blog (27)
I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. Not because I wouldn’t keep them, but because I find the annual ritual meaningless and, quite frankly, self-defeating. As if by sheer will alone we can leave our wired, burned-in neuronets behind to make a promise to ourselves that, well, we promise to keep this time!
Instead, I strive to create my day, each day, and thereby create a new year and a new life every day!
I do this in several ways, all are deliberate. The first way is to keep a Daily Abundance Journal so I can observe, celebrate and accelerate the flow of abundance in my life. This is one of the practices of “allowing” that Michael Losier talks about in his book, Law of Attraction. You’re probably familiar with the phrase “you get more of what you track.” Track your number of sales calls, appointments set, presentations made, orders closed… and you’ll tend to get more of everything.
It’s the same with abundance whether it’s a lucrative contract you just landed, or just landed the last parking space in front of the store you’re going to. When you observe something, you get more of it, whether you want that thing or not. We attract to ourselves whatever we give our attention, energy and focus to… whether positive or negative. In a large sense our life is a self-fulfilling prophecy based on our positive and negative vibrations.
This whole mysterious realm of Law of Attraction gets even more mysterious, or more clear, depending on your perception of it, at the level of quantum physics. Everything is essentially energy pulsating at a specific frequency, we are all a part of this energy, and all the parts, including ourselves, are connected and entangled. It is at this substratum of consciousness that thought manifests reality. This is why we get more of what we observe. Observation creates the object observed. (Please note: There is NO consensus, even among quantum physicists, that such a radical “philosophical idealism” is actually operative, or whether and to what extent it scales up to the world of the senses we know so well. Nevertheless, I personally subscribe to this particular viewpoint.)
And so I observe and celebrate and believe that in so doing I am accelerating more of the same. One thing is for certain, belief – which is the absence of doubt – is necessary for attracting anything!
Reflecting on Last Year’s Successes
So I observe my abundance each day, and I do so in reflection of what I accomplished over the course of the year. 2011 was a great year for me and 2012 is even greater. Reflecting on the accomplishments of the past year is the second way I deliberately create my day, my new year, and my life. In 2011
- I became a Certified Law of Attraction Facilitator and Trainer with Michael Losier; and conducted numerous LOA seminars in 2011 (continuing in 2012);
- I brought on the Waterfront Beach Resort (Hilton) in Huntington Beach, CA as an ongoing corporate client, for whose executive team I conducted strategic planning (continuing into 2012);
- I brought on Alandale Insurance Agency as an ongoing corporate client for whom I delivered weekly trainings to their sales team (continuing into 2012);
- I became one of just a handful of select business coaches for Top One Coaching, a subsidiary of the JT Foxx Organization, and for whom I have nearly 20 coaching students (continuing into 2012);
- I brought on the Irvine Public Schools Foundation (IPSF) as an ongoing non-profit client for whom I am facilitating strategic planning (continuing into 2012);
- I conducted Strategic Planning for Pro App Creators, LLC, whose mission is to “create innovative apps that bring life to your mobile device,” and I became a minority owner in this startup;
I co-founded Business Elite Mastermind™ to give entrepreneurs and business owners an unparalleled experience of building their enterprise and legacy; DVDs of the launch event are available here;- I wrote a chapter called, “What is Your End Game?” for a book on goal setting by Eric Lofholm, John Assaraf and others titled, Step into Your Vision: Top Business Leaders Share Their Goal Setting Secrets;
- A business partner and I conceptualized a product to enhance neural reconditioning in vision building as described in the Assaraf-Murray Smith book, The Answer; the product will be available in March;
- I began negotiations with a Latin American company to become its coaching arm in Latin America.
I did not go through this litany to boast in an arrogant or egotistical way, but to share my successes with these...
"Water, Water Everywhere... Nor Any A Drop To Drink"
Written by Jim Alvino
This line from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s late eighteenth century classic, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, tells a tale of being surrounded by abundance we cannot access [the ocean] and of being the creator of our own ruination [by killing the albatross]. OK, so this is my liberal interpretation from the perspective of a personal development coach and certified Law of Attraction facilitator. Granted.
But there are other “water metaphors” as well that speak directly to the issues of mindset, paradigms, belief systems, and one's view of reality. Consider these three:
Is Your Glass Half Empty or Half Full?
As well known and probably as overused as the riddle of the chicken and the egg, this metaphor speaks volumes about world view and our conscious as well as unconscious belief systems through which we filter [and create] our experience of reality.
If you see the glass half empty, you tend to operate out of lack, fear, pessimism, disappointment, cynicism, defensiveness, dissatisfaction, discontent, or a multitude of other expressions of negativity. Like the seafarer who kills the albatross, you also may be a master of self-sabotage. Collectively these personality traits and their underlying beliefs and emotional addictions are called poverty consciousness.
