Jun-17-2009

Video Blogging. Are you Insane???

Yes, video blogging.

It is probably one of the easiest ways to get a message out there to all the people who want to listen.

There is an absolute explosion happening out there on the internet with Video Blogging and Videos in general. YouTube has grown at a phenomenal rate in the last few years and does not show signs of letting up.

The question is, if this is such a great medium why aren’t more people doing it. Well, for one, people are very critical of themselves and self-conscious. They may think they have nothing important to say. Who knows? The fact of the matter is that people will be much more likely to watch a 3 minute video on a subject than to read a posted blog.

We live in a very visual society. People like their video in small doses.

What do you need to do this?

1. Watch some YouTube videos and see what’s hot and how they are doing it.

2. Get a video FlipCam.

3. Think about your clients and what they would be interested in.

4. Get a concept of 4 or 5 things you could tell them about that particular subject.

5. Start filming.

6. Have a friend review it to see if they find it fun and informative.

7. If they like it, post it. If they don’t, try again. Don’t give up!

Next time I’ll share some tips on where to post it!

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Posted under Marketing
Apr-23-2009

What the Heck is Good Time Management

All of us have some concept of ‘Good’ time management.

Make a list of things to do, block out the time required to do it and then take the steps necessary to achieve the desired result. Right????

So, why, oh why are people spending hundreds of millions of dollars every year to become better time managers???

Let’s face it, opinions vary on exactly why people do not actually DO the above mentioned steps but the fact of the matter is that this is a HUGE problem for some people and they can never seem to get a handle on it no matter how much money they spend.

I’m going to take a few minutes to very quickly educate you on what Time Management IS and then how to apply these principles to your life.

First, let’s define the words…

Time -  ‘Any specified or defined period.’ From World Book Dictionary

Management -  ‘The process of dealing with or controlling things or people.’ From Oxford American Dictionary

What is Control?

It is defined as, ‘The power to influence or direct people’s behavior or the course of events.’ Again from Oxford American Dictionary

Control could further be defined as the ability to start, change or stop people or things related to life.

OK. So, how do we use this to help us to be better time managers.

Each of us has 24 hours in the day and 7 days in a week. How is it that I could help one gentleman go from doing 44 deals per year as a Realtor to 110 and still have more time off?  I did not wave a magic wand and make all his paperwork disappear. Nor did he hire ten additional staff to help him get everything done.

The God’s honest truth, we removed all the distractions from his life. We handled anything and everything that was preventing him from getting the job done and then we focused on getting the job done. Simple, right???

The biggest drain on a person’s ability to stay focused and get stuff done is all the backlogged and incomplete projects hanging around the person.

I’ll never forget working with another gentleman. He was in a very cramped office and he had tons of clutter and incomplete projects around him. I spent a full day and helped him clean it ALL up. He was so thrilled that he raced home and cleaned up his office and the garage. His wife called to thank me. Needless to say, he was twice as productive that year and made more money in that one year than he had in the previous three years.

Of course, you can do this on your own but most people that I know are too easily distracted and fail to handle every thing. It really helps to have someone there to help you sort out what you should do with each and every thing you come across.

Next I’ll teach you about the 4 D’s of good time management!

Have a productive day!

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Posted under Time Management
Apr-8-2009

When it comes to Closing… Say Less, Show more

1. The power of Images: use your prospects imagination, which will have him reacting emotionally. Show pictures and graphs rather then facts and figures. Remember, 1 images is worth a 1000 words.
2. The power of stories: tell a TRUE story to support your answer to an objection. This will help the prospect ’see’ better what could happen…
3. The power of reference letters: your happy customers will sell you much better than you can. Use success stories and testimonials which address as specifically as possible what the client is concerned about!
4. The power of demonstrations:more than 75%of your prospects decide to buy (or not) during a demo of your product or service. 1 good demo = 10,000 words!

5 key elements in doing a demo:
Remember this acronym…. D.E.M.O’.S.
1. Let the prospect D iscover
2. Push E motions
3. Keep it M otivating
4. O rient the demo towards a close
5. Be S pecific and S imple

You must be sure to control your prospect from beginning to end.

CONTROL = INCOME

As soon as you lose control of the sales cycle, the prospect controls you. The fact of the matter is you have never closed a deal where the prospect was controlling the sales cycle.

The GOLDEN RULE OF SELLING: Know Why

You do not lose your morale from failing to sell. You lost it because you don’t know WHY you did not close the prospect. As soon as you feel you are losing control of the sales cycle you must stop while the prospect is still interested and find out what is going on. If you wait too long, and the prospect loses interest, it will be next to impossible to get the prospect willing to tell you exactly what is going on.

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Posted under Selling