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Chapter 7: What’s More Important than Building the Product?

Summary

Merely building the product isn't enough.

What's More Important than Building the Product?

We have been speaking about how a great product is integral to your business and in many ways it is. In fact, if a list of the top things to do to ensure business success were created, having a good product would be right there on the top. However, there is something that is also quite important. You could say it goes hand in hand with product enhancement.

And what is that? This important thing is promotion.

Without promoting your product, your business is dead in the water. It won't get a good start, which will make you lose money and you will be out of your business soon. This is a vicious circle; you have to try to be out of this as soon as you can.

So, what does promotion mean? Basically it means advertising your product, but in simple layperson terms, you could also say it is highlighting your product where it can meet with good exposure. Today, the Internet has opened up various vistas for advertisement. You can actually reach out to your target niche and promote your product directly to them.

There are so many products in the market currently which aren't better than their competitors but are still surviving and some are even dominating. Now, why is this happening? Advertisement is the answer. They spend millions on ad campaigns, both online and offline and increase the curiosity levels. If the packaging is slick, if the promotion has been great, then people don't mind checking out the product.

But the most important thing that advertisements do is to create an awareness of the product. People know that the product exists; there builds up a curiosity level for the product. It is because of this that people don't mind adding the product to their shopping carts to try them out if nothing else.

Slick advertisement and brand awareness are extremely important when you are trying to build a product that can reach out to people. Don't undermine the importance of these two aspects, which can very easily make or break a product, however good or bad it is.

Chapter 8: Selling a Refrigerator to an Eskimo

Summary

Traditionally, this line has been used to indicate a wily salesperson that uses every trick in the book to sell things to people that they don't want. But isn't this talent going to be great for you if you are entering business?

Selling a Refrigerator to an Eskimo

"There is only one way... to get anybody to buy anything. And that is by making the other person want to buy it."

Dale Carnegie, adapted for advertising

How do you sell a fridge to an Eskimo! That challenge has always been the symbol of the ultimate in marketing a product to someone who simply does not need it. There are funny answers that come up, which also stand for dubious practices in advertising.

'Tell him there is alcohol in it' is a kind of surrogate advertising. Your intent may actually be to sell him alcohol, so you sell him a fridge bundled with bottles of whisky. 'Tell him it will make him feel warmer/ is a partial truth, because technically speaking, the temperature inside the fridge can be adjusted to be higher than the subzero cold outside!

But let us revise that original statement - That challenge has always been the symbol of the ultimate in marketing a product to someone who apparently does not need it. That will lead us to ask - is there possibly a reason why an Eskimo would need a fridge? The answer is another simple question - Why do you sit at your dining table eating a salmon dish with a fork and knife? Why aren't you out there in the jungle spearing the fish and roasting it on a crude fire? Product development, advertising and marketing are the driving forces of civilization and convenience.

The Eskimo needs a fridge because he no longer wants his wife to go and bury the reindeer roast under a pile of snow. And, here we come to another factor in advertising, he also wants it because his neighbor has bought one!

So that's it! We have sold a fridge to an Eskimo without any trickery, without gimmicks or lies. We have simply fulfilled the three needs of a good product for the Eskimo - a product that satisfies a need, with great looks and high quality, marketed well.

That wasn't very difficult was it? Now shall we attempt to sell bottled water to millions of people who have easy access to safe drinking water through taps in their kitchen? That is probably tougher than selling a refrigerator to an Eskimo!

Chapter 9: Keep Your Ears Open

Summary

The ears are the most important organs of a successful businessperson.

Keep Your Ears Open

'We listen. We do stuff, we follow through, and then we listen more."

Coca Cola and Pepsi are two of the biggest giants in advertising and marketing in the world today. They spend millions of dollars in market research and product development. Could they go wrong? In the early 1980s, Coke tried to retain its position as number one by introducing New Coke to replace the old flavor. There was a hue and cry from the public and Coke was forced to bring back its original classic cola. A few years later Pepsi launched Pepsi AM, a drink targeted for breakfast time. And yet later came Pepsi Clear, a colorless cola drink! Both were rejected by the market.