Of course you see yourself as objective and realistic. You tend to see those who view the glass half full as naïve, unrealistic, wearing rose colored glasses, even delusional. As a critic you often feel superior to your glass-half-full counterparts because you know how people are and how the world works, whereas those other poor souls are living in a dream world that doesn’t exist… or so you think.
The opposite cluster of beliefs, personality traits, and emotions is called abundance consciousness. Positive thinking, optimism, gratitude, making progress, getting there, people are basically good, opportunity abounds everywhere, and a multitude of other expressions of sanguinity – you don’t understand why others are so negative and always complaining. Neither do I.
The real significance of the glass-half-empty-half-full metaphor is the direction of the water in each glass. The liquid in the glass half empty continues to go down, continues to evaporate, leaving a parched and dried out vessel filled with the sediment of regrets, recriminations, and I-told-you-so’s that reinforce for our thirsty friend just how bankrupt reality is. Of course, what’s bankrupt is the paradigm; it can’t lead anywhere else but down.
The water in the glass half full continues to rise. There’s always enough to quench one’s thirst, nourishing and replenishing itself until eventually it overflows the brim, and the tipping point is realized in the material world as we attract abundance of all kinds into our life. This is the paradigm of emotional compound interest.
In both scenarios – glass half empty, glass half full – we get what we expect. What do you want and what do you expect? Are these congruent?
Water Naturally Runs Downhill.
In Newtonian Physics, which governs in the macro-environment perceived by our five senses, water will flow downhill unless it is redirected by a force or conditions strong enough to overcome gravity and/or inertia.
It is the same with our emotions and the tendency of some people to love gossip, negativity, criticism, putting other people down, and a host of other emotional addictions that has the perpetrator unwittingly stuck in his or her own mire, and of course dragging others down with them. That’s the fun part, or at least what is required for validation.
Misery loves company, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the barrel, and if you allow yourself to get sucked into this energy, even just to be around it, it can carry you away in a flashflood of mental, emotional, and spiritual destruction. Remember the glass half empty? There’s no quicker way to empty it than to succumb to or participate in negative thinking whatever its guise.
The course correction is first to recognize that in the world of Quantum Physics, the vibrational world, the foundational substratum of energy in which we are all connected or “entangled,” we get what we vibrate. In this world everything is frequency specific. What you put out is what you get back, whether positive or negative. Which would you rather receive? Are you able to?
The second piece of the course correction is to become aware of how our habitual language, the people we hang with, the media we wash our brains with may be causing us to give attention to and focus on what we don’t want. So, what do you want? Decide. Then take appropriate action to bring about and allow your dreams to materialize.
The River Doesn’t Become Less When It Empties into the Ocean, It Becomes the Ocean.
I have paraphrased an Indian spiritual teaching above which states that to become greater, we must surrender our limited ego identity to a higher, all-encompassing reality. Not proselytizing here, just pointing out that you can choose to see yourself as small or great, and however you see yourself is how you will manifest.
The ocean is the perfect metaphor for the cycles of life, rising and falling like the tides, the water’s edge encroaching and receding as if it were the incoming and outgoing breath of cosmic lungs. To be emotionally centered in the stillness and perpetuity of this movement, is to live in the space where we create our existence.
Marketing guru, wealth builder, and business coach extraordinaire Jay Abraham says, “If you are willing to let your improved emotional state be the evidence of your progress, then the progress will continue; you will continue to feel even better, and the tipping point will come where physical evidence can be seen. But if you look too soon for the evidence, and you do not yet find it, you will lose Vibrational ground. The need to see the immediate evidence of progress is the most significant hindrance to most people. When you attempt to take score of your progress too soon, you move further from the results you seek…
"When you discover the power of feeling better first," he goes on, "by the deliberate focusing of your mind away from problems, struggles, irritants, and any other manner of unwanted things -- and focus your mind upon the simplicity of your own breathing -- you will have found the key to the power of allowing [my italics].”
* The following blog post is a chapter in a forthcoming book on Goal Setting by Eric Lofholm. Jim Alvino is among a number of award-winning authors who wirte on this subject. Contact Jim today to reserve your copy of the book, which is due out in January 2012. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and write Goal Setting Book in the subject line.
In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else. For whereas the openings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and end game must be studied in relation to the end game. – Jose Capablanca
Imagine you are sitting in front of a Chess Master, and this is your first chess match ever. You are playing white, which means you make the first move. Thinking that the center of the board might get a little congested, you decide to get creative, take an oblique approach, and attack from the flank. Seven moves later, you’re in checkmate!
