Where Success, Growth, & Profits Come From

02/18/2011 | 1 Comment

Hi, Rich Schefren here and on today’s drive to the office, I want to tell you about a very special place. It’s a place where all personal growth happens. It’s a place where not only does your personal growth happen, but business growth happens. It’s a place where satisfaction stems from and it’s a place where when you visit it, you become stronger and stronger each and every time you visit. Sounds like a magical place doesn’t it? What if I told you that place was closer than you think? That that place was actually one step away from where you are right now? You see this magical place is one step outside your comfort zone. Too often too many entrepreneurs stay with what’s comfortable; stay with what’s routine and they avoid what they think will be uncomfortable. So I’ve gotten a lot questions recently about how I do certain things or how I’ve been able to grow or how I’ve been able to grow my business. And this is one the tricks. The trick is to get yourself to do something each and every day that you’re just a little uncomfortable doing. It might be picking up the phone and making that call. It might be calling an affiliate and asking them to promote for you. It might be creating a video when you’ve been uncomfortable in front of the video camera. Here’s the bottom line. The bottom line is that all growth comes from stepping outside your comfort zone. Satisfaction derives every time you step outside your comfort zone. So here’s the way I do it. Each night I think about what I could tomorrow that I would generally tend to avoid because it’s uncomfortable. When I’m going to bed I play through my mind a couple of times visualizing me actually taking that act; that uncomfortable act that I would normally avoid. Let me tell you what happens because what I try and do then the next morning is actually do that task very early on in my day. And there’s a tremendous sense of satisfaction when I’ve done that thing; when I’ve taken that leap outside my comfort zone because I know that I’m growing and I’m satisfied. I know that I’m living my life. So that’s the tip for today. Think about what you’ve been avoiding because you’re just a little uncomfortable and step outside it and take that action. Do that thing that you’ve been avoiding because of uncomfortableness and you notice a profound difference in the rest of your day. So I want you to have a wonderful weekend. Make it fun and I’ll see you on Monday and I’ll help you make next week even more profitable than this week. To higher profits and beyond, Rich Schefren over and out.

Payoff versus Tradeoff – Which Do You Focus On

02/17/2011 | 1 Comment

Hi, Rich Schefren here and today I want to give you a very simple distinction that can make a world of difference in the effectiveness and the profitability and therefore the success of you the entrepreneur. This subtle distinction is the distinction between payoff and tradeoff. You see, way too many struggling entrepreneurs focus only on the payoff when making a decision about what activities to pursue; how long they should work on a project; how long they should they work on their product, etc. without really giving enough thought to the tradeoff. For example, early on in my career, I would be working on a presentation and I’d be thinking about all the potential possibilities that an amazing presentation could do for me. I could “wow” the audience. I could sell a lot of people. If it was really good, I could create a product out of it and so on and so on and so on. All payoff focused though. And by only focusing on the payoff it seemed only to make sense to continue working on it; to be a perfectionist because I could only see the payoff. However, when I looked at the tradeoff of spending day after day on that presentation, not getting done other things because of it, all of a sudden I saw that the perfectionism wasn’t really serving me. That in fact, there were other projects – what I was trading off, what I was no longer able to do – the opportunity cost was too high. So here’s the concept and I know it’s a little heady and I’m probably not describing it as best as I could, but it’s so important. I want you to understand it – is that if you are suffering right now from perfectionism; if you tend to get really myopic working on something way past the point that you’re getting diminishing returns; of if you even tend to spend too many hours doing something that’s just not really moving the business forward – once again, you’re thinking of payoff and you’re not thinking of tradeoff. What you need to do starting today is when you start to spend what you believe is an inordinate amount of time on something, step back, realize that you’re looking at the payoff and now ask yourself what is the tradeoff of spending all this time on that? What am I giving up? What’s the opportunity costs of actually continuing to spend time on this, trying to make this product even better, trying to do this email even better, etc.? Focus on the tradeoff and you’ll always make better decisions than when you solely focus on the payoff. I know this was a little bit longer than usual. Have a great day. Make today profitable. I’ll see you tomorrow on the drive to the office. To higher profits and beyond – Schefren out.

