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Month: November 2019

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Best Practices Growth Health and Wellness Industries Management Technology

Take Your Biggest Problem…and Skip It

Every business runs into issues that can or will halt progress and cause the company to stagnate. These include slow cash flow, out-of-date technology, and long sales cycles; you name it, it likely exists. Often, when trying to “fix” the problem, the company gets even more mired in the challenge and can’t seem to get past the roadblock. They focus on the problem and either shift into crisis management mode, letting the problem dictate their every move, or perhaps they solve the problem, but in doing so, uncover that it was never the real problem. Either way, the company is being agile instead of anticipatory.

A Simple Solution

A better solution to solving those tough problems is to just skip them. I know skipping a problem completely sounds simple and almost daunting in nature; however, it is necessary.

How can this help? When you confront your roadblock by leaping over it rather than letting it stop you from reaching your goals, you see new solutions that you never realized existed. Keep in mind, this strategy is in no way meant to encourage you and your organization to procrastinate or pretend that problems don’t exist; they do. The strategy here is to realize the real underlying problem that’s causing your company trouble and making a conscious decision to find a solution to move forward instead of being blocked by it. When a company reorganizes everything, they’re about to solve an internal problem that isn’t the real issue at hand, they are bound to that problem.

If you think this solution sounds fanciful and idealistic, I assure you it isn’t. This strategy is actually a great way to free your mind and view the problem in new and more conducive ways. Consider the following real-life examples of how this strategy has helped companies overcome challenges and make smarter decisions.

A small manufacturing business started getting many requests for several additional products, but in order to meet the increased demand, the company would have to borrow the capital necessary for a major expansion. The business was relatively new, so without a large track record of successful sales and stability, its request for a loan was ultimately rejected by the bank. Instead of putting off the expansion of both the products and the company itself, they decided that the problem at hand could be skipped by way of pre-selling the new products. With those advanced orders in hand, they were able to secure the loan with the bank and proceed.

A company whose job is to solve scientific problems decided that in order to solve said problems faster and accelerate new product development, it would need to triple the number of R&D employees. Despite their career in finding solutions, the roadblock they faced in this situation was that employee costs would also triple, and at the moment, the company couldn’t afford that.

They chose to skip the problem of hiring expensive employees by creating an online R&D forum, wherein the company posts difficult problems needing solutions and offers payment to anyone who can solve the problem.

By making the site open to any scientist with an Internet connection and posting the problems in over a dozen languages, the company created a global, virtual R&D talent pool of independent help, which has found solutions to problems that have literally stumped its own internal researchers. One of the great beauties of this strategy is that the company pays for the virtual researchers’ time and effort only if they come up with a feasible working solution, the amount of money the company pays for a solution depending on the difficulty of the problem. In this case, skipping a problem has brought a company hundreds of solutions to more important problems; the ones they solve professionally as a company.

Every Problem Has A Solution

You must always remember that every problem has a solution, and some are better than others. The key to breaking through your problem is to realize that there are many paths to a destination. And as you pay attention to the Hard Trends shaping your industry, you come to realize that there are many problems that you can actually pre-solve by way of anticipation, allowing you to avoid reaching the point of having to skip the problem, as you will see it coming before it becomes a problem.

However, some are unavoidable. But as I’ve written before, every problem is like an onion. You must peel back the layers in order to find the real problem, listing the components of the problem to reveal whether or not you are working on the correct issue and ultimately toward the correct solution. Always keep in mind that what you perceive to be your biggest problem may not be; so you can simply skip it.

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Management Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

“You Are Not Worthy Of Being Here Promotes Defiance” – Negotiation Insight

“Your imagination promotes future value. When considering value, consider the values of others.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click here to Tweet)

Click here to get the book!

“You Are Not Worthy Of Being Here Promotes Defiance”

 

You tell me I don’t belong here. When your first forefathers arrived, others told them they didn’t belong. Those in authority dismissed them as being “less than.” And that invoked their defiance. Thus, they fought for the right to be recognized as being worthy of belonging and being accepted. So why do you state through your words and deeds that I don’t belong here? Like your forefathers, I and those like me will fight you for what we see as our right to be accepted – our rights to share and partake of the bounty in this land we call home.

If you suppress me, that will only provoke defiance in me. And one day, I’ll rise against you. If you choke the life out of me, I will die. But eventually, those like me, that like me, will fight you. They will exact my vengeance against you and those like you.

Eventually, you and others will hear my voice – even if you attempt to silence me. Because everything changes and the turnarounds that brought you into power will someday sweep that power away from you. So, the question you might ask yourself is, how do you wish to be treated when you’re the one hearing, you don’t belong here.

Those were words offered as a response by someone that was subjugated by the powers to be. Continue reading to discover how you can avert the travails of suppression and avert traveling on a road that could lead to despair.

 

Whether it’s a phrase like “you people,” “you don’t belong in this neighborhood,” or “go back where you came from,” such phrases can serve as triggers that incite resistance. And those that use such verbiage should be mindful of the powderkeg they may ignite. Because such verbiage can rile others to resist the powers to be, and lead to a revolt. And revolutions bring about a form of change that those in power find it difficult to control and accept.

