I have studied successful people for over 30 years and I have identified many differences between the successful and unsuccessful- Most of the differences are very small but make incredible differences.

You can change where you are in life by (1) being honest where you are and (2) getting the knowledge to get you in a position to take the actions of successful people. Each one of the categories below are impacted ONLY by KNOWLEDGE!

This is good stuff, Grant, thanks for reminding us.

I will add to that a successful strategy that sets the pace for everything I do.  “Think Big! Make it happen.

To your ultimate success,
David Sanders

“THE BEST INVESTMENT YOU CAN MAKE DURING TIMES LIKE THESE ARE IN YOURSELF.”
Warren Buffett, April 2009

]]> http://www.creativestrats.com/business-strategies/?feed=rss2&p=44 http://www.creativestrats.com/business-strategies/?p=43 http://www.creativestrats.com/business-strategies/?p=43#comments Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:27:19 +0000 David Sanders http://www.creativestrats.com/business-strategies/?p=43 My friend Grant has written another gem I am sharing with my friends.

Enjoy

Success Despite Economy

By Grant Cardone

There are great advantages to periods of economic contraction and once you know the secrets of exploiting them you will expand and conquer while others shrink and submit. Many of the economists, pundits, and media talking-heads are predicting doom and gloom end of the world scenarios, with their 24 hour a day, round-the-clock ranting and raving only focused on the problem and who is to blame without offering much in the way of any solution as to what you can do to survive and prosper.

You have probably already experienced a slowdown, as business has slowed down significantly in most parts of the world. Regrettably, I’m sure you are feeling the effects of the recession and hopefully you don’t like it. In fact, I would encourage you to hate it and hate it so much that you are willing to do anything to fight back against it. This will be a time when many people suffer and also a time when others using specific strategies will expand and conquer their markets.

Identify what the losers/quitters are doing:

1. Complaining
2. Making excuses
3. Blaming
4. Contracting
5. Cutting budgets
6. Not advertising and marketing
7. Being reasonable in their thinking and actions.

Now is the time to know what the “losers” do. You should do exactly the opposite. Don’t spend any time on the activities above and invest all your time and energy in doing the exact opposite.

The last three are vital to your survival because now is the time to expand your activities and commitment to prospecting, follow up, mail, phone calls, and personal visits. I recently spoke to a large group where I got a commitment from them to become unreasonable with their follow up clients that didn’t close where the company would continue the sales process by following the customer to their home or office even after the client had thought they had escaped. While this is not “socially acceptable” it immediately resulted in an increase in sales.

Another reader got his entire company on my Sell to Survive Book and Audio program using it to deliver product in a tough market. The sales person used one technique from the book, called the ‘no close’, where he following up the customer with this technique and the buyer said, “no way, I can resist that let’s do it.”

Now is the time to expand and conquer and to become completely unreasonable with the marketplace. Knock off all the loser activity and replace that behavior with expansion actions and effective solutions.

Grant Cardone
Sales Expert and Author
Call us at 800-368-5771

Forward To A Friend

I’m taking an informal survey.
Are you or your company in a management crisis?
Just put your answer in the comment box (or comment on someone else’s answer).

Having trouble deciding if it really is a crisis or not?

Here is criteria you might want to consider:
Is there threat to your organization and its stakeholders?
Did events catch you by surprise?
Are you now faced with making decisions that you aren’t prepared to make?

Part B of the question is:
What are you doing about it?

Let me know, and I’ll let you know how your strategy stacks up against best practices — worst to best and why (1 – 5). I will rate your plan of action and tell you why.  You don’t have to agree with me.  Fair enough?

For the record, I have gotten my clients through 4 recessions so far, so ratings are based on a fair amount of experience. Be sure to include the major product/service of your business so I know if I am looking at a manufacturing firm that makes yoyos or a company that provides personalized service, etc.

Meanwhile, if you are up to confronting the real factors behind this current recession (or interested), give a listen to my next “Recession-Proof Your Business Webinar. You can register on the homepage of the site. Looking forward to your commentary.

” Back in 1992 I had a client who’s father would come in once a week to straighten up the client’s promotional flyers library as a way to help his son.