Coke and Pepsi reacted to negative public feedback by quickly withdrawing those flop products from the market. There are several cases of dud products eroding the market share of a company because no one listened to the consumer. Ford Motor Co. sold its first bestselling car for a long time under the line - "People can have the Model-T in any color - so long as it's black." After a while buyers began to ask for style and color options. Ford's competitors listened to the feedback and obliged. Ford was compelled to follow suit to service.

Today, the vast reach of the Internet makes listening much easier. The Consumer Relations departments of many companies set up and monitor Face book, Twitter and blogs where they can listen to instant feedback and act swiftly to correct a problem or to improve a product.

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Chapter 5: Expanding Business Contacts Affirmation

Synopsis

I'm expanding my network/business contacts.

Networking

You've likely heard the phrase "It’s not what you know, it’s who you know." In today’s interrelated society, that rings true to a higher degree. Your gifts, abilities, and experience will never take you anyplace if nobody knows you exist. So to get what you want out of life and business, you need to be resourceful. Your fellow humans are a vast resource.

Break your stereotypes about networking. If you're reading this, you're probably acquainted with the advantages of networking, but you've avoided doing it for a assortment of reasons.

Networking can appear insincere, ostentatious, or even manipulative. And if that's what you're thinking, you're likely right... about some of it. There will forever be individuals who judge others based on image and titles, but there are likewise individuals who want to establish genuine, mutually beneficial relationships. When you're networking, you're going to have to strain through the individuals you don't want to know to get to the individuals you do want to know. That's merely a crucial part of networking, but the good news is that with practice, you'll get more beneficial at spotting the individuals worth knowing.

You may think you're too timid or self-aware to schmooze. Networking does call for a degree of boldness, but with the advent of social networking sites, you are able to get to discover others with similar interests and goals without being in a room full of individuals. Likewise, individuals who are shy and self-aware tend to be a lot more open and blabby when they're doing or discussing something they're deeply interested in. If you discover individuals who are just as obsessed with self help, origami, or gardening as you are, then you'll have a much easier time building connections.

Networking takes time and sweat. Unless you're an extroverted individual who thoroughly enjoys schmoozing, it can be depleting. Why bother? Well, one way to consider it is to imagine how much time and thwarting you'd save if anything you wanted or needed was just one or two calls away. In the end, a network can be an investment, with benefits that outbalance the costs. You just need to stick with it and see it grow.

Chapter 6: Great Friend Affirmation

Synopsis

I'm a great friend!

Being A Great Friend

Have you discovered yourself contemplating how to make that new individual in your life a good friend? Here are some tips.

Be true. Are you attempting to be friends with somebody to be accepted into a certain clique, or as you'd like to get to know somebody else that he or she knows? That's not friendship, it's self-interest. Every new individual you meet has the right to be accepted (or not) on his or her own virtues, it's better to just be yourself than let anybody else influence you into being somebody you're not.

Be truthful. An unscrupulous individual has no chance of bearing true friends. Keep your promises; do what you say you're going to do, and above all — don't lie!

Be reliable.

Be truehearted. If your friend tells you something in trust, don't discuss it with anybody else. Never say anything about your friend that you wouldn't really want to repeat face to face. Don't let other people say bad things about your friend till you've had a chance to hear your friend's side of the story.

Dig in for friends during times of crisis. If your friend has to go to the hospital, you could help pack his or her bags; if her/his dog turns tail, help to find it, if he/she needs somebody to pick him/her up, be there. If there's a death in his/her family, you may want to attend the funeral — or cook and take a dish or a meal over to your friend. Care about your friend enough to help him or her open up and let the tears roll. Truly listen openly. Stay calm and reassuring.

