Your profitable quote: Edward de Bono on action

"An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea."

-- Edward de Bono

Your profitable quote: Jim Rohn on discipline

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment."
-- Jim Rohn

Your profitable quote: Wallace Wattles on confidence

"No more destructive idea could possibly be given to any person; nothing can be more fatal to your hopes than to take the mental attitude of distrusting your own ability."

-- Wallace Wattles

Your profitable quote: Sigmund Freud on perseverence

"One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful."

-- Sigmund Freud

Your profitable quote: Jack London on Full Participation

I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark would burn out in a brilliant blaze than be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to LIVE, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.

- Jack London (US writer, 1876-1916)

Your profitable quote: Ralph Waldo Emerson on leadership

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path at all and leave a trail."

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your Profitable Quote: Mark Victor Hansen on Goals

"There is no such thing as unrealistic goals, only unrealistic timeframes."

- Mark Victor Hansen

Listen to KeysToClarity Radio Monday 21 Sep 7PM Eastern: Tribes

I will be interviewed by Louise Crooks of KeysToClarity Radio tonight at 7PM eastern on the subject of building trust and credibility by being the leader of a tribe.

KtC Radio: Be Ordinary or Extraordinary: It's About The Power Of Your Tribe

...are you really reaching your clients effectively?...

Date:	Monday, September 21, 2009
Time:	7:00pm - 8:00pm Eastern
Location:	http://bit.ly/132uP5

Phone:

3479456963 Call-in number

Description

As a professional, your clients assume you're competent. But how can you become the "go-to" person they will seek out and choose first? The difference is in how you build a community around your message and your vision.

Building a community is more than just the number of followers you have on Twitter or the number of Fans on Facebook, and it is more than mastering Social Media. Building your tribe is about engaging them in conversation and urging them to take action. The larger and more engaged your tribe becomes, the stronger your credibility.

Community-building does not require massive marketing budgets or exotic tricks. It especially does not mean putting up a false image in order to be "popular". The value of your tribe is in how you, and your community, stays grounded and real. In this session we will discuss some practical techniques about "tribe-building", as well as some pitfalls to avoid.

Other points we will discuss:

- before you can start making offers you have to build trust and credibility
- the way to build trust and credibility is to engage a tribe in conversation
- things to do in building a tribe (creating space for conversation, creating a clubhouse, etc)
- things not to do with your tribe (spamming, personality cult)

Coach Davender Gupta is a "Venture Catalyst" and Business Leadership Coach who guides people with big dreams to power their vision from Passion to Profit. Come and join us to get some real insight as to whether the actions you're taking in your soul-o-preneur business is building you clientele effectively. Feel free to contribute questions & comments in the chatroom or call in 347-945 6963.

Direct Link to show (to listen live or to the recording): http://bit.ly/132uP5

Your profitable quote: Paolo Coelho on Commitment

"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

- Paulo Coelho

Your profitable quote for today: Malcolm Gladwell on practice (and on marketing)

“Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good.”
- Malcolm Gladwell

Take 17 minutes and 33 seconds today to watch this inspiring talk on marketing by Malcolm Gladwell (not precisely about this quote, but fascinating just the same):
http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html

Your profitable quote for today: Nothing can take the place of Persistence

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

- Calvin Coolidge

Your profitable quote for today: One extra degree

At 211 degrees, water is hot.
At 212 degrees, it boils.

And with boiling water, comes steam.
And steam can power a locomotive.

One extra degree... makes all the difference
And the one extra degree of effort in business and in life... separates the good from the great!

- Mac Anderson

See http://www.212movie.com

Your profitable quote for today: "When you know that everything matters..."

"When you know that everything matters - that every move counts as much as any other - you will begin living a life of permanent purpose. A life of permanent purpose will make you a better parent, a better spouse, and a more valuable friend. Your productivity and financial success will soar to new heights while the old days of uncertainty, doubt, and depression fade into the past."

- Andy Andrews

Your profitable quote for today: "Opportunity does not knock..."

Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door.

- Kyle Chandler

Time to nuke your Plan B

I'm currently coaching a group of solo-professionals through the Book Yourself Solid system, and this morning I received an e-mail from one of the participants.

She is making progress but is concerned because the results are not happening fast enough, and her financial resources are running out.

Here is the note I wrote back to her:

(name withheld) -

Great to hear about your progress.

And congratulations for sharing what you're experiencing right now.

If you are open to it, here are my thoughts:

When you work at a job, you put one hour in and you get paid one hour. The feedback is quick, because you know exactly how much and when you will be paid. However your income is limited by the number of hours you can work, and usually your hourly rate is limited according to some arbitrary valuation of your time.

