Why Losing Your Job Can Be Good For You

I just watched the Steve Jobs' commencement speech at Stanford from 2005:




One of the comments Steve makes is how when he got fired from Apple, it was a blessing in disguise. He points out at 7:15 "I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter into one of the most creative periods of my life. During the next five years I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world's first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, and I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance, and Lorene and I have a wonderful family together."

Did you lose your job recently? During a recession or difficult time in an industry, many people struggling with losing a job, as companies downsize their employee payroll to make ends meet. You may be one of them. Then again, entire companies go out of business during those times. At other times, the position you occupied may not have offered the right fit you and your growth. Or, perhaps, you did not deliver up to your hiring process courtship promises. Whichever, don't fret, because that job is now your PAST. What's important is what you do TODAY and in THE FUTURE.

If you are doing what you LOVE, you will find a way to SUCCEED. Your work fills a large part of your life. So, do what is great work. Steve continues "the only way to do great work is to LOVE what you do" and encourages the graduates to keep looking, don't settle. I believe what we do must also provide HIGH VALUE to others. So, what do you do that you love and that produces high value to other people?

If you're reading this, you've most likely traveled far from graduation. You're perhaps thinking "what now?" Well, if you've had a great idea inside you, but have been sitting on the fence, wondering when is the right time to launch that idea into a business, perhaps now is that time. I made a similar choice back in 2001, when I left EMC2 and turned down a job with Hewlett-Packard that promised $18K a month to make $0 with AspireNow, my first company. It was a costly decision, but in the end, I'm happier, and everything I am doing now came from that leap of faith, and essentially losing that job opportunity then. AspireNow continues to produce passive income on a monthly basis, and ARRiiVE Business Solutions, which launched out of AspireNow, is now providing exciting business launch services to terrific clients.

Recently, I relaunched ARRiiVE Business Solutions as a full-time endeavor. This came from a "job" turning from a job into a consulting assignment. Now, I am free to do as I wish, but also still working with my previous company to help them continue to launch their software. However, this turn of events also freed me to help launch several new amazing and promising companies.

What can you do to turn a "lemon" of a job situation into "lemonade" in your life?

If you need help launching your business, I suggest you work with a coach or business launch specialist who has been there, done that, and been through the challenges of failure and success. Find someone with whom you identify, and start building a team. Believe in your dream, seize upon the hope of what you love the most, surround yourself with other successful people, and then go for it with all you've got within you!
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ARRiiVE Business Solutions offers business development coaching, "acting" VP of Business Development/Sales, business launch creative marketing, and sales training services. To learn more call 805-459-6939 for an initial discussion about how I might help you with your endeavor, or email info (at) ARRiiVE (dot) com.
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Review: Using HUDDLE For Collaboration

I recently discovered a new tool for personal or business collaboration: HUDDLE.

Huddle is useful for online collaboration, project management, and document sharing using social networking principles.

The online collaboration tool Huddle offer you the ability to:
1. Organize a group or team more easily.
2. Brainstorm via the use of white boards (just as we would off-line).
3. Create, capture, and edit documents and valuable files.
4. Communicate effectively across teams. This includes leaving messages, and getting/giving approval for various tasts and projects.
5. Manage to-do lists.
6. Network more effectively off of your social networking platforms, such as Facebook and LinkedIn (the two I'm using the most, besides MySpace).

Huddle is an effectively simple online tool to help you maximize your interactions with projects and teams. Although Huddle offers each team member the ability to manage projects, easily share and store files (even really large ones) online, quickly create or edit Word and Excel documents online, have group discussions, and more. What I love about Huddle is the "white board" sharing space and ease of use. This makes so much more sense to me than Google Groups' reply to all function that is frequently misused by my band members. Huddle may also be used as a client extranet - something I'll be exploring for ARRiiVE Business Solutions.

For my work with ARRiiVE and AspireNow, where I publish information frequently, my team now posts their work for review on Huddle, where I can edit, suggest changes, and approve projects. I can connect freelancers to my core team and manage the entire edition from a single spot - critical for a small business like ARRiiVE and AspireNow.

