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Want to POP! Your Competitive Advantage?
A Special Blog Post By Sam Horn
“In today’s crowded marketplace, you’re either breaking out or blending in. And blending in is for Cuisinarts, not companies.” – Sam Horn
I’m often asked “how can I, as a business person, better articulate my competitive edge when meeting face-to-face with potential investors, vendors and strategic partners.”
Well, I’m sure you’ve heard of ‘having your ducks in a row.’ Well, if you want to win buy-in to your business – you need to have your ‘W’s’ in a row.
These are the W questions – Who? What? Why? Where? When? – journalists ask to explore and explain why something is interesting or important.
If you’d like to get more clarity on your USP (Unique Selling Proposition); you might want to print out the questions below and brainstorm them with your team at your next staff meeting.
W#1. What are we offering? What is our primary product or service?
W#2. Who is our target audience? Our ideal customer? Our ultimate decision-maker?
W#3. What problem(s) do they have that our business solves? What keeps them up at night? What worries them, frustrates them, confounds them?
W#4. What do our target customers need that no one else is currently offering? What do they want that isn’t available right now?
W#5. What objections or resistance might people to have to our offerings, products and services? Why will they say, “No thanks or choose not to do business with us?”
W#6. What are we doing to address those objections so they’re a non-issue? How are we neutralizing resistance and winning buy-in from skeptics and nay-sayers?
W#7. Who are my competitors and how are we different or better than them? What do they all have in common? How do we zig where they zag? How does our organization do the opposite of the obvious?
W#8. Who are we? What are our strengths, unique abilities and niched expertise? What are our most impressive credentials? What testimonials or proof do we have of our tangible track record? What measurable results have we produced?
When you (and your employees) can answer each of the above “W” questions in 60 seconds, you will know exactly why it’s in your target customers’ best interests to do business with you.
And that, my friends, is a competitive advantage.
Sam Horn – The Intrigue Expert – is the author of POP! and Tongue Fu!®. For more information, please visit www.SamHorn.com.
A special blog posting from Stefania Lucchetti.
We are all told that the first step to creating success in life is having a set of clearly defined, written goals. These goals are meant to be our guideposts leading the way to the ultimate dream we have for our lives. But what happens as we change and grow? Do we continue to follow those same goals that we had previously? Do we simply stay on track no matter what our inner self is yelling to us over and over again?
While goal setting is certainly a part of defining and creating our long-term success, it cannot be this concrete, set in stone piece of paper that restricts our core selves. When we are kids, we all set out with these great, big dreams to “be” something. It might be a famous singer, a high-powered attorney or the local librarian. Some of us spend our formative years rushing toward that end dream by plotting little goals along the way. We study in school, go to college and then get that first job as we catapult ourselves ever closer to the job of our dreams. And then, our worst fears come true – we hate our chosen career.
What causes this to happen? The answer is that we change. Every week, every month, every year we change. Our thoughts, our passions, our “why” changes. We have experiences, successes and failures that shape and mold our innermost self. The key to goal setting is not all about writing it down and taking action as much as it is about being loose enough to realize that goals need to be adjustable.
As we listen to our thoughts at the deepest levels, we will come to realize that our wants and desires just change what our path needs to be sometimes. These goals are an expression of who we are at any given moment in time. What we want at 15 years old is not the same as what we will want at 35 years old (unless you are incredibly immature). At 15, the world is your oyster and anything is possible. You just want that boy in your school to like you. You just want to look good, have lots of friends and have fun. At 35, you have experienced heartache and heartbreak. You have paid bills, experienced death, had jobs you likely hated and felt frustrated by life.
At 45, you will likely want different things than you did at 35 or 25. These are all changes that have to occur in our lives in order to mold us and prepare us for the lifetime ahead. Your “why” will change. Your goals were never meant to be your final destination. They are simply side streets on the map that will take you to your destiny. Sometimes you have to take a different route as a detour. The solution? Open yourself to the detours.
Stefania Lucchettia is the author of The Principle of Relevance, world-renown Keynote Speaker, and expert on leadership, entrepreneurship and making ideas happen. For more information, please visit www.stefanialucchetti.com or www.womenleadershipproject.com.