 

Mindset:

  • Authority’s view – We have the power. Others must obey us. That’s the mindset that some with supremacy possess and display when addressing those that they view as not being at their level or beneath them. It’s a mindset that seeks confrontation because when challenged, it must be defended to sustain itself. And it’s vulnerable because the slightest perceived provocation can set it into a defensive posture. That defensive posture may cause others to become defensive. Then, the mindset of everyone becomes encased in a state of protectiveness, which reduces the possibility of averting a crisis or improving a situation.

 

  • Minority’s view – People that have been badly treated in the past by those in authority are sometimes overly sensitive. And their perspective becomes self-affirming when they focus on the wrongful deeds thrust on those of their kind in the past. Thus, a particular phrase, a perceived provocative look, or someone thought to have authority walking too close to them while they shop “can set them off.” Why? Because triggers occur within them. Triggers that bring to mind past infractions that evoke the feeling of being perceived as less than worthy of being or doing what they’re undertaking currently. And the result is, they feel the need to confront the perpetrator – they feel the need to defend themselves for not only the current aggression but for those that have occurred in the past. They’re pushing back on the accumulation of past grievances to amend perceived wrong that has lasted too long. If you’re someone that cuddles such thoughts, be aware of them. That impacts the way you see and interact with others. Also, be mindful that everyone that appears to be an authority figure is not out to torment you.

 

Fear vs. Openmind:

In most cases, when people oppose one another, apprehension exists. Instead of fighting those that you see as not being like you, embrace them, their views, and their opinions. Do so by exploring the question, what are you afraid of, and why do you fear it? Even if you eventually dismiss someone’s premise, doing so will strengthen, not weaken you. Being openminded may create a paradigm shift that sheds a different perspective on how to interact with those you view as foes. You will have expanded your thought process, which only leads to better decision making.

 

Reflection:

Consider all the people that loved us into being here. Those were the generations that preceded us. Their views and thoughts still influence the way we think – even though they may have departed us decades or centuries ago.

When you ignore the thoughts, perspectives, and opinions of others, you may forgo a more significant value that such might have added to the benefit of society. As long as people look at others as being ‘less than,’ everyone’s environment and opportunities will be less than they could have been. To prevent that, be more open to accepting those that don’t share your views. Be more willing to embrace the opinions of those that have ideas that differ from yours. And keep an open mind about being openminded. In so doing, you’ll see a broader spectrum of the positive things that could be versus that which might threaten you. If you let that open-mindedness serve as your catalyst to a better tomorrow, better tomorrow’s will await you … and everything will be right with the world.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

 

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

 

#Defiance #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #negotiationexamples #Negotiationstrategies #negotiationprocess #negotiationskillstraining #negotiationtypes #negotiationpsychology #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #TheMasterNegotiator #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself

 

 

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Best Practices Body Language Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

“Negotiator – Motivating People Can Be Easy – Just Give Them Hope“ – Negotiation Tip of the Week

Motivating people is easy. Just infuse them with hope, and give them the tools to believe in themselves. Then, provide support by showing them how to use those tools. -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)

“Negotiator – Motivating People Can Be Easy – Just Give Them Hope“ – Negotiation Tip of the Week

 

When implementing policy, strategy, or procedures that you want people to adopt, you must motivate them. You can accomplish that by giving them hope that your request is in their best interest. If you don’t, or they don’t see value in following your proposition, motivating them will be daunting, if at all possible. Embrace the following insights to get others to support your requests, and they will be quicker to accept the actions you set for them.

 

Mindfulness:

Be mindful of how you’re attired, your mannerisms, and the words you use when speaking. Because others will make assumptions about you and your motives based on the subliminal messages they receive. And that will impact the willingness they extend for you to lead them or avert your directives. To that end, understand what’s proper for the environment you’re in and comport yourself appropriately.

 

Awareness:

Unless you expect the unexpected, you’ll never observe it. Therefore, be keenly aware of those that plot in secret. Because they work in darkness for a purpose. And more than likely, that purpose won’t serve you.

 

Decorum:

During interactions with adversaries or those aligned with you, be aware of the silent signals you send via your body language. Your slightest grimace at an inopportune moment will momentarily flash your disdain about a subject’s discussion. And that can sway someone’s perception of your likeability. If the likeability factor is missing or contrary, you’ll have a harder time trying to convince someone to follow you.

Even if someone assails your position, keep your cool. That is, keep it unless you’re in an environment where such a slight is expected to be met by a stern rebuttal or some other action that allows others to think, I would have done the same thing. Your task is to make others see themselves in you and your position. That will be the allure that attracts them to bond with you.

 

Replicate Online And Offline Platforms:

Have you observed how social media platforms get people to engage with others? They do so by letting you know when others have tagged you in a post, picture, or article. Thus, the more people involved in a thread of information, the more nudges you’ll receive about the thoughts and comments of others that may include you. That procedure impacts your curiosity. Natural inquisitiveness will heighten the desire in most people to investigate what someone has stated about them. Because they want to know what others are saying – especially if it may be salacious.

