What Are You Really Trying To Say?

Is not being able to communicate effectively costing you money?

Becoming an effective communicator is a necessity for anyone who wants to be successful in business. There are so many scenarios that require great communication skills. Speaking in front of a group, having a face-to-face meeting with a potential client, writing an article, or just updating your Facebook status all require you to get your message across in a clear and concise way.

With the introduction of Twitter, which only allows 140 characters, people are getting accustomed to even shorter messages to go with their short attention spans.

Think about how you are communicating with your prospects, peers, and clients. Are they really understanding the message you are delivering? If you are not sure, check your bank account. If it is growing, you have probably crafted a great message. Otherwise, get to work on your message and improve your communication skills.

Here are three ways you can improve your communication skills:

1. Know who you are talking to. Know your target market and what they need. Listen to what your prospects and clients are saying. They will tell you what they need.

2. Clearly communicate the benefits they receive as a result of working with you.

3. Keep it simple. Don't expect them to remember the 10 points you covered during your meeting. Focus on three key areas and you will be much more effective.

Developing better communication skills is not rocket science, but it does require work and effort on your part. Whatever time you put into developing scripts and preparing for an important meeting or presentation will be rewarded many times over.

Just Look In The Yellow Pages

When was the last time you checked the yellow pages for anything?

I never use the yellow pages. When I need to find a local business or restaurant, my first thought is to do a search on the internet. Everyone I know does this.

So if nobody is using the yellow pages, why do small business owners continue to spend money in this area? The answer is simple. They think this is what they are supposed to do and don't know another way to get their message out into the marketplace.

BUT ... there is another way. It is called pay-per-click advertising. Google AdWords is probably the best known pay-per-click service.

When you do a search in Google, you will notice ads on the right side of the page and at the top of the page. These are Google AdWords ads. Everytime someone clicks on the ad, you pay for that click. You could be paying 5 cents or $20 for the click. You get to determine what you pay.

With pay-per-click, you also get tools that allow you to track your results. Good luck doing that with traditional advertising.

Is traditional advertising dead? No, but it's barely breathing. Newspapers, TV stations, and other more traditional media is struggling.

Businesses that do not learn how to use pay-per-click and other online methods of promoting their business and services will not thrive as they have in the past.

The future is here. There is so much opportunity for low-cost or no-cost advertising and for building word-of-mouth referrals using online marketing methods. The world is changing with tools such as social media and smart phones keeping us connected and helping us make new connections every day.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to grow your business and move into the modern era of online marketing.

DISCLAIMER - Find an experienced Google AdWords consultant to help you through the process of launching your Google AdWords campaign to avoid costly mistakes.

Money For Nothing

Are you trading time for money?

The most valuable asset you have is your time. Working by the hour steals your time. There are only so many hours in a day and only so many hours you can work to produce income.

So what is the solution? Learn how to create passive income either from investments or from a business.

Passive income is income that does not require your direct involvement. In my case, I create a lot of products. I create these products once, then sell them on my website; create teleseminars based on the products; and use the products to attract joint venture partnerships.

Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, defines wealth as being able to leave your business for six months. And when you return at the end of six months, your bank account will have increased without you being directly involved in your business.

If you are a small business owner and you want to become wealthy, part of your focus should be on finding and developing ways to create passive income.

Here are five benefits of generating passive income:

1. You get to choose where and when you work.

2. Create an unlimited amount of income.

3. Create residual income for your future retirement.

4. Can generate multiple streams of income.

5. More time to spend with family and friends, more time to travel, or anything else you may dream of doing.

You will generally work a lot of hours (and lose a lot of sleep) to get your income stream started, and then your workload decreases with time as your income grows.

Once you get one income stream working, you can start on the next one. With time you will have multiple streams of income from several different businesses.

In this economy (or any economy), having multiple streams of income is not an option. You need to have multiple streams of income so if one dries up, the other ones take up the slack.

Here are just a few ways you can generate passive income:

1. Create a product. This could be an audio CD, an mp3, a book, a DVD, or some other medium that supports what you do and allows you to share your expertise. For example, if you are an aerobics instructor, you can create a DVD of your routine and sell the DVD online or at your gym. I have created a marketing system and numerous audio products that generate income 24/7.

