Trizle

Scenario: "Dude, when I grow my revenues to a million dollars, I'll be happy. Yay! Yay!" Ahh-fo-shizzle.

Why a Kabillion Dollars Won't Excite You

The common theme:

1. "A million-dollar business will make me happy. Booyah!"
2. Builds million-dollar business.
3. "I think 10-million would do. Oh yeah!"
4. Builds 10-million dollar business.
5. "100-million. Kaboom!"
6. Builds 100-million dollar business.
7. (You get the picture.)

When you continually see your cup-o-good-water as half-empty, you'll see your life as half-empty no matter what you have, what you accomplish, or what goals you rip to shreds. Why? It's a habitual thing: You go 30 days doing one thing, you'll develop a habit that's viciously hard to break. (For instance, if you want to be in shape, run for 30 days. If you want to quit smoking, lay off for 30 days. If you want to be healthy, eat healthy for 30 days. You'll see your badass doing it for much longer than those 30 days.) Yet, most people go years/decades thinking $_______ will make them happy. They've developed a disastrous, almost unbreakable, habit of the "My-cup's-freakin'-half-empty-like-freakin'-always" syndrome. If they just one day woke up with a billion dollars, they'll be unhappy within a week. Ouch. Luckily, there's hope.

How to Be Happy

Live by these two rules:

• Rule ^1: You're already a badass.
• Rule ^2: If ever in doubt, refer to Rule ^1.

(And if you don't think so, email us with your story -- and we'll tell you why.) When you see your cup as half-full, you feel content with yourself, you feel happy, you feel anything else is icing on the phat cake. Research by the University of Michigan two decades ago showed money and relationships were bad predictors of happiness. The best predictor of happiness? The sense that you're happy with yourself, with what you have -- that your cup's half full, and that you finally realize: "Hey, I'm a mutha ^!%&*@ badass. Me!"

"So how do I adopt the cup-half-full mindset?"

Think in habits. If you see your cup as half-full everyday for 30 days, you'll develop a ridiculously cool habit of being being happy for as long as you want. Here's what you can do, although you might find a more appropriate habit-builder that matches your personality: Wake up everyday for 30 days, and tell your bad self: "I love my business for what it is, what it's done, and the potential it has for the future." Whatever cup-half-full activity you do, just try it for 30 days. You'll slowly but surely develop a sweet happy habit that's-oh-so-freakin-hard-to-break for the rest of your life. And, when you're ever in doubt about yourself, refer to Rule ^1:

You're already a badass.

Scenario: "Dude, when we hired Timmy, he was motivated, passionate, and determined like one badass mofo. Now, he sucks. Too bad. Fire him. Yay!" It's the classic hire-superstar-fire-former-superstar cycle that happens in most businesses:

1. Hire Timmy.
2. "Whoa! Timmy rocks. Wow. Wow!"
3. Uh-oh.
4. Timmy sucks.
5. "You're fired. Fired."

"Ay-freakin-ay. Why does that always happen?"

At the hint of something negative happening with Timmy, managers typically take the "oh-no-it-ain't-my-fault" approach -- thinking and pointing: "Them. Them. Them. Them." ...instead of the real culprit: "Me. Me. Me. Me." Too bad. Before the company could realize what a great talent it snagged:

1. Timmy starts feeling ignored.
2. Timmy's motivation drains.
3. Timmy thinks he's making no impact.
4. Timmy feels an emotional blah-age.
5. Timmy's productivity depletes.
6. Manager Mitchy realizes Timmy's "true colors."

How Manager Mitchy Transformed a Superstar Into a Worthless-Sucky-Dude

Based on sweet research from INSEAD, and from our own business experience -- here's why:

1. The moment Timmy makes a small mistake, Manager Mitchy concludes Timmy sucks at everything.

   A small mistake -- that shouldn't matter in the scheme of things -- becomes overblown and out-of-whack. Managers clumsily use the slippery-slope fallacy way too much:

   "Timmy screws that thing up, so he probably will screw this _______ up, then this _______. He's not so smart. He's not the person we thought he was. We'll monitor him, viciously -- so he doesn't mess up, again."

