Basic Rules to Live By - Online Business

I was going through some of my older articles and I found a few that are timeless and are worth repeating. Enjoy...

Being a designer I know the value of a good looking – and eye catching web site.

However, unlike some designers I also know the value of good content it is extremely important.

It is like first impressions – when you see someone you judge them within less than 3 minutes of meeting them. Whether you want to admit it or not – it is the truth, it is human nature.

Then if you decide to stick around and get to know this person your impression can change radically – you may find your judgment was right spot on, and you are impressed with them inside and out –or- you may find they are not what you though and they are superficial without any depth.

The same is true for your website.

The first page of your website should capture your visitor’s attention – highlight the positive aspects of your service or product. Capture the essence of what it is you are trying to convey.

Your home page should not be long winded with all the details you can find. It will bore or even turn off potential clients who will feel they do not have time to read it or just feel overwhelmed.

We all lead busy lives and don’t have time to read a novel on the first entrance to a website.

Once your visitor reads what you can do for them – the essence or spark of your service or product you want them to think “wow that is just what I need! Or I really want to know more!

At this point, they will go deeper into your website. They are hooked - That is where you can take the time to explain the benefits they will receive – and what your product/service is all about.

So many times I have a client who wants to put everything but the kitchen sink on the first page

– resist this temptation -.

The truth is the simpler and more descriptive the first page the better – always focus on your visitor - what it will do for the customer or how it will solve client problems…

It makes you visitors want to go further and investigate what you have to offer. However, if your content is too long winded – watered down or just grammatically incorrect, I will guarantee they will not stay on your website to see what you have to offer.

Once someone likes what they see (and read) – they will go further and want to know more details…

So think about it – do you need to refurbish you website – simplify the copy on your home page and make it more appealing to visitors ??

For more tips and tricks on how to have a more profitable website – sign up to receive articles by email (see side bar above).

By: Pamela Jacob – Artista Design
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Exerpt From A Fantastic Book

Very seldom do I put articles in my Blog that other people have written - however today I make an exception. I have been told I can take excepts from this amazing book and post it on "Promotional Designer" - because I love this book - I am willing to make an exception!

Conscious Entrepreneurs Use the Gift of their Intuition

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift ~Albert Einstein~

Conscious entrepreneurs are raising their awareness and consciousness - by coming into alignment and embodying the gift of their intuition in their life and in their business.

They know that authentic success is from the inside out.

As they discover exactly how to consciously tap into their inner wisdom, they can make crystal-clear decisions in their business, reduce stress, feel more ease and vitality, and create a life and business in sync.

Are you one of these conscious entrepreneurs?

Or would you like to be one of them? It is actually very simple.

You already use your intuition every day in your business whether you realize it or not. From snap decisions to hunches, you are now being guided by this inner wisdom.

So here are the first 7 steps:

1. Say yes to your intuition!

Some of the messages you are already getting are unconscious … so when you open to your intuition by saying yes, you create conscious awareness.

So take time now to feel the yes in your heart.

2. Come into a state of being.

A simple way to do this is to tune into your breath.

(This will help you to quiet your analytical mind and become fully present in the moment.)

Here is one of the techniques I discovered (many years of acupuncture study). It is very simple, yet very subtle, so have patience with yourself.

This will relax your body, expand your breath and bring you into your heart. This allows you to feel your connection in your heart with your source. It’s also very grounding.

Rub your palms together. Allow your fingers to soften. Now face your palms towards your body. Place your right thumb between your left ring finger and pinky finger and gently slide your right thumb into your left palm. Your right thumb nail will face you. Now gently wrap the fingers of your right hand around your left pinky finger. Feel that you are embracing your left pinky finger. Relax your arms onto a table, desk or your lap. And breathe. Feel your body … feel what happens with your breath. Do this now with your eyes closed.

3. Ask a simple question where the answer is yes or no.*

4. Allow the answer to come to you. Key: If you try to grab it, it will certainly disappear!;)

5. Appreciate and thank your intuition!

6. Act immediately from inspiration on the message you receive. The sooner the better.

7. Witness any outcome … and then celebrate!;)

*For yes-no awareness techniques, see our e-Book "Create a Conscious Business", page 26.