Feedback: What’s Great and What Sucks!

02/16/2011 | 1 Comment

Hi, Rich Schefren here and today what I want to talk to you about is something that you already know but the odds are is that you’re not doing it enough and you’re not doing it with those who matter most. So what am I talking about? Well, I’m talking about the power of feedback and who specifically should you be getting feedback from? – Your marketplace. You should be asking your marketplace on how you can improve what you’re already doing and what things that you’re not doing you should be doing. So case in point – a week ago I thought about doing these videos. I asked the market whether I should. I got some positive response that I should and so I’ve been doing these videos. But now I need to know how can I make these better? What can I do for you that would make these one minute to three minute videos more useful, more powerful, and more a must-watch for you? If you’ll tell me that I’ll do my best to incorporate your suggestions so that I can make these even better. You see, we haven’t even rolled this out to our list, to the majority of our market and our prospects and customers. And the reason why is that we are trying to make it better first before we roll it out. And you’re part of the beta test. So by watching this video, you can now give me some really valuable feedback. How can I make this better for you? It’s really that simple. If you’ll tell me that, I’ll do my best to deliver on that. Now, back to you for a second. You should be asking your market the same thing. How can you do what you’re already doing even better? How can you help them even more? What would you need to change in order to make that happen for them? So that’s my question to you and you should be asking that very same question to your marketplace on a very frequent basis. I really look forward to your comments. Please do your best to give me some valuable feedback. Tell me what sucks, what’s great, what you would change, what you wouldn’t change and I look forward to reading your comments. I’ll see you tomorrow on the drive to the office. Schefren over and out- to higher profits and beyond.

Resourceful Vs Constantly Searching For Resources

02/15/2011 | 2 Comments

Hi, Rich Schefren here and today I’m driving my wife’s car, but I still have a tip for you in my drive to the office. And it’s an important because it’s one of the distinguishing differences between those who succeed and those who fail. You see, entrepreneurs that succeed tend to be those that are most resourceful. Whenever they come up against a problem, a difficulty, a challenge, they look at the things that they’re already doing or the things that they already have and they’re figuring out a way to still achieve the outcome or objective that they desire whereas, those who fail tend to be much more in a constant search for resources. So instead of being resourceful, using what they already have, using what they already know, they’re in a search to learn more or to find that perfect thing that’s going to solve their problem. The problem with that is that you tend to constantly be on a search for more as opposed to really leveraging what you have. So today as you approach your day, think about how you can be more resourceful as you’re trying to grow your business, as you come up against a challenge or obstacle or difficulty and stop looking for so many resources. The answer is within you. So that’s the tip for today. I’ll see you on tomorrow’s drive to the office. To higher profits and beyond, Rich Schefren over and out.

The Most Powerful Productivity Secret In The World

02/09/2011 | 9 Comments

Hi, Rich Schefren here with one of the most power productivity secrets an entrepreneur can ever know. But before I tell you that, let me ask you a question. Do you remember the very first time that you fell in love and what that felt like? Do you remember how much it pervaded your day-to-day thoughts and how you couldn’t do even for them? And that each and everything that you did for them just gave you more energy, more enthusiasm and more drive to do it more and more; to approach each day providing them with proof that you were thinking about them and that you loved them? Well if so, let me tell you about a quote that a very good friend of mine and partner, Jay Abraham, has often said. He said “that most entrepreneurs fall in love with the wrong thing. They fall in love with their products and their business when they should be falling in love with their clients and customers.” You see, when you fall in love with your clients and customers, you are constantly searching out for more ways to provide value; more ways to show them that you love them. And, that is part of the equation to being an incredibly productive entrepreneur because when you fall in love with your clients and customers you’re passionate about delivering that value. And when you’re passionate, you are productive because you’re happy.

