The Person to See

Wealth. Freedom. Influence

Networking That Matters Four Proven Strategies

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Does this sound like anyone you know?

I would venture to say that 90% of all networking encounters don’t amount to anything because of what I call “intentional inaction.”

Two people go to a networking event and meet each other. After some conversation, they exchange cards because they surmise there might be a reason to stay in contact. They go back to their lives the following day, put each other’s’ card on their respective desk and nothing ever happens again between the two people

Truth be told, this is most people. This kind of behavior is what I call “Unintentional Inaction.” We take no action after the event, even though they know there might be potential to build a mutually beneficial relationship. Our lack of action is not intentional but rather, because we are lazy, afraid or don’t know what to do.

I have good news! I am going to teach you the only four action steps that matter when it comes to networking. They are:

─ Asking for the business

─ Be a connector/resource

─ Set up a Starbucks meeting

─ Intentional Inaction

A bit about each networking action summarized below.

 

Asking for the Business

We always need to be prepared to take advantage of any opportunity to nudge our nose under the tent. By “asking for the business” language I do not mean it has to be a situation where you point blank ask for the sale. Those situations do present themselves occasionally, and when they do we must be ready. But, more often, it is a situation where somebody makes casual reference to a problem they are experiencing that we can solve. We need to be ready to advance the ball in these moments.

It might be a comment like, “Oh, we helped a client with a similar problem. Would you like me to share what we did?”

Maybe it is a suggestion to meet or an offer to connect to discuss the issue further after the event.

Here’s a great example, I was talking to one of my clients (We’ll call him Conner) and he shared with me that he was on a boat fishing in Alaska with a potential customer (We’ll call the customer Pete).

At the time of this encounter, Pete was not doing business with Conner or his firm.

While Conner and Pete were out on the river, Pete asked Conner what he did. Conner, being prepared, told Pete what he did. Pete casually responded, “Oh, I am working on a project like that right now.” There was no intention on the part of Pete to open the door for Conner. It was just a casual comment. Didn’t matter to Conner. He seized the opportunity and said, “Well, why don’t you give us a shot and see what we can do?”

According to Pete, Conner didn’t respond. It didn’t matter. Conner took the chance and who knows what may happen down the road. I suggested to Conner that he follow up with an email to Pete.

The bottom-line is we must always look out for the opportunity to push a little business. If we don’t exercise this muscle we will always be at the mercy of others, hoping they pick us.

For those who feel this approach is “too pushy” I say, “hogwash!” I never met a successful person who wasn't at least, a little bit pushy.

If we do not advocate for ourselves no one else will.

 

Be a Connector/Resource

It is not always about us. We love it when people reach out to us, so we must be prepared to help in kind. It does not have to be just business – think personal life as well. I have actually set up two sets of people on a blind dates who eventually got married.

Zig Ziglar said it best, “Help enough people get what they want, and you’ll have everything you want.”

Here are three tips to help you be a even better giver:

  • Don't give to get. Give just because you want to give.
  • Don't keep score. It is not about, “I gave you three referral. You owe me three now.”
  • Go first. Give before you get. This goes a long way towards building good will.

The key is to be on the lookout for opportunities to help other people be successful.

 

 

Starbucks Meetings

This is the next key networking action I have found to be extremely effective. I built my business on this strategy. Whenever I meet someone who has a great network I always invite them to coffee at Starbucks (or Coffee Bean if you live in California) to see how we can help each other grow our businesses. I call these my pull-me-up meetings.

Here’s the language I would use. “It seems like you and I might be able to help each other grow our businesses. Would you be interested in grabbing a cup of coffee?”

When I first started out promoting my Rainmaker U. program, I tried to have 40 pull-me-up meetings a quarter. Most of them never went anywhere. But, I only needed a few to count. Remember, “You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find one prince.”

These meeting are not focused on selling the person you invited to coffee. The purpose of these meetings is to build relationships with other superstars who you can nurture into key strategic centers of influence.

Think long-term.

 

Intentional Inaction

This is the exact opposite of what I described above under asking for the business, connecting and scheduling coffee meetings.

In this situation, you have run through the three steps above and have determined that none of them apply so you are INTENTIONALLY deciding not to tack action.

It's okay to do nothing as long as it is a product of critical thinking.

In those situations where no further action makes sense, we might say, “I have enjoyed our conversation. Why don’t we see if we can mingle with some other people?”

Key's to excusing yourself:

– Be polite

– Honest (e.g. Don't say, “Why don't you give me your card and I will follow up with you?”)

– Smile, make eye  contact and shake hands.

– Pretty easy, no.”

 

Summary

To sum it all up, “Intentionality” is the key. If you get intentional and apply the above action steps to your networking, watch the quality of your interactions skyrocket!