Make a daily date with your intuition, like tea time with a friend. Remember my four P’s: presence, practice (daily), patience, and most importantly … play with it!

When you decide to take time to come into alignment and tap into your intuition, you will create expansion that brings a life of freedom, fun and joy - authentic success from the inside out.

Mary Denaro is a contributing author to Align, Expand and Succeed; Shifting the Paradigm of Entrepreneurial Success. This “just released” book is based on the premise that the world is changing at a very rapid pace. We are starting to see that cooperation brings better results than old style competition. It’s a new era and we need to work together to create success for everyone, not just for a few.

This book features dozens of conscious entrepreneurs who share their wisdom, expertise, stories, lessons and insights about the new and exciting shifts that are happening for entrepreneurs worldwide.

This book is designed to raise the vibration of the planet like never before. Get your copy of Align, Expand and Succeed and enjoy an abundance of gifts with your purchase. http://www.aesbook.com

7 Steps That Will Make Your Business Sizzle…

“It doesn’t matter whether your product is information or a flyswatter. If you understand marketing, you can make serious income.” Robert G. Allan, Author Multiple Streams of Internet Income

A lot of business owners don’t realize it is the little things that one does that will make a BIG difference in their success.

We all look at the big picture – the all important professional website, blog and of course optimizing with keywords and page titles. But what will really make a difference between you and your competitor?

Read on….

1. What makes you different from your competitors?

You need to focus on what makes your business unique. Why should people come to you over your competition? Then you take that idea and run with it, really make sure you “promote” that on your website and marketing material.

2. Over coming worries and objections.

What are your potential clients most worried about when it comes to your service or product.

How can you reassure them – or at least answer their most prevalent concerns. This may take some market research – but most of us, who have been in business for any length of time, have a good idea what that is. If you get the same questions over and over – or concern’s that is something you want to put to answer up front.

How do you remedy this? In the copy on your marketing materials/website (right up front) you need to address this and give the answer.

Example:

“Is your website just sitting there doing nothing?” Well we have the answer you are looking for! We design/redesign websites that are made for marketing.

You get my drift...

3. Be Genuine

Being genuine is very attractive to all consumers – are you just being a pitch man or are you sincere when you connect with your potential clients.

People know when someone is out for the money or genuinely interested in solving a problem for them. Think about it – when I get someone who I think is pressuring me or just out for the sale they are off my list. I will not do business with them.

4. Be Honest

Don’t over sell your service – don’t promise things that you are not willing to follow through on. Don’t act like you know something when you don’t – it is OK to say let me get back with you on that.

Don’t stretch the truth – even a little. Absolutely STAND BEHIND your word.

5. Don’t under estimate the power of testimonials.

Endorsements and testimonials are effective ways to dramatize facts and back up the benefits of your product, but don't use ones that look or feel transparent.Any testimonials you use must be true.

I cannot tell you how many times I have landed a job because people read my testimonials – and it help cement my credibility.

6. Be generous with your knowledge.

It is important that you give of your knowledge generously. You don’t have to give away the farm to be helpful. If not you are giving the impression that you are just out for the money – or perhaps you are not a real expert.

I am always happy to give my clients or potential client’s tips or refer them to other businesses that I believe in. I will give information away for free – and even when I find an article that I think will help one of my clients I will send the link.

I am a true believer in helping people succeed – and giving information that will help. I guarantee it will come back to you ten fold. It also helps with your credibility – and shows you as an expert in your field.

7. Promptly answer any emails, and return phone calls.

How many times have you contacted a representative of a business- or a business owner because you were truly interested in what they were offering – and they don’t call you back, they don’t email you, in fact it looks like they fell off the face of the earth. I have more times then you could ever imagine…

When you get a lead – contact them. When someone calls or emails you should respond as soon as you get the lead. Follow through and follow up, it is that simple.

