marketing genius. Pick up any one of his best-selling books and it will change the way you think about marketing forever.
I found a video on YouTube, an interview in which Seth talks about how to make your small business indispensable. It is packed full of game-changing tips that will help you take your company to the next level. It's also a great primer if you've never read any of Seth's books, as it gives a brief overview of some of his most important philosophies.
I've included the video at the end of this post so you can watch it for yourself. But first, I'd like to share with you some of the key take-aways from the video.
As Seth explains, the old way of marketing is broken. The old way, "Interruption Marketing", was all about standing on the mountain top and broadcasting your message to the masses and hoping to capture their attention while they were busy doing other things. The theory was: If you yelled at people loud enough and often enough, then you would make enough money to pay for all that yelling.
"[Marketers were] yelling at people who didn't want to hear from them about stuff they didn't want to hear about." - Seth Godin
But today, technology has changed everything. People can screen their phone calls with Caller ID. They can skip television commercials with tools like TIVO. They can block internet pop-up ads. And SPAM filters help keep annoying marketers out of your email inbox.
Yet it seems that the harder consumers try to lock marketers out, the harder marketers try to pick the lock!
Think about how misguided that strategy is... If someone slams the front door in your face, then they're going to be really annoyed when you start knocking on the back door! And that's what a lot of marketers are essentially doing. Trying to beat the system. Trying to invent clever ways to "slip past the doorman".
Well, guess what? People don't like it! They've made that clear. So quit marketing to people in ways they don't like to be marketed to!
Personal, Timely and Relevant
As Seth says, your message must be "personal, timely and relevant." When you craft your message in a way that speaks directly to your prospect (like a one-to-one conversation vs. a public broadcast) and you deliver that message at a relevant time (like a plumber offering a coupon to a new home owner) people will appreciate that. And by giving them something of value, they are much more likely to grant you permission to continue marketing to them—as long as you don't violate their trust (by sending impersonal, poorly timed, irrelevant messages).
So earning permission is crucial. It's the equivalent of being invited into someone's home. And it's the polar opposite of the old, broken down "Interruption Marketing" strategy. You can learn more about this important distinction in Seth's landmark book, Permission Marketing. It will change your entire approach.
So how do you grow your business?
The key, based on Seth Godin's principles, seems to be a three-pronged approach:
Create a remarkable product or service that people like, trust and believe in
Wrap it in a story that is worth telling
Attract a tribe of like-minded individuals that will tell your story, spread the message, and attract more people into the tribe.
Read that list again. (I believe there was a carpenter who used a similar strategy about 2000 years ago with incredible success.)
"If you can lead a tribe, then the marketing will take care of itself." - Seth Godin
The tribe will spread your message for you (as long as you have a message worth spreading ... a story worth telling). It's word-of-mouth marketing at it's best.
"Turn strangers into friends, friends into customers, customers into salespeople." - Seth Godin
Make a Connection
Large businesses can afford to spend millions on mass marketing. Small business don't have that luxury. But they do have a distinct advantage. They're more human. And people like to connect with other people, not a faceless corporation.
Apple has been so successful thanks to the leadership of Steve Jobs. He gave Apple a human face. He created a brand image—a story—that Apple is created "by people, for people." As a result, people can connect with Apple in a way they can't connect with a corporation like IBM.
What about your company? Does it have a human face? Or is it just another impersonal, faceless corporation? Have you ever noticed that at the center of most great companies is a charismatic, highly-visible leader? A face people can connect with?
Tribes Don't Have to be Big to be Effective
"If you have 1000 true fans and those 1000 people are willing to drive across the country to watch you perform and those 1000 people tell their friends, then that's enough to make a big impact." - Seth Godin
How to Create a Tribe
Rule #1 is to be a person. Be authentic. Show off your personality. Tell the truth. Create remarkable products / services that people want. Things they genuinely want because they want them... not because you pushed it on them.