I've been using Basecamp, but feel that Huddle offers more functionality for the money. As both a Facebook and LinkedIn user, I'd like to drive more functionality out of my networks. Huddle's add-on extension applications for those social network platforms just might be the ticket to accomplish that objective.

For my new SLOJazzFest.org charity, we can use Huddle to share plans, documents and photography with our partners, suppliers and agencies. We can brainstorm new ideas on a whiteboard and get everyone involved. I like that I can control the group by assigning user priveleges and track their actions. We'll eliminate wasting time, too.

I intend to use Huddle for ARRiiVE, AspireNow, and SLOJazzFest.org... maybe even band stuff, although I use GoogleGroups and MySpace for the band, now.

Are you using Huddle? How is it working for you?
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Elements of Great Logo Design

I've been designing logos since founding AspireNow.com back in 2000. I remember it started with an idea. After brainstorming on the idea, I started drawing logo designs by hand. I then worked with a graphic designer to turn the hand drawings into a usable graphic image. She added a couple of cool things. Then, once the logo was designed, I created the website. So many times, you can't really launch your product, service, or company until you have a solid logo.

Are you seeking a logo right now?

Elements of great logo design include the following features:

1. Instantly recognizable.
2. Appropriate.
3. Scalable.

1. Instantly recognizable. This is where most graphic designers get too fancy and blow it. They create something hard to figure out and therefore lose the audience. The image must be memorable to be a great logo. In order to be memorable, it usually must be SIMPLE. Too many logos clutter up what they're saying with too many elements of design. Keep it simple and people will remember the logo longer.

2. Appropriate. There are several aspects of "appropriate" that matter. First, the image and font convey the right "feeling" for the product, service, or company. By feeling, I mean the image conveys the right message. For example, technology often uses "shutters" or open spaces cut into the logo, such as with IBM. AT&T uses shutters. Banks often use rectangular images, with pillars, both of these shapes convey stability. We want to know our money is in a stable place, right? So, both of those types of techniques for those industries are "appropriate" for the logo.

3. Scalable. By scalable, the logo image ought to look good in color or black and white, and it ought to look good at any size.

My first logo design was AspireNow:

Many people commented how they liked the playfulness of the logo, as well as the shadow, which gave the image depth. I've been toying with the idea of updating this logo. What do you think? Will it stand the test of time or would it be wise to update this logo?

The latest logos I designed were for the SLO Jazz Festival and the musical band BODY:

The SLO Jazz Festival to me needed to (a) feel festive, (b) convey the words of the festival, (c) feel traditional, yet modern, and (d) convey music. So, I used the treble clef to convey music. The font conveys the feeling of a traditional festival. The SLOJAZZFEST.ORG font is more modern and feels fun. The logo could be printed in any color and still look good, too.
The key elements in the logo for the band, BODY, including conveying an image that left a feeling of the band being solid, accomplished with the square shape enclosing the D and Y; yet open, accomplished with the black on white part of the logo; yet not complete, as with the D not being wrapped in the black square, as bands usually change their music and songs over time. BODY needs to hold up to the test of time. In addition, the font and colors needed to feel contemporary. Black & White in a logo is both timeless and contemporary. I could just as easily put two other colors and I'm sure the band will play with that idea in the future. I'm currently working on an additional SYMBOL of just a body that could also be just as recognizable as this font-based logo. I'll share it when I get it completed from drawing into graphic form for computer (in process).

If you like the designs I create, why not see if I can help you with your logo?

I'm not the cheapest logo designer around, but I do tend to create images that leave a lasting impression, are appropriate and convey the right image and feeling, as well as scalable in both design and color.
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Successfully Launching the SLO Jazz Festival

We've been busy launching many new projects this past year. We've helped launch a software product, as a software as a service (SAAS), for Elements. We've also launched several new websites, designed a few flyers, created several logos, written a handful of business plans, and helped quite a few companies get more traffic to their website(s).

The most recent project and website I'd like to share with you is the SLOJazzFest.org.

