Archive | June, 2018

Forewarned is forearmed, and by knowing in advance what can stop you from realizing your goals, you’ll be able to do what’s necessary to overcome these obstacles and move straight through to victory.

The first obstacle is engaging in limiting beliefs. Need I say more? Well, maybe…

If we get what we think about, and we think we don’t have what it takes to accomplish something, what happens? We don’t accomplish it. If we believe that we don’t deserve success, do we get it? Not likely. And if we’re always being negative, thinking negative, speaking negative, what happens? Nothing good.

We achieve what we believe. Period. Not what we hope for, desire, wish for, etc. There used to be a computer expression – garbage in, garbage out. And it’s the same way with your beliefs – bad thoughts in, bad results out.

Whatever it takes, whatever you’ve got to do, find a way to lose the limiting beliefs and replace them with positive, boundless limitless thoughts of success.

The second obstacle to success? It’s giving up too soon. There is a quote I like…

You’ve no doubt heard the story of the man who mined for gold and gave up just inches shy of hitting the mother lode. It’s the same way in anything – every time you give up, you lose. Wayne Gretsky said: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

You’ve got to keep shooting, keep moving towards your goal, because it is only through quitting that you can fail.

If you do not quit, you cannot fail because you are not done yet.

As Winston Churchill said, “Never, never, never, never give up.”

Follow this timeless wisdom in your business and you will overcome obstacles every day.

So you’ve got a goal to build your Internet business to a certain level by a certain time frame. You do have that goal, correct? If not, you might want to stop reading for a moment and make that goal right now before you proceed any further. After all…

Now then, you’ve got your goal – so what else do you need to succeed? Perhaps the following story will give you the clue…

On the tough South Side of Chicago back in 1908, there lived a six year old boy and his widowed mother. Money was tight, so this boy (we’ll call him W.) got a job selling newspapers. The problem was all the older kids took over the good corners for selling papers. They yelled louder than W. could, and they threatened W. with a beating if he tried to sell his papers anywhere near them.

But W. had already purchased a stack of papers to resell, and if he didn’t sell them he’d be out his pennies. So what did he do? What would you have done if you were 6 and couldn’t sell your papers where the other boys sold theirs?

You guessed it – he looked for a different location. Not a better corner – those were all taken. Instead, he remembered this restaurant he and him mom often walked past. It was called Hoelle’s Restaurant, and it was always packed. Of course to W. going inside all by himself was frightening, as he’d never been in a fancy restaurant in his life. He was scared and nervous, so before he could talk himself out of it, he hurriedly walked inside and made a lucky sale at the very first table, and then more sales at the second and the third tables. On his way to the fourth table, Mr. Hoelle grabbed W. and roughly shoved him out the front door.

So what do you suppose W. did? He gave up and went someplace else, right? Actually, no. He waited until Mr. Hoelle wasn’t looking and walked right back in. The customer at the fourth table was so pleased with W.’s gumption that he paid for the paper and gave W. and extra dime before Mr. Hoelle pushed W. back out the door again.

Now, most 6 year olds would be satisfied with selling four papers and getting a tip besides. But not W. He walked right back in and resumed selling again. By now nearly the entire restaurant was rooting for him, and when Mr. Hoelle tried to escort him back out one of the customers whispered to let him be, which Mr. Hoelle begrudgingly did. About 5 minutes later, W. had sold all of his papers.

The next evening? W. was back, and Mr. Hoelle was ready to give him the bum’s rush out the front door. But no sooner had Mr. Hoelle pushed W. out the door, than W. popped right back in again. Throwing up his hands Mr. Hoelle said, “What’s the use?” and later the two became great friends.

So who was W.? None other than W. Clement Stone who would go on to turn $100 into millions and be the proponent of “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. He also gave $275 million to charity over the course of his 100 year life.

So what is it that you need to succeed? Certainly you need a goal, and you also need the same persistence and perseverance that W. Clement Stone displayed as a frightened but determined 6 year old boy.

And that’s not all we can learn from 6 year old W. His motivation was high because he and his mother needed the money. He’d already invested his pennies in buying the newspapers, and there was no refund for unsold papers.

W. was afraid to enter the restaurant but he pushed right through that fear before it could get the best of him. He knew he might get embarrassed by going back into the restaurant after being thrown out, but he did it anyway because he was determined to sell those papers. W. knew that achieving the goal was more important than the risk of being laughed at.

And he learned what to say by listening to the older boys. Young W. couldn’t even read the papers he was selling, but by repeating what the other boys said in a softer voice, he quickly learned the technique for selling papers in restaurants.

He had the motivation, the determination, the skills and persistence. Coupled with his goal, it was almost impossible for him to fail.

Just think – if that 6 year old boy could do all that on his first day of selling newspapers – what can you do today?

There is perhaps nothing so powerful in the sales process as social validation. Testimonials provide the third party proof the prospect needs to gently coax their hearts, minds and wallets open. But as with anything else, the more we use a persuasion technique, the less effective it can become unless we continue to change it and tweak it by degrees, allowing it to evolve with the times and temperaments of our customers.

That is why you may want to spice up your testimonials with one or more of these useful suggestions:

Be bold. While it might be tempting to showcase only a handful of your best reviews, if you have pages upon pages of testimonials then by all means build yourself a “bragging wall” of them on your website. Then sprinkle the link throughout all of your messages with the anchor text, “This product has over 120 reviews” or “See what 120 of our best customers have to say about product x.”

Remove all doubt. Your customers know that you determine what appears on your website, so of course they expect that you’re only going to use the most glowing of testimonials. But what if there are reviews for your product on other sites not controlled by you? Then by all means let your prospects and customers know this. There is no better proof that your product does what it says it will do than unbiased third parties on other sites raving about it.

Be real. Polishing, tweaking, testing and adjusting your sales letter for maximum conversions is the norm, but think twice before you correct that testimonial. Misspellings, poor English and typos can act as proof positive that your testimonials do indeed come from real people.

Consider using bad reviews, too. Sure, this one feels risky, but it can actually boost your credibility. Choosing the right negative testimonial says that you’re honest, and it can even highlight a selling point of your product or service. For example, let’s say you’re an auto mechanic and you receive a testimonial that says something like, “These guys fixed the wrong thing on my car, but when they realized their mistake they made it right and didn’t charge me a thing.” By using this testimonial you’re telling prospects that:

a) You’re human and you can make a mistake (they already knew this but they’re glad to hear you admit it)

b) If you do screw up you’ll fix it at your own expense

c) You’re honest – and how often do people find a mechanic they know they can trust?

Full names only. We’ve all seen those testimonials that use initials instead of names, or first names only. Ideally you only want to use testimonials that give full names plus some other identifying feature, such as that person’s URL or Facebook page. Anything less can lead to doubt in your customers’ minds, and that’s the last thing you want.

Be a name dropper. Have quasi famous people used your service or product? By all means name drop – place their testimonials front and center, along with their credentials, URL’s, job titles, etc.

One last suggestion: Ask your biggest fans to become your advocates. Perhaps you get them to comment on your forum, or even reply to inquires from prospective customers about your service. Allowing prospects to interact with your customers can go a long way in convincing them that you’re the real deal and purchasing your product or service is the best thing for them.