You see, that’s one of the most powerful productivity secrets that there is; to be passionate about what you do because it makes you happy. And when you’re passionate and happy, you are truly productive. So how do you do that? Well the first thing to realize is that love is a verb. It’s not a happening. That means that you can fall in love with whoever you want, whenever you want and however you want. So think about what it was about your clients and customers that made you decide to dedicate your professional live to providing them with value? What is it about them that you could love if you’ve never really thought about that? What aspirations do they have? What are they trying to achieve that is admirable? And how can you really leverage that to feel the love for them? Because when you do that, it becomes a very easy job to then look at your to-do list, look at your task list and attach that to providing them value, because when you provide them value that’s really what your business is all about. So think about (1) what it is that you love most about your clients and customers and (2) look at your to-do list for today and think about how does that show your customers, how does that show your clients that you value them, that you love them, that you care about them. If you do that, I’m sure that you’ll see a very big difference in your productivity for the day. And I’ll see you tomorrow on tomorrow’s drive to the office. Until then, higher profits and beyond and I’ll see you tomorrow.

Make Today As Profitable As Possible

02/08/2011 | 1 Comment

Hi, Rich Schefren here and today I want to talk to you about where two essential ingredients to being a successful entrepreneur meet. And that is focus and preparation. You see, in order to be focused you need to know what is the one most important task that you need to do today to move your business forward. What is the one thing that if done well will have the greatest impact on your business moving forward being further ahead today than it was yesterday. Now, once you know what that one thing is, once you know what that one essential task is that you must get done today, the very next question is how can you be better prepared to actually get it done? How can you be better prepared to execute it better so that it does get you the results that you want? You see, focus and preparation meet together for an entrepreneur where they will achieve that one simple thing that will actually move their business forward the most. Now I don’t know what that’s going to be for you today; that could be a meeting maybe that you have with your staff if you have a team or it might be a task that you yourself are going to do because your business is smaller. But either way, when focus meets with preparation, the results are often amazing. So give that some thought as you enter your day today. And as you enter your day, think about what’s that one most essential task and how can you better prepared to execute it amazingly well. Adios for now and I’ll speak to you tomorrow.

Internet Marketers Have A Lot to Learn

08/12/2010 | 25 Comments

While selling subscriptions and building communities are relatively new concepts for the internet marketing world, the association industry has been doing these things well for more than 100 years.

Associations are groups of people with a similar interest. Think of the “Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner” ads you see on television. Those commercials are produced by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, an association of cattle ranchers. There are more than a half-million associations, and they represent pool builders (American Pool and Spa Association), doctors (American Medical Association) and every industry you can think of. Associations provide education, newsletters, networking opportunities, members-only sites and in-person conventions. (Very similar to the types of products and services Internet marketers have started providing.)

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Quick: What’s Even More Important Than A Leader?

04/26/2010 | 42 Comments

It’s been a long while since my last post…

You see, I’ve been up to my eye-balls working on that webinar I kept mentioning.  But now that it’s almost done – I figured I’d check in with you for a minute.

Today I want to share a video that Derek Sivers play at the TED conference two weeks ago.

It got a standing ovation – and I think… once you watch it… you’ll understand why… Continue…

A Simple Way To STOP Messing Up Your Life & Business

03/11/2010 | 27 Comments
  • Stop needless struggling…
  • Solve persistent problems…
  • Triumph over adversity…
  • Boost your performance…
  • Fast-forward your success…
  • Make Your Life A Masterpiece…
  • And MORE!

Today we’re switching gears (temporarily)…

You see, yesterday something happened to me…

More important: telling you about it can…

Radically Improve Your Life

Here’s the story…

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Building Credibility… Boost Business Profits, And… Light The Fuse For Massive Amounts Of FREE TRAFFIC!

03/10/2010 | 23 Comments
  • Multiplies prospects and clients faster than fruit-flies…
  • Leverages the law of reciprocity to get prospects to do your bidding…
  • Gets more targeted FREE traffic than any other tactic…
  • Floods your sites and lists with prospects who trust you (in advance)…
  • And MORE!

Pay careful attention… because in this post I’m going to share a single method that’ll build your credibility, grow your business profits, and bring your hordes of free traffic.

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