Leadership
When The Boss Is A Complete Jackass
Shaun Rein, 12.22.09, 02:28 PM EST
How not to put up with it.
More from Shaun Rein

Judging from the reader response to my recent article "Why Men Don't Promote Women More," far too many people have bosses who are jackasses. You know the type. They don't recognize and reward hard work. They rant late into the night. They send messages to your BlackBerry on weekends. They constantly set impossible deadlines. They torpedo confidence. And for the most part they are incorrigible.

Jackass bosses can be the worst people in our lives. After all, we may well spend more waking hours with them and our co-workers than at home. They exist in every organization, big or small, in every part of the world. Only the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries can love them--anti-anxiety prescriptions and anti-baggy-eye cream sales would plummet without them.

Most people try to work harder to please their jackass bosses, but that rarely succeeds. Have you ever seen a jackass boss change into a reasonable, competent manager, without going through a heart attack or some other life-changing crisis?

Under them your career gets derailed, unless you take control of your destiny. And the stress spills over into your personal life, poisons your marriage and turns your children into budding Britney Spearses and Lindsay Lohans. Once that starts to happen, you need to do something fast. Not even a Goldman Sachs ( GS - news - people) bonus is worth such a price.

Here are two tips for dealing with jackass bosses (and see also my article "Get Rid Of Jackass Clients"):

First, figure out if your boss really is a certifiable, irredeemable jackass or just an incompetent one who can be saved. A large part of getting ahead is managing your boss. A true jackass boss won't change, but many bosses who act like jackasses really are not. You can help reform the latter type.

Many incompetent bosses are so scared of failing that they don't take a step back to recognize how their own behavior hurts the people around them. They micromanage. They yell at you out of frustration at themselves and out of sheer fear. Confronting them directly doesn't work; they get threatened and lash out. They head toward becoming genuine jackass bosses.

If your boss is edging toward the dark side, one strategy is to get your human resources department to e-mail your entire office links to columns like this one. Leave a copy of a must-have book like Robert Sutton's The No Asshole Rule or Will Bowen's A Complaint Free World anonymously on the boss's desk. Persuade human resources to organize a team-building exercise. If your boss isn't a full-fledged jackass, he or she might recognize the need to change.

You have to be careful with this strategy, however. A true jackass boss won't take it well and will know that someone is opposing him. He may become even more vindictive and turn against you in particular. In that case, be wary of going on the ropes course with him.

Second, make sure you continually network outside your company. No matter what you do or how hard you try, it is virtually impossible to get a jackass boss to like your work. Even if you get along with a perfectly decent boss and are valued by your company, you should constantly network. Good bosses get fired or promoted and replaced by jackasses all the time.

Too often executives, especially in big multinationals, forget that there are other companies out there. They spend all their time politicking internally, trying to get ahead. That can be dangerous, especially in this season of mass layoffs. Very often those executives get let go and find they have no ties on the outside. Once cut off from the pride, they get lost and confused and roam aimlessly.

The key to networking is to start when you don't need anything. If you're looking for something specific, it becomes obvious, and your efforts are unlikely to work very well.

Going to industry conferences and using social media sites like LinkedIn are great for keeping in touch, but the best way to network, especially for younger people, is through your school's alumni network. Your fellow alums are more likely to help you out than someone you meet at a conference. Most conference attendees are looking for a job, to sell something, or, especially, for an excuse to get out of the office. Why else would so many conferences be held in Las Vegas and Hawaii?

Your best networking might be through your university or graduate school alumni association. Or it might be through your high school. Wherever it is, make sure you keep in touch. For me, it was my boarding school, St. Paul's School. For years, even after I started working, I made it a rule to contact at least 10 alums every week for informational interviews. I asked for advice on how they had achieved success and what they wished they had done differently. I never asked them for anything but information. Those discussions taught me invaluable lessons about trends in the business world and how to develop my own career.

Every year I send long, personal thank-you notes to my mentors. I update them on how I'm doing. One recently introduced me to former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Another helped me land my biggest client ever, another a prestigious speaking engagement. Most of all, they have provided great advice. Sometimes you need to hear perspectives from outside your own company.

And, by the way, make sure you pay this advice back to young ones who come up the corporate ladder behind you. Give them a helping hand. What comes around goes around. When job-hunting or looking to get out from under a jackass boss, remember that the best jobs are almost never posted on online sites like Monster.com or Dice.com. Most are found through trusted personal connections.

People who think bosses automatically execute the management expert Peter Drucker's tenets for leadership--always respect the worker, always think before acting, and so on--are living in a fantasy land. Most managers don't know how to manage, and people working under them need to help them make better decisions or, if that won't work, need to look for opportunities elsewhere. You must not let a jackass boss derail your career. Working for a jackass is hell.

Shaun Rein is the founder and managing director of the China Market Research Group, a strategic market intelligence firm. He writes for Forbes on leadership, marketing and China. Follow him on Twitter at @shaunrein.

Marketing Highlights

Make 'Em Laugh

"Most marketing campaigns fall down because they're specifically designed to sell products and generate leads," says David Meerman Scott, viral-marketing strategist and author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR. A better plan, he says, is to back off the sell and amp up the entertainment.

Be a Guru: Part I

Whether you sell real estate or fix teeth, you know a whole lot more about your business than your customers do. Attract attention by sharing that expertise.

Stick to a Shtick

Some brands are so dialed in to a customer base--its history, interests and aspirations--that the marketing effort smacks more of a celebration.

Connect With Customers by Making Them Stars

This is a less costly twist on MicroBilt's make-a-video strategy, with a dash of social-networking spice thrown in. Talented or not, people want to share their art, stories, even their hopes and dreams. Give them an outlet in exchange for sampling your product or service.

Connect With Customers by Making Them Stars

This is a less costly twist on MicroBilt's make-a-video strategy, with a dash of social-networking spice thrown in. Talented or not, people want to share their art, stories, even their hopes and dreams. Give them an outlet in exchange for sampling your product or service.

Tweet (No, really, we mean it.)

By now you've heard about Twitter--that curious, strangely addictive social-networking technology that facilitates the exchange of torrents of severely truncated messages (140 characters max) among millions of users. You may have read that it's a waste of time--and in many respects, that's true. What's also true is that Twitter can be a powerful marketing tool. Here are 21 compelling ways to use it.

Work the Press

Mentions in the news media offer what traditional marketing and advertising can't: exposure with implied credibility. While PR is nothing new, plenty of companies (and PR agencies) still don't get it.

Be a Guru: Part II

Disseminating data and white papers is nice, but ultimately connecting with customers is what counts.

Get on the Menu

If you can, let others do your marketing for you.

