How To Not Let Email And Other Ducks Peck You To Death

Bad Ducks

As an Entrepreneur, we are all usually faced with too much to do and too little time to do it. I am sure that you know what I mean.

In the past year, I have gotten off track with letting the Ducks peck me a little by little until I realized because of some family matter that demanded even more of my time, that they were literally beginning to peck me to death.

Now the things is that I know better and point in fact point this out and hammer it home with my customers and even have a whole chapter devoted to this in my Book, Start On Monday.

There are however easy fixes for this and I have had to implement them because of literally some life and death matter.

The kicker is, that I should not have waited to that point to put a stop on it. Because it takes an unnecessary toll not only on you and your business, but your customers and loved ones as well.

Now this may meet resistance from not only your subconscious, but your customers as well.

The first area is emails. I have gone back to checking my emails to twice a week following the lead of Tim Ferriss in his book, The 4 Hour Workweek.

I am going to cover the three major ones and give you their Scientific Names as well.

The Email Duck – Quackus Alotus Toomuchus

And here is what I put in my auto responder:

This is an auto-response. I am now checking my email account on Monday and Thursday of each week.

This is due to a dramatic increase in high priority demands on my time. For my friends and clients, you know specifically what I am talking about.

If you require urgent assistance (please ensure that it is truly urgent and by urgent that involves more than $25,000 or someone is in the hospital and only I can provide the transfusion) and cannot wait until this time, please contact me for any matters that require my personal attention by im on Skype.

Thank you for understanding this move to more efficiency and effectiveness. It helps me accomplish more and to serve you better.

Sincerely,
Andrew Anderson

Now you may have some backlash at first because it is in our nature to want instant gratification. But, if you want your sanity to stay in check and make your business thrive, you need to do this.

The other things is to not check your email the first thing in the morning. You should spend that time on much higher priority projects. I would wait until after lunch to do so.

It will take a while to get used to, but your clients will understand and you will be amazed at how much more you get done during the day.

Every time you check your email, it takes you 20 minutes to get back mentally to where you were.  So, figure that out by how much you think your time is worth per hour. The same goes with Text messages and the like. Crackberries and iPhones are the same breed of Duck. Check them at most twice a day and better yet only once a day.

The Appointment Duck – Lateus Cancelus

When you set up appointments, make sure you tell people  give you at least 24 hours notice if at all possible they are going to cancel.  You can use a calendar program or phone call for this. Although, I swear this is true, I had the President of one of those Calendar companies use their own Calendar programs to set up the appointment, and it sent out an email confirmation and everything, and they missed their own appointment to talk about their own Software…  LOL

If they do this more than three times, then you have to put your foot down and then schedule it at your own convenience. Trust me on this one, it costs you far more than you know if you continue to put up with this. Because you are losing money by being frustrated, not working on something else that you could have brought money in on and you are going to bump something else to reschedule the meeting.

If there are multiple people involved with the meeting, the direct costs and lost opportunity costs can mount rather quickly. I added this up on two recent projects this happened with and it was in the thousands of dollars.   I about had a freakin Cow.

Which brings up another point about having a running total in a Dashboard on the costs associated with a project. I will show you how to do this in a later post.

If you are working on a big or even small project, it can cause a virtual train wreck of epic proportions and I have found the the offending person will then often to totally clueless as to why blowing one or two meetings can cause weeks or months of set backs by starting a change of other scheduling conflicts. They think (as we all often due) that their project is the most important one and that they don’t realize the havoc or damage they are causing to their project and everyone else’s.

I must admit that I used be be guilty of this myself.  Now it is your job to point this out to them upfront. The vast majority of people are just not aware of this is all.   So it is your responsibility to point this out to them. 99% of the people out there will have a V8 moment and get it right away.

Because I have tendency to want to pour oil to calm the waters, I have not enforced this in the past, but no longer.

I am going to make everyone on my new clients (and old ones too) read this post and it should help.

The Lack Of A Next Day Plan Plan – Runus Amuckus

This is one of the biggest ones that very few people do and yet it is one of the easiest and fastest Ducks to get rid of and believe it or not, it is one of the most dangerous ones as well.

Before you go to bed or quit work, you need to write down no more than three important things that you have to get done the next day. And, they should directly involve bringing in money ASAP as a priority.

Things such as billing someone, or getting out a proposal. Everything else should take a back seat to this.

The reason for doing this is that your subconscious mind will focus on that and give it something to do overnight, and you come up with a solution for it.  You will be amazed at how well this works if you have never done it before.

I have noticed a lot of people that I have gotten started doing this say that they are much more calmer and less stressed by doing this. Plus, it pushes all of the other Ducks out of the way and gives you a sense of accomplishment. Not to mention making sure the money comes in to your pocket.

As I said when I started this, I have been forced into going back to these recently and I did not have a choice.

You do have a choice and you should be doing this anyway. You owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and your clients.

And I want to add one other Duck that can be a dangerous as well.

Social Media and Blogs – Alots Timeus Wastedis

This is an easy Duck to tame as well. If you use HootSuite, see me interview with them, you can set up posts to your Twitter account and Facebook page weeks in advance. I spend at most 30 minutes once a week to set up my tweets for all of my accounts. If I have time, I will drop in for a comment or two but that is it. I am down to less that 45 minutes a week on these now. Go check out HootSuite.

As far as Blogs go, I can dictate a blog like this in less than usually 5-7 minutes. I send it off to be transcribed and poof, there it is. And if you are using WordPress, which you should, you can set posts to be published days, weeks, or months in advance!

