professional network

professional network

Getting fat feasting at the "Free Stuff" Buffet?

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There is no shortage of low-cost or fre-ee information in the world today.A veritable smorgasbord is only a Google search away.

 

Like you, I am guilty of partaking liberally, seeking that elusive secret success formula, enticed into clicking the link for a free download, believing that all it takes is just ONE more golden nugget to unleash the next big breakthrough…inevitably adding another mailing to my inbox.

 

 

The blessing and the curse of this information age is access to more content than we can possibly consume.

 

What’s the cost?

 

What I want you to think about today are some insights and perspective on the hidden impact and costs on your business, goals, and self-esteem when you linger too long at the “free stuff” buffet.

 

  • Fat-ness happens. You become obese with information. Your platter is overflowing with ideas, strategies, tips, and upsells from a variety of providers. (The cost: Overwhelm, doubt, and a work harder mentality takes over resulting in a poverty mindset.)
     

  • You question your gut, your dream, your talent, and results. You can become double-minded, waffling between what you know and the promise of a deliverable you want. The cost: Your confidence & self-esteem are impacted reducing your impact in everything you do.) Comparison is the root of dissatisfaction. -Anonymous
     

  • You lose track of time and the related desired results you are working to achieve. (Busy work increases without connection to results. Your progress is stalled and forward momentum delayed.)
     

You say to yourself, “Too much information? What can be the harm in that?” Right? Wrong! Too much data creates analysis paralysis, information overload, and too many options.

 

Let’s calculate the impact.

 

  • How many newsletters and info products do you subscribe to? Look through your inbox in the last week and do a quick count. Write down the number.
     

  • How many resources have you already invested in that sit on your shelf or are archived in your computer for reference? Write down the dollar amount you invested.
     

  • How much time do you spend a day, week, or month, listening to or participating in fre-ee webinars, teleseminars, attending fr-ee events, etc.? Write down the hours you spend.
     

  • Rate your confidence on a level of 1-5, 1 being low and 5, high. Just think about the impact on your business if your confidence is compromised.

 

Don’t get me wrong. I will always subscribe to new thought in the area of my expertise, people I want to follow and those I want to keep my eye on. I am simply suggesting in this post, is that it may be time to go on an info-diet. It’s up to you! Think about it. Courageously assess your company. Determine what you need to consume that will allow you to grow a healthy business on a balance of information then brutally cut the rest.

 

I’m taking the plunge. Are you in?

 

*I’ve already confessed, I am also a perpetrator of this phenomenon by offering my own selections of “free” stuff (but that is another blog post).

 

Define your Terms to Create More Sales

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Along my personal development journey I learned the value of defining terms. I use my personal story to illustrate the value of defining terms both personally and professionally.

 

I spent most of my life talking about how “hard” things were. And they were hard! I was a single mother at 22, survived a near fatal auto accident that left me with a handicap at 23, not to mention the other life stuff that goes on every day when you are working hard to make a living and raise a family.

 

 

An amazing thing happened when I redefined the word hard. It’s curious…when I asked myself if my life was truly hard I had to admit, others had it much rougher than I did. What I discovered in truth is that I had some “challenges”. There were some activities that were “difficult” for me. I did have to exert a little more effort to get things done…but I could do them.

 

In that discovery I had an “Aha” moment…I could work with challenges and difficulty but hard things were just plain hard…and my speaking it made things even harder. So, I changed my vocabulary. When I would have habitually described a situation as “hard”, I began replacing the word with a true statement. My attitude changed and, I swear, life got easier.

 

When it comes to doing business, I believe defining terms has been instrumental in building a profitable growing consulting practice, serving my clients, and creating business development curriculum’s.

 

For example, early on in my career I redefined selling.

 

Old definition: Selling is convincing someone to buy something they didn’t need.

 

New definition: Selling is serving customers by discovering and matching a true need with a valuable solution.

 

When I quit trying to “sell” my customers and instead focused on serving, exchanging valuable information and connecting them to resources my sales increased immediately. Of course, I had to complete the sales process by creating an opportunity to purchase but that wasn’t the end game…just part of serving.

 

Same thing with networking.

 

Old , old definition: Networking is schmoozing and positioning.

 

Old, new definition: Networking is relationship building, connecting people to people, and perfect elevator pitches.

 

New definition: Networking is a strategic marketing activity intended to increase exposure, build credibility, and create opportunities in addition to generating leads.

 

What I began to view my networking in light of the bigger picture, my sales increased exponentially. As a matter of fact I doubled my sales in one year using this new definition. Achieving this led me to clearly see and define another type of valuable networking activity; networking to build professional relationships or strategic partnerships.

 

Check this for yourself. How do you define these terms? Is it working for you?

 

Happy Networking!.