Getting Through The Three Life Tragedies
A Special Blog Posting From Marlene Chism
Several years ago, someone said something to me that changed my life. I was at a personal development workshop. I was in my mid-thirties and I wasn’t satisfied with my life. I knew I wanted more, but didn’t have a clue as to what. I didn’t see many possibilities and I felt as if time was passing me by. The workshop facilitator said to me “Marlene, you’re living in a box!” I was in the first tragedy of life: knowing I wanted more, but not knowing what it was. Other than death or a physical disaster, there are three life tragedies:
• Knowing you want more out of life but not knowing what it is.
• Knowing what you want but not believing it is possible
• Knowing what you want, believing it is possible, but not taking action to make it materialize.
The first tragedy is the most serious and it is knowing that you want more out of life, but not knowing what it is. Now, perhaps you are thinking what about not knowing there is more? This isn’t so much of a tragedy because ignorance can be bliss: What you don’t know can’t hurt you—sort –of thinking. When you start to awaken, that is the beginning of the tragedy, not being able to name what it is that you desire. As Phil McGraw the psychologist on Oprah, says: “if you can’t name it you can’t claim it.” Many people watch the clock tick with that quiet desperation that Thoreau wrote about. They go about, living their lives knowing there is more, but what exactly is it? Generally speaking the answer to this question lies in answering other questions:
1. What would you do if there were no limits?
2. What would you do if it weren’t too late or you weren’t too old?
3. What would you do if there were no excuses for not doing it?
4. What did you love to do as a kid?
5. How can you do that on some level now? Or why aren’t you doing it on some level now?
Answering these questions can be painful because reality hits and you then have to become accountable. In essence you are going through the pain of naming something you want with the risk that you look like a failure if it doesn’t happen. Naming what you want is the first step. Then comes the second tragedy.
Many people can name what they want, but it seems too good to be true. It seems like a fairy tale to have their dream or their heart’s desire. The tragedy here is that the person’s focus is out of whack. They are looking at where they are, and looking at the dream and all they see is that great gap in between, therefore it seems insurmountable so they give up because they haven’t learned how to believe or how to apply the works of faith.
Once you see the possibilities there is only one obstacle and you have control over this one. It is the last tragedy: knowing what you want, believing it is possible but not being willing to put into action those steps that will help the dream manifest. Often times we fool ourselves by saying “If it is meant to be it will be” or “I have faith it will happen.” But the real proof of faith is in the action or the work being done. If I have faith, isn’t it true that I am willing to put work into my dreams, by my work I am showing how much faith I have? Fear of the unknown is mostly to blame for the lack of work. The test of your commitment boils down to what you are willing to do to make the dream a reality.
For example I used to hate to make sales calls, therefore I avoided the telephone. Then when I got a coach who figured this out, he said, “Marlene if you want to excel in this business you have to fall in love with the phone.” I jokingly say that this was the best relationship advice I had ever received. Every type of drama has a relationship component and reinvention is no different. What is your relationship with change? What is your relationship with risk, with criticism, with discomfort? Each of the three life tragedies have something to teach you about yourself.
One reason I believe that many do not escape the three life tragedies is because once you claim what you want, you must tell yourself the truth. Are you willing to believe and are you willing to do what is required? Answering the “What” will help you get out of the first tragedy. Finding evidence to support that what you want also wants you is the key to getting past the second tragedy, and action is what will take you out of the third life tragedy.
Marlene is the author of Success is a Given at www.successisagiven.com and the author of Stop Workplace Drama at www.stopworkplacedrama.com She is a professional speaker and trainer and can be reached at 417. 831.1799.
Lessons From The Recession
The Recession’s Big, Fat, Silver Lining
2008 through 2010 were very challenging for me personally, and professionally. As a lifelong entrepreneur with ventures in various industries including real estate, during these three years, to put it mildly – I got hammered.
As they say, “sometimes you’re the nail and sometimes you’re the hammer.” There is no doubt that, throughout this period, I was the nail… and it hurt.
Money went out. More money went out. And, little money came in. The faucet that I had come accustomed to drinking from had not only gone dry, but I’m convinced that someone snuck in during the middle of the night and removed the spigot.
Real estate properties that were worth millions and bringing in steady cash flow were now draining funds on a monthly basis. Internet sales came to a screeching halt. And, my consulting business that used to represent my monthly bread and butter (and we’re talking a nice, thick crusty bread with homemade, whipped, pure, creamy, delicious buttery goodness) came to a virtual standstill.
What I came to learn from these tumultuous times is that, with each obstacle, alternate routes of travel are opened. However, in order to take advantage of the shifting marketplace and potential gains into uncharted territory, personal and business reinvention was required… and inevitable.
