As a business owner or corporate executive, you’re always looking for ways to be more creative and innovative to find fresh new ideas to make your next sales or marketing campaign a success. In an attempt to determine how great thinkers achieve their great outcomes, British marketing consultant Simon Sinek believes that he has stumbled upon a simple method to codify the way innovators think. He calls it the Golden Circle. In the YouTube video below he shows why it pays to be cynical.

Thank you to Ian Faulkner for providing this link, it’s much appreciated!

Cancer kills you one cell at a time, so does a toxic employee. This is a friendly reminder that if you have a bushel full of apples and you place one bad apple in it – the whole bushel goes bad, not the other way around.

Whenever you have a ‘problem’ employee you need to pull the plug as soon as possible.

I say this because as the new financial year starts, you need to think of new beginnings.

New year, new destiny.

Sometimes tough decisions need to be made. Rewards go to those business people who are brave and courageous to stick to their vision, plans and goals.

If you have a contrary, toxic employee – you know it.

The question is “What are you going to do about it?”

This is an example of a superbly written explanation. It’s direct, to the point and reinforces why Qantas remains the safest airline in the world.

I teach Killer Kopywriting to business people and will make sure they read this as a perfect case study example.

I wasn’t affected during this period, but I have to be honest – I would rather be safe than sorry. Even if the other carriers were flying without incident.

Hindsight is always 20-20. I like the fact that Qantas stood their ground and stuck to their principles.

SAFETY FIRST.

According to a recent Bankwest Business Trends Report, there were 42,000 more start-ups, a 3.3% increase in the number of people running their own business in 2010 than there were in 2009.

The report states this is the strongest level of start-up growth seen in almost a decade, with 1.3 million Australians now running their own business, accounting for 11.5% of employed Australians.

The report also reveals that there are more men than women running their own business. However, the strongest growth has come from female entrepreneurs. The Bankwest Report explains “We have found that over the past year, the growth rates for women running a business are almost double compared to men and over a five year period, the growth rates for women are more than triple that of men.” Women entrepreneurs are increasingly choosing to work for themselves for the added flexibility, in addition to the ease with which one can now work from home.

So, you’d think you’re in good company…

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In a previous blog post, I explained how to use a promotional product to add value to your clients, prospects and suspects. I know this is an example of antimimeticisomorphism that takes a while to get a grasp of, which is why I wanted to show you an alternative, called Permacharts, shown below.

The charts themselves are self-explanatory, but which ones can help your clients?

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One of the foundational principles of Exponential Marketing is creating value for your suspects, prospects and clients. Easier said than done. That’s why I wanted to remind you of a short YouTube video I created a few years ago that shows you how it can be done quickly, easily and inexpensively. All you need is to have an open mind to seek out and find ideas like this.

There is a four step process everyone goes through as they make a purchase.

1. Consider – Before anyone makes a decision, they must consider this opportunity. Most salespeople skip this step to their detriment.
2. Decision – This is when the ‘sale’ takes place. However, most ineffective salespeople skip the consideration stage and try to force the decision that was never even considered.
3. Commit – Without a commitment, a sale is not a sale. As many as 20 to 40% of sales are lost due to a lack of commitment requested of the purchaser.
4. Resolve – Making sure the commitment is followed up and followed through to its conclusion to ensure the sales is completed. Up to 10% of sales are left unattended and therefore lost.

Consider – or lack thereof is the number one source of lost sales, by a long shot. Anecdotally, as many as 4 out 5 sales are lost because the prospects never considered the offer being presented in the first place. Without it, there is no decision to be made.

So how does one go about having people consider their offer or proposal? Read More »»

What the heck is antimimeticisomorphism?!?!

Simply stated, it’s the opposite of mimetic isomorphism – an academic term that explains what we all know to be true. “Monkey see, monkey do.”

As industries mature, competitors increasingly use the same strategies and techniques to market, sell and deliver their products – in effect commoditising them.

Antimimeticisomorphism means doing the opposite.

Not just to be different, but to be special, out-of-the-ordinary with a PURPOSE.

Because it’s a mindset, it takes time to adopt the ability to see and create boundless opportunities and uncover hidden assets within your business, career or life.

It’s what makes the super successful and ultra wealthy who they are.

EXTRA-ORDINARY.

Because the alternative is – well ORDINARY.

Want to learn more about antimimeticisomorphism?

You can Google it and you’ll find thousands of listings – all pointing to me.

I have two websites dedicated to antimimeticisomorphism, the first is the site that explains antimimeticisomorphism and the second are examples of antimimeticisomorphism.

On my Personal Coaching Blog, I have a whole category of antimimeticisomorphism examples.

As you can see, this is a foundational element of my Exponential Coaching Philosophy.

Have a look around and enjoy the discovery process – you’ll quickly realise that the more fun you have, the better your results will be!

In the previous post on this subject, we discussed the concept of branding. I have a question for you – where did HMV, the record company’s name come from?

If you guessed His Master’s Voice, you’re right.