You can use the same process to move people to embrace your ideas and direction. To do that, filter the information that others see by feeding them the positive statements that others are making about your position. The more positive comments people see, the more swayed they’ll become to accept your view. In social media, you can use the platform that’s easiest to control. But social media is not your only controlling point to consider.

You can use any platform to manage your message. Thus, it doesn’t have to be social media. It can be something as simple as posting flyers in prominent places that depicts positive sentiments about your position. All you have to do is have control over the process and what people see. That will influence the way they think.

 

Digital Trace:

There’s a plethora of digital information that awaits your uncovering. And if you uncover savory nuggets, that’s another way to shift the perspective that others have of your adversary. If you choose to use such information to advantage your position, before doing so, make sure that information will move your opponents’ supporters. And remember that a smart foe will attempt to gather information about you from digital trace information too. So, keep yourself away from controversy today that might negatively impact someone’s perception of your character tomorrow.

 

Getting People To Follow Your Request:

There are three psychological factors that you must activate when coaxing others to accept your directives. If these forces are not employed, your subjects will be less likely to embrace your offerings.

Deep Psychology:

  1. Motivation – The person must want to perform the behavior.
  2. Ability – The person perceives themselves to have the ability to address your request and view it as not being difficult to do.
  3. Trigger – You must give a call to action and remind them to address the behavior you wish them to embrace.

To be effective, you must use the three actions mentioned, motivation, ability, and trigger in the same request. The formula is, behavior, equals motivation, plus ability, plus a trigger. Therein will lie how you can use psychological motivators to entice more people to embrace your requests or demands.

 

Using Other People’s Words:

To enhance your position, consider using the words of others about the direction you wish people to adopt. You can couch those words from a positive or negative perspective. As an example, if you want people to move closer to your position, cite the words an influencer used to talk about a stance that’s similar to yours. If seeking to decrease the probability of people challenging your opinion, recite the words of doom that a prominent figure made. In either case, you can strengthen your point by using third-party sentiments. Thus, ponder this, and other tactics you can employ, that’ll influence the thoughts of those you wish to impact.

 

Reflection:

When people speak, a silent rider accompanies their words, which conveys hidden information about their inner thoughts. And those silent signals can undermine the intent their words were meant to report. Hence, what someone says can be perceived to have different meanings based on the words they use, and their mannerisms. And that impacts the perception that others have of them.

Always keep the insights mentioned in mind. By doing so, you’ll be better positioned to entice people to follow, embrace, and accept your leadership and directions … and everything will be right with the world.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

 

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here https://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

#People #Hope #Bodylanguage #readingbodylanguage #Negotiations #NegotiationStrategies #NegotiationProcess #NegotiationSkillsTraining #NegotiationExamples #NegotiationTypes #ReadingBodyLanguage #BodyLanguage #Nonverbal #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #negotiation examples #Negotiation strategies #negotiation process #negotiation skills training #negotiation types #negotiation psychology #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself

 

 

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Industries Management Personal Development Technology

So Much Data, So Little Time. Until Now.

In a way, the exponential growth of machine-to-machine communications with connected sensors, or what is called the Internet of Things (IoT), has become an example of too much of a good thing.

IoT facilitating communication among connected machines, devices, and sensors, creates data at levels never seen before, in volumes that are growing at such a rate that organizations and government agencies will have massive problems analyzing and using in an optimal way. At the same time, rapid IoT data growth is introducing new security and data volume issues that current cloud security and storage systems will have difficulty handling.

By the time the rapidly growing streams of data get to the cloud-based analytic systems and then circle back to the devices with instructions based on the analysis of the larger data ecosystem, the opportunity for instant analysis and appropriate action is greatly reduced.

Fortunately, a concept called Edge Computing can make sense of, and put to use, the wealth of data taken from IoT.

Edge computing solves that problem by effectively putting processing power a good deal closer to where the action is happening. Because of this, it can offer game-changing opportunities for organizations looking to leverage the advantages of IoT without many common constraints and drawbacks.

Edge Computing Defined

Edge computing is a type of information technology system in which data is processed as close to the original source as possible, incorporating a horizontal architecture that distributes the resources and services of computing, storage, networking, and communications closer to the actual data sources. Rather than merely sending data elsewhere, any device with computing, storage, and network connectivity can be attached to programmable automation controllers, which handle processing, communication and other tasks.

The result is not limited merely to faster processing and analysis of important data. Edge computing can also address bandwidth capacity and other communications challenges, particularly with the rapidly increasing amount of data that is produced and the increased demands of artificial intelligence and other systems to enable two-way instant intelligence and action.

