Blog Posts

The 6 ways YOU can become the Champion.

3/6/2014

Well hello there.

I didn't see you come in.

Now that you’re here.

Let’s discuss a few things about success.

More often than not, it’s not the lack of technical (Hard) skills that make people unsuccessful, but the lack of interpersonal (Soft) skills.

It’s not that people can’t do the job, it’s the fact that they don’t collaborate effectively, lack a presentation voice, cannot prioritize with little direction, and have an absence of other soft skills.

It’s these soft skills that are the glue that holds the hard skills together.

But the question you must be asking yourself is:
“What exactly are these soft skills in the first place, and how would I develop them anyway?”

Well you have come to the right place as I have just the story to tell about my dear friend ,Joe.

This is his story, and its a story of how the Everyman became the Champion.

Now...

Joe is your Everyman. He wakes up every morning to one cup of coffee and a read of the news. He isn't lazy, but isn't motivated. He doesn't not like people, but never seems to get them to like him. He is technically sound in his skills and abilities but can’t seem to get them noticed by others. Working day to day, getting the job done at the minimal effort.

A year later, Joe our Everyman was the hero of his company. Settling big accounts, and the flagship employee for the company.

What had changed our Everyman that year? Had he become smarter? More attractive? More Interesting?

Did he unlock the powers of the universe with his mind?

What was the secret behind his success?

The Secret

The secret was simple. He had mastered the art of the soft skills.

But what are these skills? And how did Joe get them?

Well let me tell you...

It’s…

1. Getting work done effectively and at a high quality.

Joe had always done his work, but sometimes didn't adhere to deadlines and was hit and miss in quality. He also had trouble with ambiguity and sometimes couldn't function without proper direction.

How did he develop his ability to make deadlines and ensure high quality? How did he overcome his resistance to ambiguity?

Easily enough, what Joe did was create outlines for his work that made it easy to plug in new information into his reports and pull out information that was no longer useful. In building this “living document”, he was easily able to cut his processing time for orders, reports, and other documents by almost 50% by avoiding redoing much of the work he had already did. This technique became even more powerful once he designed multiple living documents, and passed information along between them.

Then by using the Power of the List, he was able to prioritize his time with little direction, assess how important each priority was to overall success, their cost, and finding alternatives if things didn't go as planned. Doing so, he soon was managing multiple projects, organizing them on a timeline, collaborating with others to get more work done, and meeting budget restraints.

Interested in hearing more of Joe's Story? And the Other 5 WAYS you can BECOME THE CHAMPION?

Then Subscribe as I update his story each week with the next WAY.

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3 Steps to Jump-start your Social Media Success.

2/20/2014

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3 STEPS
These 3 steps will jump-start your social media success by allowing you to choose the right social media for you based on your business, your customers, and your objectives.

1.    Choose only one platform to start with that is clearly defined to meet your needs and allows you access to your customers.

For example:

Having too many platforms can be exhausting and overstretch your ability to make an effective social media presence. Choose the platform that allows you best access to your clients such as LinkedIn for B2B contact and Facebook for B2C contact. This way, you’re using the platform that your clients are using and only focused on that platform.

2.    Make a defined plan with objectives of what you want from your social media and stick with it.

For example:

You need to know what you want from your social media before you can make your presence known. If you want your social media to bring in more customers, then you have to build a sales funnel, targeting new clients, and having a distinct way to bring them into your fold. Or vice versa, as a customer relationship builder targeting your current clients, updating them with “how to” information on your product, and creating conversations to build a community around your product.

3.    Leverage your current customers and professional network to build links between your social media and the people they know to build interest in your product.

For example:

Once your social media is built, ask current customers (Mailing Lists) to get involved and support you on your social media. Get new customers involved in your social media throughout your sales process with embedded incentives for adding you and participating such as discounts, great content, and event updates.

Whats your favorite social media to reach your customers?

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Five Things you learned in High-School holding your writing back

2/6/2014

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Do you sound like your 5th grade English teacher?

