Category: Success Attitude

Article by Dr. Joey Faucette

Study after study in which we say “Thank you” to our customers reveals that they both spend more money with us and tell their friends about the exceptional service and products we deliver. Volumes of books chronicle how employee productivity zooms skyward when appreciation is expressed. (The best of which I’ve read recently is Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage.) Vendors go the extra mile to extend credit and deliver “just in time” when they hear gratitude regularly.

But you’re already doing more with less and the last thing you want is another item on your to-do list. So what are the most effective and efficient ways for you to express gratitude to these important players in your business’ success?

Here are my three great ways to give thanks from your business. Think of them as the profitability keys of “thank you”:

Handwritten Notes to Customers

Handwritten notes are the most powerful expression of “Thank you” today. They are intimate, authentic, and sincere.

When everyone else is emailing and texting, tweeting and posting, the three minutes you take pen, not pixel, in hand and write “I know you could buy (your products and services) from lots of other stores. Thank you for choosing to do business with us. Sincerely…” connect you with your customers so tightly that they spend more with you and tell their friends about your exceptional care.

Yes, three minutes. I timed myself.

You are memorable for the right reasons when you say “Thank you” with a handwritten note to your customers.

Donations for Employees

“Thank you” to employees equals giving a raise for some business owners. Do it as you can, but you see more productivity and increased morale when you do something that speaks into the employee’s life like giving an end-of-year gift to the employee’s favorite charity. If your mother died of breast cancer and your boss gives a donation in her memory, that says “Thank you” in a vastly more personal way.

Another opportunity to consider besides memory donations is an honorary gift. For instance, an employee has an autistic child. Give a donation to the school he attends or to an Autism Society. Such an expression of gratitude deepens your employee’s commitment to the company thus increasing productivity and your profitability.

Lifestyle Gifts to Vendors

When your vendor calls on you, I’m sure your conversation includes family, sports, and other lifestyle topics.

Maybe he says something about a new grandchild. Say “Thank you” by going to Amazon and sending a copy of a children’s book like “Goodnight Moon” or “Love You Forever.” Attach a note to it. Get your associate to do it.

Or, perhaps your supplier is from St. Louis, loves the Cardinals, and the two of you discussed the World Series. Send her a replica Albert Pujols jersey…while they last.

Something personal makes you a stand-out client worthy of your vendor going the extra mile for you when you need product overnight or credit extended.

Your business can say “Thank you” efficiently—without a great deal of effort—and effectively—increasing your bottom line.

Who knew giving thanks was so profitable?

About the Author:

Dr. Joey Faucette is an international speaker, business coach, and best-selling author of the #1 Amazon book Work Positive in a Negative World: Redefine Your Reality and Achieve Your Business Dreams. Get your free chapter excerpts at www.WorkPositiveBook.com. Follow him on Twitter @DrJoey.

Article Contributed by Lisa Cherney

This is the final article in a 3-part series based on my recent teleclass, Why your past success is hurting your future success – 3 reasons that your business is not making BIG money – YET! There is nothing so heartbreaking as seeing your dream business – that you’ve put your heart and soul into – falling to the ground like a big broken kite!  If you could separate yourself from the equation, it wouldn’t be so bad, but if you’re anything like me, your business is your baby!  So here’s the third reason, and I know this one well:

Reason #3 – You are not used to failure feeling so personal. When things are going great, all is right with the world.  But when it’s not going well, let’s face it – it’s embarrassing!  Your business is a reflection of you, and it’s hard to accept setbacks, rejection, or criticism. This is the point when people give up and get a j-o-b rather than admit their weaknesses.  So here’s the third and final principle, and it is by far the one that helped me the most to triple my income over the past two years:

Divine Juice Principle #3 – You must use failure to catapult your success. There is a lot of good that can come from failure – believe me!  It leads to a phenomenon that I call the “entrepreneurial wormhole”.  Believe it or not, many businesses actually are born because of some type of struggle or pain.  And through that experience, the business owner learned!  They either decided to use that pain to help other people, or they realized that they had a gift in a certain area, and wanted to share it with others.  Or, they found something that helped them and then wanted to pass it on.

Failure has a purpose!  Of course when you’re in it, it sucks.  But once you’re out the other side of the wormhole, that knowledge catapults your business.  And here’s the rub – when you invest in yourself, and in your business, you often experience another version of your wormhole.  It doesn’t make sense, but you’re birthing the next level of your work – and it hurts!  But if you don’t take those risks, it could be the death of your business.  Investing in that help, working with my mentor, and having faith in myself – that’s what got me out of my wormhole.  I could never have offered the high level content of the Inner Circle had I not made a high level investment in myself, and had I not experienced and received that kind of support.  Yes, failure feels personal – because you’re not used to this level of frustration!  But in order to always move forward, you have to have people around you – peers, friends, a mentor or mastermind group – to help you get through that wormhole.