Even if you don’t have the answer right away or you may not even be the right person for the job - let them know you have received the message, if you cannot or do not offer the service/product they need do not hesitate to refer them to someone who can.

Be cheerful and expedient in returning a phone calls and email. Let them know that you sincerely appreciate their business and not to hesitate in contacting you, if there is any way you can be of further assistance.

One more morsel of truth: Always aim for satisfaction, great customer service, and genuine interest in your client and their needs. It is a lot easier to keep a customer then to get one so treat your customers as if they were gold and you will find customer come back again and again…

Pamela Jacob - Artista Design

Call or Email now for a free consultation - pamela@artistadesign.com or 801.910.4825

Providing Creative Solutions & Amazing Results

Graphic Design, Website Development, Website Re-Design, Social Media, Consulting, Project management, Branding, Marketing, Blog Design

What’s The Focus – SEO in 2009…

Let’s say, you have a strong website that is designed to attract your target customer, fast loading, great navigation an opt-in box to capture people who come to your website – with a really good free report, book, information… You have worked hard and now you are ready to unveil your business masterpiece…

But Wait – Have you optimized your website for the search engines? Have you forgotten that all important step…

The basic foundation of your website is where everything else springs from and Search Engine Optimization is part of that.

There is so much misinformation out on the internet and great information as well – how do you sift through it all??

You may think your website is totally SEO compliant (search engine optimized) but things change from year to year. The basics do stay the same for the most part - but a lot of little things change that can make a BIG difference they need to be looked at and addressed.

Did you know that Google does not use the description Meta tag anymore? Alternatively, that Meta tag keywords in general have lost a lot of the weight, they use to carry?

Does that mean you don’t need Meta tags anymore?

Of course you need them – do you realize that a lot of search engines do use Meta tags! Don’t under estimate the power of yahoo, MSN or any of the specialty search engines out there.

I know everyone wants to be on top of Google. I love Google and all the fantastic tools they have – but don’t overlook all the others.

A customer is a customer is a customer!

There is nothing better than people doing a search and finding you – on any search engine - that would be your target market and therefore your best customer(s).

The point of this article is??

I want you all to take a look at what you can do to refresh or update your website to make it a search engine compliant. You website may be on top now or close – but make no mistake – you must make sure you make these small changes as well because you may find yourself missing (suddenly).

Case in point:

I have been working with a client for the last 2 years (outstanding company).

We rebuilt the website – so that it was totally SEO compliant, fast to load and had a solid foundation. We have for the last year done a lot of linking – advertising – web 2.0 and marketing in general.

Everything is right where it needs to be – do we stop now??

NO – of course not – in fact my customer was a little worried about the economy her industry was/is getting hit hard and even though she is doing well she wants to continue to.

We delved into a lot of different new material – and low and behold found out that a lot more weight is being put on other items on a web page. We thought we had everything covered but, talking with an expert we learned even more about what needed to be done for 2009 so I am passing it on to you…

8 Thing you may not know about SEO 2009

1. Make sure you have a descriptive title – do not duplicate it on any of your pages! Put Keywords in your page title.title 2. Give you pages an H1- html - tag for the main titled sections our your pages. Make sure the visible title on the copy of your pages are keywords. 3. Have a sitemap that is compliant with Google, even if you have a small site. Make sure the links on your sitemap does have keywords for the links – and descriptions. More information on sitemaps – click here 4. Have Google analytics placed on your site (or another good analytics code/software) check out the keywords that you are being found by and use the keywords to develop web pages. 5. Do not use duplicate content on your website – in other words if you have a page on branding – and a page on graphic design make sure they have totally different text/copy on them. 6. Make sure each page has its own set of Meta data – and the copy/text on the page reflects the keywords you are using on that particular page. 7. Just because you have several domain names pointed to your site does not mean Google or any other search engine is picking up the name as keywords to your website. So what will you do with those domain names? You can develop landing pages and apply these domain names but do not duplicate content – from your main site and you may want a different IP Address (that is a hot debate now). 8. Don’t forget to have a robot.txt file placed in your root directory – it invites search engine spiders in to search your files – you can also direct the search engine spiders on what files you do not want them to index (look at).