This is the Fools Mate that can befall a neophyte for violating the principles of the game: ignoring the center of the board (in chess you fight to control the center); moving the Queen, the most powerful piece on the board, or other heavy artillery out too soon or too frequently; leaving the King, the prize you are supposed to protect, vulnerable to attack or entrapment. Many entrepreneurs are playing this kind of opening with their enterprise, and they have no end game.
If this is you, don’t despair. You are not the only one. But to achieve your goals in business, as in chess, a winning strategy is crucial. Timing and sequencing are important. Creating a successful strategy requires that you think differently. Just as in playing a game of chess, you need to look and think ahead to see potential scenarios. You have to think/assess/determine how different scenarios play out, how they might affect you, how you will respond, and where you can be proactive. This is how you’ll win your game of business.
In a game of chess there is an opening, a mid-game, and an end-game. When we launch a business, it is common to charge ahead with energy, enthusiasm, optimism, and a heavy dose of blind faith. It is less common to know where we’re going and usually unheard of to think about an end game.
When I founded Monetize Your Niche®, Inc. in 2009, I sought trademark protection immediately as I wanted to establish formally “first commercial use” in the event that another company sought to claim the same down the road. During the filing process, my attorney asked me a simple question: “What’s your exit strategy?”
I didn’t have one. I barely had a notion of what my entry strategy was, but again, the key word here is strategy. You may be in the same boat.
What Is Strategic Thinking?
Once you become more familiar with the game of chess, you become more adept at strategizing and planning your moves ahead. It’s the same in the game of business.
Over the course of a 25-year career in the corporate world as well as association management, I was the top executive for four organizations, not including my own entrepreneurial ventures. In each case our goal setting was guided by a strategic planning process which set clearly defined and objective targets we called Quantifiable Measures of Success [QMS].
You will derive an Action Plan from these targets, 5 W’s that detail WHO does WHAT by WHEN WITH WHAT [Resources]. The 5 W’s indicate specific allocations of resources toward specific end games set in advance. In a game of chess each piece has a numerical value (e.g., pawn = 1, Queen = 10), and each has a capacity to make different kinds of moves. You might sacrifice a pawn, which can make very limited moves (usually one square at a time) to gain an advantage on a Rook or Castle with a numerical value of 5.
In similar fashion, you might give away a lower value product or service (“lost leader”) with the goal being to inspire your customer or prospect to buy a higher priced item.
Measurable targets, your Quantifiable Measures of Success, are the end points for a designated time frame (day, week, month, quarter, year, 3-5 years, etc.), and they dictate your daily actions. In short, you begin with the goal or end point in mind, and reverse engineer your steps.
As in a chess game, the sequence of strategies and tactical moves (your action steps) that lead to checkmating your opponent (attainment of your goal) is likely to change along the way; flexibility and creativity in the face of changing market conditions, circumstances, and opportunities are critical. But you still begin by visualizing the total picture from start to finish.
Upon completing your annual [or more frequent] planning process, post a large chart of the 5-7 QMS on the wall above your desk to serve a) as a visual reminder of your direction and goals; b) as a graphic benchmark of having hit a short-term or longer-term target; and c) most significantly, I believe, as a filter in the event that you or another team member wanted to include a new project you had not talked about previously. This happens frequently in entrepreneurial ventures.
Goal Set with Creative Problem Solving (CPS)
Apply a short decision making protocol [oversimplified flowchart below] to determine the feasibility of an idea and whether it would take you closer or farther from your goals:
- Does the new project or idea fall under one or more of the 5-7 QMS? If NO, end of discussion; if YES, under which one(s)?
- Is the new project or idea an obvious Top Priority? If NO, it goes to back burner; if YES, is it equal to or greater than other Top Priorities under the specific QMS?
- If NO, it goes to middle burner; if YES, a discussion ensues on Resources needed to incorporate new project; impact on plan, budget, team, and the like.
- Overall, how does this new move feel? It is positive? Are there any red flags lurking in the unconscious urging you to address them? What is your “little voice” telling you? [As Donald Trump asks himself: “What am I pretending not to see?”]
To assess the relevance and feasibility of a course of action taking you closer or farther from your goals, you can employ an objective, 6-step Creative Problem Solving (CPS) process I learned from creativity pioneer E. Paul Torrance, in which you began with a description of murky issues, identify an underlying problem, brainstorm multiple solutions, set evaluation criteria, evaluate the potential solutions, and arrive at one you determine to be the best.
Among the key evaluation criteria is congruence with your company’s values. Put the “best solution” to the same “feel right” test as you used in entertaining the new idea or project in the first place.
