"The Secret" on Oprah Update

UPDATE: Oprah decided it would be best to tape and edit the show instead of broadcasting live. She wants to make sure the show provides the most impact that it can. I won't know the air date until a few days after the taping (January 31st), but I'll be sure to keep you updated as soon as I know.

One Entrepreneur’s Way to Win the War of Competition!

“In accordance with our principles of free enterprise and healthy competition, I'm going to ask you two to fight to the death for it.” – Monty Python

You’ve got to love Monty Python! Yes, competition is healthy but no, rest assured you do not have to fight to the death for it. As a matter of fact I’d like to explore with you how you may be able to leverage it and make it work for you. WHAT – competition work for me? Yes, it can work for you! Tune in for a minute and try to keep an open mind here.

Several years back I was the CEO of a computer services company where we provided services like computer networking, network security, disaster recovery planning, as well as a few other in-demand services. The market was literally saturated with companies that did what we did. Competition not only came from other local similar-sized businesses but, from companies we didn’t even know played in our industry from all around the world no less – hah… there’s the boon and the bane of technology for you!

Anyway, would you believe it if I told you that most of my business came from my competition? In other words my competition would hire my company to provide services on their behalf to their customers. This is big business! As well as an additional revenue stream opportunity often overlooked by many companies.

So instead of fighting to the death with a competitor, as Monty Python so eloquently put it, how about establishing a relationship there and mining for the diamonds that may exist?

Now this approach might not work with all of your competitors however, if it works with just one, you’ve got access to a revenue stream that you didn’t have prior. Let alone if that competitor is a larger business than yours, their scraps could be your feasts.

This is a think-outside-of-the-box style potential winning strategy. And yes business is about winning whatever winning looks like to each individual business – whether it’s about profits, market share, ability to tithe, whatever makes your heart sing, it’s about winning. Lose enough and you can put yourself out of business in a hurry.

But just because it’s about winning doesn’t mean someone has to lose. Competition does not have to be WIN/LOSE scenario – in other words I win and you lose or vice versa. That premise comes from a scarcity mindset. And believe me, think about scarcity and you’ll get scarcity and that’s not something you want to attract into your business or your life. Think abundance or WIN/WIN and you’ll position yourself to allow abundance to flow in. There’s plenty of room in the business world for all of us – there’s plenty of customers, plenty of money to go around. To think any differently is sabotage.

So in closing, think about how you can leverage this strategy of partnering with your competition in a way where you both can win. Remember, I just opened the box for you here. It’s up to you to peer into that box with an abundance mindset and see what diamonds lay in waiting for you.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer", is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships. To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the 'Marketing Minute' – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com

The Oprah Winfrey Show presents "The Secret"

Word has it from James Arthur Ray that Oprah is hosting a show dedicated to "The Secret", tentatively scheduled to air LIVE on January 31st.

In order to capture the real essence of The Secret, Oprah has selected Rhonda Byrne, the producer, as well as four of The Secret's teachers, including James Arthur Ray. The others are Jack Canfield, Lisa Nichols and Dr. Michael Beckwith. They'll be discussing how the Law of Attraction works and providing hands on tools that the viewers can use to change their lives in a positive way.

Share this news with everyone you know...

Don't Miss This One - T. Harv Eker on Public Television

I have exciting news to share!

This Sunday evening, January 28, at 6:30 pm (EST), WLIW New York, the Public Television broadcaster serving the New York metropolitan area on Channel 21, is premiering a brand new television special based on T. Harv Eker's book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind™.

I hope you tune in - it should be enlightening!

5 Keys to Unlock Your Marketing Genius

“Enthusiasm is that secret and harmonious spirit which hovers over the production of genius.” – Isaac Disraeli

I was delivering a marketing seminar recently to a room full of entrepreneurs when I was asked a great question by an attendee in the audience. Now I don’t know whether or not he clearly understood the depth of significance to successful marketing his question posed, but it was profound.

His question was essentially… How do you coach your clients into determining what types of marketing they should do?

Now I answered his question pointing out 5 key areas that I investigate with my coaching Clients to make that determination. Now are there more factors to consider? Maybe. However if you take into consideration at a minimum these 5, I believe you’ll see agreeable results in your marketing.

1. Know Thy Target Market

Be crystal clear on who they are and how they want to be communicated to. For example: Do they prefer to be contacted directly in a more intimate way such as telephone or seminars or in a less confrontational way such as email or direct mail?

2. Know Thy Financial Fitness

In other words, how much money, time, and other resources do you have available to you to market your business? How much do you anticipate you will need? Typically, cash-on-hand is a trade off for time and other resources – the more cash you have the less “sweat equity” you need to invest in your marketing and vice versa.

3. Know Thy Strengths

What marketing-related skills are you good at? Do you write well? Are you a good public speaker? Are you outgoing or more of an introvert? Make a list of your dominant skill sets and peruse marketing strategies and tactics that align with them – remember these great words to live by… “Do what you do best and hire out the rest”.

4. Know Thy Passions

It’s not enough to just explore what you’re good at. You must take into consideration whether or not you enjoy doing them; because if you don’t, believe it or not your lack of enthusiasm and energy will be picked up on by your target market.

5. Know Thy Risk Tolerance

What’s your tolerance for risk? Are you “risk tolerant” in other words you are comfortable taking risks or do you tend to be “risk-averse” which is more conservative?

Simply put, certain types of marketing are riskier than others. But unlike investing in the financial industry, higher risk doesn’t necessarily equal higher potential results.