With the New Year comes excitement and new challenges. I know that this is one will be our best year yet!

If you are a newbie and need me to explain anything that you just don’t understand please shoot me an email – also I am running a special on sitemap development. So if you are interested let me know, and we can talk!

To an amazing 2009!

Pamela Jacob – Artista Design pamela@artistadesign.com (801) 910-4825

A little bit of what I do…

The later part of last year I was approached to design a book cover. I loved designing the cover, and I enjoyed being able to do a lot of other promotional pieces for the book as well.

Little did I know what an amazing book this would be, after I had gotten the final approval on the book cover I was sent a complimentary copy and WOW.

I have now been given permission to publish a chapter in my blog. I have also been give another gift to give to my readers!! If you decided to buy the book within the next 24 hrs you will also get more than $ 2000.00 in bonus’s FREE!!

So Read on!!


What Can a Dentist Teach You about Business, Life and Success?
Discover Secrets To Achieving Total Success!
By Dr. Joe Capista

Book Excerpt
Chapter 8
Five Part Formula for Success

Success is not single sided; it is a holistic experience taking into account all of life's experiences. I view success as a Five Part Formula. Our conversation about success starts with business, but ends with the total life experience.

If I asked a group of people to write down everything they needed for success in business and life we could probably fill countless whiteboards, blackboards, flipcharts, computer files and notepads. I have found there are only five basic skills needed in order to be successful:

Become an Expert / Have a Great Product and/or Service
Develop Sales and Marketing Skills
Get Help from Experts (Mentors)
Control Your Thoughts
Create Balance in Your Life

Each part is equally important to the others as they support a balance of business success and life success. Business and life successes are not exclusive of one another. When you have both, there is a synergy so that you have greater TOTAL SUCCESS as opposed to success in individual parts.

Of the five basic skills listed for success, money is not included for specific reasons. Success is not a result of making money; making money is a result of success. Money is not necessarily a part of success; it can be a way of keeping score. I truly believe that success is the result of providing value and service. We are paid based on the amount of value and service we provide. Money is a measure of that value and service.

When we work with our customers, we should be paid directly for the amount of value and service we provide. In reality, we should be providing more value and service than we are being paid. If you do that, money will never be an issue. You will always be paid the fee you deserve because you are providing more to your customer based on the amount of value and service you provide to them. Henry Ford said, “Wealth, like happiness, is never attained when sought after directly. It comes as a byproduct of providing a useful service.”

The reason I know that money is not part of success is because one of the most successful people I know is my father. My father worked in a factory and never had the opportunity to make much money. Yet he is still a success.

If you are in a position of a professional or you have the type of job where you can make a good living, you should be making money. In fact, you have an obligation to yourself and your family to make money. If you are performing in your job to the fullest extent or with the greatest skills it could be done, you will make money. If you are not, you are cheating yourself and your family.

It's like the Biblical story where the servants were given money from their master. The gold they were given symbolized talents. Two servants worked with the money, made more and were praised. They used their talents. The one who didn't invest the money but instead buried the gold and did nothing with it was admonished and his gold was taken away and given to the servants who made use of the gold. If we have been given talents and do not use them, we are cheating ourselves and, in the end, the customer.

If you never graduated from high school and you work in a factory, you may not have the opportunity to make a lot of money, but that does not mean you cannot be successful. You can still have the components in your life to be a successful person. However, if the people who have been given the talents to make money don't do it, they are cheating themselves by not applying themselves to their fullest extent and making money.

Again, success is not the result of making money; making money is the result of success. Success is the result of providing value and service. Money measures the amount of value and service that you provide. Simply put, when you provide value and service, you will be successful and make money.

Although there have been many words and pages already dedicated to the first three parts of the formula, they are so important they bear repeating. Looking at the five parts you would find the following:

Become an Expert Have a Great Product and/or Service

Expertise is not easy to come by and many people fool themselves into thinking their knowledge is adequate and self-designate their level of skill as that of an “expert.” Some people believe because they fulfilled a required curriculum or passed a test they are suddenly an expert. It is not uncommon upon completion of dental school that some dentists think they know everything they need to know. In reality, they know very little.