The Advantages and Applications of Edge Computing

The potential of edge computing is both powerful and broad across any number of possible applications. Here are a few ways in which Edge Computing can change the data world as we know it:

  • Manufacturing – In these settings, edge devices, including machines and sensors, can capture streaming data used to predict and prevent a part from failing. They can also reroute traffic or modify production for maximum productivity and head off product defects quickly and efficiently. As a result, you can increase speed while reducing costs and boosting revenue.
  • Drones – These devices need to essentially “phone home” to take any action on data that’s collected. Edge computing allows drones themselves to analyze collected data and take appropriate steps in lieu of said data. For example, a drone examining a remote forest fire, a collapsed building or hundreds of acres of farmland can pinpoint a problem itself and take action instantly. Simultaneously, drones can pinpoint nearby human personnel and provide those people with valuable information, enabling faster and more effective response times.
  • Remote Offices – Essentially, applying Edge Computing to this situation would include replicating cloud services on a local level. By installing intermediary micro data centers or high-performance servers at such remote locations, employees and others working away from a centralized location or headquarters can have the ability to act on valuable information in a fraction of the time needed to first send the data to cloud storage.

Other Advantages

Given its decentralized nature, Edge Computing can also prove difficult in the world of cybersecurity. But since computing and control occur near the original source of the data, it would be easier to identify any unusual or suspicious activity and take action long before a security breach occurs. Additionally, since Edge Computing allows for communication, networking and other tasks without extensive routing, a higher level of containment is possible, providing fewer opportunities for cyber attacks.

It’s also important to bear in mind that Edge Computing is not unduly limiting. While Edge Computing offers remarkable opportunities, we’re certainly not going to stop using cloud services as we have come to know them. Rather, it’s a complementary relationship in which both parties boost the other’s value. Particularly voluminous or less time-sensitive data and information can be transferred to the cloud for comprehensive analytics or simply long-term storage.

Edge Computing acknowledges the scope of IoT, while addressing many of the challenges and drawbacks such a comprehensive network presents. The next step is for you and your organization to become more anticipatory in discovering what Edge Computing can and will do to transform your industry. How can you capitalize on this technology and become the disruptor? What Hard Trends are you noticing in your industry that point to problems needing pre-solving with the use of Edge Computing?

Help your organization take this game-changing opportunity and make it your own.

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Management Personal Development Technology

Scholarship Announcement for 2019

I spent my early career teaching and have a deep passion for lifelong learning and creating a life of dreams fulfilled. Accomplishing educational goals is a significant step toward this. I tell my audiences that “I want to create a widely diversified portfolio of unforgettable memories,” and I encourage others to do the same.

While each of us has an important purpose and a unique story to tell, we all need a boost at some point to give our dreams momentum.

Burrus Scholarship Gives Dreams a Boost

A couple of years ago, the idea to support a few individuals each year in the pursuit of their educational dreams arose. These individuals also maintain a focus on the greater community in which they live. That being said, I created the Daniel Burrus Scholarship Fund.

The award is given once a year to individuals in high school who plan on attending college or are full-time college students in good academic standing with a desire to continue their education and better impact their community.

I’m proud to announce the three winners of our Fall 2019 award

The scholarship recipients’ essays explained how they each believe my anticipation principles, such as paying attention to Hard and Soft Trends, the Law of Opposites, Problem Skipping and Choosing to Be Extraordinary, can help an organization lead transformation instead of just react to change. Let me introduce them.

First up is Ember Milstead who resides in Rome, GA. Ember recently graduated from Model High School and is currently attending Pennsylvania State University, double majoring in criminology and psychology in pursuit of a promising career in criminal law. Ultimately, Ember’s goal is to aid in the reduction of false convictions in the United States and to better our legal system.

Ember identifies Hard Trends as something useful in recognizing disruptions before they disrupt. She believes that to do this, an organization must first differentiate between Soft Trends and Hard Trends, where Soft Trends are predictions that have the potential to occur and Hard Trends are future facts that will occur. She cites that technological advancements are a Hard Trend and in addition to this, believes organizations can use Hard Trends to accelerate their success, citing Netflix as the most prominent example of a company pre-solving a problem before it actually becomes a problem.

 

 

 

Secondly, we have Matthew De La Cruz who is from the Bronx in New York. Overcoming a diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental Delays (PDD-NOS), which falls under the Autistic Spectrum, at two years old, and with the undying support of his immigrant parents, Matthew worked hard to exceed the limitations of his condition and graduated as Valedictorian from Monsignor Scanlan High School in 2019. He currently attends Baruch College in New York City studying finance and he aspires to become the CEO of a financial firm in the future.

Remarkably, Matthew cites the invention of the wheel in 3,500 B.C. as evidence of technological change being a constant in our lives, even though these days it has become predominantly digital and based in the Internet of Things (IoT). Because of this, Matthew believes that using an anticipatory mindset to point out certainties in markets is important for a company of any size to transform technological change into a competitive advantage and flourish in the present and the future.

And finally, we have Kennedy McKinney who is a passionate future journalist. Her love for journalism began in 2013 when she decided to start her own online paper, and it’s only grown from there with her accomplishment of becoming editor-in-chief at her high school paper. Kennedy is now majoring in Journalism with a specialty in entertainment and sports, where she also plans to learn more about media production and video editing to prepare for the constant transition from print to digital papers.

