Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts

Thursday, March 12, 2009

EASY WAYS TO EARNING MONEY


EASY WAYS TO EARNING MONEY

Basola A. Victor


There is a very real possibility that everything you and I have been taught about how to earn money is so far from the truth that it’s almost comical. Earning money has nothing to do with age, formal education, gender or geography. It has nothing to do with past experience or your formal years of education or your level of intellect. There are individuals who are functionally illiterate who have become multimillionaires, while there are others who are absolutely brilliant and they are broke. Virtually anyone can be taught how to earn millions of dollars and yet the sad truth is that 97 out of every 100 people are born, live their entire lives, and die without ever learning how to earn money. To perpetuate this ridiculous problem, their ignorance is passed along from one generation to the next.
Our school system has been designed as an environment to enlighten young minds, to replace ignorance with understanding and ultimately improve the quality of life. And though our educational system has obviously been successful in many areas, it has woefully neglected one important subject, ''How to Earn Money.'' A lack of understanding in this area is the cause of numerous unwanted and unnecessary problems, since money is the medium of exchange that is used worldwide for other people’s products and services.
There has always been a small, select group, approximately 3% of our population, who clearly understand that prosperity consciousness is the primary cause of wealth and their prosperity consciousness, like ignorance, is also passed down from one generation to the next.
Let’s look at ''money.'' What is it? Money is a reward you receive for the service you render. The more valuable the service, the greater the reward. Thinking of ways we can be of greater service will not only help us earn more money, it will also enable us to grow intellectually and spiritually.


MONEY IS AN IDEA


The paper you fold and place in your purse or pocket is not money. It is paper with ink on it. It represents money, but it is not money. Money is an idea. The earning of money has nothing to do with the paper stuff, it has to do with consciousness.
To accumulate wealth, a person must become very comfortable with the idea of money. That may sound strange, however most people are not comfortable with the idea of money, which is why they do not have any. The cause of poverty is poverty consciousness. A poverty consciousness will cause a person to see, hear, think and feel ... lack and limitation.


The late Mike Todd said, ''Being broke is a temporary situation. Being poor is a mental state.''


He was correct. There are wealthy people who lose every cent they have through a series of mistakes in judgment, but that does not make them poor. They will have it all back in a short time because of their prosperity consciousness.
Many years ago, George Bernard Shaw expressed his thoughts on money. People have such strong views on both of these statements, I purposely use them in my seminars to cause the attendees to think.
It is the duty of every person to be rich.
It is a sin to be poor.
Before you reject these as being ridiculous, let’s analyze them. To fully understand what Shaw was saying, you must have an open mind. There is a law that states everything is moving, absolutely nothing rests. You are either moving ahead in life or going in reverse ... growing or dying ... creating or disintegrating, becoming richer or poorer.
There is another law to which people often refer in many different ways ... Karmic Law ... Sowing and Reaping ... Cause and Effect ... Action, Re-Action. How you refer to this law is of little importance relative to your understanding of how it works.
The thoughts, feelings, and actions that you express in life are seeds that you sow. The conditions, circumstances and things that come into your life are the harvest you reap as a RESULT of the seeds that you sow. For a moment, store this information in the back of your mind while we investigate the deeper understanding of the words SIN and MONEY.
Sin is ... transgression of the law. Violating the law is a sin and, in truth, the price of sin is death. That does not mean your heart will stop beating, but it does mean you will regress. I previously mentioned there is a law that states you will either create or disintegrate, you will grow or die. When you attempt to ''get'' without giving, you are trying to reap the harvest without sowing the seeds, and it will not work.
Now let’s look at ''money.'' What is it? Money is a reward you receive for the service you render; the more valuable the service, the greater the reward. Attempting to ''get'' money without providing service is also a violation of the law.
Shaw believed you and I are here to serve one another. Thinking of ways we can be of greater service will enable us to grow intellectually and spiritually. It is our duty to serve and money is a reward we receive for that service. If a person has received their money in an unlawful manner - by law, they must pay the price; you reap what you sow.
In light of the laws that govern our universe, what Shaw said is correct. However, if a person is not consciously thinking, Shaw’s statements would appear very callous, even ridiculous. Personally, I believe Shaw made those statements the way he did, to provoke people to think.
Quite simply, what Shaw was emphasizing was the importance of our own responsibility in the quest for abundance. Abundance is something we magnetize ourselves to ... we draw it into our lives ... in every aspect our lives. Business associates, friends, everything we want will come into our life by law, not luck. You are either attracting or repelling good. It is your own consciousness that ultimately determines your results.
''Money is in consciousness and it must be earned.'' If you want to improve your financial position in life, focus your attention on creating a higher level of prosperity consciousness. Begin by preparing a powerful, positive affirmation and fuel it with emotion. When you do this, you are depositing this creative energy in the treasury of your subconscious mind. And, by repeating this process over and over and over again every day, it will begin to alter your conditioning and mentally move you in the direction you want to go. Write it out, read it, feel it, and let it take hold of your mind.
How much money do you want? Saying you want more is not good enough. Five dollars is more. How much more? Decide on a figure. Be specific. You will not seriously want more money than you are capable of earning ... however, you would be wise to remember, you must earn it.


