The Vital Few 20 Seconds of Any Task

I clipped out the tip below from a February 2012 Reader's Digest article ("20 New Ways to Get Energy for Life!") on one of my favorite topics, energy.

It's excellent:

This is just a scientific way of getting your logical left brain to buy into what your emotional right brain has always believed: Well begun is half done.

Think how this applies to your business:

• If you want to make prospects and clients happier, put thank-you notes and a pen on your desk (so you’ll mail them)
• If you want to read a business book in the morning, put it on your bed-side table tonight (so you’ll read it)
• If you want to make a promotional video during lunch, put the camera on your desk this morning (so you’ll do it)
• Etc. etc.

This advice ties perfectly into another of my favorite topics, the 80/20 Rule, which states that only a few things matter -- 20% or so; most things -- 80% or so -- don't matter.

When completing any task, the vital few things are the first 20 seconds. Eliminate or get past them, and you will likely finish the whole task.

No doubt: The 20-Second Rule is a great idea. But what are you going to do about it?

Resource: If you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, the free Client Cloning Kit can help. Grab your copy here.  

Want to Grow More Profitable? Leave Your Comfort Zone

True confession: I hate making videos. They make me uncomfortable.

Which is why I make videos.

Because all growth happens outside the comfort zone.

Watch the video, then ask yourself: What makes you uncomfortable in business? Are you preventing profitable growth by not doing that thing?

Think about it ... then share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Resource: If you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, the free Client Cloning Kit can help. Grab your copy here.  

Sales Made Easy For People Who Hate to Sell

There's an old adage in business: The more you tell, the more you sell.

But I found a better one: The more you help, the more you sell.

Or, simply, Help and Sell.

Specifically, the more you can deliver value to prospects before they've given you a nickel, the more nickels they will eventually give you ... along with lots of dimes and dollars.

This blog is an example. I don't get paid a nickel to share ideas here every week. But it brings me plenty of search engine love from Google, not to mention an interview on Fox News a few months back.

Another way to "help and sell" is to deliver real value when you follow up with prospects. Don't pester people with empty-headed emails to "check in" or "loop back and see how you're doing." Pheh.

Instead, your follow-up messages should give people ideas they can use to improve themselves and their businesses. (You do follow up, don't you? Good.)

Here's an example: Just last week, I sent the following email to a prospect, because I thought the article I mentioned would be of genuine help to him:

Have you had a chance to consider my ideas from last week about writing a promo piece for you? Please let me know when you get a chance!

Meanwhile, here's an Inc. magazine article that's relevant to our discussion -

http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/08/get-more-sales-from-existing-customers.html

... particularly numbers 6 and 7, which I can help you with on a monthly basis!

The result?

He called the next day to ask if he could hire me to help with number 7. "Sure," I said.

That's the whole point of marketing: To cause people to call or email and ask, "Can I hire you?"

So, this week, try to help more -- and see if you don't sell more.

Resource: If you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, the free Client Cloning Kit can help. Grab your copy here. 

Sales Letter Copyrighter or Copywriter?

You'd be surprised at how many people search on Google for sales letter copyrighter or ask me what a copyrighter does.

What's the difference between a Sales Letter Copyrighter and a Sales Letter Copywriter?

Well, the job of copyrighter ... does not exist.

To my knowledge, nobody gets paid to put little letter C's in circles like this (c) to create copyrights. Although, lots of lawyers do get paid to file documents with the U.S. Copyright Office.

Copywriter, by contrast, is my job title (along with Marketing Strategist).

What I write are words that sell, referred to as "copy."

Why copy and not "text" or "sales words"?

According to one story, the word "copy" was coined to mean material intended to be copied -- reproduced and printed in the newspaper or ad for others to read.

Writing that material is my job, which is a lot like a salesperson's, when you think about it.

A salesperson speaks words that persuade you to act. They usually do this in person, by phone, or on TV.

A copywriter writes words that persuade you to act. They usually do this on paper or online.

You can learn more about my copywriting services here.

And if you want to increase profits in your business, you can grab your free Client Cloning Kit here.  

Script Your Day and Save Your Life

I love writing about time management.

Because it's really life management.

You can't do good things with your life until you do good things with your time.

Yesterday I wrote about how moving the email icon off the home screen of your smart phone can help you get back at least 2 hours of productive time each day.

Today, here's another simple idea: Script your day.

In other words, you should know at least 24 hours in advance everything you're going to do on any given day, from what projects you'll work on and whom you'll call to what you'll have for lunch and when you'll answer email.

But don't take it from me ...

Here's what Joe Girard, known as "The World's Greatest Salesman" for selling more than 13,000 Chevrolets -- including 18 in a single day -- says about scripting your day ahead of time:

As a salesperson, I didn’t leave home without organizing my appointment book the night before and charting every move I was going to make. Most people don’t know where they’re going. I didn’t start my engine unless I knew the route I was taking. That approach was tested on the firing line for 15 years.

Another way to think of scripting is as if you were a Hollywood director.

Do you think Steven Spielberg turns up at the set each morning without knowing EXACTLY what he's going to accomplish that day, right down to the minute?

Of course not.

So: Plan every minute and every hour of every day, as if you were shooting a big-budget movie and every minute cost you big bucks.

Because time is money.

Actually, time isn't money. It's more than that. Time is everything.

In the words of Dr. Bernie Siegel, "Time is the only thing we really have."

Resource: If you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, grab your free Client Cloning Kit here.  

Productivity For Busy People: Move Your Email

Last Friday, I returned to my alma mater, Michigan State University, for homecoming.

After wandering around campus all morning, I had lunch with a successful member of the university administration.

He said something that struck me: "One of the biggest challenges of my job is email. I spend hours every day reading emails that I've been cc'd on and trying to answer others as quickly as I can."

We spent the next 30 minutes brainstorming ideas to help him overcome this challenge. I gave him 4-5 proven ways to reclaim at least two hours of productive time every day. And if he implements just one or two of them, the savings to him and his employer will easily add up to $30,000 every year.

Here's the easiest of those productivity tips: Move the email icon off your smart phone's home screen. 

What do I mean?

Take a look at the white circle in the screen shot below ...

See the email icon? No, you don't.

I moved the icon for email, which is 100% reactive, to the last screen on my iPhone.

I replaced it with the Dragon Dictation app, which is 100% productive.

Now, when I turn on my phone, I'm never distracted by a little red number showing how many emails I need to read. There's no temptation to dive into trivia and no loss of physic energy worrying about the chore that is email.

Instead, I get to live my time on my terms. Which is the only way to live. Productive, too.

Resource: If you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, grab your free Client Cloning Kit here.  

What Are You Really Selling?

This ad from Nordic Track isn't really selling a piece of exercise equipment. That's a commodity. You can get one at Target for about $99.

No. What Nordic Track is selling is ... health.

And how much is that worth? A lot. That's why Nordic Track can charge $999.00 and more for their exercise equipment -- because people want health.

This ad from Gardners Mattress & More isn't really selling mattresses. Those are commodities. You can get one at BeddingExperts.com for about $99.

No. What Gardners is selling is ... a good night's sleep.

And how much is that worth? A lot. That's why Gardners Mattress & More charges up to $18,499 for their mattress sets -- -- because people want a good night's sleep.


Now. What are you really selling? What do your clients want? How much are you charging?

Tip: You can charge more for what you're really selling than you can for what you think you're selling. But you have to know the difference. And you have to sell what people want ...

Meanwhile, if you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, grab your free Client Cloning Kit here.