An Inspiring Story

Here's a guy who left his day job to focus his efforts 100% on blogging, of all things:

http://zenhabits.net/2008/01/so-i-quit-my-day-job-holy-cow-i-took-the-plunge/#comment-25294

ZenHabits.net is a very nicely designed website. I like it for the simplicity of design.

If you dream to fire your boss, like Leo at ZenHabits did, consider shaving months of investment time off the process by using the Profitable Business Blogging system at http://www.howbloggersmakemoney.com.

Kudos to Leo - we wish Zen Habits a ton of success!
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Copyright © 2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Want More? SUBSCRIBE. We care about your success: share your success stories with us and we'll replublish a link to your site!

Be Different And Sell More

ARRiiVE: Innovations in Business Radio Presents...

"Be Different and Sell More," with Michael Luckman, CEO of AchieveXCorp.com.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be in control of every sales call? To not waste your time chasing opportunities that don’t exist? To perhaps even double your income in one year? Michael Luckman CEO of AchieveXCorp.com may have the answer for you.

Today, Michael Luckman joins Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions and Host of ARRiiVE: Innovations in Business Talk Radio.

The Show AIRS: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 2:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM EST

Visit Talkshoe (http://www.talkshoe.com/): Enter Talkshoe show ID 37798 to text comments, call-in, and/or listen to the show from your computer.

Description: In this interview we'll cover some of Michael's valuable selling techniques, including how you might differentiate yourself to stand apart from competitors in your field. Learn why salespeople miss their numbers. Discover how you can separate from the pack of mediocre salespeople to win more often and reap the rewards you deserve. Sales team managers: are your sales people getting blocked or stuck on the money? Learn some keys to overcome this problem and better motivate and manage your team.

Michael brings over forty years of experience helping salespeople blow away their numbers and make more money than they could ever dream.

As a senior buyer for Toys R Us, he experienced firsthand what makes the difference between a good salesperson and a great salesperson. It was his frustration with traditional sales training and their sound-the-same salespeople, and his introduction to David Sandler’s unique sales methodology that convinced Michael to spend his life working to create professional salespeople. Michael offers a ton of sales wisdom in his training sessions, and this show is one you won't want to miss!

Listen in and get a SPECIAL OFFER from AchieveX and another by ARRiiVE.com...

Join Scott Andrews, Host of the show, as he interviews Michael regarding this exciting topic.
This show promises to be both educational and fun.

It is Simple & Easy To Listen and Dial-In To Ask Questions:

1. Visit Talkshoe (http://www.talkshoe.com/): Enter Talkshoe show ID 37798 to text comments and listen to the show from your computer.

2. Call in to join the show: Dial (724) 444-7444, enter show 37798 # 1 # if you wish to ask questions of the host or guest.

Also, you may click here to visit/follow the show: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 or http://www.arriive.com/arriive_liive.htm or listen in after completion of the show.
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Copyright © 2007-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Want More? SUBSCRIBE. AchieveXCorp.com © 2008 AchieveX Corp.

ARRiiVE can you grow sales. Visit: ColdToGold.com

Better Web Surfing

Surf smarter with the new widget by BlogRovR:


Have you seen BlogRovR?

You can download it here:
http://blogrovr.com



I just installed the widget for BlogRovR publisher on my blogs. The tool simply ROCKS. This is a modern Blog Publishing and RSS surfing tool to help you SURF SMARTER and also PUBLISH in a way that draws more traffic to your blog. Have you heard buzz about "Web 3.0 and Semantic Web?" Well, this tool is a start.

You can use RovR to:

• Keep up-to-date on what you care about on the web.
• Read posts only on what you care about now!
• Get trusted opinions, news, and commentary on what you’re browsing.
• Quickly see what your favorite bloggers have ever said about a web page.
• Find out how your bloggers have tagged any page.
• Read relevant blog posts in-place, right on the page they’re about.

Do you write a blog, too? Put the Blog RovR chiclet on your blog to let readers add you to their RovR subscriptions. When they browse anywhere you’ve written about, RovR shows your posts right there. The rest of your blog is just a click away from any web page you’ve blogged.

One warning: This software appears to be VERY Beta. That means it doesn't yet work on IE. It only works on Firefox. But, I'm hoping they'll change that soon.

The tool could be a God-send for blog publishers. The information you get about surfers is astonishing! Check it out and let me know how you like it.

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Copyright © 2007-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Want More? SUBSCRIBE. BlogRovR is © 2005-2008 Activeweave, Inc.

ARRiiVE helps you grow traffic and money from blogs. Visit: Profitable Business Blogging.

Syndicate Your News with RSS Feeds

The Secret Power Behind Blogs: THE RSS FEED

Ever wonder why a blog is better than a website? Well, if you ask me, it's mostly because it's (1) easy to publish articles and (2) people can find you.

