A story about a guy (me), a Movado watch a jewelry store and watch-maker in downtown Concord, New Hampshire.

When I was a senior in high-school I became obsessed with Movado watches. The all black face without the second hands, the single dot a twelve representing the sun at high-noon. Only years later did I discover Movado means: “Always in Motion.” Combine the beauty of museum watch” with the fact most Movados are not way over-priced made owning one much more appealing and realistic. 1997 was the year I got my first Movado watch.

It had a black leather band, the signature all black face with gold trim around it. It was about $495 at the time. Lucky for me, my mom, agreed to go half and make it an early graduation gift. It was a classy  time piece for sure. About a year after graduating from high-school and about nine months into being a “wet behind the ears” small business owner I decided I wanted a Movado with a stainless steal band. No going halves with mom on this one though!

I went out one night in November of 1998 and bought one. I ended up wearing the new one with the stainless steal band most of the time. In my secret reveries I dreamed of being a collector of fancy time-pieces one day. But in 2002 my collection was reduced by half when my leather-banded Movado disappeared. My frugality and practicality kicked in and I decided the stainless steal Movado was good enough for me.

In 2008 the Movado stopped (“always in motion, but not all the time). I got the battery replaced and it worked for a short time before it conked out on me again. Then, I sort of forgot about it. But in late 2009 I decided it was time to get it fixed because I wanted to wear it again. So I began my search on Google’s home page. I found a jewelry store in down-town Concord which advertised it was a Movado dealer. I called the store two days after Christmas to verify they were open. Then, I headed south on I-93. When I got there I encountered something I can only describe as pure rudeness!

I tried to explain what I thought was wrong with the watch at which point, I was abruptly cut off and “told” how they handle Movado repairs. Imagine, Scrooge, before he was converted by the three ghosts! “$300 should cover it. That’ll include shipping it to our facility in Massachusetts, taking it apart and repairing all the mechanical.” I chimed in (or at least tried to), “But is there a way for you to tell me what is wrong with it?” Scrooge replied: “You probably got water in it.” Me: “I’m pretty sure I didn’t get water in it.” Scrooge: “Well, that’s just my guess!” Me: “Great, a $300 guess!” I grabbed my Movada and my shattered confidence of getting my watch repaired and headed for their door faster than a jack-rabbit who just drank a Red-Bull.

The search continued .

But this time we weren’t on Google’s home page anymore. I spotted another store so I went in with my fingers crossed. Two pleasant young ladies gave me the name of a watch repair shop across the way. The Bristol Watch Maker in Concord if you’re taking notes. They informed me he kept limited hours so I gathered the info and went back home. The Movado, still not in motion.

Then one day I realized I always pass a local jewelry store right here in Tilton. I went in and picked a nice little sliver bracelet out for Jamie and asked about watch repair. Guess who they mentioned. Right, the same guy that was referred to me in Concord two months earlier, The Bristol Watch Maker

Fast forward about seven months and I finally brought my watch to the only person in Concord, and the entire central part of New Hampshire (at least that I’m aware of), who could fix a Movado. The price range given to me over the phone? About $200 less than our rude friends on Main Street. The final cost or repair? Sit down…. A whole $15! What was wrong with it? The battery leaked inside the watch causing it to stop. No water at all, just as I suspected!

Funny thing is this…

I’m really easily persuaded. If the owner of “Rudes R Us” on Main Street were just a little nice I most-likely would’ve just said “OK, whatever you need to do, I want my watch working again.” But they weren’t. Their excuse for being rude-mongers? The holiday season. I kid you not!

The moral of the story? I don’t know, but maybe this…

I don’t believe being “nice” all the time is always the best policy. Sometimes you have to put your foot down. Plus, there’s that old thing about “nice guys finishing last.” So while being nice doesn’t work all the time – being rude really never works.

Just a quick reminder…

If you don’t have my book: Motion Before Motivation, The Success Secret That Never Fails

Grab it here…

MotionBeforeMotivation.com

Recently I complained on Facebook that some Internet Marketing Gurus really are crazy if they expect everyone to watch their fancy 30 minute videos. A couple of my Facebook friends agreed…

So…. Being the kinda guy I am… I did a quick video to voice this complaint and plea that the long vids STOP.

Next… In the Internet Marketing Department…

You’ve undoubtedly heard of Yahoo right??  The number 2 Search Engine next to Google.

Well, word is that in the next year or less Yahoo will no longer use Yahoo to provide search results.

They are replacing theirs with…. Non other than…

Bing. That’s right, Microsoft’s 1 year old kid, Bing will be the new number 2.

So pay attention to Bing!