If your friend is experiencing a crisis — don't say: "Everything is going to be o.k.." — if it's not going to be. This goes right along with keeping it true. It's hard not to say that occasionally, but false reassurance can frequently be worse than none, and it might undermine your friend's ability to come through the crisis as well as one may. Instead, tell your friend that "whatsoever you decide or need, I'm there for you."

Give advice, add view. Don’t judge your friend, but do advise. Tell him/her how you comprehend his/her situation, and what you may do in the same circumstances. Don’t be offended by one hearing your advice and then choosing to ignore it. Your friend must make his or her own conclusions.

Never make a promise you know you can't keep. Good friendship is founded on trust - if you break a friend's trust, the friendship might be very hard to save.

Hear. You don't have to agree — just hear what is said. Make certain to stop talking to hear — so you're not just running your mouth. If you're monopolising every conversation with your feelings, the friend isn't getting anything out of the relationship.

Don't be selfish. Grabbing, stealing, begrudging and/or begging are big Nos in the rules of friendship. The friend will soon get fed up with this and eventually move towards more self-less people.

Chapter 7: Get Together Affirmation

Synopsis

I'm gonna have a great party!

Planning For The Best

At onetime or another every individual will plan some type of event. This event can be small or large but regardless its size, or its target audience, every event will call for planning in order for it to be successful.

Sit down and consider the event that you are planning. Consider the outcome that you would like to see.

Image everybody that will be involved and start to formulate plans in your minds eye.

Author the vision. Start to write all the thoughts that spring to mind. Allow yourself the chance to see the best possible result for the event.

After you've put down all of your thoughts go through your list again and select the best ideas.

With each thought that you've written begin to contrive a plan to see that each idea comes into being. Do research, read books, go online, talk to individuals and get all of the data necessary to make it happen.

Think about making a story board. Cut out photos, words that give a visual of what the result is that you expect use a poster board to apply your pics to.

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Chapter 8: The Five Essentials of a Dazzling Speech

Summary

Have you come out of an oration being bowled over by the manner the person spoke? Quite likely, these five essentials were part of their speech.

The Five Essentials of a Dazzling Speech

After checking out hundreds of speakers, some of them of international repute, we have unearthed these five characteristics that are present in all their speeches. Are they present in yours?

The Right Stance

Great speakers hold themselves properly on stage. Their mannerisms are exemplary. Even before they open their mouths to speak something, they have already made an impression because of the way they carry themselves. If you check out some eminent personalities speaking, it will be very easy for you to work these into your speech deliveries too.

The Right Tone

A great speech is varied in tone. The speaker won't drone on and on in the same mode. Their volume will go into an ebb and then surge emphatically when a particular point is of great relevance. They will put the correct emphases on exclamatory marks and questions, which will be found aplenty in the whole body of their speeches anyway.

The Right Interest

One more aspect of great speakers' speeches is that they know how to keep the interest alive. At the slightest hint of the audience losing its interest, they will bring forth a highly interesting point to re-captivate the audience's attention. They will also use interrogations in their speech delivery. These interrogations, if effectively used, will make the listeners ponder if even for just a second. This is what we mean when we speak about "interactive" speeches.

The Right Examples

It is very important to include examples in your speeches if you want to make them attractive. There is one very important point served by this. When you give examples, you are making the speech sound more real, as though what you said has really happened with someone that the listeners know. If you don't give examples, your speech becomes one-dimensional as though it is only your point of view. A good speaker is always looking for great examples to include in future speeches. Keep a small book where you make handy references of such 'examples' as you come by them and use them when needed.

The Right Closing

When you are listening to a speech, you are carried by it, but the part of the speech that really makes a lasting impact is the closing. This is what the people will carry home from the speech in most likelihood. All great speeches are characterized by great closing lines.

Chapter 9: The Most Effective Part of a Magnetic Speech – The Closing

Summary

The closing is what lingers in the listeners' mind even after the speech is over. Work on it; this is largely what makes your speech more impactful.