So, there is no need to let the Ducks do you in. But if you don’t take charge they will bleed you badly or possibly even to death.  Don’t let it happen.

Cheers,
Andrew Anderson

PS – No, my editor has not looked at this yet..

So you think you are going to do well with your next Marketing Campaign?  This is good because if you don’t, it impacts the outcome of your campaign, believe it or not.  Read on and you will find out why.

Every once in awhile, a light bulb goes on for me (incandescent ones, I don‘t do fluorescents. Hey the Air Force banned them for a reason) when thoughts come together that have been brewing for some time.

I happened to be going through some of the piles of books that I have and came across “The Power of Positive Thinking In Business” by Scott W. Ventrella.

I had read and own a first run copy of Norman Vincent Peal’s classic, “The Power of Positive Thinking.” Good book indeed and runs along with “Think And Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.

I had casually read through it before and it had not tripped my trigger, although I had lent it out to several people and one person in particular gave it credit for changing the course of her career and leading her to go back to school for her Masters Degree.  Still, I had not revisited it.

But as I opened it up it this time I came across a section that I think sums up one of the keys to business success, and success in most areas of our lives: this is called the Pygmalion Effect.

For those of you that do not know what it is, here you go. In mythology, there was a sculptor who sculpted a beautiful woman.  He poured his heart, soul, and all of his skill into the sculpture. It was so perfect that he fell in love with it and he wished it were a real woman and named her Galatea. Well, the Goddess Venus saw this and actually made Galatea into a real live woman. Thus arose the Pygmalion effect, where you get what you wish or expect.

Spring forward several thousand years and we end up with one Dr. Rosenthal of Harvard.

He did a famous experiment where he went to a school and pulled the names of three teachers out of a hat at random.  He also pulled the names of some students at random.  He then told the teachers that they were the three best teachers in the school and that they were going to be getting the best students to see how well they could do with them.

At the end of the year, on average, the students’ performance was 20 to 30% higher than the rest of the school.

This experiment was conducted over 300 times with similar results.  In essence, when the teachers thought of themselves as stars and that their students were gifted, the teachers treated the students as gifted, and both the students and teachers performed up to these expectations.

For me, this was mind blowing that such a simple thing could increase results dramatically. But, then again, it does seem to fit in the realm of common sense and from what I have observed over three decades working with people.

In fact one in one of my early sales job I had a sales manager name Robert that demanded that when he asked you how your were doing, that you always replied with something positive such as ” I am doing GREAT” or ” I am doing Fantastic”.

At first I really thought he was a nut job as I saw him fire and literally take out Jim, our 2nd best salesman on the spot one morning when he said he was having a crappy morning and he started to go off on a tirade about Robert and his dumb be positive policy.  Robert told him to shut up and right then and to take it out side I said whoaa…   Well, Jim got about 4 more ” non-positive words out” and it never made it outside because Robert had a wicked right hook and dropped him like a rock and said he would not tolerate it at all.   Guess what, he meant it.  No whishy washy mamby pamby HR policy there.

He would not tolerate any negative talk at all amongst the sales people and he meant it. No whining or complaining, no bitching or moaning.  If you had a complaint or issue, you had to frame it in a positive fashion.  He knew how important that it was to do this.

The proof was in the pudding as it were in that our sales group out sold all others by not just 10 or 20% but by a whopping 1,500%.  No one else was even close to our group.  It made me appreciate and respect that whole policy.   Perhaps this is why I have such a low tolerance for negative and whiny people.  I know how truly destructive this seemingly innocuous poisonous behavior can be to all people around that person.  The only exception to this rule is if I think the person is worth redeeming.  Otherwise, I let them wallow in their own self-produced misery of a life.  Stay away from me thank you very much.

Now back to the Teachers and the phenomenal results that were produced.  What was funny (OK, perhaps not)  is that rather than this being embraced and implemented on a wide scale in schools across the country, this caused a flurry of criticism within the teaching community as they said results are irrelevant.  I am not kidding or making this up.

They felt that children should feel good about themselves and not be compared to others and that there must have been something else going on.  So rather than being implemented on a larger scale, they did not adopt it.  Got to love Liberal Progressive Teachers Unions, but then again not.

Professor J. Sterling Livingston also did experiments with management in business with, as you may have guessed it, the same results, and those results were published in the “Harvard Business Review.”

Even Peter Drucker seems to weigh in on the subject as well.

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
— Peter F. Drucker

I think if you look, you see this with a great many of the successful entrepreneurs and companies out there.

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, Richard Branson, and Ashley Qualls (more on her later) all have one thing in common. They expect success from themselves and those around them.

Now how can you implement this in your own business?

• Make sure that everyone buys into what your are doing.  Do not tolerate negativity about what you are doing from anyone, even if they are just joking.  Talk to the person and tell them that you do not want to hear it nor can they talk to anyone involved that way.  If they don’t get it, get rid of them.  Seriously, your business may depend on it.  While this may seem harsh, the subconscious mind is a funny thing and picks up on the smallest things and tends to expand on them.  Good, bad, it goes to town on them.  One negative person in an organization may be costing you thousands and thousands of dollars or more.
  

• Plan for success by making sure that you think through what is going to happen once you get there.
  

But perhaps more importantly, there is a lesson in this for all of us.  Now do you have to be sickeningly sweet and Politically Correct all of the time?  No, and point in fact being PC all of the time can also have a negative effect on profits as well.  But of course just use common sense.  Don’t allow people to share being in a bad mood, or making negative non-productive opinions.  Make them couch their speech in a positive fashion.  This can take months to break bad habits but you will notice not only are people more productive, but they feel better about themselves.

