#66 You need a Signature Program. Period. It can be a tangible product that you hold in your hand, or it can be a 5-day boot-camp—but you need a Signature Program. And if you are in the business of helping people, you need a Transformational Signature Program, one that produces a measurable change in your audience.

So, what is a Signature Program? Simply stated, it is the program that you’re known for. And, at least earlier-on, it’s your big money-maker. Why do you need one? Well, again, simply stated, it’s  the very fastest way to brand yourself. And it’s the fastest way to grow your income, because that Signature Program can and should be leveraged into products and “next-step” programs. This is exactly how I built and grew Inspired Leadership Training and it’s what I teach every single one of my students and clients to do. You must have a Signature Program…period.

But, as I say above, not just ANY Signature Program. If you are here to lead change in the world (and you are), this essential program of yours that designates your brand…should change the lives of those attending, yes? There are dynamics that create transformation, and to plug my own Signature Program of the last five years, Secrets of Impact & Influence, this is THE course that teaches all of those dynamics. But there is a certain “arc” that you need to take your participants through in order to get them to shift, and it entails getting them deeply into what I call “The Ick.” You have to get them to realize how their lives are sheer misery; how they’ve been driving themselves into hell. And you have to do it well. When you include this element, they have a chance at really leaving those old patterns behind–no matter WHAT they are, even talking too much around the water cooler.

A Transformational Signature Program. Get one. Now. (Click the link for today’s final specials and look at the 8-CD Set offer.)

Get all 75 tips PLUS much more! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/report/

And be sure to go here asap for a smorgasbord of specials for you–on my birthday–and FOR today only!!

#2 You’ll really only make it in your own business
if you have a tenacious, merciless beast within you
that CANNOT WORK FOR ANYONE ELSE! The idea
of doing so must be excruciatingly painful, or you
will be too easily persuaded to do so when the
going gets tough.

I’ve always had this beast in me. Early on, it showed up as my being a careless and often neglectful, forgetful and completely indifferent employee–which annoyed my bosses, got me fired once, and generally left me with the certainty that I must be lazy because I hated to work.

Well, it wasn’t until I became an entrepreneur 10 years ago this month, that I realized ALL of that was wrong. Society has enculturated us  with the robotic “life success” trajectory: get good grades, go to college, work for a good company and claw your way to the top--OR you’re a miscreant. I bought into that hook, line and sinker…only to  discover in my own business that not only can I work with some degree of interest, I can LOVE working…in fact, way too much.

As my business grew, this beast that had once seemed my enemy–became my dearest friend. I’d hit a dry spell and have those middle-of-the-night terrors where I’d consider selling my soul for the ever-lauded “consistent paycheck”–and my beast would unleash itself wildly, screaming at me that I would wither under the supervision of a boss. I’d die giving up my autonomy, my ability to run things entirely…and, most of all, the ability to create something meaningful out of nothing and call it my own. And get paid for my own genius. “NEVER!” it has shrieked at me in such times, and I’ve had no choice but to listen.

And THAT is why I am still here 10 years later. If this beast did not live vividly in me–the other beast called fear could easily have won. And I would NOT be here telling this story. In fact, I’m quite sure I wouldn’t be here at all. So, the only question to ask yourself is, “Can I work for anyone else?” The answer will predict your future.

Get all 75 tips PLUS much more! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/report/

And watch for the TOP 10 to be revealed on Halloween…and for great specials to be announced Friday, Oct 28–my birthday!!

#40 Public speaking is truly the best, most leverageable marketing strategy for service professionals. Trust issues, resistance and skepticism melt away when we see someone in person (for the most part). Nothing else does this like being in the room with your prospects. Get out and speak!

Okay, it’s kind of laughable for me to stuff my opinion on this subject into a single blog post. For those of you who don’t know me, I specialize in teaching a very cutting-edge public speaking training, and for 5 years, have been teaching entrepreneurs to “Speak Free and Profit.” (See ebook to the right of this page and archived posts to learn even more.)