If you want to put your business development on steroids, check out our new business development program, The Box System.

 

How Effort Impacts Your Career

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“Living Life is not for Sissies”

– Mariya Alexander

I wish I could take credit for this quote, but I cannot. It belongs to Mariya Alexander, the no nonsense executive assistant to one of my clients.

In his best-selling book, The Road Less Traveled, author, Scott Peck sums it up perfectly in his first line, “Life is difficult.” What is also true is when we work hard, take chances and get up after we fail, life is also amazing, exhilarating and exciting.

In my own life, I have endured my own fair share of hardships. But I always found a way to dust myself off and go on. Nothing heroic. Just made the choice.

 

If you don’t think success is about grit, consider these facts and statistics:

a) 80% of all sales are made after the fifth contact

b) 90% of the people you try to sell will say “No”

c) Colonel Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, started his business at 65 years old. He slept in his car for two years, traveling around the country until his idea caught on

d) Sylvester Stallone was offered $50,000 for his script, Rocky under one condition. He had to agree to not play the lead role.

e) In Malcolm Gladwell’s bestseller, Outliers, Gladwell calculates that those who become experts in their fields, the Bill Gates and Wayne Gretzkys of the world, have practiced their skills for more than 10,000 hours.

 

This list could go on and on, but I think you get my point. Excellence takes effort. And along the way expect to fail and experience a lot of rejection.

The first year in business I cold called over 6,000 people and almost all of them were the wrong person! That’s right, I was prospecting the wrong people.

I could have quit. But, I didn’t. I knew the solution was out there. I just had to find it.

Since that time, I have built a multi-million-dollar business and have developed a blue-chip roster of clients. All because I knew what I wanted, and I was willing to do what it took to get it.

And I am only just getting started!

 

Check out some of my most read posts:

 

 

 

 

How to Select the Right Target Audience

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I was delivering a training session the other day for JLL’s retail advisory group in Chicago. The central theme of the presentation was the importance of creating a personal brand in the service sector. On a break, the president of the group, Naveen Jaggi approached me and shared what I thought was brilliant insight. He said, “You don’t own your reputation. Your community does.”

Those eight simple words pretty much sum up the essence of personal branding.

Personal branding has nothing to do with what we think of ourselves and everything to do with what others feel about us. This is why I call personal branding the great equalizer. Having power, fame, money or prestige does not automatically translate into a great personal brand. The depth and sincerity of our connection with our target audience is what matters most.

 

Go Narrow and Deep

When choosing our audience, it is best to go narrow and deep. The broader your audience the harder it is to meaningfully touch everyone. If your audience is too broad your message is likely to spread like a light mist as opposed to a laser beam. With all the noise out there, we cannot afford to be casual in who we are targeting.

Not too long ago I was visiting my printer, Michael Zokai, the owner of Printing Depot in Westwood when I observed a flyer that was literally a masterpiece of focus. His message was so simple. It included a photo of a man (presumably the business owner) and underneath it simply said his name and the tagline, “The Gay Man’s Therapist.”

Talk about focus. All this guy had to do was drive home one singular message, “I am THE therapist for the gay community.”

Unfortunately, my praise was short lived. I looked over and saw another box of flyers that said, “The Valley Therapist.” Another, “The South Bay Therapist.” And yet another, “The Westside Therapist.” And on it went. This genius marketing strategy went from being laser focused to a mish-mash of competing slogans, all of which, I am sure, turned into white noise.

 

Segment your audience

Picking your audience can be broken down by so many categories; revenue, number of employees, geography, industry sector, male or female, age and on and on. The key is to define it as specifically as possible.

I also counsel my clients to make sure the audience they define is large enough that if they captured just 10% of the total market share they would have a tough time keeping up with servicing those clients. We want to make sure that the market is big enough so there is plenty to go around. Lastly, I caution my clients to not move on to another market (i.e. Define a new audience) until they have captured 50% of the market they are currently focused on. The ensures they are not just going after the low hanging fruit.

 

Define your ideal market

Take a moment and define your ideal market. Not the one you are currently focused on. But the one you dream of, if you had no restrictions.

It all starts with self-belief. If you think you are worthy of the audience or you think you are not, you are right.

 

Check out some of my most read posts:

 

 

How I Went From a Lawyer to Personal Branding Expert

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I am often asked, “What made you transition from a lawyer to a business coach?”

The short answer is I decided long ago that I was not going to spend my life in a job I did not love. Instead, I believed, and still do, that you only get one shot at life, so you might as well do what you love.

I graduated from college with all kinds of accomplishments- summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, student body president and a member of the varsity basketball team. I thought I had it all figured out. I enrolled in Georgetown Law School. After graduating from Georgetown, I took a job with a firm in New Jersey. I ran and was elected to the Town Council in my hometown at the age of 26. Soon I would run for statewide office, then national, and who knows what else.