I used this same CPS process in deciding to found my company (among numerous other possible options for myself); and I am using this same CPS process in crafting an exit strategy, my end game, described at the end of the chapter.
Become the “Chess Master” of Your Entrepreneurial Niche
Many entrepreneurs I have coached are not only uninformed or uneducated as to how to “make the first move” [they don’t know what they don’t know], but once in the game, they become opportunity seekers, jumping from idea to idea hoping something will stick and make an impact on their cash flow. It would be like our neophyte chess player first moving out his pawn on the far left flank, then the pawn on the far right, with the result being an even quicker demise.
To become the “chess master” of your entrepreneurial niche, you require an understanding of how the board is set up, how the game is played, and what constitutes an appropriate opening, mid-game and end game. What will your foray into the marketplace look like? What business model will you adopt or adapt? Who is already successful in your niche that you might model, and how will you differentiate yourself from them? In a variety of scenarios, what might your expansion look like? How will you leverage what you do?
[To get the digital vervion of my CD on Advanced Business Development, for $17 OFF the download price, click here, and use the Coupon Code CHECKMATE when checking out.]
An exceptional entrepreneur, like a Chess Master, must be able to visualize several moves ahead, learn to anticipate...
Success in 3 Steps: Attract More of What You Want and Less of What You Don't
Written by Jim Alvino
Recently I interviewed Michael Losier (see below) to kick off my new Monetize Your Niche Abundance Creator series of exclusive interviews with experts on the subject of generating and manifesting abundance in our personal and business lives.
Michael is an internationally known expert in the “Law of Attraction,” which is really the foundational topic for understanding how to create more abundance. His book by the same title offers a practical, how-to method for getting more of what you want and less of what you don’t.
What Is Law of Attraction?
Simply stated, the Law of Attraction [i.e., the universal energy all around us that obeys the science of physics] means I attract to my life whatever I give my attention, energy and focus to, whether it’s positive or negative. It’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand we have this awesome power to fashion our lives and our world in any way we desire; on the other hand, this also means we are accountable for all the stuff in our lives we don’t want as well.
The Law of Attraction has a simple job description; match vibes [vibrations] or the feelings we are emitting. It unfolds and orchestrates to give us back a reality corresponding to whatever vibes we are sending out. In short, you get what you vibrate! This is happening all the time. The objective is to become a deliberate attractor of what we want. How do we do this?
It’s a Three-Step Formula
The first step is to decide what we want in contrast to what we don’t want. Step 2 is to give our desire attention, energy, and focus. And step 3 is to allow our desire to manifest. Allowing is the absence of doubt, the absence of a negative vibration. The speed at which our desires manifest is in direct proportion to how much we believe we will obtain them.
That’s the short and skinny on it. Michael’s book is an easy read. He presents the how-to’s for each step of the process, gives plenty of tools for mastering each step in becoming a deliberate attractor, offers several case studies with rich examples, and boosts your confidence meter for truly taking the reigns of your life starting immediately. I so believe in Michael's approach, I have incorporated his system into my coaching and teaching.
The book retails for $14.95. I am offering it for $12 including shipping, and I will throw in our hour-long interview, which is equivalent to a $500 personal coaching session with Michael Losier.
Includes FREE MP3 of Interview with Michael Losier!
For more information on Michael and his programs, go to www.MichaelLosier.com.
Public speaking can go a long way toward “monetizing your niche.” Think leverage. If your closing ratio is 50%, and you typically present your product or service to one person at a time, it takes two presentations to make a sale. On the other hand, say you are presenting in front of 10 people, you will, on average, make 5 times the sales with one-half the effort! It literally pays to speak in front of groups.
Arvee Robinson is a Master Speaker Trainer who has trained thousands of individuals, including yours truly, in the art of public speaking... that dreaded activity that many people fear second only to death. In this MYN Guest Blog she covers overcoming a few of the potential scenarios that fuel this trepidation and that can also derail you if you’re not prepared. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, Arvee’s experience and wisdom can help save the day!
What to Do When Things Go Wrong During Your Speech
By Arvee Robinson
Murphy’s Law states, whatever can go wrong, does. This is true even when you speak. The good news is, knowing what might go wrong ahead of time will help you to know how to handle it.
If Murphy does show up on the scene, never let your audience see you sweat! Never apologize when something goes wrong, and never make excuses.
On a recent episode of America’s Got Talent one of the acts was a team of two young children about ten or eleven years old. They started dancing on stairs and guess what? The little girl fell. Seconds later she got up and performed as if nothing had happened. At the end of their performance the judges asked her, “Are you okay, honey? “Are you hurt?” At that moment she started to cry. Until then she was a trooper and never let anyone see her sweat.