So what *can* I say about this in a paragraph or two? Well, how about this:  some things never change in a wildly changing world. The internet has lulled us into believing we can connect with others through our monitors and iPhones–but the truth is, we still need to experience each other in a live setting. We still crave the connection that is born out of face-to-face, in-person communication. It is not dead, any more than the delicious joy of holding a book in our hands and reading from paper pages is dead. Communing with others live is a delicious joy, too, and as entrepreneurs dedicated to effecting change, we must elevate speaking to the top of our marketing to-do list because it is our job to do what works. Getting people in the room to influence them to act on our world-changing idea, or to purchase something, is just plain being business smart. MUCH smarter than sitting around, waiting for dollars to come out of our Facebook pages.

Speaking is far more “Brain-Sticky” than any other kind of marketing, period. When you speak to a room of people, you have an unprecedented opportunity to remove resistance and doubt and replace it with powerful and long-lasting (if you know what you’re doing) trust and affinity. If you’re a keen observer of human dynamics, you know that an energetic circuit evolves in a room, and a master knows how to use that energy to lift the room to heights of inspiration, hope and empowerment–driving action--and once that has occurred, you have a dozen or thousand new fans who will want more of that experience…in you.

You can’t create this kind of circuit anywhere else. As such a master of live event energy, I’ve tried! You need to get them in the room with you. And they want to be there still, though it’s a tougher task to get them there than it used to be. But as humans, they want to feel the electricity that occurs in the presence of like-minded cohorts, and they want to see you up close and personal.

I always say, “Inspiration sells.” But inspiration gets transmitted best through the energy of live human beings, looking in each other’s eyes, touching each other’s arms, hearing each other’s laughs…and watching you in your grand sincerity and brilliance. Public speaking is, hands down, the most leveragable of all marketing strategies ever conceived. Some things just never change.

Get all 75 tips PLUS much more here! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/report/

And watch for the TOP 10 to be revealed on Halloween…and for great specials to be announced Friday on my birthday!!

#54 Surprise your list and your clients. This can be done in countless ways so unleash your creativity. The message here is singular: give them unexpected gifts.

The best way, of course, to surprise your prospects and clients is to deliver more than you promised. Are you consistently doing that? You don’t ever, ever want them complaining that you didn’t provide what you said you would–nor do you want them experiencing only what they expected. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it’s just not extraordinary. Every person I’ve served in business has said I have exceeded their expectations–whether in ebooks, live trainings, or 3-month courses. It’s been a huge part of my success.

But I also surprise my list with presents: transcripts from a recent talk I gave is a favorite example, or a new article I wrote (not blog post, but bonafide article). Recently, I sent them a 9-page special report detailing the blow-by-blow development of my new business brand in 2012. This might seem self-serving, but it was so chock-full of insights and guidelines any one of them could take when making changes to their own business that it was every bit a gift, and I was told so often in emails from them. And, of course, I just gave out this 14-page, 75-item report, “What I Know for Sure: Lessons Learned in 10 Years of Business.”

There truly are countless ways that you can gift your list and clients–limited only by your imagination. I suggest you take yourself back to the last surprise party you gave, or how you felt as a kid, surprising your parents with breakfast in bed or a birthday cake. Do you remember how good it felt to give what was not at all expected? Do you remember the delight on their faces? You may have gotten something back in return, but what really mattered was the selfless giving of something you knew they’d enjoy. That’s where this comes from.

Now, go and have some fun! How will you surprise your prospects and clients today?

Get all 75 tips, PLUS much more! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/report/

In celebration of my 10th anniversary, TODAY you can get my comprehensive ebook, Speak Free and Profit: The Definitive Guide to Giving Free Seminars that Explode Your List AND Your Revenues! Click to get it for just $20.11–REDUCED from $47!  Friday Oct 21 ONLY. NOTE: The sales page indicates the wrong price; but when you click to order, you’ll see the sale price.

#45–You may not like it, but the truth is scarcity/limitation sells. When offering a program, offer it only for a limited time, and offer a “scarcity” of seats.

There are marketing techniques that can feel really sleazy and have given the entire selling process a bad name.  One of them is putting a limitation on an offer. “Squeezing” people to act, who otherwise probably wouldn’t, by limiting how many units are available (seats of a seminar, books, CD’s, cameras, you name it),  and or limiting the time-frame when they are available–either forever (never to be offered again) or at a particular sale price.