Host a Virtual Trade Show

Traditional trade shows are a convention-center-sized hassle--and they cost a lot to boot. Add up booth rental and presentation time-slot fees, advertising, promotional doodads and travel expenses (never mind the lost time away from the office), and a company's tab can rocket up to $100,000 per show. Hence the rise of virtual trade shows, designed to look and function like the real thing but that play out in real time in cyberspace. Entry fee: just $3,000 to $8,000. Better yet, you don't need to be a computer wizard to participate. Here are nine steps for getting the most out of them.

Meet the Neighbors

The rise of online networks plugged into specific local communities is a huge marketing opportunity for small businesses.

Build a Board to Buff Your Rep

Small businesses are short on a lot of things, credibility included. The higher your profile, the more clout you'll have with suppliers, partners and customers. A board of advisers can help.

Light up Their Inboxes

E-mail marketing has been around for years, but the tricky part remains getting people to open the messages in the first place.

Bake It in

Marketing shouldn't be an afterthought--it should be an integral part of the business concept and execution strategy.

Barter for Exposure

By now, everyone knows that the more people who link to a Web site, the higher it appears in Google's search results. That's where all those trigger-happy bloggers come in.

Cozy up to Celebrities

Think celebrity sponsorship is the solely province of companies with huge marketing budgets? Think again.

Wipe Off the Lens

If all else fails, take another hard look at the market and its willingness to pay for your product or service. Cost: Market surveys can cost up to $10,000, but there are some cheaper online options. Zoomerang charges $600 for a year subscription to its surveys service; Survey Monkey offers subscriptions starting at around $20 per month or $200 a year. Focus groups? Perhaps $100 for food and drinks.

Fool article October 2009: Power of Influence

The Power of Influence

By Jennifer Schonberger
October 20, 2009

A Southern comedian of the 1960s, Brother Dave Gardner (not Tom's brother, David Gardner!), said that you can have a great product and the public might beat a path to your door -- but advertising helps. And advertising is marketing.

A company can produce a good product, but if it doesn't market it well, the product could be a flop. Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), for example, along with Coca Cola (NYSE: KO) and Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL), are smart marketers.

Robert Cialdini, who recently visited Fool HQ, says we need to get real when it comes to how we're marketing our products -- and part of getting real is admitting weaknesses upfront.

Cialdini was the regents' professor of psychology and marketing at Arizona State University, founder and president of consulting firm Influence at Work, and author of the book Influence. His latest book is Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive.

In his well-known book Influence -- a book about influence and marketing -- Cialdini lays out six principles of influence as they pertain to the psychology of marketing:

• Reciprocation
• Commitment and consistency
• Social proof
• Authority
• Liking
• Scarcity

During Cialdini's visit to The Fool, we delved into the principle of authority -- the notion that we defer to people with authority. Someone who has expertise -- credentials, background, or experience -- that one can use to take shortcuts to make an informed decision.

But it turns out that expertise alone doesn't define the "optimal authority," according to Cialdini. The optimal authority is defined not only by expertise and knowledge, but also by trustworthiness. "It's very important to try to establish both of those components in the eyes and minds of an audience before we try to be influential," he said. "If those two things are present in the way someone registers us, we have become the single most powerful authority, or communicator that social sciences has ever uncovered."

Establishing trust
Cialdini points out the obvious: that the first is easier than the second. You can represent your background credentials, experience, and years on the job fairly quickly. Establishing trust can take a period of time traditionally. But what if you don't have weeks, months, or longer? Is there anything you can do to produce instant trust? Cialdini says there is.

The secret is to produce your weakness before your strength. The concept was developed by the advertising community, which has to introduce new products or services to markets that have no history with those products and services.

The most savvy of them will mention a weakness in their case before they present the strongest argument in favor of their case. As counterintuitive as it might sound, Cialdini says it establishes them immediately as being credible and trustworthy. "There's no special reason for people to believe our most positive claims unless we've demonstrated our trustworthiness," he said. "So the place the moment of power actually exists most propitiously for us is in the moment after we mention a small drawback or a weakness."

Cialdini points to Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-A) letter to the shareholders as an example. He notes that in the letters, Warren Buffett first describes something that went wrong, but then follows that with the things that went well.

The power of 'but ...'
According to Cialdini, the word "but" says to recipients in all human languages to take the information they just received, put it away and focus your attention on the next thing I'm about to say. "This is why we want our weaknesses before the word 'but' and our strengths after," he said. "The weakness has to go first, otherwise you don't get the proper focus on the strength."

The top marketing campaigns of all time employed this strategy. He points to Volkswagen as an example. Each ad began with the same statement "We're ugly, but ..." Then they talked about gas economy, reliability, and availability of parts through a network they had set up. Other examples, according to Cialdini, include, Avis' "Avis, we're No. 2, but we try harder;" and Loreal's "We're expensive, but you're worth it."

Madoff's use of Cialdini's principles
Oddly enough, Cialdini's six principles can be applied to Bernard Madoff's $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

Madoff used several of Cialdini's principles, but for evil instead of good. He used the authority principle because he established himself as an expert in the area of investing. Madoff presented himself as trustworthy through serving as chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange.

He also used the principle of social proof, that people want to follow the lead of those around them like them. As Cialdini points out, the recruiting always took place among individuals in their own network groups where people knew one another and let the message come from their colleagues instead of from somebody who is trying to sell a product or service. Finally, Madoff used scarcity, says Cialdini, noting that there were limited availabilities to gain access to investing with Madoff, which made those opportunities seem more valuable and exclusive.

Cialdini says there are two lessons can be learned from the Bernie Madoff saga. One is the power of these rules. The second is that if you used them the way Bernie Madoff did -- dishonestly -- the whole thing crashes down. "It's not sustainable if used that way," he said.

Mint.com: Bootstrap Your Internet Start Up

The Triumph of Web 2.5

The well-deserved success of Mint.com, and what other Web businesses can learn from it.

How Savings Savvy Are You?

Do you know the tricks that insurance companies, grocery stores and other companies use to separate you from your dollars? Try this quiz and see just how savvy you are about saving money.

By Daniel Gross

Sep 18, 2009 | Updated: 5:20 p.m. ET Sep 18, 2009

Earlier this week, Intuit, the software company that owns the popular personal-finance software programs Quicken and TurboTax, agreed to pay $170 million in cash for Mint.com, a two-year-old startup whose free tools allow chastened customers to manage their personal finances online. Some critics, such as Web entrepreneur Jason Fried, view the deal as a defeat for upstarts: A wounded incumbent that charges hefty fees for its services is taking out a free competitor for a relatively small sum and increasing its market power. (Last year, Slate's "Shopping" column tabbedQuicken.com and Mint.com as the best online tools for keeping track of personal finances.) But the all-cash deal, which will provide a hefty payday for the company's founders and venture capital investors, represents a triumph of a new business model. Indeed, the sale of Mint.com may be the first big payoff for a Web 2.5 company.
Web 2.0 refers to the generation of companies and services built on the wreckage of Web 1.0.