THERE ARE THREE INCOME EARNING STRATEGIES


Trading time for money – By far the worst of the three income earning strategies, it is employed by approximately 96% of our population – doctors, lawyers, accountants, laborers, etc. There is an inherent problem with this strategy – saturation. You run out of time. If a person accumulates any degree of wealth employing this strategy, it will be at the expense of a life. They compromise on the car they drive, the house they live in, the clothes they choose and the vacations they take. They rarely, if ever, get what they want.
Investing money to earn money – This strategy is used by approximately 3% of the population. The number is small for the obvious reason – very few people have any money to invest. Many people who effectively employ this strategy follow the advice of a trusted, knowledgeable advisor.
Leveraging yourself to earn money – This is where you multiply your time through the efforts of others by setting up Multiple Sources of Income (MSIs). This is, without question, the very best way to increase your income. Make a decision to have many sources of income; it’s the strategy that wealthy people have used dating clear back to the ancient Babylonians. Unfortunately, this strategy is only used by approximately 1% of our population, yet that 1% earns approximately 96% of all the money that is earned! You are only a decision away from membership.
Once you determine how much money you want to earn, write it down on a sheet of paper in large figures. Look at the number with the dollar sign beside it and tell yourself over and over again:


THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY IS AN EFFECT. IT REPRESENTS A REWARD THAT I WANT TO RECEIVE. WHAT SERVICE CAN I RENDER THAT WOULD BE DESERVING OF THAT REWARD?


Take the total figure and divide it into multiple parts. Let each part represent a source of income. Each source of income represents a separate reward that you would receive for a service you would render. Work on one source of income at a time; each one can become an exciting part of your life.
Think of how you can do whatever you do – more effectively.
Think of how you can improve the quality and quantity of service you render.
Think of how you can help people in a greater way.
Money is a servant; the more you earn, the more you can help others.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Keys to Becoming a Successful Consultant


Keys to Becoming a Successful Consultant


With deference to Dr. Covey and his very popular Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (all habits that will make us better consultants!), here are eight skills that all of us as consultants can work on to improve.


This article will start with three overarching skills, then describe five more specific skills to consider in your ongoing development.One way to look at your total skill set as a consultant (internal or external), is to consider your relative strengths in the three major portions of our work: designing "it", delivering "it", and selling "it".


These three skills represent the complete package for a consultant, regardless of what your expertise (your "it") is.


The Complete Package:Designing "It"


This is our technical expertise. This is the "stuff" we learn in classes and through experience and practice. It is the front end of our work in most cases. While we cannot underestimate the importance of these skills (and the need to continue to upgrade them), we also can't be content if these skills are top-notch. They are not enough.Delivering "It"This is the other mega-skill that many of us are very comfortable with. Once we've designed our "product", we have to be able to deliver it. This is the skill set that is often most evident to our clients, or is what we tell people we do when they ask us our profession. Again, this skill set is critical, but alone it isn't enough.Selling "It" This skill, in my experience, is the one most often in need of improvement. While many books have been written about this skill set, there is one key, which by itself will improve your success in selling your work. If you will always focus on client/customer benefits, rather than product/process features, you will improve your success immediately. Features are components of your product or service.


Examples include:
Size
Length
Speed
Number of modules
Your Experience


People don't buy features they buy benefits. All of us know this at some level, but seldom focus on turning the important features of our offerings into true benefits. To assume that your client/customer will figure out the benefit, is to lower your chance of selling your potential product or idea.Some Specific Skills to Consider:ContractingThis is another skill that requires a book to discuss well and which requires planning and practice to improve. Getting clear agreements with clients up front about what the work is, what the desired outcomes are, and what your role is, is what contracting is all about.