You might if your writing is proper, polite, and just polished enough not to embarrass anyone. If it is dry, uneventful, and moves in one sentence sized bunches. It does. And it might work fine for your 5th grade English teacher, but it’s not fine for everyone else.
But what does it lack, it lacks feeling, emotion, and oomph. It lacks any real tone that the reader can relate to. Changing your style into a professional and conversational style will not only be more fun for your client to read, but increase the likelihood of them contacting you because they enjoyed it.

1. Writing Long Paragraphs

Think of your writing as a speech or a conversation. Think of punctuation as a place to pause, catch your breath, and emphasize what you will say next as strongly as you did before. Writing long paragraphs is like having a speech run too long or listening to a professor droning on one point that they made an hour ago. The longer they become, the less interesting they become. Even worse, long paragraphs are even intimidating to some readers and they will avoid it due to its size and length.

2. Listening to “authorities” more than yourself

When you write, do you believe you can’t use “And” at the beginning of a sentence? Do you believe you can’t have a sentence that is only one word? Do you believe that spoken language and writing have separate rules?

If you do, then you are listening to the “authorities” of writing. The authorities of writing are based on old and archaic rules that were created hundreds of years ago. And fail to evolve with the times.

Evolution. That is the main problem with writing rules as they lack evolution. Spoken language is constantly evolving as seen in writing from people two centuries ago, to people from 10 years ago.
Thus, you must evolve your writing with the times as the spoken word evolves.

3. Staying Detached

When you attempt to portray your writing in a way that is without feeling, without story. You have a paper without ups and downs, you have a paper without soul. It will read like sandpaper instead of wax-paper. And it will grind on and on until your audience leaves in boredom and frustration. Just try to read a Science Journal and you will understand.

4. Not editing your Papers, editing them too soon, or forgetting to get a professional second opinion.

Many people never edit their papers because they assume it is okay when they write it. Many assume that they communicated effectively and other people will understand what they are trying to say. Even more, they edit it right after or in only a short time after they write it. The big issue with this is that, the residual effects of your writing are still in your head and much of your writing still sounds good in your head.

Too break this habit, you need to take a few hours break and come back with a fresh look. Or even better, you get a second pair of eyes to look it over with a new angle, a new aspect. Breathing life into it. This way you can get a second opinion and bring your writing to a whole new level.

5. Don’t ignore your Readers, Peers, and Social Media

Often writers ignore who they are writing for; they write complete text giving less notice to what their others have to say about it. Even more social media comments need to be taken seriously enough to alter it totally or be proud of it. Listen to the readers review, ignoring that may get you out of business or out of class.

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Do YOU have THE POWER 2?

1/30/2014

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Welcome to the second installation of “The Power of the List” Series.

Today we are going more in-depth into the Action List.

This list has the activities that you do regularly each week such class, work, business, etc. Categorized into major items that stay the same each week such as your General To-do, Business To-do, and School To-Do.

Within these categories are sub categories that you do to accomplish your general, business, or class goals such as books your reading, your weekly blog post you have to write, or the Geology class you are taking. These don’t change often with updates.

The part that does change is the specific goals attached to each. These are tasks you need to do specifically to be successful, and have set due dates and times. An example “To do – Groceries (W, 1pm)”. This example broken down, tells you that you are going to get groceries Wednesday (W) at one o’clock pm (1pm). If you notice, all the items with (W)’s are bolded, this is because this list was updated on Tuesday night. They are bolded to let you know those are the things you have to get done for tomorrow.

This list is best used consistently with updates as you accomplish your tasks and at the end of the day for a complete overhaul to ensure that you didn’t miss anything.

Below is an example in a Word Document.

General To-Do

To do – Groceries (W)

Books to Read – Unleashing the Power of Consultative Selling (W)

Meetings – Doctor’s Appointment (Th, 10am), Catch-up with former colleague (M, 1pm)

Business To-Do

Blog (Every Th) – List Article finished (Sa), Post (Th), Dissect Power of Habits (F)

Social Media – Post to 3 blogs (Th), Respond to Comments (W)

Network – Copywriter seminar (W, 8pm), Mastermind Group (Th, 7pm)

School To-Do

Psychology 101 – Hw (W), Exam (F)

Geology 101 – Research Paper (M)

Algebra 101 – Exam Study (Th), Tutor (W), Study Group (F)

Remember, once you instill this list into your habits, and treat its word as law. You will see your productivity and efficiency skyrocket. You will know what is due, when it’s due, and plan your day’s success the day before. After just a few days of using this list, you will be able to see all your small victories in your day journal and make you happier.