2. Manager Mitchy starts babysitting Timmy -- draining Timmy's confidence to kick ass on his own.

   Imagine viciously overbearing parents critical of everything their daughter does. Timmy feels the same way: his boss scrutinizes each and every little mistake he has. That makes him super-subconscious of his flaws. Instead of sensing empowerment, or the belief that he can rock-the-world-like-it-ain't no-thang, he subconsciously thinks he needs his boss to even perform satisfactory. Confidence-to-kick-ass = gone.

3. "I'm no superstar": Timmy thinks he sucks, so he does sucky things.

   • Manager Mitchy: "Timmy really sucks."
   • Timmy thinks: "I'm really suck."
   Instead of passionately wanting to kick-ass, he lives down to his boss's expectations. So, thinking he's dumbo, he waits for directives. He becomes a robotic drone, and soon starts withdrawing from work. "I'm not so hot as I thought I was," he tells himself. Productivity = drainage. Creativity = lost. Superstar-in-the-making = gone.

How to Keep Your Superstars Rockin'

Don't fall into Manager Mitchy's managerial-disastrous path. Instead, know this:

1. Every employee you hire will suck, somewhat. Let them redeem themselves.

   Even Michael Jordan made big mistakes. And, Jack Welch. And, Henry Ford. And, Walt Disney. If you're cutting people without letting them redeem themselves, that will leave you with a Company-of-No-One. Uh-oh.

2. If anyone's at fault, it's you.

   Sure, Timmy made a mistake. But chances are:
   • (1) you provided him insufficient resources,
   • (2) you miscommunicated the task's scope,
   • (3) you're an amateur at understanding human psychology,
   • (4) you placed him in the wrong position, or
   • (5) you hired the wrong person -- and it's time to let him go.
   Incessantly using the "my-fault-my-fault" attitude drives you to confront the vicious facts of what specifically went wrong -- to keep those stars rockin'.

3. The ridiculously-cool people want to kick ass if you let them.

   You'll meet two types of people in this world:
   • (1) people who can't perform -- even with a million-dollar bribe, and
   • (2) people who will excel-like-a-badass -- even with just a cheeseburger offer.
   Your job: remove the former from your business, then find and empower the latter. How do you do it? Give them the tools they'll need; then: get the $^@! out out the way. You'll see those superstars soar higher than a mutha-%^!&%!-bald-eagle-on-crack. We promise.

The phat moral:

Empower.

Scenario: "Dude, we need to hire somebody with a masters degree in computer engineering from a top 10 school, 5 years of Java experience, 5 years of managerial skills, and 5 years of blah-blah skills. We hire only the best. Yay!" That's one of the biggest misconceptions that bankrupts start-ups, kills company morale, and keeps managers awake thinking: "Did I really hire the right person?"

But, who can blame them?

"Hire on skills!" the business-pseudo-expert crowd screams. "You want experienced people!" those suckas exclaim. "Steal those industry superstars!" they tell you. Conventional wisdom says the "best" people are the most "skillful." But, since you're a badass businessperson, you know that conventional wisdom sucks. If you want the recruit the "best" people, forget skills: recruit for deliciously good, natural talent.

Why Hiring Employees Based on Skills Sucks

Log onto Craigslist, Monster, SimplyHired, or the plethora of other job boards. What do most companies want?

• "In-depth product knowledge."
• "5 years in implementing IT solutions."
• "5-7 years in selling to C-level executives."
• "Blah. Blah. Blah."

What's wrong with hiring people on ill skillz? Tha phat list, and we'll start with the most important:

1. You ignore natural talents.

   You can't teach execution, teamwork, determination, passion, and natural smarts. Guess what turns blah companies into super-kick-ass-oh-my-gosh-no-they-didn't companies?

2. It's expensive.

   For one thing, it's major overhead. And then, you're paying high prices for people who probably won't excel at your company. You're much better off with cheap and determined up-and-comers.