The Most Effective Part of a Magnetic Speech - The Closing

If you make a great speech, but close it in a non-impressive way, a large part of your speech is lost. When you speak effectively, people are very much interested in what you are leading to. People generally have a mindset that makes them think that the best is always saved for the last. That is the reason they are very much eager to hear the close of the speech. Now, if you don't work on it, your speech will become a completely lost cause.

Here are different ways in which you can effectively bring your speech to an effective climax.

1. Pose a question at the end. This question should have to do with what you have just said. Keep the question a little tough, a question whose answer won't come right away into their minds. However, the question must make them go back on what you have said and scout for the answer. Effective speakers are known to use this little device which makes their speeches remain in the listeners' minds for a long time even after they are long over.

2. Place a great quote at the end. Spend time to search for such quotes on the Internet or elsewhere and speak them with aplomb. Do not elaborate on these quotes; leave them hanging in the minds of the audience.

3. Sum it all up at the end. If you don't know how to effectively close your speech, just give them a summary. This helps too, because it gives you a chance to reinforce what you just said on your audiences' minds.

4. If you have something to give away, keep that announcement at the end. This is a great way to get people interested in what you have been saying. After you have made the announcement for the giveaway, summarize the main parts of your speech.

5. Make an earnest plea. This works if your speech is for a clause. Or, get someone else - an eminent personality, if possible - to come ahead and make the plea. Just hand over the mike to them and move offstage.

These are various ways in which you can bring your speech to an effective close. Time and again, it has been proven that any and all of these methods work.

Chapter 10: Improving Yourself as a Speaker

Summary

A speaker is always a listener, a student

Improving Yourself as a Speaker

A speaker is always a student. You have to always keep learning. You can never say that you have become the most perfect speaker there is. Speaking is such a personal thing that there is a great deal of variety in this realm. Even as you listen to other people speaking - by being a part of a live audience or checking them out on television -you see that there are so many of their impressive things that you can include in your speeches. There is definitely no harm in trying out. You could try working in these traits in your own delivery and improve.

A speaker is also a much-informed person. Keep yourself abreast of what's going on. You will have to allude to anything, anytime in your speeches. You can speak the most relevant speeches at any time if you are abreast of what's happening.

Also, speak with people. Take their feedback on everything. Use this in your speeches. This is general feedback, general opinion. It is always great to put a joke about what people are already making jokes. It helps. The speech becomes more colorful.

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CHAPTER FOUR - Reward Achievement

You are setting small targets and not letting the unexpected blur your focus or get you down. You are embracing the full force of willpower as you exercise consistent discipline for the sake of having the life you’ve always wanted.

Along the way, you’ve been surprised at just how capable you are. The old voices about you being “stupid” and “lazy” are a fading memory. You are growing every single day in self-confidence and self-esteem, because you don’t believe the negative thoughts that you used to have about yourself. You are starting to believe that you will actually make it, that you will reach the Big Prize: the life that you have visualized for yourself for quite some time.

That brings us to the section of Mind Hacking that will sound perhaps a little more enjoyable on the surface than the other topics: rewarding your achievement. There is absolutely no guarantee that anyone around you will reward you for reaching your small targets week after week. You might have a significant other who tells you that s/he is proud of you, you might have some good friends that tell you that you look great with 25 fewer pounds, you might have a teacher tell you that s/he is impressed by your work ethic and “A” grade, but none of these responses are assured.

As you know from work, there is also no guarantee that your boss is going to notice those two extra deeds you do per week for the good of the company, the time and energy and fun that you’ve sacrificed to stay late two evenings per week. No, s/he does not always notice, and s/he might even end up rewarding someone else at the office with a raise and a promotion, someone who cares a lot less than you do.

So, if in this world we cannot be sure that anyone else will reward us for our impressive progress. That’s all the more reason to reward ourselves. This does not mean going out and blowing a lot of money on a trip to a resort or a new outfit. However, it does mean giving yourself a small treat as it is warranted. This can be a vital part of the positive motivation that you will need to laugh at obstacles and roadblocks as you pursue your dreams.

