The dynamics of a network are similar to those of a would-be celebrity in Hollywood: Invisibility is a fate far worse than failure. It means that you should always be reaching out to others, over breakfast, lunch, whatever. It means that if one meeting happens to go sour, you have six other engagements lined up just like it the rest of the week. In building a network, remember: Above all, never, ever disappear. Keep your social and conference and event calendar full. As an up-and-comer, you must work hard to remain visible and active among your ever-budding network of friends and contacts.
His formula is not complicated, but it is rigorous. He talks to at least fifty people each day. He spends hours a week walking his company plant talking to employees up and down the ladder. If you send an e-mail to him or his assistant, you can be sure there will be a response within hours. He attributes his success to the blue-collar work ethic and sensibilities he was raised with by his father. About his more starched white-collar colleagues, he once told me that while he had learned what these people know, they would never have an opportunity to learn what he knew. How do I meet everyone I want to meet during the course of a week? Someone once remarked cynically, “I’d have to clone myself to take all the meetings you take.” “Ah, you’re onto something,” I responded. “I don’t clone myself. I clone the event.” Here’s what I mean. A few months ago, I flew into New York for a two-day business stint. There were a number of people I wanted to see: an old client and friend of mine who was the former president of Lego and was now trying to figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, the COO of Broadway Video, with whom I wanted to discuss a new branded entertainment TV show for one of my clients, and a close friend that I hadn’t seen in too long. I had two days, three people I wanted to see, and only one available time slot to see them all. How do you manage a situation like this? I “cloned” the dinner and invited all of them to join me. Each would benefit from knowing the others, and I’d be able to catch up with all of them and perhaps even get some creative input about the new TV show. My friend, who has a fantastic sense of humor, would enjoy the group and add a little levity to what might have been just a stodgy business meeting. I asked my friend to join me a half hour in advance at the hotel I was staying at for a little one-on-one time. And if the details of the project I was discussing with the COO were private, I might schedule a little one-on-one time with him after dinner. The point is I’m constantly looking to include others in whatever I’m doing. It’s good for them, good for me, and good for everyone to broaden their circle of friends. Sometimes I’ll take potential employees for a workout and conduct the interview over a run. As a makeshift staff meeting, I’ll occasionally ask a few employees to share a car ride with me to the airport. I figure out ways to as much as triple my active working day through such multitasking. And, in the process, I’m connecting people from different parts of my “community.” The more new connections you establish, the more opportunities you’ll have to make even more new connections. As Robert Metcalfe, the inventor of Ethernet, says: The value of a network grows proportional to the square of the number of its users. In the case of the Internet, every new computer, every new server, and every new user added expands the possibilities for everyone else who’s already there. The same principle holds true in growing your web of relationships. The bigger it gets, the more attractive it becomes, and the faster it grows. That’s why I say that a network is like a muscle—the more you work it, the bigger it gets. Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time - by Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz “A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.”
― Anthony Trollope Set a goal. Doing business is how you learn business. Selling daily, as a discipline, is the best way to learn. Most successful entrepreneurs make a goal and stick to it, they create benchmarks. A time goal can easily be squandered as you sit and agonize over your websites layout or your copy. Sure you were at your desk for three hours, but what did you sell? Set a goal, go for a certain number of sales or additions to your list. I have a spreadsheet that logs my goals and targets, to tell me how I am doing. I record the number of emails I get on my projects. The spreadsheet automatically tallies my daily and weekly production. I review this each week. If I’m not making my quota, I give myself a talking to and get back on track. But be kind to yourself. If you don’t make your quota one day or one week, forget about it. Get to work on your new week. Don’t give up. The main difference between successful entrepreneurs and unsuccessful entrepreneurs is persistence. There are legions of entrepreneurs who work years and years to build their business. They continue to build because that’s what they are inside, builders. That’s what you are. That’s why you’re reading this blog. Keep building. In the end, that’s the best advice there is D "So how do you manage a cold call?