Aside from the obvious, such as tightening the belt and shifting focus to that of what our customers actually need as opposed to that which we felt they wanted, we retooled our entire business and began to shift from profit being the sole motive for our existence to that of not only making a living doing what it is that we are compelled to do, but also heeding our personal and professional responsibility for improving our community, our environment, and our world.
By the end of 2010, it became clear that the Recession offered three specific opportunities that are simply not available when times are good. Historically, these recession-based keys to success have been leveraged to create more sustainable, game-changing businesses that have generational impact than have ever been created during times of prosperity.
The three recession-based keys to success are:
1) Affordable Resources. During boom times, it is a simple fact that things are more expensive. Real estate (both for sale and for lease), infrastructure, equipment, durable goods, etc., cost more and their price tags reflect the peak of the value cycle.
When times are tough, however, landlords are virtually giving away space for lease. Banks are desperate to dump REOs off their balance sheets. Computers, cars, office equipment, machinery, etc. can be bought for pennies on the dollar as sellers need to raise cash. And, financing big-ticket items and negotiating beyond the point of relative pain is commonplace.
In our business, we were able to lease space for less than 50% of the landlord’s asking price just two years prior, purchase computer equipment at ridiculously low prices, and hire service-oriented companies at discounts that would previously be considered laughable.
2) Cheaper Labor. When times are tough, people are more accessible, both in terms of desired compensation and availability. Unemployment is higher, skilled/high-end labor are often the first people let go when cutbacks hit, and folks that used to make $100k during boom times are now happy to accept $50k just to have some money coming in the door. (Whether or not they were actually worth $100k in the first place is a debate for another day.)
In our business, we were able to negotiate fantastic deals with a number of very skilled personnel. People that, frankly, we would not have previously been able to afford were open to discussions, bought into our vision, and are now onboard for the long-term with the understanding that, as our business grows, their compensation will grow accordingly.
3) Availability of Financing. Believe it or not, financing has been widely available for the right business models, teams, and ideas during the recession. The banks that got us into this financial debacle are receiving huge pressure from the Feds to open their purse strings and get us out of this mess. Angel investors, venture capital funds, and institutional monies are quietly being stockpiled and are ready to pour into “the next big thing.”
While it may seem counter-intuitive, when times are tough, money sits idle on the sidelines and the right opportunity can quickly land financing. During boom times, money managers compete with one another for the same investment options yet, because there are so many investment opportunities, terms for the borrower are actually less desirable then when fewer investment opportunities exist.
Therefore, when times are rough, there are fewer entrepreneurial pioneers willing to launch new businesses and put their necks on the line. Given this, and the fact that money managers only get a return on their investment when they actually write checks, borrowers are able to negotiate more aggressive terms.
It has continually been proven that the best time to launch a new business is when everyone else is petrified to do so. This period of time, where the business can test its model, try various initiatives, and build momentum, gives the business a meaningful head start when the market “turns” given that their wheels are already in motion and they’re in position to take full advantage of the upswing.
In our business, we were able to open meaningful lines of credit, attract angel and institutional investors, and carve out desirable terms that would not have been available had we been competing in an environment of multiple investment options.
Business, like life, is all about perspective. The recession holds a big, fat, silver lining that can meaningfully benefit your endeavor, if you can capitalize on the pending opportunities.
When times are good, the glass is half-full. When times are bad, your glass can overflow… Cheers to your future!
Steve Olsher is the author of the 2010 Self-Help Book of the Year, Journey To You: A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming Who You Were Born to Be, founder of The Reinvention Workshop, host of Reinvention Radio, Co-Founder and Chairman of San Francisco-based Liquor.com and President of Chicago-based real estate development firm, Bold Development. For more information, please visit www.steveolsher.com
By Steve Rosen – Tribune Media Services
Elbert Hubbard described himself as a born salesman, an arts and crafts entrepreneur and a homespun philosopher who promoted the ideals of industry and the virtues of hard work.
That’s how he made his mark in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, right up until he died in May 1915 aboard the passenger ship Lusitania after it was torpedoed by a German submarine.
The sage of East Aurora, NY left behind a body of work that filled many books, including “The Notebook of Elbert Hubbard.” Published by family members in 1927, the cardboard-bound book is filled with quotations and commentaries that no doubt inspired many of Hubbard’s generation and shaped their attitudes about the workplace, business, and ethics. Even in our ever-changing world where last-year’s technology seems so obsolete, Hubbard’s words from simpler times still have meaning for today’s world.
