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“I don’t know what I’m passionate about” doesn’t fly with me.

For years you have done more of what you like to do and less of what you don’t like to do. Those who say they lack passion or interest in anything just haven’t observed their feelings.

One of my passions is connecting with new people as I work toward a goal (starting a business currently). The amount of preparation I do before a meeting doesn’t turn me on. The possibility of me screwing the conversation up doesn’t get me excited. But I always leave first meetings on a high. “Damn, did that feel good,” I think to myself.

The same goes for you. There are moments after completing a task that you feel good.

You don’t lack passion. You lack recognizing the moments you feel good and doing more of them because, by default, anything you’ll ever be passionate about will be risky, uncomfortable, full of fear.

 

Stay Positive & Remember The Feeling

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There will be several times in your life that you begin as the trainee and quickly turn into the trainer.

At work, with friends, in business, in relationships–everywhere.

The problem is that not many will set you up for success as a trainer. They (wrongfully) assume that since you were trained and do the task well, that you can then train anyone.

That’s not the case.

Knowing how doesn’t mean you can teach anyone. Training is its own artform.

While the following list isn’t going to be all-encompassing. It’s a start for what you need to think about as you make the transition from being the trainee to becoming the trainer.

1) Aggressively take notes as you’re being trained on everything the person training you has done right and has screwed up. Own to never make the same mistakes and be sure to repeat the successful tactics.

2) Don’t dive into training someone. Get to know them better. Don’t assume what way they work. Ask them. The way you train person A will be different from the way you train person B. One might need to drive while you watch and critique versus them watching you.

3) Whether in doubt or not. Follow up with an email of everything you said. Most of the time you’ll realize something you missed or it’ll spark that additional question from the trainee that will make for better work.

4) On that note, make it clear that you expect them to make the work or process better. It’s not just about executing the same thing over and over.

5) To help them do so, they truly need to know why they are doing what they are doing. If I were you, I’d practice this before you train them. Don’t try to give them an off the cuff reason why the work they are doing is important. Know what you’re going to say beforehand.

More tips to come in a future post. Put these into action now.

 

Stay Positive & What Training Tips Do You Have For Those Becoming Trainers?

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What if you invested an hour to write a sell sheet for yourself.

Not a resume, but a sell sheet that covers your capabilities, how someone can benefit from partnering with you, what your mission or your legacy is when boiled down to a paragraph, and what action you want people who interact with you to take?

What would it read?

You’ll quickly realize the sales sheet is more beneficial to you than to anyone else.

 

Stay Positive & Sometimes We Have To Sell Our Own Abilities To Ourselves, Don’t We?

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In media training, marketer’s have the trainee memorize three points they need to make while chatting with the media.

Anytime the executive or scientist or senior employee is phased with a curveball question, the direction is to swing the answer in a way that they can then discuss/reiterate one of their three main points.

The same goes in writing–be it sales copy or an essay. There are a small number of points the writer must make.

And in marketing, all we’re ever focused on are the points we’re trying to make. In doing so, we create marketing consistency, we develop the brand, we engrain the truths of a product or service in the mind of the target.

The only thing is…the points you’re making may not be the points your customer wants you to make.

Through it all, you’ve been focusing on the points you want to make instead of the points the target needs you to make.

That distinction. That switch is what will draw the line and place you either on the “average marketer” side or the “smart marketer” side.

 

Stay Positive & What Are Your Points Again?

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I recently conversed with an extremely successful businessperson about starting a business.

We talked in depth about the pitfalls, potential for failure, and mistakes so many others make.

He also shared his own experience of how one day he was buying a brand new car, had piles of money in his bank, and was doing (obviously) very well. Then in four days, after a series of unfortunate (and unpredictable) events, he was left with $5,000 in the bank and a business on its deathbed.

After 20 minutes or so of talking about the difficulty of starting a business, I paused and said, “That’s the point, though, isn’t it? To go through all that. That’s the exciting stuff. Because damn does it have to feel good to know  you made through all of that”

I’m not sure I had ever believed that as much as I did then and do now.

Going into business or working for yourself is all about the journey’s ups and downs. It’s about the struggle that you have to embrace. It’s about loving every moment the lizard brain speaks up and tells you 50 reasons why you shouldn’t do what you’re considering because it’s too risky, because you’ll disappoint those closest to you, because it might not work – and then doing it.

Here’s a simplified kitchen analogy for what I’m trying to say: If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen, but you’ll never make anything great without getting burnt from time to time.

 

Stay Positive & Get Cooking

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The smartest move you can make before you begin down a path is to decide what image you want to hold.

Are you going to be the workaholic who puts in more hours than everyone in the company, who connects work email to your phone, who works weekends and stays up later than late?

Are you going to be the brand that hugs their haters? That is transparent? That shares how they make their money? That educates the (potential) competition on everything they’re doing from a marketing standpoint?

You never need to truly remain one way, with one image indefinitely. But it’s equally detrimental to pivot regularly because of indecisiveness. To succeed, you must decide how you will.

When you decide, you begin to own it. You make decisions based on the image you want for yourself. Nothing has led more passionate people to rock-bottom then not deciding who they are or want to be. There must be a guiding light that you set for yourself.

 

Stay Positive & There’s Always Room To Pivot Later, But Decide Now

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Impact originates from two spaces: acting and listening.

The average marketer focuses in on the small actions and thinks how to build them up. At minimum it requires tactical thinking. Think of grassroot actions and Facebook posts and direct mail receipts. This is the drip campaign. Little impact by little impact you’ll make a difference.

The smart marketer divides her attention on both the small playground and the large. This is about listening to the industry’s movement and the global economic impact your business may have. It’s how the businesses fits into the world of other businesses. This is strategy at its finest.

It’s easy to be captivated by the small picture, but it’s the big one that matters in the end.

 

Stay Positive & If You’re Not Paying Attention To The Globe, You’re Not Marketing

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