I loved talking to this old fellow (Jim) and one day he was telling me how dangerous it is where he lives - he couldn’t even go for a walk at night…

Now, I knew that he lived in Canyon Country and that Canyon Country in 1992 was only a 3-horse town, so I asked him if he watched the news.

‘Oh yes!’ he replied. ‘I watch the 4 o’clock, the 5 o’clock, the 6 o’clock and the 10 o’clock news!’

‘Well, stop it!’ I countered, and I went on to explain that what he sees in the ‘news’ is ONLY bad news and sensationalism - and asked him when was the last time he saw any good news, or news on what legal bills are trying to be passed, or even news on what events are happening in town - he realized that he hadn’t.
Two months later I saw Jim again, and he thanked me because he could now walk around in his own neighborhood.  Cheers!”

Spread the word.  Protect your attitude. It is one of your most important assets.

Dear Dave,

Thank you so much for the opportunity to be on the webinar.  Although I was a bit computer challenged about the microphone (don’t think I had one) I thoroughly enjoyed hearing you and (seeing) the visuals.  I loved your visual puns.

And I got a lot out of the data.  It was very, very good and I would certainly recommend it to others. In fact, I just thought of at least one person who needs to do it.  When is the next one?

Thanks again.
P.M.

You too can benefit from this rescue operation.  www.expansionsolution.com will provide the data you need. Grab the lifeline.

]]> http://www.creativestrats.com/business-strategies/?feed=rss2&p=40 http://www.creativestrats.com/business-strategies/?p=39 http://www.creativestrats.com/business-strategies/?p=39#comments Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:00:50 +0000 David Sanders http://www.creativestrats.com/business-strategies/?p=39 If you are following this system (see last post) you have already taken these steps.

1. Stacked all your unhandled communications, large and small, gathered from drawers, trunks of cars, bedroom bureaus, closets, etc., on your desk, or as nearly as possible in the vicinity of your desk.

2. Then you have taken each item one by one and done one of four things with it

DO IT.
DUMP IT.
DELEGATE IT.
DELAY IT.

It possibly has taken you considerable time to plow through all your stacks. Now you are left with a quite small (by comparison) stack of items that you did not dump, could not delegate, and that you could not knock out in about 10 minutes, so you have DELAYed IT.

What remains should be about 1% - 10% of what you began with. These are the more complex matters, but there are a few things that you can do to get on top of even the most resistant of your traffic.

Remember you initially procured a stack of file folders. The next step is to start by sorting each DELAYED item into one of the folders establishing categories of functions as you go. As each new function appears, label the folder according to that various “hat” (or job), such as finance, family, hobbies, personal, computer, production, sales, marketing, future plans, etc. If an item does not fit in one of your already existing folders, make a new one. It is very important that each folder only deals with one area, “one hat.”

As you put the items into the folders, put them into the sequence in which you want to do them. The items on top will be handled first and at the bottom, last as you decide.

You may also find there are things you just want to do for which you don’t have a piece of paper. Don’t skip these, make a note and put them in proper sequence in the appropriate pending folders.

The next step is vital, or all will be wasted. You must set aside some time regularly to work on these pending folders so you eventually catch them all up completely following the priorities you have set.

There is another action that will help you save a bunch of time. Remember, you can only do one thing at a time. The smart thing to do is on any complex tasks, lay out the steps that need to be done, and mark a line after it that you can write “done” on as soon as that step is done. Now you have a small project that you can systematically follow, and you will find that breaking up the overall cycle into a series of steps that can be done one by one is most rewarding. Nothing is more satisfying than taking out one of these project sheets and being able to scrawl “done” on that line. Many people start finding that they can knock out several steps of a project when they proceed this way. The really proficient ones even put dates on the line to challenge themselves to get the steps done on a certain timetable. After awhile, this becomes the most natural way in the world of operating, and believe me, if things are bugged, you will know it right away if you see no progress, so you can take the necessary steps to debug the project. That is another very distinct advantage – not to mention always knowing exactly where things stand if you are asked.