(above) SLO Jazz Festival (slojazzfest.org) official logo designed by ARRiiVE Business Solutions

We held our first event on March 13, 2009. It was called the SLO Winter Funk Festival and is one of only a handful of funk festivals across the United States - or even in the World, for that matter. The objective of SLO Jazz Festival is to build a world class festival and series of "awareness building" events throughout each year. These festivals are held in San Luis Obispo, CA (SLO).

(above) Magma Funk playing at the SLO Winter Funk Festival.
Photo Credit to Michael Ackerman www.ackermanarts.com

The next event for the SLO Jazz Festival will be the SLO Summer Soul and World Music Festival on June 13, 2009, at the Mission Plaza in San Luis Obispo. Details are available at www.slojazzfest.org. The SLO Jazz Festival is planned for September 17 - 19, 2009, and will feature a "Beyond Jazz" "SWING Out of Summer" and "Hot Havana Night - Salsa" nights with dance contests and more.

If you're launching a product or service, why not contact us to determine if there is a fit for us to help you with your business launch:

1. Business Plan
2. Logo
3. Business Strategy
4. Flyer or Brochure
5. Website
6. Business Cards
7. Getting traffic (SEO) for your website
8. Building sales strategy and sales teams
9. General consulting

These are all organization launch services we've proven, time and again, to deliver for clients successfully.

We look forward to hearing from you about how we can help you launch your company, product, service, or organization!
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Selling Tips: Don't bring a gun to pick cabbage

If you're in sales, you must think like a hunter.

Why?

Because hunters go get deals and close them. They're not afraid to pick up a phone. They're not scared to make a presentation. And they sure the heck aren't afraid of asking a closing question. It's like the movie Glen Gary Glen Ross, "Always Be Closing." There's some validity to that.

Now, if you want to build relationships and HOPE someone might buy from you SOME DAY (and can afford that amount of time to WAIT) then you're a FARMER. That's what farmers do: they plant vegetables. They seed them. They fertilize them. They watch out for floods, heat waves, and pests. Then they harvest their crop. They then go to market and get the price the market will bear in price for their crop.

Obviously, farming is a system, too, but it is different than strapping on a gun, wearing camouflage, blowing a whistle, raising a gun, and shooting your game, right?

My approach is to always start with each prospect in HUNTER mode. Why? Because it keeps me sharp and aggressive. Otherwise, I can turn weak and don't get my sales objectives as much as I want. But, when I stay in hunter mode, I kick ass. Can you relate?

There is a time to switch to FARMER mode; however. When someone says "Yes, I'm interested, but this isn't a good time," you can't keep pushing. Instead, offer them an opportunity to learn now by sending them something they can passively review and get back to you, and put a note in your software or day timer to follow up on the appropriate date they suggest. That's more of a FARMER mode than HUNTER mode. Now, if they call me back, I can go back into HUNT mode. Or, when I get back with them, I can regain my HUNTER form. But for that moment, you back off and be their friend. It's a form of permission marketing. You only want to be marketing/hunting when they're interested (or in season). It's the best way to grow your pipeline.

You don't bring a gun to pick cabbage because when you're selling you are hunting. Make sure you bring the right MENTALITY and you'll grow your selling success.
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Rabbits, Deer, and Elephants: Make Selling More Fun

I'm an elephant hunter.

Have you ever heard a manager describe a salesperson as an "elephant hunter?" I have. In fact, I've been called that before. I've also been called a "peak-and-valleys" salesperson (not true). But when you sell to elephants (large prospects) you will have deals less often and when you do they will be huge. Metaphorically speaking, hunting elephants is great because elephants provide a lot more food than smaller game. I've had two elephant-sized customers feed me my entire quota for the year for three years in a row!

Being an elephant hunter can be dangerous for salespeople.

But, be careful - when you hunt elephants, you might starve in between kills. Companies love, love, love you one day then a few months later they might be on the edge of firing you before your next big win. That's the life of an elephant hunter. So, to remind myself that I must always keep the pipe full of a variety of prospects, I created a system I call "rabbits, deer, and elephants" to target prospects.

My solution: the Rabbits, Deer, and Elephants system.