Kennedy believes that a common example of how a company can use Hard Trends to anticipate is found most predominantly with technology. Over 3.8 billion people use the internet today, which Kennedy identifies as a Hard Trend. However, she also observes that many companies use Soft Trends more frequently, which are trends based on statistics that have the appearance of being fully predictable facts, but notes that they are something that might happen as opposed to Hard Trends that will happen. Therefore she believes companies should not strategies solely on Soft Trends, but utilize Hard Trends to anticipate change and transform their future.

The inspiration and intelligence these young people bring to their communities and the world are boundless. Small acts of support grow exponentially. Keep making an impact on the next generation of leaders in your community.

The Daniel Burrus Scholarship Fund was created to be a resource for those students who applied AO principles to help them achieve their goals and objectives while leading others along the way. By supporting students to shape a positive future, I believe our youth can be better prepared to become transformational leaders within their communities and achieve enormous success. Learn more about the Daniel Burrus Scholarship Program. You might also be interested in picking up a copy of my latest book The Anticipatory Organization.

Categories
Entrepreneurship Management Negotiations Operations Sales Skills Women In Business

“Don’t Joust When You Want To Project Powerful Trust“ – Negotiation Insight

“Trust is like a shimmering light. It appears one moment and gone the next. To keep it illuminated longer, limit those that would keep you in the dark.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click here to Tweet)

Click here to get the book!

“Don’t Joust When You Want To Project Powerful Trust“ – Negotiation Insight

“Trust is like a shimmering light. It appears one moment and gone the next. To keep it illuminated longer, limit those that would keep you in the dark.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click here to Tweet)

Click here to get the book!

“Don’t Joust When You Want To Project Powerful Trust“

How do you know they’ll trust us? I don’t know. But, if they sense we’re willing to follow their lead, not joust with them, and project an open, honest, and powerful desire for them to trust us, I believe they will. So were the words exchanged between two members of a team that desperately wanted their counterparts to trust them. They needed to be trusted because, without it, the chances of a successful outcome would become significantly diminished.

When engaging people, trust plays a pivotal role in the outcome. And, since that leads to faith, which impacts confidence, which affects expectations, the degree you’re trusted determines how far they’ll follow your requests and mandates. Without that, you risk standing on the proverbial desert of isolation, waiting for an oasis that most likely will never occur.

As you reach to others to enhance your efforts, consider the following factors to heighten the probability that they’ll work with you.

Degrees of Trust:

The characteristics and background of the people you attempt to control will determine the amount of trust they’ll grant you. If they come from non-trusting environments or have had poor relationships with authorities in the past, more time and effort will be required to solicit their trust. On the other hand, if you have a reputation of someone that others have trusted in the past, less effort will be required. And therein lies your measurement as to the effort you’ll spend in obtaining the trust needed to get others to believe and accept what you request of them.

Reasons For Broken Trust:

Entities having cross purposes can be one reason trust is not established or broken. There can be a host of other reasons too. To enhance your efforts, think about the following ideas that might impact the trust factor in your efforts to implant a plan or to get others to bond and embrace your directions.

  • Combativeness – Some people shrink when put in combative environments – they can become absorbed and consumed by it. And yet others will thrive in such situations. You should know the setting that’s best suited to motivate those you deal with based on your surroundings. In some circumstances, you can heighten someone’s abilities for a short time by placing them in stressful situations. At other times they may wither. Always be mindful of the position you put people in and how long you keep them in it.
  • Subjugation – Everyone is not a leader. Thus, some people are more comfortable being followers. Knowing the mental makeup of your allies and those that combat your efforts should be the cornerstone of any plan you create. Incorporating this insight into any strategy you devise allows you to assess and determine how you might manipulate the powers to be. That will enable you to enhance your efforts and erode the forces that oppose you.
  • Hard/Soft hand – History has taught us that force is required to overwhelm a relentless foe. And history has also shown that rebellions can occur when power reigns too heavy-handedly to suppress the desires of the less fortunate. Therefore, when you have authority or supremacy, you should be careful about how you use it.

If others view your edicts as being too harsh, you can entice inner resurrection amongst those that prowl to subvert your efforts. If your approach is considered too soft, you can appear weak or noncommittal for the outcome you’re chasing. Like most things in life, striking the right balance between being too hard or soft is the position you should pursue. That’s the sweet spot that will enable the possibility of you achieving the best outcome.

Fitting The Pieces Together:

Control Jousters – In every environment, people jockey for power. And the factions that stem from those activities can weaken your position and drastically impede your progress – especially if you need a united alliance. So, be mindful of underlings that seek power for their self-aggrandizement. Do this within your forces and your opponent’s ranks too.

Some individuals may want clout to feed their ego, while others may wish it so that others don’t view them as a bottom-feeder. In either case, you can use such forces as leverage to enhance your efforts, or thwart those of your adversaries. In the latter instance, incite those in the opposer’s camp to vie for power, which will pit them against one another. While they’re confronting inner chaos, use their fray to weaken their most robust components by enticing other factions of there’s to align with you. Be careful how you employ this ploy within your ranks. If done ineffectively, you may incite an uprising in your midst.

