Is your commitment deep enough or are you...

Awesome post, Rus. I absolutely love the Shank Tank.

This video pretty much sums it up for me:
At the end of the day you are the only one that can answer that question. You can post on here all day and night and talk about how bad you want it or how hard you're willing to work for it, but it comes down to YOU in the end.

This post was very much needed!

Sean

Sean,

The main reason I posted this is because
many people on here seem to have this
aversion to going out and actually meeting
with business owners in person.

This is exactly what I thought about when
I was watching that episode last night!
Pretty much every one on this forum who has
a Offline business is looking for the next best
phone script, post card, email script etc. etc.

Heck there is even a thread on here about
how to actually AVOID meeting with clients!

To me it says, I'm willing to do anything to
make my business a success EXCEPT.......

Well what if that one exception is the one
thing you are really lacking that can make
or break your business. Aye?

I love Shark Tank. It is full of great lessons for business owners. Also great lessons for sales people.

A few weeks back was a great example for sales people.

A guy who ran a sales training company was on their and IMO he was failing pretty bad. I think two of the sharks were out at this point. Mark Cuban gave the guy a chance to close. He offered him exactly what he wanted in this fashion and I paraphrase, "If I said I would give you _____ right now would you say yes?" The guy had a chance to close right there but the first thing he did was look over to another Shark. He was more worried about the other Shark who had not made an offer vs. closing the one in front of him.

Had the other Shark wanted the deal they would have interupted it. There would have been no harm in this sales person asking for the sale from Mark because Mark just told him he was likely interested in a deal. All the sales person had to do was say, "Mark yes I would. Shall we make this deal happen?" But instead he decided to focus on everything but the close.

How often do we make that mistake? How often do we have a person in front of us ready to buy or giving buying signals and we are so tied up in our "process: that we don't just skip ahead to the close. If the guy in front of you is giving buying signals there is no reason not to ask for the sale. if he say yes then you can tell him more based on what he says he needs to know. If he says no or is unsure still you continue on with the process. Just remember if the guy can be closed in 2 min why give him a 60 min presentation and risk losing the sale? Learn to read people and never be afraid to ask for the sale.

I'd say the number one problem I see in sales people myself included is we at times are afraid to ask for the sale.

I remember thinking that companies are paying a couple hundred (forgot exact price)for these manuals and people are crying about paying $17-$37 for a high quality wso that probably has better training in it.
I think the guy got nervous as he was normally the one doing the closing and the pressure of the shark tank got to him as he was trying to remain "strong" and didnt want to give in or appear weak.

Thanks Rus for the great post! I think many offliners are looking for a quick fix or a magic formula to instantly create income with no work or dedication. If only it were that easy. Commitment is required and taking the daily, consistent actions to back up this commitment is necessary.

If you're serious about being an offline marketer, then get focused and take the steps that you need to take to follow through. There's MORE than enough information, resources, role models here on WF. Thanks again Rus for the great post, made my day

Part of the problem with the internet era is that people genuinely believe that if they hang out a shingle, people will flock to their front door simply for doing so.

That myth is perpetuated in a lot of the internet marketing community. The fact of the matter is... promotion is hard. It's difficult. It's time consuming. It's expensive.

It's also a cost of doing business. It goes with the territory. If all people want to do is press click and sit back fielding inbound inquiries, then maybe they should get a job as a phone sex worker or volunteer at a suicide hot line.

If you want to own a business, get this through your head right this very second - THE INTERNET IS SIMPLY A COMMUNICATION VEHICLE.

That means it connects YOU with SOMEONE ELSE... and now you must ENGAGE.

Here's another big problem, especially in the "offline" space. People seem to jump into offline marketing for other business as an alternative to failure to succeed in the online space.

I see this quandry happen over and over on the Warrior Forum.

So, how are you going to hold yourself out as an online marketing expert when you cannot even market yourself online?

How are you, in good conscience, going to take consulting service dollars from a business owner after promoting yourself as an expert, when you're on the Warrior Forum asking how to get business clients to sell them your marketing services?