Some examples:
- Talk less and listen more.
- The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.
- One machine can do the the work of 50 ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.
- It is easy to get everything you want, provided you first learn to do without the things you cannot get.
- There is no such thing as success in a bad business.
- The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.
- Better to mend one fault in yourself than a hundred in your neighbor.
- Before you are fit to give orders, you must willing to take orders. The leader of the orchestra has always been a man who played second fiddle.
- Do work with your whole heart and you will succeed – there is so little competition.
- The actual benefit of college does not come so much from curriculum as from the change of environment. New people, new scenes, new conditions with which to cope – these are the things that work for growth.
- The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.
- Enthusiasm is the great hill-climber.
Words to think about… and live by. Funny how as things change, they continue to remain the same.
Are You A Vampire or A Zombie? Take the Quiz…
A special blog entry from Clint Arthur, author of The Last Year of Your Life.
With the recent popularity of Vampire movies and TV shows like Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries, the un-dead have never been more in the public eye. But are they hiding in plain sight… like, is one of them staring back at you in your bathroom mirror?
Could it be that YOU are actually some form of the un-dead, lifelessly going through the motions of roaming the Earth, not really ALIVE — but you just haven’t realized it yet?
The “Are You A Zombie” Quiz:
Have you ever driven to your office or to the mall, and when you got there you realized you didn’t actually remember driving there?
Do you go through your life with the same basic daily routine, day in and day out?
Do you find your weight is “out of control” – with the numbers on the scale creeping higher week by week?
Does your food bore you, do you just go through the motions, eating like a machine or a robot?
Are you stuck in the same job, earning basically the same money, year after year?
Are your relationships with friends and family lifeless and boring?
Do you lack exciting or inspirational “life goals” you are working towards?
Do you take any drugs or drink alcohol every day?
Do you channel surf and mindlessly watch television for hours every day?
Do you regularly go through your days without laughing or being afraid?
If you answered YES to any 1 of these questions, there is a possibility that you are a Vampire, Zombie, or some form of Un-dead.
If you answered YES to any 2 of these questions, there is a very strong possibility that you are a Vampire, Zombie, or some form of Un-dead.
If you answered YES to 3 or more of these questions, you are most likely a Vampire, Zombie, or some form of Un-dead – you just don’t know it yet.
Is It Too Late For You To Come ALIVE Again?
My name is Clint Arthur, and I used to be a Zombie. In 2007 a crippled old white man whose skin had turned black as coal looked into my eyes and told me “You don’t know it yet, but you’re already dead.”
I didn’t understand what he meant, but I could not stop thinking about what he said. For months it obsessed me. Finally it came to be New Year’s Day and I sat down to write my list of annual goals (as I do every new year’s day,) and I asked myself a key question… “What would you want to accomplish this year if it was going to be The Last Year Of Your Life?”
With the power of that question I was able to break through 10 years of procrastination and doubt to write my book “Free New Power: Success Secrets of The Wharton Business School”. I was also able to break through 5 years of fear and doubt to build my factory in Las Vegas for my gourmet food company. I was able to break through my laziness and procrastination and lose 40 lbs without joining a gym, changing my diet, or hiring a trainer. And most importantly, fueled by this idea, my wife and I were able to ask the tough questions, face the big issues, get into counseling, and rescue our crumbling marriage – and this year we’ll celebrate our 10th anniversary together in February.
If you are afraid you might be or are become a Zombie or any other form of Undead being, here’s how to come ALIVE…
A Awareness is the 1st step. Awareness that you may be a member of the Un-dead, that life is very precious,
and that this might be The Last Year Of Your Life.
L Let go of the past. Forgive yourself for your mistakes. Forgive those who have trespassed against you.
Free yourself of psychic bondage and Let it all go.
I Inspire yourself with deep soul-rooted goals and fun things you really want to do.
V Visualize how to achieve what you want to make happen. Plan how to make your inspirational goals a reality.
E Energize yourself to be most alive. Eat healthy, exercise, and most importantly, think positive thoughts to
provide positive energy to your brain and your soul.
Clint Arthur is the Program Leader and Author of The Last Year Of Your Life, a personal exploration experience at www.TheLastYearOfYourLife.com. He has done 25 network affiliate news interviews in the past 10 months, as well as radio appearances on Coast To Coast AM, WBZ Boston, Montel Across America, etc.