Markets change and demands for the service you provide changes. If you don't recognize the market shift or change in demand for what you are doing you will be left behind. This is true for any industry. At some point I knew that if I wanted to be an expert dentist, and more specifically a cosmetic dentist, I had to get specialized training. There were four places I could have gone for the next level of training. I chose The Las Vegas Institute of Advanced Dental Studies (LVI) because I liked their philosophy and what they had to offer.

In the last few years alone, I took multiple courses that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in time and expense to become a cosmetic dentist. It was a major commitment and one I was willing to make. Anyone who is an expert in their field has to make an incredible commitment of time, money and energy. It doesn't just happen by chance. I also discovered along the way that as I focused on improving my skills as a cosmetic dentist my skills as a general dentist improved.

Developing a high level of expertise was really a matter of vision for me. In the last eight years I knew I wanted to do more cosmetic dentistry. I was intrigued by what was possible and instinctively knew I had to learn more. The standard curriculum no longer met my needs and I needed more professional training. I also realized early on that improving my overall ability is about being fair to my patient. Everybody, no matter what industry they are in, needs to be on top of their game.

If you're not at the top of your game, you're not being fair to your customer. It may not mean you are giving them an inferior product, but you're certainly not giving them the highest quality of service. I've discovered many folks balk at continued education and advanced training. They are captured by a mind-set that whispers, “I don't deserve to spend that kind of money on myself,” or “I'll just get by.” I've found these folks are usually worried about what they're giving up, mainly in dollars, as opposed to what they're going to get.

By investing in your own training and education, you will gain more in the long run than you're giving up. With increased skill comes increased confidence. With increased confidence comes increased competence. The rewards will continue to multiply. Many are comfortable with the status quo. They feel because they've been at something for a long time it qualifies them as an expert. I learned a long time ago just because you've got a lot of years in or you've done something repeatedly, that doesn't necessarily make you an expert. Some people work in a vacuum doing the same thing day in and day out thinking they are the best at what they do. Wrong!

You can't increase your expertise on your own; someone has to teach you. I don't care if you're already at the top of your game, there's somebody that's on top of you that's doing it better. That's the person you have to talk to!

This is about your Service, your Product and the level at which you deliver. Years ago I heard a saying that has stayed with me, “If you're not moving ahead, you're moving backwards or you're dying.” I know as long as I'm fixing teeth, I'm going to be focused on learning a new and better way and definitely keep up with the latest and greatest techniques and technology.

If someone wants to be considered an expert, they have to put constant effort into learning all they can about what they do, what their customers need and what the market demands.

Develop Sales and Marketing Skills
The success of your business is directly proportionate to your ability to sell and market. Taking that one step further, I believe the success of your life is directly proportionate to your ability to sell and market. The better you sell and market the higher level of success you will attain.

I'm not talking about selling used cars. I'm talking about selling your Services, Products or ideas. Additionally, you are selling your philosophies, your principles to your children and selling to make relationships with your spouse and family better. I'm talking about selling Products and Services they want and need that are going to make them better people. Sales and marketing is not about you getting something; it is about you giving something.

Sales is a kind of strategic influence. Too many times we think of sales as manipulation because we have the vision of the slick salesperson; the person who's trying to sell for his or her good and not for the good of the customer. Sales is about benefits and coming to a mutual agreement with your customer that what you have to offer is of value. Once value has been established, you have the responsibility to influence the person to say, “Yes.”

You always have to have the other person's highest good in mind. In fact, Charlie used to tell me about the U Attitude. When he first presented the U Attitude idea, it was foreign to me. He would sit in front of me, hold his pad of paper and he'd draw a U. One part of the U started with the customer coming tome and it ended back with the customer to complete the U. This means the process has to start with the customer, come to me, and then go back to the customer. The customer always has to be the person who benefits the most in the sales process and the U Attitude has helped me to remember this over the years.