2. Write an ebook. It doesn't have to be a long 100 page ebook. It can be a 15 - 20 page PDF document. Simply write something on your area of expertise. Create your ebook in Word and save it as a PDF document. Upload the ebook to a website so people can purchase and download it.

3. Use Google AdWords to generate traffic to your product or services.

4. Google AdSense.

5. Create a membership site where people pay you a monthly fee for your product or service you create once and deliver many times.

6. Create a business that you can train someone else to run.

Here is the bottom line. A lot of people have fooled themselves into thinking they have a business. The reality is they have a job. If you have to show up every day in order to produce income, you have a job. You don't have a business.

Here is your task for today. Get a sheet of paper and write down 20 ways you could generate passive income from your business, from your knowledge base, or from your personal experience.

Are You Cleaning Coffee Pots?

How much is too much? When does your prospect's or your client's demand on your time start to be a case of taking advantage of your generosity and willingness to help without paying you?

I have a friend who is an administrative assistant for a major corporation in Houston. She was telling me how she feels taken advantage of by her company. She said, "I am always cleaning coffee pots".

She is a very conscientious worker and always gives more than expected on any job she tackles. But now, because of her desire to be a model employee, she feels taken advantage of by her company.

Because she volunteered to clean the coffee pots, and perform other tasks that are not part of her job, it is now her "responsibility" to do these things. And when these things don't get done, everyone comes to her to reprimand her for not getting it done rather than taking it upon themselves to do these things.

She gave and gave, and she is now in a position where if she does not do what she willingly volunteered to do, she will be looked at as not performing her "job".

The problem is, it has reached the point where these "other" tasks are interfering with her real responsibilities.

Don't get me wrong. I believe you should go above and beyond expectations in dealing with clients and in performing any job you undertake.

But when you are giving or doing too much and it is hurting you and your productivity, it's time to set boundaries for what you are willing to give and to do.

How does this apply to your business?

Regardless of your profession, but especially if you are in a consulting position or a service profession, people are always asking for your opinion on specific matters related to what you do. People tend to want to get "free information" or "meet over a cup of coffee" to "pick your brain" without paying for your years of experience and knowledge that you have worked hard to attain.

This also applies to clients. They will take whatever you allow them to take. Prospects and clients generally don't do it intentionally and don't mean to take advantage of you and your time. But if you do not set boundaries and have a clear understanding of your responsibilities on a project, clients may sometimes use more of your time than they actually paid for.

This does not mean you don't give free advice and information. I give away tons of information through articles, on my blog, through my newsletter, and in person. But I do set boundaries and communicate these boundaries if necessary.

Here are three tips for you:

1. Set boundaries and stick to them.
2. Have clear expectations for both parties before starting a project.
3. Be very careful and protective of your time.

The ball is always in your court to say when enough is enough. You can draw the line at any time and have a conversation with a prospect or client to let them know when a project is finished or your time with them is over. If they want to continue the business relationship, the two of you will need to start another project or work out another agreement in order to continue your relationship. This is simply being a business owner and a professional. This is what your clients expect you to do.

What Do They Need?

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a theory of psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in the early forties. This theory is based on a pyramid.

If you draw a pyramid on a piece of paper and divide it into five sections from top to bottom, you will have the framework for Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Starting at the bottom of the pyramid, you will have physiology. The next level up will be safety. The third level will be love/belonging. Next is esteem. The fifth level, at the tip of the pyramid, is self-actualization.

Physiology includes breathing, food, water, sex, and things we do on a daily basis to survive.

Safety includes body, resources, employment, morality, health, property.

Love/belonging, at the third level of the pyramid, includes friendship, family, and sexual intimacy.

Esteem is the fourth level of the pyramid and includes self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, and respect by others.

Self-actualization is at the tip of the pyramid. It includes morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, and acceptance of facts.

By studying this pyramid and becoming familiar with every level, you will find the motivators that drive people in their purchasing decisions and almost every other decision they make in their lives.

Your assignment for this week is to do a little research and study Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Ask yourself where your product or service fits into the pyramid. It may fill the need of your customer on one level or on several levels.

By knowing these things, you will be able to approach your clients and customers on their level. You will know what motivates them to buy. Also, it will be easier to find the triggers to help them make purchasing decisions.

Remember, it is not about "selling". It is about building relationships. And it is about communicating with your customers in a way that helps them see the need your product or service fills and helps them make the decision to buy.