The final piece of the puzzle is to schedule your day so you have designated slots for the various hats that you are wearing. It is even better if you can set up different desks or areas where you work on different hats. This also has the advantage of setting things up for easy turnover to new staff, which you are probably going to be bringing on as your efficiency increases. If you can’t do that, discipline yourself so you only work from one folder at a time when you are at your desk; and as much as possible, stick to the schedule. A number of very bright people have taken to using auto-responders on their email to inform people of when they will next be dealing with this or that cycle, to avoid continual harassment.

If you organize your work this way, you will be amazed at how much more you can get done. If your entire office operates this way, you will find production soaring. And like I said, we are really only scratching the surface of all that can be done to increase productivity. Don’t be surprised if someone suggests you should be promoted.

Copyright© 2009 Creative Business Strategies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

We seem to be constantly falling behind, striving to catch up, or despairing under the work load that burdens us. So we longingly wonder if there is any way to control or manage time. Happily, the answer is Yes.

It begins with defining your terms. If you are thinking of it as “sands trickling through the hour glass,” time will always control you. So first let’s nail down some more workable definitions.

TIME: Point at which something happens. [Merriam Webster’s]

MANAGEMENT: The process of dealing with or controlling things or people. [New Oxford Dictionary]

That makes time management a process of deciding what you want to occur with things and people, and getting it to happen. The opposite of time management would be letting things slide. If you are letting things slide, your company, your career, your life is likely to be most unsatisfying. The fun really begins when we grab the steering wheel of our own lives and hit the accelerator.

Here is a step by step procedure you can do in your office or home that could dramatically improve your time management – practical actions guaranteed to cure or kill. Why should you take the trouble to learn better control of time? You will secure for yourself a much accelerated, far more rewarding future. So let’s begin.

1. Set aside a few hours some evening or weekend.

2. From an office store pick up a set of 3 communication baskets for yourself and each member of your business or family and some file folders.

3. Go to your desk, table or workspace and brace yourself for the toughest moment.

4. Pull out every unanswered letter, memo or dispatch, anything incomplete with your finances, all the half-done projects, everything incomplete you have lying around anywhere, and put them ALL on your desk. This includes papers piling up on your dresser, in the trunk of your car, in your briefcase – drag it all out.

Hey,I know about your email in-box with 500+ pending emails, but let’s leave that out of the picture for now and just stick with the solid stuff.

How much will you find? I worked with a CPA in Houston who had a desk the size of a barge. He disappeared on the other side of the desk on this step, with stacks of paper and boxes several feet high.

Even worse, I once did this action on a business owner in San Diego and when we got to his home office, he broke the news to me that everything wouldn’t all fit on his desk. He took me to see his “pending” 3-car garage. It was piled to the ceiling with incomplete projects and stuff. He was pointing out things to me when he discovered a motorcycle buried in there he had forgotten he owned! (True story.)

5. The next step can also be a bit gruesome at first but rapidly gets better as you go through it. You do one of the “four D’s” on each item, one at a time.

· DO IT.

· DUMP IT.

· DELEGATE IT.

· DELAY IT.

Pick up and handle just one item at a time per the four D’s. Just plow through it. One lady chiropractor burst into tears when I asked her to pick up the first piece of paper atop the huge pile in front of her. Surely you’re tougher than that. The worst it could do is kill you.

Here are some rules of thumb. If you can knock it out in 10 minutes or less, JUST DO IT.

If it’s not a valuable document, and you haven’t needed it in the last 6 months (or if you can pull it off the web when you need it), DUMP IT.

If it’s really not your job, DELEGATE IT to whoever should do it, getting their agreement as needed (for now just put it in one of the baskets you procured and put a name label on it.

6. When you have handled every particle, those papers and projects that remain go into your pending stack, which we will take up in Time Management Techniques Guaranteed to Cure or Kill – Part 2. Meanwhile, here are some additional tips when you are doing the “4D’s.”

WARNING! Do Not Just Shuffle Papers

I worked with a financial planner in Sacramento who operated from his sprawling ranch-style home, working off his kitchen table. When I commented that it seemed an unusual place to run his business, he asked if I wanted to see his office! It was piled so high that he had had to move to his kitchen table to work. His huge walk-in pantry was filled to the roof with papers and documents that he just shuffled and put back, not completing a thing, saving everything for “when he had time.”