Your expectations also play a large role in our own performance as well.  You need to start expecting success in your business and in the rest of your life. Your outlook plays a large role in your conscious and subconscious actions whether you realize it or not.  That is a reason why you should avoid negative people like the plague.  Especially when you are in start up mode.  Actually, you should avoid them all of the time.  I put a link to it in the PS below.

That is not to say that thinking “I am going to do well” in your business  is going to take the place of research and educating yourself, and work, but your expectation of doing well or mediocre may have a much larger impact on your success than you ever thought.

Thinking and expecting that you are going to get 8% returns versus 21.5% could be the difference between actually getting either result.

It might just be worth “thinking” about.

Have a wonderfully profitable day.  And, I have faith in you. Now we just need to make sure you do as well.  Plus, it can and will make a huge impact on how Happy your are in the future.  Happiness is not a destination, but a choice we make.

Cheers,

Andrew “Easy” Anderson

PS  Here is a link to another post talking about other people that have a negative attitude and why you need to avoid them. Money Magnet Or Crap Magnet

MASS MEDIOCRITY AND THE MOTIVATION PEOPLE PATTERN™

“Human nature is such that if we are relatively content, then we are not going to be motivated to do anything to change our comfort zone, whether it be now or later.” Marilyne Woodsmall

This is more on Personality Language(tm) from Marilyne Woodsmall.  I will say it again, grab the book, it will help you better understand people and make you a lot more money. – Easy Anderson

Why is this so? It is because when people have already gotten all the carrots and sticks they think they need to lead what they believe to be an acceptable lifestyle, then they no longer have that fire burning within to move any farther. Life is okay as is, nothing more nothing less, no bells and whistles; yet this is satisfactory to them so they don’t care to budge one bit. These are the very people who end up staying in jobs for years and are quite content to do so.

Most people are mired in mediocrity. All too sad yet true. These are the so-called masses. And these are precisely the people who don’t want to change even if they have the opportunity to do so as I’ll explain shortly.

This has major implications regarding motivation in the workplace. There are basically four reasons why people aren’t motivated:

1. People who are move toward in orientation and have nothing towards which to move.

2. People who are move away from and have nothing from which to move away.

3. People who are move toward and who have reached their set goals and have nothing else to get them out of their satisfaction zone.

4. People who are move away from and who have somehow managed to move away from all the things which they would like to avoid.

The last two types are the most challenging elements in any workforce because they don’t want to move in any direction. These people are a nightmare to any team, to any manager, to any organization, to anyone who wants to get ahead because they are indifferent to change. These people are the masses, the people who are content to live their lives in mediocrity.

Once again, the Motivation People Pattern is the basis of everything that we do in life, or don’t do for that matter. Imagine the possibilities if we could move people from relatively content to ecstatic and beyond! Tune in for more next time.

Claude Hopkins, one of the first Profit Consultants

If you want to improve your Profits, then here are 4 books and 1 report from Google that I am making available to your for Free. You should download and read them right away.  These are my gift to you at absolutely no charge. You do not have to pay anything, nor sign up for another list. And I am also going to show you one of the books that you can get for free for 14 days read it, use it to make money, and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to pay for it.  But if you do like it, you only pay for it after you have read it.  How is that for an Author that thinks his material is good? This guy is one of my favorites and you will soon see why. The other 3 books and Report is yours for free forever.

The technique of giving things away is called a reverse risk factor and it is very effective as you can imagine but, most people are afraid to use it.  Which is good because it makes it even more effective for those that do.

Why Am I Giving These To You?

The reason why I am giving them to you is because I know that no matter where you are in your Business, they can have a huge impact on your profitability. Plus, it makes me feel good that I can give something of really high value that most people have never heard of before that can dramatically improve their life for the better. It is a complete kick in the pants. Plus, it is good Karma.

If you are an old hat at the online game, or are just starting out, these can help you immensely.  They will even help you in your Brick and Mortar business as well. You don’t have to sign up for an email list or anything as I mentioned.   How is that for a change? Just click on them and save them and you can start reading them right away.  They are all in PDF format except for the last one.

If you are trying to sell anything and have to write copy, Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins is a must read. It will dispel the myth about long copy that I see ignorantly bandied about these days.  It  shows you why it is good and how personal stories focused on your niche can really help sales.  The things that he talks about in this book  still work today.   Most people don’t have a clue as to who he is or use his techniques.  Now you don’t have to be one of them.

The Art Of Money Getting by PT Barnum is about as a good of a self-help book for business people there is.  You will note that it is the basis for many of the new ones that have been written recently.

Words and Phrases that sell is a handy guide you can use when writing any sales copy that you have.  Imagine having words that compel people to purchase your product at your fingertips!  This one is edited by yours truly.

Then there is the Google guide to Search Engine Optimization.  Read it, learn it, use it and it will help with traffic to your site.

Let me know what you think.   I hope these help you as much as they have helped me.

These are also the books are referred to in  Start On Monday by Andrew “Easy” Anderson, hey that is me.    I have just released it and it is on building your business online and how to find a JOB if you must.  You can check it out by clicking on the cover and you get to keep it for 14 days before you decide if you want to pay me for it. It has what I have learned in 20 years of being online, plus advice from some of the best Marketers in the world who have sold billions of dollars worth of products and services.

