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Sunday, February 3, 2013
SMARTSTART Insider | Tip, Tools & Resources - January 2013
Sunday, December 16, 2012
What Matters Most is Your Why
"People don't buy what you do. They buy why you do it." --Simon Sinek
Most brain injury rehabilitation exercises are pretty damn boring. (Just sayin.)
What I remember most about them is the fear of what it would mean for my future if I didn't succeed at therapy. Each day I went to the rehab centre, I was sure my pre-accident self would rise to the occasion and life would go back to normal. For many months this was routinely followed by overwhelming feelings of despair and embarrassment over my continued failure to be able to complete even the simplest tasks.
Three-plus years and thousands of hours of practice later, I''m still struggling. Progress is painfully slow. At times it is barely perceptible. That's when the risk of giving up is greatest. (Perhaps you're already seeing the parallel to our shared experiences in business?)
One of my least favourite activities was working at the nuts and bolts board in an attempt to recover fine motor skills. After months of daily practice, I'd really achieved very little beyond being able to hold a fork and a toothbrush. But even then, I couldn't hold them steady or apply enough force to render either one remotely useful.
I could remember what these tools were for and how to use them. However, without my former motor coordination ability and grip strength, that knowledge was actually quite useless. And hurtful. You simply don't realize how much you do with your hands until they become more of a hindrance than a help.
Dedicated, consistent effort, in both business and life, does yield results. Just not always the results you'd hoped for. In fact, while I have regained partial use of my hands, they remain unreliable being weak and difficult to control. This has changed things considerably for me in so many ways. At the same time, it opens new windows of opportunity for being extraordinarily creative in how I approach dealing with the activities of daily living. (I didn't see it this way at first but it is the way I'm looking at it now.)
There are dozens of times each day when I'm certainly no less frustrated than I was with the seemingly endless fastening and unfastening of nuts and bolts to the peg board. However, my reason for persevering (and the true WHY behind all of this work) is so compelling, giving up is not an option.
I want to regain my lost independence. And I am willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
Which leads me to the first and most important of the many business lessons I'll be sharing with you. My accountant, the late Joseph Roberts, told me this thirty years ago and never let me forget it. You may be resistant to his advice and what I'm going to suggest, so I'm going to ask you to trust me that he was right about this.
To create a long-term sustainable income from your business, you must find your compelling reason why you are in business in the first place.
Here's how you do that:
Stop thinking about what you're going to sell and who you're going to sell it to. Instead, clear your mind and think only about your why.
Every time I met with Mr. Roberts, he'd remind me of this:
People don't buy what you do. They buy why you do it.
More recently, we have thought leaders like Simon Sinek speaking the same timeless message. So spend as much time as it takes for you to be completely clear on why you are in business. For some, it might take days to figure out; for others possibly months. (Don't worry. I'll wait.)
Everything starts with your why. If you don't know what it is, you can't make the right decisions about what and who and you won't be able to power yourself through all that is necessary for your business to succeed. All those hours I spent on that damn peg board frustrated as hell gave me the time to hard-wire why into my brain. Being clear on that why was key to not quitting. And believe me, I wanted to quit most of the time I was in therapy.
You may find yourself feeling that way about your business from time to time. Or perhaps others in your life don't understand what drives you to keep at it when it looks futile. These are the times when you need to draw strength and courage from your why.
Similarly, I've put in the thinking time needed to know why I'm willing to put up with all the adverse circumstances that now exist in my life and return to my work developing SMARTSTART programs. The why is:
I believe everyone deserves to be able to make enough money from their chosen work to provide for their personal and family needs at whatever level desired.
We no longer live in a society where you can maintain personal independence through job security and rewarding, upwardly mobile, lifelong careers. In fact, I've never believed in the notion of job security. Ever. I have always only believed in the security that comes from creating your own work and income streams.
As Simon also says: "The goal is not to sell to people what you have, the goal is to sell to people who believe what you believe."