The problem was, I was unfulfilled and bored.

I was only a few months into my career as a lawyer and I dreaded it. Not the firm. Just the work. Nothing about it was me – head down in the library all day, billing in six-minute increments, fighting over other people’s money and having to navigate petty office politics. I knew there was something else out there for me. I just didn’t know what.

Do you know how some people attribute a seemingly random occurrence that carries a powerful message as a sign from God? Well, on this day, I think either God or my guardian angel was speaking to me through a songwriter who was being interviewed on the radio.

I heard his message nearly 30 years ago, but I will never forget it. Responding to a question from the host (I cannot remember what the question was) the songwriter said, “My Dad once told me, ‘Son, do what you love to do and you will figure out how to make money doing it.’”

That was it! That was the sign I was looking for! Now all I had to do was figure out what that “it” was and the rest would be easy.

Not so fast. What I came to realize was that our first move, while necessary to get us to take action, may not always be where we end up.

Three years into my career as a lawyer my opportunity presented itself. I was walking in New York City with my friend when we saw a flyer advertising acting classes. Immediately, I said, “let’s do it!” He agreed and the following night we found ourselves in the famed Actors Studio in lower Manhattan. Immediately, I was hooked. For many months I attended my classes in secret, too embarrassed to say, “I want to be an actor.”

Finally, I summoned the courage to let the world know my plans. I called my parents and told them I had some news I wanted to share with them. I honestly think they thought I was coming home to tell them I was switching jobs.

Instead, I said, “I am leaving the practice of law to pursue acting.” Being from a big, Irish, Catholic family, this did not go over so well. As a matter of fact, I remember my father literally having no reaction at all. He merely went back to reading his paper. I think my father thought, “If I just pretend he did not just tell me that, maybe we can pretend this never happened.” My father should have known better.

He and my mother raised a very determined son. Over the next seven years I gave it all I had. I went back to school, got headshots, walked up and down the streets of Manhattan submitting my resume and auditioning every chance I could get.

At the age of 31 I moved to California, not knowing a soul. Pound the pavement for every opportunity to audition. Nobody wanted to hire me so I partnered with another guy and we raised $500,000 and starred in our own movie. Unfortunately, I could never catch a break. But I have not an ounce of bitterness over not being able to make a living in the entertainment industry.

As I approached my 35th birthday something inside of me said it is time for a change. I could have easily defaulted back into being a lawyer, but it wasn’t me. During my time as an actor I was introduced to personal development (e.g. Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohm).

Some of the messages that stood out to me were:

“You decide who you want to be”

“Your greatest risk produces your greatest gain”

“Don’t let your fears hold you back”

 

I couldn’t get enough of it. I read dozens of books listened to as many takes and attended too many seminars to remember. All of this was, of course, for the purpose of preparing me to succeed as an actor. I had no idea my acting career was actually preparing me for my true vocation. Becoming a motivational speaker, business strategist, and personal branding coach.

Things seem to move slowly for me while I perused acting, but once I decided I was going to pursue a career in the professional development space, my life took off like a rocket. I can honestly say, I accomplished more from 35-40 than I did in my prior 35 years. I built a million-dollar business, wrote a book, bought a home, got married and had my first child. All because I never settled.

As I look back on my career I would say, becoming an actor was the most pivotal move in my life. Not because I succeeded. I did not. But because it was the necessary first step to get me to take action.

What necessary first step do you have to take? Your happiness may very well depend upon it.

Check out some of my most read posts:

 

Why Shaq’s Personal Brand is & was so much Better than Kobe’s

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I always found it odd that Kobe Bryant, arguably the greatest basketball player on the planet at one time, never really caught on as a brand the way Shaq did. Why?

The answer is simple. While Shaq understood his superstardom depended upon his connection with the fans, Kobe never took the time to develop a relationship with the people who made him famous. Shaq was your playful older brother. Kobe was a scrooge. You always got the sense with Kobe that he couldn't care less about anybody but himself.

I was delivering a workshop not too long ago when one of the participants came up to me and shared what I believe sums up personal branding perfectly, “You don’t own your reputation. Your community does.” Wow! This is perfectly said.

Shaq went out of his way to engage with his fans. He gave himself fun nicknames – Diesel, Shaq-a-Clause, The Big Aristotle, The Big Cactus when he went to play for the Phoenix Suns, and The Leprechaun when he went to play for the Boston Celtics. Shaq’s great secret was he never took himself too seriously. To him, you could be great at basketball and still have a lot of fun.

Kobe, in contrast, was a mixed bag. No doubt he was a spectacular basketball player. And if things went well you would get the good Kobe. If things did not go as Kobe wanted them to you would get the not so good Kobe. His answers to perfectly reasonable questions would be curt and often full of curse words. Yes, he could get away with it because he was “Kobe.” But the best brands are those who can get away with self-indulgent behavior but wouldn’t dare do it because they know it isn’t right.