3. You hire commodities.

   Skills are a dime-a-dozen. If you just need those skills, hire contractors and save on overhead.

4. Most people lie on their resumes, anyway.

   Or, they severely embellish their "accolades." Five-years of selling lemonade as a kid? Make that "5-years of selling innovative solutions to Fortune 500 managers."

5. You can teach "10 years of skills" in a couple of months.

   We live in the information age, after all. For instance, you can diagnose your sick self in two minutes; you can learn Warren Buffett's philosophy on corporate debt in two minutes; you how to cook Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders in two minutes. Those "10 years" of skills? Overrated. We'll explain.

How to Teach "10 Years" of Skills in Months

"Dude, but this applicant has 10 years of programming experience. Ten years!" Skills from the first bulk of those years:

1. is obsolete, or
2. can be learned in a few minutes, days, weeks.

Thank technological advancements, survival-of-the-fittest innovation, millions of experiments, and Google. As for the last bulk? Use our sweet, juicy, and delicious secret sauce: Hold training boot camps.

How Training Boot Camp Rocks

Say, you're looking for another crazy-good chef for your Italian restaurant. So here's what you'd do:

1. Hire somebody who (1) can't settle for anything but excellence, (2) executes like-all-the-time, (3) perseveres like a mofo, and (4) holds the same values as your best people.
2. Get them cooking as many meals in as little time as freakishly possible. (e.g. multi-course meals in an hour, 5-10 per day, 4-6 months; Iron-Chef-the-shizzle out of 'em)
3. Congratulate your company. You just got yourself a crazy-good chef.

Remember: The people who kick more ass put in more hours. You can have ten years of cooking experience, but if Johnny has more hours under his belt cooking multi-course meals -- and only doing it for six months -- he'll kick your ass. (e.g. A rule of thumb: A kick-ass free-throw shooter shoots more free-throws. A kick-ass programmer develops more applications. A kick-ass developer builds more houses.)

"But dude! We have no knowledge in ________. We need somebody with experience. Yay!"

If you're only looking for skills or experience, consultants with proven track records are your best friends.

• Need help developing a full-fledged sales team? Check.
• Need help growing revenues to 7-figures? Check.
• Need help managing cash flow? Check.
• Need help with your first acquisition? Check.

(Quick Tip: Treat the consultant as a C-level executive than an ordinary consultant. You'll get a much bigger bang for your buck, and you'll also create a pseudo-partner. That's priceless. Trust us.) And besides, paying that relatively small consultant bill looks much better than paying the pesky high five/six-figure salary for somebody who might not work out anyway. That limits your risk, and keeps your cash flow sexy. Save that cash to develop your young guns and whatever else you need to rock your business. The moral:

Hire on talents. Then train, super-viciously.

Scenario: "Dude, I'm the boss and I say we need a million-dollar CRM system to improve customer service. Customers will love us. Billions, here we come. You're welcome. Yay!" Oh-fo-shizzle. CEOs, marketing VPs, and other senior managers incessantly search for the next-great-innovative-company idea like it's some freakin' Easter Egg hunt for adults. Yet, most ignore the most delicious source for those super-spectacular-innovative ideas to improve their companies: their average, everyday employee.

Employee Ideas Rock Like Kool-Aid

Yeah, some folks might be saying: "Look, you sons-of-biatches. I'm the head honcho. I know everything. I command everything. Can't touch this. Yay!" Whoa, whoa, whoa: Hold on there, buddy. We'll explain.

How Amazingly Awesome Managers Do It

Amazingly awesome managers confront these similar everyday business problems:

• How can we improve customer service?
• What products do clients need?
• How can we improve employee productivity?
• How do we improve company morale?

Are you an amazingly awesome manager? Check yo' self: If you could choose one of the two responses below, you'd choose: Response A: "Dudes, we'll send customers birthday cards to improve service. We'll buy the next-great-tech product because customers will need it to stay with the pack. Then, we'll hire motivational speakers to boost employee productivity. Finally, we'll give handshakes to improve employee morale. Handshakes. Yes!" Response B: "Dudes, let's first talk to our fabulous front-line employees and see what ideas they recommend. We'll base our ultimate decisions on their answers." If you chose B: ding, ding, ringlin', ding, ding: you're one correct badass.