So, if you're someone who believes in creating your own security and are ready to go pro, stick with me. I'll show you how to build the business you want.
What Matters Most is Your Why
Most brain injury rehabilitation exercises are pretty damn boring. (Just sayin.)"People don't buy what you do. They buy why you do it." --Simon Sinek
What I remember most about them is the fear of what it would mean for my future if I didn't succeed at therapy. Each day I went to the rehab centre, I was sure my pre-accident self would rise to the occasion and life would go back to normal. For many months this was routinely followed by overwhelming feelings of despair and embarrassment over my continued failure to be able to complete even the simplest tasks.
Three-plus years and thousands of hours of practice later, I''m still struggling. Progress is painfully slow. At times it is barely perceptible. That's when the risk of giving up is greatest. (Perhaps you're already seeing the parallel to our shared experiences in business?)
One of my least favourite activities was working at the nuts and bolts board in an attempt to recover fine motor skills. After months of daily practice, I'd really achieved very little beyond being able to hold a fork and a toothbrush. But even then, I couldn't hold them steady or apply enough force to render either one remotely useful.
I could remember what these tools were for and how to use them. However, without my former motor coordination ability and grip strength, that knowledge was actually quite useless. And hurtful. You simply don't realize how much you do with your hands until they become more of a hindrance than a help.
Dedicated, consistent effort, in both business and life, does yield results. Just not always the results you'd hoped for. In fact, while I have regained partial use of my hands, they remain unreliable being weak and difficult to control. This has changed things considerably for me in so many ways. At the same time, it opens new windows of opportunity for being extraordinarily creative in how I approach dealing with the activities of daily living. (I didn't see it this way at first but it is the way I'm looking at it now.)
There are dozens of times each day when I'm certainly no less frustrated than I was with the seemingly endless fastening and unfastening of nuts and bolts to the peg board. However, my reason for persevering (and the true WHY behind all of this work) is so compelling, giving up is not an option.
Here's how you do that:
Everything starts with your why. If you don't know what it is, you can't make the right decisions about what and who and you won't be able to power yourself through all that is necessary for your business to succeed.
All those hours I spent on that damn peg board frustrated as hell gave me the time to hard-wire why into my brain. Being clear on that why was key to not quitting. And believe me, I wanted to quit most of the time I was in therapy. You may find yourself feeling that way about your business from time to time. Or perhaps others in your life don't understand what drives you to keep at it when it looks futile. These are the times when you need to draw strength and courage from your why.
Similarly, I've put in the thinking time needed to know why I'm willing to put up with all the adverse circumstances that now exist in my life and return to my work developing SMARTSTART programs. The why is:
As Simon also says: "The goal is not to sell to people what you have, the goal is to sell to people who believe what you believe." So, if you're someone who believes in creating your own security and are ready to go pro, stick with me. I'll show you how to build the business you want.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Keep Me Company on the Road Back from Brain Injury?
I don’t have all the answers (no one does). Mario Andretti is credited with saying:
“Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal — a commitment to excellence — that enables you to attain the success you seek.”
I do have first-hand experience with that.
As the creator of SMARTSTART coaching, mentoring and philanthropy programs, I’ve enjoyed the privilege of sharing unique and extensive entrepreneurial expertise, comprehensive professional knowledge, and the most timely and relevant guidance — the very advantages responsible for my own business achievements and success — with thousands of people in more than 80 countries around the world.
Since its launch, SMARTSTART Club members, from freshman to executive levels, have received one-of-a-kind business support beyond the usual boundaries. And the beneficiaries of our philanthropy programs had received almost $10M in services and sponsorships in just 5 short years. I was really on a roll with this once-in-a-lifetime legacy project!
Then life took an unexpected turn.
