Trump Talks Big and Thinks Big
Donald Trump.
The name alone makes you either hot or cold.
Nobody is lukewarm about Trump.
I caught several minutes of Trump being ‘interviewed‘ by Erin Burnett on CNBC tonite. I’m guessing it was all part of The Billionaire Inside somehow, but it was easy to tell it was a setup, as far as the questions went.
No matter, as the ‘content‘ is what we’re after anyway.
Here’s a few gems I gleaned from those few minutes:
” Be different to succeed “ - Trump’s definitely one of a kind, so he embodies this advice and surely walks the talk. I think what he meant was that it will be harder to attract the necessary attention if you’re a cookie cutter type of personality.
” Meet face to face, if you can “ - He told a story about one of his deals and pointed out that he flew to overseas to meet the owner of a piece of property, mostly because there were multiple suitors for it and partly because he didn’t like the owners agent. He paid $1 million for that piece of property in the 1980’s and it’s worth $600 million today. That’s a paltry 60,000% increase in worth.
” Size up your opponent and figure out how to win “ and ” Know your subject to close deals “ - My take on this is the person with the best, most and freshest information wins…usually.
” Your name makes your game “ - Donald Smith, as he said, would be a much tougher sell, than Donald Trump. Consider using a different term than your name, when naming your business, unless it’s ‘catchy’ or ‘brandable‘. Tim Thomas Marketing, Inc. ( fictious name for proving a point ) is nowhere near as brandable as Impact Marketing ( another fictious name I hope ).
He quoted Gary Player, who said ” The harder I work, the luckier I get “ - ‘Nuff said. It’s true, so work a little harder than you think is necessary and then put in a little overtime. You can bet Trump’s not home watching 6 hours of TV every night, so you can’t and shouldn’t either.
Trump debunked an old myth that says ” I want all of the people who work for me to be smarter than I am “ - Trump says, and I concur, that if you try this, you’ll be working for them or out of business in short order. He called it bullcrap, if I remember correctly.
Finally, the last statement and most powerful one as well, was this gem - ” There’s a lot of people with great ideas, but they can’t implement. You see it all the time. They’re losers. They’re not gonna make it. You really have to be able to implement “ - That’s what kills 98% of all the people who want to make a go of an internet-based business. They learn and learn and learn, but never learn to implement.
Action beats perfection … every single time.
For some video highlights of Trump’s talk head over to CNBC.com.
And check out Trump’s newest book, called Think Big and Kick Ass - In Life and Business.
My 45th birthday is in about 3 weeks, so I hope to get a copy around the 22nd of January, if not before.
101 Ways To Monetize Your Blog
The good people at InsideCRM.com ( Thanks Amy ! ) just published a list of 101 Ways To Monetize Your Blog Without Irritating Your Readers.
There are several ways on there that make really good cents 
I bookmarked the post and suggest you do the same and in 2008, research 2 methods per week and you’ll go thru the whole list over the course of the year.
If The Dog Whisperer Was Your Sales Manager
This Guest Post was provided by Joe Crisara, CEO of www.ContractorSelling.com
In this day and age of hundreds of TV channels to watch, as well as internet videos, I found a show that I run across every now and then and I must say that it really fascinates my wife and I.
This show is called the “Dog Whisperer” and it features Cesar Millan, who takes troubled dogs, and their owners, and turns them around.
He basically helps these dogs feel like a productive member of their family.
I’m drawn in by the calm and poise that Cesar maintains in the face of what seems like insurmountable problems that we’ve all seen in dogs that have “toxic” energy and that tend to do the wrong thing.
His tactics never include force. Instead, his amazing arsenal utilizes principles such as leadership, positive energy, relationships, self-discipline and change.
The difference he makes in the lives of those he touches is truly amazing.
As a sales manager or a sales person, you can learn by watching Cesar and the way he goes about his job. Every week, like you, Cesar helps his people (dog owners) overcome their greatest challenges by helping them and their pets reach their true potential.
He does this not by force, but instead by helping our canine friends “discover” the right thing to do to become the dog they were always meant to be.
As he says at the beginning of each show, he “rehabilitates dogs” and “trains people“. While his approach is meant exclusively for dogs, I’ve found a lot of his philosophy applies very well to sales people.
You’ll never succeed by forcing anything, but by discovering the right thing to do, you can find success.
Here’s some of the principles I’ve “discovered” in his system that may help you reach your dreams:
Be calm, be poised and assert positive energy - Cesar tells his clients to establish a leadership role with their dogs by projecting calmness and assertiveness.
As a salesperson, no matter how your customer is behaving, you must remain dettached, calm and maintain your poise. After all, you’ve seen this situation before haven’t you ?
