Simplenomics » Simply Successful

Convenient Rule For Taking Risks

Mike Sigers — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:30:15 +0000

“Every lottery ticket I sell is a winner.”

That’s what the lady behind the counter, Vera, told the guy in front of me Wednesday night.

After the guy had left, I asked Vera about what she’d said.

“It’s true. Every ticket I sell is a winner. If the person who bought it doesn’t win, the state does.”

It’s not often you learn about taking risks from a convenience store clerk, so I thought I’d try to break it down to the simplest form, so you and I could consume it and then take action on it.

You see, in life, some times you have to try things merely as a test.

On the internet, you can find out, in a fairly rapid manner, if it’s going to work or not. There’s really no failure, when it costs you less than $250 to build a site and run traffic past it. You’ll know PDQ (pretty dang quick) if it’s gonna pay the mortgage or not.

These days, I rate every site we build on the bill paying ability it has.

Will it pay the mortgage?

Will it pay for our server?

Will it pay for our cellphones?

Will it pay for a generator that runs on natural gas, so we don’t ever have to suffer thru 8-9 days without electricity again?

So it boils down to this:

When you’re faced with a risk, you have to evaluate the potential ROI versus the cost. Either it produces the desired result, which makes you a winner or it produces data that will keep you from making a similar mistake in the future, which makes you a winner.

In sales, the words you use, when making a presentation, are a risk.

Keeping detailed records of the results versus the words I used are part of what has separated me from the pack over the last 15 years.

Take risks, sure, but keep detailed records of the situation and you’ll be a winner either way.

Just like Vera’s lottery tickets

Excuses and Other Rants

Mike Sigers — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 09:35:44 +0000

“Excuses are easy to manufacture and hard to sell.”

That was what my fortune cookie from a recent lunch said to me.

It’s simply true.

Have you ever tried to buy something from an online business, only to find their shopping cart solution was anything but a solution?

Did you then try to contact them, only to find that their Contact page did
everything but contact them?

Calling yourself an internet-based business doesn’t give you the right to
offer poor service. Far too many internet-based businesses use this as an excuse and I’m kinda tired of it.

You wouldn’t put up with that crap from a brick and mortar business, so
don’t buy from or operate an online business in that manner.

I recently heard a presentation on success. I’m willing to bet that almost
everyone there expected the same old stuff – hard work, self-denial,
self-improvement, yada-yada, blah-blah, etc.

But the presenter said nothing about any of those tired, old topics. He
actually told the simple truth about success. Online or offline, it
doesn’t matter, success is non-denominational and not the least bit
prejudiced.

The most basic common denominator for success is doing the things that failures don’t like to do.

When you form the habit of doing all the little things that the
second-tier sales and marketing people won’t do, or don’t like to do
consistently, you’ve set the cornerstone for success.

Think about that for a few minutes.

No, really. Close your eyes and think about all the things that your competition makes excuses not to do.

Now, write them down and then use those as the basis for writing the action plan that’ll propel you into totally dominating your industry or niche.

Never again will you see such a simple plan, in such a condensed form,
completely explain such a disputed topic, so don’t do another thing until
you complete this task.

There are parts of my job, online and offline, that I despise. The parts
that I can delegate or outsource, I get rid of as quickly as possible, so as not to stop my momentum.

The parts I can’t delegate or outsource, I work on first, and reward myself with some small thing, like a special lunch, when I finish.

Why? Because I know that I’m now on to better, more powerful, more profit
producing tasks.

The real trick to dominating your niche or industry is to find the answer to a simple question.

This is real complicated, so pay attention:

What one thing does your competition do poorly?

You can adjust that question to fit your situation, but the basic premise
is that you want to cure pain, not try to out-brag your competition, about
all the wonderful things your widget does.

That’s where most sales and marketing people get this wrong. They ask -
What does our competition do well?

Who freakin’ cares ! People will pay to avoid pain ten times quicker and easier than they will pay to gain pleasure.

So, it’s up to you. You can stay at your current level of success or you can start doing all the things that your competition won’t do.

“Excuses are easy to manufacture and hard to sell.”

Rachael Ray’s Lessons For Success

Mike Sigers — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:08:57 +0000

The December edition of Success magazine has “several” great articles, but the one about Rachael Ray grabbed my attention for several reasons.

Love her or hate her, she’s doing what she loves and is getting paid to do it. That’s success.

Let’s look a bit further into the lessons, tips and insights that Rachael brought to us for show and tell today.

Don’t Try To Be Somebody You’re Not

“Decide who you are and don’t try to pretend you’re something other than that.”

Rachael’s simple advice is one of the real keys to happiness and success in life and business.

I’m a salesman, pure and simple. I sell. It’s what I do.

She’s not a chef, she’s a cook, pure and simple. It’s what she does.

She started out just wanting to teach people how to make quick, easy suppers after a hard day at work.

I started out just wanting to pass along the tips and tactics that make selling so easy for me.

Now, she get’s paid to teach people to cook supper and I get paid to teach people to sell.

Neither one of us violated the advice you see quoted above.

Energy, Everyday And Enthusiasm Trump Status Quo

Rachael never planned to be a multimedia star, it just happened.

Culinary critics and purists were put off by her “every-woman” qualities. Everyday people who watch TV, buy books and make advertisers think they’re getting their money’s worth loved her.

She told her fan-vangelists that they could do this and they believed her. They saw themselves doing the cooking. They believed they could cook “stoups” and “sammies” and saw themeselves as they watched her drop stuff and juggle pots, pans and knives, while doing it all in less than 30 minutes … while smiling, giggling and goofin’ around. Optimism rules ! Nobody wants to follow a forlorn leader.