When I asked where he had learned to handle work like that he told me about his former boss, a CPA. It turned out that CPA had gone bankrupt. Probing further, his father had the same habit pattern. And as a result, his kids (including my client) had recently moved him into an old folks home, not because he had health problems; he had just filled his home so full of stuff that he wouldn’t throw out that he could no longer move around in it!

You can go a bit extreme in the other direction, too. A VP in a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson had just returned from a 2-week vacation the day we were starting his Productivity & Time Management program. When we got to the 4 D’s, he asked his secretary if she’d taken all the important documents out of a stack about two feet high, and when she said yes, he took the entire stack and dropped it in the trash, commenting to the startled consultant that if it was important, they’d write him back. This is not recommended.

This is a very challenging regimen. In fact, it may be too tough for most mere mortals.

The end result can be astounding. Here’s a hint. We have had conservative business executives get up on their desk and do a jig when they completed these steps. Maybe you will, too! Now you are ready for Part 2.

Copyright© 2009 Creative Business Strategies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

President Roosevelt once said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Along this line, one of my most popular recommendations has been that people need to unplug themselves from the “matrix” of debilitating bad news continually spewed out by our media. I recommend that they do it for just 2 weeks and see how they feel. Turn off TV and radio news, avoid the newspaper and news magazines.

Then plug back in for a week and do another reality check. Then decide what works best for them and their business.

In my seminars, I often mention a popular book, Who Moved My Cheese, By Spencer Johnson. It is a clever little book that offers insight into how we deal with change. The basic message is that “when your cheese is moved,” in other words, the source of income dries up, the wrong thing to do is to freeze up with fear and apathy, and the right thing to do is to go find more cheese. It is based on a very important premise – there is always more cheese to be found – if you look hard enough.

Unfortunately, too much bad news knocks people out of the race.

The key question is, does this simple no-cost solution of unplugging from the matrix actually work? Recently I did a survey of a cross section of companies where the owners share my viewpoint on reducing or eliminating their exposure to the bad-news media. Were they still lamenting that the cheese had been moved, or were they busily and successfully seeking new cheese?

The companies I surveyed included a wide range of service industries, from computer help to office cleaning, practices in the health disciplines for both humans and animals, education in formal and informal settings, companies in the marketing and communications industries, accounting, tax services and investment. In short, a good cross-section of what has come to be known as Main Street USA.

After coming off the diet of bad news, the great majority of the companies I surveyed (89%) are very busy securing a new stash of cheese (revenue).

I highly recommend that this be your first line of attack as well. The other common denominators between these owners are worth paying attention to if you want to make sure that your company weathers the recession by finding a new stash of cash.

1. Their interest in their companies remains high; each one of these owners expressed that they are deeply engaged in the activities of their firm, practice or company. They are not pulling back, they are baring down hard and pushing every aspect of the company to perform.

2. Though they mention that there is more stress than in a better economic climate, they do not agree that the recession is unmanageable.

3. The majority admit that their customers and clients are affected by the recession, which makes the customers less willing to loosen their purse strings. But they answer this by increasing their marketing efforts and demanding more skilled sales personnel. As I cover in my seminars, there are many studies that confirm this as the correct approach to winning during a recession.

4. They express that they have options and are interested in exercising them. They are working for an improved scene and are not looking for a government handout.

5. Most of those surveyed have a clear idea of the benefits they want to realize and are confident that they will gain these benefits. One exception said that he can’t quite put his finger on what the benefits might be but says, “I know they will be there, just not spotted yet.“

Here are some additional tips and comments from the owners that I surveyed.

a. “I have found that when I lighten up in my own attitude I can produce more, and if I come across something that I haven’t done before, instead of passing it by, I take it on.”

b. “I am actively working on a new marketing campaign to upgrade from what we have now.”

c. “I am putting in more personal time, and I am using that time to get out a lot more communication about my company to current and future customers.”

d. “We are making sure we keep doing what we have done in the past, but we are also paying very close attention to what we are doing so we know what works and what doesn’t.”

e. “I am actively looking at how I can expand my operation.”

f. Several owners say they are concentrating on how to increase production and also increase the amount of promotion they are getting out.

g. One owner is looking specifically at how he can align his marketing to the recession to take advantage of the specific problems that it presents and how to solve them.

h. Others are concentrating on improving specific skills so that it is possible to produce a better product than before.

i. A recurring answer was that at first the owner was worried, and then he realized that that is all that it was, worry, so he stopped worrying and got busy, and things were better immediately.