In business, you have to invest many hours, lots of effort, and some money up front to have it pay off (maybe) some time in the future... The link between effort and payoff is much looser. The benefit is that as you build your business, you can leverage your efforts so that you can get paid many times over for the time you put in now. And you are now paid proportional to the impact you create for your clients. The sky can be the limit, if you are willing to do the work now.

In my own coaching practice, my rule of thumb is that the marketing activities I do now are mainly to create new clients 90 days from now. If I want clients and income sooner, I have to be accelerate the pace of my networking efforts: more direct outreach to influencers, make more referrals to others, being more visible in networking events and making more offers more often (especially the low-barrier entry level offers).

Now here's the straight talk: If you cling to a Plan B of getting a job, then it will be that much harder to make the transition from employee to entrepreneur. To get full-time results, your business has to be a full-time obsession.

I suggest you read "The Dip" by Seth Godin (Amazon link). He talks about how to get through the "long slog between starting and mastery": by leaning into it, putting all of your energy into overcoming it. You will become a very different person as you go through the process, and you will have very different people around you as a result. It's going to hurt, you will cry, you will get angry. You will also experience an amazing sense of self-discovery, the pride of creating something from nothing, connecting with fascinating and energizing people, taking control of your destiny: living an adventure that has no equal. But all of these great things can only happen if you choose to nuke your Plan B.

That said, do what you can to plug the financial holes right now. As another person mentioned, check out what you can do in terms of govt support. Also, strengthen your emotional support system. Connect with your colleagues on this course. Get involved in the calls. Make requests of your coaches, including yours truly.

You have six more weeks [until the end of this course] to shift your progress into high gear. If you wait until after this course ends it will be a lot more difficult, because you will no longer have the same kind of support as you have now.

The decision is yours. Which outcome will you choose: the status-quo or success?

No more excuses!

success
-davender



p.s.: Another great book is "The Accidental Entrepreneur: The 50 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Starting a Business" by Susan Urquart-Brown (Amazon link)

The importance of storming

Communities need to form, storm and norm to be able to perform.

What makes a team successful is the coming together of various viewpoints, experiences, values and ideas. Throw these elements together in the crucible that is a project, add the pressure of having to deliver, the heat of emotion and the stirring of changing parameters and of course there will be a violent reaction. It is this "storming" of the team that transforms the original idea into a result that is powerful, enduring and remarkable.

Seth Godin, in a recent post called "Righteous Indignation", discusses how people sometimes get emotional or dramatic as a default response for when one is irritated, disappointed, or otherwise angry. He observes that getting upset rarely works to anyone's advantage, then asks "What if you took it out of your toolbox of responses?"

I see displays of passion as a good thing. I disagree somewhat with Seth. If someone feels indignation, it's because from their point of view some standard has been broken or some boundary has been violated. What I disagree with is the idea of simply "eliminating [righteous indignation] as an option" - good luck trying to do so, unless you're a Vulcan. Actually let's celebrate the fact that people are speaking up instead of bottling-up the emotions.

If I value the relationship with the person, be it a client, a colleague, or a team member or simply another person, it is up to me to figure out what has happened to trigger the emotion and to repair it. The relationship between a leader and another person is never symmetrical - it is almost always up to the leader to take responsibility first, and by taking responsibility first, one becomes a leader.

Indeed, if there is no conflict, the quality of the result could be questionable. The key is to know what is the right combination of pressure and heat to turn black carbon into a diamond.

Profitable quote of the day: "I am not judged..."

I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed; and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I fail and keep trying.

- Tom Hopkins

Profitable quote of the day: "Don't ask what the world needs..."

"Don't ask what the world needs. Rather, ask what makes you come alive? Then go and do it! Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

- Howard Thurman (1900-1981)
author, philosopher, theologian, educator and civil rights leader.

Profitable Quote of the Day: "What do you dream?"

"What do you dream? ...Or is the better question: What did you dream, and why did you stop? If you have ever let a dream slip away, I'm here to tell you, it's not too late. If you can summon the courage to overcome your circumstances and your experiences and your critics, your dream can live!"

-- Jim Key
2003 World Champion of Public Speaking

Video: Get More And Better Clients With Social Media

The video recording of a webinar I hosted last August 26, presenting a fresh way to look at how to use Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) in conjunction with your blogs and web sites to get more and better clients:




This was also a technology test
Screen Broadcasting: Glance http://www.glance.net
Session Recording: Camtasia for Mac http://www.techsmith.com

Profitable Quote Of The Day: "A society in which vocation..."

A society in which vocation and job are separated for most people gradually creates an economy that is often devoid of spirit, one that frequently fills our pocketbooks at the cost of emptying our souls.

