SATURATION

In other words the concept that you are in a crowded market, or looking to enter into a market that has already been overly marketed and serviced. A concept resulting in this horrible word entrepreneurs, authors, speakers and the like seem to dread… saturation! (said as if I was a motocross announcer).

This one might seem small, but it is a perfect example of how small little deceptions and misconceptions can have a massive effect on our lives and our business growth.

So many of us who have that entrepreneurial dream to either build our own empire or just create a second stream of revenue base our decisions on this classic business concept.

I do believe that an important part of business success comes from looking at a market and going where there is little to no competition.

In fact Thomas J. Stanely, Ph.D. author of the book “The Millionaire Mind” states that one of the top 10 reasons listed when interviewing hundreds of millionaires is just that. They knew they did not want to have to work as hard as it takes to take on heavy competition.

So if that is a researched fact, then why am I saying it is an excuse?

Let’s define saturation and competition.

For the purpose of our conversation, and dealing with why we resist marketing ourselves as experts, I will define competition as a fact of life but saturation as a perception, or better yet, how we are choosing to see the fact of competition.

Imagine for a second that you wake up one day with a burning passion to create a new line of cars, lawn mowers, health shakes, work out programs or even yet another social media platform.

You’re insane right? Well only if you are not willing to look for the opportunities in those crowded markets. In every industry there are weaknesses that allow for someone to come along and exploit.

Energy – Green Mountain Energy

Transportation – Electric cars or even low cost cars such as Kia

Social Media – New platforms that don’t create connections but facilitate them such as ping.fm, peoplebrowsr or tweetdeck.

The point is simply this: Yes there is competition, and yes you should look at that competition very clearly. But if you are an author, speaker or any sort of business person that will be in front of people you have one key ingredient, one secret weapon that can carve out a piece of that market faster than any technology, degree, or product.

YOU!!!

That’s right true believers. You.

I have spent my life showing people from every imaginable background and business how to leverage themselves to gain their market share and it starts by simply stopping the khaki game.

If you’re not familiar with the khaki game, I can sum it up with this quote that I heard from a girlfriend.

“Being boring is a choice. Those khakis and mild salsa didn’t create themselves!”

KHAKI TALK

No offense to all my khaki wearing brothers out there. Khaki pants and fashion is not really the point here.

Each one of us has a completely unique mind that has been shaped and forged from billions of impressions that all come together to create a single unique view of the world and its challenges.

So it doesn’t matter if you’re selling insurance, donuts, or civilian space travel. You see it differently.

The key is that you have to give way to those thoughts and allow them to be heard.

This is what truly lies beneath this excuse, as it does with all of them. FEAR OF REJECTION.

So let me leave you with this one question.

If you are scared of rejection from clients, customers, and especially your peers, then how has that worked for you up to this point?

Take a true assessment of your business.

Are you doing what you love?

Do you enjoy your clients?

Do you actually respect your peers and value their opinions?

If you answer no to any of these questions then you would probably truly benefit from what we see as rejection. It is “rejection” that shapes our business for the good.

Your life view and opinion will attract those that you will enjoy working with and for. Those that will value your business so you are not constantly asking for them to value your time and expertise.

Where there is saturation there is IMMENSE potential. Saturation tends to be the thickest in markets where the actual humanity is the hardest to find.

Every one of us wants to communicate with a human, purchase from a human, and work with a human.

If you don’t believe that then go ahead and call for tech support the next time your system or phone has crashed losing all of your work and pay attention to your very first reaction when an automated message comes on.

And if you don’t believe me well… then… I encourage you to “reject” me! LOL. I’m just that much closer to my true market!

Share

Normally a big reveal like this takes place at a Detroit auto show. But Ford is using Explorer’s Facebook page to give users an interactive, multimedia tour with live video of the “reveal” in New York City. The live events are hosted by Mike Rowe, the host of Discovery’s “Dirty Jobs,” who looks around the new 2011 Ford Explorer with Ford CEO Alan Mulally.

Involving the guy responsible for the new model as well as other actual executives shows that Ford understands something about the Social World we live in: merely asking for clicks just doesn’t work.

As Chris Cunningham of appssavvy says, “Traditional advertising is about as social as screaming into a crowd to get attention.”