Why be shocked by what clients are doing to you ? Just stay calm and respond assertively and keep your poise. Maintain these states no matter what the situation and problem and most poor behavior by a customer will “miraculously” evaporate.
It’s what we all know to be true: Change yourself and those around you will change too. When you give off an aura confidence and capability, people will tend to go with the flow since you seem so consistent and in control.
Live in the state of NOW - Like dogs, you too can live in the moment.
Apparently, dogs don’t care about what happened yesterday. Every day represents a fresh start. Don’t worry about things in the past because you no longer have any control over those things.
If you keep focusing on bad things, thinking that they may happen, then you create a self fulfilling prophecy which will indeed make those things come true.
Instead, forget the past, and be the person who remains focused on getting this job done and what it takes to do just that.
They key is to listen, and then have a response that makes sense as to why you should do this job. Think in terms of the present and the future and you are well on your way.
Practice every day, exercise discipline and passion - This is Cesar’s secret formula for a balanced, healthy dog. He realized long ago that a dog without a job is an unhappy one that will act out in terrible and unproductive ways.
I would say the same applies to sales people. Remember to never think you’re failing. If you lose a job, learn from it and practice the techniques that will stop the bleeding. Practicing your sales skills, techniques and strategies will release frustration and stress. Have the self-discipline necessary to achieve your greatest potential.
Reflect on your passion for providing solutions to your customers that are of a much higher quality than your competitors. If you have the passion to believe that you’re a better choice for your customer, then you’ll hang in there during the toughest objections and get the job when others with less passion would have quit.
Watch the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel. The principles displayed on this show can do wonders for your sales.
The one lesson I know you will be amazed at is that even an old dog can learn new tricks.
Joe Crisara is CEO of www.ContractorSelling.com a website that helps sales professionals present their solutions to create high value that result in more income, better service and higher closing rates. You can go to the site and receive Joe’s sales tip of the week. Of you can contact Joe by emailing him at joe@contractorselling.com
If Bill Belichick Was Your Sales Manager
This is a Guest Post by Joe Crisara, CEO of ContractorSelling.com.
I have just finished up watching the New England Patriots defeat yet another opponent. After this watching this methodical win the rest of the season looks easy. This team looks to be on the championship march. I began to think… What it would be like if Bill Belichick was your sales manager ?
If he was, I could tell you that you would probably be very successful just because of his track record of putting together a winner year in and year out. Here are some of the characteristics I have observed that you, as sales professionals, could learn from this man:
Never Take the Competition Lightly - After this week’s win against a tough Pittsburgh team, anyone could be tempted to coast or at the very least take the next few teams, in particular against the hapless Miami Dolphins. Not Belichick.
You can bet that he is already building his case to convince his players that EVERY team they play is the best they have ever faced regardless of their record.
You as a sales person could learn from this thinking. Next time you go into the presentation of your options with a customer, you should also, prepare for the worst. Expect your customer to be tough and give you at least 6 objections every time.
If you are waiting for an objection, the worst that could happen is that you’ll be prepared when it happens. The best could be that there are no objections and your customer will just buy without resistance. Remember the lesson you learned in Boy Scouts - “Be prepared”.
Do Your Research -Did you know that Belichick spends 15 to 20 minutes preparing for every press conference ? He prepares talking points, review his statistics and carefully measures what he will say to the press.
Not to mention his legendary status of “knowing” everything he can about the competition so that he can prepare his team for anything that will happen during a game.
You should also think about, research and prepare what you’ll say and do before each and every interaction with your customer. Learning what your customer wants first, why they want it and who they are likely to purchase it from can all be found out before you decide if you should present your solutions.
Self-Deprecation - Bill Belichick is masterful at downplaying his role or significance in any victory that he or his team has achieved. In press conferences he ALWAYS says that he and his team have their work cut out for them and then after they trounce other teams he speaks about how they caught some “lucky breaks” that allowed them to win.
He NEVER takes credit for anything good but always takes responsibility for anything that goes bad.
As a sales professional, it is important to remember that your success is a result of you following a system if success that involves your whole team.
This team includes everyone from the person who answers the phone, to the person who tracks your schedule to the installers, service techs and everyone else in the company.
A smart sales person gives all their teammates all the credit, while taking responsibility themselves for finding ways to improve on calls where they have failed.
Persistence and Tenacity - Genius ? That’s not what they were calling Bill Belichick in Cleveland. Why not ? Four losing seasons in five years. Fans hurled trash and insults. The media resented him. Ownership abandoned him. Players quit on him. Very different from the three Super Bowls in five years Belichick would win with the New England Patriots a few years later. Obviously he nor his teams are quitters.