We don’t seem to get annoyed at Macy’s for having a 1-Day sale or at any other retail store that threatens, “while supplies last”–but we seem to get prickly when an expert with intellectual-property says you only have today to buy a seat in a program at a reduced rate. There’s really no logic behind our finding that distasteful but not the way retailers use the same sales technique–except we’ve been conditioned since childhood to accept this from stores.

I remember years ago, when I was coaching everyone (smile–and see my report) on inter-personal communication skills, I had been working with a couple for nearly 9 months. They were caught in a vicious cycle and one of them wanted to leave. They had agreed that on a certain date, if nothing had changed, the one who wanted to leave would make a decision: stay and accept things as they were, or leave. Part of my job was to ensure that they upheld that very terrifying agreement of  a final date. I allowed them to move it back one time, by one month, but then I said, “Okay, then on September 14, you’ll be here in my office with a decision.” They trusted me and they came and the one who wanted to leave was quaking in her boots. I didn’t even know what her decision was; I wanted her to tell us both at the same time. She couldn’t get the words out. But I held her to the “squeeze date” because the truth was, she was ready. She just couldn’t do it on her own. Finally–and ONLY because she had a limitation–she blurted out that she wanted a divorce. It was  rough ride for the rest of that session, but she was able to claim what she really wanted.

A week later, she called met to say, “Lizabeth, I thank GOD for you.”

I did many things in our time together, but the most effective was setting a limitation on their vicious cycle: to say, “It’s got to end and it’s ending on this particular date.” And I had the professional integrity not to let them renege on what was best for them.

This is why I believe in limitation in sales. I know that the result they’re going to get with a program or product of mine is going to change their business in profound ways. In other words, it’s the best thing for them. But I also know the squirrel-y mind chatter of the human being, and how someone could easily tell themselves they can do it themselves, or now isn’t the time–and continue in their vicious cycle. What I’m doing, in passionate good conscience, is stopping their pattern of continuing the status quo that does not work. I put a limitation so they will act on a better decision. I am clear that doing so is the best thing I could do for them…but only because I know that my work is the best thing they could buy.

So, if you’ve had an emotional struggle with setting a limitation on an offer, I truly hope you will digest what I’ve said here and see it through an entirely different lens. Of course, if you doubt your own work, it’s possible that is getting in the way of your issuing a time or unit-restriction. Check in on that first: do you know that you deliver powerful, life or business-changing results? If you do, then give your prospects the gift of squeezing them to do what they really want and need to do.

Get all 75 tips PLUS an invitation to join me in celebrating 10 years on a free call October 10th, PLUS much more! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/report/

In celebration of my 10th anniversary in biz, today you can get my comprehensive, chock-full ebook, Speak Free and Profit: The Definitive Guide to Giving Free Seminars that Explode Your List AND Your Revenues! Click here to get it for just $20.11–REDUCED from $47! Thursday and Friday Oct 20 and 21 ONLY. NOTE: The sales page indicates the wrong price; but when you click to order, you’ll see the sale price.

# 73 There will be dry spells. Times when no one’s calling. Hardly anyone’s opening your emails. Your bank account is on the brink of death. There are two ways to go:

…Into self-pity and listlessness, which is where you construct all these stories in your head about your worthlessness; the worthlessness of your customers; the pitiful state of the economy and how nothing is ever going to change; the fact that you’ve been at this for years and you’re still a loser, etc. etc.  You catapult yourself into a spiral of self-limitation in an effort to protect yourself from further pain and talk yourself out of trying harder or differently. How often have you spun in that cycle?

…Or, you could move into clinical analysis. Just looking at the situation objectively and factually, without any fanciful interpretation, and finding just as objective and factual a solution.  You don’t believe that a black cloud has secured itself over your head; you just know that there’s something you need to do differently and you seek it out.