So here’s your homework for today – list your “failures” and what you learned from them.  Give them the credit they deserve.  Maybe it was a struggle, or a setback, but in your heart it became pervasive enough to affect your ability to take risks.  Doing this exercise may help prevent another wormhole!  And it will make what you’ve gone through – or going through – make sense.  I have a saying that we share in the Inner Circle – “Leap and the cliff disappears.”  When you decide to love your career, to have a peaceful and prosperous business, the cliff disappears.

About the Author:

Lisa Cherney, a.k.a. the Juicy Marketing Expert, founded Conscious Marketing 12 years ago to help small business owners find their authentic marketing voice, attract their ideal clients and increase their sales. Following her own Stand Out & Be Juicy program, which centers on owning your unique self and laser-focus marketing, Lisa has tripled her income while working
part-time.

Prior to Conscious Marketing, Lisa worked with many Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, Lipton, Nissan, Blue Cross and Equal. She is a highly sought after speaker and often shares the stage with experts such as Jack Assaraf (The Secret), Jack Canfield and Jill Lublin. Learn more about Lisa at www.consciousmarketing.com or call 887-771-0156.

Article Contributed by Lynda-Ross Vega

There are six distinct Perceptual Styles that characterize the ways the different people see the world. On the surface, some of these styles look more creative than others—but creativity is not a Perceptual Style quality, it’s a human quality.

Often, when we hear the word ‘creativity’ we think of artists and art in the broadest sense of the word—painting, sculpture, composing, writing, etc. But creativity is not limited to the artistic field, and entrepreneurs and other professionals do themselves a great disservice when they dismiss the notion that they have natural creative abilities.

One definition of creativity reads:

the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations

Using this definition we can find creativity in each of the six Perceptual Styles:

1.   Activity shuns repetition and routine and will create new ways to accomplish everyday tasks in order to keep them interesting. Rather than giving up on a project, the individual with the Activity Perceptual Style will approach it in multiple ways, trying different solutions until they find one that works for them.

2.    Adjustments creates complex systems that reflect the intricate and interconnected nature of their perceptual experience. Individuals with this Perceptual Style see the natural world around them as an elegant sort of clockwork. Therefore, their creative solutions will reflect and highlight unique ways of connecting systems that appear to others to have no connection at all.

3.    Flow also sees complexity, but within in the realm of human relationships. Individuals with the Flow Style create extraordinarily multifaceted communities that creatively build relationships, bonding others together using unusual and inexplicable common interests.

4.    Goals is a master at creating tactics that directly address the issues and problems at hand. Individuals with this Style have a form of creativity that is driven by their ability to turn mundane everyday tasks into an exciting form of competition.  With startling focus, they cut through all that is superfluous and drive to the heart of what needs to be done with relentless energy and endurance.

5.    Methods has an unusual form of creativity: reducing organization and regulation to new levels of simplicity. Individuals with this Style take what many see as the opposite of creativity—routine, stability, categorization, and predictable sequences—to a level beyond mere order, creating truly optimized systems. Their creativity lies in their ability to see through the complexity and chaos and make it intelligible to all.

6.    Vision creates images of possible futures that stir the passion and imagination of others. Individuals characterized by this Perceptual Style use their high energy to persuade others to join them and to draw out the best in each person by finding creative ways to challenge them. This style of creativity lies in the ability to see and make use of the best that others have to offer.

This list is by no means exhaustive or comprehensive. It is merely an exercise to demonstrate the different approaches to creativity that characterize each of the six Perceptual Styles. It may be true that you cannot paint a picture or compose a symphony, but broaden the meaning of the word and you’ll discover that you’re using your creativity every day in your business.

About the Author:

Lynda-Ross Vega: A partner at Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd., Lynda-Ross specializes in helping entrepreneurs and coaches build dynamite teams and systems that WORK. She is co-creator of Perceptual Style Theory, a revolutionary psychological assessment system that teaches people how to unleash their deepest potentials for success. For free information on how to succeed as an entrepreneur or coach, create a thriving business and build your bottom line doing more of what you love, visit www.yourtalentadvantage.com

Article Contributed by Lisa Cherney

I did a lot of things over the past few years to grow and expand my business, including working for the lifestyle I want, defining my ideal clients and taking care of my physical and mental health.

Part of my mental healthcare included maintaining a positive mindset and it really made a huge difference. It cleared my head and allowed me to really focus on my business. Here are the four things I did to create a constant source of positive energy.

1.    No News!
My first rule was no news, no radio and no reading the newspaper. That meant not flipping on the radio in the car. It meant not turning on the TV – even for two seconds – because it seemed like I’d always hear bad news. It’s amazing how I always manage to hear about the top news items anyway.