Just give it a shot by following this simple step-by-step guide.

Step one: Identify the things that you do regularly

·         I go to work.

o   Work To do

·         I go to school.

o   School To do

·         I have errands to run.

o   General To do

Step two: Identify the categories that make up Work, School, and General

·         Work

o   I have Paperwork, Client Meetings, and orders.

§ Paperwork –

§ Meetings –

§ Orders –

·         School

o   I have my Fraternity, Classes, and club meetings.

§ Fraternity –

§ Geology 101 –

§ Math 102 –

§ Club –

·         General

o   I have all sorts of things to do, read a personal book, take a free online class, meetings with old friends, etc.

§ To do –

§ Book –

§ Meetings –

Step three: Combine them

·         Work

o   Paperwork –

o   Meetings –

o   Orders –

·         School

o   Fraternity –

o   Geology 101 –

o   Math 102 –

o   Club –

·         General

o   To do –

o   Book –

o   Meetings –

Step four: Add the weekly things you do to be successful at those categories and the dates you need to get them done.

·         Work

o   Paperwork – Write Order #432 Report (Tu)

o   Meetings – Meet with client (W, 10am)

o   Orders – Complete orders 231 and 537 (M)

·         School

o   Fraternity – Ensure members pay dues (F)

o   Geology 101 – 3 page paper (M)

o   Math 102 – Online Homework (Th)

o   Club – Meeting (W, 6pm)

·         General

o   To do – Groceries (Th), buy gas (Th), and pay bills (F)

o   Book – Read Chapter 2 of White Fang (Sa)

o   Meetings – Doctors appointment (3pm Tu)

Step five: Institute it into your habits by using consistently and updating daily. To find out how click habits.

With that, I hope this proves helpful to you. If you have any questions on how to create your own or how to incorporate it into your life, then please email me at [email protected].

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What's the Thing you need on Day One?

1/23/2014

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A Marketing Toolkit.

The thing every business needs to start is a collection of marketing that tells people their story. Your story. The story of exactly what you do, how you do it, and most importantly why you do it.

In your Marketing Toolkit, you will have a Pocket Folder containing, a Case Statement, a Difference Summary, a Case Study, and “The Offer”. The Pocket Folder should sport your company colors/logo and highlight your products and services. Complementing the marketing pieces inside. In can also have marketing merchandise such as pens, bookmarks, stickers, etc. Inside your Pocket folder lies your marketing pieces. These pieces are customizable to the event and situation, but should always contain these basics.

·         The Case Statement makes a case of why your customer should buy your product. It addresses their challenges, frustrations, and fears. Paints the vision of a future without them, how they can get there. And what they must do to start.

·         The Difference Summary explains why you’re better than your competition and what you provide that they don’t. This can include your unique approach, processes, or the extra things you do to make your customer happy. A difference summary can include many things based on your objectives to include the story of your company and the motivations behind it, the top values of your market, and a description of your ideal client that your customer can relate to and knows that you’re talking to them.

·         The Case Study (a.k.a. Testimonial) of a real life customer who is so amazed with your product that they wholeheartedly back it with their support. This is a marketing piece for showing off pictures of happy people using your product, giving a face to the future happiness that your customer can have if they buy your product.

·         The final piece that should always be included is “The Offer”. The Deal that you are presenting should be compelling and something they just can’t refuse. The deal with a strong call to action such as contacting you for more information or to order, will be the crescendo of your Marketing Toolkit.

With your Marketing Toolkit in place, you are ready to wow everyone instantly. It works great as an automatic response on your site to be mailed or emailed to a interested prospect as well as a piece to rally other marketing pieces around such as your brochure. The best part is that each marketing piece inside your Marketing Toolkit can in and of itself, a standalone marketing piece that you can turn into a microsite, sales letter, or more.

For your Ease-of-Use, below is a bulleted list of your future Marketing Toolkit as well more information in building it.