Even years after he has been retired, Shaq is still everywhere in commercials and print ads. People still love him.

I notice during the playoffs that ESPN was featuring an online program produced by Kobe wherein he would breakdown the days game. Nothing could interest me less than tuning into Kobe Bryant talking about basketball.

The way I see it is Kobe needs us now. The problem is, when we wanted to have a relationship with him, he wasn’t interested.

I guess the saying is true, “What goes around, comes around.”

 

Check out these other posts about personal branding:

 

How to Master Productivity

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Momentum is critical for driving productivity.

I remember being in Atlantic City in my mid-twenties, playing blackjack with some friends. I never gambled a lot of money. My strategy was to take $500 and have fun. If I won, great. If I lost, it wasn’t going to break my bank.

On this occasion, I was down to my last $20 and suddenly my luck changed. I started winning hand after hand. I remember getting close to recovering the $480 I had lost and starting to play it safe. Thank God my friend who had a bit more experience than me, was playing the table with me. He kept exhorting me to “push it Timmy! Push it! You are on a roll!”

Of course, I was very skeptical and at first, resisted. By his encouragement was very convincing. I did indeed “push it.” And, boy am I glad I did. I won $3,000! I am sure that I could have won more, but for a guy in his mid-twenties who does not gamble a lot, $3,000 was good enough for me. I took my winnings and left the table.

As I look back on that experience, what jumps out at me the most is the impact momentum can have on our productivity and performance. Sure, my gambling success was more luck than anything, but there was no doubt that momentum was on my side and I took full advantage of it.

What's great about momentum in the business world is that we have the power to create our own momentum. We can set goals and measure our results, structure our days so that we group together the activities that generate the most momentum, agree to peer challenges or merely challenge ourselves. There are so many strategies available to us. We just need to make the commitment to implement them.

Below are seven practices that have helped sustain my productivity and motivation through the years:

 

Decide you want to be successful

Success begins with self-belief. Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.” Determination propelled by self-belief wins every time.

 

Image result for thomas edison

Not always happy days

Sometimes things do not always go as planned. We must remain resilient. You will have bumps in the road. The great inventor, Thomas Edison, was working on inventing the garage battery. During the process he was interviewed by the local newspaper. The reporter asked him how it feels to have failed over 1000 times on this invention alone? To which Edison remarked, “I did not fail over 1000 times. I just figured out over 1000 ways it did not work.”

 

Set goals & measure

The “ready, shoot, aim” approach will increase your frustration level exponentially. I know. I tried it for years. My mantra is “Plan my work and work my plan.” This includes an almost religious-like devotion to my Productivity Model (e.g. Annual, Quarterly, Monthly and Weekly goals). I am virtually unstoppable when I prepare my plan and stick to it.

 

Stay physically fit

Staying in shape is a key component in sustained performance. Eat right, drink lots of water and get the right amount of sleep and you will be shocked at your ability to last longer than the rest of the pack. Burning the candle at both ends will catch up to you at some point.

 

Pace yourself

It was once said, “Success is a product of a good deed executed over and over again long after the excitement has worn off.” Success is a journey, not a sprint. Wearing yourself out has two negative consequences: (1) You are never as productive as you think you are, and (2) more often than not you end up hating what you do.

 

Establish a routine

Routines help keep us focused. Our success is so much more predictable when we know exactly what we are going to do every day. Sales is a perfect example. It is not the person who has a great personality, can think on his/her feet and can make it up as he/she goers along. The best salespeople establish a routine and stick to it like a dog on a bone.

 

Do what you love to do

This is key. You have to do what you love or you will eventually lose interest and sustaining motivation and building momentum will become harder and harder. I can honestly say that when I get up in the morning, yes, I do like some days more than others, but I never dread getting after it. I remember traveling to work one day as a lawyer. A job I hated. I was listening to the radio and I heard a guy say, “Do what you love to do and you will figure out a way to make money doing it.” From that point forward, I vowed that would be me. It took me awhile to find that thing I loved to do, but once I found it, the rest was history.

Check out these Productivity and Motivation quotes too! They are some of my favorites!

 

5 Qualities That Make the Best Personal Brand

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There is no exhaustive, scientifically-proven list of THE qualities that make a great personal brand. In my own research of some really special brands, I have identified the ones that I think matter most.

Remember, a personal brand is the word or phrase people think of when they think of you.

The best personal brands have…

Authenticity

Be you. You is good enough.

Our brands must be a true reflection of the real us. Living our brand must be effortless. It is a waste of time and energy trying to be something we are not.