2.    Positive Programs and Music
I made sure that I had a lot of positive audio programs and music. This can be any kind of spiritual teacher, guru, coach, leader or author who resonates with you. Buy their audio books or seminars and put them in your iPod or on your computer; rent them from the library and listen to the CDs in your car. Positive, uplifting music is good too. I, myself, like music that includes chanting, affirmations and stuff that’s just fun and fancy-free. We all have music that puts us in a good mood – so use whatever works for you.

3.    Positive People
I decided I only wanted positive people around me. That meant I needed to not hang out with some of my family and friends. I worked hard to avoid energy vampires – those people who are so negative they just suck the life right out of you. To be honest, for a while I went into kind of a little cocoon. I needed to reconnect with my family and myself and be very purposeful about who I was spending my time with. Also, I attended retreats and conferences that were in a positive, spiritual realm. If that doesn’t work for you, find something related to a hobby. For example, if you’re into genealogy or you’re a stamp collector – whatever gives you energy – put yourself in those environments.

4.    Community Connection
I made sure I was connected to community. This is a really big one because we tend to isolate ourselves. As entrepreneurs with our own businesses – most of us in our own homes – it’s very easy to isolate. So, find some likeminded groups, like a book club, spiritual group or volunteer activity, and attend regularly.

Taking care of oneself physically and mentally – and keeping a positive mindset – is a great way to keep yourself in the game. You’ll be amazed at the renewed motivation you have for doing the things that are not your core passion, but will make your business grow. Working from a cup overflowing helps you float through cold calls, accounting, filing, networking or any other activity that is critical to success but not always top on your list. Once the negativity is gone and you’ve got positive energy on your side, anything is possible.

About the Author:

Lisa Cherney is a Marketing Intuitive and President & Founder of Conscious Marketing™.  Lisa has helped thousands of business owners tap into their intuition and market their businesses from the ‘Inside Out’. For 15 years she worked at Fortune 500 companies and top advertising agencies.

Lisa tells her story in her co-authored book “Inspiration to Realization,” available at www.ConsciousMarketing.com. Conscious Marketing also offers workshops and coaching. Visit her website for more details or call 887-771-0156.

Article Contributed by Dr. Patty Ann Tublin

Few issues bring out the worst in relationships and couples like money. Whether you’re rolling in the dough or struggling to make ends met, money is the number one reason couples fight.

When people enter into a romantic relationship, they bring a portfolio of emotions, hopes, fears, strengths and weakness – all of which have been shaped by our past. But it’s very seldom that we address the portfolio of emotions we bring to money and finances, and so it usually becomes the 600-pound gorilla in the relationship.

Here are a few tips to help you address your 600-pound gorilla:

1. Love and money have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Money is an emotionally-loaded issue for couples because each person brings their own set of values, beliefs and attitudes about money to their relationship – most of which have been formed by the time we are 12 years old. Conflicting values and attitudes about money are at the core of financial conflict in relationships. (Notice I didn’t mention a word about love).

2. Most people don’t really know how their views about money have been shaped. We tend to know we are either a “spender” or a “saver” – but most people couldn’t tell you for sure how they got that way. So it becomes quite a daunting task to build a financial life that blends both partner’s hopes and dreams for today and the future!

3. Money fights are rooted in what money symbolizes for each person in the relationship. Does money represent emotional security, control or power for you? Do you know what money symbolizes for your partner? You must know this information so you can begin to bridge the difference between what money symbolizes for you as a couple. And there will be plenty of differences to bridge since you grew up in two different homes, which, in all likelihood, valued money differently. Doing this will go an incredibly long way in helping to end, or at the very least de-fuse, your money fights.

4. Money fights have to do with each partner’s perception that the other does not respect their feelings when it comes to financial decision-making. In other words, you or your partner feel disrespected or ignored by the other when a financial decision is made that you either disagree with or would not make.

The key to reducing or eliminating money fights is to shift your mindset about money. Once you have done that, you are now in a position to shift your view of money as an emotion or power tool and treat it for what it really is – a commodity. If you can take all the emotions away from money and view it as any other commodity, (which it is) you
will no longer view money in relation to power and control in your relationship. Once you have done this, you will be well on your way to stopping the money fights in your relationship!

About the Author:

During the past 25 years, renowned relationship expert Dr. Patty Ann Tublin has helped hundreds of people rekindle romance and reignite passion in their relationships. The solutions in her Relationship Toolbox™ help couples re-build romance so intimacy inside and outside the bedroom can flourish. Through her successful 25-year marriage and her experience of raising 4 children, Dr. Patty Ann has earned an international reputation for saving relationships. To reignite your flames of passion, visit her site at www.drpattyann.com.