Marketing Materials Toolkit

1.       Pocket folder – case statement, difference summary, ideal client description, marketing story, and offerings
a. Notepads, bookmarks, posters, stickers, and a useful tool (calendar or ruler)
b. Create mini folders

·Case Statement – Make a case on why your prospect should buy your product

Case addresses challenge, frustration or fear of your client
An image of life after problem is solved (Future)
How they got there (Past)
A directed call to action (Present)

· Difference Summary – why your different and how you do it (unique approach, Processes, and extras)

Use top 3 or 4 things that your market values
Ideal client description
Marketing story – Personal story of your company

§ Types – Client, Who, What, Where, Values, Lessons Learned

· Case Studies

Actual example of how you solved problems with your service and product
Include the situation, problem, solution, and result
Include images and testimonials
Interview and create Case study with real client

§ What solutions were you seeking when you hired us?
§ What did we do that you value most?
§ What has been the result of working with us?
§ What would you tell others who are considering hiring us?

Testimonial Proof – Create a What people have to say about us page!

§ Create one with Clients approval (Audio, Video, and word)
§ Ask a prospect to ask a client
§ Photograph your client using product

Systematize getting a testimonial into your after sale experience

§ Ask them to write it as a referral to a friend
§ Use a business card system to collect

Frequently asked questions – Marketing piece / Website piece

§ Questions that should be Frequently asked page = Funnel Technique
§ Client list
§ Show processes and checklists to emphasize the premium service pricing.
§ Articles

· Product/ Service Offering

Describe in detail your offerings to include benefits

Need your own Marketing Toolkit today, but don’t have the time to do it yourself?

Then hesitate no longer and send me an email to get your very own customized Toolkit.

For your industry. Your customers. And your Business.

Sincerely,

L. Thomas
@ [email protected]

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Do you have a Story to Tell?

1/16/2014

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Here I am.

Brain-dead…

Staring at the blinking screen of my computer…

Robbed of my muse… my inspiration…

I think back to a simpler time… when words flowed from my imagination like a torrent.

That torrent… long run dry… squeezed of every ounce of creative energy.

Leaving behind, but rocks.

Scraggly rocks that rub the feet raw while searching endlessly for new inspiration...

“AAAAH”, walking away from that dreaded computer with only hours to go before my deadline…

“What to do… what to do”, as I reach into the fridge for my ham and Swiss sandwich. Turning on the coffee maker for that all too familiar sound.

Thinking… ham and Swiss…plus coffee … the Writer’s Go-To Comfort from Writer’s Block.

Staring into the brown quagmire as its drips from the heavens. Looking… Looking for the answers…

Turning to look over my phone…

Biting into my ham and Swiss…

Storytelling.

The most important part of captivating an audience.

Is telling them a story that inspires them. Arousing their interest and never letting go.

Ever wonder why scientific journals and technical manuals are so hard to read?

It’s because there are no stories to speak of. It’s written in the most opaque language with the most monotonous voice with no beginning or end. Just information for informations sake. Which has its own positives, but more often is plagued by negatives that make it only withstood by the most astute.

Telling your audience a story is what the best movies, music, and copy do. Written to entertain, but also to persuade and inform. This is the art of storytelling for your business and ideals. This is true even to the standards of marketing and copy. Only the best storytellers have the best marketing. People buy some products on price and need. But more often they buy the story that the company tells. The history of what they do, of who they are, and what they stand for. Weaving stories into your marketing allows your clients to connect with your message and makes them want to be a part of what you do. Gives your employees something to aspire to, to work towards, and to uphold. And even though technology changes, we very much stay the same. Everyone loves stories. Everyone loves to have a hero to root for, a villain’ to hate, and be able to follow their fates.

But how do you incorporate a story into your message that people want to hear?

0

Think of your story in a holistic way. What story are you trying to tell. Who, what, where, why, and how are you trying to incorporate your message into your story. And In a way that puts your target audience into the shoes of your character and follow their story. This holistic way directs the rest of the steps and structures them to your goals and outcomes keeping them from being haphazard.

1st
You create a character to follow and can be first or third person depending on your copy. If you want your audience to look through the eyes of your hero and do actions they do and experience their success first-hand then use 1st person. If you want your audience to be outside looking upon your character to set the stage that they want to be just like them and experience the happiness from the success they had using your product or services. Then use a 3rd person view.