There will be dry spells. But you don’t have to be caught in a spell of your own making. Wake up, shake yourself off, and objectively assess the situation. Take a hard look at the marketing you put out there–is it well-written and compelling? Look at your delivery of a sales presentation–did you miss taking them into their pain? At the way you handled a prospect on a call–too abrupt? Too soft? Look  at your business identity–is it unique enough? What about your articulation of what you do–is it crystal clear? Are you urgently wanted? Are your fees to low? Too high? LOOK at it all–without emotion–and find an unemotional solution.

But here’s the rub: the first way of handling a dry spell is juicy. You get to feel sorry for yourself. You get REALLY GOOD excuses for why things are falling off the cliff.  You get to teeter on “giving up” which is a perverse thrill in itself. You get to continue developing the story you’ve had much of your life about your inabilities and limitations. And all that–again, perversely–feels good. So, you’re going to face, the next time you could go down either of these two paths, withdrawal symptoms if you choose the clinical, non-emotional direction. There won’t be any pity parties or opportunities to relax in a heap on your sofa because you “have tried everything under the sun.” You’ll have to give all that up to get going. Recognize that you may very well encounter resistance to effectiveness…notice it, and then make a wide-eyed decision–to either argue for your limitations or exceed them.

Get all 75 tips PLUS an invitation to join me in celebrating 10 years on a free call October 10th, PLUS much more! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/report/

In celebration of my 10th anniversary, I am offering many incredible special offers. Here are links to the ones this week:

Building Your Inspired Business Empire 3-month exclusive group program.

Overcome your challenge with and resistance to selling.

Get clients with a Transformational Signature Program that sells AND transforms

Everything is available this week only at great savings.

Unsubscribes. They tend to bring a little pang of
insecurity to every business owner but those
with the thickest skin. TIP: Write them from
your private email as soon as the unsubscribe
message pops up. Tell them you’re sorry to see
them go and ask them to tell you why. I’ve saved
2 recently just by doing that; they got right back on.

There isn’t much more to say about this except to impress upon you that doing it
is worthwhile. I always send back an email when I get an unsubscribe message
with the subject line, “Sorry to see you go, name!” It gives me a chance to thank
them for signing up in the first place and to get some information. Just the other
day, a woman unsubscribed when I sent out an email pertaining to my 10th year
anniversary. Since the subjects I’m dealing with for this anniversary are not my
areas of specialty, I felt it was important for her to know precisely what I do before
she goes. Nice and concisely. Here’s what I sent her, after the subject line I mentioned
above:

Before you go for good, I wanted to be clear that today’s email was a little off-topic
for me and that may be why you unsubcribed. For October, I’m “cleaning the closet.”

So, I wanted to be sure you knew precisely what I do and why you got on my list
in the first place: I build businesses for visionary entrepreneurs based on a single,
unique “powerhouse” message…which then gives rise to the suite of products and
programs that build their business empire–which includes their one-of-a-kind
money-maker, their Signature Program. I help them sell that program with Brain-
Sticky marketing–and, of course, I help them deliver it with unparalleled power
and impact with my public speaking program.

Hope to see you back again one day!

She didn’t come back, but she wrote me back to assure me that this wasn’t
personal (smile)–and to tell me the reason: which was that she is inundated
with emails. I wrote her again one last time to say thank you and now she is
left with a different impression of me and my work than she had from the
email from which she’d unsubscribed.

So, the next one you get–do the same thing. Write them back to thank them
for signing up in the first place; to ask if you can help with anything one last
time; to share what it is you do; or to ask for feedback. Again, you may not
get them back (but then again, you may)–but it’s all about customer relation-
ship and leaving a positive final impression.

Get all 75 tips PLUS an invitation to join me in celebrating 10 years on a free call October 10th, PLUS much more! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/report/

Hate to sell? In celebration of my 10th anniversary, I am reprising one of my most beloved programs. A 4-part/2-week course, Grillin’ the Gremlin: Freedom for the Sales Phobic. Learn the 7 reasons you do not sell EAGERLY or WELL. This is the LAST time you’ll ever get his program, and the ONLY time you get to work with me for peanuts. Jump on this. It’s good only until Tuesday Oct 18th! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/gg/

Fears getting the best of you? Ask yourself,
“Is this information I’m getting?” In other
words, newsworthy material I should listen
to? You’ll feel an answer. If it’s “yes,” then pay
attention. If it’s, “No. Just same old fear and
whining,” then lay it down. You only need to
attend to clear and helpful information.