Selling is about helping the client. The times I have been sold by people who have good sales skills is fantastic; a great experience. They see what I want and what I need. They know how I'm going to benefit by it and they help me get there. Sales require compassion, understanding, and talking in such a way people are comfortable dealing with you. When you create comfort for your customer, they will return again and again. Most of my patients do business with me because they say they trust me. They'll say, “If that's what I need, I trust you know what is best.” They have put their faith in me and I'm not about to let them down.

Selling isn't rocket science, but it is a powerful skill. I've seen more than one salesman take advantage of a person with lesser knowledge or expertise. This is not what I consider ethical, professional or right. I am committed to interacting with my patients and customers as if they are my brother or sister. I'm always challenging my integrity with the question, “If this were a member of my family, would I recommend this procedure? Am I presenting the best possible solution and filling their true need?”

Focusing on these questions helps me to be more assertive, especially if a patient doesn't understand how important the decision can be in that moment. I've actually said, “If you were my sister or my brother or my father, I would have you do this.” I tell them this is for their benefit, not for mine.

I've told people, “I'm not doing this because I'm trying to charge you a fee, I'm trying to help you. I want to help you get something better than what you have.” Being assertive isn't uncomfortable for the customer or salesperson when done from a place of integrity and support.

People who have a problem with sales or are afraid of sales don't look at the benefit they create for their customers. They only see it as taking rather than giving. If you really believe in what you are doing, you recognize the sale is a contribution to your customer. We have an obligation to help our customers say yes to what they want or need when it benefits them and we know we are providing value and service to them. We also have an obligation to let them know when they shouldn't make a purchase if we believe it is not in their best interest.

Our responsibility is to help them make the best decision once we have established value or perceived value.

Get Help from Experts (Mentors)
Success is not a solo journey. To succeed you need to let others help you improve your business and your life. There are many ways to accomplish this. One is through a relationship with a mentor. I firmly believe you have to take the time to be mentored. There also comes a time you must be willing to share your knowledge by being a mentor.

Being mentored is one of the greatest events that has happened to me. I have had many mentors in my career. Without a doubt, Charlie Schaivo has been my primary and most influential mentor. However, Charlie didn't teach me everything. What he could not teach he led me to. Charlie is a very smart man. He knew what he could do to influence me and he knew when I needed the expertise of others. He would lead me to courses and to people who could teach me what he could not.

Charlie pointed me towards the DiSC® Profile. As you read in a previous chapter, learning the DiSC® profile system was one of the most important shifts in business and consciousness I have had in my life. It has helped me immensely in both business and personal relationship building.

I spent a full week learning behavior profiles in 1985 just so I could be more successful in my business. Little did I realize that it would also impact my personal life. I also took a two-day course on Adventures in Attitudes® a couple of years later through Charlie. From there he encouraged me to take more courses in sales, marketing, success, and leadership. All these course have little or nothing to do with dentistry, but everything
to do with my ultimate success.

The courses I've taken that were unrelated to dentistry have made me a much more successful dentist than the courses related to building my technical and clinical skills. I am not discounting technical training; it is simply to emphasize that you need a well-rounded education through the guidance of others.

Mentors are essential. You can't pick up a book and read enough to get the accelerated learning that a mentor can provide. It doesn't mean you can't learn these skills on your own, but it's going to take much, much longer. And you will probably never learn at the depth and level you would from a mentor.

In addition to Charlie, there was also Dr. Ciampoli, the dentist I bought my practice from. Even though he had many areas that were antiquated, he taught me a lot about handling people and patients. He was a good mentor for teaching me the importance of being technically competent and honest with patients.

There were many others over the years. Each had something to teach me. Fortunately for me and for all of my patients, I was willing to learn. If there was one thing I would recommend to anyone who wants to be wildly successful, it is to find mentors and learn from them.

Through Charlie I developed a list of mentors/teachers that have served hundreds of thousands of people just like me: Napoleon Hill, Earl Nightingale, Og Mandino, Dennis Whitely, Zig Ziglar, Wayne Dyer, and Mike Vance to name only a few. I would listen to their tapes until I wore them out and had to get another. I've used the knowledge of seasoned experts as my mentors even though many I have never met in person. I gleaned every bit of wisdom they had to offer. I have found some of the original thought leaders to be so profound I still listen religiously to their material.