2nd
Present the trouble or problem that your character has to deal with that is relatable to problems that your target audience have themselves. This should be a challenge that your specific product or services solves. Here you tap into your target audiences fears and frustrations.

3rd
Present the motivations that lie behind your characters actions. These motivations should mirror or be parallel to your target audience’s motivations. This way, the audience relates to your character and inclined to follow his actions and be more flexible to new introduced information.

4th
Propose the setting for the character. This can range from fantasy to real, but should be directly relatable to your target audiences’ real life. This way they can seep deeper into the story and feel at home. Drawing real emotions, habit cues, and situations from the audience.

5th
Once the setting is in place, you solidify the challenges with the obstacles associated to it, identifying the root causes, introducing the villain, and painting a picture of damnation for the audience to want to solved and be saved from. Here you can foreshadow the solutions to the challenge and how it overcomes the obstacles painting a picture of hope, but should be effectually introduced in the next step, The Climax.

6th
In the Climax, you have you hero, your product, face the villain, your audience’s frustrations and fears. Having it hit a feverish pitch and an almighty crescendo. Explaining in great detail how your hero, your products and services will save their day. Making the success and triumph of you’re hero, the success and triumph of your prospective clients. This will inevitable make your audience want to experience it themselves and excited to know how they can.

7th
In the closing, you bring closure. You bring your call to action. You give your audience the takeaways of what they need to know. Of what you would like them to take away. Or give them the call to action, where you give them the next step. A place to unleash their motivation upon. Be it a transaction page, a site to check out, and free Infoproduct to download, or someone to contact. It’s the precarious part where you win or lose your audience.

Incorporating stories into your media will boost your response rates heavily. Helping build your business and make you more money. As people care more about your product, and will retell your stories to others. Making success yours.

*CRASH*

Like a lightning bolt! It hits me.

Nearly dropping my ham and Swiss.

I run to my computer and strike the keys, embedding my words to the page.

Ideas emerging, ebbing and flowing with the demise of my writer’s block.

Eureka! I have done it.

And all I needed was an update from my RSS Feed.

Outline Steps for your Story Driven Copy.

Step 0: Holistic Notion

Step 1. Character

Step 2. Challenges

Step 3. Motivation

Step 4. Setting

Step 5. Obstacles

Step 6. Climax

Step 7: The Closing

Do you have a story to tell?

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What are you doing with your...

1/7/2014

10 Comments

... narrowed market?

How to Narrow your Marketing Focus to One Niche in One Market

Understanding who you are targeting is the most important thing of all marketing.

Understanding what they want and how they want it is the only way to keep them coming back.

Narrowing it down, however, is not so easy.

If you don’t know where to start, then I have created a Step-by-step list of how and what to look for.

Way to find, create, or narrow a niche.

1. Tools for Niche Hunting

Pay per click ad websites
Database Collector websites
Industry and Service Survey

Why did you hire us?
Why are we different than our competition?
What’s missing from our industry?
What could we do that would thrill you?
What do you “put up with” in our industry?
What would you do if you owned our business?

2. Figure out Needs of your target market and express in your marketing

Find a problem no one is solving and solve it (Solve Targets Frustration)
Can’t Afford solution (Make it cheaper)
Too complex for most to figure out (Make it more simple and convenient)

3. Audit your product to see if it answers these target market questions:

Do they want what I have?
Do they value what I do?
Are they willing to pay a premium for what I do?

4. How to make your own niche

Offer niche – You give offers and promotions no one else will
Solve a problem niche – find fear and problem to solve that no one else can
Extras beyond your product – lifetime guarantee, carpet audit, thank you gift of flowers or free service: Point out that your product makes others prosper

After finding a general need or frustration: ID your Ideal client by:

1.       Demographic surveys
2.       New member survey: favorite music, books, events, hobbies, kind of car they drive
3.       After Service Review Survey after meetings

Use Client Formula to break down your target market to the individual:

1.       Physical Description + What they what + Their Problem + How they buy + Best way to communicate with them = Ideal Prospect
2.       How?