There is one more factor that is very important. The company owners surveyed adhere to sound management basics that I am very familiar with. In fact, I have used these same basics to consult business owners form more than 30 years. I feel it is the primary reason they were not at a loss of what to do. Having a system of management, they are not resorting to random actions hoping that they are right. Having seen hundreds of companies through recessionary times, I am very aware of how vital a management system is. In fact, it can be the difference between weathering the storm and going down. It adds increased ability to find and acquire new cheese once one regains the willingness to look for it by unplugging from the hammer-pound of bad news.

No question, we are all on a slippery slope right now, but it does not mean that we cannot make headway toward our objectives if we guard our attitude and apply sound management principles. Whatever you do, don’t waste your time wondering “who moved your cheese” until you’re snacking on your big pile of NEW cheese.

Jeff Hodgson was something of a living legend amongst the business and entrepreneur set in the Flathead Valley.  As well he might be, being that he had much to his credit as a crack consultant – in addition to being a pro rodeo talent (younger days). Those who met him sensed there was something special about him. They did not have to know that he graduated college with a 4.75 in Marketing and Finance (actually a total of 6 majors), or that he got his MBA in Finance and Statistics from the prestigious University of Chicago Executive 190 program. Not to mention that he served as National Chairman of Junior Achievement, that he held the position of Advisor to the Chairman of the Board of a $23 billion dollar corporation in Cincinnati, Ohio, and by age 27 his financial compensation placed him in the top one-tenth of one percent of the US population for that age bracket. In short, he knew the business game top to bottom and played to win.

His sudden departure from this earth at a not very ripe age was a shock to local businessmen and women. A near miracle-maker, he was the man they were depending on. As their trusted consultant, he was setting them on a path to a better and more prosperous life for themselves and their families, and suddenly they had to go it alone.

Once the shock wore off, the question of what to do now replaced initial sadness. Many of Jeff’s clients hoped that somehow Jeff would pass his torch to someone much like himself even though he was nowhere in sight. Within a few short weeks of his memorial service, they found themselves meeting David Sanders, a master in his own right in marketing and management, who just happens to also be father of a twenty-something young man who migrated from Los Angeles to a ranch outside of Polson to accommodate his new bride’s love of training horses. Sanders’ son, Ashton, is making his fortune as a topnotch web designer, and is more than happy to have an excuse to pull his parents up to Montana – a parting gift from his godfather, Jeff.

Sanders and wife Marcy have been long-time friends and associates of Hodgson, and his actress, playwright, screenwriter, novelist and entrepreneur wife, Lee Kessler, who survives him. Marcy worked for weeks with Lee to make sure that Jeff was properly remembered by his friends in Los Angeles and in Montana, and then she and David Sanders drove the 22-hour trip to Montana to find a way to pick up the torch, and carry it forward for Jeff, regardless of the other responsibilities of Sanders’ Los Angeles based corporation.

Sanders, like Jeff, is something of a miracle-maker, having assisted businesses throughout the nation to expand under any economic situation. In many cases the companies he helped to start, or turned around from the brink of bankruptcy, went on to become industry leaders. Like Jeff, Sanders’ specialty is application of exact management and marketing methodology that treats both subjects as something closer to a science than a “certain knack.” For both men, the only thing that ever mattered was results.

Having done in-depth interviews with a dozen leading businesspeople in the Flathead Valley in December, and particularly because of the downturn in the economy, Sanders is offering the businessmen of Kalispell and the surrounding area a concentrated two-day infusion of management and marketing expertise to bolster them through the rough times of the recession. His thirty plus years of working with businesses, expanding them and setting them up for further expansion, includes shepherding businesses through four recessions prior to the current one that has once again given us a sluggish economy.

Rather than just focus on those businessmen who came to appreciate the help that they got from his friend, Sanders has arranged for a two-day workshop that is open to any enterprising businessman or woman in Kalispell, or the surrounding area, because he feels that Jeff’s fine reputation had more than likely reached many more than the clients he was personally working with.