So in closing, it’s critical that you take the time to intimately know both your target market and yourself. This is how you determine what will work best for you. Not by playing “follow-the-follower” and being a “me-too” marketer or choosing the so-called latest and greatest marketing strategy. That doesn’t cut it. Your marketing has to create an “ELF” experience for both you and your target market – “ELF” being an acronym for easy, lucrative, and fun. And if it doesn’t provide that “ELF experience, I highly recommend you consider changing it.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer", is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships. To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the 'Marketing Minute' – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.

Dean's Top 10 Business and Marketing Lessons Learned in 2006 (Part II: The Second Five)

“The best of prophets of the future is the past” – Lord Byron

Well I certainly hope you enjoyed last week’s article where I uncovered the first five of my “Top 10 Business and Marketing Lessons Learned in 2006”. In a nutshell they were:

1. There Is Only NOW.


2. The Law Attraction.


3. Don't Be Attached To An Outcome.


4. Systems & Projects.


5. Bigger Is Not Necessarily Better.
   

If you’d like to review them in detail, for a limited time, you can visit my blog at www.MotivationalMarketer.com.

In the meantime let’s continue on with numbers six through ten from our list:

6. A Scarcity Mindset Is A Repellent.
   Be mindful of the space you are coming from. Coming from a space of scarcity while attempting to enroll others in you and your business, makes you appear needy and desperate and tends to repel them. Instead, try coming from a space of abundance where anything and everything you desire is possible and see how you begin to become a magnet for those you wish to attract.


7. Do What You Do Best and Outsource The Rest.
   Don’t fall into the trap of trying to do it all yourself. It’s more expensive than you realize – in many cases it can be even more expensive than hiring an expert to do it for you.


8. It's All About Team.
   Don’t try to go it alone – it doesn’t make sense, you don’t have to. The lone-ranger mentality doesn’t work. The power lies in attracting the best people you can to help you achieve your vision. Check with Bill Gates, that’s what he did to create Microsoft and last I checked they’ve done pretty well for themselves over the years.


9. Invest In, And Lead With, Your Marketing Strengths.
   For me, I do my best marketing when I'm speaking on stage to an audience. So it makes complete sense to leverage this marketing strategy to the hilt going forward as opposed to others that I might not be so good at. So what’s your marketing strength? And how can you best leverage it?


10. Don’t Try To Be Everything To Everyone
    The concept of jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none went out of style a long time ago. More than ever, people are seeking out the experts for everything – and the experts are complying by carving out and focusing on niches. For example instead of a handyman to install our crown molding, we want a crown molding specialist. This doesn’t mean the days of the handyman are dead; they’re just not nearly as lucrative as they once were.

So in closing, one of the greatest lessons that I’ve learned in my life, especially since I have four brothers (three of which are older and full of lessons to learn from), was exactly that – to learn from not only my experiences but, from the experiences of others. I sincerely hope you allow yourself to do the same.


© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer", is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships. To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the 'Marketing Minute' – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.

Dean's Top 10 Business and Marketing Lessons Learned in 2006 (Part I: The First Five)

“Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” - Winston Churchill

Wow it’s 2007 already… can you believe it? The time just seems to fly by. So let me ask you, are you ready for this new year? Are you sure? Because ready or not, 2007 is here and there’s no better time than the present to put a stake in the ground and make the most of the past year.

How do we do this you ask? Well as for me, what I like to do is spend some quiet time reflecting on what worked and didn’t work for me in my marketing as well as in my business over the past year. I also work with my Clients to do the same to draw out of them the powerful lessons that their experiences brought them.

So what I’ve done here is boiled down those many lessons learned and have brought you the essence of what I considered are the top ten of those lessons for 2006. This week I will present the first five of those lessons and follow up next week with an additional five. So without further adieu, here are the first five:

1. There Is Only NOW.
   Yesterday is gone, tomorrow doesn’t exist, there is only NOW. NOW is the only reality there is. It’s what you do NOW that determines your happiness and success going forward. Learn from your past, that’s okay. Just don’t dwell on it because you can’t change it. Instead, channel you energy to create your ideal future by being the best you can be right NOW.


2. The Law Attraction.
   This is a powerful concept that although has been around since the beginning of time, is really just starting to find its place in mainstream business. The Law of Attraction simply says that you attract into your life whatever you think about. So be mindful what you focus on because the law attraction can be a double edge sword – it can help you manifest more scarcity just as easily as it can help you manifest more abundance.


3. Don't Be Attached To An Outcome.
   So what if something didn’t turn out as expected. Get your ego out of the way long enough to learn from your experience and move on.


4. Systems & Projects.
   I learned this one from a gentleman named Rich Schefren.
   
   There are two ways that work should be done inside your business, systems and projects. If it's an activity that is ongoing or something that is done more than once you should develop a systemized way of doing it inside your business. If it's temporary, goal directed, has a beginning and an end and is unique, it should be managed as a project.
   
   Now I have years of experience creating systems and formally managing complex projects for others and I fully realized the vast benefits of doing so. However, for some reason, I wasn’t applying those skills to the best of my ability in my own business. Hearing Rich Schefren say it for some reason clicked with me and was one of those A-HA moments.


5. Bigger Is Not Necessarily Better.
   Don't get sucked into the bigger is better idea. Let demand instead of your ego drive expansion.

So in closing, let me ask you, did any of these lessons learned seem familiar? It may sound funny but just as we are all humans and we tend to experience the same problems such as we all bleed and we all catch colds; what I’ve found is that many of our businesses are not so dissimilar as well – we tend to experience the same things. So my best advice is to leverage this wisdom today and create a brighter tomorrow.


© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer", is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships.  To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the 'Marketing Minute' – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.