Use Customer Relationship Software
Know your Client Form
Talk it out of them

After IDing your Ideal Client: You must:

1. Find customer list –

Generate your own (Social media, landing pages, contests, etc.)
Buy or barter1 one from someone in your industry who does complimentary work to your business

*Barter1 – Build rapport with a fellow business owner and set deal to give free marketing and referrals to his business, or even joint venture with them to buy their materials to complete your own work

Understanding your niche and the ideal customer in that niche. You are now very capable in finding them, speaking their language, and getting their business.

Found your niche and ideal customer?

Then let us know by commenting.

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Do YOU have the POWER?

1/1/2014

5 Comments

Today's blog post is an extension of my Power of the List Series where the list is the most powerful human tool available.

Day Journal

One of the most important things you can do regularly is write down everything you do on a daily basis.

This is known as a Day Journal.

A day journal can be an important part of any person’s life by logging all your accomplishments, your botch-ups, and everything in-between.

Why is it so important?

Because a day journal helps you track the things you do. Letting you know which are helping you with what you want to do with your life, and those that aren’t. By identifying the things that went right. You can continue them and understand why they went right and how to keep them right.

For example, being able to get to the end of the day and seeing the things you actually accomplished is inspiring and gets you pumped up for tomorrow. For me, being able to see that I wrote my weekly blog post t as well as went to the gym inspires me to keep succeeding. It lets me sleep, knowing that I was productive and had many everyday victories.

Going in the opposite direction.

It allows you to see places in your life where you would like to improve. As it is more easy to see the patterns as they emerge and eliminate them before they become too much of a problem. This can go to understand your bad patterns such as sleeping-in too much. Allowing you to think up a solution such as moving your alarm clock out of arm’s length to get you out of bed and more likely to not sleep in as a result.

Below is an example: (Things in Red are things I want to eliminate or improve)

9am – Slept in (Wakeup supposed to be 7am)

10 – Started work on Writing Article

10:30 – Snack (Potato Chips because I missed Breakfast)

12pm – Finished article

12:30 – Lunch (Brown Rice, spinach, salmon burger with green tea and honey

1:30 – Back to work and posted article

2 – Water cooler Break

Just today for example, I found that I missed my breakfast this morning and I was dragging for the rest of the day because of lack of energy. So when I asked myself why, the answer was right there in my day journal.

But what was the real reason I missed breakfast?

It was because I slept in and that is the real root of the problem. Being able to see the cascading effects of one thing to everything else is not only cool to see, but imperative in understanding how your day plays out.

Starting one today will allow you to amass your very own everyday victories!

Have you started your own Day Journal or been thinking about it?

If you have then comment to let the world know about your everyday victories!

5 Comments

3D Techniques of the Week

12/23/2013

1 Comment

Gday,

This is my third iteration of “Techniques of the Week” which is an ode to simple writing and

marketing techniques that can be used immediately with measurable results in the Before,

During, and After of your sales process.

Interested in past and future iterations? Then stay up-to-date by subscribing.

With that said, let’s be off…

The Before: Small favors for Big Favors?

Have you ever owed someone a favor, and when the time came for them to collect, they asked for something 10x bigger than the original favor?

You didn't want to, but you owed them so you did it anyway

The friend who wants to borrow your car for giving you a piece of gum that one time

This happens all the time between friends, businesses, and sometimes people you don’t even know (See people who give you something for “free” for a donation).

But why?

Because psychologically, a favor is a favor and the size usually doesn't really matter

This simple concept is particularly useful for the before of your sales process if you find a way to do your prospects a small favor and in return, they buy big from you.

These favors can range from industry to industry.

For Product-based industries, you can have something thrown in for free by having a deal that they buy one, and you give them something fun that they will enjoy for free.
For service industries, you can give a 2 for 1 so prospects pay for one service but can bring a friend so they can do it together.
For information based industries, you can give them a free Infoproduct (Don’t forget to display the price for it) for their email and if they want to subscribe.

Just remember any small favor will do.

* Small Favor for Big Favor – do the customer a favor (free gift). And they will be willing to give you a big favor for it.

The During: The Enemy

Every fan base has its rabble rousers and its casual observers. But sometimes you need an enemy to unite them.

Having an enemy is a great way to get your customers and fan base to band together and talk about your company, bring others into your business to face the threat, or buy more in case of an emergency. You have to be very careful with this technique, however, as picking the wrong enemy may cause an adverse reaction.