This is a really important distinction. The chatter in our heads is either shi*-stirring propaganda
or it’s information with very important direction. Either/Or. The rubble-rousing kind of
monologue has no data and information in it–except, of course, that you’re doomed, are never
going to make it, are a loser now and always, Life sucks–and on and on. But when you dissect it,
you see that’s not information.

Information is defined in Webster’s as 1. “the communication or reception of knowledge or intelligence.”
(What’s that tell you about your self-talk?) 2. “the knowledge obtained from investigation, study or
instruction: FACTS, DATA.”

So, as you’ve got your head in your hands, lamenting over a dismal month of sales and everything you
did wrong, ask yourself, “Is this information I’m getting?” Facts, data, knowledge or intelligence?
Or is it a bunch of fear-mongering ka-ka designed specifically to pull me down? You will find this simple
question clears away all of the cobwebs: the answer is either yes or no. If it’s information, you will not
feel great emotion anymore, just a clearing to walk through to a more effective solution. If it’s not
factual data that you can use…what are you going to do with the chatter in your head? You must
summon the self-respect to walk away from it and ask instead, “What information do I need to get me
back on the right path?”

This simple question has saved me from balancing out on many a ledge. Try it yourself!

Get all 75 tips PLUS an invitation to join me in celebrating 10 years on a free call October 10th, PLUS much more! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/report/

Hate to sell? In celebration of my 10th anniversary, I am reprising one of my most beloved programs. A 4-part/2-week course, Grillin’ the Gremlin: Freedom for the Sales Phobic. Learn the 7 reasons you do not sell EAGERLY or WELL. This is the LAST time you’ll ever get his program, and the ONLY time you get to work with me for peanuts. Jump on this. It’s good only until Tuesday Oct 18th! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/gg/

You must begin filling your Rolodex from day -450.
That means, 18 months before you start your business,
start collecting your contacts! And real contacts, not
Facebook, Linked-In, Twitter contacts. Then never stop.
Your Rolodex is THE currency of your business success.

My ex-husband will never, ever be out of work as long as he lives. Why? Because he’s a relationship building master. Now, not when it comes to marriage, mind you, but for the more distant relationships, he’s sheer genius. By the time he and my daughter are done with dinner at a restaurant, he’s made at least two life-long friends. Imagine how many times they’ve gone out for dinner in 16 years…how many times he’s met someone new, and you can begin to picture the size of his Rolodex.

In business, he is known far and wide for his friendliness and reliability–but that’s not why he makes life-long friends in every deli, bank and business meeting–and why he’ll never be out of work. (Drum roll)…It’s because he extends a superficial relationship into something more meaningful, then maintains it. My daughter is a junior in high school. He is still sending presents to the daughter of her second grade teacher. The only reason I even *remember* my daughter’s second-grade teacher is because my ex extended that relationship (extended it beyond school by becoming interested in her upcoming nuptials, etc.) and then maintained it by sending an anniversary card and a “congratulations on the new baby” card…and to this day, a birthday card or present for the teacher’s daughter.

I bust his chops all the time because so much of the time he’s brown-nosing–especially in collecting business relationships or any other that will help, say, my daughter get into college or get in good with the field hockey coach. I’m more, well, pure-hearted with my relationships (no agenda)…but then again, I don’t have his Rolodex. I’m more passive with relationships. Hell, I don’t even make friends in a restaurant, let alone friends who’ll one day be reading my eulogy.

I always say: how we do life is how we do business. How we do relationships in life is how we do relationships in business. And sometimes what works in life does NOT work in business: I can have a light hand with relationships in life because I’m highly independent and love my own company–but in business, loving my own company ain’t going to get me business.

So, I ask you–how full is your Rolodex? How easily do you collect relationships? My ex does it, as I illustrated above, just as easily in his personal life as he does in his business life. If it’s not so easy for you in life to extend and maintain relationships, it may be challenging in business. But here’s the only advice on that: get over it. It’s actually been challenging for me to get over it, and I’m a work in progress, but we must ALL take a page out of my ex’s book. In fact, he should write one, don’t you think?

