Moving You To The Next Level

Distinctive Living — What do I mean?

In traveling to a few places around the world I have noticed a few similarities:

1.  Most everyone has a smile for other people.
2.  Life the day-to-day activities are really the same: food, work, and leisure.
3.  People behave in accordance with what is acceptable.

Regarding #3 above, this really is a rule of society: conformity is acceptable and expected.

In the United States and many western countries, conformity is in fact the norm.   However it does have its limitations.

In Business conformity is:

1. average.
2. getting along and not pushing the envelope.
3. expected (for the most part)

As you can see this approach really does allow one to stay the course and always fit in. But there are draw backs. Such an approach limits ones out of the box creativity, it stifles new ways to solve problems, and most importantly being average is frustrating.

Here is an interesting fact — 66% of all Americans are average.  When you consider Intelligence (IQ), the bell curve reveals that average IQ ranges between 90 and 110 points and that means of the 300 million or so Americans 190,000,000 are average.

Here is the point: the majority of advances in our country came from the average Joe.

I believe that the advances in America have their roots in regular folks who knew their idea was a good one and pushed to make it a reality.  In other words they were living Distinctively.

According to Damian Sofsian

Past experience has shown that it is not necessary to be a trained scientist or an expert to be an inventor. The two basic elements that go into the making of an inventor are an inquisitive nature and logical thinking.

He further states:

Edison was from a poor family. So were many other inventors. It is the streak to do something different, to create something new, that differentiates an inventor from an ordinary human being. It is still debatable that whether inventors are born geniuses, or if people of average IQ be trained to become inventors.

http://ezinearticles.com/?An-Introduction-To-Inventors&id=274671

So what does this mean for the average person?  Take your idea and make it happen.  Your ideas are worth pursuing, the realization of the idea/dream means you are distinctive and have contributed in some way to a better life for yourself and if the idea catches on it will be better for everyone.

Distinctive Living is what is all about and the average person can have it.

Albert Einstein said “…Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.”

Oh so true. People of value possess many characteristics and the following three are likely to be some of the most important.

People of value are:

• Passionate about their daily activities. These people get out of bed EVERYDAY knowing what they are going to do and they do it with obvious passion and energy. Nickolove Lovemore in her article Successful People: Three Traits of Successful People describes the philanthropy of Warren Buffet. Mr. Buffet from his earliest days in business has freely provided his talents and money for worthwhile causes. Recall, that: in 2006, Warren Buffett announced that he would be donating 85% of his Berkshire Hathaway fortune which at the time was valued at over $40 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.”

• They know Why they are doing What they are doing. It seems that most of us day-to-day workers have simple reasons for why we do what we do – pay bills, provide for family, and have some money to spend on entertainment and recreation. These are all great reasons to get out of bed and go to work.  But, that level of WHY will not motivate us to move beyond caring for our daily needs. I want you to move beyond day to day living and planning. Dream. Reach. You were created for more.

• However, moving from where we are to where you want to be is formidable. It can be a daunting task that some would prefer to avoid. 

There are seemingly good reasons to avoid this tact primarily fear:fear of not succeeding, fear of the unknown, fear of making a mistake, and fear of, well, you fill in the blank. But if you accept these seemingly good reasons you are guaranteed to fail.

• Reject Passivity: Yep, we will have times when things don’t work out and we fall down. So, what to do? Don’t quit, don’t give up — get up and do it again. Keep trying. Here is an inspiring example to consider have you ever seen a baby stop trying to walk? Nope, it doesn’t happen. When the baby does quit it is because he/she is too tired and usually falls down and falls asleep from sheer exhaustion. But once he has rested, the struggle starts all over again until he walks.

My friend Mike Klingler has this saying “anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” Start today do something that springs from your passions. It does NOT have to be perfect — Just Do It!

To sum this up People of Value:

1. They are Passionate.
2. They have answered the question Why do I do what I do
3. They Reject Passivity. 

Believe me, discovering your passion, your why and how to reject passivity is in your reach.

Finally, Become a Person of Value!

Tell you what: Take a moment and complete the following sign up form. You will receive a free tutorial on discovering your why.

Actually here is what you will see once you have completed the sign-up sheet:

Think with me here, what does your customer really want?

One important business principle is to maintain contact with your customers.   Peoples wants change, you knew what they wanted at first but now they may want something else or more of something else.

Lets take just one of your “repeat” customers and briefly examine your relationship.

After canvasing the customer you knew what they wanted and you provided the appropriate product to fulfill their want.  

Now, several months later.  Ask yourself this question: What does this person want now? Or stated another way, Does this customer have anything else that they want.

Wants change.

How can you find out if their wants have changed?  

Consider this quote I recently heard: “People may or may not say what they mean, but they always say something designed to get what they want.”

Call on your customers frequently and find out their wants.

Determining customers wants is sometimes obvious: “I want my arthritis pain to go away.”

In other instances, you have to decode what they are saying.  People often state their wants in terms of complaints, questions, and requests.

You have to listen to what they are saying, make notes, and ask them questions about what it is they said.  Find out what they want and what you can do to fulfill their want.

When you know what people want, you are 90% of the way home.  Knowing their wants allows you to put together an offer.

This can only mean more repeat business as well as a stronger connection to your customer.

In sum:

Sales/Marketing is not about what you think another persons needs or wants, it is about:

• discovering what the customer wants.
• putting together a proposal that will meet their want.
• fulfilling the customers wants.
• go back and listen again to the customer: Discover what else they want.