Rule #2 is ... Don't try to be all things to all people. A tribe is a group of like-minded individuals. And tribe members want to feel like they are members of a club. They want to be "insiders". And as Seth says, in order to have insiders, you must have outsiders. That means, you must be willing to say that your product or service isn't for everyone. If you play it safe and try to be all things to all people—and if you don't want to risk alienating anyone—then you'll find yourself standing in the middle of the road. And the middle of the road is where you get run over.
You must go to the edge. Be extreme. Don't be just another bland, vanilla brand that caters to the masses. It's okay if some people HATE your product, as long as a tribe of people LOVE it. And as long as you remain true to that tribe and continue weaving a story that your tribe members will evangelize (not just on your behalf, but on their behalf as well).
Social Media's Role
In the following video, Seth says there is good news and bad news regarding the rise of social media. The bad news is too many marketers are using social media as another way to SPAM people—don't do that! Social Media is not another channel to yell at people. Instead, use the power of social media to build a social network—a gathering place for your tribe.
The Interview
Now feel free to watch this video featuring Seth Godin. This is an interview I found on YouTube posted by BusinessZone.co.uk editor, Dan Martin.
Clearly, I'm a big fan of Seth Godin. I've read most of his best-selling books and plan on reading the rest. I hope I've done justice to interpreting his marketing philosophies in this blog post! And I hope you'll find some of this useful.
Are you a fan of Seth Godin? Have you been able to implement any of his strategies into your business plan? I'd love to hear your comments.
I recently read that the CliffsNotes version of the classic novel, The Scarlet Letter, outsells the real version three to one. What does that mean? It means people like shortcuts. The easy way out. The path of least resistance. Here are a couple of take-aways... 1. If you own a company... make it super easy for customers to do business with you. Eliminate all barriers and friction. Remove the hurdles. Spoon feed them. That might mean filling out the paperwork for them. Removing the old appliances when delivering new ones. Having a real person answering your phones. Coming to them instead of them coming to you. Offering a finance plan. Eliminating the fine print. Offering a money back guarantee. Maybe a free trial period. How about no blackout dates? Do whatever it takes to create a path of least resistance and your customers will gladly follow that path. 2. If you work for a company... become a "shortcut" for your boss. Offer to do the things he does not want to do. Make his life easier. Rather than giving him a 20 page report, distill it down to something that is quick and easy to digest. A CliffsNotes version. When the boss needs something done, he turns to Cliff. Because Cliff gets things done. And he's willing to do things that make his boss's life easier. Be like Cliff. Now... take a look at your company's processes, policies and procedures. Is there any way you could simplify things for your customers? Are there any rough edges that could be smoothed out? If you step into your customers' shoes and walk through the entire buying process, chances are you will find a particular area where the road gets bumpy. It may be your check-out line. Or maybe your customer service department. Or maybe a hard to navigate website. Or poorly designed directional signage in your store making it hard for customers to find what they're looking for. Remember, people don't like to jump through hoops. If any part of the buying process causes your customers frustration—or slows them down in anyway—they will start to look elsewhere. So don't waste their time. Your product may be superior (like the real version of The Scarlet Letter) but in today's world, if a customer can get a similar product or service faster and with less effort, they will choose the easier alternative. Probably three to one.
Once upon a time, I worked for the largest furniture store in Texas. I was young—fresh out of college—and it was the beginning of my career in Sales and Marketing. Selling and delivering furniture wasn't much fun and I realized quickly that it was not something I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing.
But the lessons I learned in that furniture store will last a lifetime. And I owe a big heap of gratitude to the owner of that store, an eccentric businessman known throughout Houston as "Mattress Mack".
I've never met anyone with a mind like Mack. A marketing genius with a flair for wild promotions and an obsession with customer service. His commercials run every two minutes in the Houston area. If Disney built a furniture store, they would model it after this place. He greets customers at the front door. All day. Every day. And he signs autographs!
Inside the store—which is about the size of a Super Walmart—you'll find live monkeys, parrots, Elvis Presley's Cadillac, Jeff Gordon's NASCAR, Princess Diana's diamond neckless ... and of course, lots of furniture.