That’s a perfect example of what you want to do as a performer and speaker. Unexpected things are going to happen that are out of your control. What are they? Here are five possibilities and how to handle them with grace and ease.
#1 – Electronic gadgets in the audience.
Today, people will often bring their laptops or other electronic devices to a presentation or workshop. The problem is, these devices disconnect your listener from you and your talk. The best solution is to discourage the use of computers, laptops, netbooks, iPads and iPhones during your presentation.
Train your audience to turn off their cell phones by asking them to do so at the beginning of your talk. Take out your own cell phone and demonstrate what you want them to do while asking them to turn it off. Then thank them for doing so.
When people bring their laptops to use — and I’ve seen it over and over — they are not thinking about the event or the people in it; they are thinking about themselves. I’ve seen people plug the laptops in an outlet in the center aisle where people walk. As the speaker, you’re in control of the room and you have to pay attention to what your audience it doing so you can correct it if necessary.
I discourage people from using their computers during my talks. It is a known fact that your audience will retain more information if they write it down than if they type it. So do your audience a favor and ask them to put away all electronic devices.
#2 – Your laptop explodes.
You’re ready to start your presentation and you turn on your computer – it doesn’t turn on! Always make sure you have a backup ready, especially if it is your event. I have a regular laptop and a netbook. I bring them both. I also bring a flash drive because someone in the audience will have a laptop I can use.
Have a backup plan ready just in case something happens to your own equipment. That goes for the projector as well. Make sure you have an extra bulb because that is what usually burns out. They are very expensive, but it’s a good idea to have a spare.
Here’s a backup strategy: Bring two computers, have an outline of what you’re going say in case of ultimate equipment failure. This will ensure that you are not dependent on your PowerPoint and the speech will go on!
At my last Persuasive Speaking Mastery event, one of my guest speakers brought her presentation on her laptop. She didn’t bring a backup on a flash drive. Her computer was not compatible with my projector. After 30 minutes of trying to get it to work, the guest speaker got her office to email the presentation to us. Now, what would have happened if no one was available at her office? It could have been a disaster.
If you are going to bring your own computer to a presentation, make sure you have a backup plan. Part of that backup...
Recently I attended Loral Langemeier’s Cash Machine Workshop to get my head on straight about creating new money through fast cash. New money is money you didn’t have before; fast cash is money you can or should be able to turn within 72 hours. I made $791 that weekend, which ranked me 4th out of roughly 100 attendees.
The principle behind a Cash Machine is doing something you already know how to do or are good doing, then monetizing it in any number of ways – reports, services, products – this includes pre-selling these things and creating and fulfilling them later. It isn’t necessarily your Dream Cash Machine… that’s where Monetize Your Niche comes in… helping you “pursue your passion for profit.” My Cash Machine was my 3-CD Series “Secrets to Monetizing Your Niche,” and I included an hour coaching one-on-one.
In order to pitch our goods and services to each other we developed, rehearsed and refined a “Talk Track,” a brief, 3-4 sentence statement that introduced ourselves, made a claim, and engaged our prospect with a question: “Hi, my name is Jim. I’m a niche expert. I help entrepreneurs pursue their passion for profit. How can I help you dominate your market?” A dialogue typically ensued that eventually led to asking for the order.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the workshop was that the marketplace was always open. Our buzzing about all weekend long was a micro-economy bubbling with the exchange of currency and goods. This was not a simulation; it was the real deal, which is one of the best ways, if not THE best way, to learn about a market economy, sales and marketing, prospecting, asking for the order, handling objections, and closing the sale. More than $15,000 exchanged hands. I also bought several products/services to help me with my business.
Among Loral’s signature teachings are these: speak to more people, ask more people for money; you don’t skimp your way to wealth, create NEW money; do what you know and charge a premium for it; you don’t want to get rid of ALL debt, there’s good debt and bad debt; say YES and figure out the How and Who [can help you or do it for you] later.
Give Fast Cash Coaching A Try
As an affiliate with Loral’s company Live Out Loud, I highly recommend these programs and resources, all of which I have first-hand experience and participation with.
Let me ask you a question: Do you get an occasional latte at Starbucks, The Coffee Bean,
Here’s an alternative to tightening your belt so much that you can’t even breathe: Take just $1, a buck, a George Washington and invest it in a trial run with Loral’s Fast Cash Coaching.
If you want to go right for the gold and commit to making more cash right away, just go for it! The cost of entry to Loral’s program is relatively low. I’ve already made back what I’ve spent on her programs so far.. and she is helping me earn even more!!
Let's Put Your Cash Machine To Work!
