Social pdf on Social Behaviour Written Socially

It's freebie season.
I've told you about the Tribes free audiobook.
now, here's the Tribes Q&A pdf--also free.

Seth Godin has this thing about spreading his ideas far and wide.
I'm happy to oblige.
he's got some great ideas.
the idea of Tribes--that people want to belong and not just buy--is highly recommended.

go get the free pdf!

Business Is Selling

I occasionally come across articles that are too good or too timely not to share with you.
here is one such article, which speaks about many people's distaste of selling, why it's misguided, and how to overcome the aversion.
—Alpha

Understand that you need to sell you and your ideas in order to advance your career, gain more respect, and increase your success, influence, and income.
—Jay Abraham

Business Is Selling
By Michael Masterson

As we keep telling you, just about anyone can start a business. But there's an important caveat - and it jumped to mind when I got an e-mail from Lynn, who wants advice on starting a newsletter. She writes:

"I've worn many hats, juggled them off and on in my years as Mother, Grandmother, Realtor, Concessionaire, and Artist Retailer/Wholesaler. Love, divorce, custody issues, death, inheritance, bankruptcy, accidents, health issues, friendship, betrayal. I've either been through it or carried someone through it.

"What I seem to do best is calm nerves and give good advice, to the point where it often interferes with other endeavors. I've seriously thought about ETR's copywriting/ Internet ideas, but I'm wary of selling things. It seems that, among family and friends at least, I am the oracle of issues, the witchy woman matriarch with the final answer. The trendy term 'life coach' isn't quite it. I want to be like an e-mail comforter. A listener of last resort. A sounding board.

"It's the only thing I think I'm really quite good at. Could this be a business?"

Yes, it could be a business. But not if you are leery of selling.

Business is selling. You can't make money unless you sell something. As Robert Louis Stevenson said, "I find it useful to remember, everyone lives by selling something."

So the first thing Lynn needs to determine is what it is she is going to sell.

People will pay for comfort... but not if it's billed as comfort. Think about what therapists do. They charge pretty good money to give people comforting advice. Yes, there are some who deliver discomfort, but they don't stay in business very long. People pay money to have their therapists make them feel good. If you've ever been in therapy with a successful therapist, you already know that.

But if therapists said that they were in the business of comforting their clients, no one would take them seriously and no one would pay them good money for their comforting advice. Rather than advertise what they are really selling, therapists advertise their methodology (Freudian, Behaviorist, etc.) or the type of "problems" they deal with (addiction, obsessive compulsive disorders, etc.).

Since Lynn isn't a trained psychotherapist, she can't honestly advertise those sorts of things. So she will have to come up with her own ideas about why people get themselves into trouble and how they can find solutions. These ideas will form themselves into a unified whole, if she thinks about them long enough. This unified whole is what we call an "intellectual franchise." That's what Lynn needs to develop. And then she needs to test it and see if it sells.

Remember, starting a business and making it a success is not just a matter of having a good idea. The idea has to be one that people will be happy to pay money for.

So if you are in Lynn's position - looking to turn your idea into a profitable business - you have to become comfortable with selling.

How do you develop the skill of selling when you are "wary" of selling, as Lynn puts it?

The first step is to understand that there are really two kinds of selling:

1. pushing people (to buy things they don't want)
2. helping people (to select those things they do want to buy)
Pushy salespeople - the telemarketer who calls you while you're eating dinner, the broker who calls you on the weekend with a "hot deal," the proverbial used-car salesman - take delight in persuading you to do what you don't want to do. Such salespeople see the selling process as a kind of battle where they bully and beat you into submission. It's an ego game for them, and your acquiescence - even if you really do want the product - is an indication of submission.

Such salespeople should be tarred and feathered, run out of town, dunked, and pilloried. They are the same people who delight in not letting you merge in traffic and cutting ahead of you in the supermarket line.

Helpful salespeople are actually more common than their obnoxious cousins.

If you understand that the job of a salesperson is to solve a customer's problem or help him meet a need, selling won't seem so odious to you.

Let's say your prospect's main concern is the future of his marriage. What you would do, in this case, is ask him questions about it and find out, in as much detail as possible, what his worries are. Having done this, you are then in a great position to address each one - to explain how your product (in Lynn's case, her advice) can give him effective solutions. By driving home the benefits of your product that the prospect cares about, you are making a very strong sales presentation. You are telling him exactly what he wants to hear.

Remember - your prospect wants to be sold. So long as you help him understand how your product can help him achieve his desires or solve his problems, he will be prejudiced in your favor. You lose your prospect when you start talking about other things - your interests, for example, or product features that he doesn't really care about.