First, it’s all about attitude. Your attitude. You’re never going to be completely ready to meet new people; there is no perfect moment. Your fears will never be completely quieted, because inviting rejection is never going to be appealing. There are always a hundred reasons to procrastinate. The trick is to just plunge right in. Remember, if you don’t believe you are going to get what you want from the call, you probably won’t. So, in the words of Caddy Shack, “Be the ball.” You have to envision yourself winning to win. And second, cold calls are for suckers. I don’t call cold—ever. I’ve created strategies that ensure every call I make is a warm one. In fifteen seconds, I used my four rules for what I call warm calling: 1) Convey credibility by mentioning a familiar person or institution—in this case, John, Jeff, and WebMD. 2) State your value proposition: Jeff’s new product would help Serge sell his new products. 3) Impart urgency and convenience by being prepared to do whatever it takes whenever it takes to meet the other person on his or her own terms. 4) Be prepared to offer a compromise that secures a definite follow-up at a minimum. Here are some of the rules I follow fleshed out in more detail: 1. Draft off a reference. The reason a cold call feels like torture was set out in vivid detail fifty or so years ago in an advertisement, recalled by Harvey Macka, in his book Swim with the Sharks. It pictures a corporate killjoy facing the reader, who is cast in the role of the salesman. The killjoy says: I don’t know who you are. I don’t know your company. I don’t know what your company stands for. I don’t know your company’s customers. I don’t know you company’s products. I don’t know your company’s reputation. Now—what was it you wanted to sell me? You can see the total lack of credibility one has when making a cold call. Credibility is the first thing you want to establish in any interaction, and ultimately, no one will buy from you unless you establish trust. Having a mutual friend or even acquaintance will immediately make you stand out from the other anonymous individuals vying for a piece of someone’s time. 2. State your value. Acquiring a reference or institution to draft off of is only a starting point. It will help you get your foot in the door. Once you have someone’s commitment to hear you out for thirty seconds, you’ll need to be prepared to deliver a high-value proposition. You’ve got very little time to articulate why that person should not try to get off the phone as quickly as possible. Remember, it’s all about them. What can you do for them? 3. Talk a little, say a lot. Make it quick, convenient, and definitive. You want to impart both a sense of urgency and a sense of convenience. Instead of closing with “We should get together some time soon,” I like to finalize with something like “I’m going to be in town next week. How about lunch on Tuesday? I know this is going to be important for both of us, so I’ll make time no matter what.” 4. Offer a compromise. In any informal negotiation, you go big at the outset, leaving room for compromise and the ability to ratchet down for an easier close. I closed my pitch to Serge by suggesting that even if he didn’t want to hear anything about digital content, I’d love to get together with him just to meet, given our mutual friend’s admiration and respect." Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz You make money when you buy, not when you sell. Anyone can give something away for free. Anyone can promise anything a customer asks, anyone can give free freight. There is no skill, no art, and no value, and therefore no profit in things anyone can do. The art is in selling what makes you unique. You want to create a transaction that makes both parties feel they have won. Start Now. Your world needs action. D “If you've got a dollar and you spend 29 cents on a loaf of bread, you've got 71 cents left; But if you've got seventeen grand and you spend 29 cents on a loaf of bread, you've still got seventeen grand. There's a math lesson for you.”
― Steve Martin Love this quote. Think about it. Discipline matters on cash flow, particularly where money is tight. You will want to spend the extra, but remember that you are generating money from the system you have the products you sell, from what you already own, and since you need money to grow, you need to spend less on things that do not generate income. For every dollar you spend you need what you bought to make two dollars or more. You have to keep the machine running. Once you are ahead, put some aside for any future issues or growth, returns, system problems, etc. Always be looking for new opportunities, and always look for a way to make more and spend less. The best solution is something that you can make that is low cost to produce and low cost to ship and most importantly, people want. You can make more money, you can find new things to sell, but you cannot get more time, it is infinitely valuable. To create something that takes hours to create and then sell for pennies is to destroy any chance you have. Value your time. D You can start a new business as a consultant in about one day, if not sooner.
Follow these two basic rules: 1. Pick something specific as opposed to something general. Don’t be a “business consultant” or a “life coach”—get specific about what you can really do for someone. 2. No one values a $15-an-hour consultant, so do not underprice your service. Since you probably won’t have forty hours of billable work every week, charge at least $100 an hour or a comparable fixed rate for the benefit you provide. The Template OPENING FOR BUSINESS* I will help clients _________. After hiring me, they will receive [core benefit + secondary benefit]. I will charge $xxx per hour or a flat rate of _____ per service. This rate is fair to the client and to me. My basic website will contain these elements: a. The core benefit that I provide for clients and what qualifies me to provide it (remember that qualifications may have nothing to do with education or certifications; Gary is qualified to book vacations with miles because he’s done it for himself many times) b. At least two stories of how others have been helped by the service (if you don’t have paying clients yet, do the work for free with someone you know) c. Pricing details (always be up front about fees; never make potential clients write or call to find out how much something costs) d. How to hire me immediately (this should be very easy) I will find clients through [word-of-mouth, Google, blogging, standing on the street corner, etc.]. I will have my first client on or before ____·[short deadline]. Welcome to consulting! You’re now in business. Remember the all-important lesson of convergence we’ve been looking at throughout the book. You must focus continually on how your project can help other people, and why they’ll care about what you’re offering in the first place. (Passion + skill) → (problem + marketplace) = opportunity The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau "But one that seems remarkable about Jobs is that he's really, really good at a great majority of important things. He might not be the best at any one skill he has, but he's among the best in a huge variety of skills.