In the 1990s, hundreds of billions of dollars were spent building the physical (fiber-optic cable, server farms, payment systems, software) and mental (marketing, hype, promotion) infrastructure of online business. Many of the companies that created the broadband ecosystem wound up going bankrupt. But they left behind a platform and user base that could be tapped into by new companies, which could gain scale without having to make massive investments. YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Skype, Twitter, Salesforce.com, blogging software, and, above all, Google.

The first generation of dot-coms burned through cash rapidly because they had to spend a lot of money building and running their businesses—marketing and advertising to get the word out, not to mention software, consultants, and programmers to run online systems and analyze the results. Thanks to Web 2.0, many of these costs have plummeted. Many of the basics are now essentially free, which means a business built on the infrastructure laid down by the first two generations of Web companies can gain scale on a shoestring budget, all while giving away its products and services for free. Call it Web 2.5Yesterday, at a panel I moderated in San Francisco, Donna Wells, Mint.com's chief marketing officer, stunned a room full of digital marketing pros by noting that she really didn't have much of a marketing budget. Mint.com has gone from zero to 1.5 million users in two years with no ad campaign, save a mid-five-figures sum spent on search engine terms. Rather than purchase traffic, it has pursued the same type of strategy that food trucks and online magazines do: Using free social media and piggybacking on popular new communications technology. Mint.com has more than 36,000 Facebook fans and 19,000 Twitter followers, a well-trafficked blog, and a popular iPhone application.

Mint.com, which advises customers on how to pinch pennies, does some penny-pinching of its own. It uses Wordpress (free) to run its Web site and blog. To analyze traffic partners, conversion rates, and other essentials of an online business that generates its revenues through lead generation, it uses Google analytics (free and sufficiently simple that Wells' marketing staff can use it without the help of software experts). Wells referred to a bunch of other services it uses to keep tabs on its site, such as ClickTale and Crazy Egg and Compete, as "virtually free"—costing a few hundred dollars a month. Mint.com's main market research tool is Zoomerang, which helps companies conduct online surveys and collect user feedback. The cost: about $700 per year.

Mint.com has benefitted from a cultural shift as well as a technological one. During the free-spending housing bubble, a Web site that encouraged people to manage spending, comparison-shop, and save was definitely out of step with the prevailing mood. But once the financial and housing markets tanked and the nation went into recession, the zeitgeist shifted. Shrinking top lines have caused people to focus on the bottom line, and the savings rate has spiked. Third homes and luxury goods are out; coupons and growing your own vegetables are in. Saving is the new borrowing. Thus considered, Mint.com, which launched in September 2007, timed the market perfectly. It hit the Web at a time when more Americans suddenly had the time, inclination, and motivation to manage their financial affairs more prudently. And it gave them a way to do it without having to spend a dime.

Misner: Using small actions to get big results

Ivan Misner: Networking

Use Small Actions to Get Big Results

When it comes to creating relationships with other companies, take a long-term approach.

By Ivan Misner | December 03, 2008

Recent Articles
By Ivan Misner

I was recently speaking to a friend of mine who's a partner in an international consulting and training company when we discovered we had a mutual acquaintance--a bestselling author and fairly well-known speaker.

In our discussion, we found out he'd contacted each of us individually to see if there were any possibilities for some type of strategic alliance with his company and each of our own, individually. We were both open to the possibility but couldn't see an immediate and dramatic way our companies could link with his and undertake any specific projects at that time. We were both a bit amused to then discover that we were summarily "dropped" from his radar after that.

We sensed he was looking for that one big alliance that would help his company soar to the next level. Ironically, we'd had the same type of phone call with each other just 18 months earlier. We had come basically to the same conclusion: There was nothing on a grand scale that we could do together at that moment. The difference, however, was the rest of the story.

You see, we agreed to stay in touch, and we did. We connected several times over the year and met in person as well. During that time, we gradually found some simple ways to help each other and slowly enhanced the relationship. This was a sharp contrast from the third party we'd talked to individually. We both felt that when this person didn't see any big payoff, we became persona non grata with him. On the other hand, the two of us found ways to help each other gradually and still continue to build our relationship.

We came to the conclusion that most people who are successful at networking and creating strong strategic alliances view the process as a series of small actions taken with many people to create a long-term positive growth for their companies. The process is more of a marathon than a sprint. Throughout the race, you form alliances and help each other in what may seem like little ways over the long haul, but small actions over time can create big results.

Here's another real-life example of a scenario in which two companies reached out to me and my company to try to achieve a strategic alliance:

The first company, which shall remain nameless on the grounds that it likes to slam folks it doesn't approve of in the media, contacted me. Its introduction was akin to "Glad to meet you--let's get married!" I really got the sense from this company that it wanted to give me the privilege of sharing my entire database of contacts with it based on who it was and how amazing it would be for me to even say I had stood in its shadow. Get the picture?

When I explained our corporate philosophy and my own personal belief system that deepening a business alliance and building a relationship with a business partner took time and effort before getting to the "let's get married" stage, this company abruptly ended the call and--I imagine--moved on down its computer-generated list of businesses to call.

By contrast, here's how a second organization in the same business approached the same issue: The owner himself contacted me and started the conversation by asking what our corporate plans were. I shared with him what our overall goal for growth was over the next five years. The next statement from him was, "We want to help you achieve that!"

From there it went from "Glad to meet you" to "Let's get to know each other better." He then shared with me that he had ideas that could help us achieve our corporate goal and help our members perform better in business at the same time.

When I explained, as I had with Company X, that our philosophy as a networking organization was one of mutual cooperation and that our belief was that anything really of value to either of us would take time, he completely got it.

Our relationship has developed organically, and we now have a strong strategic alliance with the organization based on getting to know each other and working with each other gradually.

I'm not sure how Company X is faring; I don't hear so much about their program anymore. I wonder why.

Looking back over two decades of building an international company, I can clearly see that no one person or company brought something to the table that launched my company to the next level. Instead, it was the cumulative effect of many people, many strategic alliances and many well-nurtured relationships that over time catapulted my business higher than ever imagined in the early days. Each contact, each opportunity to reach out to each other and each mutually-beneficial activity served as just one more spoke in the wheel as we rolled up the hill toward success.

Called the father of modern networking by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder and Chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization. His latest #1 bestseller, The 29% Solution can be viewed atwww.29PercentSolution.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training compan. He can be reached atmisner@bni.com.

