How to Overcome “The Resistance Factor”
“I generally avoid temptation — unless I can’t resist it.” – Mae West There are two parties in any sales transaction — the potential buyer (the recipient of the pitch) and the seller (the pitch maker). The seller has a specific agenda. He wants to get the buyer to…
READ MOREHow to Become a Well-Known Expert in Your Field
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.” – Shunryu Suzuli I’ve seen plenty of data to support the idea that you can make $100 an hour or more simply by specializing in an area you already know. If you are a…
READ MOREA One-Hour, Six-Month Plan That Will Make Superstars of Your Better-Than-Average Workers
If you want to get the most out of your employees, challenge the best of them to do even better. Focusing energy and time on the bad apples is a waste of time. The middling group will improve when they see the star performers improve. That’s the ETR philosophy. Here’s…
READ MOREWhat’s More Important Than Marketing?
“The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.” – Frank Herbert “I’m not so interested in products,” my partner explained to a mutual protégé. “Products change with the times. I’m interested in developing a sophisticated understanding of how our market works.” As someone who…
READ MOREHow Bad For Business Is A Negative Employee?
Can one rotten apple spoil your barrel? The answer depends on two things: how good that employee is at his job, and how good the rest of your group is. If the employee with the bad attitude is a weak performer, you should get rid of him right away. If…
READ MOREHow To Take A Relaxing Vacation
Three things will make any vacation stressful: 1. worrying about your job while you are gone 2. having to handle crises on the phone 3. fearing the inbox when you return Here?s how to solve those problems and enjoy your time off worry-free. * Block out the vacation days on…
READ MOREDon’t Be A Self-Improvement Junkie — Improve Yourself Instead
When it comes to self-improvement and success, there are two kinds of readers: 1. the perennial student 2. the future superstar Which are you? It’s an important question, and you need to give yourself an honest answer. If you read a lot about success but have not yet made progress…
READ MOREHow to Increase Your Direct-Response Sales 1000% Almost Immediately
“Be everywhere, do everything, and never fail to astonish the customer.” – Macy’s motto You can double, triple, or even quintuple your sales by using an age-old technique that’s easy to understand and relatively simple to employ. It was responsible for one direct-mail publisher I know going from a…
READ MOREForget Most of What You Think You Know About Feng Shui: Here Are The Essentials for a Productive Place of Business
I tried to believe. I really did. But half of what I read about feng shui seemed totally loony. So, once again, I’m going to rely on the benefit of 52 years of experience. Here’s the “ETR shui” on setting up a good office/studio. First, some observations and conclusion: *…
READ MOREThe Easiest Way To Convince Skeptics To Do Business With You
“You can convince anyone of anything if you just push it at them 100% of the time. They may not believe it completely, but they will still use it to form opinions, especially if they have nothing else to draw on.” – Charles Manson Using testimonials — quotations from…
READ MOREGetting Help from Rich and Powerful People
IR arrived at my office for our lunch meeting 20 minutes early. If there is anything worse than arriving 15 minutes late, it’s arriving early and expecting your host to drop what he’s doing and pay attention to you. If you must arrive early because you aren’t sure how long…
READ MOREHow to Use Deviance to Predict Your Future
“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” – Niels Bohr In “The Deviant’s Advantage,” the authors argue that most companies never make big breakthroughs because they focus all their talent and energy on mainstream stuff — stuff that’s popular today — and not on the Fringe stuff that…
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