Many times when our thoughts go toward rewarding ourselves, we think of a dinner out or a special purchase. Those are fine, but before it seems as if this eBook is advocating regular trips to the all-you-can-eat buffet, we should spend a few pages discussing physical fitness as part of getting to where you want to go in life.

Here are two well-established medical facts that play a part in Mind Hacking, because your mind is attached to a body, it’s not some separated head as in a sci-fi movie. Those facts are: a) a healthy diet and regular sleep are essential to operate at your physical prime, which will enable you to be at your mental peak; b) consistent exercise is an energy-producer, which you will need as you strive to reach your goals.

Let’s pick apart these two core physical principles as part of Mind Hacking.

You can be as strong as you want to be mentally, but if you are often sick, malnourished, tired and woozy, you will not be as sharp mentally as you need to be. No one can exercise a lot of willpower when sick; no one readily welcomes the unexpected when exhausted. You know very well from personal experience that the physical dimension affects the mental dimension, and vice versa.

That is not to say that you can “will” yourself out of an illness, but it is to say that when you are run down physically, you will be very weak mentally. Check out the explosion of sales for energy drinks around the world the past few years. More and more people are looking for a mental edge, and they are using energy drinks, and even some drugs, as a shortcut to that edge. This is not necessary. If you take care of that body you have, you will be able to use your mental powers as fully as needed.

Conversely, poor diet and lack of exercise can lead to a constant worn-down feeling, which weakens your immune system and makes you more susceptible to illness. That, of course, means more lost work time. A constant worn-down feeling can also lead to depression, which is way off where you want to go to meet your objectives. Yes, your body is intimately connected to your mind. Even if you apply all of the principles of this eBook, if you don’t take care of your body, you could end up depressed and forlorn, not making life happen in the way you want it to.

How, then, should we eat, sleep and exercise? Well, there are 1,000 different diets out there, all screaming for attention, but the basics of taking care of your body have not changed over the years.

By the way, even if you can “get away” with a hard-driving, high-partying lifestyle for awhile--you know, staying out until 4 and showing up at the office at 8—it eventually will catch up to you. You can do that in your 20s, some people can do it in their 30s, but no one can do it in their 40s and beyond. So, if you’re thinking about long-term goals and the Big Prize, you should practice good health habits early so that you do not have to make radical changes as your metabolism slows down and your joints get creaky.

On to the proper diet that you need to stay healthy and sharp mentally.

As part of Mind Hacking, let’s begin by not viewing diet in a legalistic, painful, annoying way. Let’s view it as putting the right fuel into a high-performance vehicle—you. You wouldn’t think about putting ethanol into a Maserati, would you? In the same way, you need to tighten up your diet a bit and start to fill your body with good fuel, not crap.

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Chapter 4 Recognizing Achievement

Theories and research suggest and been proven that without giving out praise and recognition to employees are one of the main reasons they leave certain companies and organizations.

Though increasing salary and adding bonuses are already important motivators, companies must also recognize employees’ achievement for the company at least once or twice a year. You can do this in different ways. Events and celebrations showcasing and awarding achievement of employees or teams are one way to do it or give added rewards for their achievement.

Leadership and motivation works and comes together when it comes to handling employees. As mentioned Chapter 1: Focus on the Bigger Picture, motivation isn’t something that can easily obtain without proper leadership since it is essential to an understanding of motivation.

Peter Drucker said that leadership is that quality of examining work to ensure that effort is not placed where there are no results.