As a parent, there’s nothing we want more for our child, outside of being healthy, than for her to be happy, fulfilled, and live a life of contribution which adds meaningful value to others.
But, how can you help facilitate this? So many children (and adults for that matter) meander through life and never identify their unique, innate talent.
To help your child realize true contentment, it’s imperative that you teach her to heed the inherent blueprint that naturally exists. Within this blueprint, your child will discover her WHAT—the one thing she was born to do. And, once revealed, everything else (almost magically) falls into place.
With college (and, for some, private school) being the single most expensive investment of time, energy, and money your family will make, a solid return is mandatory. The days of choosing which school to attend using the same process as we select candy bars (what looks good, what you can afford, what your friends like, what your parents insist upon, etc.) are over.
The last thing you want is for your child to dedicate years to something in which she has no genuine interest and to leave school with a lack of clarity as to what’s next. Getting your child on path EARLY to identifying what she is compelled to do is crucial.
To help your child discover her WHAT, there are six pro-active steps you can immediately take:
1) Identify what she absolutely loves. Like magnets, we are naturally drawn to certain things and repulsed by others. Discuss her favorite toys, books, movies, and TV shows. Open an honest dialogue about what she finds appealing and look for commonalities among what she is attracted to.
2) Identify what she loathes. The soul doesn’t lie. Trying to force a square peg into a round hole will only result in pain. She knows what she is attracted to and what repels her.
3) Provide an hour of free time and let her make suggestions about what to do. By giving her the freedom to choose, she will suggest the activities she enjoys most.
4) Discuss family members, friends, teachers, coaches, spiritual leaders, etc. and the character traits they display. Talk about what she finds appealing and unappealing. Interestingly, what we admire in others most directly reflects what we want for ourselves and our own natural inclinations.
5) Look for moments when she accomplished something she put her mind to and discuss these with her. What was it about these moments that encouraged her to excel? Someone? Something? As Tony Robbins says, “Success leaves clues.” Within these victories lie the keys to unlocking her full potential.
6) Compile the information from these five steps and make a list. Immerse her in the activities she loves, surround her with the people she identified as being of positive influence, and weed out those activities (unless, of course they’re daily chores) that do not serve her well.
Ultimately, what your child loves to do will float to the surface. This process takes time and there will certainly be moments of hit or miss.
The bottom line is that we are each put on this planet to do one amazing thing and it is our responsibility as parents to help cultivate that which our child is naturally drawn to. Your child wants to discover her WHAT. By following these pro-active steps, you have significantly increased the odds of her finding it.
Steve Olsher is the author of USA Book News’ “Self-Help Book of the Year,” Journey To You: A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming Who You Were Born to Be, Founder of The Reinvention Workshop, and host of Reinvention Radio. Please visit Steve’s website at www.steveolsher.com or contact him via email at steve@steveolsher.com
Now that the buzz has quieted a bit after Steven Slater’s infamous jetBlue meltdown, I’d like to take a moment to offer 5 powerful tips for avoiding the same fate.
(If you aren’t familiar with this story – Slater was a long-time jetBlue flight attendant who finally had enough of being treated poorly by passengers and announced on the PA that he was through with it all, grabbed a couple of beers, opened the emergency door ((while the plane was parked – fortunately, he still had enough wits about him not to do this in-flight)), activated the escape chute, and took a slide toward freedom. He was largely heralded by workers everywhere for his dramatic ‘take this job and shove it’ approach to quitting. While laudable, he has been charged with several FAA, and other, violations and may be facing jail time.)
Read more »
When faced with adversity—e.g., missing a bus that makes you late for work or having a heated exchange with a friend—how do you normally react?
Do you immediately let the incident take full control of your mind, body, and spirit? Is your day pretty much over from that point forward?
Our reactions are often similar to how we step over a crack in the sidewalk. They happen swiftly, without thought, and with no regard for what we might be stepping into on the other side. Read more »
As you embark on your journey of becoming who you were born to be, consider those you choose to travel with. A vital component of your success is establishing a Circle of 4 that not only encourages you to reach your full potential, but also accurately reflects who you want to become.
Your Circle of 4 is comprised of the four people you consider as cornerstones. It includes both those you admire—such as a mentor whom you seldom see or speak with, but have access to—and those dearest to you, such as your best friend or closest family member. Read more »