If you are old enough to remember the cute image of the terrier looking INTO a gramophone/phonograph.

That was a PRICELESS image that an Exponential Marketer would KEEP USING over and over again – BECAUSE it works – it captures the essence of the message in ONE VISUAL.

Sound so well reproduced a dog can’t distinsguish it from his master’s.

Brilliant.

When you come across something THAT brilliant – KEEP USING IT – FOREVER…

Just because you might get tired of it – your prospects won’t.

There was an Exponential Marketer in the US who would take successful campaigns that were abandoned by companies when they wanted to switch to the next ‘big thing’ and he’s just ask for permission to use their concept – 9 out of 10 agreed – to their utter detriment.

They had made ALL the investment and he got ALL the rewards for his clients.

BRILLIANT strategy – TOTALLY exponential.

When you see someone take a concept from Bland to Brand and they abandon it – JUMP ON TO IT!!!

Don’t steal it – that’s wrong, but jump onto the concept!

I recently recorded a 1-hour Momentum MasterMind Session for our Business Mastery Platinum Program Members called “Bland to Brand”. It was a powerful session that highlighted the 8 mistakes people make naming their business and the 19 Steps to Naming Your Business. If you’d like to get your hands on this program, give us a call.

Part of the discussion involved the persona that we create within the branding exercise…

I was accepting invitations from people to link to me on LinkedIn.com. and was amazed at the wide variety of photos people have on their profiles… I am not sure if they know what it does for or against them.

You be the judge.

Which one is the IT Specialist?

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You never get a second chance to make a first impression. That’s why branding is so important. In today’s post we’re going to take a close look at YOU… The image you project to the world – your suspects and prospects.

What Image Do You Project To Prospects And Clients?

• Read More »»

If you’ve been transfixed by the catastrophic events in Japan, you’ve seen and heard the media’s insatiable appetite for fear mongering.

I heard a quote ” Facts Whisper, Fear Screams” that I thought was appropriate and timely.

I am staging my Killer Kopywriting Workshop this weekend in Sydney – if you want to attend, give us a call on 0421 516 689.

Anyway, as I prepare my content for the workshop, I am going to include examples from the Japanese tragedy because so many lessons can be learned.

First, the misinformation and need for NEGATIVE propaganda prevails all media – we know that “STORM WARNING” gets more attention than “ANOTHER NICE DAY”…

But the fear mongering has reached a climax in recent times. Whenever there is doubt, a extreme, provocative word will be used rather than its more realistic, subdued alternative.

Why this is important is because with your business marketing , you need to do the same – using your own ethical and moral compass to guide you.

Example #1: Japanese Radiation Fears

We’ve recently heard or read the headlines that are a variation of this: “Radioactive traces have been found in Japanese milk“.

What about this headline…? ”

Radioactive Milk Only A Danger After 58,000 Glasses

I prefer the second one – don’t you?

Have a read of the article for an outstanding example of Killer Kopywriting.

Example #2: Nuclear Reactor Explosion and Vaseline

William Tucker published a book called Terrestrial Energy: How Nuclear Power Will Lead the Green Revolution and End America’s Long Energy Odyssey.

In it, he adroitly explains nuclear power with a brilliant analogy to Vaseline?

“Nuclear Power is it prohibitively dangerous? Is a nuclear reactor an atomic bomb waiting to explode? And the perennial question — what are we going to do with all that horrible nuclear waste?

Let’s start with the idea that a reactor can explode. The next time someone asks you this, answer them, “Do you have a jar of Vaseline athome in your medicine cabinet? And if so, do you lie awake at night worrying that it’s going to explode like a jar of napalm and set your house on fire?”

Look on the side of the Vaseline jar. It says “petroleum jelly.” It’s made out from oil. What is napalm? It is jellied gasoline. Can’t Vaseline blow up like napalm? Obviously not. But why? Because they contain different fractions of petroleum with different volatilities.

It’s the same with uranium. There are two types of uranium — “isotopes,” as we say. (They have different numbers of neutrons.) U-238 (238 neutrons) makes up 99.3 percent of the natural ore. It sheds a couple of protons occasionally but its half-life is 5 billion years and it’s relatively harmless. (The longer the half-life, the less “radioactive” an element is.) Uranium-235 is the powerhouse. It can split in half — “fission” — releasing huge amounts of energy. But U-235 constitutes only 0.7 percent of the natural ore. It’s so sparse it can’t undergo the “chain reaction” that leads one breakdown of an atom to produce others.

As a result, in order to set of a chain reaction you have to “enrich” the U-235 to a higher percentage than the natural ore. This is extremely difficult because it can’t be done chemically — they both have the same chemical properties. Instead, you have to build a factory the size of a Ford plant and separate them by various techniques such as running them through magnetic fields or whipping them around in centrifuges. That’s what we did in the Manhattan Project.

