How To Develop Your Potentials Beyond Limitations

Make it a habit to focus on your strengths. Don't forget to include your undeveloped potential, as well. Train yourself to focus on your potential instead of your limitations. 

Now that's not to say that you should ignore your list of reasons for not doing some of the things you would like to do. 

Not at all!  But look at them from the view point of your strengths. For instance, you'd like to play basketball but you think you are too short, so you don't even try.

 
In this case, you are looking at it from the viewpoint of your limitations. Now, when you look at it from the viewpoint of your strengths, you would say, "Well, I may be pretty short to play, BUT I am fast. 

I can handle the ball well.  I have a lot of stamina.  I can't change being short, but I can refuse to let my limitations overcome my strengths." You see the difference?  Focusing on your limitations lets those limitations make your decisions for you. 

Focusing on your strengths lets YOU make the decision. To go back to our example:  when you've decided to overcome your height limitations to play basketball - something you really want to do - you will be more determined to develop your strengths to compensate. 

You will do well, because you will be doing what you really want to do and you will be determined to develop the full potential of your strengths. Very few people concentrate on fully developing any of their strengths. That's where you will have the edge. You know your true disadvantages but your determination, your singleness of purpose, will inspire you to fully develop the talents and skills you do have.

OK.  You probably have no interest in playing basketball. Then go to your assessment of yourself.  What do you have a major interest in? What do you have a natural aptitude for?  Go for it. Devote yourself to something you really like to do.  

Don't choose something just because you think you could make more money at it than you could by doing something else that you would really rather work at.You won't work to develop your full potential. 

You may start out with enthusiasm, but you will soon flag. It will be a chore to go to work.  You'll probably find yourself hating to go. It'll be difficult to work on improving your skills because you don't like what you are doing. 

You probably won't be working up to your potential. Your success will probably be limited by your growing lack of interest and your happiness will surely be affected. 

If, however, you devote yourself to something you really like to do, you'll enjoy your work, you'll be enthusiastic, and you'll probably find yourself working on improving your skills just for the sheer joy of it. You will be working to reach your full potential. 

You'll probably soon find you are making more money at this truly interesting occupation than you ever dreamed possible. And because you like what you are doing, you will be happier. When you know you are working to your full potential and you enjoy your work and begin to feel successful, you will find that self-confidence and happiness soon follow.

But, you must be realistic and honest with yourself. If you set goals that you can't possibly reach, you are setting yourself up for failure. You will make yourself frustrated and unhappy. The key here is a realistic and honest assessment of your potential. Although most people will be unnecessarily harsh in their assessments, it is easy to become too hopeful when you start breaking down barriers. 

If, for instance, you're extremely interested in and fond of music and would love to be a singer, it would be unreasonable to set a singing career as your goal if you can't sing  a note (some talents are inborn). But if you are knowledgeable about the music business and would be happy being involved in some other capacity, then it would be reasonable to pursue a career in the business. 

Be wary of making otherwise perfectly reasonable goals unattainable because of stringent time frames. When you set a goal, you will most likely set times for achieving certain steps along your way to achieving your final goal. Even if you don't set the time frames formally, you will probably have a pretty good idea of how long you are giving yourself. It's wise to sit down and formally set these goals.

 Think about it and  give yourself reasonable time to achieve them. Make a deal with yourself to view these time limits as flexible. Don't get discouraged if things don't work out as planned. Sometimes finding our place takes both time and error. All of us experience failures of one magnitude or another. The key is to view the failures as a learning experience - if nothing else, failures teach us what not to do. Have a wonderful day.

5 Straight Tips That Have Great Influence On Customers

Since you’re selling to human beings wouldn’t it be great to know the five tips that have great influence on your customers?  

What I’m about to share with you will make you the Svengali of Sales in your niche.  

 I’m going to put them in the order of use in the marketing process, but they can overlap or be switched around to fit your situation. 

MAKE YOUR OFFER IRRESISTIBLE  !

What happens in nature when there is a vacuum?  Right.
 There is an attempt to fill that void, and human nature also follows that law.

1. Filling the void – When someone does a person a favor or gives them something of value for free, this act provides an imbalance in the relationship.  This creates a subconscious pressure on the recipient to give back in some way. This is what’s known in marketing as filling the void.

2. Reciprocation – In marketing the word “FREE” has the most response of any word in the English language.  That’s why marketers use it over, and over again.  Everybody likes something for free, don’t you?  Even though “free” means there is no obligation or cost, the recipient does feel obligated.  If something of real value is given to the person, an imbalance is created – a void in nature – that needs to be filled.  Maybe not immediately, but if that person has gotten great value and use from the gift, there will be a nagging sub-conscious motivation to reciprocate in some manner.

You’ll find that some people just don’t seem to reciprocate, and it could be that they didn’t appreciate the full value of your offer.  This is why it’s so important to make sure when you are offering a free gift with a promotion, that your customers are made aware of the full value of what they’re receiving.

What really makes this work in marketing, though, is that you make your “free” offer available when your customer takes action.  Now it can be a very small one like filling out a customer card for you (which gives you their name, address, and email address), or accepting your product on a 30-day trial.

3. Getting your customer to like you  - Have you heard the phrase, “if a customer knows, likes and trusts you then they’ll buy from you”.  Well, you’ve gotten them to know you with your “free” offer, the next step is to get them to “like” you.  The quickest way I know to get someone to like you is for you to let them know that you like them (reciprocation, again).

Now, not ALL people are going to “like” you and you’re not going to like all your customers, but if you take this approach you’ve a lot better odds of finding customers.

When you’re writing your ads and marketing letters always write as if they are a personal note to a real, live, breathing friend.  Use plain talk as if you’re talking to your best friend, and not “hi-tech techno”.  Keep it simple!

4. Trust – I don’t know about you, but when I hear someone say “TRUST ME” it reminds me of a snake oil salesman and makes me do anything but trust them.  So how do you get your customers to trust you?  Take a leadership role with them and tell them what they should do to take action and buy. You must be or present yourself as an “Authority” figure.  An expert in your field and the only one they should buy from as proven by the endorsements of your other customers, their friends and neighbors.

If your offer is made in a letter, than include some endorsements from others, mention articles written about you, books, articles, newsletters that you’ve written, etc.

 It is interesting that most people don’t want to make a decision, and it’s better that you give them an action plan to say “yes”.

5. Scarcity – This is one persuader that really motivates humans to action, and you must create and manage this to your advantage in every offer you make.

People want things that solve their problems or make them feel good about themselves that are of good quality. 

 They want it even more – if the quantity is limited in some way.  

Remember the law of supply and demand?  If the demand for a product is high and the supply is low, then the price that’s charged will be accepted readily be it high or low.  

(Sounds like buying gas for your car, doesn’t it?)

Even if you create the “perception” that there is a limited quantity available, a limited time frame for availability, or whatever you conceive to use, you’ll find this a catalyst to action for your customer.

Of course, it goes without saying that you always include a guarantee of some kind in your offers. I always like the “no questions asked” type of guarantee for 30, 60, 90 days or even a full year if it fits for you. 

With this you’re emphasizing your credibility (trust) by saying you’re going to be around for a while. 

 Most times there are very few takers to the guarantee policy you offer, and if there is – you don’t want to keep an unhappy customer anyway.