Stories Sell Your Product

Today’s advertising “madmen” think they’re “above” storytelling. It used to be the #1 vehicle for selling a product or service. No, scratch that, it’s still the number one way to sell an idea, a product or service.

I sell face-to-face, everyday of the week. I also happen to sell with stories.

Long before she became a star, Rachael had taken the time to talk to, connect with and tell stories to people. That’s how you find out what they want, what they need and how they expect to get those two things from the places they buy them.

That’s three of at least 23 lesson, tips and nuggets of advice I gleaned while reading the article. Pick up a copy of December’s SUCCESS magazine and head over to their website to read the digital edition of Rachael’s article.

P.T. Barnum’s Simple Formula For Success

Mike Sigers — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:37:45 +0000

“Whatever you do, do it with all your might. Work at it, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well as now.” ~ P.T. Barnum (1810-1891) Showman and circus founder

A client of mine made reference to an email that I sent him that had a date/time stamp of 1:15 AM.

He asked what in the hell I was doing working at that hour.

I posted this to make it easy to find and refer people to when they ask me that question.

It will happen again.

I promise.

PS – If Tim Ferris or anybody else tells you that you can be uber successful on four hours a week – RUN, don’t walk, RUN as fast as you can from them.

10 Reasons A Pirate Should Be Your Entrepreneurial Role Model

Mike Sigers — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:11:03 +0000

Last year I had so much responding to the, um …., “well intentioned yet misled” souls who didn’t appreciate pirates as role models, that I wanted to do it up even bigger this year.

To do so, I had to bring in a Top Gun, so to speak. So today’s guest blogger will be Kirsty Dunphey.

Her article is just what we all need to get us ready to “piratize” our markets.

10 Reasons A Pirate Should Be Your Entrepreneurial Role Model

Did you know that each year September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day ! In honour of Johnny Depp, ITLAP Day, and the frivolities that go along with it, let’s talk about why you should forgo traditional entrepreneurial role models for the mighty pirate !

The English word pirate is derived ultimately from the Greek word peira meaning “attempt, experience”, or more implicitly “to find luck on the sea“. Let’s see how much we can improve your entrepreneurial experience and find you some luck in the sea of business opportunities !

1- Get a parrot on your shoulder

The parrot on your shoulder can represent two things: 1) Your conscience. Every entrepreneur has moments in time where the easier option does not always represent the right option. Remember the parrot on your shoulder is there to guide you. 2) Your mentor. The voice of guidance from someone who’s been there and done it. Get the right parrot (or mentor) and you’ll skyrocket to greater heights.

2- The eye patch

An entrepreneur needs to have selective vision. They need to be able to block out distractions and zone in on opportunities. Develop your own figurative eye patch by honing in on what you want to focus on – and making the rest walk the plank.

3- The funky pirate wear and the eye liner

An entrepreneur stands out from the crowd. Whether it’s John McGrath, Sydney real estate agent extraordinaire pioneering the no tie business look or Sergey Brin, google co-founder, wearing jeans and a t-shirt while giving a keynote to 10,000 people, entrepreneurs don’t feel the need to conform to outdated business standards. Most wildly successful entrepreneurs are there because they don’t conform in their businesses. They’re edgy and they try new things in their businesses, which quite often spills over into their outerwear and can make them easy to identify.

4- Any weather – Any time

A pirate’s ship and crew carry them through the roughest storms making them mobile, flexible and able to deal with a multitude of circumstances – just like the ultimate entrepreneur.

5- Live and die by the team

No pirate ever managed to crew an entire ship on their own and no successful entrepreneur ever got there without their own crew of motivated, engaged, talented individuals. In the boardroom as on the ocean – the undeserving leader will face a mutiny.

6- The bicorne hat

The entrepreneur needs to be a master of wearing many hats – even if they look as ridiculous as the Napoleon-esque bicorne hat ! As an entrepreneur you’ll need to be motivator, innovator, initial implementer and so much more.

7- The peg leg

The pirate manages to swashbuckle all over the world on slippery decks, in rising oceans and with a peg leg no less ! As entrepreneurs we all have our own disabilities. Perhaps you don’t have a formal education, perhaps you were poor growing up, perhaps your technology skills aren’t up to scratch. Be like a pirate and get over it ! Whatever your peg leg is, compensate for it and move on !

8- The hook

If there’s one thing we all associate with pirates it’s a hook. As an entrepreneur you’ll need to be able to develop an amazing hook. You’ll need a hook to get people on board with your idea, you’ll need a hook to get investors or the bank interested, you’ll need a hook to get your customers frothing at the mouth for your product or service. If Johnny Depp was the hook for Pirates of the Caribbean – do you have a hook of that calibre for your entrepreneurial passion?

9- The treasure chest

Pirates are single minded in their search for treasure. They know what their treasure is and they have a map on how to get there. What is treasure for you? Is it the chest of gold, is it seeing your product in the market, is it having a crew who love coming to work each day? Know your treasure chest – your goal, and then set about developing a map for how to get there.

10- They just arrrrr

Pirates don’t need to define themselves as pirates. You look at them, you know it. Their crew knows it. They know it. Same thing goes for an entrepreneur. Like the passion for the sea – the passion for entrepreneurialism is in your blood. Your heart rate rises at the thought of a new business idea, your brain races and you can’t wait to hoist your colours up the flag pole and set sail on a new adventure.

And for some fun – try out this online English to Pirate translator:

www.talklikeapirateday.com/translate/index

Kirsty Dunphey is an author, speaker and entrepreneur who started her first business at 15, opened her own real estate agency at 21 and retired a self made multi-millionaire at 27. To sign up to Kirsty Dunphey’s weekly email, go to www.kirstydunphey.com