Even if you don’t keep  “Start On Monday” I suggest that you go snag it.  There really is valuable information and resources in it.  And you definitely need to get the other 3 books and reports.  Remember, often times it is just one small idea that takes you to a whole new level in your business and life.

Cheers,

Andrew “Easy” Anderson

I made these to remind you of what was made possible by our Founding Fathers in the United States of America like no where else in the world.  Have a safe and Happy 4th of July.  And remember what the Founding Fathers and millions of others have fought for so that you can enjoy the day.  Be Happy and Grateful!

Cheers,
Andrew “Easy” Anderson

The Answer And A Video Explanation Of Your Most Valuable Asset

So, what do you think your most valuable asset in business is that you have?  If you are like the rest of the go getter’s out there, we have a tendency to think that if we work a little harder, a little longer, and put in more of ourselves we will solve the issue of of the moment.

Now you would think that if you just could put a little more time in, you could get it done.  Well guess what?  No matter how well you manage your time, it won’t matter.  Will you get more done for a while? Of course but you can’t run effectively day after day at full tilt for 16,17, 18 hours a day.

Your most valuable Asset In Business is your energy levels.  If you go after a problem after you are well rested and healthy and your head is in the right place, then you can solve many problems or issues that come up in a manner of minutes.  Yet you try and do the same high level task when you are tired and it could easily take you hours to come up with the same quality of solution.

In the book ” The Power Of Full Engagement” by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz they bring up some very good statistics and examples of why this is true.

You know what I am talking about.  Where you are tired and even the words won’t come out of your mouth right and the simple things are a pain.  Well, guess what, when you are like that and the extra hour that you put in would be better spent resting.

As a recovering, oh heck, who am I kidding, active Workaholic,  I have to watch out for that myself.  The only reason that I do is that I do like what I do so much that I find myself taking things to the enth degree sometimes with projects.   Yet I know that I would be far better taking the time off and sharpening the Axe as it were.

The kicker is sticking with that philosophy even though I know it is true.  What does it for me is that I have people the depend on me now to make the right decisions and I know that burning the candle at both ends only should happen once in a while and not all of the time.  It is not effective at all.  It is also a symptom of a simpleton.  I already have one of those T-Shirts and I do not need another thank you very much.

Now that is not to say you should not have tight deadlines.  But you need to plan on taking time off to keep your energy levels as high as possible.   Take at least one day of the Weekend off.   If a project has you burnt out, then spend time on another one, step away from it for a few hours, days, or even weeks.   It can make a huge difference in your profits, and your quality of life.

Here is a video of Tony Schwartz speaking at Google about this subject.  Also, learn why multi-tasking does not work.  I have been following him for several years now and his stuff works and it makes sense.   Actually, it is common sense which is the least common of all senses.

DO TESTIMONIALS REALLY WORK? PART II:

By Marilyne Woodsmall

WHEN TO USE THEM AND WHEN NOT…

In our prior discussion, I talked about the Evaluation People Pattern™. This critical Evaluation People Pattern™ determines how an individual makes a judgment. In the context of sales, this pattern reveals how an individual makes a judgment to buy a product or service.

If you remember, there are two types of people when it comes to the Evaluation People Pattern™: Internal People and External People. Individuals who have what we call an Internal Referential Filter don’t want to hear about what other people are saying about a product or a service that they are thinking about purchasing. On the other side of the coin, there are those who have an External Referential Filter. They need to know what other people think before they purchase something. Remember, too, that there are some Internal People who will rely on what another person is saying if that person happens to be a proven expert on the product or service and has accurate information.

It makes a huge difference whether you are selling to someone with an internal pattern or an external pattern. Most Internal People think that the public at large is totally lacking in awareness and taste when it comes to making evaluations or judgments. In fact, our term, the Science of Idiots™ is quite apropos here, since Internal People view External People to be idiots for the most part. The former ask in referring to the latter: How is it possible to be such an idiot as to need another person’s opinion before buying something?

On the other hand, External People can’t imagine how a person can buy anything in life without getting feedback from others. They think that Internal People are idiots for not wanting the opinion of other people.

So what can you do to tailor your sales communication, whether one-on-one or on your site to reach these types of people? First, let us consider External People. If you are dealing with External People there are two viable strategies. One, you can position yourself as their external point of reference. The second strategy is to have people they respect or admire talk about your product.

The first strategy means that you have to be knowledgeable about your product or service as well as be trustworthy. Even sleazy car salesmen types don’t fare well here. Customers are much savvier than you may think and they certainly don’t want or need the traditional hype that has worked in the past in certain niches. The best rule of all is to always come from a place of integrity. In our work professionally modeling top salespeople over the years, my husband and I have always found that the best of the best have integrity and also create trust among their customers. I’ll delve more into this topic in a future article.

The second strategy involves telling your customers what people they respect have to say about what you are selling or providing. This means finding out who those people are for your particular customers.

In brief, with External People:

1. Provide as much information or referral material that you can.
2. Give as many testimonials as possible (more is better than less here)
3. Stress what others think about your product.
4. Have them see and or hear others’ reactions to your product or service.
5. Know that they are easily influenced by others.

Now, with Internal People, the strategy is totally different. With them you want to go out of your way to avoid telling them what other people are saying about your product or service. In fact, an Internal People will think less of you if try to sell your product based on testimonials or based on others’ opinions. They simply will view you as another idiot who has no clue about things.

