Diary on Wealth creation in a Depression

Christmas Greetings to our readers

This is a summary of parts 2 and 3 of the article entitled “What is the “Why” of your business?”, as discussed more fully in johnreason.com

Preparation and Positioning in your internet work from home business or other business

Whether you are involved in an internet work from home business like I have been, a Christian home based business, a franchise business, a direct sales business (again, like I have done for the last few years)-or any business-preparation and positioning of the single greatest asset-that is, you (+ your skills)-is vitally important for your future business success. So said  Pastor Neil Smith from Planetshakers Church in Australia at the business breakfast hosted in 2009 by Arise Church, and recorded here from notes taken.

• If you are in a job practise (your skills) so that when the appointed time comes, you are ready with everything you need. Calling is insufficient. You need to commit to it. Are you committed to developing the skills you have been uniquely given? (not “are you committed to the job?”).
• If you’re PREPARED and POSITIONED then you can expect opportunities to come to you.

• Familiarity breeds contempt, so don’t despise having to go over and over again your current knowledge base and practising your skills. Prepare for your Calling even if it does not look like it’s happening.

Building a business that works.

Work ON your business not IN your business

Knowing how to build a business is different to building a business that works.

• A business creator or founding entrepreneur must be working “ON” the business not engrossed IN the business. Those “presiding over” should have eyes to see where the business is going.  Example: Two people may buy a franchise business. A technician will build the business around his personality i.e in a technical way. He may struggle to win customers.  Five miles down the road another man in the same franchise may be pulling in the crowds. Why? Because he has a personality that attracts customers. Franchise owners are often just “buying a job”. It’s important to have the skill-set that is required.”

• This, I found, had application to my internet work form home business and the internet marketing affiliate program that I have followed from its beta-tester stage. It is possible to be so engrossed  IN learning about affiliate marketing, and the technical side, that you fail to build your business by e.g developing customer-friendly sites or write enough articles.  Sean Rasmussen says “Don’t focus so much on the technical side (such as HTML) but rather on writing content that is interesting to read”. Rider: but in businesses that require technical input such as an  internet work from home business, obviously some technical knowledge or assistance will be required before you can think of growing your business. The forum I have been a member of this last year is to be recommended , both for the level of information provided, but also the speed at which questions are resolved by the team of internet marketing tech helpers.

An entrepreneur vs a job-owner

• An entrepreneur, Pastor Smith continued, builds an enterprise that releases them. He puts his business in the hands of managers. Build great resource if you want to have a “ministry of business”

• believe that you will create more influence

• believe that you will create more jobs.

• You should not be doing long-term what someone else can do

• Let go of things so that you can focus on what God’s called you to do. “If I and someone else can do this job, one of us is redundant“

• Focus on what you should be doing, not on what you can do.

Faithfulness in your business leads to increase

c.f Matthew 25:14-21, the Bible

If the above scripture, one learns that the five-talent and two-talent person traded and doubled their money, whilst the one-talent person went and buried theirs. The first two were commended by their Lord and were promoted and the last not only is rebuked but actually has his talent removed from him. FAITHFULNESS leads to INCREASE. The attitude of faithfulness could be displayed to your employees, your business colleagues or your business itself.

• The attitude of maintaining only what you’ve got, or of just turning up to work does not.

e.g Article in the NZ Herald (2009) states that the “self-reliant” Kiwi attitude, apparently, is holding Kiwi businesses from doing well on the world stage.  The report, “Playing to our Strengths: Creating value for Kiwi firms” by economic researcher Tony Smale states:

• Some of the national characteristics that make Kiwis great, also stop them from achieving significant international economic success.

• While English is an international language, New Zealanders are just not fluent in the dialect of business.

• They’re friendly enough but are not perceived as having the smarts or the sophistication to do business internationally.

• Kiwis can be very passionate about their “baby”,but sometimes seem “abrupt”.