For example, at a current opportunity, I call a prospect with 10 - 50 locations a "rabbit", one with 51 - 200 a "deer" and "201 - 2000+" an elephant. Someone recently suggested adding a category "bear" in the 200 - 500 category, but I think they forgot WE'RE THE BEAR! Ha ha! Or at least, the lion. Anyway, I feel rabbits, deer, and elephants works quite well.

I added "rabbit" and "deer" to elephants to remind me that you need to sell small deals and middle-sized deals in order to eat (i.e. not get fired) between the big deals. Yes, your company will love you and send you to "club" when you bring in elephants, but the rabbits and deer will feed you in between those big deals and make sure you hit quota. Don't overlook rabbits and deer - all prospects are critical to your success. The customer reference you use from the rabbits will help close the deer, and the references from deer help close elephants. In other words, experience matters. Elephants, as we know, help close everything! But, it is good to know we can address each prospect's needs on their level.



I remember in the movie SWINGERS when Vince Vaughn describes hitting on a girl much like being a bear with claws and fangs, and the girl is like a little rabbit, all soft and cuddly. I had so much fun thinking of rabbits that it made selling to rabbits more fun for me, rather than thinking "this prospect is too small and a waste of my time," I now think "This prospect is important to close on quickly" because that is how a lion or a bear would approach a rabbit - as a small meal. But a meal is a meal, right? You don't always see bears eating deer. Sometimes they eat rabbits, or other small animals, to stay alive.

"That's a nice DEER."

In one of my companies, we will even talk about a prospect and say "Yeah, that's a nice deer." By categorizing prospects in such a way it does several things:

1. You think like a hunter, not like a farmer. Ever notice the salesperson who builds relationships with everyone but hardly ever closes anything? I'd call that salesperson a "farmer" more than a "hunter" salesperson, wouldn't you?

The smart manager pairs that farmer with a hunter to make both more productive. I like using rabbits, deer, and elephants as a reminder that I'm hunting, not farming. Otherwise, I'd have used strawberries, cabbage, and watermelons or something.

2. It helps keep track of the size of deal. For some reason, managers like to quantify deals in their reports. When you have them on your page with "two deers" they have fun adding up the money to know how much you're bringing in for the month. They'll also leave you alone when you throw the meat in their cage every so often as that's what feeds THEM, too.

3. It keeps selling fun. Let's face it, making sales calls is a bit of a grind. Not only that, but we face plenty of rejection in selling. We might bat 2 for 20 at some efforts (a 10% success ratio) and that means hearing the word "no" or the words "yes, but not now" far more often than we'd like. Yes, we'd love to hear "yes" all the time. But by keeping sales fun, we make selling a bit more of a game, and that keeps it exciting. Oddly, it also increases the likelihood of a "yes" because people like to buy from people who are enjoying their job and having fun. Don't you?

4. Using rabbits, deer, and elephants also helps categorize sales prospects so that you can vary your pitch. For example, at my current company, an elephant will buy for different reasons for a rabbit. So, use the animals to help determine marketing strategies, too.

Now, back to elephants. If you're going to hunt elephants, you'd better bring a big gun. Or a bunch of people. That's my approach to hunting elephants - gang-hunting! In the corporate world, they like to call that "team-selling" but whatever. When I hunt, I hunt with one or two other sleek, well-ripped lions who know how to get the kill, just like me. So, enlist key people in your company to help you sell the elephant and bring it in. Both deer and elephants may require a team effort (sometimes, even rabbits need to be "herded" towards the trap) so make sure you use your pride (team) to help you sell!

By the way, make sure the other people you hunt with also know how to hunt, or you might look silly when the elephant gets away. After all, you never see two or three lions hunting an elephant with the help of a gazelle, right? Life isn't exactly like the movie, Lion King, after all.

Try using a technique like "rabbits, deer, and elephants" in your own selling to help you sell more of your products and services. You'll have more fun selling, and find yourself thinking about prospects like a hunter, not a farmer. The way I see it: if you're going to hunt you might as well have fun doing it.
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Copyright © 1999-2009 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE. Images from Wikipedia. Swingers video from YouTube is most likely copyright Miramax and not used with intention to violate that copyright, just to make a point here.

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Is Sales Getting Harder?