"Come again?" you might ask. Yep, people find you. Not like a normal website, but through the POWER OF THE RSS FEED.

RSS - The best definition of RSS FEEDS means Really Simple Syndication. That's right, you're now in the business of syndicating.

Here's a video that explains it further.

Now you know more about how RSS works. Remember, it's like going to your favorite sites to get the news, but better yet, the news comes to you!

What's really cool about this is that through the power of the comment trail, the RSS, and easy posting, a blog can grow traffic exponentially.

Let me know how your own blog grows.
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Copyright © 2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All rights reserved. Video Copyright © 2008 by Lee LeFevre (the CommonCraft Show). Thanks, Lee (no infringement intended).ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

SUBSCRIBE to boost your blogging success. See also Profitable Business Blogging.

Blogs In Plain English

Are you interested in blogging? One of the best introductions to blogging I've found is through Common Craft, who in this short video demonstrates the simple power of blogging and ways to get started:



What's great about this intro is how Lee shows you the various ways you can start blogging, and pretty much directs you to either blogger, which this blog currently uses, or WordPress, which many established bloggers use. Both services are free and get you up and running with minimal hassle (blogger being the easier of the two, WordPress offering more robust features).

If you're seeking additional techniques to jump into the Blogging foray more quickly, you may be interested in my upcoming teleconference on Blogging For Business. I'm sharing secrets and proven techniques that may help you make a lot more money in a lot less time from your blog.

Learn more by Googling in "ARRiiVE" and "blog" or if you want the robust system of how bloggers make money I've been developing, visit http://www.howbloggersmakemoney.com

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Copyright © 2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All rights reserved. Video Copyright © 2008 by Lee LeFevre (the CommonCraft Show). Thanks, Lee (no infringement intended).

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Blog Better Now: SUBSCRIBE to boost your blogging success. See also Profitable Business Blogging.

International Copyrights

International Copyrights: Part I

Global Copyright Theft: Is Anyone Else Concerned?

I'm investigating what rights American and English companies have in the increasing global marketplace regarding copyrights and trademarks.

Relating to this topic, I just came across this quotation today, and had to share it with you:

What is going to happen when China makes the full leap to playing on the Internet and competing with American, English, Australian, and Indian ideas? China does not have the ethic or moral that "stealing" ideas is wrong (not that all American, English, Australian, or Indian's do, either) but certainly there is a looming concern about what happens to intellectual property when there is no respect for it?

“China’s failure to police intellectual property, in effect, creates a massive global subsidy worth hundreds of billions of dollars to its business and people. Seen another way, China’s vast counterfeiting schemes act on the rest of the world the way colonial armies once did, invading deep into the economies of their victims, expropriating their most valued assets, and in so doing, undermining their victims’ ability to counter. As China grows into a great power, the wealth transferred into the country by stealing intellectual property will propel it forward.” - China, Inc., Ted C. Fishman

Personally, I've already had an audio program pirated by unscrupulous individuals in Malaysia. It happens to big companies and individuals. Make sure you take the steps you need to take to safeguard your intellectual property. As the world flattens and everyone in all countries are sharing with each other in this "small world" that we are progressively living in, it is important that you nurture, grow, and protect the ideas that propel your business success.

Here's a couple of resources for you to better understand international trademark and copyright law and your rights, which I provide for your entertainment purposes:

http://www.symbus.com/

http://www.trademarksovernight.com/int_trademark.html
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Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. Quote by China, Inc. copyright China, Inc. No infringement intended.

Keep it real, all the time: SUBSCRIBE to our feed.

Teams: Mother Natures Master Class, on ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Show

ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Radio Presents TEAMS: MOTHER NATURE'S MASTER CLASS, with Ken Thompson, CEO of www.Bioteams.com and www.SwarmTeams.com companies and websites.

Ken and Scott will discuss how we can make our teams and groups and communities much more satisfying, more productive and more agile by adopting some simple principles which Mother Nature has successfully evolved over millions of years to organize her teams (such as bees, ants and geese...).

The Show AIRS: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 2:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM EST

Description: Ken is a master of virtual communities and business/social networks. Ken has just published a major book through Megan-Kiffer Press (http://www.mkpress.com/) entitled ‘BIOTEAMS - a blueprint for building organizational teams, mobile workgroups, virtual communities and business networks that will prosper in the 21st century.’ Ken is also the founder and CEO of a new high-tech venture Swarmteams (http://www.swarmteams.com/) which is a mobile community engagement system developed on bioteaming principles.

Join Scott Andrews, Host of the show, as he interviews Ken regarding this exciting topic. This show promises to be educational, fun, and easy to participate.

How To Listen & Participate:

1. Visit Talkshoe (http://www.talkshoe.com/): Enter Talkshoe show ID 37798 to text comments and listen to the show from your computer.

