Trizle

You're selling a product.

1. Customer Carlie has to sign Form A.
2. Then Form B.
3. Then create their account cards.
4. Then call a number.
5. And send an email confirmation.
6. And then form C.
7. And then more forms.

Hurdles, Hurdles, Hurdles

Ever customer hurdle decreases a customer from ordering from you.

• The more clicks a customer has to do on your website to order X, the less likelier you'll convert the customer.
• The more contacts he has to make to order X, the less likelier you'll convert that customer.
• The more people he has to reach, the less likelier she'll buy from you.

You start with a 50% conversion rate.

• And it starts dwindling by 20% for every successive hurdle that you put in front of Customer Carlie (e.g., 40%, 32%, etc.).

If you have important forms Customer X needs to fill out, try to incorporate those steps after the sale.

Eliminate Stuff

Tip:

1. Find 1 way to eliminate a customer hurdle.
2. Repeat until you strip everything such that a Little Lilly can order from you effortlessly.

BAM.

Rid hurdles.

1. You see that Bob's slacking.
2. How do you motivate Bob?

WORK LIKE A MONSTAR.

You'll motivate Bob to mirror your work habits.

You + Kid

Take a little kid.

• Look up to the sky. The kid looks up to the sky.
• Look at your hand. The kid looks at your hand.
• Start running. The kid starts running.
• Start laughing. The kid starts laughing.

Peeps psychologically mirror what others do.

• If you want a Billy to perform well in school, drop Billy into a classroom full of gung-ho-A-type students, and watch Billy try to mirror their work habits.

Team members feeling unmotivated?

Start working like a vicious MONSTAR high on Fritos.

Be The Model.

1. Imagine a frickin gi-nourmous mountain.
2. Every step that you take gets you higher up the mountain.

Now, imagine racing Schmo.d.bobo up that mountain:

1. Every step Schmo.d.bobo takes that you don't take gets him 1 step further ahead.
2. (And vice-versa.)

Business is akin to a game of racing up that mountain to service Customers X at the top.

• The more steps you take over Schmo.d.bobo, the likelier you'll pull further ahead.
• And take your humongous share of customers.

K. Anders Ericsson, a performance expert at Florida State found through his research that those who excelled at their crafts simply had this distinguishing variable:

• They put in more practice time than the rest.

Chessmasters destroyed their competitors because they had more practice time.

The ^%@%^@ conclusion? The more time you put into your work, the likelier you'll pull away.

Steps. Steps. Steps.

Trizzy recently wrote a totally incomplete article that sucked if you're not an executive.

How do you measure productivity if you're not an executive?

In the same manner, do things that matter 5 years from now:

• reading great books/articles that give you life-long lessons: WIN
• investing in your portfolio/career/side-business: WIN
• taking courses to learn X: WIN
• building long-term relationships with X: WIN
• getting better at negotiating: WIN
• building on your business skills: WIN
• etc., etc., etc.

Invest in yourself to build a brighter future -- even if that takes 5 minutes out of your every day.

Invest in YO-SELF.

1. You're gunning for perfection.
2. You play everything conservatively.

BAM:

• Your business doesn't grow.
• Your business doesn't reach more people.
• You don't find ways to increase bottom lines.

How NFL Players Become Better

During the NFL preseasons, quality coaches encourage players to play with more risks:

• Quarterbacks throw more risky passes.
• Wide receivers go longer.
• Cornerbacks play closer.

They look dumb as they throw more interceptions, drop more balls, and give up more touchdowns -- but they grow much more as football players -- as:

• The quarterback becomes better at throwing long passes.
• The wide receivers become better at running longer routes.
• The cornerbacks become better at locking down receivers.

Play with more risk.

Embrace the power of looking dumb.

You go farther.

• "I like Chuck, but I don't like working with him."
• "He doesn't have the same work ethic as we do."
• "But we need him, so let's hire him!!"

As you bring in Chuck, he ruins your entire company's culture.

• Your business starts becoming less energized.
• The work ethic declines.
• You start sucking.

The Hiring Strategy

Try this:

• Those who fit your company's values/philosophy/work-ethic/etc. = internal team.
• Those who don't fit but are still needed = contractors/freelancers.

Hire internal people who fit your values system -- those who you:

• love working with
• know won't corrode your culture
• see as perfect representatives of your business

Contract the rest.

Those who fit.

Happiness is relative.

• I'm happier being a KING in a poor land.
• I'm sadder being a peasant in a rich land.

Become the big fish at your work:

1. Keep improving.
2. You get better.
3. Your status improves.

People start to talk about you/your-company among your industry.

With the increased status, you become happier.

Keep improving.

Bob does this for his business's job opening:

• "Let's put our job ad on Craigslist!"
• "We'll find our next superstar!"
• "OH YEAH!"

He finds good peeps -- but not great peeps.

How do you ensure a successful recruiting campaign?

Take this mindset:

• The more people who see your ad, the more candidates you find.
• The more candidates you find, the more potential superstars you find.

Have a job that you need filled?

Expose it:

1. List it on your website's homepage.
2. Put in every job board that has potential superstars.
3. Tell every=%^@%^@%^@-one you know.
4. Seek recruiters.
5. Give team members incentives (e.g., finders' fees)

The wider you cast your net, the likelier you'll find better candidates.

The numbers game.

True, business planning sucks because you can't predict the future.

But, here's the gem from a business plan:

• You can use it to measure how much actual results differ from that plan.

Without it:

• You don't know if you did really well.
• You don't know if you sucked-to-the-suck.

You + Goals

For instance, take setting goals:

• You set a goal to sell 1000 widgets.
• You sell 500 widgets.

Setting that previous goal of selling 1000 widgets let you know that you underperformed by 50%.

• "To do better, we must increase our pitches by 50%."
• "Or, we must reduce our prices to sell more quantities."

Business plans -- in effect -- let you determine how well you do relative to how well you want to do.

Like an NBA team, you start measuring your wins/losses.

Set a plan. Measure goodness.

1. Person X pisses you off.
2. You can't work with Person X.

What in the %^@%@^ do you do?

Give them something.

• Provide them a free gift.
• Give them a free car wash.
• Give them a free meal.
• Give them a compliment. (FREE!)
• Do something for them.

The power of reciprocity:

1. You do someone a favor -- genuinely.
2. That person subconsciously feels more obligated to return the favor.

You get a free gift out of the blue during your birthday/holiday/etc; you feel more inclined to return that gift.

If someone pisses you off, and you're trying to get them to change their ways, do something for them.

If you do it genuinely, they'll return a favor for you.

Give something.