Small Business Leadership and Sales Blog

Hello Marvelous People!

Ah yes! Out loud. Alone. Slowly say these words with me.

SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE. COMPELLING. ADDICTIVE.

Have you ever wondered why certain Web sites, restaurants & organizations are VALUED so much more than others? How did they become simply irresistible, compelling, (even addicting) and invaluable to their clients & prospects? They must have just been lucky, right? Maybe they were just in the right place at the right time? Yep, that happens. In about 1 out of every 100 businesses!!!

The rest of good business happens with good business PLANNING. Humor me for a second while I walk you through this quick exercise.

Step 1: Turn away from your monitor and quickly write down your 3 most favorite Web sites.

Step 2: Turn away from your monitor and quickly write down your 3 most favorite restaurants.

Step 3: Turn away from your monitor and write down the top 3 organizations that generated the highest revenue for you in 2010.

Step 4: Now go study your 3 most favorite Web sites and find out why they are valuable to you. Write your results down.

Step 5: Think about your 3 most favorite restaurants. What is it that REALLY makes them your favorite. Your most VALUED restaurants. And don’t put down, “because the food taste good”. BORING!!! So what. That’s not the REAL VALUE. Go deeper.

Step 6: Think about the top 3 REVENUE GENERATING groups you were involved in. (Chamber of Commerce, Service Club, Referral Group, Business Group, School Groups) Write down “WHY” you feel they generated so much revenue.

Step 7: The Final Step. Look at the answers you’ve created for yourself and sit down with an Accountability Partner (who’s not your partner or family member) and ask yourself the most important question in 2011: How can I apply these answers to offer Knock Your Socks Off, World Class Added Value to my clients and prospects? I’m talking to you Mr/Mrs Small Business Person.

Think about how serious this is. If there was a way you could get relief from the ridiculous “feast or famine” sucky sales cycles, wouldn’t that be worth it all? It will be. Recognize that the answer is in front of you with my 7 Steps to Becoming IRRESISTIBLE. Now invest yourself into some think time & get your plan in ACTION.

Hello Marvelous People!

Okay, by now you should be sick of articles and blog posts that talk about your 2011 goals.

But have any of those articles “INSPIRED YOU TO ACT”? Because if you have a perfect plan and you don’t BEGIN TO EXECUTE THAT PLAN WITH MASSIVE ACTION, then you will spend 2011 just like you spent 2010. It’s time to DO MORE, BE MORE, EXPLORE MORE! Don’t just be a candle in the wind, Marvelous People. As my mentor, friend and Certified Speaking Professional Mikki Williams says: “BE OUTRAGEOUS, it’s the only place that’s not crowded!”

May I offer this one warning? Go back and look at your 2011 “WRITTEN GOALS”. (Yes, written. If it’s not written, it’s not a goal, it’s a dream. More specifically, it’s a fantasy pipe dream that’s not going to come true for you.)

Assuming you are NOW looking at your written goals, can you honestly point to an item that has anything to do with the subject of Personal Development Training? Personal development training is not company training. Point: you may know company knowledge, policies and procedures but without developing your soft skills, your effectiveness will be severely limited. Complete knowledge, policies and procedures do not make you more productive – personal development and human relation skills do.

The soft skills are the hardest skills to master. Human Relations Skill development is critical. Human Relations Skill development does not have a destination. It is an endless journey. Work harder on yourself than any other item.

So here’s your CALL TO ACTION.
1. Stop planning. Start MASSIVE ACTING on your plan.
2. Let yourself go for – MORE!
3. Put your WRITTEN Goals in your Purse, Wallet, Refrigerator and Bathroom Mirror NOW!
4. The Soft Stuff is the Hard Stuff!

Peace, Love and Gumbo!

Marvin LeBlanc, LUTCF, CNP

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Marvin LeBlanc is a left-handed, right-brained, fun-loving Cajun that is obsessed with Life Performance and Overcoming Adversity. He is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker and founder of Marvelous Performance Systems. Marvin is available for business retreats, keynotes, breakout sessions, workshops, & individual coaching programs. His book “COME HELL OR HIGH WATER” will be available in the Fall of 2011 through New York Publisher www.BloomingTwig.com. To rent Marvin’s brain, contact him marvinleblanc@aol.com

“Practice your lines”.

That’s right.  Practice your lines.  Your job, like a Broadway Play is a performance.  And no great Broadway Play opens up to the public having never practiced their lines.  The great Indiana Hoosiers basketball coach Robert Montgomery Knight once said, “everybody wants to be National Champions but no one wants to come to practice.”

If you’re not committed to practicing your lines, so that you can clearly articulate what your companies’ unique value offering is – then quite frankly you’re not really serious about business.  More specifically, you’re not serious about WINNING in Business.  So that’s rule #1 to avoiding becoming “roadkill” in your industry.  Practice.

Look for Rule #2 coming shortly.   And remember, MAKE MARVELOUS HAPPEN!

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Peace, Love and Gumbo

Marvin LeBlanc