But there are different degrees of enrichment. In order to produce the nice calm chain reaction you get in a nuclear reactor — enough heat to boil water — you enrich the U-235 from 0.7 to 3 percent. That’s reasonably doable. In order to enrich up to bomb-grade material, however, you have to enrich to — can you guess? — 90 percent. That takes a long, long time and a lot of work. The Iranians have been trying to do it for years and haven’t gotten very far.

But that’s the reason a nuclear power plant can’t blow up like a bomb. It’s like the jar of Vaseline in your medicine cabinet — there’s not nearly enough of the key ingredient in there to explode.

It’s also the reason why it’s much more difficult to build a nuclear weapon than most people imagine.”

Now if you can communicate with the same level of clarity as Mr Tucker has demonstrated you’re set!

If not, you should seriously consider attending our Killer Kopywriting Workshop – your business’ future depends on it whether you want to admit it to yourself or not.

Today’s post will make you laugh. They were sent to me by David Cordover, from Chess Kids. Chess Kids provides the opportunity for all children to Build their Mental Muscles™ by learning and playing chess. It’s a great introduction to a special series of blog posts on branding that I have lined up for you.

Have a good chuckle!

Be careful in this financial storm!

"... Can you hear me now?"

Hopefully this was LAST year

This could be the logo for 2008

Ford = Fix Or Repair Daily

Even the top end of the market has been affected!

What goes down must come up, but when?

Was 3M, now downgraded to 2M

The economic crisis has taken a bite out of everything!

Today’s post is one of those topics that I deal with on a regular basis but usually to myself… Until something pushes me to the edge and I have to get on my ‘soap box’ to relieve the built up frustration and annoyance I feel BECAUSE it’s preventable.

This week, I overheard someone at the dentist office say “A friend of mine has dentures and she says Read More »»

One of the foundational principles of Exponential Mindset Thinking™ is the 1 Percent Improvement Doctrine™. It seems simple enough as the videos below explain, but here’s the real challenge – most people, believe it or not don’t have the discipline to follow through. Even though it takes only minutes a day to essentially achieve their wildest dreams, they let themselves down – many within less than a week most within the first month.

I know how surprising that sounds, but that’s what I want to focus on for today – the fact that MOST don’t follow through means that when you do, you’ll get the lion’s share of the rewards.

That’s because no one else is doing it.

Read More »»

You be the judge if one idea can be worth $50,000.

Everyone involved in direct mail wants to increase response rates. I came across a blog post that explains how you can significantly increase direct mail response rates. I’ve used this strategy countless times. Of course you don’t want to overdo using post it notes as the video below confirms.

If you could do just one of these things a day, imagine what would be possible:

1. Write a new short blog post about something you saw through Google Alerts.
2. Post a useful comment on a forum or blog that your perfect customers commonly frequent.
3. Send a Top 10 list or helpful article to your clients and prospects.
4. Make one phone call to a new buyer to thank them for their business. Read More »»

When I got into this industry, I have to admit I was “naive”. I actually believed there were enough people out there who wanted to learn respectable and legitimate strategies to become successful.

What I keep seeing however are deluded people who keep getting attracted to the “get rich quick schemes about how to make money in your underpants working from home so you can make money while you sleep”.

What has me disheartened this week is that I got emails from 3 different people and together the message came through to me loud and clear.

MOST people want the easy way out.

MOST people don’t want the responsibility that goes with success.

MOST people aren’t open to constructive criticism.

MOST people when all is said and done, are frankly lazy.

MOST people have no willpower.

MOST people will never truly succeed to a point where peace and serenity prevails. Read More »»

Decision making is one of those concepts that many people try to simplify when it fact it’s complex and must be treated in a multi-dimensional manner. There are many forces in play and today, I wanted to summarise a few cognitive biases that are involved. By knowing these exist, you can start to make better decisions.

1. Sunk Cost Bias: Escalate the commitment of previous time, effort and money. Cutting your losses is harder than it appears. Trying to calculate marginal costs (forgetting about what’s already been spent) is a lot harder than it appears. Gamblers are notorious for abusing this bias when they are down on their luck. Sports teams will keep playing top salaried players even though they under perform lower paid players. Everest climbers have what’s called the turn around rule (when it gets too dangerous to continue) yet many who die ignored their own safety rule.
2. Over confidence Bias: We are all systematically over-confident, hopeful and enthusiastic. When asked, 80% of people will answer that they are above average in something when statistically it’s impossible.
3. Recency Effect Bias: An over reliance on recent events and activities will sway your decision making – much like a hot streak in sports or gambling.

There isn’t ONE thing that affect decision making, but a multiplicity of biases. On Mount Everest people die when they make a bad decision.

In business, the same is true. 80% of bankruptcies are due to management incompetence = poor decision making. The trouble is that unless you are aware of the REASONS for the mistakes, they will be repeated over and over and over again.

Today’s post is one of the many steps you need to make to improve your decision making. It’s always going to be a work-in-progress because there is NO silver bullet or perfect decision making process or ‘system’.

You have to find your optimal strategies to counteract biases and other obstacles.

Just remember you’re aiming for an optimal solution – not a perfect one.

That means the best solution “under the circumstances”…