To Get What You Want

I recently started reading a long lost sales manual called, “The Secret of Selling Anything”. It went unpublished for decades before the author’s widow uncovered the manuscript. It’s a good thing she did, because the information is priceless.

In this book, author Harry Browne explains that in order to get something that you want (i.e. money earned from a sale), “You have to give up something in exchange that is wanted or needed by the other person MORE than what you are asking for him to give up.”

You have to give greater value to your customer. You must over-deliver.

This is obvious. Or at least it should be.

But when I read this, the line provoked a slap-myself-in-the-head moment. It led me to do a “self-check” and a little soul-searching. This introspection, something we should all do from time to time in our lives, ultimately made me question the value of the content that EarlyToRise.com was delivering to you.

Were our daily essays delivering such significance that we should expect you to willing give up your time, email address, and social currency to read and share our content?

Alas, I don’t think the answer to that is “Yes” on an every day basis. And that’s my fault. As such, this was a painful realization for me. After all, the value of an ETR essay starts and ends with me. I’m the one that writes or chooses the content every day. So I must do better.

It is fine for some of our editorial to have a more philosophical bent. These essays, like those written by Alex Green, are thought provoking, and work well close to the weekend, when we all tend to be in a more contemplative mood.

But what about earlier in the week, when you’re hard-charging and looking for step-by-step solutions to the problems you face in your everyday business building efforts? Are we delivering what you need so that you can get what you want?

To be able to answer a resounding “Yes!” to that question, I’ve decided to put a greater emphasis on publishing practical information. I’m pleased to announce the introduction of “How-to Tuesdays” that will start tomorrow. This weekly practical “how-to” advice will serve as a great follow-up to our Motivational Monday essay. Each week I’ll dig deeper to bring you better and better content that adds more value to your life

This starts with identifying the most important information that you need to solve the real problems in your life. In a typical 24-hour period, ETR readers might ask themselves:

• How can I get up on time?
• How do I save more money?
• How do I make more money?
• How do I get more power and respect at work?
• How do I get more appointments and make more sales?
• How do I generate more leads?
• How do I live a happier, more fulfilled life?
• How do I improve my health?
• How do I go to bed earlier?
• How do I stop wasting time?
• How do I choose the right book to read?
• How do I choose the best career for me?
• How do I advance in the career I’ve chosen?
• How can I eat better?
• How do I improve communication with my spouse?
• How do I get my kids to do what I say?
• How can I be a better parent?
• How do I give my kids everything they need without spoiling them?
• How do I cook a fabulous meal?
• How do I stick with my exercise plan?
• How do I stop procrastinating?
• How do I get – and stay – focused?
• How do I make the world a better place?
• How do I get my dog to stop being so crazy? (Okay, this last one might just be me)

Given these are common problems faced by ETR readers, we need to have at least one great essay that solves those issues.

Doing this exercise seems so obvious in hindsight, and yet I’ve spent the last 18 months RE-actively writing content for you rather than PRO-actively planning this out.

Thankfully the insight from Harry Browne’s book helped me notice the error of my ways. It encouraged me to do a self-check to identify if my actions were congruent with my vision and purpose. While I found that they were, it was obvious that my efforts could be more focused.

A self-check is a simple, yet helpful little exercise that you should do right now for your own work. Look at your daily schedule. Is it filled with activities that support your purpose and ultimate goal? Or is it filled with busy work? Evaluate your day honestly, and the use this evaluation to create a better plan that focuses your effort around work that will get you closer to your goals.

My self-check identified that I could and should be adding more value. The solution to delivering more value and answering these questions is obvious. I need to spend more time creating and curating content that solves your biggest problems.

Here’s how you can help.

First, if you know of any author that has eloquently addressed these problems in books or essays, let me know. Hopefully we can source their content and have them become an ETR contributor. Keep in mind, however, that we want all of our daily essays to deliver a single great message, rather than a shotgun list of tips. We want to dig deep and teach one big lesson at a time.

Second, if you can think of any common “How To” questions that we could answer, just let us know on www.EarlytoRise.com (I read all of the comments).

The bigger the list of “How To” content we can build, the better we can help you. And the better we can help you, the bigger, faster, and stronger we can grow the ETR business and help more men and women transform their lives.

As Browne concludes in his book, “Profit is a reward for satisfying the desires of others. The more you satisfy those desires, the more you will profit.”

And that is why the solution to all of our problems is creating more value for YOU.

Recommend your favorite authors and How-To topics here.

Thank you for all of your help.

[Ed. Note. Craig Ballantyne is the editor of Early to Rise and author of Financial Independence Monthly and Turbulence Training. He is also the co-creator of the Early to Rise $100,000 Transformation Contest. Though this round of the Transformation Contest has closed it’s not too late to get access to all the helpful tools and advice that has helped many people make a positive change in their lives. Get started on your major life transformations today.]