Reflection:

Anyone can be king-for-a-day. But if you want to be a leader that others will eagerly follow, you must project a powerful trust factor. Doing that will enhance your persona. It will silently state that you’re someone that has influence and someone worthy of leading others. Without those factors, others may follow your lead for a short time, but you’ll have challengers that’ll quest to supplant your leadership. Heavy will be the head that wears the crown. And that head will be yours.

So, inspire others by showing them that you’re a reckoning force. That force can be to their advantage or their detriment. Hence, display firmness when required and at other times, be lenient. Regardless, in the end, to get others to abide by your wishes, adopt the demeanor that’ll move them the most. The one constant factor in that is trust. Use it wisely … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here https://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

#trust #joust #project #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #negotiationexamples #Negotiationstrategies #negotiationprocess #negotiationskillstraining #negotiationtypes #negotiationpsychology #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #TheMasterNegotiator #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself

Categories
Growth Personal Development

An Insider’s Practical Advice on Buying a Franchise

You’re speeding along toward buying a franchise. Perhaps a franchise is the ideal business for you at this stage of your life, or a particular franchise has caught your eye because there is no competition for it in the area where you live.

It could be a great opportunity. Franchises offer predictable results, ready-to-go marketing systems and the support of a parent company that you can investigate before you buy. But there are some critical questions to ask that can eliminate costly mistakes and increase the likelihood of buying the right franchise.

Is the Franchise Really the Right One for You?

If you were starting your own dream business from scratch, what would it be? If the franchise you are considering is a lot different from that vision, step back and look for another that “speaks” to your emotions as well as your ambition to succeed. Because chances are you will be getting up every morning and going to that business, make it one that truly excites you.

Have You Studied Enough to Make a Wise Buying Decision?

Franchising companies hold sales meetings for prospective buyers. You should not base a buying decision on what happens in those meetings. They are very motivational, but sometimes do not tell you the full story. And if you feel excessive pressure to buy, move on. Be sure to:

  • Read the franchise agreement from the first sentence to the last and make sure you understand every word of it. Take it to an attorney who has expertise in businesses and franchise purchases and go over everything. The cost is minor in comparison to the risk you are taking.
  • Study at least five or six franchise agreements from different franchising companies and compare them to the agreement from the company you are considering. You will quickly understand what makes the franchise better than others – or worse.

How Much Leeway Will You Have to Run Your Business the Way You Want?

This is a balancing act. You want the leeway to control your business. But on the other hand, the franchise company’s rules protect you from the activities of other franchisees that can hurt the brand. Strong brands are built on consistency.

However, make sure the system is very engaged with owners and asks franchisees for input. Good things can only happen when good ideas from the field get filtered up to senior management.

Is there Competition Near Your Location?

When selecting a location, disasters can happen. While it is never possible to prevent all mishaps, you can turn the odds in your favor by talking to local business owners, who should know what new businesses are coming into the area. Another piece of due diligence is to visit the town hall and review building permits that have been filed in the area.

How Many Current Owners of the Franchise Have You Talked to?

Get to know current owners of the franchise you are considering. Take these steps:

  • Ask about doing business with the parent company. Have there been unexpected expenses and unpleasant surprises?
  • Ask about what is good and bad, it’s a simple question that can tell you a lot.
  • Understand the system culture, how the franchisor and franchisees interact, whether franchisees help each other and whether the franchisor listens.
  • Spend time in current locations and observe what is going on.
  • Ask if you can review their financial statements. This might not be a comfortable question to ask, but those documents can reveal critical information.

Remember, the willingness of franchise owners to help you tells you a lot about the system. And another thing. Always talk to franchisees who weren’t recommended as contacts by the parent company.

How many should you talk to? The simple answer to that question is that you should keep talking to them until you feel comfortable that you are making a good choice. That number could be as few as five franchisees or as many as 20.

About Evan Hackel

Evan Hackel is a 35-year franchising veteran as both a franchisor and franchisee. He is CEO of Tortal Training, a leading training development company, and principal of Ingage Consulting. He is a speaker, hosts “Training Unleashed,” a podcast covering training for business, and author of Ingaging Leadership. To hire Evan as a speaker, visit evanspeaksfranchising.com. Follow @ehackel or call 704-452-7368. Why not have Evan Hackel address your group about franchising success?

 

 

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

WARNING All Authors a Lesson on Pricing Content From the Music Industry

Selling books and content is no walk in the park. And it’s about to get even harder.

To understand the changing landscape for authors. Here’s a parallel situation that’s already played out for music content publishers.

When Napster crashed the music party in 1999 giving away music for free, attracting the masses to one platform, one group quietly noticed and went to work. Advertisers copied the model and took over the music industry by controlling the distribution. Now the industry doesn’t care about making money selling music anymore. They give away music to sell other products. Killing revenue margins for musicians in the process.