• They can be unsophisticated in their business attitudes: they are awkward with concepts such as mixing business and pleasure. Kiwis (probably much like Aussies) don’t like to “beat around the bush” – even though in many cultures relationship-building is key to a successful business partnership. In fact, the report says, Kiwis ” usually don’t even want business partners – but we want everyone to love our products and want to buy them.”

• New Zealanders have reasonably simple aspirations, known colloquially as the ” three B’s”: the bach (a type of holiday flat), the boat and the BMW. When a Kiwi business owner has achieved these, or whatever luxuries are considered prestigious within their peer group, they will often fall back into the state of “enoughism”. i.e they will not think of expanding any further.

The report also said that Kiwi businesses are not great at investing in the skills of their work force; that’s probably understandable if the above mindset prevails.

Increasing what you have is faithfulness

• So Neil Smith would say that Increasing what you have is faithfulness;burying one’s talents after one has achieved one’s own narrow goals, is not a recipe for future business success and does not help the wider economy

Conclusion:

• We should go to work ON our business, and not get lost in the mechanics of being IN the business.

• Practice makes perfect. The opportunities WILL come to you if you are PREPARED and POSITIONED.

• Have the ability to change tack and switch if necessary;

• Invest in your business and in others. Increase is good!

Have a most relaxing Christmas and holiday season!

John Reason,
Salesman, Article Writer, Internet Marketer.
© 2009-2010

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Getting your feet wet

In the previous post “Starting in direct sales” I looked at some of the initial questions that arise when one decides that one needs to acquire Sales training either because one is thinking of starting a sales career, or because one’s job requires one to take on some skills in this area.  I discussed how the first two questions that naturally arise (“What do I sell?” and “Do I have to do an expensive sales training course?“) could both neatly be answered within the category of Network-Marketing, because network marketing affords one the ability to sell virtually anything (and as we mentioned, it is important to choose something to sell that one is enthused about personally), and to do so at a nominal cost, often with great training.

Click here for “15 Secrets” book on Network Marketing

I remember being taught the basics of presenting products, demonstrating products and talking to small groups of strangers by the great Andy Privett, a six-foot tall Englishman who commanded respect if for nothing else because of his size.  All the people invited had been pre-prospected and invited either to my house or to Andy’s where we would give an initial presentation using a whiteboard, on the benefits of using and marketing the products.  Thereafter, once we had a few people agree to try out the products, and ,even better, try marketing the products themselves, we could invite them to conventions where the full spectrum of products, personalities and company back-up could be fully deployed.

Back-up and finding a mentor are crucial

I’ll say that phrase again: “Back-up and finding a mentor-a good mentor-are crucial to success in sales”.  If you are not being looked after by your “Upline” manager or trainer, beyond the first few weeks, then consider talking to someone higher up the pipeline who may be able to have a little word in the junior manager’s ear, or, even better, take you directly under his wing. From Day 1 I had full support from Andy and I attribute my continued interest in direct sales companies (I don’t say “success” because in those early days, we didn’t do great, but I was learning) to his attention and care of me.  If you are a Manager or team leader of a direct sales business and your salesmen do not last more than a few months, look carefully at your training systems and trainers. I’ve seen many potentially good commission salesmen lost to companies because of selfish, impersonable, or over-aggressive, trainers and middle-managers, who were not willing to go the extra mile for their charges.

Your No.1 skill in business is to sell

So if you are not a natural sales person, take heart.  I wasn’t (and probably am not now).  Yet I have been selling successfully and continuously (with no retainer or other safety net) for the last six years in a country and markets I had no prior experience in.  I made the decision that I could do sales and that I would learn and put into practice what I learned-and I got myself one or two good mentors.  Blair Singer says “Your number 1 skill in business is to sell.  In this economy you are either going to learn how to sell or go out of business..the toughest job is to sell yourself to yourself.“  I agree.  Don’t look at what you are not-look at what you have.  God has given everyone gifts and talents. I have insecurities and faults, but somehow I have always been confident.  I have survived the Rhodesian civil war (see African Genesis) , a dysfunctional family, and moving house no less than 15 times!  when I was growing up I was so unused to talking to people (my early days were spent in the bush country in eastern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) that I could barely look people in the eye!
Click here for this great book on sales

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I work in a commission-only sales job. Which means if I don’t work I don’t eat. There is no receptionist or brace of secretaries to do my paperwork or to hide behind if one has an irate customer, or the usual company administrative machine to protect you from litigious and predatory individuals. I do get my photocopying paid for, but I still have to do the photocopying. I don’t have money deducted at source going to a “guaranteed” pension on retirement. I do not have a team of call-centre operatives feeding me leads: I have to find these myself-every week.