So I asked, then, what do Jobs and Jefferson and da Vinci have in common? And then one of my favorite quotes hits me. "Real artists ship."—Steve Jobs Could it be that the difference between a generalist and a dabbler is just saying "this is as done as it's going to be" and shipping the work? I think maybe yes. If you look at a Jefferson, da Vinci, Jobs—they shipped. A lot. I think the dabbler moves on when he's 95% complete, so he never gets the completion, satisfaction, and feedback from completing a work. Also, by completing a work in a field, you gain some renown and prestige, which makes it easier to get in touch with other successful people, which speeds your learning curve. The dabbler moves on when things get tough. The generalist keeps going until he puts enough work out that he feels complete in a particular field, and then, and only then, is he on to the next thing. Both of these outcomes only emerged from action—I had this vague thought that maybe I wanted to be a painter, but I was never really excited about it until I did it, and then I saw a couple sparks of inspiration and passion starting to grow. Do you know what I think the difference is between a generalist and a dabbler? Shipping. Completing and delivering things. There was only 40-some subscribers the first edition that went out, but it's grown steadily since then up to 219 now. Also, only two unsubscribes total across the whole time—I think that's pretty phenomenal, less than 1% of the people who signed up canceled … so that's going well. The key thing that ties everything all together is to produce and ship things while you have a current interest. If you get into a new kind of music, write up your thoughts and first impressions on it—either on a blog, or even just Amazon reviews. The mindset shift from being a consumer to being a producer is huge, even if what you produce doesn't see all that much use at first. But more and more, I'm looking to build/produce/ship things when I have a passing interest. But if you have a sincere interest, then why not try to write an analysis or critique or user guide or quick-start manual or observations or … something? Producing, shipping … it's cool. I think it's basically the way for people whose interests jump around to achieve lots of good stuff in the world." Ikigai by Sebastian Marshall This is by the best short summary on how to think about and create a new product. It hits all the buttons. D
"So I asked a few basic questions, which you could call a toolkit for transformation (it can apply to practically any product): 1. How would these products be improved if they were connected to the Internet? 2. How would they be improved if the designs were open, so anyone could modify or improve them? 3. How much cheaper would they be if their manufacturers didn’t charge for their intellectual property?" Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson Action cures Fear.
Everyone has problems, and I know exactly what it feels like to feel unsure where money will come from, how the bills will be paid. What you can't do is do nothing. Take action, get moving, and fear fades to the background as you reclaim your life. Remember this one thing; Action leads to opportunity. All the things you try, these are experiments not failures. As you test the waters and try different products, remember that if they don't work, they are not failures, they are experiments on the way to success. I read a quote once, and I am not sure who wrote it but to paraphrase, if it is not working, it doesn't mean it will end badly, it just means the work isn't finished. D I would argue that your relationships with others are your finest, most credible expression of who you are and what you have to offer. Nothing else compares. - Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz
Why do your personal networks matter? Why does who know matter? It isn't about what they can do for you, it is about what you can do for them, so you can work with them, learn what they know, learn from their mistakes and their wins. It is all about knowledge and skills. It is often said, and I believe it, that you are the average of those you know. If you want to get better, you need to upgrade those you know and learn from those people around you that you can. You want to get better at sports, you play against people who can play better than you as much as you can. You want to learn chess, you don't play people worse than you at chess, you play those people that are better than you at the game. If you want to be a chess master, you play chess with masters. You want to be a great entrepreneur, you compete, you talk to, you work for and with the best business people you can find. Being an entrepreneur is all about taking the opportunity when it comes, and the more opportunity you can get coming your way the better the odds one of them will work and that you will succeed. D |
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