I want to make you the same offer I made my fellow participants at the Cash Machine Workshop. Download my “Secrets to Monetizing Your Niche,” and I will also give you an hour of my time for one-on-one coaching. That’s a $397 value for just 87 bucks… I must be nuts!
Do you have a Cash Machine? I can help you develop one or refine what you have. Also, what’s your Track Talk? I can help you develop one that can lead to more sales.
Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and let's get started!
My Friend Melissa Krivachek, creator of the Passion Doctors group on Facebook, has unwittingly inspired me to blog one last time in 2010. It is New Year’s Eve as I am writing this, the ball is 54 minutes from dropping in
In looking at annual rituals – like a New Year’s celebration or even a family picnic – Jim Rohn used to point out that these need to be woven like a tapestry as we never know how many more we have left. If you’re 20 years old you might feel like you have 80 more New Years ahead of you; if you’re 60 or 80, you know for certain you don’t. Vic Johnson makes the question all the more poignant when speaking about decades. Now how many to you have left? NOT THAT MANY.
Energize Your Year in 2011
I had a very energized year in 2010. It was a year during which I built and shaped my company into a viable provider of coaching services and innovative products to help entrepreneurs and small business owners monetize their niche by pursuing their passion for profit. The energy flow was fast, like the speed of light, windows opened and closed quickly (not speaking of Microsoft’s by the way or of that insipid commercial introducing the cell phone that would cure all other cell phone obsessions – REALLY?!), literally here this moment and gone the next.
That’s the plane I was and continue playing on. I recall calling several people to pitch them with a JV idea, they expressed sincere interest but were wrapping up other projects, asked me to call back in 3-4 week – BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED. Why? Because in those 3-4 weeks a myriad of other opportunities materialized (E=MC2), and poof! like a magician’s wand or Moses parting the
“When one door closes another one opens,” goes the saying, but the corollary is, you must step through the newly opened door before it too closes in your face. So it is with going with the flow, with synchronicity, you have to step into the flow, meaning you must take action, which is based on a decision to do so. I like the way John Addison, co-CEO of Primerica, talks about decide – it ends in cide like homicide, suicide, genocide, etc. In making your decision you implicitly acknowledge that you are killing off your other options, they have died (at least for the time being). Accepting this is an element of what the existential philosophers of the early- to mid-twentieth century defined as authenticity.
Collaboration Is Key
As I mentioned in a previous blog, I did enter into several JVs in 2010 thanks to the promptings of Eric Lofholm and Arvee Robinson. Collaborative energy is exponential, the power of the Mastermind to synergize, the deconstruction of base-10 mathematics where now 1+ 1 = 3 or 4, and 2 + 2 might equal 20. “Two heads are better than one” because of the fusion created upon the release of two egos that have both surrendered their self-interest and combined to pursue a higher, common purpose. My JVs are already bearing fruit intellectually and monetarily, which should be among the criteria for assessing their productive energy.
I have several coaching clients I am currently working with who made major breakthroughs this year. I am proud of this but much more proud of them. The transformative energy that took place was like alchemy. In fact, as I was sharing with my friend Marilyn Joyce, it had more to do with contagion than with any particular coaching techniques or methods I used. I can offer a speculative explanation of what takes place, but that shall remain secret for now, at least in this writing. So thank you especially to Pat and Tina and Robert and Dave for your willingness to exchange energy with me at a quantum level; at its most profound root all energy is spiritual energy to the extent that it emanates from a single source however you choose to name it, whatever you choose call it.
It Will Never Be Here Again
So what does “success coaching” look like at the dawn of the new decade? To me it means helping to transform my client’s energy so he or she can proceed along his/her chosen path with confidence, passion, enthusiasm AND with the requisite strategic and tactical tools to reach one’s destination. (That’s the “business” side of what I do.) It may involve catharsis, releasing emotional blocks, clearing one’s energy centers. It will surely mean helping my clients become aware of and overcoming addictions, inhibitions, compulsions, attachments, and wrongly identifying him- or herself as… this or that small ego without seeing or acknowledging their Higher Self or discovering their Higher Purpose.
Success coaching to me means mirroring and modeling – providing an honest reflection of what I see, reflecting back my clients' strengths and greatness, and walking the talk by SHOWING the way toward authenticity. But as the Eagles sing it, “[I] can’t take you anywhere you don’t already know how to go.” I will help my clients build networks, collaborations, JVs – the same actions that are serving me to evolve and to transform my own business as well as myself. I am seeking and attracting clients who desire Total Personal Alignment coupled with success strategies that work.
Tomorrow is 1/1/11. You might have 60-80 more New Years, maybe 5 or 6 more decades, but will NEVER have another 1/1/11. Treat each day gratefully as if it were the miracle you will never see again, and you will be right. Happy New Year. Happy New Decade!