There’ll be tough times for you in the sales profession as well. Remember you are NEVER failing. Even when you lose a sale you have to find a lesson to learn from it. Never give up by doing things such as blaming customers or fellow employees for your lack of success.
Instead ask for feedback as to what you need to change in order to be the person that WOULD have got the job instead the person who lost it.
Just ask your customer “off the record” what you need to change in your approach to gain their trust. You just might hear the truth if you can handle it.
Respect - Coach Belichick has the respect of the people he wants it from. His teammates, the fans and himself.
Here are some comments made by the people who work with him everyday:
Kevin Faulk: “I wish I had enough time to explain it to you. All in all, Coach Belichick, he’s just a guy that wants to win. And if you’re one of those guys that believes in the same things he believes in — tough guys who are mentally strong and smart — you’re gonna be here.” - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Carl Banks: “I’ve been around some coaches who are so arrogant it’s, ‘Just run my defense and shut up.’ Some guys are so interested in being a genius, they spend all their time trying to put a square inside of a circle. That’s the thing about Bill. He forms a partnership with his players. He listens.” - Los Angeles Times
Tom Brady: “He’s a great leader and he’s a great coach to play for. We all believe in him and we trust him. He always says that he makes decisions based on the best interest of the team. He truly means that.” - Press Conference, October 31, 2007
Tedy Bruschi: “Bill is our coach. We stand behind him, and we want him to know that. We consider ourselves to be a family. And when you single out somebody in our family and criticize him, we rally around him. We say, ‘Come here, you’re one of us.’” - Sports Illustrated
To get the respect of your customers and your teammates is of the utmost importance for you in sales as well. Understand that getting respect is not always pretty. It can mean taking a very lonely position that seems to fly in the face of what is the popular thing to do.
Sometimes letting your customer know that you and your services may NOT be a fit for the both of you can be the very thing that makes customer think that THIS is the kind of person I want to do business with.
If coach Belichick were your sales manager you would be very fortunate indeed. You would feel secure in the knowledge that your manager would give you the best information to help the team and you, succeed every day. Even if it meant that he wasn’t the star of the team.
Sales managers like this know that they are in the business of creating superstars and not in becoming one themselves. Ironically, this very thinking is what will make them great and help them and their teams become true winners.
About the author: Joe Crisara is CEO of www.ContractorSelling.com a website that helps sales professionals present their solutions to create high value that result in more income, better service and higher closing rates. You can go to the site and receive Joe’s FREE SECRET sales tip of the week. Of you can contact Joe by emailing him at joe@contractorselling.com
Here’s A Little Used, But Highly Profitable, B2B Sales Tip
Do you take the time to query the employees of any of the firms you sell to ?
If not, you’re not alone.
When I’m doing phone consultations in the evenings, I always ask this question and most of the time, the person on the other end of the line goes silent for a few seconds.
They know they should, but they haven’t been doing it.
Mike’s Technique : Don’t interrogate ‘em. If you do, they’ll tell their boss. Just use the casual ol’ Dr. Phil technique and ask, ” How’s that workin’ for ya ? ” They’ll do the rest of the heavy lifting for you.
Since I go to construction jobsites all over the state, I’m fortunate enough to get to talk to the employees of the firms I sell to without the owner being anywhere near us.
I get my best intel while the wind whips around us, while the rain pours down or while the sun bakes our brains.
They tell me the flaws of the products supplied by my competitors.
They tell me what they like and don’t like about my products.
They tell me what their boss likes and dislikes about each of the companies he buys from.
Those are million dollar tips, just like the one in the graphic at the top of this post.
If you’re reading this post in an RSS feed reder and can’t see the graphic, you really should click thru and see this one.
Yes, that’s a shameless way to try and get page views and I may try to do more of it
Mike’s Moral : Don’t discount the facts and figures you can glean from the lower ranking, yet incredibly insightful, employees of a current, potential or former customer. The smartest person in it doesn’t always own the company.
My Favorite Sales Oriented Podcast … By Far
I get a lot of emails asking which sales podcasts I listen to on a regular basis.
Honestly, there’s probably 5-7 different ones in my iPod right now, but the only one I could listen to every single day is The Advanced Selling Podcast.
Ever since I found these guys (and sometimes young lady), I’ve looked forward to the 7, 10 or 15 minutes they’re on each week.
I’m an old country boy and I’m pretty simple too, so the easy listening style of The Killer B’s - Bill, Bryan and Brooke - has given me hope that gobbledygook, buzzwords and pseudobaloney are not going to overtake the world of sales jargon.
