Posts Tagged ‘celebrity shots’
Millionaire Training Systems Douglas Vermeeren 1-3
Wealth comes more easily when your purpose is service and not money. – Douglas Vermeeren
Millionaire Training systems – Douglas Vermeeren 1-2
Millionaire Training systems – Douglas Vermeeren 1-2
Millionaire Training Systems – Douglas Vermeeren quote 1-1
Millionaire Training Systems – Douglas Vermeeren quote 1-1
Use your time wisely. It is your greatest asset and cannot be replaced once spent. Use of time is a key factor that separates the wealthy from the broke. – Douglas Vermeeren from Millionaire Wisdom
Money – Why you need to prepare now more than ever before!
Why you need to prepare now more than ever before!
By Douglas Vermeeren CEO of The Millionaire Training Systems & Maximum Results
Are you financially prepared?
Every morning I start my day by checking the news to see what’s going on in the world. As a general rule the news is pretty negative and often times even exaggerates that negativity just to get our attention. This morning I found a story that was very interesting to me, not just because of the shock value of the content, but because the content was terribly true.
I have actually seen the subject matter manifest itself many times before me when working with those who come to my training programs. I’m glad they come because they can get help but many of them are arriving too late. The name of the article was ‘Why Millennials may never retire.” Are you going to be ready to retire? Nicole Goodkind of the Daily Ticker/Yahoo Finance doesn’t think so and for the most part I agree.
According to her research those born between 1980 and 2000 may never be able to experience retirement. She states that, “The generation that came of age in the tech boom of 1990s but graduated from college into one of the worst recessions our nation has ever seen is left behind financially.” It is true that they are behind. Youth that are emerging into the working markets now are finding it very difficult to find jobs that pay high enough to meet their financial requirements. The median debt for students upon graduation is $23,000 and it is estimated that more than 7 million college grads are on a path to default on those loans.
Goodkind also cited a recent study by Nerd Wallet that estimates these same college graduates will not be able to retire until age 73. That’s 12 years later than the current national average age of 61.
These shifts in our economy do not only effect the millennials. I have seen first hand through those I have met that many over 40 are also struggling to prepare for retirement. They have no savings, no investments no retirement strategy. They too may be on track to work well into their mid-70’s, if they can retire at all.
Will you be included in this group? What can you do to avoid falling into the trap of being unprepared? Here are a few suggestions that will help you begin to get prepared so that you can leave the herd that will very soon find themselves unprepared.
1)Start thinking about it
Too many people think that things will just sort themselves out. They don’t feel that they need to think about money, retirement or even get prepared. It’s like the fairytale story of the grasshopper and the ant. For those who are not familiar with the story the skinny goes like this: The grasshopper plays all summer while the ant is working hard to stockpile food and supplies to prepare for the winter. The winter comes and the ant is prepared and the grasshopper is not. Too often people live their life like the grasshopper. They know that they have to prepare for the future but they keep putting it off thinking they will have time to catch up later. Summer draws to a close and the winter creeps up and they are not prepared. You can’t escape the future by pretending it doesn’t exist. It is coming and while I am not a doom and gloom type of person I warn very strongly that it’s easier to prepare now than try and catch up later. A future situation will not go away by pretending it’s not coming or by not thinking about it. Start thinking about it now and preparation will be easier.
When should you start thinking about it? Naturally the earlier the better. It’s also true that the earlier the easier. It’s also true that the earlier you start preparing for your financial freedom the sooner it will arrive. Although this article has spoken a lot about the term retirement that’s not the goal as I see it. the goal is financial freedom and that can arrive at nearly any age and is not tied to the concept of retirement in my mind. The old saying is true, “If you play now, you pay later with interest. If you pay now you get to play later with interest.” Now is the time to start acting smart with your money.
2)Look at where you are
Most people don’t know what their current situation looks like. This is the first step to know what your future can look like. While I not strict about keeping an exact budget it is important to know what your income and expenses look like. Naturally there may be unforeseen expenses but the closer you can get to identifying your current situation is the more likely it is that you will begin to recognize what’s really going on with your money. (More about why this is important below under the heading money strategist.)
3)Look at where you want to be
If you don’t know where you are now chances are you really don’t have a good idea on where you want to be financially in the next few years. Often when I ask people questions about their financial future they share ambiguous statements like, “I want to be rich.” or “I want to be financially free.” But most people have no idea what that really means or looks like. If you can’t describe it you can’t attain it. A goal that is specific and clear becomes attainable and near. What do you want your lifestyle to be now and when you retire? Or what does financial freedom look like to you? Get specific if you can so that you have a target. I recognize that this may change but if you begin with a target you have something to recognize whether you are on the way.