I could fill an entire blog with the lessons I learned at Gallery Furniture, but I'll just share a few here. Starting with Mack's "Dump Truck Story". I may not tell it exactly as I heard it years ago, but you'll get the idea...
Einstein said, "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." He wasn't advocating stealing other people's ideas, he was just saying that there's no reason to reinvent the wheel.
Ideas are everywhere. And creativity is about observing the world around you, building upon the ideas of others and then making them your own.
In business, we can implement this idea by studying "parallel industries".
One of the best examples of borrowing an idea from a parallel industry is Henry Ford and the assembly line. Contrary to popular belief, Ford did not invent the assembly line. He borrowed the idea from the slaughterhouses in Chicago's meatpacking district. He saw how a line of butchers disassembled various parts of the product as it moved along a conveyor belt, took that idea and then revolutionized automobile manufacturing.
Did he steal the idea? Of course not. He just observed what others were already doing and adapted the concept to fit his own business.
Another example: In 1981, American Airlines launched the first wide-scale frequent flyer program. Since then, restaurants, credit card providers, retailers, and many other businesses, have followed suit by implementing their own versions of loyalty rewards programs with much success.
What do radio stations, movie theaters and airlines have in common? They all sell a time-sensitive commodity. Unsold seats remain unsold forever once the movie starts or once the plane takes off. And once a radio program starts, any unsold commercial slots remain unsold forever. These are different industries with similar problems. What can they learn from each other? How can they borrow ideas from each other and use similar strategies to sell unsold slots at the last minute? Or find other creative ways to recover lost profits after the fact?
If you're a realtor who sells homes, what could you learn from Hollywood movie directors about staging and lighting and setting a mood and crafting a powerful emotional experience?
Can you think of any ideas you and your business could borrow from parallel industries?
Next time you're presented with an opportunity, weigh the risks and rewards and ask yourself if the juice is worth the squeeze. But don't over-analyze. And don't get caught in the "analysis paralysis" trap where the decision churns inside your head until the opportunity evaporates. Think back to your most glorious moments in life... Chances are they came as the result of you taking a risk. Rather than saying "no" or "I'll pass" or doing nothing and playing it safe, you said "Yes!" and took a leap of faith. There's an old saying: If you want to pick the fruit, then you've got to go out on a limb. So don't stand there with the bat on your shoulder. Swing away! Just be disciplined enough not to swing at bad pitches. Do you find this to be true? If you think about the best things that have happened to you, can those things be traced back to a moment when you took some sort of risk? If you're facing a decision today - and are worried about the risks involved - remember those moments from your past when you said "Yes!", followed your passion, trusted your intuition, and stepped out in faith. It seems often times the greater the risk, the greater the reward.
Have you ever wanted to travel back in time to when life was much simpler? Like back to the 1950s, when everything was black and white. There were no cell phones, no email, no text messages, no worries.
Wouldn't it be nice if life were still care-free and simple like it was back then... in the good ole days?
Consider this...
"Very few people today know how to relax... Each day is filled with work, engagements and no time to relax. Even when people take time off to go to a movie they usually want an exciting one, thus gaining more excitement for their already overworked nervous systems... These people find that after they retire to bed their active minds will not let them rest... we are burning the candle at both ends. We do not know how to let go of our anxieties... In this present century, man has forgotten how to live, how to enjoy the simple things in life."
Sound familiar? Those words could've been written yesterday. They're a pretty clear description of life in 2012, don't you think?
But those words were actually written by author Albert E. Cliffe in a book published in... 1951.
Isn't it strange how our perception of the 50's is so much different?
Here are a few observations I'd like to share:
1. I think the reality is that everything is relative. And everything is a matter of perception. Each generation thinks they have it worse than the last. People naturally want to believe their situation is unique. People over-analyze and over-exaggerate things that are happening to THEM. People think the grass is always greener on the other side.
2. If the grass seems greener on the other side of the fence, then maybe you should stop staring at their grass and start watering yours.