Heck, every now and then a dang or heck, or the less polite equivalent might escape from Bill’s lips, which makes me feel all the more familiar and homey with the Caskey-man.
My only real problem with these guys, who live about 3 1/2 hours from me, is that they’re Hoosiers ! You know we Kentuckians aren’t usually crazy about their kind.
Their methods are sound, the strategies are actionable and their training is said to be top-notch.
I’m gonna email Bill and ask for a book or two to review for you guys and I’ll see if I can get an audio interview for you, but for now, head over and subscribe to The Advanced Selling podcast.
PS - Their logo is also the best podcast logo I’ve ever seen, so now I’m crushin’ on it too !
Teaching Sells: 12 Weeks To A Brighter Future On The Internet
On Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 I downloaded a free report from Teaching Sells.
I also downloaded the audio version and have listened to it 5 times … maybe 6.
I’m also a member of the program and it’s changing my life. If you apply 50% of what’s there, it’ll change yours too.
The key word there, as in all facets of life and business is apply.
If all you’re gonna do is purchase, read and stay on the sidelines, don’t bother. You won’t gain anything by osmosis.
My brain has been on hyperdrive and my infoproduct creation strategy has changed at least 7 times in the ensuing 6 or so weeks.
Thanks Brian. Thanks Tony. Thanks Shane.
You’ve cost me 50 days of fitful sleep and two or three stenographers pads I’ve used for notes. You owe me big time.
Every single time a new email comes and let’s me know another article, video or audio has been added, I dread clicking thru, because I know I’m gonna learn something that will shift my personal paradigm.
Dang it, I’m too old and have sold too much for this to happen. Well over $44 million in personal sales to my credit, in just the last 14 years and these guys are kickin’ my arse !
It just ain’t fair.
So what am I gonna do about it ?
Share the misery, that’s what.
I want to share with you some of the new tricks they’ve taught this old dog, in hopes that you’ll join and share my misery.
Misery loves company.
Here’s some of what you’ll discover, if you’ll apply the slightest amount of effort:
In the How To Create Content That Sells course:
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The 10 reasons people will pay for content
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What happens when creativity and content collide
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Where the sweet spot really is in selling information
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Content development methodologies that actually work
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How to structure your business to produce profits
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Which came first - the learner or the teacher ?
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How to structure your offer to almost guarantee success
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How to write learning objectives that work
In the How To Effectively Market Interactive Learning Environments course:
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How to find a market that’s looking to learn and will pay to do so
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7 ways to discover exactly what that market wants to learn
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6 proven ways to uniquely position yourself for success
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How to maximize the fees you can charge for instruction
In the How To Create Killer Multimedia Content with Quick and Easy Tools course:
Shane gives you tips, tricks, tactics, tools and makes you want to learn everything about Camtasia and PowerPoint.
So far, he’s created 11 tutorials and given me about 137 ideas about how to make my content more interesting, more likely to be absorbed and more valuable, as in how much I can charge for it.
If you can’t take your own personal content, experiences and skills and make them salable after watching these tutorials, well, I can’t believe you can’t, so I’ll just drop it there.
And if you can’t take some content that you can easily acquire, as in PLR and make it unique and more valuable, after watching these tutorials, well, there’s no reason you can’t, so we’ll stop there.
In the Seven Profitable Business Models for Interactive Content Developers course:
You know I like simple, so I’ll simply say that if you can’t find at least one business model, out of these seven, that you like and can make work for you, send me an email and I’ll try my hardest to design one for you.
The good part about this is, I know you’ll find one, because I’ve already read these and really like every, single one of them, but especially like two of them enough to switch my whole model to accommodate the strategies involved and model my strategy for 2008 after them.
In the Blueprint for Building Membership Sites with Open Source and Low-Cost Software course:
Because the software you choose and use will determine the height to which you can ascend, you need to make sure, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that you’re making the right decision when you plan your sites architecture.
Thankfully, the instructors behind Teaching Sells have created a step-by-step, detailed, precise blueprint using low-cost and open source components.
In actuality, this course is based exactly on the model they currently use to create membership sites.
The only exception being they’ve already made all the mistakes and removed them from their model to save you time, expense and frustration.
Even if you won’t be doing the webmastering of your sites, you can use the documentation and model by handing it off to an affordable web developer and save a boatload of money.
So there you have it. My thoughts after the short time frame I’ve been a member. I can only dream about what my life will be like after 12 months following the Teaching Sells advice that I hear in my sleep, see in my dreams, stare at in disbelief and wonder how they got so smart without me coaching them along
I’ve long wondered about a certain piece of affiliate program software, PostAffiliatePro. I just finished viewing a video that gave me a great overview of the software, compared it to another affiliate software I’d never heard of and then they challenged me to go try them out, as each has a demo available.