I remember years ago taking an acting class and there was this guy who wanted to be a lead. The problem was he did not have lead looks or charisma. He was perfectly suited for character roles. He refused to accept this and as a result, his career went nowhere. The sad thing is he was talented.

Not everybody can be Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts or Beyoncé. Some of us must embrace our “Erkel.” That’s okay. Erkel had a hell of a career.

Consistency

Pick your lane and stay in it.

Once we select our brands we must live, protect and promote that brand with unwavering consistency. There is no room for mixed signals.

Day-in and day-out, we must send the same exact message over and over again. We cannot be trustworthy one day and a leader the next. If the brand you select for yourself is trustworthy then you must epitomize the definition of trustworthy in everything you do or don’t do.

There should be no mystery or confusion to our target audience about what our personal brand is and what we want to communicate through our brands.

Narrow/Specific

Trying to be all things to all people is a losing proposition.

Our brand message needs to be easy to understand and identify with. The more ambiguous our message is, the harder it is for people to “get it.”

Match the need of your audience

Personal branding has nothing to do with what we think about ourselves and everything to do with what our target audience feels about us.

A brand is a promise. We must make sure that what we are offering is what our audience is looking for. Otherwise, our message is likely to fall on deaf ears.

Ask yourself, “What would my audience love?” Isn’t that what Apple did?

Deep reservoir of personal brand equity

Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone. Our ability to recover from those mistakes depends upon our reservoir of good will (aka personal brand equity).

Einstein once said, “If I were given 60 minutes to solve a problem, I would take 55 minutes to think about it and five minutes to solve it.” Building personal branding equity is exactly the opposite.

Picking your brand is the easy part. Building a personal brand irresistibility takes a lot of effort. I tell my clients, “If you want to build a great personal brand, do a lot of mitzphas for other people.”

If you want to learn more about how to position yourself as The Person to See with your target audience contact us at [email protected].

Check out these posts on personal branding:

 

10 Tips for Bouncing Back from Major Adversity

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In 2010, I went into business with some bad people. The experience knocked me flat on my back – financially and emotionally. But, to quote a brilliant Mexican proverb, “ells trataron de enterrarme, pero lo que no sabian era que yo era una semilla” (Translation: They tried to bury me, but they didn’t know I was a seed).

Below are ten strategies I utilized to come out of the experience better, happier and more successful:

Strategy #1 I accepted full responsibility for everything that happened.

EVERYTHING! It all starts with owning it. It doesn’t matter if it was or wasn’t my fault. Blaming others got me nowhere. I choose my partners. I ignored my wife’s repeated advice to end the relationship despite all of the evidence that they were bad people.

I made choices and choices have consequences.

 

Strategy #2: I had a plan and I worked that plan like my life depended on it

I remember this moment so vividly. I was in Chicago at a conference and I was at a crossroads in my life. I called my sister, Eileen, and her advice was pivotal to my rebound. She said, “Tim, write your plan out and work that plan day-in and day-out because your family is counting on you.”

And work that plan I did. Like a machine.

 

Strategy #3: I reclaimed my personal brand and started promoting it again.

I must admit, I doubted myself. Despite all I had accomplished in the past, it was scary starting over. But I had no choice. I spent 10 years building myself up as a personal branding and business development expert and it was time to reclaim the space I had abandoned.

People used to ask me “What’s the best way to rekindle an old relationship I had neglected?” My answer was always the same. Just start. It was the same with my re-emergence. I didn’t make any announcement that I was back. I just started being back and before I knew it, it as if I never left.

Strategy #4: I tapped into my network of superstars

This is what saved me. I dug my well before I was thirsty so when I needed help, I just asked. I cannot tell you how many people were thrilled to work with me again. I was so touched and will never forget their generosity.

 

Strategy #5: I went deep with key centers of influence

I picked my ten best centers of influence and spent an hour or two with each sharing my new vision and asking for help. The response in terms of introductions and ideas were overwhelming.

 

Strategy #6: Listened to Think and Grow Rich, repeatedly

I had abandoned my appetite for learning. I went back to the basics. For me Think and Grow Rich sustained me. The constant reminder of the importance of my definitive, major purpose made me unstoppable.

I relistened to Think and Grow Rich at least five times. Until I was well on my way back.

 

 

Strategy #7: I visualized and repeated mantras

I have always believed in the power of positive thinking and visualization. Let me tell you how I know without question that it works. I sat down and reviewed my financial needs. I established a monthly income I had to make to stabilize everything.

I would repeat that number over and over with all the intensity I could summon. I would shout it in my car as a drove to work down the Freeway, as I ran around the Rose Bowl, in the morning as I was getting ready for work.

At the end of the year, I came in $1,115 over my goal.

It works.