According to this definition, leadership is the skill of establishing priorities and marshaling resources to achieve worthwhile goals. While some may disagree with this definition, few will argue that Drucker's view is unreasonable. Supervisors have the difficult and primary task of determining what is important in their organization. Drucker advises them to forget about yesterday's services, to maintain today's breadwinners and, as managers, to emphasize and nurture tomorrow's objectives. Indeed, a fundamental rule of leadership is to delegate yesterday and undertake tomorrow. Those expensive experiences in management ego, in developing and maintaining services and collections long after analysts have revealed their failure, must be avoided. Leadership is the art of recognizing the mistake, even one's own, and correcting it before it bleeds the institution.

The leader is also the person who must ask himself and the members of his administrative team to redefine the purpose and role of their institution regularly. The leader must clarify the institution's goals and objectives and remind his team of those ends. To be successful, the leader must ensure that the team knows both the goals and strategy. (Excerpt from SUPERVISION OF EMPLOYEES IN LIBRARIES: Leadership and Employee Motivation by Donald J. Sager; page 45-46)

Leaders today must learn and master new skills adding up to the traditional leadership methods to lead their teams and employees into the success of the company. Continuously mentioned in this eBook is that motivating employees is imperative and thus a skill any leaders must acquire. It can be quite costly but with the right usage of tools can be advantageous for all and most organizations. Leaders must employ these tools and resources properly to achieve their goals.

When it comes to motivating employees, one leadership trait to have is the ability to infuse inspiration to each member/staff or employees. Besides sharing ones' vision and directions, asking for opinions and ideas is a great way to build trust and relationship as well as inspire each other. It can be called as "successful leadership relationship" and must be effortless when it comes to inspiring employees. Following an effective leader, people accomplish and achieve more than they may ever have possibly dreamed.

The foundation of this successful relationship is the leader’s ability to make people feel important. So, effective leaders need to demonstrate these practices.

Pay attention to people using common courtesy. Simply saying "Good Morning" or replying to each courtesy will inflict positive feedback. Asking how their weekend was or their family is a powerful simple tool to practice to in order to build relationships toward your people.

Listen to your people. Rather than leading and them listening only to you, the leader, start listening to your employees/staff or members and give full attention when needed. Set meetings to listen to their needs better. Moreover, you can hear more of their ideas and opinions regarding the organization and oversee which and what is working for their comfort. You make people feel special when you listen to them without distraction.

Positive, powerful languages. A simple "Thank you" or "Great Job" is a positive and powerful phrase to say to your employees that can impact their daily lives into positive ways. It encourages them to work harder and better for the company's and their welfare. Other phrases can include but not limited to, "Your contribution saved the customer for the company.” “We couldn’t have accomplished the goal without you.”

Put praise in writing. A "thank you" note to the employee, with a copy to her file, magnifies the impact of the recognition.

Keep true to commitments. Make sure never to cancel except in a true emergency. Promising raise or bonus? Never fail it. Do not keep promises or commitments you can't meet.

Give credit to employee contribution. Remember suggestion boxes and meetings? When a great idea is presented, make or suggested it.

When fulfilling responsibilities as a leader, it is quite obvious that most are no longer willing or motivated to work. This is not necessarily either good or bad. Employing cheap and willing labor is no longer easy like what most companies are used to. Even employing student labor isn't as many as before and commonly most students are no longer willing to work extra and do mundane work such as categorizing and shelving files and books. They will work, but prefer to do so in areas where they can gain useful experience for their own careers.

"Too often the solution seems to be a higher salary, but this is not necessarily so."

Most people and even companies’ think that money is already a good motivator for employees to stay in their companies most simply pretends but if you change the reward, you can change people's behavior.

Some researchers argue that to motivate employees you should be able to give them happiness. However, Duke Psychology Professor Dan Ariely argues that both happiness and money are both motivators and simply categorizing them based on money and happiness will oversimplify things and miss out the important factors on what motivates people.

Many people think that, in the end, motivation is all about money, for all that people pretend otherwise. If you change the reward, you can change people's behavior.

Others argue that it's all about finding happiness. Duke psychology professor Dan Ariely argues that both play a part but that those explanations wildly oversimplify things, and miss out on what truly motivates people.