Truth is she did not step out of her comfort zone. Most of the people who do not want to have the face to face meetings also will remain where they are until they are willing to stretch.

We all know in every part of life only true growth can come when we are willing to be uncomfortable to grow. If we look at our lives we can most likely track the last growth and success came when we stepped out into an area that we were hesitant to step out in.

The other fact we usually find is once we stepped out it was not as bad as we thought and it also brought some level of success and growth.

What is sad is how many know this yet remain where they are.

100% agree Rus, great post. Gotta take action and step out of the comfort zone.

Now please tell me which channel, which days and what times is this show on tv?

Hey Rus, nice wake up call today. Thank you! I don't mind meeting people in person, though maybe I'll be a bit nervous when it's time for that.

But I hate phone calls. They make me anxious. I think it's from the time right after my graduation; I landed a position as a customer service rep for a hosting company.

People called in angry. Lots of angry phone calls, 'fix this now', 'blahblahblah said this would be done by now.' Ever since then, it's been terrible.

Though as I type it now, I realize it's kind of funny. I know I need to get over it but ugh!

That show just shows you how many people out there that don't understand values of their business financially and how many people aren't willing to do what it takes.

I'd recommend this show to everyone trying to start their own business. People want to pitch to investors, yet have no business plan.. people think their business is going to be the next big thing, but don't know how to stop it from being a tiny little spec that only shows up on the radar when you zoom in.

Commitment, dedication and drive are some of the most important factors that a lot of people simply do not have.

Anyone who thinks they can sit behind a blank wall of technology and gather qualified inbound leads is going to be waiting a l-o-n-g time for sales.

If you want to make sales happen quickly, you're going to have to talk to people.

You're going to have to step outside of your comfort zone if you want to make more money.

Think about it: if you were in the comfort zone that would allow you to make that kind of money already, you'd have that income. You're going to have to do different things to get there. Doing the same things you've been doing has lead to your current conditions. Want to improve them? Start stepping outside of your comfort zone.

Fantastic post MichaelHiles (as many of yours that I've read are), and just confirms what i've been thinking. The internet is a communication vehicle, and a very convenient one! There's 2 things I'd comment on:
(a) not everyone is trying to be a business consultant, or even an "internet marketing" consultant. e.g. if you offer a web design service, a computer fix-it service, an sms service, a social media management service etc, then that's a business in and of itself. You maybe promoting that "online" or "offline" or, most likely, both. That's kinda not what you were talking about, but I wanted to make that comment anyway.

(b) I tend to disagree with your last 2 paragraphs. I see that sentiment being posted from time to time, and it misses a point. If (this is just an example) someone sets up a (name your service) business.....okay, lets say you own a web design business. You're get at web design. Now, you might decide, that for your business....your target market is your city. You want as many businesses as possible in your city to have a fantastic website designed by your business. You might research and discover the best way to reach your target market (i.e. the business owners, not their customers) is through meeting them etc. because you may discover that that demographic is not particularly searching online for what you offer. Therefore, although you may well have a website, marketing yourself online may not be particularly relevant for your business.

I love the quote from Kiyosaki... "An individual's reality is the boundary between faith and self-confidence."

If we stay where we are comfortable then we continue to get the results we've always gotten. But when we step forward in faith that we can achieve something bigger then the magic starts to happen.

For most people driving was scary to begin with but now it's an easy everyday occurrence. The same is true for cold calling or meeting with business owners. What we practice becomes easier each time.

The only way our business grows is when we grow as a person...

Great post! Sharl tank good learning their. I remember a few years ago doing a training on getting out of your comfort zone and breaking habits. Thanks!

I actually haven’t seen Shark Tank, can someone give me a brief summary of it? I might have to look into it. That aside I do have to agree with you. I see a lot of people who are content with the thought that customers will just magically fall into their laps and that’s not how things work. You have to put yourself out there and work.

Shark Tank is about entrepreneurs looking for an investment from 4 millionaires (the sharks). They either have great sales and want to expand or they have a unique idea and they want to start selling. Or licensing that idea. It's a great show. On hulu as well.