Relationship Building:


Building relationships are important in all three of the major skill areas. In designing, you need to build relationships in order to gain the organizational information you need to design effectively. In delivering you need to be able to have good relationships with those involved, to lead to a more successful outcome. In selling, it's important to remember that selling is a relationship process. People buy other people and believe in their ability to deliver.Having a focus on relationships is more than building rapport, which can happen quite rapidly. Building relationships is long term focused and requires considerable commitment.Warning: Building relationships with individuals is important, but recognize that if your focus is on only one person in an organization, when they are gone (get promoted, get a new job, are downsized out, or whatever) you have lost your leverage to help the organization. So, remember to build a network of relationships within your client organizations.


Separating Process from Content


It is so important to maintain perspective while in the client organization. Clients will focus on the content (of a meeting, the product, the outputs from your study, or whatever), but if the process matters aren't attended to, outcomes can be compromised.Working on your ability to step back and recognize what is happening at the group dynamics and interpersonal level will improve your success. Clients don't always know that they need this, but they will almost always recognize that you "did something" to make things go better when you can point to, and improve the process, while sharing the content of your work. This skill is often the key to additional work or referrals.Socratic QuestioningSocrates is immortalized at least in part for his teaching approach of asking a line of questions that leads the student to discover answers for themselves. When you clients discover answers to their problems, rather than simply hear them from you, they will own the answers. Their ability to hold onto the concepts, apply them, and improve their situation will skyrocket. Improving your ability to help them discover (through the use of Socratic questioning), is a critical, though often overlooked skill. Using more questions will cause you to lose the feeling of power that you are providing the "right" answer. But the client gains far more than you lose. While you may feel like you are losing emotionally, you win with the client, and probably strengthen your relationship with them too.Saying "No!"Most of us need to improve our ability to say this. Of course we can physically say it, (OK, just for practice, say it three times right now - out loud!) but we all know we don't always say it when we wish we had!Improving your judgment on when to use this word will help you in three important ways, time management, happiness level, and client success.Time ManagementMany of your time management problems stem from trying to do too much. When people (clients, peers, anyone) ask you to do something that you don't feel you are best suited for, or don't really want to do, use your word!Happiness LevelWhen we focus our energy on the things we really want to or need to be doing (rather than just the things people ask us to do or we feel we should do), we will be happier! Say it to help you preserve and honor your priorities.Client SuccessThere are times that a client may ask you for something ("We just need this [you fill in the blank]") that you know, or strongly believe is the wrong thing. These are the times to step back and be genuine. Help them understand your perspective, and focus them on the outcome, not the suggested solution. In these cases, you might not be saying "no", exactly, but it is what you really mean!If you feel a team is ready for such a discussion, pull out this list of attributes and have a team discussion on how well people feel their team is doing on each of these dimensions, the discussion can be enlightening and help the team move its performance to even higher levels.


Till we meet again, go be the solutions to your world.


Basola A. Victor
Chief Imaginative Officer (CIO)
BASH Concepts International
Warri, Nigeria
+234-703-5121-346

Thursday, December 18, 2008

TEN RULES FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS IN THE YEAR 2009

TEN RULES FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS IN THE YEAR 2009


Thank God for a successful year that is come to an end and as we hope to cross into the Year 2009, with high hopes, dreams and aspirations it is pertinent that we enter into the next Year ready, prepared and Strategically positioned.Today, I will be sharing on ten rules for Business Success that will help as a chart and a guide as you sail along.

1. Find a human need and meet it. It is the surest path to wealth. Meeting that need should fall in line with your passion. Only passion, true passion can give you the needed drive to overcome the hurdles on your path to wealth and success.

2. Always Sharpen your Axe (Increase your ability to earn). You will be paid in proportion to how much you know and the application of what you know to solving people’s problems.

3. Learn everything you need to set sail in your business. It saves time and money

4. Value and always SATISFY your Customer, without them you have no business.

5. Have a Business Plan no matter how small you intend to start. Only a Mud House is built without a Plan and I believe that’s not the kind of Business you are grooming.6. Always give good and quality goods and services to your customers; else they won’t come back and they will tell people who will tell more people about your low quality products and Vice versa. Quality speaks volumes and your customers will become your mobile adverts.7. You don’t want to start with credit facilities that will tie down your capital and cripple you from the outset.8. Shout it loud and tell more people about your business. Marketing can never be too much for your business.9. Seek new ways to improve your business idea. Men needs new ways of doing things, Fascinate them and they will keep coming.10. Do not use your business to keep unskilled family members engaged; else they will turn your business into family meeting.

Till we meet again,
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR
About The AuthorBasola A. Victor is a Marketing Expert and a Business Consultant. He is the CEO of BASH Concepts International, a Business Solutions Firm dedicated to becoming a one-stop source for overall Business Development.

CONTACT
P: +234-0703-5121-346
E: bashconcepts@yahoo.com
W: www.basolavictor.blogspot.com