The Key to Networking Building long-term relationships based on trust will help open the door to others' prime networks. By Ivan Misner | February 26, 2007 Recent Articles By Ivan Misner When you tell entrepreneurs that relationships are the key to developing a personal and professional network, they often smile and acknowledge the concept without fully appreciating it. Let me put this notion into perspective. Imagine you're standing in a large room full of people, and I ask everyone to pull out their key rings. Visualize everyone holding up the keys to their house, their office and their car as I ask everyone to show them to the room. Now here’s my question: Would you hand over your car keys to a perfect stranger? What about those to your office or home? Of course not! Now instead of a key to a car or a home, imagine you have a key that opens the door to an important relationship with a colleague that another person would like to connect with. Let’s say you hold the key to this relationship, but you don’t know the person who's asking for it. Would you give it to them? Of course not! Why? Because when you give a referral, you give away a piece of your reputation. If it's a good referral, it helps your reputation; if it's a bad referral, it hurts. Intuitively, you'll only hand over the keys to someone you know and trust. What I love about this metaphor is how it works on two levels. First, you’re not going to hand over the keys to a relationship until you know a person well. But more important, others don’t even know what keys you actually have until you trust them enough to tell them. It's not just you; nobody is willing to hand over the keys to important relationships until they know and trust the person asking. Unfortunately, when networking, some people expect perfect strangers to hand over the keys right away. Take a look at your referral partners. Would it surprise you if they had keys to referrals they're keeping in their pockets until they trust you with them? It shouldn’t. So how do we begin this process of exchanging keys? It all comes down to establishing credibility with your referral partners. I've seen many people who think networking is about meeting people and asking for business right then and there. That’s it. They meet someone and focus on telling them what they need or what kind of business they want. It’s like saying, “Hello, my name is Ivan. Let’s do business.” Effective networking is about building relationships with others who can refer you once they've come to trust you, have confidence in you and feel loyal to you. This truly is the key to networking success. And this process takes time. This isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. If there were a single networking concept I had to identify that most entrepreneurs just don’t get, it would be building relationships over time. They listen, acknowledge its importance, then ask about the best way to close a deal when meeting someone for the first time. The short answer is, you don’t. OK, everyone has that one fluke story about meeting someone for the first time and ending up doing business, but that’s not the norm. The norm in successful networking is building a relationship to generate long-term referrals. I think you'll be astonished at how powerful this concept is when put into action. Think of it this way: When you get to the place where you can, without hesitation, hand over your physical set of keys to someone, you'll be in the best place possible to begin asking for keys to their relationships. Called the father of modern networking, Dr. Ivan Misner is the Founder of BNI and the senior partner for the Referral Institute. He has written nine books, including his recently released New York Times best seller Truth or Delusion? Busting Networking’s Biggest Myths.

Positive Attitude Article

10 Ways to Build a Positive Mental Attitude

By Dieter Pauwels

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The news is working hard to make us fret about our futures-our ability to make it when businesses are closing all around us. Yes, times are tough, but you can "toughen up" - and enjoy the ride - by making sure your attitude is positive. Here Dieter Pauwels offers 10 tips for you to stay positive:

1. The choice is yours.

Your life is the result of your choices. You always have (and had) a choice. You can choose to let the current state of the economy bring you down, or you can choose to look for opportunities. Choose to focus your attention on what you can do and what you will achieve. The way you choose to see the world creates the world you see.

2. Limit TV time.

Instead read a positive book, start a project, pick up a new hobby, spend some quality time with your family-do something that will enhance your life. Manage your time around your highest priorities and values. How high is the TV on your priority list?

3. Use positive language.

Listen to the words you use. Avoid words like 'always', 'never', 'can't', 'won't' and even 'why.' Say 'I choose' or 'I want,' instead of 'I need' or 'I should'; notice the difference.

4. Surround yourself with positive people.

Surround yourself with people who are positive influences: people who speak the truth and support you. Expand your circle to include people who are further ahead in personal and professional development than you are. Disassociate with negative people who impede your progress.

5. Develop a Givers Gain mentality.

Give away what you seek without expectation or measuring. When you seek success, help others to be successful, too. When you seek happiness, help others to find happiness first.

6. Invest in yourself.

Listen to positive attitude audio CD's, invest in courses or workshops, or attend personal development seminars. Read books from people like Napoleon Hill, Earl Nightingale, Jim Rohn, Charles Swindoll, John Maxwell, Dale Carnegie, Anthony Robbins, Jeffrey Gitomer, Wayne Dyer, Norman Vincent Peale, Ken Blanchard, Jack Canfield and many others. People who write about how you can and will, not why you can't or won't.

7. Let go of anger, resentment, and judgment.

Hanging on to negative emotions like anger or resentment will drain your energy and hinder you from moving forward. The best way to let go of these emotions is to fully acknowledge the feelings associated with the initial negative experience. Honor those feelings and let them go as they no longer serve you; replace them with something positive. You can still hold on to the lessons learned from the initial negative experience.

8. Create positive, realistic expectations, and take action.

All too often people try to live up to the expectations of others: a parent, a manager, or a significant other. Make sure your expectations are congruent with who you really are. You are what you believe, and you become what you expect. Expect the best - and only the best - from life, others, and yourself. Take action on your expectations.

9. Start believing in what you really want.

Identify and let go of limiting beliefs that no longer support or honor you. Instead develop empowering beliefs that are aligned with your goals, values, and your heart's desires.

10. Take responsibility for your own life.

Focus your attention on what you can control: your thoughts, your actions, your behavior, your emotional state, and your daily actions and activities. You're the steward of your own life, solely responsible for the results and experiences you create. Taking ownership and responsibility for your own life is a freedom and tremendous privilege.

It all starts with your attitude.

You can check out the rest of Dieter's website at: http://lifecoaching.dieterpauwels.com/.

Tags: attitude, Dieter Pauwels, expectations, January 2009 edition, personal development, positive

More To the Next Level articles

Ivan Misner: Increase what others need to know about you to refer

Looking for More Referrals?

Remembering the GAINS Exchange

By Dr. Ivan Misner, Founder of BNI July 2009

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So often, I see BNI members who are frustrated about not getting more business referred to them-especially in the beginning as they build relationships with chapter members.

If your chapter members aren't passing on the number of referrals you'd like, take a look at yourself first. Before you can expect to have business referred to you by your chapter members, you may need to actively share more information about yourself.

The fact is it's not enough that you're great at what you do and can offer a lot of value to new clients. To win referrals from your chapter members, you need to ensure that your contacts have all the necessary information about you and your skills so they can persuade third parties to come and purchase your product or service. It's amazing how many people fail to recognize this.