In brief, with Internal People:

1. Suggest that they have their own internal check regarding the buying decision.
2. Stress that it is up to them and not up to you, as to whether to buy or not.
3. Avoid giving testimonials.
4. Tell them that you know that they are ultimately making the buying decision.
5. Know that telling them what others think is useless and may cost you the sale.

Also, remember that if you are an expert and or have someone else’s expertise to present regarding your product, it may be helpful to the Internal Person and only if the information is from an expert and is relevant.

In summary, it is critical in sales to know what criteria your customers are using when buying anything. This is why it is so important to appeal to both the Internal and External People in your presentation. In this way, you cover all possibilities; and you increase your sales as well as avoid missing half your customers and thus, avoid losing sales.

————————————–

As I have said before, Marilyne Woodsmall is one of the smartest marketing modelers out there, which is why many of the Marketing Gurus have sought her and her husband Wyatt, out for training.

While you may not have heard of them before, I can guarantee that if you have ever purchased anything online, you have seen their techniques being used.

To find out more information, you can go to The Science Of Idiots .com

I also suggest that you listen to the interview that I did wit her here.

Cheers,

I have been thinking about getting back to this later, but because of my schedule and work load and by choice I have been cutting down on dealing with emails, phone calls, meetings, and letting these and other interruptions interfere with my daily routine.

And guess what?  I am actually getting more done.  While I have known this and in fact have even written about it extensively.  But it is amazing how just a few minor tweaks in the way you do things can have a profound effect on your life, your income, and your happiness and fulfillment factor.

Or what my Partner Craig and I  like to call the MadFun factor.

Guess what, checking your emails 40 times a day usually accomplishes nothing productive whatsoever.  You need to ask yourself am I keeping busy to keep busy or am I truly being productive?

Typically 20% of what we do results in 80% or more of our profit.  This is called the Pareto Principle for those of you that have never heard of it or the 80-20 rule.   Pretty cool guy actually Mr. Pareto.

A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time.
Annie Dillard

Here is another Post that I did that talks about this that you might find interesting.

So, you might want to thing about unplugging.  It can put more money in your Wallet, and give you piece of mind that you might not have felt in some time.

Cheers,

DO TESTIMONIALS REALLY WORK?

Long before the internet came along, people have been giving testimonials for products. TV sales have always played a huge part in the conspicuous consumer society in which we live and still do so today. With the onset of the Internet, we have been overwhelmed with the typical and quite annoying bottomless sales letter that is riddled with endorsements and testimonials to convince prospective buyers to purchase a product or service.

And with TV shopping channels like QVC and the Home Shopping Network, testimonials play an increasingly important role in selling. Or do they? The question is do they really work with everyone? The answer is NO, NO, NO!!!

In fact, only about half of the population cares about what others think about a product before they buy it. The other half simply couldn’t care less what other people say about what they are buying. Which type are you? And more important, which type are your customers? Just because you may like to hear what other people are saying about products before purchasing them doesn’t mean that all of your customers think the same way. Or you may not care about testimonials and yet some of your customers won’t buy your products without them.

Are you a person who thrives on hearing what others have to say about a particular product? Or are you a person who can’t stand listening to or to reading about what people are saying about a product or service that you are contemplating buying? And there is another possibility as well. Are you someone who occasionally likes to read or to hear testimonials from certain individuals? How you answer these questions is quite revelatory.

In fact, it will determine still another People Pattern™ that comprises what we call Personality Language™. It is called the Evaluation People Pattern™. This all important Evaluation People Pattern™ determines how an individual makes a judgment, and in the context of this discussion, how an individual makes a judgment to buy a product or service. The emphasis is on how and not why.

Basically there are two major elements that make up the Evaluation People Pattern™. There are some individuals who make decisions to buy based on internal criteria and then there are some individuals who make decisions to buy based on external criteria. Those who make buying decisions based on internal criteria have what we refer to as an Internal Referential Filter or People Pattern™. They simply know inside that what they are doing or what they are buying, in this case, is the right thing for them. Those who make buying decisions based on external criteria have what we refer to as an External Referential Filter or People Pattern™. They need to hear what others think and tend not to buy anything without this feedback.

There are also some Internal People who, under certain circumstances, don’t mind having an expert give advice or information about a product, and only if it is information from an expert and not just anyone offering their opinion.

The bottom line is that Internal People don’t need feedback from others when it comes to buying products or services (unless, as mentioned, they want expert information under some circumstances); and External People need feedback before they purchase something. External People are often incapable of buying something without hearing first what other people think about it.

What this means for you in sales is that you have to tailor your communication on your sales page and/or in your presentation to both include testimonials for External People as well as include phrases that target the Internal People among your customers. Tune in next time to learn how to communicate with both types of customers in your audience, those with an Internal Referential Filter and those with an External Referential Filter.

This is from “ Personality Language” ™

By Marilyne Woodsmall

Add 50% Or More To Your Sales….. An interview with the author of the new book “Personality Language” Marilyne Woodsmall.

I did this interview when this book first came out and I see that there a few people have picked on just how valuable this really is and are starting to teach it.  But, why not get it from the Horse’s mouth so to speak instead.

Get comfortable and take a listen to an interview I did with the author of the new book Personality Language.  Listen in as we discuss how using Personality Language can dramatically boost your profits.

This is a totally new way to reach not only new customers, but get a lot more sales from your existing customers.

I hope to have more chats with her about this mind-blowing new way to communicate with your customers and increase your profits.

We talk about how Personality Language and you will find out why you want to layout all of your Blog posts, Sales Letters, and Information Products this way if you want to have the most success with them and become profitable.