3. Worries, troubles and anxiety don't seem nearly as bad when they are happening to someone else, right? So if you find yourself full of anxiety, try stepping outside of yourself. Look at the problem from a 3rd person perspective.
4. Gratitude is the ultimate antidote to anxiety. What if you spent just 2 minutes each night after dinner dwelling on the things you are grateful for? Do you think that could have a pretty significant cumulative effect on your quality of life? Many, many years ago, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius said, "The quality of your thoughts determine the quality of your life." That timeless advice holds true still today.
What do you think? Why do we perceive times gone by as the "good ole days"? Is life today really as stressful as we make it out to be?
Best-selling author Dr. Wayne Dyer says it best, "There really is no such thing as stress, only people thinking stressful thoughts."
The good news is, most problems are not problems in reality but problems in perception. And you have the power to change your perception in an instant.
By Patrick Mahan Do you plan, prepare, analyze and assess, but then have a hard time pulling the trigger?
It's easy to get stuck in what General George Patton called the "ready, aim, aim, aim" mentality. Or what others have called "analysis paralysis".
This is a pretty cool picture and a good reminder that you don't have to see the whole staircase... sometimes you just have to step out in faith and go for it!
Each step you take reveals the next step. But we all know the first step is the hardest. It often requires that you break out of your comfort zone and overcome the inertia of standing still. The good news is... inertia works both ways. Yes, it's hard to get going, but once you create that initial momentum, then the effort to keep going gets easier and easier.
Think about best-selling authors... earning a spot on the best-seller list is hard. But once they earn the label "best-selling author," then subsequent best-sellers seem to come much easier. James Patterson is a great example. His first manuscript was rejected over 30 times! Now it seems he has a new best-seller every week! But when Patterson submitted his first manuscript, he had no idea that he would become one of the most commercially successful fiction writers of all-time. But it wouldn't have happened had he not taken that first step.
I wrote another blog post based on Zig Ziglar's advice: "You can't wait for all the lights to turn green before heading to town." Both principles are similar and speak to the idea that the "perfect moment" rarely presents itself. If you spend your life waiting for everything to line up just right, then you may be waiting a long time!
So, I'm curious... have you ever done something where you just said, "Hell with it! I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm just gonna go for it!" How did it turn out? Photo by www.chalkthoughts.com
By Patrick Mahan In the old days, when people rolled out of bed, the first thing they did was shuffle to the bathroom, wash their face, brush their teeth, and get ready for the day. But times have changed. These days, it seems the first thing people do each morning is grab their PHONE and check emails, texts, voice messages and of course, Facebook. Do you do this? Be honest. I've certainly done it more than once. But my question is this... wouldn't it make more sense to set YOUR course for the day FIRST before reading, reacting and responding to what others are saying, thinking, doing and wanting? If the first thing you do each morning is check your "inbox", then you are allowing it (the contents waiting inside) to dictate your day, your actions - and often - your mood. You become reactive rather than proactive. Consider setting your sails (agenda) first thing each morning. Or even better... the night before. Then, set a time to check your inbox(es) later in the morning AFTER you've set your course for the day and AFTER you've accomplished something on your list. Otherwise, you'll find yourself constantly playing catch-up. And at the END of the day, what will you find? You'll find that you've helped everyone else check items off THEIR To-Do List, but you haven't made a dent in your OWN To-Do List! So before reaching for that cell phone, decide what you want/need to accomplish today. Sketch out a game plan. And evaluate your progress at the end of each day. This is the only way to know if you're moving forward, backward or standing still. Other people will knock you off course - if you let them. They have their own agendas, their own wants, needs, stories, comments and concerns. Don't get wrapped up in other people's stuff first thing in the morning. (This includes reading the newspaper, which can really ruin your day!) Is this selfish? Not at all. It's like the advice they give you on airplanes... "Put on your own oxygen mask first before assisting others." If you put "first things first", set a plan for your day - and cross something off your list first thing each morning - then, you'll find that you have more time and more energy to help not only yourself, but others as well.
By Patrick Mahan
By Patrick Mahan
By Patrick Mahan
By Patrick Mahan