There are five essential areas for the members of your network to get acquainted with before you can expect them to refer business your way. Equally, you need to know these same five things about them so you can reciprocate. I call this process of reciprocal sharing of information the GAINS exchange, based on the first letter of each of the five essential informational points: Goals, Accomplishments, Interests, Networks, and Skills (first discussed in my book, Business by Referral).

Goals: What are the objectives that are important to you? What are the problems you want to solve? Not just financial and business goals, but also personal and educational objectives.

Accomplishments: What big projects have you completed in business or as an employee? What are your accomplishments as a student or parent?

Interests: What are the things you really enjoy doing? The music you like to listen to, the hobbies you spend time on, the sports you like to play or watch? People are more willing to spend time with people they share interests with.

Networks: Each of your contacts is a part of many networks. Do you know what these are, how big they are? Each of us has the potential to connect with hundreds or thousands of people if we cultivate these resources.

Skills: What do you do especially well? What are the professional areas in which you excel? Don't be afraid to share this information with your contacts, and learn about the talents and abilities of the people in your network as well.

These are not mysterious pieces of information. They are facts we are exposed to every day, if we look for them.

By remembering the GAINS exchange, you can make sure you don't overlook this essential information about your networking contacts.

Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder and Chairman of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization. His latest #1 bestseller, The 29% Solution can be viewed at www.29PercentSolution.com. Dr. Misner is also the Senior Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company. He can be reached at misner@bni.com. Visit www.iLearningGlobal.tv/Networking for downloadable content by Dr. Misner.

The Black Swan

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Expect the Unexpected - black swans happen, your paradigm will change, good or bad, get ready for it.

The Golden Question

Who do you know who would like a really good . . . doctor? realtor? agent?

Positivity.org


If you're successful half the time, try doubling your efforts.

Build on the Good that you have now --- family, happy clients, whatever it is you have you love - make it better, build on your strength!

On a positive note I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. · ·

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. · ·

I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. · · I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life." · ·

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. · ·

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back. I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can,happiness will find you. · ·

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. · ·

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. · ·

I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch - holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. · · I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. · ·

I've learned that you should pass this on to someone you care about. · ·

I just did. Sometimes they just need a little something to make them smile. Note: People will forget what you said, People will forget what you did, but People will never forget how you made them feel... "

Positivity

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Positivity is a term popularized by journalist Albert Nerenberg to mean an emphasis on the positive in the face of the gloominess of the 21st Century. Nerenberg was surprised that officially, Positivity is not truly recognized as a word. The term was featured in a series published by the Montreal Gazette^[1], which featured new trends in culture and science which emphasized hope, intelligence, and human progress in face of war, fear and climate change. Also the term might simply be a calque or loan translation from the French positivité, something possible in a city like Montreal where language interference (English-French and French English) is a common occurrence.

PositivityBlog.Org

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
- Anais Nin

I think that one of the most effective ways to improve your life is simply to think in a more positive way.

This is of course nothing new and not that simple. If it was, well, then at least most of us would already be doing it.

So, why aren’t we more positive? I can think of a few reasonable reasons.

We think it is like it is - It´s easy to confuse what has happened to you, the story of your life, with now and the future. The past does not necessarily equal the future. If you believe it does then it does. But if you don´t if you believe it does then it doesn´t. If you change your way of thinking you can change your behaviour, habits and your life.

Social programming – A big reason many think that things are like they are and will always be that way is because no one ever told them that there was an alternative. The school, newspapers and other influential forces tells us we have a life and an identity that is us throughout our lives. And at least in much of the media, negativity is the normal filter to view the world through. We hear this every day when we are young and very impressionable. Then we continue believing it and it becomes a part of our sense of self. And we continue our lives on that path.

Lack of energy – Changing the many negative and neutral thoughts in our day to day life to positive ones can take quite a bit of energy. If you are stressed out by work and your personal life, if you aren´t eating and sleeping well and don´t take time to exercise there will be a lack of energy. And with that lack it´s easy to just feel too damn tired to change your thoughts, to just give up and revert to the familiar way of thinking.

Too reactive and mindful of what others may think – You may think, if I change and become more positive, what will other people say? That I´m weird, hyper, over-compensating or unhappy on the inside? Will they laugh, mock me and question this change in outlook on life? Or perhaps, they will actually like it and it will give me new opportunities down the line. Maybe it will bring success and my relatively comfortable life will be shaken up and change. Yeah, such thoughts can be some scary thoughts.

Lack of motivation –Not knowing exactly what´s in it for me on a personal and beneficial level.

Wanting to be right – Most of us have an ingrained sense that what we believe is right. Even though a belief we have might not be that useful. Or makes our lives out right miserable. It can be hard to give up a belief because then we have to give up being right.

We tried but failed (once or twice) – Throughout our lives, in school and society we are taught that we should not fail, that it is bad. This can make us very reluctant to take chances and keep trying beyond the initial attempt.

A lack of knowledge/too much disempowering information – You will most likely fail several times at first. You will make mistakes. You may be met with negativity or disinterest. It may take more than a weekend to get the success you envision. It may take longer than you think, perhaps months. And that is ok, that is normal.

Not knowing how the world (most of the time) works can discourage you. And the information about how the world works that you get from media, the people around you and society may not always be that accurate and effective. Instead, seek out relevant information for yourself to set your expectations to a reasonable level. Get information from a variety of different sources. And get it from people that have experience and knowledge about what you are interested in. A good starting point can be your local library, bookstore or amazon.com.

10 reasons why you should become more positive

1. You will create a better world around you as your surroundings will become affected and change due to your positive thoughts and actions.

2. You will make better first impressions. Everyone stereotypes, whether they want or not. A positive first impression can mean a lot in many situations and have a lasting effect throughout your relationship with that person.

3. You will focus on the good things in people. Not their faults. This will make things much better overall and improve all kinds of relationships.

4. It´s easier to become more productive when you stop laying obstacles in the middle of the road in the form of negative thoughts.

5. Work becomes more fun. Everything becomes more fun.

6. You become more attractive. People like positive people. Positive people make other people feel good about themselves and they don´t drag the mood down. Also, a positive attitude is an indicator – and source - of high self-confidence, a quality that just about everyone is attracted to.

7. Being negative has very little concrete advantages and is not a very empowering way to look at life.

8. It opens up your mind to focus on other ways of looking at things. Sometimes wonderful new ways you might not ever have thought about or experienced before.

9. It puts the Law of Attraction to better use. The Law of Attraction basically says: whatever you think about you attract into your life. As you replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts you will start to attract more positive opportunities and people into your life.

10. You´ll waste less time. Negativity can be like a self-feeding loop. First you think one negative thought. It leads you to three more. And then you start examining your life in deeper detail through a depressing lens. When you get into a vicious cycles like this it can eat up hours, weeks and years of your life. It can drain a lot of your energy whilst trapping you in paralysis by analysis. And you probably won´t become that much wiser in the process. As mentioned in the Where is you time really going?, we live for about 24-28 000 days. Don´t waste them.