Introducing MYN Guest Blogger: "A Niche To Blog About"
Written by Jim AlvinoWelcome to MYN Guest Blogger, a new forum on Monetize Your Niche that features experts in their respective businesses with “a niche to blog about.” I am pleased to introduce my friend and business associate Susan Friedmann, the NichePreneur® Coach, to launch this new forum.
If you have “a niche to blog about” and would like to be considered for publication in this forum, send your idea or actual blog to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . [By submitting a potential blog post, you are granting me permission to publish it in this forum. Edited versions will be sent back to you for prior approval.]
For great information on blogging --how to do it, how to profit from it -- check out our sister website at www.BloggingReporter.com. See homepage link at bottom of right-hand column.
How to Find a Niche Trend
By Susan Friedmann
One of the most common questions I get from readers of my new book, Riches in Niches: How to Make it BIG in a small Market, especially those who have just worked through my GEL Formula for discovering their niche, relates to trends. “How do I know how to find a trend?” people ask. “Is there a way to tell what the next big thing is?”
Identifying trends isn’t some mysterious, archaic art. You don’t need divination tools or an inside track to tomorrow to tell which way the wind is blowing. Identifying trends has little to do with magic — and everything to do with paying attention.
For example, walk through the grocery store. This isn’t a remarkable exercise, for most people. Everyone has to eat, after all, and grocery stores are where they keep the food. However, how often do you really pay attention to the offerings on the shelves? Especially those offerings in a category you don’t buy — for example, barbeque sauce if you’re a vegetarian, or beer if you don’t drink? Probably not too often. Yet the grocery shelves can offer remarkable insight about cultural changes, buying habits and trends — if you pay attention.
Don’t believe me? Direct your cart — and your attention! — to the dog food aisle. Now, I don’t have a dog, but I’ve done extensive work with the pet industry. Walking down the aisle, I’m struck by the recent explosion of new pet food offerings. Dogs can dine on healthy kibbles or vitamin-enhanced soft foods. There are premium pet foods that cost as much as a good dinner at a restaurant and luxury foods that cost two times as much.
What does this tell us? First, that pets are incredibly important to their owners — they’re obviously willing and able to spend money on their canine companions. That’s one niche right there: pet lovers. From this point, you can narrow the target market even further. Pet foods that tout the health benefits of a product appeal to a different customer than pet foods that appeal by nature of being premium, high-end, luxury items. There’s the health-conscious pet loving market, and the status-seeking pet loving market.
It’s possible to refine this market even more. There are vegetarian health-conscious pet lovers and meat-eating health-conscious pet lovers, who want to share their dietary preferences with their dogs.
I’ll stop, before you think I’ve gone completely around the bend here, but you see the point. Trends are all around us. Identifying them is as simple as paying attention to the world around you and thinking critically about what you see. That’s when you’ll see the opportunities — look long enough, and you’ll find the opportunity that’s right for you! As we move in 2011, watch out for up and coming trends.
Susan Friedmann, CSP, The NichePreneur Coach, is a niche marketing expert who helps small business owners, entrepreneurs and service professionals, find and capitalize on a niche market. Author: "Riches in Niches: How to Make it BIG in a small Market," "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Target Marketing," and many other titles. For more great information on niche marketing strategies that work, and for a complementary copy of "The NichePreneur Mindset: How to Find Your Niche to Success," visit http://www.richesinniches.com/invitation, and click to download your FREE report on niche marketing success..
We’ve come to the end of 2010. A little over three weeks left and it’s history. What kind of year has this been for you? What “wins,” as Eric Lofholm calls them, have you tallied that can help launch or keep your momentum going into 2011?
I continued to grow my company and launched “Secrets to Monetizing Your Niche…,” a 3-CD series to help entrepreneurs, small business owners, and network marketers pursue their passion for profit as I am pursuing mine. Its “sequel” is in the works. My company name now bears a registered trademark ®, which is not only an asset, but also a step toward licensing my program model as a Business Opportunity for other individuals who aspire to be coaches.
Speaking of coaches, I accumulated SEVEN this year (OMG!) – not as many as the 20 Harvey Mackay admitted to in Success magazine – but each one serves an important role in helping me develop personally and professionally. A heartfelt shout out goes to Jeffery Combs, Ted McGrath, Eric Lofholm, Arvee Robinson, Allen Kotlyar, Gary Tallison, and Loral Langemeier.
