Propose?

So I decided I'm going to write two grant proposals this week. One for my business idea and one for my saving the world idea. One i'll pimp out to the EPA and Obama and the other to venture capitalist. The end.

Value

Value, pretty simply, I think we can sum it up with 'getting something for nothing' or perhaps 'getting more than you paid for.' I would say we're coming full circle as a society. Assuming we don't destroy ourselves we're getting back to the one on one approach and the build a better product mentality, which for the longest time has been overtaken by the get rich quick mentality. As we see the balance of power shift from all powerful America to all powerful China and wealth being distributed amongst the planet, perhaps the first time in history, just having a reputation isn't good enough. Our focus should now be shifting to what gives value. Anyone can buy an mp3 player, from anywhere in the world, so why buy one thats 2 times the money in america when you get the same face to face time you do with someone from China. Below is a nice article I didn't ask permission to reprint or any of that crap (I mean seriously if you need to have your balls stroked every time someone wants to recreate your material you need a hobby). Enjoy.

Henry Ford said, "Wealth, like happiness, is never attained when sought after directly. It comes as a by-product of providing a useful service."

In other words, when you focus on providing value, people respond. I've spoken with many new, small business owners who wear many hats. While they understand their product or service completely, they struggle with the sales process.

It seems they have preconceived ideas based on their own experiences of salespeople. You know the ones - they're dressed to the nines, have nice (though probably large) jewelry, are aggressive, pushy, and loud. Most of the time, they're the last person you care to deal with. However, they're also intimidating, almost larger than life.

Where do you think the phrase, ‘buyer's remorse' came from? It came from people who were pressured into buying something they really didn't want or need.

No wonder these small business owners feel trepidation!

Well, fear not. The key is in your focus. When you focus on adding value, on providing a useful service, people will perceive you as someone who cares about them. Wouldn't you rather do business with someone who was focused on making your life or business better?

So, how to make that happen. consider this:

1. You started your business because you thought you had a product or service that would benefit other people, or other businesses.

2. You need to get that message out.

3. You don't like dealing with pushy, aggressive salespeople who are only interested in making the sale, so you don't want to be that kind of salesperson.

4. You have to find those people/businesses who can benefit from your product/service.

Now that we've laid the foundation, there are three simple principles to follow:

1. Put yourself in front of people. this includes the people in your circles of influence.

Your first circle includes: Friends, family, parents of your children's schoolmates and teammates, and fellow church/synagogue members.

Your next circle includes: People you grew up with, went to college with, lived near if you've moved during your adult years, previous clients, and old co-workers. As you can see, this circle is removed a bit. That's okay. Remember, even if they can't use your product or service, they may know someone who can.

Create circles: Attend local networking events, join a business referral group, join local associations relevant to your business, join some sort of social action group like kiwanis or rotary, join internet communities.

1. In the circles you've created, set your goals on learning as much as you can about as many people as you can. Show genuine interest in them. When you are interested in others, they'll be interested in you. If you can help them solve a problem, do it; even if it means pointing them toward someone else's product or service. You'll be seen as someone who adds value.

2. Educate - don't sell. Assume that the person you are talking to doesn't have a need for what you have to offer. They simply want to get to know you better. When people ask you about your business, explain it, don't try to sell them on your product or service. Emphasize the benefits, not the features - what is the value of your product/service. Speak about your business with the passion you truly feel for it. Passion is contagious!

If you follow these three principles, your focus will be on adding value. This will resonate with people. Even if they have no need for your product or service, chances are they know someone who does. You'll find business you weren't even expecting!

Copyright© 2007 Seize This Day Coaching

Influencer: The Power to Change Anything

I got this book on audio and I have to say its awesome. I suggest you take a look. If you look at the bottom of this post there is a link to the googlebooks version of it. Its pretty much a chicken soup for the soul type deal, except instead of giving you reasons why you shouldn't feel bad about yourself since your problems primarily extend from your self-absorbed narcissistic nature, it gives you stories on how you can suck less at life and perhaps take responsibility for your path in life and stop being a pain in the ass. Check out the review below:

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)

This is an interesting, easy-to-read guide toward building one's ability to influence others and to thereby create constructive change. Building upon the work of Albert Bandura, Stanley Milgram, and other psychologists who specialized in social learning theory, the authors of Influencer: The Power to Change Anything went hunting for people, all over the world, who were able to accomplish major tasks by influencing people to change their behavior. The authors then analyzed what these expert influencers did, so as to give the reader ideas on how to exert influence in more effective ways. The authors also included several examples of major efforts to bring about change, that failed dramatically, and gave their view of what was missing in those change campaigns.

So, what did the authors find? Most persistent problems that seem immune to change efforts, have one, or both, of two factors in common: the people involved do not feel capable of making the change; the people involved do not feel that the proposed change would be an improvement. In other words, the factors are ability and motivation. The authors also looked at three different levels, for each problem: the individual, the social group, the environment of the situation. Thus, if you want to influence people to make a change, there are six basic loci for change input: individual ability (i.e., skill training), individual motivation (e.g., incentives), group ability (e.g., increase networking), group motivation (e.g., modeling and healthy competition), environmental assets (e.g., make the necessary components more readily available), and environmental feedback (e.g., improve the consequence system for success and for failure).

In order to explain how these six different modes of, or targets for influence, can be affected, the authors use a handful of examples to illustrate what they mean. They keep returning to these examples, and the reader gets to know them well. The two best ones are probably the Delancey Center in California, where oft-convicted drug-abusing felons are helped to step out of that way of living and, with a high success rate (according to this book) become employed, law-abiding, drug-free citizens; and the Carter Center's efforts to eradicate a horrible parasitic infection that was once widespread in Africa and Asia, called the guinea worm. By repeatedly returning to these examples, the reader not only understood the complexity of the approach needed, but also how it was done, without tremendous cost, using all six of the influence factors.

The book is written in a friendly, almost familiar, conversational tone. While that might not fit every non-fiction book, it worked well here, as another example of how to present information in a listener-friendly manner. It was also quite clear that the authors believe in what they say, passionately.

However, as can happen when researchers write about their theories, in a passionate way, this book seems to promise more than it actually delivers. I am a clinical psychologist, and I was particularly interested in one of the examples used, about a man named Henry, who wanted desperately to lose weight. Unfortunately, this ended up being the weakest, least-detailed example of the bunch. I ended up understanding much more about how to eradicate guinea worm infestations, than how to help Henry shed some pounds. The authors come out of a business orientation, and they did not seem sure on how to apply their methods to an individual with a personal problem. They tried, but they succeeded much less on dealing with Henry than on how to kill parasites.

I must say, though, that I think reading this book might end up being very valuable to me. It reminded me of a book that I read, written by a professor of mine, Sandor Brent, called Psychological and Social Structures. When I read that book, I thought it was so abstract and theoretical that I would never find its ideas to be meaningful or useful. Over time, though, I kept seeing examples of Dr. Brent's ideas play out in front of me, in politics and in the agency where I work. Whenever a process changed, or new staff joined a team, or when an election was held, or a new law put in place, I could see many of Dr. Brent's concepts unfolding and playing out. There is some value in Influencer: The Power to Change Anything and, like Psychological and Social Structures, I think that I will keep coming back to Influencer: The Power to Change Anything and some of its ideas, and finding new ways to apply what was presented.

Google Books