The how to do it

“Between stimulus and response is the freedom to choose.”
- Viktor Frankl

The Positivity Challenge is this: For 7 days you will try to only think positive thoughts. Whatever happens to you will see the good side of it and what positive things you can learn and take away from it. By the end of the week you will have started to discover the very real benefits of a positive thinking, how much negative thoughts there are both in you and the world (you might be surprised) and begun establishing a new habit to replace your old, less constructive one. And then you can continue from there.

What I suggesting here is not a mindless kind of positive thinking where you pretend everything is ok whilst the house and your bed is actually on fire. Instead it’s you noticing a situation or stimuli and then choosing a positive and useful response to it instead of reacting in a knee-jerk way.

It´s you focusing on what could be a more positive and useful solution for you. Or even better, what could be a win-win situation if the situation involves other people (which many important situations in our lives do). A win-win solution is more often an even more satisfying and beneficial solution than the one where only you win.

Now, how to go about it? Here are three tips for the first week.

Cut the negative threads quickly. Only allow yourself to go on a negative thread of thought for a set time-period, perhaps 30 seconds or a minute. Then just cut it off, drop it and think about what positive things you can get out of this situation. Don´t feed the negative thoughts with more energy or you might trap your mind in a downward spiral for quite a while. If you start going down a negative thread of thought it is important to cut it fast.

Realise that it is possible to choose what you think about and how you react. You don´t have live your life in reaction. Being reactive to everything is not very empowering. You have a choice. But it might take some time to make this click in your mind. Even though I understood this intellectually pretty fast it took a longer time to understand and accept it emotionally and on a deeper level.

Focus on the gap between stimuli and reaction. The more you think about this and try to use it by consciously choosing, over time (for me it was months but it can surely be achieved quicker) the gap will appear larger and larger and that will make the process easier.

Accept your feelings, don´t deny or refuse them – Although it´s often possible to just quickly cut off negative thoughts sometimes it might not be enough. Negative emotions can build up within you over time or you might feel be overwhelmed by a certain situation. Then you can try the counter-intuitive way and not keep the feeling out by fighting it.

Instead, accept the feeling. Say yes to it. Surrender and let it in.

Observe the feeling in your mind and body without judging it. If you just let it in and observe it for maybe a minute or two something wonderful happens. The feeling just vanishes. It sounds weird but give it a try.

In addition, here´s a bunch of other suggestions – some of them you might not be able to use fully within a week but instead over a longer time-span - to make this challenge easier and improve your life.

Get the physical fundamentals down. If you don´t have time to sleep a healthy amount of hours, eat properly and get exercise then you need to reprioritize. If you don´t do this it will be harder to become and stay positive. If you do reprioritize, your general sense of well-being will increase, you will feel stronger and have more energy. Use Where is your really time going? and Prioritize with the Pareto Principle to make better use of your time. Decrease stress using those two articles and the rest in the series How to double your productivity. Also, check out this simple way to feel really relaxed.

Act as if. Smile to feel happier. Move slower to relax. Use positive language. Act as if you are a positive person and you will start to feel and become more positive. It might feel weird at first, but it really works.

Start your day in a better way. Check out these five tips for a better beginning to your day.

Limit your time with really negative people – Some people feed on negative energy and whatever you try it never pleases them or changes their sour minds and moods. If nothing you do works then finally you might have to cut them out of your life or at least limit your time with them.

Model positive people. Find positive people in your surroundings or anywhere in time and space (through documentaries, biographies etc.) and learn from them. Find out how they handle everyday life, problems, setbacks and compare it to your own thoughts and how you would handle similar situations.

Focus on the now and future, not the past. A lot of people spend a lot of time thinking about on the mistakes they made in past. A better way is to think about the mistake you made and what you can learn from it. Then stop wasting your time and shift your focus to the present and the future where you can actually make a change.

Redefine “failure” and “proof”. You don´t have to learn much about successful people to realize that one of their key-strengths is that their way of looking at failure is widely different from more common one in society. As Michael Jordan said:

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Also, in a similar vain, thinking one example represents the whole world might not be the most helpful belief to hold. Yes, someone may have cheated on you, treated you badly at work before you were fired and your first business venture may have gone down in flames. But applying one or two bad examples to the whole world and the rest of your life will cause suffering for you long after those hurtful events happened. And could set you up for even more pain and disappointment through self-fulfilling prophecies and the Law of Attraction.

I don´t think these all these words are the truth about how the world around you and me works. Just as a pessimistic (or realistic) view of the world is not the truth either. I don´t believe there is one truth, but rather that the world changes due to the beliefs you have about it and the actions you take based on your beliefs. I do believe that this is a more useful model of how to view and interact with the world than a pessimistic one and that it´s a more enjoyable way of thinking. It is a way of thinking that increases happiness and joy in life. Something I think just about everyone wants.

“Though I might travel afar, I will meet only what I carry with me,
for every man is a mirror.
We see only ourselves reflected in those around us.
Their attitudes and actions are only a reflection of our own.
The whole world and its condition has its counterparts within us all.
Turn the gaze inward. Correct yourself and your world will change.”
- Kirsten Zambucka

The Networking Instinct by Russ Ouellette

The Networking Instinct

Why BNI is an advantage.

By Dr. Russ Ouellette, DM

"Work hard. Keep your head down: In doing so, you will be recognized and advance."

This advice isn't always true.

Face it. It's the people with the large Rolodex who are moving ahead in the workplace. The old saying "It's who you know" is spot on, but not in the negative way that it has come to be used.

We are witnessing the redefinition of work at all levels, from physical labor to knowledge. We need to move faster and with agility to compete. There is a move toward empowered organizational principles, such as flat organizations and teams. Many people resist change, but with change comes opportunity.

Networking is one of those opportunities, and it is a primary tool for success as we better understand it, practice it, and do it well.

Just a few decades ago, the primary work contract was to find a job—not a career—stay there until we are 63 years old, and then retire and sit on a beach for the rest of our life. That contract was broken by many employers, and job security became a fairytale in the traditional sense. Companies no longer considered employment a life contract, though some people still do. It's a myth.

During this decade, the free agent, small businesses, and entrepreneurship became real and primary choices for many people trying to find professional freedom and expression; however, the free agent choice cannot exist in a traditional paradigm of big business institutions.

In other words, while many of us have become entrepreneurial in our own businesses, or behave that way while working for a firm, there are many who still believe that the old contract of work—staying in one job for life—is still viable. As a result, many people are ignoring the value of a network.

While the work contract has changed, people and relationship behaviors have not changed.

