Worth

What would it take to charge 2-3 times more for your product?

That’s the question I asked to begin the talk with struggling businesses. A few audible gasps and pairs of wide eyes later, I knew I had everyone’s attention.
What about 10 times what you’re charging now?

This isn’t a “charge what you’re worth” question. It’s a question aimed at forcing you to fundamentally question your work, your product, and the value they provide to the end user.
You may need to double or even triple your prices now to bring your work into the market it needs to be in, to attract the right customers, to pay you a fair wage — but 10 times? That requires you to reevaluate.

How would your product or service need to change?
You might need to drastically improve workmanship. You might need to customize each piece to the specifications of the user. You might need to innovate beyond anything currently on the market. You might need to enhance a particular detail to differentiate it from any competition.
At 10x the current price, what does your product or service look like?

How would your customers need to change?
You might need to serve a different customer. You might need to change from B2C (business to consumer) to B2B (business to business). You might need to educate your customers on the longevity, artistry, or message of your product. You might need to better understand the people you want to serve.

At 10x the current price, how do your customers look different?
How would you need to change?
You might need to get comfortable with your ability to create such a thing. You might need to try buying something you love or need desperately in that price range. You might need to get to know people who command those kind of prices. You might need to change your inner monologue or your understanding of what sets off your financial anxiety.

At 10x the current price, how would you think of yourself differently?
Why aren’t you making these changes? Why aren’t you in the high-end market? Why aren’t you seeking the highest levels with your product or service?
Sure, there are legitimate reasons you may choose to ignore your own ideas about what could take your product to the next level. But have you even given yourself the opportunity to formulate those reasons? Have you challenged yourself to imagine the alternative?

Truthfully, thinking about this “10x” question brings on some anxiety for most, including me. At the same time, this question gets me pretty excited too.

If people believe in you and your product, they will pay for it. Don’t be the commodity! Be the one that stands up rather than sits.

Now, no excuses. I’ll ask you that same question:
What would it take to charge 10 times what you’re charging now?

Business 2.0

There is no doubt that the business world is changing and that means you need to change too. It doesn’t matter what business you are in, if you want to succeed, you must change.

Change doesn’t have to be radical, but simple shifts in how you see and do things are necessary.

Simple Shifts in Business for…

Sales, Realtors, Business Owners, Entrepreneurs

• Instead of numbers first, put people first.
• Replace the words leads, prospects and conversions with people.
• Give people what they want, not what you want.
• In social media, be social. Have a conversation. With people.
• Don’t add people to your mailing list because they gave you a business card.
• Stop calling to “follow up” or “check in”.
• Say “I don’t know” when you don’t know.
• Make every interaction valuable for people.

Websites/Blogs

• Turn off the music.
• Pull down the pop-ups.
• Be Mobile Friendly.
• Add your picture.
• Use a light background and dark text.
• Kill auto video/audio.
• Don’t add people to your mailing list without permission.

Notifications

• Notifications are distractions. Turn them off. All of them.
• You don’t need your phone to remind you that you have email.
• The first thing you see when you open your computer doesn’t have to be an announcement of what is happening at work,news,etc.
• You don’t need an email to tell you who subscribed and who unsubscribed from anything.
• Birds don’t need to chirp when someone mentions you on Twitter.

Social Media/Email

• Be social for 20 minutes and then get back to work.
• Stop auto tweeting.
• Stop following everyone that follows you.
• Don’t check email when you don’t know what to do next.
• Don’t check email hoping for something great to happen.
• Don’t check email because it makes you feel busy.
• Check email 1-3 times a day and respond thoughtfully.
• Do good work not busy work(I’ll touch on this next time).

If you work for yourself, you know that your customers (people) put food on your table. If you work for someone else, remember that your boss might sign your check, but it’s your customers (people) that make that check good.

Out-behave your competition and start treating your customers like people instead of dollar signs. If you don’t do these things, you will lose business to someone who does. If you do these things, get ready to grow.

Management 101-Trust

As a liaison to many small business’, When I speak  with managers or owners , I often ask, “Do your people trust you?” Most are taken aback. It’s not something they’re often asked or a question they’ve even asked themselves.

After some thought, most eventually say something like, “Well, I think so. I hope so. No one’s said he doesn’t.” In fact, as they ultimately admit, they don’t really know for sure.
It’s a question worth asking. Do your people trust you?

Chances are, you don’t know for sure, either. If so, that’s potentially a problem because your ability to elicit people’s best efforts depends on their trust in you — their confidence that they can count on you to do the right thing. Your basic job as a boss is to influence others, to make a difference in what they do and in the thoughts and feelings that drive their actions. Yet, even as the person in charge, the one with authority, you can ultimately influence people only to the extent they are willing to be influenced by you. And that willingness will depend on whether they trust you. Without trust, why should people do what you ask, especially if you’re asking something difficult? Why should they accept your judgment? Above all, why would they devote the care and extra effort that quality work requires? As the boss, you can demand compliance but you must earn commitment, and the coin of that realm is TRUST.

As I explore this topic with managers, we find it’s a subject both familiar and unfamiliar.
Most people don’t know how to think about it constructively. Why?

