E3C: The Passionate Entrepreneur

What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis (at Google Headquarters)

Just A Minute by Benjamin E. Mays

I have only just a minute, only 60 seconds in it,

Forced upon me, can't refuse it.

Didn't seek it, didn't choose it,

But it's up to me to use it.

I must suffer if I lose it,

Give account if I abuse it,

Just a tiny little minute,

But eternity is in it,.

What are you going to do with your minute?

Benjamin E. Mays, Former Morehouse President,

Creating Value: Richard Brock of Lead Life

Check out this powerful interview with Richard Brock. It is entitled, "Creating Value". 

He was interviewed by Richard Warner on the Georgia PBS program: "Georgia's Business"  on July 27th 2008.   If you want to improve your selling skills, you must create value with your prospective buyer.  Setting your price by adding a simple twenty percent over cost is a losing proposition.  It will not generate more profits for your company.  Richard Brock has a better philosophy.  One of the secrets to successful selling is creating value in the mind of buyer. 

Check out Lead Life company website! 

Watch Now!  Creating Value

Sales Lessons From Barack Obama: What You Can Do Today! (Part Four)

Barack's Call To Action: Vote, Recruit and Participate!

Barack was not afraid to ask for ”the sale”. He asked the American people for their time, votes and dollars. He encouraged individuals to join him on the campaign trail. He asked for your donations. Most, importantly, He asked for their vote. He was confident and not afraid to ask for what he needed. Yes! Barack and his campaign, asked his volunteers four things to do: volunteer your time, donate your money and recruit your friends, family and neighbors and vote for Barack Obama. He knew his numbers. He knew how many votes he needed to win. He knew what it took to win the primaries and electoral votes. Barack always asked for “the sale” and the people delivered!

Action:

Can you ask for the sale? How effective are your sales skills? Examine your marketing and sales materials, tools and websites. Do you have a call to action for listeners, watchers, readers and visitors? Specially, are you asking them to buy your product or service or write and call you? Offer them something of value to encourage them to connect with you. There are three components of business: sales, profitability and expertise. Those are your priorities. Sales are always your first priority. Without sales you do not have a business. If you do not run your business profitably, you will not be in business for very long. Nobody cares about that you are the best expert in your field until they know who you are! You are not going to reach prospects until you first become an expert and sales and marketing! If you can not attract people to want to do business, you do not have a business! Become a sales expert. Know what it takes to “close a deal and make the sale”! As Alex Baldwin character said in the best sales movie ever --- Glen Garry Glen Ross, “ABC. ALWAYS be closing, always BE closing, always be CLOSING!

Sales Lessons From Barack Obama: What You Can Do Today! (Part One)

President – Elect Barack Obama will be our 44^th United States President.  From a relative unknown   law professor, community organizer,  Illinois State Senator and U.S. Senator,  Barack has captured the hearts and minds of the nation's electorate.   With no money or grass roots organization, he has went from State Senator to U.S. Senator to President-Elect in four years!  That is quite impressive.  

 

Here are some of Barack's presidential accomplishments:

 

• Raised $700 million dollars in donations  (the most money raised ever in history)
• earned 64 million votes nation-wide
• achieved 364 electoral votes and 54% of electoral vote
• earned 14 million more votes than President Bush in 2004
• won 66%  of  Hispanic and youth vote
• captured 50%  of suburban vote 
• won 17% of the republican vote
• won nine states that previously voted republican
• recruited 4.1 million campaign volunteers

 

Barack overcame the challenge of popular U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination and beat U.S. Senator John McCain to win the U.S. presidency.   So, how did President- Elect Obama do it?   What can business owners and entrepreneurs learn from his victory? 

 

What made our President-Elect successful?  It was a combination of his vision, message, uniqueness, personal story, communication skills, organization,  endorsements and testimonials, strategic alliances and partnerships and embracing the power of the Internet.  With politics aside, let's review the Obama campaign and discover what sales lessons we can learn and apply in our businesses.

Barack's Vision and Message

President -Elect Barack's  vision was simple:

• Build a grass roots organization young, old, rich, poor, white, black, Hispanic,  Asian, democratic, republican and independent across the United States. 
• Offer a democratic candidate against the war in Iraq. 
• Project a moderate image promising a tax cut for the middle class, national health care and access to educational opportunities. 
  

“Change”,  that was Barack Obama's message.  The vast majority of people wanted a change and a new direction.  His goal was to offer that and differentiate himself from President George Bush and his policies of the past eight years.  Barack offered change for a better America.  His message of hope and promise was inspiring and produced crowds in the hundreds and thousands  across the nation.  Obama's message of change generated new enthusiasm not  seen in recent political campaigns. He wrote two best sellers: Audacity of Hope and  Dreams of  My Father.   His message connected with many people.  Time was critical.  He had to win the the majority of the Democratic state primaries,  capture the Democratic nomination and the U.S. Presidential election in less than a year!  Barack was quite successful.  Consequently, his candidacy produced millions of  enthusiastic volunteers and new voters.  His mission was clear:

• win the majority of the votes in the democratic primary
• win 270 electoral votes on November 4, 2008.  
• Set up a grass roots organization in every state. 
• Utilize the Internet to promote Barack Obama,
• generate campaign donations and  enlist volunteers  and
• win 270 electoral votes on November 4, 2008 to win the U.S. presidency 
  

U.S. Senator Barack Obama won the race and will become the next president of the United States January 20th 2009.

