6/14/07 - Being Right or Being Rich... What do you want?

I teach people from all over the world to market, sell and lead. Success in any of the three is always determined by the answer to one question: Do you want to be right or do you want to market, sell or lead?

In marketing, if we insist that what we think about marketing and ourselves is absolutely right, despite any evidence to the contrary, then we have signed up to continue to get what we have been getting out of marketing (or sales or leadership, and so on) and our relationship with it. We are doomed to repeat the past.

If repeating the past is ok with you, stop reading now. The rest of this newsletter is about having a future different from the past.

In my observation, a human default is that we would all prefer to be right about our view of the world, all the time. It makes us feel very good, and it allows us to stop investigating new or different ways of doing things.

Insisting on being "right," essentially blinds us and keeps us from our own potential success in any endeavor in life.

A story:

Jack contacted me to help him get his business going, so he could earn enough to retire in 5 years.

Jack's wife had introduced them to a financial planner who had given them rough news about what retirement would be like with their current level of savings. Jack was sixty years old when he called.

Jack was absolutely certain that he had done everything possible to make his business a success, and that his was a word-of-mouth-only business. Marketing did not work.

(By the way, when I hear myself, or anyone else, say that they are absolutely certain of anything in marketing, sales or leadership, I know the first place to look to make things better.)

I took Jack through the process below. Jack hated it. He wanted a comfortable retirement more than he wanted to be right about his past conclusions about marketing and life. Jack chose the possibility of a great retirement over being "right."

Now he has a system that has doubled his income and has made his business something that he can sell. Jack's going to be able to have a grand retirement because he chose it over being "right" about his past conclusions and views of marketing.

Jack expects to double his income again in 2008. Checking out false certainties and a little execution, is a small price to pay for a great retirement, according to Jack.

Here are some of the false certainties I hear every week about marketing:

Marketing leads to rejection

It probably won't work anyway, so why bother?

If I ask for referrals it will sound like I'm begging

People won't be interested in what I offer

Marketing doesn't work for this kind of service

Marketing just puts people off

I don't have the time to market myself

Marketing is a complete waste of time and resources

Marketing is hard and it's expensive

Only people with sub-standard services need marketing

Marketing people are charlatans or snake oil salesmen

I can't start until I know exactly what to do

I'm not qualified (educated, experienced, etc.) enough yet

Marketing is a bother and an interruption to people

No one will read my writing. I'm a lousy writer

I can't network. It's too embarrassing

I'm not a good speaker. Nobody will listen to me

Do any of these sound familiar to you?

What mindset shapes your current results?

Some mindsets are useful to you, while others limit you unnecessarily. The acid test is this: Is the mind set really true?

These are the big questions to ask about these beliefs, thoughts and assumptions: Are they really true? Or are they just ideas you've bought into and taken on as an inflexible marketing mindset? What if they weren't true but you were operating as if they were? Wouldn't that be operating as if there was a big snake on the floor of your garage, when it was really only a coil of garden hose?

The way to change your marketing mindset is to first get to the truth about it. The following exercise, developed by Byron Katie (http://www.thework.com), is the most effective way to do this, in my opinion:

Working on your negative thoughts or intentions

First, choose a thought or belief that is opposing your intention to be a successful marketer of your services. This might be:

"I don't have the time to market myself."

Now ask yourself this first question:

Is this thought true?
Answer yes or no. Then, if you answered Yes, answer the second question.

Can you absolutely know it's true?
Answer yes or no. Then answer the third question.

How do you react when you believe that thought?
List all of the things that you do (or do not do): other thoughts and feelings you have when you think the thought you are working on. Then answer the fourth question:

Who would you be without that thought?
If that thought was impossible for you to think, how would things be different?

Now, turn the thought around to its opposite.
(A turnaround to this thought would be: "I do have time to market myself.")
Then ask if the turnaround is as true or truer than the original thought.

That's it. Now you are looking at your original thought in a whole new way.

The result of this process for Jack is that he is fast on his way to a very comfortable retirement.

The payoff for you can be that you get beyond the results you are currently getting, just like Jack and many others have.

A different future can be yours just by reading this newsletter and putting the ideas into action. It is just that simple.

If you want to go deeper and faster than is possible with just the information in the newsletter, then you can read one of our eBooks or sign up for the next Fast Track Marketing Program, starting Tuesday July 10th. More information.

So the question is simple: Do you want to be right more than you want to be rich, happy, successful, etc?

You have a choice. You have a process to get you to the truth: the exercise above. You have an avenue for getting expert help if you want it. The choice is yours.

What's it going to be? You are in charge. This is YOUR life. The choice is yours.

Cheers,
Eric Albertson