I just got off the phone with a former sales associate. He made a statement that, at first, I took at face value. However, this comment is eating at me: "Sales is getting harder all the time."

Is selling getting harder, truly?

Do you agree? Or do you disagree?

After pondering the idea, I've decided that selling is NOT getting harder. Selling in the new millennium is just different. For example, fifty years ago, people used the typewriter to write a sales letter. If they wanted to contact a prospect, they basically used one of several methods: in-person, over the phone, writing a letter, sending a wire, playing golf together, conventions, or over a meal.

Today, we have more tools: online social networks (LinkedIn, ecademy, Plaxo, Facebook, etc.), email, the telephone, voicemail, in-person, writing a letter, sending a FedEx, conventions, golf, or over a meal.

Our tools to contact and track prospects may have improved, but there are more people selling to our prospects every day. So, in my mind, the tools equalize with the quantity of people selling to the prospect: zero-sum-gain there.

In order to sell, we've always had to be intelligent. We've always had to listen to the prospect, ask smart questions about their business, do our homework and research on the prospect's company, and provide solid solutions. Price is always a variable issue that is relative, as well.

So, considering all things, I don't think selling is harder than ever before. It isn't easier, either (exception: people who can automate their entire sales process when they are selling an online product).

The selling profession is still challenging and a dynamic way to earn a living. I believe the opportunity always exists for the salesperson who is innovative, works hard enough, and targets prospects that maximize their time. I've always been great at following-up, and I'm tenacious. But when I add innovative techniques, and when I target prospects that produce big wins, I always win big. Can you relate?

If certain prospects aren't buying, switch to prospects who CAN buy right now. It's like moving your boat when fishing to find a better hole to fish in. Right?

My advice is to avoid the naysayers who say "we can't sell in this economy" and instead put your ears back and go do what you've always done best, only better. The odds are you'll have a banner year.
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10 Habits of Top Sales Performers

If you're seeking to become a top "sales" performer, either for your own company or selling for someone else's company, you might review the following habit guidelines:

10 Habits of Top Sales Performers

1. Top sales performers set specific and measurable goals.

If you set a goal of 200% quota, you tend to over-achieve every year, year in and year out.

2. Top sales performers embody the lifestyle that they are selling.

For example, when I sold vacations, I took vacations, so that I could show pictures that related to what I talked about with the people touring with me. It made my presentations more "real" and gave credibility to my sales pitch.

3. Top sales performers are more concerned about how to make others feel good about themselves than what other people think of them.

If you're focused on your client, you aren't worried about bragging or showing off. You're focused on the client's needs and ways to relate your solution to those needs.

4. Top sales performers strive for balance in all areas of their lives.

I've met people who sold a lot and could be described as work-a-holics and those who worked six hour days but sold double the work-a-holic. How did they do it? By working smarter and leveraging company and personal resources (such as their boat, game tickets, golf, and so forth). Their personal life blended with work so that it didn't feel like they were working all the time.

5. Top sales performers give credit to others.

You'll notice how superstar ball players, when asked how they made their difficult shot or play, will often deflect to the team "well, it was a team effort, I put it up and it went good" would be typical.

6. Top sales performers live in a state of gratitude.

Being grateful for abundance is an attitude that begets more abundance.

7. Top sales performers believe in treating others with integrity and respect.

Have you ever seen a salesperson outright lying to a prospect? I've seen it and it makes me sick. I find that the very best salespeople don't need to lie. They are so good at bonding with their client that they simply relate and close more easily.

8. Top sales performers listen twice as much as they speak. Another way to put this is top sales performers listen first and try to sell or solve problems second.

Most salespeople ought to put this one at #1 on their list and just focus on this trait. Simply by listening twice as much you can double your sales results. There's an expression I recall "keep it in the bag" meaning that you leave your "bag of tricks" and just listen. Then, after you fully confirm what the prospect needs, you offer your solution in a timely manner.

9. Top sales performers help others freely.

I recall when a manager asked me to be a "mentor" to new salespeople. I agreed. I remember how both salespeople I mentored later went on to become top salespeople in the company. My help put them on the path quicker so they could succeed faster than others. I gave them the inside track to what worked at the company and what didn't. If you're new at a company, seek out the top performer and ask them what worked for them. The best of the best will always help you out.