Brands like Ford understand that to be Social requires a conversation.

According to Emily Post, Ideal Conversation should be a matter of equal give and take.

Every time you engage in a conversation online with potential customers and clients you might want to consider some of Ms. Post’s guidelines:

• Think before you speak.
• Try not to repeat yourself.
• Be careful not to let amiable discussion turn into contradiction and argument.
• The joy of joys is the person of light but unmalicious humor.
• Talk about things which you think will be agreeable to your hearer. Don’t focus on ills, misfortune, or other unpleasantnesses.
• Don’t pretend to know more than you do.
• Above all, stop and think what you are saying!

Can you imagine how much more pleasant your online persona would be if you were to follow these simple rules of etiquette.

Who knows? You might even get invited to a few more parties!

Share

I remember the first time I ever saw Robert De Niro interviewd on TV. He was miserable. Same goes for Robert Duvall. When you hear them speak and see this undeniably awkward contradiction of perception, you learn it’s not because they are scared of cameras or the press but rather they hate the spotlight!

Weird huh?

Many experts suffer from this. In some cases, it’s actually another case of just not understanding the value they bring.

None of us want to be perceived as “glory hogs” or arrogant “wanna be” stars.

The ironic part is that when we run from the spotlight, we end up looking unsocial and elitist.

Seems to be a law of nature that what we run from is what we run into.

Kinda like the first time I went snow skiing. The more they said don’t look at the trees, the more I stared at them until I navigated myself directly into them.

As a man thinks, so he is…

Have you been asked to speak, but didn’t?

Have you ever been referred to as an expert, but felt the need to “clarify”?

Have you received awards, accolades, and even press, but sat on them and didn’t share with your market?

If so, I can relate.

Here I am on the set of one of my films

As much as it pains me to admit this, I have done it more than most.

In my early days as a Director, I was involved with a pretty special film.

We shot it and knew we had something great.

All the excitement and buzz began to build. We were accepted into film festivals just based on the trailer and a few select scenes.

This is what every young Director dreams of…

Now while I surely didn’t realize this while I was doing it, I later came to recognize that I sabotaged this film.

I dragged out the editing process and always had an excuse for not being able to finish. While most of these excuses were real, there were viable solutions available that I didn’t want to recognize.

Not only was this silly, but it was immensely selfish on my part. So many people had given their time, talent and energy to make that film. Most said they did so because they believed in me! And yet I was paralyzed.

Years later as the film was finally released direct to video, with no premiere and many missed opportunities. I realized my core issue was that so many people had rallied to help me, and so much buzz and press had started to come in, I was scared to death someone would think I thought I was the next Martin Scorsese.

Scorsese Spoofs Himself

This stemmed from a serious lack of confidence, and, in many ways, even an overblown sense of self-importance. (As if that many people actually spend time thinking about me at all! Hahaha)

So what can you do about this?

For starters, face your fear and identify it.

Second, get busy publishing your past successes. This helped me a great deal.

Third, realize and meditate on the fact that if you do not choose to step into the spotlight, someone else will.

You have worked hard to know what you know and do what you do.

It’s not about being famous but about seeing a revenue return on your effort and diligence. And if you happen to achieve some level of notoriety… you will be much better suited for it because you are humble and reluctant and hey, who doesn’t like seeing that for a change?

Share

Here are the top five mistakes your business can make when entering the web 2.0:

5. Revealing too much information

Mom’s had it right, the internet can be an unsafe place to conduct business. Advertising your home address or leaving your customers feeling unsatisfied with the security of your website are just two ways you can spoil a client’s invested interest.

To avoid risking both your customer and personal information, keep it safe and simple by creating a channel of communication that can be trusted. Think of your website as a home. You want to make sure it is safe to sleep in, but also cozy enough that your clients will feel safe returning for future visits.

4. Speaking to a narrow audience

When creating new content for your site, make sure to write with a specific audience in mind. Speaking to a small audience will hurt the growth of your business and cause your site to become obsolete. The more relevant your information is to a wider audience base, the more your business will succeed.

Don’t forget, fusing personality into your business will not concentrate the scope of your audience. If you present yourself professionally and with charm, your audience will expand and feel more connected to your business.