 

 

Strategy #8: I relied on my family

I cannot say enough about my wife. She was my rock and my confidant. Despite my deaf ears to her advice that I was in a partnership with bad people, she never once said, “I told you so.” Not once. Patricia was my number one fan.

If that woman left me, I’d go with her.

 

Strategy #9: I believed in me

Remember I said it was all my fault? Well that includes the positives too. I am responsible for those outcomes as much as I am the misfortune I experienced.

Nothing ever happened to me. Events in my life happened because of me.

I knew deep down I had talent. I repeatedly reminded myself of all I had accomplished. I re-programmed my mindset. I remember thinking about all the wonderful experiences I had enjoyed as a direct result of what I had built, and I remember saying to myself, “There is no way in the world that I could have thought I'd have all of these wonderful experiences in my life”

And you know what? I have enjoyed so many of the same experiences and many more!

 

Strategy #10: My faith in God sustained me

My wife would say to me, “I admire you. The worse it gets the stronger your faith gets.” I was so proud that she saw that in me.

I honestly don’t know how people make it in this world, especially through the tough times, without faith in God.

Because of my faith I never once compromised my integrity. Not once. And this is because at the end of the day, I know I will have to answer to God.

 

 

Today, because of the 10 strategies above, I am back better, stronger and more successful than ever!

It is true, “The best revenge is living well” ?

 

5 Strategies to Help You Stand Out From Your Competition

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Help me! I am Stuck in the Middle of the Pack and I Cannot Break Free from the Competition 

Sound familiar? Are you finding it harder and harder to stand out from the rest of the pack? If so, you are not alone. But, that is no excuse for not trying to figure out new ways to differentiate yourself from the competition. 

 

Why is it so tough? 

There are three reasons why it is so tough today to differentiate ourselves from our competition. Or if we are lucky enough to find something that differentiates us, it is hard to sustain that differentiation long-term. The competition always seems to catch up.

The first reason is we live in a commodity world. There are no longer any trade secrets. The internet has rendered trade secrets obsolete. Even if you do have something special, it won’t be too long before your competition figures it out and copies you.  

This dynamic has expanded people’s menu of options. All one needs to do is hop on the internet, type in their search topic and voila! dozens of options magically appear. The more choices our target audience has the more commoditized we become. 

Second, years ago the American economy was dominated by the sale of goods. Today, 79.4% of the GDP is powered by the sale of services. The problem is 80% of buyers are visual. This means buyers need to see something to validate their buying decisions. With everybody selling the invisible, it all becomes a blur to the buyer. 

Lastly, it is unbelievably noisy in the marketplace with all the competition. Statistics show that the average person receives 3000 email messages a week. There is more information in one Sunday edition of the New York Times than a 19th century Englishman was likely to acquire over his entire lifetime.  

According to Harry Beckwith, author of What Clients Love, the people who win today are the filterers, synthesizers, and condensers. Less is more has never been more essential. 

 

The 5 Strategies To Help You And Your Business Stand Out From The Competition

 

Strategy #1 – Build a great personal brand.

I am convinced that personal branding is the final frontier of marketing. It is the only asset we have total and enduring control over. And it speaks to all three challenges in today’s marketplace. 

It cannot be commoditized because you are uniquely you.

Your personal brand satisfies that visual element that the customer needs to see in order to confidently make a buying decision.

A personal brand cuts through all the noise. When people meet us for the first time they form an impression in just ¼ of one second. You can block calls, emails, and snail mail, but you cannot stop someone who is in front of you from communicating his/her message. And, before they even utter a word. 

 

Strategy #2 – Think, struggle, fight to find that one thing that makes your product and service unique.  

Thomas Edison once remarked that, “Man will do everything he can to avoid the hardest of all labors, which is think for himself.” How hard are you thinking about your differentiating factor(s)? 

Don’t get bogged down in trying to find that one thing that only you have, like a Google algorithm or secret recipe. It may not exist. Being one of a select few is good enough. Pick it, craft your message around it, and sell it with everything you have. In other words, go all in.

 

 

Strategy #3 – Do things differently than your competition.

I have coached commercial real estate brokers for years and I have asked, (no, begged) them to try to do something different then their competition when making a competing pitch. If you have ever sat through a pitch you quickly realize everyone is essentially the same. They say the same things in exactly the same way. It is the safe approach.

Here's the formula:

Broker #1 comes in and covers the following topics: Introductions, Market, Services, Results and if there are a few minutes, he/she touches on uniqueness. Brokers 2-5 come in and say the same thing. How do you think the customer feels? 

What if broker #6 came in and said: “I am going to briefly introduce our team. Our resumes are in front of you. I’ll spend a few minutes on the market, a few minutes on our services and past customers, but the bulk of our time is going to be spent on telling you how we are unique.” 

How can you do what you are doing differently than the competition? 

Problem is it is too much work. It is easier to just grind it out the same way “We have all been doing it for years.”