Sanders’workshop, “Think Big – Make It Happen in 2009” is set for the 28^th and 29^th of January at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell from 9:00 to 5:00. Based on surveys done with Jeff’s clients he plans to focus on actions to “recession-proof” businesses and helping owners and entrepreneurs to set and then organize to make their goals in 2009 for their businesses and for their families. He’s even encouraging businessmen to bring their spouses at no charge, particularly because his wife, Marcy, has some tricks up her sleeve to smooth out things on the home front – which tends to suffer when the financial scene gets rough.

Sanders says he wants to hold the workshop in the memory of his friend. He stated, “Jeff was very active in the business community in Kalispell. I want to make sure that the groups where he was known and loved can attend. So I am offering a special rate for such people, and I am very definitely reaching out to any members of BNI, because Jeff and his wife often talked about his friends in that group, and I know he would want me to do that.”

This time Sanders and his wife will be smart and fly, having already experienced some pretty wicked weather on their last trip back from Montana (oddly the winter storms didn’t block their road until the final mountain pass before cruising into the San Gabriel Valley). Sanders is offering special rates as well for early bird reservations (by 15 January). Anyone who plans to take advantage of this power-packed workshop – one or both days – should sign up now, and all are welcome. Register at www.creativestrats.com/kalispell or call (406) 883-8321 for more information. Be sure to check out the registration page for additional special rates for members of organizations that Jeff was a member of. If we missed any, we apologize.

###

Hi,

Here for you is a good point of view from an Inc. 500 CEO friend of mine who shares my viewpoint on this.  She and I prefer the same “hammers (tools)” for cracking the back of this recession, and recommend you take up your own hammers so we can all exert some serious pressure to knock some sense into the thinking out there.  We will all benefit.

Best, David, and thank you to my good friend Joy.

If you’ve been reading my newsletter, you’ll have noticed I’ve been hammering the fact that you need to plan for the new year and not let the economy determine whether your company grows or not.

I recently had a subscriber tell me that by continuously bringing up the poor economy, I was in fact hammering in the external noise and making it more solidly true! I see the point he was trying to make, but I whole-heartedly disagree! So, I’d like to clarify a point: I am not suggesting that you simply put your fingers in your ears and yell “La! La! La!” at the top of your lungs, the whole time pretending there is nothing wrong with the economy. What I am suggesting is that you not let the external force of the economy be your excuse to fail!

So, guess what? You are 100% responsible for the future of your business. Yikes! If you really consider what the means, it really puts YOU in the hot seat.

Don’t spend your valuable time bitching and moaning about the economy!
DO something about it.

Quick story about a buddy of mine who is a ‘Lemon’ lawyer… He basically represents folks who wound up buying a lemon of a car. Well, crap economy means fewer car sales, which means fewer lemons, which in turn means less business for him! What did he do?? He hired a couple of attorneys that are experts in creditor harassment suits. He put a marketing campaign in place with TV ads, direct mail — the works! He is so excited about 2009 and is predicting his best year ever!

So, what can you do right now to counteract the media hype of doom and gloom?

1. Get Perspective: Take a few days and get out of your office so that you can take a panoramic, objective view of your business and your industry.

2. Research: During those few days, get your wits wrapped around what is occurring in your industry in terms of your competitors.

3. Set Goals: Where do your numbers need to be? Break down your income needs. Not just what you need yearly or quarterly, but what you need to bring in on average on a daily basis in order to make your targets.

4. Implement: We’ve all had ideas that have been brushed aside in the fray. Find those ideas and figure out which ones need to be implemented to solidify your sales.

5. Get Advice: Reach out for sources where you can learn and get your questions answered. It’s possible that as a business owner you have not been through this before, and reaching out to those who have can be a real help.

In the end, no matter what the economy is doing, it’s up to you to plan ahead and make the right choices for success. Start 2009 off right and you won’t regret it.

Love,
Joy

P.S. Of course you can email me anytime with questions and I will do my best to help you!

Don’t forget, if you have any questions for me you can always send them to me through my blog by clicking here!