So don't sell him, help him. Begin by finding out what he wants and needs. And then (if and only if you can really help him), make the strongest, most specific case you can make to convince him that his desires will be achieved and his problems solved.

Once you've figured out how to sell your product, and have gotten over your distaste of selling, you need to start testing... preferably on the Internet... until you find some way to position the product that catches on.

And then, to grow your business, you will have to produce lots of products that tie into your initial business idea and lots of sales letters to convince people to buy them.

Does this sound like something you can do? If so, you are on your way!

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, an e-zine dedicated to making money, improving your health and quality of life. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Verbose Verbiage: A Lament

There remains almost no other way by which I might express my consternation at how, across the face of the planet, certain quarters of humankind insist on utilising ostentatious verbiage in circumstances in which more precise and concise definitions would suffice – except to say:

Why on earth do some people use big words when small ones will do?

Why are spam girlfriends always named Irina?

Helo mine blog reader,
today I'm been having an other yet spam inbox mine, asking for to be my friend for to be married maybe.
asking you me, why always they name Irina?
Russha, Germanian, whatever, always Irina their name been.
you reading at bottom and seeing.

maybe Irina friend you wanting bekoming...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: --address deleted--
Date: 2008/11/6
Subject: my new friend!
To:


Hallo mein Freund! Mich rufen Irina! Ich habe entschieden, den Mann zu finden! Eben ist zur Agentur der Bekanntschaften gegangen! Mir haben gesagt dass sie darin mir helfen konnen! Und mir der Ferne deinen E-mail! Ich wollte dich sehr kennenlernen! Ich hoffe mich dass du nicht gegen wirst, mich kennenlernen! Ich bitte sehr damit du mir so bald wie moglich antwortetest! Ich werde von dir der baldigen Antwort sehr warten! Hochachtungsvoll Irina! Hello my friend! My name is Irina! I have decided to find the man! Also has gone to agency of acquaintances! To me have told that they can help me with it! And me a distance yours E-mail! I very much would like to get acquainted with you! I hope that you against will not get acquainted with me! I very much ask that you answered me as soon as possible! I shall wait very much from you for a fast reply! Yours faithfully Irina!

--photo deleted--

--photo deleted--

Routines Rock!

Here's an article on developing daily routines as an aid to greater productivity. it seems to be skewed toward work-at-home moms, but I still found it useful for my day-to-day writing work ;). I hope you'll garner some good ideas from it too!
—Alpha

Routines Rock!
By Colette Robicheau

Having a routine doesn't mean your life will be boring or predictable. Routines are an awesome way to get more out of each day and to allow us to do more of the things we really want to do. Complete everyday activities in the most efficient way so that you have more free time to be spontaneous. Creating routines for different parts of your day such as morning, when you arrive at work, before you leave work, when you get home, dinner time, and before bed, reap the greatest rewards.

Here's how to create a rockin' routine or to rework one you already have:

1. Make a list of some of the regular activities you do in the run of a day like getting the kids ready for school, exercising, email or a report at work.

2. Estimate how much time it takes to do each task. This is often where people go wrong. We tend to underestimate the amount of time needed or have no idea at all.

3. Try to group actions by similar activity and location to minimize the amount of time you spend running back and forth, such as preparing supper, getting dressed for work, or items to be photocopied or sent out at work.

4. To finish your routine, write down your tasks in the order you will perform them along with the time allotted for each.

5. Use the times to limit the amount of time you spend on an activity (like getting dressed or primping). By knowing your start and end times you will always know if you are running on schedule or not.

6. Add up the times to determine a start time to begin your routine.

7. Be sure to give yourself a buffer zone of extra time for unexpected events. As you repeat your routine it will become easier and you will be quicker at getting things done.

8. Save time and adapt to curve balls by completing tasks before you need to do them. Try packing your lunch and briefcase the night before, making a week's worth of meals at one time or answering all your email at a set time.

9. To create some new habits try linking them to ones that are already in place. Put a load of laundry in as you start to make supper.

Once you make your routines rock, you'll see how it can save you time, toil, and trouble every day. You'll avoid some unnecessary stressors leaving you free to run your day by design and enjoy it however you choose.

Colette Robicheau, President of Organize Anything, is a consultant, coach, and public speaker offering corporate, residential, and personal organizing services. Colette's humor and positive attitude are a great asset in her roles as professional organizer and life coach. An extensive background in professional organizing, project management and business development, have given Colette a no-nonsense approach to project completion with the ability to deliver on budget and on schedule. Email Colette or for more information, including great organizing tips, visit www.organizeanything.com.

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