How to Alienate People, or How to NOT Alienate People
When you are seriously growing your business, especially when you are new, you need to be aware of something.
When you get all excited about learning new things and working on your personal development, not to mention all the new things about your products or services you offer, you need to be cautious of trying to get your family and friends on board with your vision. Continue Reading
On the Road for Two Live Events
We hadn’t taken a real vacation for years and when this opportunity arose, we jumped at it. We’re empty-nesters and thought it would be fun. Continue Reading
How Earth Day Brought People Together
In my last two videos, I talked about what was going on in the country at the time the very first Earth Day happened and who was responsible for starting it and why.
In 1970, the first Earth Day achieved a rare political alignment which enlisted the support of Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders, all working together for a common purpose. In the U.S. it led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. The founder, Gaylord Nelson, admitted it had been a gamble but it worked.
Then in 1990, Continue Reading
Installment Two on the History of Earth Day
So how did Earth day begin?
In 1962, Rachel Carson published a book called “Silent Spring” that began to make people aware of the links between pollution and public health.
The idea for a national day to focus on the environment came to Earth Day founder, Gaylord Nelson (I remember he was our governor here in Wisconsin when I was a little kid) who was our senator in 1970. He was inspired by a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara California and all the damage it did plus the student anti-war movement. He realized that if he could infuse that energy with the budding public awareness of air and water pollution, environmental protection could be forced onto the national political agenda. Continue Reading
This is April and Earth Day Month
Just for fun, I thought I’d dig into the history of Earth Day and share it with you. The very first one was in 1970, when I was still in high school.
It was the year Jimi Hendrix died, the Beatles cut their last album, and Simon and Garfunkel gave us “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Students were protesting the War in Viet Nam and many of the storefronts all over the country, including downtown in the city where I live, were boarded up because Continue Reading
Ever have this happen?
Let’s pretend, ok? You want to buy a new washer and dryer and you walk into the appliance store. The salesman comes up to you and practically assaults you and pitches you their line:
“Great to see you folks today, you look like you’d like this brand new, top of the line washer and dryer set that has noise control technology and anti stink control in case you forget the clothes inside overnight! The dryer has anti-shrink control and is eco-friendly and we have the set on special today for only $1999.99! Can we sign you up today with our no money down, pay for 5 years plan that’s designed to fit in any budget?”
Now, how would you react to that salesperson? You’d probably walk away, right? Or even leave the store? Why?
Playing the Blame Game
Do you ever play (or do you know someone who plays) the blame game?
You know, where everything wrong is always someone else’s fault. They don’t like to take personal responsibility for anything.
Why not be thankful instead? Even if something didn’t go the way you planned it, why not find a reason to be thankful anyway?
What if you have not been able to be really active in your business?
What do you do then?
Sometimes you just need to give yourself a break. I heard this on a call recently, “Success is doing the best you can with the time you have available today.”
Isn’t that freeing?
Then tomorrow is a new day, don’t try to ‘catch up’ don’t try to do double the work for what you missed today. When ‘tomorrow’ is ‘today’, you repeat and do the best you can with the time you have available today.
Help for your follow-up.
Do you have a Customer Relationship Manager, or CRM for short? Before it came out, I was always misplacing the sticky notes and business cards that I had collected of the people I was supposed to get back to.
I have to admit, I’m not the most organized person in the world. When I would get leads and prospects coming to me, and even though they showed interest… I often totally forgot to get back to them. Or I’d forget all together where we even left off in the first place.
Do you need sales to survive?
Whether you sell real estate, insurance, vehicles, or network marketing opportunities or products (or anything in between) then you MUST build and keep relationships with your prospects. It’s vital.
