I Knew You Were 'Special'

Hello again

I hope you've been watching the latest free Stompernet videos or, if not, that you've downloaded and read their Formula5 report. As they point out in the introduction to the report, we all have different learning styles.

Personally, I prefer reading, with pictures...

And among all the good, sound advice - none of it revolutionary but most of it eye-opening when it's presented the Stompernet way - was one nugget that was worth more to me than all the reminders to follow up, improve by 15% here, test higher prices there, and so on.

It was this: if you're in business, you're different. Just recognising that fact gives you two immediate benefits.

First, you can stop assuming your customer thinks like you. He doesn't, because he's a customer and you're a business owner. So when you offer a solution to his problem, he's grateful. He's far less aware of the fact that you're making money out of him than you are. So supply what he wants and ask for the money.

But the second benefit is even more profound. Because you're different you have permission to behave differently. Some of the rules and attitudes the rest of the world lives by don't apply to you. Like the one that says 'modesty becomes you'. Like the one that says 'no one will like you if you're pushy', or 'we don't talk business at social occasions'.

If you're in business, be in business. Promote your products in your emails, tell anyone who'll listen about the great product or service you offer, be proud of your business and definitely don't be modest about what you can do. That doesn't make you more attractive to most people; it just makes you appear uninteresting and less important than you are. That casual acquaintance might be (or might have been) your next big customer.

Of course, it's much easier to be upbeat and confident and to appear proud of your business if your business is something to be proud of, but it also gets easier if you're in the habit of promoting it at every opportunity.

Be proud to be different and be proud of your success in business.

Roy