10. Top sales performers look for reasons people need their solution and why they might buy. They have a positive attitude.

I recall some deals I think I made in my past simply by driving by the prospects building, and THINKING I could close business there, some day. Then, throughout my week, I'd put out some effort towards each of those accounts I'd driven by. It is amazing how many of those I closed in my career! I called it "drive-by" selling as a joke, but the reality was I used the power of BELIEVING I CAN to succeed.

Use "I CAN" and "I WILL" in your statements about prospects, and you'll sell more.

Note: I offer sales training courses for managers and individual sales teams. If you're interested to learn more, click here to learn about our sales training programs or email me directly.
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The Bottom Line For Entrepreneurs

If you're an entrepreneur you face some uncertainty from time to time. What is the biggest risk you run into as an entrepreneur?

Is it losing face, losing people, or losing money?

"Cash is King" is a Cliche that holds true.

Usually, the problem most entrepreneurs face is losing money. Your cash flow is the key to your business booming, and also the lifeblood BOTTOM LINE for the life of your company.

Q: How can you make sure you never run the risk of losing your business?

A: Always make sure the money coming in is higher than the money going out.

In a recession, many companies close offices that weren't profitable or achieving as high of profit margins as others. The question I would pose to those companies is "Why did you allow those offices to be open when it wasn't a recession?" Seriously, if it makes sense to close the office during a down economy, it probably makes sense to close it during an up economy, too.

Part of the problem with entrepreneurs is they rely heavily on the availability to cash lines. If the average length of time for you to close a sale extends two months to five months, and you only have three months cash in the back, you've got a problem.

So manage your business in such a way that your expenses do not outweigh your cash flow and your availability to money. If you're currently running at a negative, with no projection for positive cash flow, I'd have to say I hope you have enough money in the bank to justify such a cocky behavior. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, pulled it off. However, he also had a mountain of money. Most entrepreneurs won't be able to last beyond the money. So, why push your luck?

Instead of buying new computers, hold off and let new sales pay for the new equipment. I've taken that approach with my company. Every time I succeed with a new sale, I buy something on my list or add a new software tool to make me more effective. But I don't buy the product or software until I've proven I can support the revenue stream with a new client.

Try supporting your cash position with the philosophy that sales drives the business and you'll see your focus improve, too.

Protect your cash flow and you protect your bottom line.

What do you think? How have you implemented solutions in your company to improve cash flow?
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From Naysayer To Optimist In Two Words

"This won't work."

Have you ever found yourself uttering those words?

Is this comment a form of negativity? Being real? Truthful? Or is this a form of pessimism? Perhaps saying "this won't work" is all of the above? Do you think it EMPOWERS the audience or TEARS THEM DOWN?

There are times when we're trying to do something difficult and someone utters "this won't work."

I'd say you're tearing down ideas, rather than building them up. In other words, you're a naysayer! Nobody digs a negative whiner. If you catch yourself doing this, let me assure you it is time to revise your language (and attitude)!

A revised approach:

The next time you find yourself saying these words, or anything like them, try ADDING TWO SIMPLE WORDS into the sentence:

"UNLESS WE"

So, instead of saying "I can't write this article" say "I can't write this article UNLESS WE..."

What's the point of using "UNLESS WE" to shift from naysayer to optimist?

Because by adding "UNLESS WE" into the sentence, you force yourself to think of a SOLUTION to the challenge. Now, you are no longer part of the problem, but by answering UNLESS WE you become part of the SOLUTION everyone desires to achieve.

Be an optimist. Believe and hope in your projects. Create success with the words you use!

Bonus Hard Things First Update: Do the important, hard things first. Do you remember me writing about this? If you've gotten bogged down in any goals for the New Year, a quarter, a month, or a week, the odds are you failed to do the hardest things first. Get back on track! Put off the things you don't need to do. Put off all time-wasters. Avoid partying or doing any extra-curricular activities until you get the hard, important things DONE. Once you get them done, the month and quarter will open up to many more possibilities. (I'm doing this myself, right now).
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