- Sam Keen

Find out more about Sam Keen at http://www.samkeen.com/

GoogleReader: How to Kill a Startup: Hire Executives instead of Entrepreneurs http://bit.ly/7ReBa

Blog recommendation: Michel Fortin, Copywriter

I've just added Michel Fortin's blog to my Google Reader list:

http://www.michelfortin.com/

"Top copywriting tips, news, articles, and thoughts on the world of direct response copy, Internet marketing, web conversion, selling, sales training, branding, positioning, blogging, and success from copywriter Michel Fortin."

Looking through his posts, Michel provides practical ideas to encourage your readers not only to read what you write, but also to act on what you suggest.

Recommended!

------

You can follow my "shared" posts from Google Reader here:

http://www.google.com/reader/shared/davenderg

Honda: The Power Of Dreams (Video)

The story of how Soichiro Honda was inspired to create his first motorcycle. A beautiful and inspiring reminder of how a dream can change the world.

Honda The Power of Dreams from micheledauria on Vimeo.

What action are you taking on your dreams?

Profitable Quote Of The Day: "Work can provide the opportunity..."

“Work can provide the opportunity for spiritual and personal, as well as financial growth. If it doesn’t, we’re wasting far too much of our lives on it.”

– James Autry

Coach Davender's Choice 2009-09-03: Commercial Networking, You Got Ten Seconds, The Muse, The Strangest Secret

I follow over 200 business, marketing, leadership, tech and personal development blogs using the awesome Google Reader application http://www.google.com/reader/shared/davenderg

These are great sources of information and inspiration to help me in the work I do with my clients. Here are some posts of note:


Social Networking Or Commercial Networking?
Jim Connolly (Jim's Marketing Blog)
http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2009/08/26/social-networking-or-commercial-networking/

Entrepreneurs who use Facebook or Twitter often complain that none of their "friends" or "followers" buy their products or services. Jim Connolly points out that these platforms were originally intended to stay connected in a fun way with friends and family. If you've built a network to keep in touch socially, you cannot expect it to convert to a commercial network. If you plan to use social media for business development and marketing, you have to build your network with your commercial positioning in mind. Only post information that builds your brand and avoid posting personal or trivial stuff.

Message: You can use social media for personal or professional reasons, but not both at the same time.


Presentation? You Got Ten Seconds!
Geoffrey James (Bnet.com)
http://blogs.bnet.com/salesmachine/?p=5091

Today's managers have finely tuned multitasking skills, but have lost their ability to focus. It used to be that when you gave a sales presentation, at least your prospect was forced to listen. Now, it's no longer the case, because whipping out an iPhone or a Blackberry in mid-conversation no longer carries the stigma it once had. If you don't capture your prospects attention in the first ten seconds of your presentation, out comes the iPhone and out goes your prospect with nary a pang of regret. You can waste those first precious seconds talking about yourself, the history of your product, how honored you are to be there... or you can grab your prospect with an opening statement that commands attention: something credible and fact-based that surprises them or makes them a bit uncomfortable.

Message: Make sure the first ten seconds of your presentation grabs the listener's attention, otherwise shut up and go home.



"Ah-ha" Moments: The Modern Day Muse
Jill Fehrenbacher (American Express OPEN Forum)
http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/lifestyle/article/ah-ha-moments-the-modern-day-muse-jill-fehrenbacher

Need to be inspired? Don't wait for the perfect idea to come to you. Successful entrepreneurs are more likely to find their ideas with a bit of self-discovery, instead of from divine inspiration or a bolt of lightning. You don't have the time to loll around waiting for the Muse to kiss you, instead create opportunity by developing your powers of observation and intellect. Ideas abound all around you: learn to see the obvious and you will connect to the flow of inspiration.a

Message: Successful entrepreneurs don't wait for the Muse - they observe and immediately jump into action.


Earl Nightingale's The Strangest Secret (Success Magazine)
http://video.success.com/from-the-magazine/strangest-secret/

A legend in the area of personal development, Earl Nightingale's mellow voice popularised the audio book format, and led to the founding of the renowned Nightingale-Conant company. His first hit has remained one of the best sellers of all time: "The Strangest Secret In The World". This video is an abridged version of his famous story, with a message as valid now as when it was first recorded. Notice also his amazing presentation skills.

Message: What you think and what you say has a direct impact on your actions and your results


Keep up-to-date with what I'm reading by subscribing to my Google Reader Shared Items RSS feed:
http://bit.ly/3z8UhV

And if you have suggestions for blogs I should follow (even yours!) please let me know in the comments.

GoogleReader: Presentation? You Got 10 Seconds! http://bit.ly/2f7cl5