Here’s a Quick Tip to Help You Stand Out A Little & Be Remembered…

Two short stories in this week’s article will prove a simple point. Certain answers are not always obvious to us. Maybe it’s the whole “forest for the trees” thing, who knows?

I once heard a marketing guru tell a story of how he arrived in a far-off town for a speaking engagement only to discover that he had his favorite French cuffs, but no French cuffed shirt to put them on. Since wearing his suit and tie with no shirt was not an option he headed out in search of a “french-cuffed shirt.” Every clothing store he found was either closed or did not carry the shirts.

He was getting frustrated and was thinking, “What kind of jerk-water town is this, no French-cuffed shirts anywhere? Unbelievable!” Finally he spotted a Walmart in the distance and figured he’d give it a shot.

He found a clerk wearing one of those big yellow smiles and asked  her if the store carried French-cuffed shirts. The answer came back, “no!” At this point he was angry and muddled something under his breath. The clerk then asked him if everything was OK.  He then explained to the clerk that he needed a French-cuffed shirt to go with his suit because he forgot his back in Arizona. The clerk then said, “Sir, we don’t have French-cuffed shirts, but we have plenty of button-down shirts that will look just fine with your suit. Why don’t you just buy a new shirt?” As you can imagine this was a “duh” moment for this marketing wizard.

My recent “duh” moment…

My wife teaches a Zumba class on Saturday mornings at “C-Steps” in Tilton. She takes Julia with her and Marissa stays with me. After a little lounging around Marissa and I head out and take care of the grocery shopping for the week.

Most weeks I pick up some ground-beef. My careful stats revealed to me that two pounds is plenty. One thing that had been bothering me recently is the fact that I could never find a “two-pound” package so I’d get exactly the amount of meet we need. As I stood there and looked at the packages I saw some that were close to a pound and the others that were a tad over three pounds. Then I saw my chance to rectify this problem.

In front of my eyes was a surely competent meet department employee. So I asked him, “How come no two pound packages?” He very politely explained that based on the process and how the machine worked – two pound packages just did not make sense. Then, being a “master of the obvious,” (which, unfortunately I am not) he said; “Just get two one-pound packages and you’ll have your two pounds.” “I think I’ll do just that, thanks!!” Talk about a “duh” moment!

So what can we draw from these two stories? That “Marketing Wizards” and Authors are stupid? Of, course that conclusion is arguable based on the above facts! But the real lesson here is the simple truth that what is obvious to someone else may not be so obvious to you. What is obvious to you may not be so obvious to me and what is obvious to me may not be so obvious to you.

I see this truth play out every day in my life and business. I seek out answers from people I know have them. And when I work with business owners I constantly help them make obvious (to me) improvements in their businesses.

The Lesson…

Keep your mind open because the minute you think you have all the answers is exactly the time you need to slow down before you get hurt.

You’ve heard that quote about Gazelles and Lions in Africa right?  The Gazelle wakes up knowing it has to run faster than the fastest Lion – the Lion has to run faster than the slowest Gazelle or one goes hungry and one gets eaten. The point of the quote is to remind us to “get moving!” The New Year brings a fresh opportunity to make things happen. Here are seven tips to get your business moving in 2010…

Develop a Sense of Urgency

A sense of urgency in your business is not about any “hurry, the sky is falling and make hasty decisions out of fear mentality.” Oh  contraire! In the world of successful small business a sense of urgency is about hurrying to make things happen. Hurrying to create products and services to market and sell. It’s about getting your clients and customers the results they want quickly – faster than your competitor can, (Lion or Gazelle)!

A sense of urgency is about being proactive and not reactive. It’s about getting priorities in order. It’s about taking massive action to produce results.

Set Ambitious Deadlines

The greatest time management tool ever invented was the deadline because without it nothing else would ever get done. Something to experiment with this year is raising the bar on completion dates. Remember, getting it done is more important than getting it perfect.

Let go of Waste

Hanging on to old ways of doing things or systems that just aren’t productive anymore will equal a ton of waste. Many companies that struggle in economic downturns are usually carrying a lot of waste in the form of advertising that’s not working or operational procedures that are inefficient and outdated. Don’t believe me? Study just a few of the companies that stood in line for government handouts in recent times! Which is a good lead in to our next tip…

Be Unique In Your Marketing

Are your marketing messages too inwardly focused and egotistical? Do they get lost in the shuffle because there’s nothing unique, fun, new or different about them? In our emerging economy there’s no room for “sameness.” Brain-storm the ways you are different from your competitors and communicate why your differences are of benefit to your prospects.

Get Savvy about Selling

In some circles “selling” has become a dirty word. But the truth is nothing happens until somebody sells something. It’s sad when businesses spend money on marketing to generate traffic to their locations or get their phones to ring and then someone drops the ball or “un-sells” the prospect.