My coaching clients are doing the same thing! They are challenging me to grow, to stretch, to bring my best to the table each time we meet. It’s a symbiotic relationship of sorts, where we nourish each other intellectually and emotionally, and also, shouldn’t I be expected to “walk my talk”? This year I entered into several JVs based on collaboration and reciprocal marketing. One example, the Nichepreneur Coach Susan Friedmann interviewed me for a joint podcast, and she will be a guest blogger for me.
Let’s talk about financial goals. I didn’t hit mine. Did you reach yours? Many entrepreneurs and home-based business owners have been lied to and hyped into believing that this or that new business venture is their ticket to “financial freedom.” There’s a whole industry that revolves around The Business Opportunity, grabbing one and riding into the sunset. Of course it doesn’t work this way for 98% of the dreamers, but it’s still a dream worth having. As Jim Rohn says, it’s not making a million dollars that’s important, but what it will make of you to attain it.
It sunk in this year that it’s OK, even necessary, to have REALISTIC goals. Wow! This was liberating for me rather than setting myself up for failure over and over. What happened then to that goal of $100,000 per month? It’s still there, but to get there things have to change – not in the environment or economy but on the inside. That’s one fundamental Same Old Same Old that’s not going anywhere. Throw out “fake it ‘till you make it,” be real, and develop the habits of a millionaire if that’s your goal.
“What’s your Cash Machine?” This is the signature question of my financial coach Loral Langemeier. What can you do TODAY, based on what you already know how to do or are good at, to earn income within 72 hours? How refreshing is that! We can spend our lives getting ready to get ready, building the company infrastructure, putting all our ducks in a row, end up in the poor house and wonder what happened. I encourage you to begin your financial revival with her down-to-earth book, Put More Cash in Your Pocket: Turn What You Know into Dough.
As I dropped five bucks at Starbucks this morning, I remembered one of Loral’s key principles: Rather than scrimp and save your way out of financial challenges, downsizing your dreams and lifestyle, contracting your consciousness and inviting more scarcity, think with expanded and open creativity: “The best thing you can do when finances get tight is to focus on making more money.”
Driving home I noticed opportunity after opportunity for me to use what I already know, without developing additional innovative products, to make “new” money. It IS out there. To quote my mentor Jim Rohn again, lack of money is not the problem; the problem is lack of creativity, lack of resourcefulness, lack of ideas. I’m not going to let the Same Old Same Old be that for me in 2011. Don’t let that happen for you either!
As we quickly approach “the holiday season,” we typically and rightfully express gratitude for our lives and who and what are in them, celebrate our religious/spiritual beliefs – or if we don’t have any, at least participate in the ambient “feel good” feeling that everywhere attempts to draw us in – but also spend money we don’t have on things we and others don’t need, and often coast into the New Year hoping that 2011 will be better than 2010.
It may not be… unless the above scenario is modified to include acknowledgement that [at the time of this writing] we are midway through the first month of the last quarter of the year, which means two things: 1) there is still opportunity to improve results dramatically, even salvage the year if this is where you find yourself; and 2) gear up for the first quarter of next year without losing momentum.
So, instead of being lulled into a massive do-nothing, feel-good, vortex of the forthcoming onslaught of “holiday cheer,” it is time to take massive action that might even add the garnish to your turkey (or tofu) this year. Rather than putting the brakes on, hit the accelerator so you will not have to spend the first quarter of next year doing what you should be doing now. I am speaking from experience. By taking action while others took off, I have produced some of my best results in the fourth quarter, and the momentum I created carried me forward. You can do the same thing.
Your 90-Day Game Plan
Remember that while life and business are marathons, there are portions of the journey we need to sprint. This is one of them. Remember that we get what we focus on and that our inner world creates our outer world. Mindset is critical in setting our intention and achieving our goals. Over the next 90 days you will improve your focus, discipline, action, and outcomes. [See “Secrets to Monetizing Your Niche: Advanced Mindset.”]
Here is a format you may use by master sales trainer [and my sales mentor] Eric Lofholm. Eric’s top distinction is that of sales scripting, and just as we begin with the end in mind when crafting a sales script, we begin with our desired fourth quarter outcomes in crafting our 90-day game plan. Answer these questions in writing [click here for a template]:
- What are your top 5 fourth quarter outcomes?
- What are the tactical actions you must take to accomplish your outcomes?
- What are your December outcomes, and the tactical actions you must take to accomplish these?
- November?
- October?
- Next, for each month beginning with December and working backwards, set your weekly outcomes and daily outcomes.
If you are resisting this activity because it’s “just not you,” or you believe you require more “flexibility” in your daily, weekly, monthly schedules… I can appreciate that. However, the science of accomplishing one’s goals, of becoming successful in business and achieving our dreams in life, dictates that we set an intention, commit to it in writing, refer to it often, and let the Universe do its part.
For our part, it’s time to take massive action!