 Now they’re playing a different game…

Today iTunes is the new version of the record store. Apple promotes extremely discounted music to sell Apple’s lucrative products. Music’s just the bait.

Think about it, how is it that Spotify and Pandora, whose sole business model is to make money from the streaming of music, DON’T ACTUALLY MAKE ANY MONEY selling music?

80% of Pandora’s net revenue comes from the ads playing to people listening to free music. Only 20% comes from users who pay for ad-free listening. In turn, Pandora pays musicians insultingly tiny royalties established in 2016 at $0.00176 on for each song played essentially as Pandora’s marketing expense.

In other words, THEY DON’T SELL CONTENT! They use it.

They pay to give away content for free in order to sell advertising. Pandora hasn’t turned a profit since it started in 2000.

Spotify after 13 years and 96 million subscribers, finally reported a profit for the first time this year of $107M and are spending all of it and more ($500M) to acquire podcast networks for the same reason.

So what in the heck does this have to do with authors?

Publishers of all types, from news to music, to movies, to books, are NOT HAPPY that consumers won’t pay a premium for content anymore. The painful lesson content-driven industries are learning is that they never sold content! They sold access to content and the price you paid was simply the package it came in.

From records, tapes, CDs, now to streaming. But that’s all changing. Even for authors.

Amazon is doing to authors what iTunes has been doing to musicians. They sell books as low-cost leaders to sell higher ticket items.

 Don’t believe me?

Why would anyone buy a book in a retail book store for $24.95 when you can get it for $1.19 with free shipping to your front door? Look for yourself. This is a book we spent the better part of three years to build and promote. Amazon took it upon themselves to reset prices without consulting us.

Amazon sells the book below the cost it takes to produce it! It’s only a matter of time Amazon arbitrates book pricing below the cost of producing the book.

 

We launched this book in December of 2018 and In the 6 months since the launch, Amazon priced it $8 below retail.

The current book pricing model is absurd!

The book industry is still pricing books based on the old physical distribution model to keep the past model alive and it isn’t working. Retail pricing is almost twice as high for the same product listed on Amazon, and it isn’t delivered to your front door with free shipping.

People are more likely to buy coffee from a bookstore at this point than an actual book.

The first day of your book launch the listing price is discounted from the retail price on Amazon from $25 down to $15-17 right out of the gate. Amazon resellers then start to immediately undercut the publisher’s listed prices.

Ever heard of Seth Godin? Here is Seth’s most recent book that should be $24 at retail. However, you can get the same book on Amazon for $6-$11 or $0 if you sign up for Amazon’s Audible trial!

Seriously? It’s the same content and product. I’m certainly not the first to notice this phenomenon. This guy noticed it first and started a business around it.

Meet Jeff Bezos. The man, the myth, the legend.

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes of closed book stores. Bezos started Amazon in 1996 to sell books online with $16 Million in sales (Barnes and Noble took in $2 Billion that year). Today Amazon controls half the print book marketplace while B&N has only 1/5th left

Amazon’s up to 84% for e-book market and B&N just 2%.

Amazon’s e-commerce is around $1Trillion in market cap while B&N is down to $475 Million. For context that’s .05% of what Amazon is doing in online sales.

Bezos cracked the code. The book pricing model is flawed but nobody seems to be talking about it. Books are still being sold at retail pricing when you can buy them under cost on Amazon. Authors today are required to do 100% of their sales and marketing making the retail price relevant for about 3 months before you go buy it from Jeff.

Something needs to change.

 

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com

Categories
Growth Personal Development

The Hidden Truth Book Publishers Don’t Want Authors To Know About

So the book industry just hit a major milestone they didn’t bother to tell authors about. And it’s not exactly good…

Between 2012 to now, self-published book titles grew 156%. Last yearbook titles grew from 786,935 to 1,009,188, surpassing the million mark for the first time in human history!

So why aren’t we celebrating?

It’s never been easier and more affordable to launch a book to share your knowledge with the world. We have more legit subject experts than at any time in human history. This is the single biggest achievement in book publishing since Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1454 over 565 years ago!

So why aren’t publishers celebrating and sharing the good news?

The truth about book publishing today:

The truth is, books have become needles in a haystack to consumers these days. Most publishers need authors more than authors need them. The entire industry is flipping upside down right now.

What publishers won’t tell you today is just how much the industry has changed. With over 1 million books being published each year the chances an authors’ book gets noticed organically is low, really, really, low.

 Here are the numbers from Publishers Weekly, the American trade magazine providing industry insights to publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents since 1872:

  • The average self-published author sells less than 250 books
  • The average published author sells less than 2,000 books
  • over 70% of books don’t turn a profit for authors
  • Only 62 out of 1000 titles sell more than 5,000 copies

Publishers know this information. So why don’t authors?

Publishing a book is no longer The Field of Dreams’ game where if you “build it then they will come.” The days of being discovered organically and getting retail placements are long gone. Publishers in the past controlled the distribution. Today the distribution rests in the ability of the author to create awareness amongst their followers.