This enemy can be figurative or real.

A figurative enemy is does not exist physically. Such as the “Beating the Bad Economy” or “Overwhelming the No-Motivation Monster”. A real enemy is real and physical in nature. Such as “Protect your family from the Flu this Season” or “Stop Mold in its tracks”.

* Figurative or Real Enemy – Create a figurative or real enemy to band together your customer or fan base against it

The After: Custom Experience

Some people buy from you for the custom experience that you give.

Why not extend it with a Custom-to-Go and tailored experience?

Give them a free product that compliments them. Lotion for their particular skin

Give them a free service that will help them out with an individual problem. They come in for a massage and after, you give them a free tutorial on where to massage and stretch to help relieve their chronic problems.

If they come in without a goal in mind for your product, they give them a goal or action plan to work towards. Personal Trainer sets up a free photo-shoot for their client to look good for. It makes great advertising and is the perfect custom-to-go experience.

* Custom Experience – Wacky and uplifting experience; Custom to-go item; or goal to work towards that gives your client and customer an experience they will never forget.

3 simple techniques

You can use immediately to give your clients and customers the memorable experience they will always remember to produce easy and immediate results.

Did you have success with these techniques? Or do you have your own techniques you would like to share?

Then tell your story in the comments section below as we would love to hear it.

1 Comment

Do you have "the Power of the List"?

12/14/2013

3 Comments

Do you know the power of the list?

The list is what has made us the dominant species on this planet. Due to the fact that no other can plan and implement lists quite like we do.

With that in mind, remember everyone, from the most successful to the everyman, all use lists for everything, from everyday tasks such as laundry, groceries, and errands to important work such as schedules, plans, and reports.

The list is the fundamental building block of everything we do.

But are you using them effectively?

This question comes from the fact that most people if not all have never really thought hard about how they use the lists in their lives. Not knowing conceptually, the reasons they use the lists they do and understanding if it’s actually the best lists for them.

Now here is the rundown of how lists work and the many different ways you can customize them to your every need.

First off is the variables that change with each list and how they affect its purpose and effectiveness. Below is a table of a lists 4 different variables, their variations, and how they work.

Variables

Time - Short, medium, long, and undefined - this dimension is used to find how long your list will be used.

Short – is used over a span of one day or week (Groceries)
Medium – used over a month or longer (Study Guide)
Long – used over a year or longer (Year Schedule)
Undefined – unknown how long it will be used

Occurrence - Instantaneous, Revolving, and Once - this dimension dictates the setup of how events occur on your list

Once – This event occurs only once (Buying lists and outlines)
Instantaneous – this event occurs as you do it (Journal/Logging - Ex. Bank Statements)
Revolving – this event occurs every day, week, or longer (Workouts, Study, and Eating)

Importance – weak, moderate, and strong - This dimension is used to rank the importance of the events on your lists and the order they will be done. (Can be numbered, bolded, etc.)

Weak – an event with weak importance is done when your motivated to do it, you have the time, and is not essential for your goals (May never get done)
Moderate – an event with moderate importance needs to be done, but not immediately and can be important for your goals. (Convenience)
Strong – events with strong importance have deadlines that have to be adhered to and must be done to accomplish your goals. (Mandatory)

Control – Transferable and Fixed -this dimension says how much control you have over the placements and implementation of the events.

Transferable – this event is flexible (Workouts, study, and others in your control)
Fixed – this event is fixed to a time and is inflexible (Work, class, and others out of your control)

Now that you have the different variables that go into making lists. Here a few examples of how those variables work together to create different types of lists.

The Active List
The first example is a short list that uses all three occurrence, importance, and control dimensions together. It is called an Active List. This is due to its lively nature and constant updates to what you need to do.

Below is an example in a Word Document.