Marilyne Woodsmall and Wyatt Woodsmall, who are Human Success Modelers  wrote  this as a primer to introduce this new way of thinking.

While you may not have ever heard of them before, I can bet that you have heard of, or seen on TV, or on the Internet, or read the books of some of the many people that either one or both of them have coached.  People like Anthony “Tony” Robbins, Eben Pagan of Internet Marketing fame (if you have never heard of him before, under the pen name David DeAngelo who sells over $20,000,000 of Dating eBooks and Advice on the Internet every year and doesn’t even have a published “real book”) , Joe Polish of Piranha Marketing, world-class Marketer and Joint Venture specialist extraordinaire, and finally a host of Olympic Athletes and Coaches that brought home oodles of Medals, and quite a few other people that you have heard or seen as well.

Again the Woodsmall’s don’t go out of their way to mention them as they don’t like to talk about the people that they have worked or are working with all that much. It is just the way they operate, and I can respect that.

The only reason that I bring these people up is help you give some weight to what I am about to share with you.  The folks that I mentioned have used what they learned from Marilyne and Wyatt to help make themselves tens of millions of dollars and to achieve success at a world class level that very few people are ever able to obtain.

Part of what those individuals did to obtain those ultra-high levels of success was to Leverage, with a capital L, what Marilyne and Wyatt gave to them to propel themselves to higher levels of success faster than they could have done on their own.

Now imagine if you had access to that same type of information that you could use to Leverage yourself to those ultra-high levels of success and profitability?  Now you can.

Take a listen and let me know what you think.

Press the play button and find out how to improve your sales with Personality Language.

Click below on the book cover to order the book and type in 21 to get a $5.00 discount.  I can’t recommend this book enough.  It is a game changer.  I will also be posting other interviews with Marilyne and Wyatt as soon I can talk them into giving up more information.

Even if you don’t buy the book, go and sign up for their newsletter at www.PersonalityLanguage.com as it is well worth it.

OK, this post is going to allow me to cover a couple of common themes that have been popping up over the past three weeks.

Recently, I have gotten at least seven different emails from seven different Gurus pointing me toward two of the same NEW products.

Both were HUGE NEW discoveries there were going to make me millions. 

Wrong Advice

1. The first one was that long copy sales copy and even copy was dead or did not matter, and that screen shot videos were the only way to go for sales pages.

Well, right off the bat I would have to put that in the Wrong Advice Column.  Long copy has been proven time and time again to out-sell short copy by several hundred times and copy always matters no matter what media you use.  So, the alarm bells went off on that one, so write that one off.

As far as doing screen shot videos for sales pages as a new thing,  well, I put down that technique in detail in my eBook, The Muse Blueprint and The 4 Hour Muse back in 2007.  So, nothing really new there at all.  I also went over it in detail a few years back at a big event for Internet Marketers in LA.

And to top it off, I also have an updated version of how to do this in my new Book  “Start On Monday”.  It is supposed to be released this week and I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

Late To The Party

2. The other New Discovery was that Brick and Mortar small businesses  need help with marketing was a is a huge market.  Well Duh, I have been in that market for several years now.  All I have to say is, you guys are really kind of late to that party and it is not all that new to anyone that has been paying attention for the last 15 years. 

They are also talking about getting 1st page Google results using Videos… Hmm, Oh, they couldn’t have looked the series of blog posts I did two months ago could they?  LOL

Guess what, that is in  “Start On Monday” as well. Except you don’t have to pay  $2,997  for it.  It is only $27.  I swear that are charging that much for it.  Arghhh..

Seriously, call me up and I will tell you what to do in 20 minutes for $100 and give you a couple of tricks they won’t teach you to boot.  Or better yet, just buy the book.

How To Pay For The Right Kind Of Help

I have to be a bit careful here on this one because I work with some of these folks.  But if I hear of another PR / Marketing company that won’t put there compensation on the line and guarantee results or claims to be a Social Media expert and only has 1,000 followers on Twitter, my eyes are going to pop out.  Or if they don’t use their Blog for SEO and can’t  show me how they tie in with the clients marketing and sales, then in my book, you are wasting my clients money.

This is especially goes for Marketing companies.  If you won’t take a retainer on a monthly basis (OK, this can range from $500 to $50,000 depending on how the big the job is) and then work off a percentage of sales, you are full of it to put it bluntly.

Seriously think about it.  And this especially goes for some of the bigger companies.   When I take on a Marketing client or someone that has a PR firm, I ask this simple question.

How are they going to show your Return On Investment, and are they working off percentage of sales?   If not, they are probably not worth it period.

I have worked off of percentages from 10% to as high as 60% of sales.  But guess what?  I pay for myself in every single case and if I don’t produce, the client does not pay me squat.

So if I bring in $500,000 in sales to a client, I might get $100,000 t0 $250,000.  Here again, they probably would not have gotten those sales in the first place or gotten them as fast and so in essence, it is about as close to free money as you are going to find.   If someone came to you and said” Hey, I am going to bring in $500,000 in sales and it will only cost $100,000 to do it but you only pay me after I bring in the money”, would you take them up on it?

Of course you should not have to think about it for even a nano-second as the answer should be ” Yes, sign me up for 10 of those please right now”.   If not, then you really need to do some soul searching and do it quick.

Why?

Because you are probably not going to be in business much longer if your competition is one of those people that said yes.  If you really did not say yes.  Please think about it for a few minutes.  You have some issues that need addressed pronto.

Firing Clients

I would like to discuss this as it is perhaps counter-intuitive.