Driving home from a weekend away, I was involved in a near fatal head-on collision caused by an impaired driver who suddenly crossed the center line on the highway and drove into my windshield. After nearly being decapitated by my seatbelt, finding myself trapped in mangled metal, but somehow managing to escape the terrifying possibility of being burned alive, I am more than a little surprised to still be here writing to you.
In fact, this is my fourth year of intense, daily rehab pursued, mostly independently and at my own expense, in my effort to overcome a devastating brain injury so I could one day resume my work on SMARTSTART. Comparatively, recovering from the spinal cord injuries, head injuries, multiple crush injuries and other associated traumas has been much more straightforward. You’ll just have to take my word for it when I say that the body’s capacity to heal and the brain’s ability to rewire itself are simply miraculous.
Which brings me to explaining all the changes you’re now seeing to our website. Because of the injuries sustained in the accident and the constraints and limitations that go with them, I’ll not be returning to my former way of doing business and working with clients. However, recognizing the tremendous healing power of work, especially when that work is something you love as much as I do, I must now build a new business that operates much differently than was originally planned.
Better still, I’m going to let you see how I do it by posting the details of my thinking, research and decision-making as I go along. If you’re just starting out, this could be tremendously helpful! At least, I hope it will be. I guess time will tell.
Now, if you are one of the many who’ve been working in our SMARTSTART programs previously, you’ll see some differences in presentation but will recognize (fingers crossed) the strength and depth of our content. And whether you are a champion of our pioneering work and training in business essentials or are new to our community, I’ll have to ask you to be patient while I review, update and convert our massive knowledge and resource repositories into new offerings made available here on our web site.
Everything takes me longer these days and I must still dedicate many hours to rehab work as I have not fully recovered from my injuries. It’s a source of constant frustration! Still, I’m inviting you to share the journey and work on your own businesses right along with me.
Despite the accident, some things have not changed. Specifically, I still believe the most important contribution SMARTSTART makes to your business and growth is raising your awareness of what’s possible and how to go about achieving it. You might believe you are thinking big and differently now but, unconsciously, you are influenced by your own limiting beliefs and industry filters. (We all struggle to beat this; it’s not just you.)
It takes more than money to fuel your business. It requires a commitment to acquiring the right knowledge and dedication to building the skills and core competencies needed to become a force to be reckoned with. But you don’t have to work any harder to make tens of millions of dollars than you will have to to make that first million. You only have to work smarter! It’s simply a matter of planning, discipline and leverage and opening your hearts and minds to embracing bigger, bolder ideas for your future.
We thrive on guiding our community members to new and extraordinary heights of achievement, success, prosperity, satisfaction and generosity. They aspire to nothing less. The only question you need to answer is “Are you a serious business owner?” What I mean is, are you ready to join our community of movers and shakers? Can you commit to doing what it takes? Do you want to perform at and work with the absolute best?
If your answer is “yes”, give SMARTSTART a try. Stick with me and I’ll show you how to build the business you want.
P.S. The new website would not exist had it not been for the talent and support of our dedicated webmaster, Brad. In between working on our site and serving his many other clients, Brad recently launched a new “done-for-you” email marketing service called B-Line. It might be something else you can make use of in your business. See it here!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
How an Online Business Goes Straight to Hell
- Believe every sales letter you read.
- Build your web site before you build your business.
- Create products for *everyone*.
- Make your branding all about you.
- Focus on quantity [not quality, value or service].
- Practice indifference [or lie] to customers.
- Become expert at grovelling for gurus.
- Take the money and run.
- Ignore basic principles of accounting and tax planning.
Nuff said?