Why Employee Input Rocks

Employees have the juiciest information available: they interact with customers and fellow-employees, like-all-the-time.

1. With employees, they know what's draining and demotivating other team members.

   Think of any workplace you've worked in the past. Who knew more about fellow-employee Johnny's sentiments about the company: you, or boss Billy?

2. With customers, they know what customer types ultimately want.

   Yeah, a client may tell you it needs customer-service software. But what it really want: improve customer retention scores by 200% next year. With healthy working-relationships, only those front-line employees will uncover your client's ultimate goals -- then send you innovative ideas to serve similar clients in the future.

Here's a sweet switch in perspective: think of your employees as partners. You'll go a long way in rocking your business.

"So how do I get employee input?"

Don't fall into the vicious trap: saying nothing. How most businesses seek employee input:

1. We won't ask for your input.
2. If you do have good ideas, we want to hear them.
3. But, we won't tell you ^2.

You'd be much better off tacking a giant freakin' poster that says: "Look badasses, we value your input. Tell us how we can rock your work environment." The even better idea? Reward employee input. Formalize the sucka. For instance:

• Cash for recommendations incorporated
• Annual awards for cleverest idea, etc.
• Hawaiian trip for best contributor
• Insert yours: ______________

That subconsciously gets your employees thinking: "Hey, they freakin' value my ideas. I'm a badass that can make a contribution to the company. Fight on!" If you encourage them:

Employees will rock your business with deliciously juicy, sexy, and amazingly awesome ideas.

Scenario: "Dude, we can't sell __________. It's not hot. Let's build a social networking site like YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook. It's the new thing. Yay!" Uh-oh. What would happen if social networking businesses decline in popularity, and something else becomes the "next big thing?" You'll probably jump ship to find that "elusive" pot-of-gold.

The Classic Entrepreneur's Cycle

It goes a little something like this:

1. Hot trend.
2. Johnny builds a business on that trend.
3. Two years later, that trend declines.
4. Johnny repeats cycle with a new hot trend.

Hot Trends Never Stay Hot

Think computer hardware, consumer software, real estate, search engines, donuts shops, biotechnology, coffee shops, discount retailers, etc. What's the common theme? What the media once considered hot now ignores it as blah-blah-blah. It's happened to every "killer" industry. Yet, when the media's not watching, most industries still experience record growth in sales, profits, employees, productivity, etc., etc. Sure, you could go on a research rampage to discover what's the next big thing. But, before you could build an established business that generates record profits every quarter, something else comes along -- ruining, you think, your "opportunity for billions." So, you'll jump ship again. It's a sucky strategy. Instead, realize this gem:

You Can Build a Billion-Dollar Business Selling Donuts

"Oh-mutha. Fo-shizzle?" You bet your badass you can. Most aspiring entrepreneurs -- and we still love 'em dearly -- get so caught up in trying to discover what's hot, that they forget: "Hot" opportunities exist everywhere. That is, your future billion-dollar business can come from virtually any established industry. The Fortune 500 itself has 75 different industries.

Do What You Enjoy + What Where You Excel

Forget those "hot" opportunities. Oftentimes:

1. You hate doing it.
2. You suck doing it, anyway.

The ingredients to building a freakishly successful business goes beyond that. Find the industry where you've spent an inordinate amount studying, loving, and praising. (Or if you want, find a totally new industry that piques your curiosity. Just keep in mind: you'll need to spend years studying it before you could excel in it.) Too many sad-faced people run businesses they dislike. You don't need to be one of them. You're too much of a badass. Instead, just follow what the founders of Fortune 500 companies did:

Do what excites the begeebees out of you.

Scenario: "Dude, I'm always sick. What's wrong with me? Ahh!" 2-second quiz for ya: Which entrepreneur will likely rock the world more?

1. Sandy who takes 4 weekends off a year for friends/family.
2. Aaron who takes 40 weekends off a year for friends/family.