Marketing is the primary responsibility of the author. Authors need to establish relationships with publishers with a mutual understanding of roles. Think of your publishing partner as a printer with a vested interest in your success.

There is value in the brand positioning of the publisher and their ability to negotiate distribution agreements into retail outlets and airport bookstores. But make no mistake, they are pay to play agreements. As they should be. You are after all taking up valuable and expensive real estate by occupying the end of isle positions others are more than willing to invest in.

However authors today need to know, the minute you publish your book is when the real work starts.

If you don’t have a solid marketing plan to promote your book to the people who need it, you will be very disappointed.

 

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com

Categories
Entrepreneurship Marketing Personal Development

How Popular Thought Leaders Attract Followers Through Their Stories

Being a thought leader is no walk in the park. Staying in demand is even harder. I’ve seen a lot of speakers and subject matter experts come and go over the last decade. The ones that became the most successful the longest, know how to tell stories people need to hear.

Most executives get into the speaking circuit because they know solutions others would benefit from but they have a hard time getting people to listen. Especially early on. Everyone talks about the importance of having a digital presence and digital marketing but how do you grow an audience from scratch?

The first thing to know about creating traffic is that you’re not creating it. Your job is to convert it. The internet is traffic. It’s already there waiting for you.

Brands and companies winning with digital marketing are producing the most helpful and unique content by sharing their expertise on their subject matter in a way that relates to the people seeking something new and different.

Content marketing isn’t new it’s been “a thing” for thousands of years. The term “content marketing” was adopted in 2007 though to highlight the shift away from traditional interruption-based advertising to the maturing discipline of value-oriented content creation. It was a reminder and call to arms to stay grounded in the way humans communicate.

By telling stories and sharing experiences people can relate to.

Gary Vaynerchuck is one of the most in-demand corporate speakers today on digital marketing. But people don’t follow him because he talks about digital marketing. They follow him because they first related to his story and experience is something they want to replicate for themselves.

Gary grew his parents’ wine business from $3 million to $60 million by being one of the first companies to use YouTube to make wine video reviews to sell their inventory. He left that world and grew an 800 personal digital marketing agency for the world’s biggest brands. He isn’t just talking about digital marketing he lives and breathes it.

Similarly, Simon Sinek didn’t blow up for telling companies to update their mission statements. He shared his experience of how he quit his corporate job because he felt a lack of excitement and of attention to basic human emotional needs at large companies in a TedTalk that became the 3rd most popular watched presentation of all time.

Sinek explains complex obvious problems by sharing stories that create shared experiences.

Over the last 8 years our Chairman, Jeffrey Hayzlett, has delivered over 1,300 keynote presentations by outlining in vivid detail, how he and his team went through one of the largest gut-wrenching turnarounds in American business history. Telling his experience validates what every other company in the world is feeling and going through. Unmitigated massive ongoing scary changing business landscapes and how to face the fear of the unknown.

By sharing experience, we spread knowledge.

The point is some of the most in-demand speakers and thought leaders are not just marketing themselves as speakers available for hire. Popular thought leaders today are the missing messages for change in increasingly outdating industries. Telling hard truths most aren’t willing to say.

The most effective way to share your message is to tell stories.

Marketing and soap operas:

The phrase soap opera came about in the mid-1930s because the sponsors of the earliest radio shows were soap manufacturers targeting housewives through daytime radio ads for woman.

Attention from the same advertisers then shifted in the 60s to TV programming for working moms. High drama shows involving betrayals, breakups, dark secrets, and intimate storylines were capturing the attention of the masses. It was in that shift where marketers learned the mainstream attraction and power of storytelling. They integrated their advertising where people were listening to stories.

Digital marketers today are now scrambling to become the story not just interrupt them.

The emergence of the soap opera sequence:

Marketers only have seconds to capture strangers’ attention.

They are doing so by getting people hooked on an idea. This isn’t about manipulation it’s about getting to the point of what really matters to them.

Digital marketers today have adapted a term known as the Soap Opera Sequence to structure their communication in story form intended to create drama, build suspense and anticipation, and ultimately entice people to take action.

Telling your story using the soap opera sequence

1. Set The Stage:

Start off with an eye-raising statistic or enticing question.

2. Backstory

What’s the dramatic pain point everyone knows in the industry but nobody is talking about that creates trust and allows the know you’re just like them?

3. Hitting the Wall

What reoccurring business problem stopped you from reaching your goal that your prospect can relate to?

4. The Epiphany

What epiphany did you have that solved the problem in a new way that others should know? The secret you learned that changed everything after you implemented it?

5. The Hidden Benefits

What unexpected benefits emerged as a result of the changes you implemented?

6. The Call to Action

Why act now versus later? What will it cost not to act right now?

When communicating with purpose to attract your tribe, use the soap opera sequence to make your content stand out by telling a story that your audience can relate to.

It isn’t about putting out content. It’s putting out content in a relevant and meaningful way.

There has always been too much content. The only way to stand out is to relevant and different. Tell your story like nobody else!

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com

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