2013 Declaration of TOTAL Business Independence

Well, it’s July and, for the sixth year it’s now time for my 2013 edition of the Declaration of TOTAL Business Independence. It has been updated and in a sense re-imagined and this year, more important than ever.

So how has your year gone so far?  Can you answer? Do you even know? You should know exactly how your year has gone…and the key word here is exactly. Because if you know how your year truly has gone so far then that means that:

• You are or aren’t using written goals to measure your success or lack thereof against.
• You are or aren’t tracking everything from personal productivity to sales success.
• You are or you aren’t prioritizing your daily tasks and only doing the most important things to drive you towards your professional and personal goals.
• You are or you aren’t managing by objective. You either do or do not know what your sales are against your goals for the week; month; quarter; year and last year.
• You are or you are not dealing in REALITY.

If you follow my writing you know that your success or lack of it is largely based on your perception of reality. For me the year is half over, but it’s also a time of opportunity; a time to make adjustments; a time for new and improved beginnings. We should only look at the past six months as a way to analyze what we are doing well and what we are not and then, with that information, we make valuable course corrections.

Everything we do and should do is based on the singular goal of becoming an independent and successful entrepreneur; manager; executive and business owner. The only way to achieve this goal is to constantly be in search of ways to get better; to analyze the past to make the future great. Sometimes this is achieved simply by committing to a level of excellence in the basic foundational and time proven factors of success. It’s time to get serious, knuckle down and get the job done.

It’s also a time to review or even (dare I say) create your goals.  It’s never too late.

It’s also time for some of us to make a stand!!

Now is the time to confidently make concrete and rock solid commitments to certain disciplines and thoughts that have proven through time to be the foundation of successful and profitable sales, marketing and business practices.

So, to that end, and to stay with the central theme of July, I would like to offer up my updated……….

2013 Declaration of Business Independence

1. I will not listen to the nay sayers; negative friends and business acquaintances; the networks; the TV news; the business magazines and talking heads. I understand that I will create my own future and completely control my own environment as what if believe it is. I can and will make it better and I will always win!
2. I will set goals and objectives, and I will write them down in order to achieve my dream. (A dream pushes you to do something out of the ordinary and your goals help you make your dream a reality.)
3. I will clearly understand my “WHY” and will shift my marketing away from “selling” to “helping”. (No one likes to be sold, but everyone likes to get help.)
4. 4. I will not waste another penny on marketing…and I understand that all my marketing WAS wasted if I didn’t know whether it was working or not. I must track everything.
5. I will not dedicate my budgets to marketing fads. I will analyze and understand every tool available and know if my target customer and market could be reached with this method.
6. I will become a master listener. I will clearly understand my prospects and clients needs from their point of view
7. I will work to build trust through everything that I do and say. Trust is the basis for strong relationships and sales.
8. I will replace sales lingo in my marketing with natural and conversational language. It’s much easier to engage a prospect with a conversation than with a monologue.
9. I will measure the effectiveness of every aspect of my marketing and sales process and continually test alternatives to improve my conversion rates and my sales. No matter how good my marketing is, I can always improve it.
10. I will discover alternative ways to close the sale that aren’t pushy or uncomfortable for me to use. I will listen more; ask more questions and then respond to the customer needs.
11. I will avoid wasting time and money trying to reinvent the wheel and will ask for help from experts and trusted advisors when I find myself struggling.
12. I will become a TIME MANAGEMENT maniac. I vow to never waste my time. I will delegate any and all tasks that someone else could do. (I can’t grow my business if I’m spending my time sorting email or running to the post office.)

    13. I will create a daily plan for how I can maximize the use of my time and I will follow it to maximize sales. Without a plan, I’ll never get around to developing that new product, service or implementing my marketing strategy.

So let’s look at the coming months with an eye to the future rather than the issues of the past. Let’s focus and make it the best year of our life….SO FAR!

If you need some assistance getting there and want to talk about it, call me at any time. This is what I do and I’m open for business. And, as always,

Be GREAT!!

Coach Dan