If you chose Aaron, hit the sirens: ding, ding, ding, ding: You're right. We'll explain. If you've been stuck in your office for the last 84129421 days, and you've avoided friends and family, you've probably been sick -- more times than your badass can remember. That's because your body's running a never-ending marathon. Flu season's coming, and you're probably going to get sick again. We promise. Uh-oh.

Unhealthy Person = Freakishly Less Productive

Instead of focusing fully on your work, your mind starts thinking about what medicine you need, what jackets to wear, what foods you need, yadda, yadda. Worse, when you're sick, your performance suffers. Like Paris Hilton CD sales. And of course: you infect your employees, which drains your entire company's productivity. But, you gotz somez hopez.

What's the sweet way to avoid sickness?

This weekend -- drumroll: Hang out with your friends and family. Why? People that develop strong relationships with friends/family are much happier. Then...

When you're happier, what happens?

Your body starts thinking it's a badass and rejects viruses that cause colds and flu. That will keep you healthy, and keep you kicking booty every week. So if you have some time today, hang out with your cool friends and family. A template to get you started:

"My amigo! Let's kick it, and do the freakin' tango!"

Scenario: "Dude, I have a business to run. I can't run. Yay!" We're definite fans of running if you're a business-builder trying to build the biggest freakin' business that rocks the world like it ain't no thang but a chicken wing on a string. Short 2-second quiz for ya: What improves your bottom line more?

• (a) 30-minutes of ordinary running
• (b) 30-minutes of ordinary work

If you chose (a), ding ding ding ding: You're right. And, a badass.

Why Running = Good

When you run, you keep your health, your longevity, and your spirits intact for all the ups-and-downs of your crazy business life. Running also makes you smarter by building your brain cells and improving your memory.

More Running Benefits

Want to rid that anxiety? Running helps you rock your confidence for those upcoming sales meetings. Feeling down after you losing a bid? Running helps you kick depression's ass. Want a super-long-career? Running helps you fight your age. And when you think you're already smart, confident, young, and happy, just remember this: Running keeps your badass sexy. Fo. Shizzle.

"How should I run? Ahh!"

If you want to get the immediate positive effects of running, do it right before you work (e.g. mornings). And, forget those treadmills at your local gym. They're way too depressing, dark, and sad. That's the reason people run on treadmills for a day, then quit: It feels blah. Instead, venture outside when you're running.

How Outdoor Running Rocks

You'll feel happier and energized to rock your business for the world. University of West Virginia psychologist Georg Eifert studied the effects of running inside versus running outside:

What

Eifert recorded hormonal and mood changes in 10 avid runners after they jogged in three different terrains: the first around a college campus, then twice inside on a treadmill.

How

During the first indoor run, the athletes listened to a tape recording of the sounds in a botanical garden. The second was to the tune of their own heartbeat, recorded and amplified as they ran.

Indoor Running Results

Running indoors to the beat of their own hearts, runners felt more fatigued and depressed after than before. Their physiology matched their foul mood: Adrenaline levels dropped, cortisol climbed. The run with the botanical recording begat no mood changes, and negligible hormonal changes.

Outdoor Running Results

Eifert found that after the outdoor run, the athletes felt more invigorated, refreshed, and happy than before they started. And their bodies showed it: Levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline, hormones associated with positive mood, were up. Levels of the stress hormone cortisol were down.

So when you're preparing to rock the world, use the mindset that gets us started every morning:

Run like you freakin' stole something.

Scenario: "Dude, we gotta do: ___________________. Yay!" But, there's a better way. And, it's more optimistic. Just ask your bad-self, "What's one thing I'm grateful for?" When you ask yourself that sucker, you see your cup as half-full. Anything else would be icing on the cake. Instead of focusing on the I-have-to's, the question drives you to embrace the super-sexy-sweetness of your life and your business.

What are the psychological benefits?

According to researchers, "Feeling thankful and expressing that thanks makes you happier and heartier - not hokier." An added bonus: you "sleep better, exercise more and gain a general contentment that may counteract stress and contribute to overall health." That will maintain your badass to rock the world with your business for ages.