Get back to basics and focus on the little things. Train yourself and your sales staff to ask questions to uncover the desires of your customers. Once you know what your customer wants, show them how to get it. Have regular meetings, role play and study the art of ethical persuasion.

Keep it Simple

To move quickly in 2010 and reach all of your goals a little faster why not adapt an attitude of simplicity? Does anything seem to be a little over-complicated in your business or life? Be honest with yourself and then take corrective action to simplify.

When I speak to groups of business owners I often get their attention and a laugh when I tell them I’m going to share the easiest and most important financial, business and economic principle. They are on the edge of their seats as I tell them as long as they follow it they can’t help but be successful.  “What is it?” they say. “It’s the Chunka Principle!” “Huh?” “The Chunka coming in has to be bigger than the Chunka going out!” Simple, but effective financial advice.

Have Fun

PT Barnum, the famous showman and promoter, said people will spend their last nickel to have fun. Have fun and enjoy the ride this year. Think of ways you can make things more fun and enjoyable for the people around you, including your customers and clients. I’m not advocating “not taking business seriously” just make it a priority to enjoy it this year!

Put these seven ideas into action quickly and I know you’ll move fast toward your goals in 2010. Post this article somewhere you can see it and remind yourself to “make things happen!”

I like to mix it up a little for you.

Play the video below for some quick tips that can help your business and personal life.

I cover…

The Most Important Principle of Muney… “The Chunka Principle”

How NOT to Get Something Done

And…

A Quick Marketing Tip for Your Small Business…

Just Hit Play…

If You’ve Yet to Pick Up My Shortcut To Persuasive Power Program so You Can Get Pricless Business Wisdom from 8 Modern Sales and Marketing Wizards Simply Click Here

 
Jamie made a CD for Julia for her birthday. Its got all Julia’s favorite songs.

One is that hit by Katy Perry, I think?

The one that goes, “You’re up and you’re down, you’re wrong and you’re right …” or something like that.

Basically she’s talking about a guy who just can’t make up his mind when it comes to their love life. The song contains some“success lessons.” Let’s explore…

After I decided to sell the Martial Arts school that I operated successfully for eight years in Philadelphia I couldn’t answer the question of “what’s next?”

Mistakenly, and very expensively, I thought the next step was to enter a  new business relationship.

The problem was that my “motivation” to get into that business was totally based on greed and my , at the time, overly inflated ego. It was a recipe for failure. I lost time and money and dragged a few others into the mess with me.

The lesson…

 I ignored a goal that I valued that was better suited for me so I could pursue something else that I “thought” would get me to where I wanted to be faster. Further, this venture did not in anyway help me leverage my best talents.

If you’ve got an urge to “do something else” be sure that something else helps you use your best talents.

If you are making a transition or thinking about it you’ll often hear from well-meaning friends and family to “make up your mind.” Sometimes they are right and sometimes they are wrong.

If what you’re considering doesn’t leverage your talents and your passions be careful. If it’s completely out of sink with what you’re currently doing watch out.

Here’s what I mean…

I am a pretty good at selling. I’ve been doing it to survive and sometimes thrive since I left high-school. But, if someone comes up to me and says; “You’re great at selling, why don’t you come to this meeting and learn how you can make X amount of money selling, distributing and recruiting others for our wiz-bang product.” “No Thanks!” is my reply. Yes – the chance may utilize my talents, but, it’s in a totally different direction than the goal I’m working on. That’s where people screw up and waste time and effort.

However, If it ties in to what you’re doing now and leverages your talents, go for it.

Everything I do in my current business ties into helping companies and individuals improve. Here’s an example… I have written many things for one particular industry. Which then grew into writing for  more broader audiences because the message is transferable.

At first glance someone might say: “Make up your mind.” But the truth is it all goes in the same direction and leverages my talents.

Here’s what to do…

Set a goal and begin working on it. When new opportunities come up- ask yourself if they leverage your talents and tie in with your goals. Then, be honest with yourself – if it’s not for you or you’re just trying to grab a fast buck- stay away.

When I started off in business when I was 18 years old I was so clueless. Then, I discovered that you can read books, listen to audios and seek out help from others. I realized that you can get ahead pretty quickly if you apply what you learn.

A a little while after getting started things really began to take off for me and the momentum just never stopped until I actually CHOSE to stop it. No regrets because the path I’m on now is the right one for me. Trust me though, there are many less painful ways to find your path than the one I took.

So how did I cause myself a little pain?

I started to drink too much of my own Kool-Aid.

I thought success that has been achieved through hard work in one field/business can translate into instant success in another field/business. Nothing happens instantly, except maybe Power Ball, but you know your odds there.

I had led myself to believe that I was invincible. Again, no regrets because the wisdom I gained is so valuable.

