Gary Barnes is a
global premier business, money and relationship coach; an author, and
an international speaker. He is the founder of MaxLife International, dedicated to helping people create wealth in all areas of life.
Gary
believes anyone can lead an empowered life, no matter what their
circumstances are. He has built three successful businesses from the
ground up. To do this, he developed principles and tools that helped
him increase his business 2000% over a three-year period.
He
also understands dealing with adversity - he has fought life-
threatening illness and won. He believes that your worst day is the day
you meet the man or woman you could have been. It's a choice. That's
why he's dedicated his life to helping people maximize
their lives and their businesses through workshops, teleconferences and
individual coaching. His mission in life is to make a difference and to
empower everyone he connects with.
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Pay it forward. Connect with a charity that you really relate to. Give without any expectation for anything in return and see what happens. Enjoy!!
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Greetings!
Summer is in full swing and so are we here at MaxLife International. We are launching our MaxLife Group Coaching program this Tuesday, July 14th, and our guest speaker is Sonia Simone of Remarkable Communication. Sonia is an internationally-recognized expert in the field of marketing and social media. To find out more about the group coaching call and to register, go to http://budurl.com/maxlifecoaching. Be sure to read my article this month on how to 'elevate and separate' your business from your competition in a positive way. Have you ever wanted to combine pleasure with learning? I have the perfect event for you coming up in October 2009. It's the "Empowerment Cruise" which is a 7-day Western Caribbean experience. We'll keep you posted as these plans come together.
To your success,
Gary Barnes
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Elevate and Separate
by Gary Barnes, MaxLife International
(No, this is not a commercial for Playtex
living Bras, but rather how to elevate and separate yourself from your competitors.)
With the economy still struggling, the question for most businesses is "How do I find more qualified customers or clients?" This is a good question in any economy, but now it could literally mean the difference between whether you'll be in business this time next year or not.
I have always dealt in businesses with a lot of competition. Over the years, I've noticed the common way to advertise is to compare yourself to your competition. This is done by showing all of your positive qualities and then identify all of the negative areas for your competitors. This process never felt right to me, so I created the process that I call Elevate and Separate.
The elevate and separate process is accomplished in three steps:
First, you have to be 100% totally sold on your product or service. This may sound trivial, but potential customers will pick up if there is any question in your mind whether this is the very best product or service available. Ask yourself if you would hesitate having a close friend or relative's participate in your offering.
Second, find a way to express what you do in a creative and different way. One of my business coaching clients is a real estate agent. In a market with over 10,000 agents, it was critical she find a way to stand out above the crowd. Her tagline now is "Specializing in Homes with Views". Prospective home buyers are now wanting to know how they can own a "home with a view". Now here's the question: Does every home come with a view? Of course it does. It just may not be the view that you would prefer. Think outside the box.
Third, be seen!! Are you the best kept Secret? In this market, it's important to use all of the marketing tools available to you. Write articles, speak, create a distinctive business card, develop a creative tagline, write a blog, and network, network, network. The rule is if people do not know you exist they cannot hire you.
Finally, marketing in the end is all about numbers. To increase your productivity, you have to increase the number of prospects that you touch.
To find out how you can elevate and separate your business or service for maximum results, e-mail me at garybarnes@maxlifeinternational.com.
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50 Things Your Customers Wish You Knew - Part 1
by Sonia Simone, Remarkable Communication
Some items on this list might seem cynical, but they're not. The fact is, it doesn't matter what kind of customers you have. I don't care if your customers are kidney donors or Zen masters or million-dollar contributors to your nonprofit organization. Each one of us has some less-than-loveable characteristics that tend to come to the forefront when we're in the role of customer.
If you knew, really knew, these 50 things about your customers, and acted accordingly, you'd gain their trust and even their love. After all, who doesn't want to be loved despite all our flaws and embarrassing insecurities? The better you understand both the noble and not-so-noble secrets in your customers' consciousness, the better you can serve them.
Here are 50 things your customers wish you knew: about them, about how they see you, and about your relationship.
- I don't need you to be perfect, but I do need to know I can rely on you.
- Telling me what you don't know makes me trust you.
- It means a lot when you take the time to thank me for my business or a referral.
- You don't need to do all that much to be a superhero. Just do exactly what you say you will do.
- A friendly voice on the other side of the phone means more than you can imagine.
- Your employees treat me about as well as you treat them.
- I don't mind spending the money, as long as I feel I'm getting real value.