General To-Do

To do – Groceries (W)

Books to Read – Unleashing the Power of Consultative Selling (W)

Meetings – Doctor’s Appointment (Tu, 10am), Catch-up with former colleague (M, 1pm)

Business To-Do

Blog (Every Th) – List Article finished (Tu), Post (Th), Dissect Power of Habits (F)

Social Media – Post to 3 blogs (Tu), Respond to Comments (W)

Network – Copywriter seminar (W, 8pm), Mastermind Group (Th, 7pm)

School To-Do

Psychology 101 – Hw (W), Exam (F)

Geology 101 – Research Paper (M)

Algebra 101 – Exam Study (Tu), Tutor (W), Study Group (F)

With this list, you have activities in your life that you have to do each week but what you have to do changes, Blog– for example, is on the list because I update my blog on a weekly basis. As they change, they get bolded to signify that they have to be done today. The parenthesis letters are the due dates they need to be done by, (W) = Wednesday of this week and etc. And the“, #’s” are the exact times they need to be done or attended. So at the end of each day, you bold everything with a (W) as it’s the things you will have to do tomorrow.

This list is useful for keeping track of multiple activities that you do on a daily, weekly basis, that are updated constantly. It categorizes them in a way that helps you remember what you need to do in what subjects.

The Planner/Scheduler
A complementary of this list is the Schedule. This is a long-term list with fixed events, which occur instantaneous with time to create a linear path for you to follow throughout your day and week. This is any planner, scheduler, or other time based outline that shows what you plan to do.

You can even combine the Active list with the Schedule and write the activities that have no set time at the bottom of each day as a To-Do list. This can be done using different schedule templates and software such as business calendars that update on your computer, phone, and other media devices.

This type of list has a long term time dimension of a year and is useful in reminding you of events that are far away and unmemorable like renewing your subscriptions.

Habit List
Another useful list is the Habit list. It’s a list with an undefined time dimension, revolving events, with moderate to strong importance, and transferable control (meaning you have control of what time to do it during the day, but it has to be done to sustain the habit).

This list is used by listing things that you want to turn into habits and is used as a go-to reminder that you are making it a habit or not. The events on this list are revolving and do not get eliminated until you know for sure that the habit you want is instituted in your routine which can take a few days to many months.

Below is an example:

Habit list:

1.       Use phone schedule to eliminate written schedule

2.       Read 1 book a month

3.       Type an hour a day

4.       Study Chinese an hour a day

5.       Workout 4 times a week

This is useful in constant reminding you to do something that you want to turn into a habit and is even more effective when combined with a timer system through your phone or watch alarm.

The Memory Palace
The next list is called a Memory Palace. This list is a once-only list of things that are used for a onetime events. It is a short-term list   used once, and his list is a mental list and is rarely written down. This list works by associating everything on your list to a story. And to remember the individual items. You tell yourself the story.

For example, I have to buy some things from the store. I need toilet paper, body soap, and duct tape. I then make a story up about those items.

An example: I was Toilet Papering the neighbor’s house, and he ran out, throwing Duct Tape and Body Soap at me.

This quick little story is absurd and memorable enough to allow you to remember everything on your list. In fact, the more incredible and ridiculous the story, the more memorable the story becomes.

The Day Journal
The last list of the day is a day journal. This journal is an instantaneous list of logging the events that occur as you do them. In essence, you are writing everything you are doing by the hour and is objective to what is actually happening and not what you want to happen (compared to a planner).

Below is an example:

9 – Woke up

9:30 – breakfast and coffee (Spinach, eggs, and tomatoes with coffee)

10 – Started work on List Article

12 – Finished article

12:30 – Lunch (Brown Rice, spinach, salmon burger with green tea and honey

1:30 – Back to work and posted article

2 – Water cooler Break

Etc…

This list is the best way to find out the things that you do in a day, what causes them, and how you can identify good and bad behaviors that you want to change.

An example would be to see a pattern in your behavior such as going to eat some food down the street to get out of the office, but you are trying to lose weight. If you see this trend you may be able to identify that you are not actually hungry, but you just need a breath of fresh air. Identifying that you go out to eat as a habit, allows You replace this behavior with an exercise program, getting coffee or tea with friends or coworkers, or something else that aligns more with your goals and fulfills your needs.

There you have it. An in-depth look at the everyday list that everyone uses with 4 different variations to meet your needs. Amazing how something so routine can be honed and calibrated to accomplish your goals.

If you have a great list or were able to benefit from the lists provided to maximize your time, please share your list and experience, and tell your story.

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