Action: 

What is your vision for your company?  What is the target message for your best prospects?  How can you improve to increase sales?  Your vision and message must stand out, be unique, authentic,  interesting and inspiring.  Ensure that your vision and message really address the needs and concerns of your top client prospects .  Use it to connect with them.  It should grab their attention and encourage them to want to talk to you and learn more.  If it doesn't light your prospects' eyes and generate curiosity, your vision statement needs improvement.  Also, make sure that it is quantifiable.  It should have a defined time-line.   For example, your vision can be to generate 100 clients and produce annual sales revenue of $1 million dollars by 2010.  Additionally, ensure that your opening selling statement connects with your potential clients and gets their attention and has punch!  

Looking for More?   Read the whole article and check out my other articles now!

My First Sales Job!

I did not aspire to become a professional sales person.  It was not a life long dream to pursue a career in sales.  As a youngster, I really did not realize that people could make a living by selling a product or service.  I thought that I might become a professional football or baseball player.  If I did not go into professional sports, I thought that I would become a police officer, chef or  farmer. 

Sure, I was a successful paperboy in Detroit, Michigan.  I won many of contests and earned lots of prizes:  televisions, bikes, radios and cash!  I had the biggest route in my district!   I never realized that I was in sales, but  I was!  I never really considered myself in sales.  I was successful because, I was good at selling newspapers.  Unconsciously,  I created my own successful sales system! 

My paper route consisted of  just two streets with five or six large apartment building.  Each building had three to five floors.  Every floor had at least 10 apartments.  It was a great opportunity for an ambitious boy.   However, nobody wanted this route.  There not a lot of customers.  Paper boys  would quit  and customers were not happy with the service.  Conservatively,  there were  potentially over 300 customers on my first street and  about 150 on the second street.  I seized it!   I built this route to over 200 daily and over 300 Weekend Saturday Sunday deliveries.  Believe it or not, I hired a couple of assistants to help me!  I could not use the standard red wagon for my route.  I delivered my newspapers from a shopping cart!  It was the only way to finish my deliveries! 

As a paperboy, I would talk to everyone on my route!  I was friendly, courteous and       always smiling!   Those people were potential customers.   Every two months, I would visit door –to – door and ask everybody who answer to buy a newspaper from me! I  was a numbers game.   I practice my sales pitch and smile.   Hello, my name is  Kenny.  Would you like to subscribe to the Detroit News?   I offered a free newspaper to every new customer!  I was selling and asking for the sale!  Some said, “Yes”, some said, “No”  and others said, “Call or Come back later”.  Happily, I did!   I was making good money!

I delivered my dailies after school in the afternoon.  Early in the morning, I delivered the weekend newspapers.  I would run up and down the stairs and see if how fast I could finish each apartment building.  I would time myself.  It was a good work-out.  I made it fun!  I collected my payments and asked for referrals from satisfied customers on Fridays and Saturdays.

Looking back, I seized the opportunity.  I knew my product, my target market.  I created an efficient and effective prospecting, delivery system  and collection system.   I asked for the business, generated new sales and earned referral business.  At twelve years old, I created a sales strategy and a system that worked for me!      I did not have business experience, training or education.  However,  that did not stop me from becoming a successful paperboy!   I had a passion and I was determined to be successful because my mother needed and depended upon me to make money!

That was my first sales job!

What was your first sales experience?  What did you learn?  What did you enjoy?  How can our children learn about the sales profession?  What opportunities can we offer to our children?     

NetWeaving versus Networking: What is the Difference?

Bob Littell talks about the concept of netweaving. He shares the positive benefits of applying it to your business! What is NetWeaving? How is it different from networking? How does NetWeaving work? What are the benefits and advantages? What are the positive results of adopting the NetWeaving philosophy? Check out his web site at www.netweaving.com and read his books: The Heart and Art of NetWeaving and Raising Your R&R Factor.

NetWeaving versus Networking: What is the Difference?

Listen, Learn, Enjoy and Share with a Business Associate!

Bootstrapping Ideas for Passionate Entrepreneurs Who Want to Be Profitable, Make and Save Money!

Bootstrapping is the ability to run a profitable business by not spending a lot of money! Entrepreneurs will learn some the bootstrapping ideas that will help you make and save money! Callers share their innovative ideas and strategies that have made them successful!

Karen Rands www.launchfn.com, Jeff Brathwaite www.2thenextlevel.com, Joe Turner www.joemturner.com, Chris Kauffman www.chriskauffman.com, George Ishee www.bia-sun.com, David Walker www.handprintgroup.com, Brent Leary www.brentleary.com Alex Wood www.smbc.tv

Bootstrapping Ideas for Passionate Entrepreneurs Who Want to Be Profitable, Make and Save Money!

Listen, Learn, Enjoy and Share with a Business Associate!

Bumper music provided by Bryan Hunley of New Whyne Music

Do you have a big idea, want to be on the show, looking for some new business tips and ideas or interested in joining our entrepreneurial  community,  contact us at 404 957 9193 or  go to  My Business CommunityIf your need a second opinion or want to take your business to the next level, visit us at Better Sales and Profits Now!

Time Management: Are You Too Busy to Make Money?

Are you too busy to make money? Perhaps, you might think that is an odd question to ask. However, it is a simple question to answer. Are you moving forward in business or just constantly moving?

Time management can be a critical issue for successful entrepreneurs. Time is a finite resource. There is only twenty-four hours in a day. One can not turn back the clock.

Read More

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Venture Atlanta: Raising Dollars for Entrepreneurs!

Allyson Eman is Executive Director for Venture Atlanta that is launching the largest Venture Capital event in Georgia’s history. In October, Venture Atlanta 2008 will feature Georgia’s most promising high-growth companies presenting their plans and investment opportunities to venture capitalists and investors from across the country. www.atlantaventure.org

Venture Atlanta: Raising Dollars for Entrepreneurs!

Listen, Learn, Enjoy and Share with a Business Associate!

Bumper music provided by Bryan Hunley of New Whyne Music