Mentorship doesn't have to be a difficult experience. There are very informal as well as formal methods of mentorship. Let's begin with the informal. Consider the top five people you spend time with the most. Each can be a mentor in his or her own right. To be successful you need to make sure those you associate with most are people that inspire you and lift you up. You must be clear about who you want to spend time with and understand the power they have in your life.

There is an exchange of energy in all relationships. Some people enhance our energy; others can actually deplete our energy. I'm very deliberate in choosing people that increase my energy and fuel my dreams. We may not call one another mentors, but the influence we exert on each other's lives is the same as a mentor/student relationship. I feel so strongly about this I've made efforts in the opposite direction, minimizing
relationships with certain people because we weren't on the same track or heading in the same direction. I look to mentors in both my personal and professional life.

Charlie was a great mentor for my marriage as well as work. Certainly my parents who've been married for over 50 years are incredible mentors when it comes to relationship and marriage. I have some mentors that I simply examine their life and admire their capacity to live it to the fullest. Take for instance, Euse Mita, the leader of the reflection group in which I am an active member. He is a great example of this kind of person. I have known him for about 25 years and over that time he has mentored me and I sometimes have mentored him. Even though we do not see each other very often, when we do meet and we are together, I walk away a richer person. A brief encounter with Euse can keep me going for days.

There are many forms of mentorship some formal and contractual and some informal existing within the relationship of a friend or family member. As valuable as having a mentor is there will come a time when you are asked to mentor. Seize the opportunity to mentor because the learning never stops! I am currently mentoring a businessman and even though he is learning new things, I am increasing my skills and stay sharp by prepping for our mentoring sessions.

Having the right kind of mentor and noticing who you spend time with leads into the fourth and fifth necessary components for success: Control Your Thoughts and Create Balance in Your Life. Because the fourth and fifth parts are so
important, I have devoted an entire chapter to each.

Success – A Five Part Formula
Success Summary
Business Success and Life Success are not exclusive of each other.

1. To have TOTAL SUCCESS you need success in both areas.
2. To have TOTAL SUCCESS you need to:
Become an Expert (have a great Product and/or Service)
Develop Sales and Marketing Skills
Get help from Experts (have mentors)
Control your Thoughts

Create Balance in your life
3. You may not be the “best” at what you do, BUT be the best you can be.
4. To be the best in your field requires continued training.
5. The success of your business and the success of your personal life is directly proportional to your ability to sell and market.
6. Our lives revolve around selling a Product, Service or idea.
7. Sales is strategic influence, not manipulation.
8. Develop a 'U' Attitude.
9. Always have the customer's interests foremost and have integrity and honesty in your sales process.
10. Sales and Marketing are skills that need to be learned. Very few people are “natural born” sales or marketing people.
11. You need people — mentors — to teach you what you do not know.
12. Find successful people and study their behavior.
13. Mentors can be living or dead.
14. Pay people to teach you what you do not know.

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A New Year – A New Start!!

I have been a bit quiet since the beginning of December but – not anymore!! The holiday season was a bit overwhelming for me – parties, family and friends – but I am ready to hit the road and I hope you are too! Success is more than just a big pay check it is enjoying what you do and the challenges that you face. Don’t get me wrong I have had some really tough challenges (last month being one of them) when I have wondered is this really the path I want to go down! But all in all being an entrepreneur and blazing my own path has given me more than I could ever hope for. My hope is in this coming year, I can help your business succeed– and you can see the success that you have been dreaming of - by offering you the knowledge and lessons that I have learn through so many years of “blazing my own trail”. I believe my own unique gift is that of gathering the tools to be able to offer the best when it comes to helping people just like you develop businesses that are uniquely yours. Branded with a look and feel that is personally yours - attracting and retaining the customers you need to make your business an amazing success…. In a nutshell let’s get moving to make 2008 the year your business sky rockets!!