And the next video in this series is about Amember, a popular piece of membership site software that we use for a golf membership site, but probably don’t use to the fullest. I’m betting though that after the Teaching Sells team breaks it down for me and I use the knowledge of all the members in the forum, we’ll earn our Masters degree in Amember.
PS - Did I mention that they found and use a couple of very unique pieces of software that I’m in the process of buying and using to explode the sales of several ecourses that I have in my collection ?
These two pieces, out a suite of tools, will take you from just one of the masses to the king of your clan in a very, very short period of time. Like 2-3 weeks at most.
What are they ?
Let’s make a deal.
You click the banner, join the Teaching Sells community and try ‘em out and if you don’t agree, ask for a refund, after all, there’s a 100% money back guarantee.
If you do join and if you’re still a member after the initial 3 months, I’ll give you an hour of my consulting time.
I’ll help you with any part of the process that you feel like you need help with.
Sales ? I’m at least a wee bit familiar with the subject.
Where to find super affiliates to fill your shopping cart with buyers ? I’ll show you the piece of software I use to find authority sites - people that can send you enough paying members to make all your dreams come true.
Infoproduct creation ? I’ve got profits coming in from at least 20 niches, as we speak and have ghost writers and content developers adding to my arsenal every month.
I’ll show you a proprietary and unique way to take a PLR product, use it for a bribe, find out what problems exist in a market and how to sell ‘em a solution, create the product, create a list of buyers and get paid to do all of it. Sweet.
How may people can create a product, create a list of buyers and get paid to do it ?
Not many. I can. I do and if you try out Teaching Sells, using my affiliate link, I’ll let you in on a teleseminar where I’ll teach you how to do it.
Deal ?
Click the Teaching Sells banner to accept the offer and begin your journey towards success, if you don’t mind using my affiliate link and click this link if you want to go check it out sans affiliate link .
SalesMarks.com Makes It Easier To Find Sales Related Ideas
Via my friend Brandon Hull over at Sales Team Tools, I found out about a new location to store and share sales related info, ideas, tips, posts and much, much more.
It’s called SalesMarks.com and is the brainchild of Jan Visser.
I joined immediately and got the tool added to my Firefox browser.
Now all I’ve gotta do is go out looking for sales related info to add, so I won’t feel bad about going over there and scarfing up all the links that other people have added for me to soak up like a sales sponge !
If you live to sell or sell to live, you need to join up and join in, so head over and tell ‘em Mike sent you. Or join and don’t say a word, just join.
Would The Hard Work Cafe Have Made A Difference To You ?
Okay, I admit it. I’m a Kentuckian. Even when we do something less than stellar, I don’t deny my birth motto.
” American by birth, Kentuckian by The Grace of God “
Seems doing well in school just for the sake of learning, expanding their horizons and creating opportunities didn’t appeal to some middle school students in my home state, so some well meaning educators did what they usually do in these situations.
They tried to bribe ‘em to do right, rather than teaching them to do right because it’s what you’re supposed to do.
A group of eastern Kentucky educators, at Lawrence County Middle School in Louisa, set up the Hard Work Cafe.
Come to school 5 days a week, like you’re supposed to and you might get an invite.
Behave properly, like you’re supposed to and you might get an invite.
Do your work, like you’re supposed to and you might get an invite.
Doesn’t sound too hard does it ? Well, there’s a drawback. Teachers recommend one student from their class to visit the cafe every Friday for lunch.
Seems that would leave the invite up to the ol’ teachers pet thang.
Me ? I would have been in school every day, unless the fish were bitin’, because they fed you and we didn’t always have a lot of food where I grew up.
I also would have done my work, like I was supposed to, if only so I wouldn’t have to listen to a teacher whine about the virtues of sillyass busywork.
BUT, and this is a big J Lo but, I would have never made it to the Hard Work Cafe because I wouldn’t have been in the selection process simply because I was never the type to be a teachers pet.
On the contrary, I liked beatin’ those kids up before, during and after school, when necessary !
So, this thang can work for good and can work for not so good … kinda like a sales contest, which is what it is in essence.
Why do right ? Because that’s what you’re supposed to do.
Why sell the heck out of your product ? Because that’s what you’re supposed to do.
Don’t bother with sales contests, just find kids and sales people who actually want to sell.
If you want an opinion on sales contests from someone a bit more well known and more widely read than I am, try this post that validates what I say about sales contests.