2. Call in to join the show: Dial (724) 444-7444, enter show 37798 # 1 # if you wish to ask questions of the host or guest.

Also, you may click here to visit/follow the show: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 or http://www.arriive.com/arriive_liive.htm or listen in after completion of the show.

Some useful comments have been added to this show, if you missed it:
http://www.bioteams.com/2008/01/23/teams_mother_natures.html#comments

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Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Build better teams: SUBSCRIBE to learn more.

Net Audio Ads Pay-Per-Play

NetAudioAds Pay-Per-Play is an exciting new way to offer advertising on your website.

Always looking for innovative ad streams on websites, I came across this Pay-Per-Play system of advertising and signed-up: http://www.sellingppp.com/a.cgi?ppp=1205662828

If you click on the long-copy sales letter link (http://www.sellingppp.com/details.cgi?ppp=1205662828), you'll see that NetAudioAds Pay-Per-Play offers 5 second audio ads on your website that pays publishers 25% - often better than Google pays for Adsense. And, NetAudioAds pay-Per-Play pays on IMPRESSIONS - not on CLICKS! That's cool, because it's easier to predict.

It doesn't stop there... REFER YOUR FELLOW WEBMASTERS!

Also, if you REFER OTHERS into their ad system, you can go three levels deep and make money on it, too. I'll share my numbers once I can substantiate. Please report back in and let me know how this system works for you...

http://www.sellingppp.com/details.cgi?ppp=1205662828 __________________________________

Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions.

Get more customers, more cash, more quickly: SUBSCRIBE to our feed.

4 Ways To Close More Sales

Whenever someone is struggling in sales, managers often try to solve their problem by analyzing every situation and cramming more and more ways to deal with objections, close, problem-solution, needs analysis, prospecting, and on and on and on.

Is this what you do with your salespeople?

If you're a salesperson who is struggling to hit numbers, I'm sure the last thing you want is for your manager to over-analyze your selling process. Am I right?

Many salespeople will moan about the problems with customers, but not realize that the keys to closing more sales actually lie in one place: their own self. That's right, most sales are lost because of poor attitude or lack of belief than any other reason. What are the other reasons why sales are lost? Read on and I'll share more...

Now, if you'd like to learn how to quickly close more sales, without huge investments in time in training, prospecting, creating proposals, or meeting with clients, you might find it interesting to know that you CAN close anywhere from 10% - 500% more business than you are closing right now simply by changing a few steps in your selling process and adjusting your outlook.

4 Ways to Close More Sales:

1. Poor attitude - reversing bad attitudes creates an attitude of a winner.
2. Resolve the "It's Too Good To Be True" syndrome with little negatives.
3. The power of a story is critical to success. The best story is always from a customer who has experienced a similar situation or need where your solution solved their problem.
4. Understanding your prospect's emotional triggers for buying and getting their problem defined correctly.

1. Attitude. The first way to close more sales is to improve your attitude. If you BELIEVE everyone will buy from you, and I mean TRULY believe everyone will buy from you, you will act in a way that condones buying behavior. You will attract people buying from you because it is what you expect. You don't get wigged when they don't but they usually do buy because of your attitude.

Improving your attitude is the single best way to improve your sales. Tape record your conversation with a co-worker or manager. Ask them to question you about why you get deals and why you miss deals. Then listen to your voice, the words you use, and try to see how many times what you say is either (a) an excuse, or (b) a negative.

Here's the way you improve and counteract this problem:
For each excuse you make, write it on a sheet of paper. Do the same with every negative.
Now, for each negative or excuse, write the opposite or a way that is positive that enables you to deal with the situation or concern. Once you complete this process, you will likely realize that pretty much all excuses and negative thoughts are only self-defeating and do nothing to help you sell more. Therefore: eliminate those thoughts and replace them with the empowered belief system of a winner: someone who owns their process and owns their success!

2. Resolve the "It's Too Good To Be True" syndrome with little negatives.

Have you ever walked out of a sales presentation, auto lot, or salesperson who told you everything the product or solution could do, in intimate detail, with so much polish that you exclaimed "I think he's full of b.s.! It's just too good to be true"?

I have. And, guess what. So have many of your customers. If you leave your customers thinking your product is so great that no other product compares, they might tell you "no" simply because they don't believe anything could be that perfect.

So, rather than let this happen, sprinkle a few "little negatives" or "baby negatives" into your presentation. Baby negatives is a term I learned in the timeshare industry. They use baby negatives to demonstrate that their product can't meet ALL needs. For example, they might say "well, if you're trying to book Las Vegas for New Year's Eve on December 31st, good luck!" But, our owners are knowledgeable and know that they can book this time, or many other times, with proper planning. See, in this example, I told you a way that the product wouldn't work in a very small, narrow case that most likely will not kill the deal. Then, I gave it back to you and let you know you could do pretty much anything else. Now, if I'd just said "you can book any time you want" you'd have thought: "AH! Too good to be true." And, frankly, you'd be right.

