Life Lesson

Telling someone something they don’t already know isn’t just one of the greatest sales tactics ever.

Unless you think of any relationship like a sale. (That in and of itself is worth a blog post…but for another time.)

The key, however, is to tell something they don’t already know and they care about.

I can tell my wife about the history of the Bai Yai tree, but it won’t do much to connect us. (She dislikes tea. If anything, telling her this fact may do more harm than help!)

Alas. If I tell her about the history of the Teddy Bear (because our daughters have a couple), she loves it. It’s relatable for her.

Which means I displayed empathy, which develops a connection…and because it’s something she didn’t already know, the connection is 10x stronger.

I might go so far as to say any relationship (sales driven or otherwise) can be successful if you have more days in a year that you tell them something (relatable!) that they didn’t know before than not.

Stay Positive & What’s Your # At?

There’s a special kind of better when it comes to people.

How can I be a better friend?

How can I be a better spouse?

How can I be a better coworker?

Equally, there’s a special kind of better when it comes to self.

How can I be more fun?

How can I be more generous?

How can I be more caring?

But wait, what about those hobbies?

How can I be a better gamer?

How can I be a better gardener?

How can I be a better cook?

The key to being better at all… try.

Instead of reading the questions, try answering them.

Stay Positive & Acknowledging Leads To Doing

Let’s just assume that’s how it works in every scenario.

The first to check in for their flight once they receive the notification that they can… first come, first served.

The first to respond to the email… first come, first served.

The first wake up in the house in the morning… first come, first served.

The first to ask for help from another… first come, first served.

It’s not that it kind of works that way in every scenario; it’s that it completely works that way in ever scenario.

The one who said “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today” wasn’t just spitting mud, that was someone who wanted to be served first…and was.

Stay Positive & HT To Ben Franklin

Where the trash cans are located… If there are deterrents bolted in… The distance you have the luggage rack from the ceiling of the vehicle…

None of these are close to the original design challenge of creating a tour boat, a rose garden, or tram, but they are so critical to supporting the intended audience of those creations. Almost as much as they are also saying “this is who we are not here to serve.”

What are you designing around your store? Your website? Your relationship?

Stay Positive & Another Reminder That Everything Is Marketing

Too often we’re left feeling and wishing we would have done something yesterday.

Spoken up. Explored. Sent the email. Submitted the application.

Overcoming that kind of regret is merely a mindset shift about today.

Today is just tomorrow’s yesterday; in effect we have the opportunity to construct the narrative we want about it. If you’re landing with more days of regret, you have the wherewithal to change it.

Stay Positive & Now Is A Great Time

Carrying a beer is one thing. Carrying six of them puts people in awe.

Awe removes the subjectivity of good or bad and gets to the point of impact and remarkability.

Most of Ronnie Radke’s music is just fine…but it’s the moments he puts people in awe that make his music stand out and gets people who don’t even like his genre of music to be impressed by it.

Stay Positive & Aim For Awe

It’s easy to judge an experience as being distasteful.

Or consider going through an area of town you haven’t been in in a longgggg time and to you, it’s worse now than it was back then.

Or how about rating a book, a beer, a boulder a 1 out of 5.

When most of the time what you’re actually saying is it’s not for you.

Others are loving the experience. Others are loving the way the town changed. Others are rating the book, the beer, and the boulder a 5 out of 5. (I’m talking about rock climbing, if you’re still wondering. Though, that analogy might not be for you.)

Better to label it appropriately. It saves the emotional toll as well as the strength of the connection you have with others you talk about it with.

Stay Positive & No One Is Upset When You Say “This Isn’t For Me”