The customer is not always right.   If you find yourself butting heads with one, fire them.  It will make your life easier and you can spend more time with the ones that you do get along with and you can more than make up for any lost revenue by spending time with them instead of the client that is an idiot or won’t listen to you, or you simply don’t get along with very well.

It does not even have to be any negative connotation.  Sometimes, there is just not a good fit or there are communication issues.   That is fine. You will be doing your client and yourself a favor by removing yourself or them.  I used to try and stick with the client no matter how bad of a fit even only a few years ago.  Now I don’t.

The same goes with hiring consultants or service providers.  If you have one that you butt heads with or just can’t communicate with, get rid of them.  It is that simple.  I have been on both ends of the equation and stopping a situation like that sooner is usually better for both parties.  I always try and do this amicably, because you may want to work with them in the future.  They might just not be right for right now.

Now, on the other hand, you don’t want to hire a yes man or woman, because that can be even worse.  Because if you hire someone that is good, you are not going to agree with everything that they say or do, but on the other hand, you more than likely need to do something different or you would not have needed to hire them in the first place right?

When all else fails, trust your gut.

Hope these things help just a bit and start some ideas rolling around in your noodle. but most importantly, add profit to your bottom line.

Cheers,

A Big Trick To Boost Your Profits

Before I get into the Profit Trick, has it been a strange week for you too?  It has been a doozy for me.

I have not been this busy- busy in some time or just have weird stuff keep popping up.  Must be the Moon or something.Sometimes you get so much going on that you wish you had a couple of extra hours in a day or a couple of extra days in your week.  But, if you are moving forward that is quite normal.  I really think that that moon does contribute.

Couple of things that I would like to share with you though and this is one of the big tricks to boost your profits.

“Surround yourself with really smart people”

It has taken me awhile to figure this one out.  I have two really cool and smart partners that I work with on various projects.  Craig Teich who has worked with some of the largest companies in the world in the finance arena and is one heck of a systems guy and Ryan Grabenstein who’s software is in use by thousands of Web developers.  It is also used on ten’s of thousands of sites all over the world.  He is also one of Adobe’s go to people for things having to do with Dreamweaver.  Both of them are just cool dudes in their own way.

I try and make it a point to associate with people that know more about a subject than I do.  I mean how else are you ever going to learn quickly and leverage yourself with their knowledge?

And now, I am also doing a project with someone that I  and many people feel is one of the best direct marketers in the world.  I will tell you about that in the next few days and you are going to want to pay attention to what it going on there.

He gave me a challenge that is turning up some interesting benefits and has given me an excuse to play with some things in a much larger fashion than I have in the past.  I love experiments!

There are some things coming out of this that I believe are going to change how a couple of items we take for granted on the Internet could be looked at differently.  Pretty cool stuff indeed.

One of the things that I have noticed about most people that I consider at the top of their game and admire is this.  They never think that they know it all and are always learning.  If you hang around some dumb ass that thinks he or she  has it sussed or down Pat, then it is a sure sign he or she does not know their ass from first base to put it bluntly.  You want to get far away them

The other thing that I have noticed is that these people are willing to try new things and not get them perfect, but keep trying them until they do.  They are not afraid of mistakes because that is how you learn.  In fact, most really smart people make quite a few of what most people would say are mistakes rather quickly.  But, they are not really mistakes at all.  They just test things out and tweak them at twice the speed of most people because that way they also figure out things twice as fast as everyone else and that is why they are ahead.

So, the moral of the story is this.  If you want to make money, don’t hang out with people that know less than you.  Pretty simple actually but most people do not make a conscious effort to do so.   Do it and your bottom line will thank you.

Cheers,

Andrew

PS No, I did not have my editors look at this yet. 

I found this in an old draft on the Blog today. Doing a bit of house cleaning as it were. Must have gotten  distracted by a shiny object.

This is from Bob Parson’s. The CEO and founder of GoDaddy.com, the most successful domain registrar in the World.  And the one that I use most of the time.  He puts out some great free information on how to run a successful business.

Some good stuff for sure.  There are 16 gems here.  What do you think?

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone.

I believe that not much happens of any significance when we’re in our comfort zone.  I hear people say, “But I’m concerned about security.”  My response to that is simple: “Security is for cadavers.”

2. Never give up.

Almost nothing works the first time it’s attempted.  Just because what you’re doing does not seem to be working, doesn’t mean it won’t work.  It just means that it might not work the way you’re doing it.  If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn’t have an opportunity.

3. When you’re ready to quit, you’re closer than you think.

There’s an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true.  It goes like this: “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”

4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be.

Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of “undefined consequences.”  My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, “Well, Robert, if it doesn’t work, they can’t eat you.”

5. Focus on what you want to have happen.

Remember that old saying, “As you think, so shall you be.”

6. Take things a day at a time.

No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don’t look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment.  You can get through anything one day at a time.

7. Always be moving forward.

Never stop investing.  Never stop improving.  Never stop doing something new.  The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die.  Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way.  Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen.  Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

8. Be quick to decide.

Remember what General George S. Patton said: “A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”

9. Measure everything of significance.

I swear this is true.  Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

(Andrew’s note; If you are not testing everything from your Blog, to your Website, to your SEO-SEM, and copy, then how can you know what to improve. TEST, TEST, TEST!)

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate.

If you want to uncover problems you don’t know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven’t examined for a while.  I guarantee you problems will be there.

11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you’re doing.

12. Never let anybody push you around.

In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you’re doing as anyone else, provided that what you’re doing is legal.