On a certain day I phone the leads that I have personally made the previous day. If I’m sick , I don’t get sick-leave, I just have to leave work sick (i.e leave my income-producing efforts, not leave a workplace because I work from home) until I recover. I am in the classic self-employed/Small businessman’s quadrant that Robert Kiyosaki talks about in his book “Cashflow Quadrant“(which I recommend you read if you haven’t).

Having mentioned some of the niggling things, what are the pros of direct selling? I have been in direct sales and direct marketing-type jobs for six years and nobody has fired me-even in this Recession/Depression. (I did leave one sales job because of greedy, incompetent individuals) but that was my choice. Nobody tells me when to go to work, and nobody tells me when to go home. In my industry, I sell to the old and infirm, so I’m still in work because I provide a service that people need. Yes, people still get old, all the more so as the “Baby Boomers” start to retire! Also I have good bosses who pay me on time and don’t breathe down my neck-how many salesmen can say that?

No, I do not like going out in the wind and rain every Tuesday-O.K, some days we do book a mall for our direct sales marketing-,and I don’t like making those phone-calls on Wednesday, but I’ve learned that when I need to get out of a financial rut there’s one thing I can do: SELL ! Sales answer most of your personal and company problems. Sell what, you ask? Whatever people need! Find a niche where there’s a need , and build on it. In Internet marketing there are tools to help you do this, which we shall discuss further under the topic of SEO positioning and SEO techniques.

Being a salesman has taught me self-reliance, or to put it another way, amplified my reliance on God, who has helped me to do many times things which I would previously considered impossible. Selling for a living, for example: and not sales with a retainer, health benefits and accrued pension benefits either: Direct sales, commission only, paid holiday trips if I meet my targets:that’s it. I am not your typical aggressive, “hunter-mentality” salesman (beloved of writers of online ads for sales personnel) but I can get customers without being supplied by leads from Head Office, and have been successful in sales for over six years; and having no prior sales experience notwithstanding, bar a short spell selling Amway in England (now there’s a challenge!) and knick-knacks for a friend who can be best described as “along the Del-boy lines” (British readers will understand).

Perhaps faith will be something executives will need to rediscover as, increasingly, businesses face bankruptcy,layoffs and the rest. As Kiyosaki says, when you go into business for yourself (and this is on any level) you realize just what it costs to pay for those paperclips, that coffee you get for free from the firm you work at, and just how much that bevy of smiling secretaries costs .

One thing I always remember when I’m quivering and agitating about my next sales call: it is the LAW OF SEED-TIME and HARVEST. Find a Bible and have a look at it now. It’s in Genesis 8:22 “While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” There are FOUR very important words there : SEED, TIME, HARVEST and SHALL NOT. What’s God saying? And why is this so exciting for a salesman? The answer is: if you take the trouble to SOW (SELL) you will REAP (commissions, customers etc)…and whether the ECONOMY is UP or DOWN is irrelevant. Why ? It’s a LAW- GOD put it in place and I found it works for me every time I put it to work. No farmer reaps by talking about farming. He reaps by sowing. And sowing at the right time and place. Preachers need to preach their message and salesmen need to sell their product message before any products change hands. Furthermore, a time period is required between the act of sowing and the act of reaping. Advertising should not be chopped out of your budget in a recession, and especially not in a depression!

Check out this book by the man who first put Seed Faith on the map:

get Miracle of Seed Faith by Oral Roberts

Have a great day!
John Reason,
Briton currently living in New Zealand.
Salesman, teacher, article writer, Internet Marketer.
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© 2010/11

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