3. Using incorrect grammar.

From a consumer perspective, the correct se of grammar is a clear indicator of professionalism. To avoid simple grammar mistakes and issues of clarity, read through your content three times then have a friend or co-worker review it to ensure it is ready to go online.

Also, using internet language (LOL, TTYL) is a sure-fire way of letting the customer know how little you care about the services you offer. It is fine to use this style on a personal level, but not when attracting new customers. Speak clearly and with purpose.

2. Mishandling customer service

The best way to keep a customer is to treat them kindly with authority. With more businesses migrating to the web, it is necessary to translate the quality of your customer service into the virtual realm. Responding frequently to e-mails and invoices will keep your customer informed and at ease.

Working online can be tempting, especially when you tell yourself that the customer can always wait until the next day to get that important e-mail. Make it a habit to respond to e-mails within 24 hours of being received.

1. Failure to integrate

One of the most important things I have learned while interning for Riot Lounge is that social integration is the end all and be all of social networking. If your business can not adopt to the growing trends of social media, then your customer base will disintegrate and you’ll be stuck chatting on AIM with no one to talk to.

The best thing to do is to follow the herd while keeping the next big trend within arm’s reach. The internet evolves rapidly. If you fail to ride the wave of innovation, other business who can make use of these media platforms will swallow you up and spit you out in their next quarterly earning report. Keep your eyes out on the horizon, but hit the current trends with a ferocious tenacity. It’s a tough thing to move your business online, but if you make the jump successfully, the web will become a second front door.

Share

This not only pulls Facebook profile photos, but it also pulls the newsfeeds of your contacts into your inbox. Looking at someone’s e-mail, you’ll get to see their status updates, picture uploads and wall posts, etc.

The Facebook integration has limits: except for friend requests, Outlook can only pull data from Facebook. There is no “liking” posts or updating your status via Outlook, FOR NOW.

In the meantime, E-mail marketing service MailChimp is preparing to release a new version of its application that includes support for integrating “Like” buttons in e-mail campaigns. MailChimp v5.2 is being released soon and includes support for Facebook.

Look out folks! The pendulum is swinging again.

Email marketing has been taking a beating for a long time now, especially with the advent of Social Media Marketing.

Whenever something like Social Media first comes on the scene, most people tend to discount its importance, preferring instead to remain wholly committed to “tried and true” methods. Only when they hear that thar’s really gold up in them thar hills, do they come running to stake out their claim.

Unfortunately these same people tend to rid themselves of the old “tried and true” methods in the process.

A better approach is to embrace the new while still engaging with the established ways of doing business.

So wise business builders are still using email marketing.

If you’ve never used it, or used to use it but have abandoned it, now is the time to reconsider your position.

The future is coming and it’s going to look a lot like the past!

Share

You may not be shocked to hear that I address this with clients on a daily basis.

What you might be amazed to learn is that many of them have been in their area of knowledge for over 20 years. What’s more, many already have books, radio shows, and have appeared on TV numerous times!

How is this possible?

With just a quick peek behind the curtain you will quickly learn that a very significant number of well-known and famous therapists, speakers, authors, politicians, etc. still deal with anxiety attacks over this one common fear.

That fear isn’t public speaking or rejection.

It is “what happens WHEN someone DISCOVERS that I am not REALLY an expert?” and it is one of the subtlest forms of self-sabotage and deception.

Let’s dig down deeper on this epidemic that plagues all of us at one point or another in our careers.

Looking at the language we use has always been an effective method for seeing into our issues.

3 primary lies layered into this fear are what keep thousands of us from achieving our best and working so much harder than needed.

LIE #1 – WHEN

We have all heard the phrase “it’s not a question of if but when.” Most of us live by this concept of life. Disappointment, loss, rejection, abandonment, the list goes on forever. While I am by no means an unrealistic “dreamer”, I do believe we embody what we expect.

In the last blog post, I walked you through an exercise designed to prepare you for the “worst case scenario”. But the truth is that most of us spend our lives running from events that will never take place.

AT LEAST THEY HAVE A REASON TO RUN

In over a decade of marketing, training, speaking, directing and producing, I have never had someone try to prove that I am not an expert. The fact is, even IF you are wrong on a fact relating to your expertise, 99% of people will forgive that IF your intention was to help people.