What does your financial future look like?
4)Become a money strategist versus a money manager
This is the point that is the most important. A money manager is what most people have been trained to be. A money manager is reactive. They get their paycheck and then go about the task of making that paycheck fit the bills they have. When they get to the end of paying their bills they feel successful. At the end their may be $100 or $200 and because they feel like the goal has been met that $100 or $200 becomes what they call ‘disposable income.’ Disposable means to throw away and that’s exactly what most people do with their money. A money strategist is different and has different goals. A strategist is not react – they are proactive. They plan for the future and their goal is not to match a paycheck to expenses. Their objective is to pay the bills but also to build a better financial future. When they have that extra $100 or $200 left after paying the bills they use it further their future income in some way. Often it goes into an investment or a mechanism to generate more money for the future. remember the saying pay now to play later with interest. This is that principle in action.
There are many things you can do to prepare for financial future right now. But the biggest and most important principle is to do something. even something small done regularly has the power to change your situation dramatically. Don’t wait. Get prepared. Your financial future is awaiting you and financial freedom can be yours quicker than you may have imagined.
Douglas Vermeeren
Douglas Vermeeren has conducted extensive research into the lives of more than 400 of the world’s top achievers. Douglas Vermeeren knows what they did to get to the top and he can show you how. He appears regularly on ABC, FOX, CNN, CTV, CBC and is known as the modern day Napoleon Hill. He is the author of 3 books in the Guerrilla Marketing series and is the creator of the hit personal development films The Opus & The Gratitude Experiment. His money based coaching program The MILLIONAIRE TRAINING SYSTEM has been helping attain financial freedom in the most direct and quickest route available.
His results based coaching program MAXIMUM RESULTS is currently among the fastest growing in the nation. For more information on Doug and his programs go to www.MillionairetrainingSystems.com www.MaximumResultscoaching.com or www.DouglasVermeeren.com
Millionaire Training Systems
Maximum Results
How is the most money made?
How is the most money made?
By Douglas Vermeeren
Make more money today
Money is something that is important to all of us. It is even more important it seems when you don;t have any. When you don’t have enough it certainly seems to be a high priority and an issue of major concern. No matter where we go in life it seems there is a price tag attached.
Not only have I found that money is the dominant issue among all of the students I have taught there is one issue closely related to money that has got people just as concerned. And that issue is time.
People also want to make money as quickly and easily as possible.
While I do believe that money can often be made quickly and easily I want to give a correct expectation that it isn’t often as easy as most of the ‘get rich gurus’ and network marketing companies out there are promoting. (Sorry to pick on those tow groups but they are generally among the most common promising a sure fire way to wealth. And while it may happen with their methods it is somewhat uncommon.)
A recent study identified 4 key areas where the majority of wealth and wealthy lifestyles are created today. I want to share them with you without going into too much detail. These are not in any particular order as great fortunes have been made in each one. nor do I recommend you pick one and limit yourself to it. My fortune has been made by diversifying into each of these areas and I still look for opportunities in each. But if one of these opportunities is more easily available to you right now, by all means get started.
- Ideas – One of the best ways to become wealthy is have a great idea and develop it. You’ll notice I did say develop it. There are many great ideas out there that never become profitable because there was no action attached to it. I recently read that the average person has approximately six ideas that could become a million-dollar enterprise each year. The challenge again is that most people don’t do anything with these ideas. To make money in the idea developing category you will need to learn how to do the following or get support in the following areas: Development, distribution, Licensing and sales. You may even need to look into manufacturing yourself to get started. Developing an idea can mean a lot of money for you if it’s done right.Business – Owning or operating a business can be one of the most rewarding activities existing. But if you speak to the average entrepreneur you will also find that it can be one of the most frustrating. Along with the opportunity to create your own paycheck you also assume all the risk and challenge of running the business. Yet if you stick with and learn systems that help you create success you can do very well. In addition to creating a business there are opportunities to purchase an existing business, get involved in franchising, or even partner with others.
- Business – Owning or operating a business can be one of the most rewarding activities existing. But if you speak to the average entrepreneur you will also find that it can be one of the most frustrating. Along with the opportunity to create your own paycheck you also assume all the risk and challenge of running the business. Yet if you stick with and learn systems that help you create success you can do very well. In addition to creating a business there are opportunities to purchase an existing business, get involved in franchising, or even partner with others.