The cool side-effect?

When you think of one thing that makes you thankful, another sucka pops up. And another, and another, and another -- until you fully appreciate what a sweet life you really have. It's one of the coolest tools we know. The template to get you started to end your fabulous week:

I'm thankful for this sucka: _________.

Scenario: "Dude, I gotta study the freakin' success stories of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Jeff Bezos. I'll make billions. Yay!" Or, even better: study something else. 2-second quiz for ya: What teaches you more about rocking the world?

1. Studying the successes of Gates, Jobs, and Bezos
2. Studying their failures

If you chose ^2, you'd be right. Carne Asada.

"Wait, can't I learn more from someone's success?"

Not quite. Here's why: What made GJB successful probably won't make you successful. For instance, say you're still in college, and your badass is studying Steve Jobs. You learned that Steve Jobs succeeded because he dropped out of school, went to India to "discover" himself, then found the Woz to spearhead Apple. Now, since you're only focusing on his success, you drop out of college. You go to India to discover yourself. Then you start a company with the smartest programmer you know. Likely outcome five years later? You're still living in mama's basement. Uh-oh.

Why You're Not Steve Jobs

The reason:

1. Steve Jobs determined his entrepreneurial path using by capitalizing on his personality and unique strengths.
2. You're your own-unique-badass-self, so following someone else's path avoids playing to your unique strengths, personality, and environment.

Study the top 1000 success stories in the world's business history. What do you get? 1000 unique success stories. For instance:

• "We lied to IBM to get to get our big break."
• "We partnered with a game developer to create the first personal computer."
• "We sold a series of generators that kept us in business."
• "We accidentally created a weak adhesive that created a billion-dollar market."

The Fallacies of Studying Success Stories

When you study success stories only, what's the mindset you adopt?

1. "Okay, I think I got it: I must lie to a Fortune 500, and get our products in the executives' hands."
2. "Then, I need to find the smartest programmer I know and build products."
3. "Then, I need to sell a series of items to have a steady cash flow."
4. "Then I'll have to create things accidentally, and see what great million-dollar products I get."
5. "I'll make billions! Yay!"

Remember: those people succeeded because they were stuck in the right environment, with the right personality, the right strengths, and the right people around them. Notes Duke Engineering Professor Henry Petroski:

What makes things work is often hard to express and harder to extract from the design as a whole. Things work because they work in a particular configuration, at a particular scale, and in a particular culture. Trying to reverse engineer and cannibalize a successful system sacrifices the synergy of success.

Whenever you're reading a success story from now until the end of time, keep in mind: Following the path of some freakishly successful person won't play to your absolute strengths. So what do you do?

Study the Failures of Others

Researchers Wendy Joung, Beryl Hesketh, and Andrew Neal conducted a study on how people learned best:

Who

Fifty-nine experienced fire-fighters undergoing training for incident command participated in the study.

What

War stories were developed based on real events to illustrate successful and unsuccessful incident command decisions.

Group ^1

One group was trained using case studies that depicted incidents containing errors of management with severe consequences in fire-fighting outcomes (error-story training).

Group ^2

A second group was exposed to the same set of case studies except that the case studies depicted the incidents being managed without errors and their consequences (errorless-story training).

The result? Firefighters improved their judgement much better when exposed to the the errors of other firefighters.

Stories of Failures = Deliciously Good

No, we're not saying you can't learn from the success of others. You can. But, studying only success stories masks potential flaws of those successes. Says Petroski:

1. Imagine that the Titanic had not struck the iceberg on her maiden voyage.
2. The example of that 'unsinkable' ship would have emboldened success-based shipbuilders to model larger and larger ocean liners after her.
3. Eventually the Titanic or one of those derivative vessels would probably have encountered an iceberg - with obvious consequences.
4. Thus, the failure of the Titanic contributed much more to the design of safe ocean liners than would have her success.

Success stories suck. Study failures.