- My life is really stressful. If you can reduce that stress, you become immensely valuable to me.
- I want to tell you what would make this relationship better for me. Why don't you ever ask me?
- I don't understand a lot of the messages you send me. Can you make them clearer?
- My life is very complicated. If you make it easy for me to just buy a simple all-in-one package that I can use without learning anything, I'll take it and be grateful. (I'll even pay a premium for it.)
- I want to trust you, but it's hard for me to trust anyone.
- Once you've won my trust and loyalty, the truth is you can screw up once in awhile and I will forgive you. If I don't think you're taking me for granted, that is.
- When I refer my friends and you give them exceptional service, that makes me look and feel smart. I love that.
- I spend an awful lot of time being scared to death.
- The wealthier I get, the more I like free stuff.
- A lot of the time, I secretly feel like a lost little kid. I don't admit it, but I want to be taken care of.
- I'm lousy at admitting I was wrong, but I respect you when you do it.
- I like to get little goodies no one else is getting.
- I don't understand how to use your Web site, but I can't admit that because it would make me feel dumb.
- There's no worse feeling than feeling like I was suckered into trusting you. If I'm screaming at you or one of your employees, that feeling is probably behind it somewhere.
- Our relationship isn't equal and it never will be.
- I get crazy jealous if I think you love another customer more than you love me.
- I don't have any interest in your excuses. In fact, I usually don't notice them at all, and if I do, they annoy me.
- I find myself endlessly fascinating.
Stay tuned for next month ... and the next 25 things your customers wished you knew about them.
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5 Beach Body Myths (and 3 Steps to Look Amazing)
by Nordine Zouareg, Triple Impact, LLC
There's a good chance that you'll find yourself in a bathing suit sometime this month.
If you are like most people then that realization will 1) bring a grimace to your face and 2) will motivate you to lose some weight.
While I commend your desire to slim down before baring it all, I'm here to warn you of the 5 myths that most people fall for. Don't waste your time on these:
Myth #1: Starve the pounds away.
Attempting to lose weight by starving yourself is not only ineffective, it's also dangerous. It may seem that severe calorie restriction would deliver the quickest weight loss, but your body is complex and by doing so you'll disrupt your metabolism and slow your results.
Tip: Don't starve yourself - instead eat healthy small meals throughout the day.
Myth #2: Take diet pills to boost your effort.
It's so tempting! The commercials make compelling claims about the power of diet pills, but don't fall for it. The 'magic pill' has yet to be discovered (it has been discovered - exercise. It's just not in pill form...). Diet pills are more likely to damage your health and burn your pocketbook than to slim you down.
Tip: Don't pop a pill - instead burn calories with exercise.
Myth #3: Do extra crunches to flatten your abs.
We all want our midsection to look toned as we stroll down the beach, but excessive crunches aren't the answer for tight abs. In order to achieve a lean look you'll have to focus on burning off the layer of fat that is covering up your abs.
Tip: Don't obsess about crunches - instead focus on fat burning.
Myth #4: Eat packaged diet foods for speedy results.
It is amazing to see the kinds of foods that are packaged as 'diet' or 'weight loss' aids. More often than not these products are packed with refined sugar and other artificial ingredients that your body doesn't need.
Tip: Don't eat packaged diet foods - instead stick with nutritious whole foods.
Myth #5: Avoid all carbohydrates in order to slim down.
Carbohydrates have been given a bad rap, which is unfortunate because you can (and should) eat carbs while losing weight. The key is to stick with whole grains, oatmeal and brown rice while avoiding processed and refined flours and sugars.
Tip: Don't swear off all carbohydrates - instead stick with wholesome carbs.
Now that you know what not to do in order to look great this summer, it's time to go over your beach ready game plan. Here's what you need to know in 3 simple steps:
Step One: Cut out the junk.
The best way to do this is to start by purging your kitchen. Get rid of sugary, processed and fat-filled foods. Once the junk has been cleared out don't buy any more of it. Remember that your beach ready abs depend on what you eat - don't eat junk!
Step Two: Focus on whole foods.
Replace the junk food in your life with plenty of the following: cooked and raw vegetables, fresh fruits, whole grains, moderate amounts of seeds and nuts, lean meats and low fat dairy. Clean eating really is that simple.
Step Three: Come train with me.
This is the most obvious step. You're ready to get into great shape and I'm in a unique position to make that happen for you. Contact me to get started on an exercise plan that will make you look great on the beach, and all year round. I have a track record of total safety and effectiveness program design.
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