First, they often don’t realize how context-sensitive trust is. So, when I ask, “Do your people trust you?” we’re not asking about people’s confidence in you as a person in general — whether, for example, they think you will repay them promptly if you borrow $10. Instead, we’re really asking, “Do your people trust you as a boss?” For them to accept you as a boss, they must trust you in that context. When we delve later into the components of trust, you’ll see why context is so important.

The second reason most managers feel a little lost when they think about trust is that most of us resist the idea that trust is something you can actively and consciously encourage. To say it can and should be fostered feels manipulative and self-serving. We instinctively distrust the person who exclaims, “Trust me!” We usually don’t consider trust an outcome we can or should try to control directly.

But believing as a boss that trust will somehow take care of itself may not work out the way you want. You do need to think about it. And you may need to take conscious steps that make clear to others that you deserve their trust. None of those steps involves dishonesty or manipulation — on the contrary — but they do involve your being explicit about yourself, about what you know, and about the reasons behind your decisions and actions. In other words, it may require that you be more open as a boss than you might personally be inclined to be.

Remember, don’t take trust for granted, or believe it just happens, because virtually all you do as a boss begins with people’s trust in you.

Productive

An inspiring person asked a simple question the other day: What do you do when you’re bored Chris? Well, You don’t always have to work hard to be productive.  Productivity can simply be the side effect of doing the right things.

So here’s a list of  “semi-productive” things I do online when my mind is set on avoiding ‘real work.’

1. Check delicious popular tags like useful, Tips,How To, advice, inspirational,etc. for interesting, educational articles to read.
2. Watch one of the thousands of educational videos streaming at Ted.com,Academic Earth and Teacher Tube.
   
3. Read an online book list and find a new book to grab next time I’m at the library.
4. Read a classic book online for free at Project Gutenburg, Planet Ebook, or the E-Books Directory.
5. Research a new Do It Yourself project at DIY Network, eHow, or Wiki How.
6. Create a cool graphical mind map of some of my recent ideas at Bubbl.us
7. Email a close friend or family member I haven’t spoken to in awhile.
8. Backup my recent photos, documents, and other important files online using Dropbox and Flickr.
9. Touch up on my math and science skills over a the Khan Academy, MIT Opencourse
10. Send a paper greeting card directly to a friend or relative at enGreet.
11. Start learning a new language online for free at BBC Languages.
12. Use Media Convert to convert video files I have on my computer into a format I can view on my iPhone or iPod later on.
13. Listen to an educational podcast over at  iTunes on iTunes U.
14. Read one of the academic journals at the Directory of Open Access Journals.
15. Find out what happened today in history.
16. Take a fun, educational online quiz at Quizlet..
17. Sell old stuff I no longer need on eBay and make a little extra cash..
18. Find out what’s happening in our world from quality international news sources like BBC News and Reuters.
19. Write a blog post like this one.

You get the idea. I try to keep fairly busy and fill my mind and day with Impacting projects that will benefit me in the future. Take care and hope you enjoyed it.

10 Things,10 Minutes.

It usually takes us much longer to change our moods than we’d like it to take. Take it from me, anything I can do to calm down,relax, or shift attention to something else is a plus. Here are ten things you can do in ten minutes or less that will have a positive emotional effect on you and those you love.

1.    Watch “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch.  This is a deeply moving segment that may be the best ten minutes you’ve ever invested in front of a computer.

2.    Spend a little while watching the sunset with your loved one. Nothing extra is necessary. Just sit and take in the natural beauty of the sky and appreciate being able to share it with the one you love. Better yet, snap a few pics with them and enjoy for later.

3.    Sit quietly by yourself. It doesn’t really matter where or when. Just let your feelings bubble up and then experience the thoughts flowing out of your mind. Clearing your head and heart will give you extra energy to get through the rest of the day.

4.    Write a thank you note to your mate. When was the last time you thanked your partner for just being who he or she is and being with you? Doing this in writing will give your partner something to cherish for the rest of his or her life.

5.    Take out your oldest family photo album and look through it. The experience will fill you with fond memories and perhaps make you a bit wistful for days gone by.

6.    Play with a child or your Dog. Most kids have short attention spans, Dogs have even less; ten minutes of quality time from a loving adult can make their day. It will also help you stay in touch with the child inside of you.

7.    Visualize or imagine a positive outcome for any issue. Medical doctors recommend visualization to patients with chronic and potentially fatal illnesses. If it can help them, it can do the same for you.

8.    Go to bed with the one you love ten minutes earlier than usual. Then spend that time just holding each other. Let the feeling of warmth from your mate move through you.

9.    Hang out by some water. My personal favorite! Studies show that hospital patients who can see a natural body of water from their beds get better at a 30 percent faster rate. If you’re not near the coast or a lake, try taking a bath. Doing so is also healing.

10.  Dance like nobody’s watching. Shake, twist, and jump around. Let yourself feel the joy of moving to your favorite music.

Sadly, many people measure happiness by how long the experience lasts. The truth is that a few minutes of joy here and there can make a big difference in what you get out of life.Be thankful for what you have and your own abilities.