However, if your intention was to make as much money as possible and you’re arrogant, then you deserve what happens next! I say this because that is the exact formula for ensuring the humiliation of being called out.

Plus you don’t have to constantly tell everyone you are an expert. IF you are, others will say it for you!

LIE #2 – DISCOVERS

Listen to the very intent of this word. You are already accepting you are NOT an expert and that there is something to be “discovered”. IF you are going around saying you are the world’s foremost expert in your field, then you are calling out skeptics to test your claims, but that’s not what we are doing here.

We are simply stating the truth.

An Expert is only required to be "Smarter Than the Average Bear"

You have a greater amount of experience and “working knowledge” than the average person on the street.

There is simply nothing to be “discovered”. However, it is a great exercise to acknowledge this fear and list any element of your business or marketing you feel could be “discovered” to not be true. Maybe you have just embellished facts where you didn’t intend to. Now is the time to correct that and keep your claims legit and simple.

Remember: people buy from benefits much more than they do features. You only provide benefit to a client is when you are seen as an expert.

LIE #3 – REALLY

Another tell tale sign you simply are not believing you provide the value that you do.

Always come back to the definition. Do you have a greater working knowledge of a subject than the AVERAGE person on the street? If the answer is yes, then you are a budding expert… yeah REALLY!

Share

Without a doubt, since coming in to the league in 2003 at the tender age of 18, “King James” has done an excellent job of accumulating endorsement contracts with Nike, Sprite, McDonald’s and many others. I’ve still got a pack of LeBron’s Lightning Lemonade Bubblicious gum from 2005 sitting on my bookshelf! In December 2007, James was ranked #1 in Forbes Magazine’s Top 20 Earners Under 25 with annual earnings of $27 million.

However LeBron’s image has been taking a beating since his team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, were ousted from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics.  LeBron was criticized for his poor play and more importantly for being selfish.  This negative portrayal runs completely counter to the “Good Guy” perception he has built up since coming into the league.

As we teach people, if you don’t control your perception, someone else will! This understanding may account for LeBron’s recent decision to start his own Twitter account just about 24 hours ago. His fame accounts for the 253,490 followers he already has! I’m wonder how many of those people only know him by way of his puppet commercials?

Even with President Obama attempting to influence his choice toward the Bulls, I believe LeBron’s decision will come down to selecting the city and team that will best reposition his brand.

Does he want to be the King of Kings? Then start spreading the news…he’ll go to New York.

Is he most concerned about winning Championships? Then I expect him to generate some heat by joining Dwayne Wade & Chris Bosh in Miami.

Does he have a desire to be the Windy City’s next MJ? Then expect him to blow through Chicago.

Or does he still want to be perceived as the “Good Guy”; the “Local Hero”? Then get ready to welcome him back, Cleveland.

Only tomorrow night will tell.

But if your professional image had taken this kind of hit, what would you do and why?

Share

Sparkeo gives bloggers and infopreneurs the platform to communicate dynamically through video, script, and social interaction. The idea is simple, you create a video tutorial explaining your pitch/product and viewers are allowed to purchase and interact with the video . This online tool will be more profitable if your audience is in high demand for your video content. However, Sparkeo does give you the option to publish your information without charge.

After your audience views your video, they will be prompted to pay for the service which will then allow them to access additional content while communicating and collaborating online with you, the professional.

Dabbleboard allows online collaboration through the form of virtual whiteboards. Using white boards for instruction is an old idea, but porting it to go online is the next evolution of web interaction.

Dabbleboard offers both free and paid services. If you are interested to know more about the difference of these features, take a look at their website. The interface allows its users to mark up the white board using pictures, charts, and informative graphics. If you are looking for a quick and easy way to communicate technical information with a client online, this is one of the best services for the job.

SnapYap, a web-based video provider, allows users to easily capture, send, and chat online with video messages. The service is entirely download free, meaning you won’t have to suffer through long loading pages or download queues. Sending video mail has never been easier. The best part of all, the service is free.

Meebo gives bloggers the chance to see who is visiting their site. Going one step further, it even allows you to chat with those who visit your site to give them a friendly hello while they take a look at your work. The concept seems very sales-oriented, but having the ability to communicate directly with the people visiting your site adds a whole new level of customer service.

Share

It starts early, so get used to it!