Get all 75 tips PLUS an invitation to join me in celebrating 10 years on a free call October 7th! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/report/

Hate to sell? In celebration of my 10th anniversary, I am reprising one of my most beloved programs. A 4-part/2-week course, Grillin’ the Gremlin: Freedom for the Sales Phobic. Learn the 7 reasons you do not sell EAGERLY or WELL. This is the LAST time you’ll ever get his program, and the ONLY time you get to work with me for peanuts. Jump on this. It’s good only until Tuesday Oct 18th! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/gg/

Set out to answer the question,
“What can I be the BEST in the
world at?” It may take years to
find the answer, but seek it, and
know that it must be answered
one day, so watch yourself and
ask your clients often, “What do
I do best in the world?” The
question is not, “Of all of my
skills, what am I best at doing?”
It’s what are you the best in the
world at. Period.

I was on a telecall a couple of years ago led by an older business man whom I respected–
though I’m embarrassed to say I don’t remember who it was. But he said that on his desk
he had a question: “What can I be the BEST in the world at?” And he admitted that he was
still valiantly trying to answer it. So, I adopted the idea and put the question on my desk,
believing that I *would* answer it. It, like all things that our physical senses experience
routinely, disappeared into the woodwork most days–but every so often, my Reticular
Activating System would have me catch sight of it again and I’d ponder the possibility:
What can I be the BEST in the world at?

Be assured that it’s a game-changer to know you can go toe-to-toe with the best in your
field and give either as good a performance or, more likely, a better one. Suddenly,
with this realization, your stock just took a quantum leap. You know you deserve, can,
and must command top-dollar for what you do–assuming, of course, that it is wanted.
As the best leaf-presser in the world, you may have a tough time with that. But if what
you’re “the best at” is valuable to the marketplace, you’ve just written your golden ticket.

Steve Jobs knew he was the best in the world at
innovation and made no qualms about boasting
so publicly. Writers Lev Grossman and Harry
McCracken wrote in Time Magazine’s October 17,
2001 issue: “Jobs dubbed the $2,495 Mac ‘insanely
great,’ a bit of self-praise that became forever
associated with him and Apple.” He didn’t listen
to his customers or his employees: he knew the
brilliance of his own mind and knew that to succeed,
he and everyone at Apple would do best listening to
it without reservation. They did–and the world was
changed.

On the one hand, you don’t have to broadcast to the world that you’re the best; one can
be more humble about it. But there’s also something very compelling about an expert
who asserts with conviction that he can do something no one else can. Humans aspire
to self-actualization, after all; we are fascinated by the evidence before us of one who
has reached it–at least on one  level.

Just the other day at my public speaking training, I said, for the first time, with clear
eyes and cellular certainty that I am the best in the world at extracting the message
an entrepreneur has been born to share–and that will change the world and
build a business empire. I would never compare myself to Steve Jobs, but I said it
with the same kind of knowing he had that no one can do what I do better. It was true.
It was simple. It was real. And so I said it. And I went on to let them know that come
2012, my stock price would be very different. It wasn’t a ploy or a manipulation. It
was just the truth–take it or leave it. It had impact.

Knowing what you’re the best in the world at is a game-changer. As I said
above, the question is not, “Of all that I do, which skill am I the best at?” It’s What am
I the best in the world at?

I suggest you write the question out and look at it every day–as that business man has
done, and as I did (and still do). Your subconscious will work on it, and one day, if you
want it enough, if you believe in yourself enough, the answer will come. And it will be
a brand new day.

Get all 75 tips PLUS an invitation to join me in celebrating 10 years on a free
call October 17th, PLUS much more! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/report/

Hate to sell? In celebration of my 10th anniversary, I am reprising one of my most beloved programs. A 4-part/2-week course, Grillin’ the Gremlin: Freedom for the Sales Phobic. Learn the 7 reasons you do not sell EAGERLY or WELL. This is the LAST time you’ll ever get his program, and the ONLY time you get to work with me for peanuts. Jump on this. It’s good only until Tuesday Oct 18th! http://inspiredleadershiptraining.com/10Years/gg/