Saturday, June 12, 2010
A Design Contender for Our New Logo
We're working with some talented designers to come up with a new logo for SMARTSTARTCoach.com. Here's what the talented crew a idesignyourlogo.com came up with.
| Company: |
SmartStartCoach.com |
|
Background: | Linda Lopeke
|
| Ah, education. It's what we want none of as children and can't get enough of as adults. I guess you can't appreciate something until you realize that it can make or break you as an adult. Don't we love seminars, continued education, ra ra speeches, etc.? It just gets you all fired up for whatever it is your setting out to accomplish. When education ends up earning you moola moola, it seems like everyone is on board. Come hop on board to see the new logo for SmartStart (a way to make moola moola) | |
| Online:
| http://www.smartstartcoach.com |
Here's the story they crafted around our project to communicate it on their blog:
Do you know what the only difference is between Evan Williams (co-founder of Twitter) and you? Ok, that’s really not a fair question to ask. There are a ton of differences. I guess that he probably looks different than you, talks different and unless you’re his roommate, he probably lives somewhere different than you.
Alright, let’s rephrase that question.
Do you know the only reason why Evan Williams has a billion dollar company and you don’t? He didn’t let anything get in his way of starting it.
There you have it. That’s one of the keys to success, and it was absolutely free. You can pay me in hugs in kisses later, after you’re extremely successful.
If you didn’t know already, Tony and I have another business called Idea Heroes. It’s an advertising and idea generation consultancy. But really, what we do is come up with ideas for other people/companies to run with. And, that’s the key. Running with it.
There is some ridiculous percentage of people that have great ideas and never do anything with them. And sometimes, that’s all it takes. Just do something with your great idea. Don’t sit on it any longer. You’ll never know if Google was going to buy your business for $3 billion dollars if you never take the first step. Jump. Dive. Hit go. Whatever you need to do, do it.
So, why do people sit on their ideas? I’m not an expert on this subject, but my best guess is fear. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the unknown, etc.
So, if you’re one of those people who is just sitting on that great idea. I have a recommendation for you. Linda Lopeke and SmartStartCoach.com.
SMARTSTART helps to show small business owners, online entrepreneurs and information marketers just like you how to take their business ideas from concept to delivery, market themselves online and create a sustainable success story.
The great part is, they’ve packaged it all up so that you don’t have to pony up $10,000 for a personal coach. Linda (the foremost expert) has put all of her knowledge into an educational package that you can tap into for a fraction of the cost.
No more fear. Just like those old “redneck” t-shirts of the 80’s used to say. “No Fear”. There are no longer going to be any excuses for why you don’t get off your butt and start that darn business. Besides, why be afraid of being successful? That’s the one thing that you should be looking forward to the most.
Obviously, it’s without saying, Tony and I are big fans of taking an idea and making it happen. Any way that I person can get from point A to point B, we endorse.
Here’s what you need to know. Linda Lopeke is your answer, her site is here. Now go.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Is Your Business Running Naked?
If you are operating it without some kind of business plan, or without having given any thought to building your brand, then I would say it is. Naked. Stark naked. And that’s not good for either of you.
Because a successful business runs by the numbers. The basic business numbers are your sales and expense forecasts, your startup costs, and your startup funding. You need to keep tabs on those and scale your projects and plans accordingly.
And if your dream is to build a business that lasts, you must build a brand. In fact, the smaller you are, the more important brand is to you.
We’re not saying every business has to have the full formal treatment running dozens of pages long. Just that every business has to have a plan. Even if it’s just a plan that you have worked out in your own head. You can put a comprehensive business plan together using a one-page template. We teach a 5-part course that shows you exactly how to do that. It’s not hard, but it does require critical thinking and constructive decision making.
Nor are we saying you can’t market yourself and generate revenue without a brand. People do it every day. But to compete effectively, you’ll need to distinguish yourself from the crowd.
Your brand is what you or your product stand for. Expressed in emotional shorthand. It’s the promise, the big idea, and the expectations that reside inside the head of each customer’s mind. Your brand isn’t what you say it is; it’s what they say it is.
If you don’t have something guiding your actions and investment of time and money and something that tells your prospective customers what you stand for, then make no mistake, you’re out there doing the full monty. Don’t expect too many to get excited enough to chase a long-term relationship with you.
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