Let’s face it. Rejection sucks and NO ONE enjoys it.

However, we all have to deal with it at some point so we need to accept it as a reality of life and business and prepare ourselves for it.

I learned a long time ago I can deal with anything if I have a plan for when “anything” happens.

We have been helping clients overcome this same fear for years.

Many times, if not the majority of times, the single greatest way to grow our business lies just behind the fear of rejection.

Typically we have seen most fears of rejection issue stem from an anxiety that someone is going to call us out on something we do not actually know, thereby proving to the world we are in fact NOT an expert.

Let’s dig into this a bit deeper.

If you agree everyone on the planet hates rejection, there’s no better way to “thin the herd” of competition than by moving past this fear.

You climb that mountain and I promise you not only is the air cleaner and the view amazing, but there are a lot less people up there!

While that all feels good, is there a practical method to deal with rejection?

The following exercise is what we have done with our clients for over a decade.

EXERCISE – Set aside 5 minutes. Use a timer if that helps. We all like to know our pain is not going to last too long:)

Always walk through these steps in order.

Step 1. Make a list of the top five issues you feel will result in rejection if you position yourself as an expert. Be detailed. Close your eyes and allow your mind to paint the WORST-CASE SCENARIO. Write that scenario down.

Step 2. Write out the feelings you associate with this scenario. Be honest about your feelings of anxiety, fear, embarrassment, etc.

Step 3. Now that you have “recorded” these potential issues in a calm mental state, create your response or rebuttal to each one. This is the same process we have used to coach politicians and celebrities.

Step 4. Rehearse your response. In your mind, and out loud, rehearse this as if it were happening in front of thousands of people.

IT CAN HAPPEN

Extra tip – The proper positioning of your facts is crucial. I have always been a big believer in preemptive attacks.

In other words, people are much less prone to attack you if you are offering up the truth about what you know and what you don’t know.

People love the man or woman who share what they have learned. Having a humble and realistic approach makes you approachable.

Remember: being an expert does not mean you know EVERYTHING. It simply means you have dedicated yourself to a particular topic.

Share

Over the past decade I have worked with business people from literally thousands of backgrounds and markets, not to mention personalities.

In doing so I have seen trends in the barriers we all have to overcome in order to grow our brand, our business, and ultimately ourselves.

So we are going to discuss in detail the Top 5 Barriers we have encountered and how we have successfully combated them.

But before we do, let me make one key point.

While we are talking about being experts in your field and utilizing expert marketing techniques and strategies, I have become a firm believer that you do not need to tell the world you’re an expert… if you are one.

In fact, when I see people promoting themselves as “experts” I immediately doubt them.

Of course there are always exceptions to these sort of rules, such as being asked to sit on an “expert panel”, etc.

1. Value – While most of us believe we are offering value in our business there is typically a break down in how we “perceive” our value.

Many of us learned early on in our school days to hide behind someone or something.

That’s just good ole fashioned self-preservation.

It’s always easier to accept defeat as part of a team than as an individual.

However this natural survival instinct can carry over into our business to the point that we truly believe the value we offer is actually in the product or service. As if some how these are separate entities from us! They are no more separate than your arms or legs.

The ultimate proof of this simple principle is to look at who else is selling what you sell.

How many of them just down right suck at it?

If the product or service is the same, then what is the difference?

We can call it “value adds” or “features/benefits” but at the end of the day I GUARANTEE you the top person in your field is there because of who they are.

Don’t get me wrong. The top sellers are not always the good guys, but they know this one key truth: They are what they are selling.

EXCERSISE – Ask yourself what YOU, not your business, brings to the table that your competitors do not.

Many times these are the “soft skills” or “people skills”.

AN EXAMPLE OF POOR PEOPLE SKILLS:

We all prefer buying from people more than we do from stores. This is especially true for any small business or entrepreneur.

Do you make people feel at ease, listened to, or even understood?

What do your friends and family tell you that you do that makes them feel special?

This becomes the key difference in how you sell.

My goal in this post is to get those of you who are “hiding” to stop looking at your business and look at yourself.

You are the business.

You are the passion, drive and expertise.

I don’t care if you work at Goodyear or not.

If you tell me you’re not an expert mechanic, there is NO WAY you are touching my car!

Share