Scenario: "Dude, to sell to people, we gotta excite them to dream. Dream! We'll sell millions. And, make billions. Yay!" A two-second test for ya: Of your last 10 major purchases, how many salespeople converted you from "uninterested" to "happy buyer"? Likely: none. Think of the stereotypical salesperson for a minute:

1. Loud.
2. Aggressive.
3. Animated.
4. Overly-excited.
5. Uses lots of superlatives.

Why do most people avoid buying from them? Because, those mutha slukkas try to make decisions for us. When they do, we wave our fingers and go: "Oh-no-you-didn't. I'm smart enough to make my-very-own-decisions, thank-you-very-much." People, as it turns out, like to make their own decisions. The key to selling your products then: Forget the stereotypical salesperson; instead, seek people who choose to buy from you.

Why the Stereotypical Sales Crapola Sucks

When you're selling, two scenarios confront you:

1. "I want to buy."
2. "Not interested. Go away."

More than 99% of the time you'll get the latter. The stereotypical sales person/book/author would then tell you: "Keep on pushing! Don't take NO for an answer! You-can-do-it! Yay!" Ahh-fa-shizzle. What typically results? If the person still says no:

1. You ruin a potential long-term relationship, because you just irritated the $@!& out of 'em.

   The fattest profits come from repeat sales. Initial sales are good; but it's that continual fattening of purchases from repeat customers that really drives your bottom line. Burn the doorway, and it's over.

2. You ruin access to that dude/tte's personal network of potential buyers, because you just irritated the $@!& out of 'em.

   John has two friends who could use your services. Those two friends have two each. Those four have two each. Those eight have two each. Those 16 have two each. And, so on. Uh-oh.

And, in the rare chance the person finally obliges and buys into your hype (because people sometimes just want to be nice):

• You've sold the customer a product s/he didn't need.
• Long-term selling: Gone.

Here's the Better Way

The secret sauce: Help people make wiser decisions. No fluff. Present facts -- as many facts about your offerings as you can. That tells your customer that you're sincere with what you sell -- and more important: builds a long-term goodwill with the client and his/her vast network. For instance at Trizzy, when a customer needs a CRM application:

• We'll write the advantages/disadvantages to using the sucker.
• We'll list the type of companies that benefit/hurt most from the application.
• We'll describe the best/worst way to use the application.

(Note: Those points come from experience and through the nerdy studies that's been done, so we make the information as objective as possible.) That helps customers make much wiser decisions. If it turns out the client's business doesn't need the CRM application, we still built some pretty kick-ass goodwill for future business. Also, we didn't sell anything the client didn't need -- preventing the often-used: "Oh-you-bizatchi, you sold me crap. No-mo-business-4-u." But, in the cool chance that the client decides s/he needs the CRM? We load up on Carne Asada tacos.

Remember: Selling is a Numbers Game

Novice salespeople think they're confined to a 5 sales prospects. That is "If I don't sell to those 5, I'm screwed!"

• "My business will die!"
• "I won't have food on the table!"
• "Mama will yell at me!"
• "I'll be a 62-year old virgin!"

If that sounds familiar: Relax. Breathe. It's okay. You're still a badass. You're not confined to a limited number of prospects. 17,000,000 United States prospects exist if you're a B2B; 300,000,000 exist if you're a B2C. And, since you're reading this article online, you're connected to freakishly millions more. Great salespeople forget selling to the uninterested; it's a waste of money, resources, and more important: time. Instead, they use that time to find those who are interested in what they sell.

"So what do I do? What do I do?"

Expose your services to as many targeted people as you can, then help them make wise decisions. You know your business much better than we do. So, how you expose your business to your target market is up to you. Some basic stuff:

• advertising your wares in trade magazines,
• building a sweet MySpace for your business,
• cold calling executives,
• passing out business cards that list your products/services,
• joining the Chamber of Commerce.

(One caveat: No e-mail spam. It's associated with enlargement pills.) The basic, but viciously important rule-of-thumb: The more people that know about your services, the more customers you'll find.

Stereotypical selling sucks. Seek people who choose to buy your services. Word.