Why You Must Become an Idiot to Become a Master

Posted by Patrick Clouden

What would you say is the least common denominator of all truly successful people?

What have they done that enabled them to rise above the rest of the crowd?

Why do others clamor to give them their money?

Sure, successful people are usually smart, motivated, hard-working, and so on, but these aren’t the fundamental reasons for their success. They can’t charge customers for their intelligence, energy level, or work ethic.

What they can charge outrageous sums for (and do) and what serves as the foundation of every wildly successful business venture is mastery. Extraordinary ability to do something that others find valuable.

The 3 Commandments for Business Failure

Posted by Patrick Clouden

I recently finished reading Don Keough’s (former President of Coca Cola) The Ten Commandments for Business Failure and there were three points in particular that resonated with me.  I think you may get something out of them too.

The tongue-in-cheek premise of the book is “if you want to fail in business, absolutely make sure you do these things” so that’s how I’ll write this article.

1. Quit Taking Risks

“He that is overcautious will accomplish little.”

-Friedrich von Schiller

What is Your Most Precious Productivity Resource?

Posted on May 18th, 2012 by Patrick Clouden

What is your most precious resource in production? What, if left unmanaged, will kill your productivity more than anything else?

Most people would answer “time”…and they’re wrong.

The most important commodity you have and must manage in order to maintain high productivity is energy, not time. Why?

ΓΙΑΤΙ ΚΑΠΟΙΟΙ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΤΥΧΕΡΟΙ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΠΟΙΟΙ ΑΛΛΟΙ ΟΧΙ;

Dr. Δημήτρης Τσουκαλάς 
Διδάκτωρ Πανεπιστημίου UNI.NA. Federico II
Ειδικός στα Χρόνια Νοσήματα και στις Διαταραχές του Μεταβολισμού
American College for the Advancement in Medicine


Επειδή σε περιόδους σαν τις σημερινές χρειαζόμαστε όση περισσοτερη τύχη μπορούμε να βρούμε παραθέτω ένα παλαιότερο και πολύ ενδιαφέρον άρθρο άρθρο που δημοσιεύτηκε το 2008, τη χρονιά που ξεκίνησε η παγκόσμια κρίση, στο Riders Digest.

Εδώ και αιώνες, οι άνθρωποι αναγνωρίζουν τη δύναμη της τύχης.

Κάποιοι πιστεύουν ότι η τύχη, καλή ή κακή, είναι κάτι που συμβαίνει απλά χωρίς να μπορούμε να το αλλάξουμε και κάποιοι άλλοι ότι μόνοι μας διαμορφώνουμε την τύχη μας. 

Με στόχο να ερευνήσουν επιστημονικά γιατί κάποιοι άνθρωποι είναι σταθερά τυχεροί ενώ άλλοι δεν είναι, ερευνητές έβαλαν αγγελίες σε περιοδικά μεγάλης κυκλοφορίας για εθελοντές και από τις δύο κατηγορίες. Ανταποκρίθηκαν τετρακόσιοι άνθρωποι όλων των κοινωνικών στρωμάτων.

A Remarkably Simple Business Plan

I don’t know about you, but when I started trying to figure out how to work for myself, the idea of a “business plan” sort of made me gag.

The traditional books for small business (the best one, IMO, is Small Time Operator), painted a picture that wasn’t really relevant to me, with things like lines of credit and office space and a business license.

Those weren’t the problems I needed to figure out. My problems were more like, “How am I going to find people who want my services? How do I convince them I’m good at what I do? And what the heck should I be selling, anyway?”

Last year, I put together something I called the Remarkably Simple Business Plan, which answered those questions for me in the early days, and for my consulting clients as I moved forward. I’d like to go ahead and share it with you today.

In the spirit of the whole “Remarkably Simple” thing, just cut and paste what’s below into the word processor of your choice and get rolling. Replace the “blah blah blah” sections with your own answers.

I don’t care if you use Google Docs or notepad or send an email to yourself. You can copy it out longhand in copperplate handwriting if that turns you on.

Contact, Activate & Multiply

Business consultant and business development expert, Tom Stuker once said:

"The worst part of earning a client's business is that you lose your best prospect." 