Completing the Relationship Gap

In many cases, people have been taught by their institutions that networking is unnecessary. It may be that networking behavior is intentionally suppressed by institutions to keep us right where we are. Regardless of the reason, some people still believe that networking is a political behavior.

They believe networking is used for the sole purpose of finding a job, is something that only sales people do, or is a form of self promotion and politics. They would be right if life existed in a cubicle. It doesn't, and we need to engage in the world; we need to know how to network.

In my research, I set out to prove that there was a better return on investment (ROI) for people within a network if they held strong relationships with people. The theory was that we would need to have better and deeper relationships to achieve more success and ROI. In other words, good relationships meant more ROI value.

The study surveyed ten BNI networking groups (184 BNI members) in the greater Manchester, New Hampshire area. In the study 3,642 dyad (2 people) relationships were measured for strength to determine if stronger relationships traded more referrals than weaker ones. In other words, will I receive more referrals from my friends or people who consider me their friend?

My theory was proved wrong, but it was proved with a statistical level of significance, that the further away our relationships are from one another, the more referrals we will trade. In other words, BNI members provided more referrals to people they did not have a deep relationship with. What people are doing, instinctively, is providing more referrals to people they are trying to complete the relationship gap with—extending gifts to people they want to be their friend.

In reality, networking is an instinctual behavior. It is a critical tool for success and is emerging at a rapid pace, as evidenced by the Internet and social networking applications, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Fundamental changes in our economics, politics, and business are creating a new paradigm of operations, new tools, new applications and new opportunities if we are looking for them. Look for them.

Networking groups and on-line communities will become the norm. It's only a matter of time. BNI has proved it works, and the research discussed proves that networking—networking that provides a return on investment—is something we all do instinctually when we get outside "business as usual."

The network instinct—go with it.

Dr. Russ Ouellette is the managing partner of Sojourn Partners, a results-driven executive leadership coaching firm located in Bedford, NH. He can be reached at 603-472-8103 or russ@sojournpartners.com.

Speaking As An Expert

ou should develop a genuine focus on being “of service.” Develop authentic curiosity - focus on everyone’s favorite subject, ME. Ask questions focused on them, such as “tell me how you got started in this business?” or “who would be a good referral for you?”

I once worked with a salesperson who pointed out a lawyers office as we were driving and then a few moments later, a chiropractor’s office and said, “They do business together because of me – I brought them together. They are both my clients and now each others clients.” That’s netweaving and it’s one of the most powerful ways to prove your value to people – and stand head and shoulders above the crowd of other me-me-me sales people.

In fact, your goal should be to become a you-you-you sales professional!

Are you magnetic?

Another aspect involves the concept of magnetism. Working like a magnet – to attract people to you, almost irresistibly – instead of laboriously panning for gold among the pebbles can make the single biggest difference in dramatically increasing a sales professional’s effectiveness.

What if, through your efforts, you drew people to you? You have heard of people with magnetic personalities? This is called magnetic marketing!

In magnetic marketing, you move away from sales “rocks” to find your valuable iron ore – or sales “magnets.”

Here is a question to get you started thinking about magnetic marketing – How can you convert prospects into SUBSCRIBERS?

That’s right – subscribers. People who actually want to hear from you, value the information you bring to them, and look forward to the next time you call, email, or send them something in the mail, simply because of its intrinsic value.

In other words, how do you keep prospects coming back for more of what you have to offer? Simple: offer useful information on a regular basis.

Becoming a geyser of information

That leads to the next logical question, which is How can you become a valuable geyser of useful information?

Once you’ve answered this question, you’ll start pulling people toward you so they will WANT to do business with you. They will call YOU! Wouldn’t that be something? Well it can be done!

The way to do this is to develop a marketing/ prospecting plan, including creating information products, outreach tools, and using speaking and publishing opportunities (yes, for salespeople) to build your expert status.

Publish a newsletter on a regular basis and send it to your clients and prospective clients. Fill it with valuable tips, advice techniques and information. Don’t use boilerplate newsletters prepared for your industry – make this real, make it personal, and aim it squarely at your best prospects and clients.

Let’s face it: you are an expert in your particular product and industry – or should be. So show off your expertise!

In the age of technology, cost is no barrier, because you can create a wide variety of valuable tools electronically: annotated PowerPoints, white papers, audio programs, cost and savings calculators, short articles, tip sheets, and checklists. These take minutes to create (maybe an hour or so to do one really well) and can pay off in huge ways.

Just make sure you don’t produce a thinly disguised sales pitch (people can see right through that!) and do provide solid information to increase your credibility.

Secret #1: Publishing

Most publishers of industry and trade magazines and newsletters are HUNGRY for content. Not to mention websites, e-zines, industry specific online forums, and countless in-house publications (probably a good number of which are published by your prospect companies!)

The content is gobbled up every month and editors are always looking for NEW stuff. So all you have to do is ask and submit! When you get published you now have (wave the magic wand) TAAA-DAAA…Instant credibility!

Suddenly you’re an “industry expert.” Hey it’s not fair – but that is how it works! Wouldn’t you want to buy from an industry expert? Or at least speak to him or her for a few minutes on the phone to tap into their expertise?

Secret #2: Speaking

Associations are HUNGRY for speakers and they need one every time they have a meeting.

Package your expertise as a nice little 30 minute talk and you are now ready to speak to your future buyers!

Again, don’t make it a sales pitch; make it content rich and helpful.

If you sell copiers, do a talk on 10 Hot Trends in Office Technology. If you sell restaurant supplies, do a presentation on How to Increase your Business Traffic 100%.

When you speak, you become an expert – and usually get a list of the attendees so you can follow up.

Now you may say, “I’m not very good at public speaking.”

Usually when I hear people say that, it means one of three things:

They tried it before and didn’t like it because they gave a pitch from the podium and got zero response (which is exactly why I warned you about this a minute ago!) They don’t want to put in the “extra work” to create, develop, and pursue delivering short, value-rich speeches. They don’t know where to begin. If you fall into the first two categories, all I can suggest is that in order to change your results, you’ll need to change your behavior. If you’re in the third category, there are many options open to you, including the truly valuable Toastmasters organization, and presentation coaches who can get you comfortable, and even excited, in developing good speaking skills within a couple of months. Here is the formula: PR+V= Cx10 Good PR and Visibility increases your Credibility times 10!

Basic Marketing Ideas for your Marketing Calendar

I like to keep a running list of ways people can market their businesses. As I see new ones, I like to add to the list, and share it with the women in my mastermind, and network. It's particularly helpful when I am planning or updating my marketing calendar.

There is also a PDF Marketing Calendar template available for for download; and this list is also available in PDF format for download here. The article before this one lists the questions you should be able to answer about your business and your customers before you get to this planner. And of course, there is the annual list of special dates (Canadian) and seasonal topics to tie your marketing to.