Now, that's depressing.

 

Strategy #4 – Be a dynamic storyteller.

I don’t necessarily mean get up in front of your audience and tell stories that capture your audience's imagination. Although, at times that doesn’t hurt.

What I am talking about is telling the story of you and your products and services in an interesting way. Or at least better  then your competition does.

How good are you at telling the story of you and what you have to offer? Have you ever asked anyone?

Two people can deliver the exact same content, but deliver two entirely different messages.

Strive to be be interesting. That may be all you need to differentiate yourself.  

 

Strategy #5 – Take a chance.

Fortune favors the brave. Make your move before you are ready and your net will appear.  

I remember years ago, Monster.com rolled the dice and risked its entire marketing budget on one Super Bowl ad. Think about that. There entire company was riding on one ad. It turned out to be a smash hit and overnight Monster.com was on the map and a player in the recruiting space. 

What risks are you avoiding? 

There are few things that capture the attention of others like a reputation of someone who is not afraid to take chances.

If you want help crafting messages that will help you stand our from your competition than you will want to check our our Creating Million-Dollar Messages program.

 

How To Deliver A Compelling Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

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What's On the Line?

It's game seven of the NBA Championship. The game is on the line and there are 15 seconds left. Everybody knows that you are going to take the last shot. Do you want the ball?  Of course, everybody will say yes, but do they really mean it? 

 This is exactly the dynamic when we are presented with the opportunity to deliver our Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

 

When Somebody Asks Us

–      “So what makes you special?” or

–      “Why you and not your competition?”

You should have a powerhouse response practiced and ready to go.

I vividly remember the first time I was presented with the opportunity to deliver my Unique Selling Proposition. I was making a sales presentation in a diner in Vernon, CA. The prospect patiently listened as I went through all my features and benefits. When I was done, he moved all the papers in front of us to the side and asked, “So what makes you so special?” He was clearly challenging me.  

Had I not learned the magical USP formula I probably would have had to excuse myself and change my underwear.  But, I was ready. In fact, it was like everything was slow motion. I excitedly said to myself, “Oh my God, this guy is asking for my Unique Selling Proposition.” I was so fired up I could barely contain myself. I can honestly say I hit it out of the park. I know because the prospect just smiled when I was finished. He knew I had risen to the challenge. 

Here is how I did it. I used my proven USP formula. Master the formula and you are 90% of the way there. There are five steps to the formula:

–      Deliver the Introductory Command Language 

–      Explain Your Services in a Unique way

–      Highlight Your Best Results

–      Showcase Your personal Uniqueness

–      Close Strong with a Power Wrap up

 

                                                     Command Language 

 

I immediately took control of the conversation by firmly stating my command language. “I am glad you asked me that. What makes me unique are my services, my results and me personally.” 

You must take control with command language in the start of your unique selling proposition. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Use that exact phrase. It works. 

 

Our Services 

This part should be easy. What are you selling? The key here is to position your products and services in a way that suggests you are offering something that is, at least, somewhat select. Do not put pressure on yourself to come up with something that is a class of one (i.e. You are the ONLY one that is offering it). Chances are, unless you have something special like a proprietary algorithm or recipe you will have competitors. The key is to phrase your offering in such a way that it sounds that you are in a select class of a few people who do what you do or sell what you sell.

Example: “We do one thing and one thing only – we  sell life insurance. And we can do three very unique things with our products:

–      Protect against catastrophic loss

–      Estate planning

–      Wealth creation

While other life insurance salespeople shy away from the word ‘insurance', we embrace it because of what we have been able to do with our products for our clients.

Be passionate about what you sell. If you are not, why should anyone else be?

Our Results 

There are two keys here:

–      Third party social proof

–      Monetization

People don't want to hear platitudes like, “we are great at customer service.” Everybody says this. People want independent, third party social proof that you can do what you say you can do. In other words, verifiable proof that what you say you can do for them you have already done for someone else. Statistics, case studies, references that you can point them to.

Oftentimes, the most compelling evidence is monetized results. (e.g. “Because of what we did our client made X or saved Y.”) Whenever possible, phrase your evidence in terms of money made or dollar saved.

 Example: “Our results speak for themselves. We recently had a client come to us who had a judgment entered against him. We filed a post judgment motion based upon some new case law and we were able to get the judgment overturned. “

 

 And Lastly, Me Personally 

This is hard for a lot of people. It requires some outright bragging. Before people buy products or services they buy personality and ideas. They want to know about YOU. Why are YOU so special.

There is a difference between bragging and sharing. You can share the best parts about you without coming across as an arrogant jerk. It is all in the delivery. 

 Example: “I pride myself on integrity. For example, everything I am selling you I own myself. If I am going to sell you a product I better believe in it enough to buy it for me and my family.”