13. Never expect life to be fair.

Life isn’t fair.  You make your own breaks.  You’ll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).

14. Solve your own problems.

You’ll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you’ll develop a competitive edge.  Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: “You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others.”  There’s also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently.  It goes like this: “A wise man keeps his own counsel.”

15.Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Lighten up.  Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.  (Andrew’s note; Luck has a lot to do with being in the game and showing up everyday. Luck comes often disguised as persistence and preparedness.)

16. There’s always a reason to smile.

Find it.  After all, you’re really lucky just to be alive.  Life is short.  More and more, I agree with my little brother.

He always reminds me: “We’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time!”

I could right a ton more on the comments, but I am interested in hearing what you have to say.

Cheers,

Andrew

Domino’s Pizza announced today that their profits more than doubles on new recipe, or does it really.

Here is a link to the AP story the Domino’s Story. The short answer is I don’t think so.

Here is the poll I have had up since they did there big change. Look at how many people prefer the old version.  Take the poll yourself if you have tried out the new Domino’s pizza.

As I said in my first posts about them,

• Domino’s Doomed To Failure
• Domino’s Marketing

they  don’t know their customer very well and if they knew about “Personality Language” ™ they would not have gotten rid of the old version, but, instead just have added the new version to their menu.

I am not the only one that is skeptical.

“When a restaurant company radically changes their menu, usually there’s a curiosity bump involved in the results,” said Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy. “But it’s too early to tell if that’s going to be sustainable for a long time.”

Well, if you consider it did get a lot of publicity and they spent a boat load of money on on their PR campaign, a bump was there. But as they say, was is a dead cat bounce? I am inclined to think so.

That and the big number at the bottom – Annual revenue fell 2 percent to $1.4 billion from $1.43 billion.

As I have said in all my posts, I do wish them well, but I hope they smarten up and get with the program and bring back the old version. Which I have heard they already have done on a limited scale.

There are thousand of people that work for Domino’s that depend on the people at the top getting it right. I have spoken with a couple of the franchise owners and while they are keeping mostly quite, they are nervous.

I think they have every right to be quite a bit nervous actually.  We will see how this plays out next quarter.

Cheers,
Andrew Anderson

PS  I have a really cool post I have been working on for a bit now on Blogging that I think you will like.  And in another bit of news. I have officially gained the title of the King of misspellers as I have been informed by my proof reader.  I take full responsibility for any misspelling and grammatically errors from here on out as I usually don’t give here these before I post  them.  Then I have here busying working on the big projects it takes here a couple of days for here to get to them when I do remember to send them to her.   But, I look at it as a way to winnow out those people that don’t have a sense of humor about these things and gain those that are smart enough to figure out what I am Yakking about. LOL

Hi there!

I hope you are having a fantastic day.  I want to tell you a few things about yourself that I bet not everyone knows.  First off, because you are here reading this, you are pretty darn smart.  You are smart enough to figure out how to log onto the Internet, click on a link or type in the address of www.21to21.com and end up here.  This puts you ahead of Billions of people on this great big World.  Think about it, you are way ahead in the line of humanity.

That alone makes you a Rock Star!

You are different too.  I know this because you are curious enough to be reading this blog.  Do you know how many people just veg out in front of the TV and never try and do anything to better themselves?  Far too many, but that is just how it is unfortunately.  Good for you, kind of sucks for them.

If you are hear reading this, you would probably like to make more money than you are currently, as well.   But, you are probably not sure how to go about it.

While I can’t promise what you will read here will make you wealthy, I do know that if you follow the recipe your favorite cook gives you, you have a pretty good shot at getting that dish to taste just as good as them.  Maybe not the first time, but if you keep doing it, you will be able to recreate it.

The same goes for wealth.  Wealthy people think differently than poor people and even middle class people.  I am going to give you a couple of quotes from some people that got to be pretty darn wealthy and have helped thousands of others do the same.

Mind feed is important.  If you are around people that are negative and don’t give you encouragement, it is infinitely harder to escape the income rut you may be in at the moment.  So if you spend even just a few minutes a day on positive mind feed it can make a big difference on your income.

Rich people focus on opportunities.  Poor people focus on obstacles.
_

Rich people constantly learn and grow. Poor people think they already know.
_

Every Master was once a disaster.
_

Rich People believe
You can have your cake and eat it too.
Middle-class people believe
Cake is too rich, so I’ll only have a little piece.
Poor people don’t believe that they deserve cake,
so they order a doughnut, focus on the hole
and wonder why they have nothing….
_

Rich people are bigger than their problems.
Poor people are smaller than their problems.
_
The secret to success is not to try to avoid or get rid of or shrink from your problems;
the secret is to grow yourself so that
you are bigger than any problem.

The above were all from T. Harv Eker’s book “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”.  I highly suggest you read this book if you want to take your income to the next level.

Nothing great is ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let others help you achieve success.
Napoleon Hill

Welcome help from others.
Napoleon Hill

One other book that I suggest that you read is Napoleon Hill’s  ” A Year Of Growing Rich”.  Great read that is full of good information as well.  If you don’t know who he is, he was commissioned by Andrew Carnegie who was the richest man in the world at the time to find out why rich people became rich so that he could help other people do the same.  Carnegie, in his day, was about as rich as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined.

I will post more of these later.  Hope you enjoyed them.  I know you can succeed and in fact I want you to.  You may not be wealthy yet and you may be in line, but you are already ahead of Billions….   I know you can do it!

Cheers,
Andrew “Easy” Anderson