So, use a baby negative. Look for ways to throw a slight negative into your presentation, proposal, or pitch, and see if your sales closing percentage doesn't go up.

3. The power of the story is the most powerful way to convince someone to buy anything. Think about the best salespeople you ever knew. Did they really have "the gift of gab" or did they just know how to tell a good story? My guess is the best salespeople are great storytellers. So, if you're struggling with sales or struggling to close a high percentage of sales, take the load off of your back and put it on the other people who've bought from you.

That's right: put the load of your success on your customers. Now, this can be taken two different ways. First, you might consider asking your customers for referrals, as a warm lead is always better than a cold lead, right? This is probably the most powerful way you can increase your cold-calling success, if you make outbound sales calls. Use the story of the referral, drop the name, share a solution and how you helped someone in a similar situation.

Second, you might consider the stories that customers have told you about how they used or benefited from your product or service solution.

It is especially this last method of the power of the story where you can almost remove yourself from the picture and still sell more. Try it: next time you're pitching your product or service, drop two or three names of people in similar situations. Tell the customers story, in as few words as needed to convey the full meaning of the solution, and then hook it back to the client or prospect's need. When you utilize this technique, I can guarantee you that your sales closing WILL go up.

4. Get the third level (emotional benefit) question/response and properly define the problem.

Digging deep enough to understand your prospect's emotional triggers will help you close a much higher percentage of sales. What does this mean, to most salespeople? Actually, nothing. Most salespeople do not understand what I mean when I say to dig deeper. So, I will elaborate.

Say, for example, that you are selling signs. The first set of questions you might ask a prospect is: "What type of sign do you need?" "How large?" "What color?" and so on.

Those types of questions will illicit simple, closed-end responses. That's fine, but the smart salesperson quickly moved into deeper probing questions, such as "why do you need a sign that big?" "What is important about those colors?" and so on.

Do you notice that this second set of questions is more open-ended, and allows both fact and feeling to be conveyed by the prospect? I would continue this line of questioning with something like:

"How come that is important to you?"
"Please tell me more... (about) Why does this matter?"
"Who else does this impact?"

You'll get a deeper-level answer related to the solution. Then you need to go 3rd level deep and go for their feeling about the solution they're asking from you. There are several ways to do this:

1. Ask it directly, starting with negative questions. "What problems are you having now?" "How does that FEEL?" "How does this matter to them?" "What do you think they'd tell me, in terms of how it makes them feel?" and so on.

2. Ask it directly, but have them tell you the positives they want: "If you had the ideal solution that could deliver the solution you're looking for, what would it be like?" "How would that feel to you?"

3. Ask them what emotional benefits they will derive from the solution they are describing to you.

Then, tailor your solution to match the needs they just gave you. When you're presenting the solution, make sure you mention this and tie it back to the deepest level emotional need and benefit they will receive.

When you take these additional steps in questioning and presenting you will find that your closing percentage will increase dramatically.

This is the first of two parts on this series. I'll write more tips on closing next week, so SUBSCRIBE to our feed at the ARRiiVE Blog to keep informed.
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ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved.

Mistakes Cold Calling And Getting It Right with CEO Scott Andrews

After a few awesome guest shows, I'm hosting this week's ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business show. Broadcasting at a unique time of 8:30 A.M. PST, I've created a custom topic just for this show:

Mistakes Cold Calling and Getting It Right

ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Radio Show features Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions.

NOTE: I'm doing this earlier than usual!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 8:30 AM PST / 11:30 AM EST

Don't miss out on learning mistakes people make cold calling and ways to get past and correct them to blast your sales success through the roof (or at least get a heck of a lot more qualified appointments). Cold calling doesn't have to be chilly. Defrost your cold-calling and get your customers warmed up to you quickly. Learn about:

GREETING - WARM-UP - REASON - QUICK LOGIC/EMOTION TRIGGERS - NAME DROPPING - ACTION REQUESTS and MORE! Heat up your cold calls and turn them from Cold to Gold! (yep, this is part of my Cold To Gold Program http://www.coldtogold.com/) - free as a special introduction.

It's educational, fun, and easy to participate.

Simple Ways To Listen & Participate:

1. Visit Talkshoe (http://www.talkshoe.com/): Enter Talkshoe show ID 37798 to text comments and listen to the show from your computer.

2. Call in to join the show: Dial (724) 444-7444, enter show 37798 # 1 # if you wish to ask questions of the host or guest.

Also, you may click here to visit/follow the show: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 or http://www.arriive.com/arriive_liive.htm or listen in after completion of the show.
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Copyright © 2008 ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All rights reserved. Want more? SUBSCRIBE.