 

Closing Power Language 

Ever heard that expression, “Put that in your pipe and smoke it!?” If not, it is another way of saying “Boom!” 

The closing power language is all about putting an exclamation point on your message. Just like your opening is about sending the message, “I am ready for this and accept your challenge” the closing is about telling the prospect (In a respectful way), “I told you I was ready.”

Example: “So, again, what makes me unique are my services, my results and me personally.”

No, that is not a typo. The closing language is identical to the opening language. The only differences are the purpose and tone.

 

What To Do Next

And then, shut up. Not easy, but you must for dramatic effect. You are effectively saying, “The ball is in your court now. What’s the next move?” Are you ready to move forward? 

Here is my challenge to you. Draft your own uniqueness statement using the above formula and take it out for a test drive. I would love for you to see first hand just how powerful it can be.

If you would like more help crafting a powerful Uniqueness Statement check out Creating Million-Dollar Messages.

 

How to Create a Memorable Elevator Pitch

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If you like most of your competitors and freeze up when says to you:

     – “So, what do you do?”

     – “Please tell us about yourself”

– Why don't you introduce yourself to the group”

It is amazing how many people are ill-prepared to introduce themselves to others.

Think about this: A first impression flips back and fourth 11 times in the first five seconds and your first impression is more important then the next five combined.  You can see just how critical it is that you are in charge in those first few seconds when meeting someone new. How you conduct yourself will greatly influence the rest of your interaction with those you are with in that moment and quite possibly determine the fate of the relationship going forward.

A good elevator pitch could be the difference between, “This person is sharp and I want to get to know him/her” and “This person is a dud and I gotta get out of here ASAP!”

So, here is my question to you, “How good is your elevator pitch?”

If the answer is, Not so good” I have good news. Below is a proven formula for delivering a lights out elevator.

 

Step One-Introduction 

This is your name, rank and serial number (i.e. Who you are? Who you are with? What is your title?) 

Example: “Hi, my name is Tim O’Brien. I am a partner with law firm of Johnson and Smith. We are a twenty person firm in downtown Los Angeles. ”   

 

Step Two-Specialization 

This is where you tell your audience what it is you do. Be specific and concise. If you sell insurance, say I sell insurance. I find so many people who try to be all things to all people. Be direct. And be proud of what you do. If you are not, why should they be? 

Example: We specialize in life insurance. There are three things I can help you do with life insurance: A, B and C.  

 

Step Three -Clients 

There are two types of buyers in the world: Those who have the guts to make decisions based upon their own instincts and those who are followers. Some need validation from someone else before deciding. 

This section is used to give credentials to yourself. When you share your client list you are effectively saying, “Look who trusts me. Therefore, you should too.” 

Avoid broad generalizations such as, “We represent everyone from mom and pops to Fortune 500 companies.”  Be specific and give the most recognized companies. But avoid long string responses. You do not need to list 10 companies, three is enough. If you don’t have clients, sell the company’s/team’s.  

Example: We represent many companies in the tech space such as Google, Twitter, and Spotify.  

 

Step Four-Benefit 

This is where you provide an example of just how talented you are. Don’t get bogged down in trying to be too original. Being authentic is good enough. 

Think monetization and third-party validation. Your example should illustrate how you made or saved someone or some company money. Make sure your evidence can be objectively verified by a third-party. If your prospect called him/them would they respond without hesitation exactly as you represented? Do not misrepresent what you have done. That is a surefire way to lose all trust. 

Example: We recently had a client come to us who had a judgment entered against him. We filed a post-judgment motion based upon some new case law and we were able to get the judgment overturned.   

 

Step Five-Action Steps

This is the number one reason most people’s 15 second elevator pitch is weak. There is no follow through. There are only four action steps you can take: 

– Ask for the business

– Connect them to someone else

– Invite the person to coffee to explore further how you might be able to help each other 

– Intentional inaction- which means you run through all three possible steps and none apply or work so you intentionally do nothing with the connection you have made. Nonetheless, it was networking and good practice.

Most people are guilty of Unintentional inaction. To borrow a phrase from my mom, “Most people in these situations are dead from the neck up.” They do nothing and that is why they get nothing from the exchange. Do you want results? Drive the results you want. You must take charge of the interaction in order to get what you want out of it.

Example: Wow! Sounds like you could have an issue with income taxes. If you’d like, I could look over your policies and see where there might be some gaps. Would you be interested? 

If you follow this easy five-step formula, you will be able to make a lasting impression on everyone you meet.

The only difference between you being a superstar at delivering your elevator pitch and being a dud is your commitment to:

– Sitting down and writing out your elevator pitch

– Memorizing it

– Practicing it over and over again until it flows naturally

Click here to learn more about our high impact Creating Million-Dollar Messages program!