Contact 

It is critical that you sell with new prospects in mind. Your success is not limited by the economy, it's only limited by the people you know and the amount of interest you can generate in your products and services. This is how you create your own wealth without depending upon the national or global economy. Salespeople, managers, entrepreneurs, CEOs, businesses, and entire industries suffer and even cease to exist because they don't take the time to generate new opportunities from those they just conquered. As I stated before, you cannot advertise your way through an economic contraction. You simply have to do a better job of working, creating, and finding every possible contact who might do business with you. 

Το Ίντερνετ μέσο εξόδου από την κρίση

Η διαδικτυακή οικονομία είναι πολύ λιγότερο ανεπτυγμένη στην Ελλάδα σε σχέση με τις άλλες ευρωπαϊκές χώρες, όμως με τις κατάλληλες πρωτοβουλίες του δημόσιου και ιδιωτικού τομέα θα μπορούσε στο μέλλον να αποτελέσει ισχυρό μοχλό ανάπτυξης και δημιουργίας θέσεων εργασίας, σύμφωνα με έρευνα που διενήργησε η εταιρία συμβούλων Boston Consulting Group (BCG) για λογαριασμό και με την υποστήριξη της Google.

Η μελέτη, που παρουσιάστηκε σήμερα για πρώτη φορά αποπειράται να εκτιμήσει τη συμβολή του Ίντερνετ στην ελληνική οικονομία. Όπως αναφέρει, το 2010 αυτή η συνεισφορά ήταν περίπου 2,7 δισ. ευρώ ή 1,2% του ΑΕΠ, πολύ πιο κάτω από το ποσοστό 3,8% του ΑΕΠ που είναι ο αντίστοιχος μέσος όρος συνεισφοράς του Ίντερνετ στην ΕΕ ή από το 1,7% στην Τουρκία.

Σύμφωνα με την έκθεση, η οικονομική κρίση, που έχει πλήξει όλη την ελληνική οικονομία, έχει επιπτώσεις και στον τομέα του διαδικτύου, επιβραδύνοντας την ανάπτυξή του. Η μελέτη, με βάση το βασικό σενάριό της, εκτιμά ότι η εγχώρια διαδικτυακή οικονομία θα αυξηθεί με μέσο ετήσιο ρυθμό 6% και θα φθάσει τα 3,6 δισ. ευρώ ή 1,6% του ΑΕΠ το 2015. Αν όμως (σύμφωνα με το πιο αισιόδοξο σενάριο), ληφθούν μέτρα ενίσχυσης της ψηφιακής οικονομίας, τότε υπάρχει δυνατότητα η μέση ετήσια αύξηση να φθάσει το 19% και, έτσι, το 2015 η συμβολή του διαδικτύου να διαμορφωθεί στο 2,9% του ΑΕΠ της χώρας μας, προσθέτοντας ακόμα 2,9 δισ. ευρώ σε αυτό.

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One Sentence Persuasion?

Posted on March 30th, 2012 by Patrick Clouden

Is it possible to capture and communicate anything of value about persuasion in a single sentence?  It is and I’m about to prove it.  But before, let me explain why it’s important.

All marketing efforts hinge on effective persuasion.  No subject is more fascinating, empowering and profitable, and unfortunately, confusing.  Much of the confusion is unnecessary, though. Persuasion doesn’t require good looks, a silver tongue or infallible logic.  It doesn’t require charisma or a magnetic personality.  It’s actually a pretty simple matter when you cut through all the smoke.  That, of course, is the hard part.

I read the 27 words I’m about to share a long time ago and found them so true and useful that I’ve grounded any and all marketing efforts in some part of them.

THE SENTENCE

Do You Have an Irresistible Offer?

Posted on April 27th, 2012 by Patrick Clouden

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

That’s about all you get to capture the mind of your prospects.

They are bombarded by messages day in and day out and thus are forced to make quick evaluations.

But in those three seconds sales are made, deals are closed and empires are built. Do you know what to do in those three seconds?

Most people don’t and that’s the topic of this article.

Your Prospects’ Big Four Questions

During any sales process, an inner dialogue takes place in your prospects’ minds. The process of making a buying decision requires that four questions are satisfactorily answered:

1. What are you trying to sell me?

2. What’s in it for me?

3. How much?

4. Why should I believe you?

Your offer must address these four questions and must do it quickly. In order to do it most effectively, you don’t want just any offer…you want an Irresistible Offer.

What is that and how do you create one?

Read on.