Thanks to a lot of people, Motion Before Motivation, The Success Secret That Never Fails reached as high as number 11 overall on amazon in its category. I am so appreciative. But one thing you can bet on is that I’ll keep away from the Kool-Aid!

Enjoying your victories as you eat your humble pie!

Keep the momentum going. Be passionate and pragmatic about pursuing your goals.

*** If you run a business or sell for a living you might enjoy this collection I put together. Check it out at…

http://askmiked.com/shortcut/

What I like to communicate to you through my blogs, articles and columns are real world principles that work. They can work for you too.

We’ve all heard how important it is to be persistent. Whether it’s getting our business to where we want it to be or taking the steps to live our ideal life. “Keeping at it” is so important. So what I want to do is give you some simple “persistence” lessons that I just learned through practical experience. I have to leave out some little details to protect the innocent and keep things confidential. It’s important to understand that in both these true stories I was NOT selling anything, I was not making cold calls and I was not soliciting business. But I will fill you in when the last story has its happy ending. Hopefully that’ll be soon.

It’s sad but true. Some “switchboard” operators don’t have their acts together. In my persistent effort to make something happen for one of my many projects I made a call and was told by the switchboard person who I had to speak with. I got through to this person and they simply instructed me to send an email a particular address. “That’s the way it works,” he said. So I sent the email. After a couple of days I followed up. He again told me to send the email. Not wanting to just keep sending my email into a black hole I decided to dig a little deeper and get his clarification. When he clarified I realized that he was giving me the wrong instructions for who I needed to get in touch with. Then I clarified further and that’s when he said; “Hold on, let me put you through to…”
And voila, within a week the result I was looking for became reality.

On another occasion I was taught the lesson of persistence and how important it is to “dig a little deeper.” A switchboard type person told me who I needed to contact. I really was aware of how clear I was when I made my request. I think I was pretty clear. So for a couple of months I reached out to this person. A couple of times him and I actually spoke. He sort of gave me the “oh sure, but not now” act. Which is fine. On one occasion when I called him back he seemed very annoyed. No big deal, I’m a big boy I can handle rejection. On a hunch I called the switchboard again. I stated clearly who I was looking for and what I needed and they told me who I needed to speak with.  The person was totally different from the other gentleman I was first directed to. Then, I asked a question about the other guy I was originally directed to and the switchboard operator said to me; “What? He doesn’t do that, he works in….” and they filled me in on the fact that he was in a completely different department. Which explains why he was so annoyed with me! The truth was he couldn’t help me. And don’t ask me why he just didn’t come out and tell me that himself??

Of course, the persistence certainly is illustrated in these stories. But you can also take away another lesson…

Be pleasantly skeptical about the people you are dealing with. That’s not being negative, but a fair assumption that you’re the one who needs to gather the facts and make things happen is a safer bet than betting on someone else.

What I hope to do real soon is to fill in the complete details of these two stories. I am just waiting for the second one to have it’s happy ending. It will, real soon I’m sure.

And don’t forget- On November 10th  we’ll be doing the “official” amazon launch of  Motion Before Motivation, The Success Secret That Never Fails. When you get the book that day you’ll be privy to a whole lot of awesome and complimentary bonuses.

So stay tuned for that email!

 
For about six months we’ve been getting calls from a certain mortgage company. Long story short, Jamie and I moved into this house in early 2008. Rates were a little higher at the time so it has always been on our mind to refi.

We really had no sense of urgency. Based on the fact that the real estate market is down a little, then you add the possible closing costs and everything else it really only makes sense to even entertain a refi it the rate is really low.

Anyway…

I’ll give it to these guys they were persistent. I respect persistence and while I don’t always answer the phone when people call I’m just not one of those people who will really make the person on the other end feel like crap.

The real truth is that I know people in the refi business. But like I said these guys were really persistent. After months Jamie said; “Sure, we’re willing to listen so why don’t you come by at 6:30 on Thursday.”
She figured that we could give them about thirty minutes.

At 6:41 the guy calls the house to say he’s running late and is about twelve miles away.
Now, I’m no master of the obvious, but it was clear he was running late. The idea is to call your prospect ahead of time not when you’re already late!!

All of those phone calls. All of that effort… Gone! You’re talking about someone’s mortgage here and being on time should be a no-brainer!

Of course cold calling really does suck to begin with and most of the time it’s against the law. And remember there are always simple things you can do to actually get your prospects to welcome your calls, but that’s another article.

There are a ton of ways to give yourself the upper-hand is the selling process. One way is to get better at your marketing and your ability to craft powerful marketing messages.

For insider tips that really work from 8 modern masters of persuasion check out…

http://askmiked.com/ethical-persuasion-products/