As for this list, you can drop me a line to let me know if you have found it useful, or if there are ideas you think should be on it. - Gisela

The Basics:

• Branding (name, logo, colours, identity: packaging, letterhead & envelopes)
• Brochures
• Business Card
• Flyers
• Sales letters
• Networking
• Referrals
• Newsletters
• Free Samples
• Cold Calling
• Sandwich board
• Magnetic signage on cars
• Hold Events
• In-store Signage
• Store Dressing
• Staff Dress-up
• Word of Mouth
• Phone Listing
• Join Associations
• Clothing

Direct Mail:

• Sales Letter (series)
• CDs
• Postcards

Traditional Media:

• Press Releases
• Newspaper Ad
• Magazines
• Radio Interviews
• Publicity

Not-so-basic:

• Write a Book
• Blimp/sky writing/plane banners
• Billboards
• Subway / Transit Ads
• Landscape Ads

E-marketing:

• Website (including Search Engine Optimization)
• Online Advertising Campaign
• Newsletters
• Affiliate/Referral Programs
• Web banners
• Directories
• Writing Articles
• Network / post to discussions where your target market hang out

Cross Promotion:

• Prize Packages
• Sponsorships
• Coupon books
• Write for other company’s newsletters/publications

Appearances:

• Tradeshows & Exhibitions
• Meetings, Conventions
• Speaking Engagements
• Festivals
• Conferences
• Create Training Programs around your area of expertise

Content/Focus of the promotions

• Use specific time-constrained offers
• Discounts/Coupons
• Giveaways
• Contests
• Gift with purchase
• Client Appreciation
• Open House
• Seasonal Extended Hours
• Anniversary
• Business Events
• Corporate Gift
• Donations
• Trinkets
• Awards – sponsoring, creating
• Charity

© 2006, Gisela McKay. All rights reserved in all media.

Marketing Pyramid

Power of the Marketing Pyramid by John Doerr

"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others."
- George Orwell, Animal Farm 1956

Imagine this scenario: you are at a professional services firm that has just come off a fairly good year of growing revenue and profits. You want to continue this growth going into the coming year and have decided you are finally going to take some of these profits and invest in marketing. You have accumulated a list of 1,000 clients, former clients, and prospects to target. Everyone turns to you and asks, "Well, how are we going to invest our hard-earned profits?"

If this sounds agonizingly familiar, you are not alone. Once most professional service firms get past the idea that they are going to invest some money in marketing, they are then faced with the riddle of where and how to spend it.

While they know not all prospects and clients are equal in terms of business potential, they all too often treat them equally in their marketing efforts. As a result, the marketing budget does not go very far and it is not very effective.

The rest of the scenario: the next year, profits go into everything but marketing, and, a few months later, the growth curve flattens.

All Prospects are Not Created Equal

So what went wrong? To start let's paraphrase Orwell, "All prospects appear equal, but some are definitely more equal and potentially more profitable than others." Since they are not equal, they should not be given equal marketing attention. We want to spend our time and efforts where we have our best chances of success (unlike our friends in the above scenario).

A very simple tool to help you decide how much and on whom to spend is the Marketing Pyramid. Those of you with any kind of marketing background will realize that there is nothing particularly new about this approach. Consumer marketers have been using this method for years to decide how to market to heavy, medium, and light users through offering coupons, special offers, contests, and other incentives to invite consumers to continue to buy. Since service purchasers generally do not buy in specific quantities each month, service marketers fall into the trap of lumping all of their targets into one prospect category.

Determine Your A, B, and C Targets

Let's go back to our first scenario of the firm coming off a successful year. They have identified a total of 1,000 clients and potential clients. However, not all 1,000 of these targets have the same profit potential. To begin rationing out their marketing dollars they should first divide their target list into primary (A), secondary (B), and tertiary (C) prospects.

As a rule of thumb, primary "A" targets should make up approximately 10% of their list. These should include:

• Current clients
• Recent past clients
• Recent referrals from clients or influencers
• Any "hot" leads from the last few months (from seminars, speeches, web searches, articles, white papers, etc.)

The secondary "B" list should make up approximately 25% of the total list and include:

• Somewhat recent past clients
• Somewhat recent referrals
• The top targeted companies from their wish list of future clients (this can be by the verticals with which they have been successful, verticals they target, geography they target, etc.)

Leads dropped that may be six months cold or older.

Lastly, the tertiary "C" targets comprise the remainder of the list:

• The balance of targeted companies from their wish list of future clients
• Inquiries, business cards, and other contacts
• Anybody in the list of 1,000 who looks like a good, but not imminent potential client

Another way to classify your targets is to ask yourself, "If I were to get in front of this person how often will I close the business?" When asking yourself this question, a good rule of thumb to help divide your list is:

• A's about 1 in 10 (or less) will close
• B's about 1 in 25 will close
• C's about 1 in 100 will close

Now that you have a better understanding of who and where your targets are, you are in a better position to decide how to go about your marketing and parcel out your marketing touches and dollars.

Communicating to Your Prospects: Unequal Prospects = Unequal Touches

If you have designated your A's as closing 1 in 10 times, your B's as 1 in 25, and your C's as 1 in 100, then you should spend 10 times more on your A's than your C's and 2.5 times more on your A's than your B's. In addition, you want to personally contact your A's 10 times a year, your B's 4 times a year, and your C's once a year.

For example, your "A" contact plan might look something like this:

Contact #

1. Call to set up a new meeting, lunch, or breakfast about something of value to the prospect.
2. Send a summary of your meeting.
3. Send an article of interest to the prospect.
4. Send an invitation to a special networking event, seminar, or webinar you are hosting.
5. Send a special note about a speaking engagement that might be of interest to them (even better if you are the one doing the speaking).
6. Call regarding something you read about them or that would be of interest to them. See if you can expand on what their needs are.
7. Send an e-mail with an interesting article relating to their business or industry.
8. Send a letter offering a new white paper your firm has published.
9. Send a holiday card with a personalized note.
10. Call to see how they are approaching their needs (and see if they should still be on the "A" list for next year).

Your communication with your "B" list may consist of #'s 1, 2, 7, and 10. Your "C" list may just get #4 or #8 to keep you on their mind.

As the year progresses, you will move prospects up and down in the Marketing Pyramid and out of the pyramid (ideally into the closed list) based on the outcomes of some of your contacts and conversations.

The Results

In the long run (assuming the 1,000 names from the original scenario and based on our assumptions about closing), you should expect to get 10 new clients from your A list, 10 from your B list, and 7 new clients from your C list.

If all prospects are not equal, treat them as such. You will end up with continued momentum, continued growth, and greater return on your marketing efforts.