- Investing – Investing when done correctly can make a lot for money for you. All investment however will come with some degree of risk. I always encourage our students to invest in things they understand or have experience with. There are many investment products available and many qualified professionals who can help you find investments that will work best for you. Often safe investing is a relatively slow and steady way to become wealthy. However there are many high risk opportunities as well that can generate higher returns in a shorter amount of time. In the category of investments we can include registered investments like stocks, shares,bonds, RRSp, 401K, GIC, Mutual funds and more. In this category we can also include private investment, which can include investment into businesses directly or real estate.
- Lastly, I have chosen to list real estate as a separate category apart from investment. The reason I have chosen to do so is that often real estate involves purchasing a tangible asset. (Which is quick different than developing an idea or buying a mutual fund.) It is generally thought that real estate is a very safe bet for investors, but this isn’t always the case as we discovered in 2008. Even with the challenges of the recession real estate is still a very safe bet considering that the market values always seem to restore themselves over time. There are several ways to invest and make money in real estate. This can include everything from ‘flipping’ properties to owning rental properties. Most people initially think of residential properties first when it comes to real estate investing, but a great deal of money can be made in commercial real estate as well. And it is often easier to get involved than most people think.
While we haven’t been able to go into deep detail in each of this categories on this short blog post it is my hope that you would look deeper into each of these areas as I have made quite a bit of money personally in each area and I know they work.
If you are looking for more information and strategies on making more money please visit regularly my site www.MillionaireTrainingSystems.com where you will find free information and also special secret information for our coaching clients. On this site you’ll also find information about upcoming events and media appearances that I make and talk about money.
Millionaire Training Systems
Douglas Vermeeren – Millionaire Mentor
Douglas Vermeeren is the author of Guerrilla Millionaire, Guerrilla Achiever, the producer of the movies The Opus and The Gratitude Experiment. He appears regularly on FOX, ABC, NBC, CNN and other networks sharing strategies on becoming financially free. www.DouglasVermeeren.com
Is originality required for Success?
Is it necessary to be original to experience success?
By Douglas Vermeeren, The Sales trainer www.TheSalestrainer.com
Got Originality?
Often when we hear many of the popular business coaches and gurus of today say that in order be successful in our professional lives we need to seek for originality and unique ways of spinning ourselves. They say we need to stand out from the crowd and make an impact as something dramatically different. It’s their idea that the more we stand out and make ourselves different than others in our industry the more of an increase we will see in interest. In other words of uniqueness factor is tied directly to our profitability.
While I do think it is important to be unique and deliver services and products in creative and fresh ways, the overall idea of different being attached to high profits is incorrect. Originality in and of itself does not equal success.
Over the last decade or more I have had the opportunity to conduct exclusive research into the lives and businesses of more than 400 of the world’s top achievers. I was able to observe the leaders of multi-billion dollar companies and the strategies they used in an up close and personal way. I saw first hand where they place the concept of originality in order of importance when creating new ventures, marketing existing ones and reshaping companies that have been around for years.
Secret to originality
When it comes to originality I found that there were two major questions that all of the top organizations looked at before investing time and money to highlight a difference.
The first thing to understand about originality is that it must have a purpose. Being unique is not enough. If it does not serve the customer first or highlight something valuable in the marketplace it is a distraction and detriment. Rule #1: A difference should innovate not alienate. Ask yourself the following questions:
1) Does this difference make it easier for your client to attain their goals?
2) Does the difference save time, increase profits or create a system for the client?
3) Does this difference create or destroy your credibility in the eyes of your client?
The second thing is that you must be able to communicate it effectively. It must be done with class and intention. Think of when you were in middle school. There was ‘cool’ different and ‘weird’ different. If you can’t be the ‘cool’ different then your uniqueness will be counterproductive. ‘Cool’ different comes when people get why you are different and your different makes sense.
1)What are you really trying to say?
2)Does it matter?
3)Do people get it?
You really have to be careful with the concept of other people ‘getting it.’ It is so easy to assume that you are well understood and clear in your messaging. But all to often entrepreneurs miss the mark in this area. And this area of messaging is fundamental. If they don’t know what you are really selling they can’t give you money. It’s as simple as that. One test that I like to do with my marketing materials is to have my fifteen year old son take a look as my evaluation team and see if he understands what I am trying to say and if it’s clear. More than once I’ve had him share what he thought I was trying to say and find that he completely misunderstood my intentions. (Just a side caution: be sure not to explain to your evaluation people what you are expecting them to understand. Say nothing and let them give you their honest perception.)
Everything is a remix
In conclusion, success does not always require you to think outside the box. In fact, just the opposite. Sometimes the more outside the box you are the more profits are missed.Rather than striving to think outside of the box, strive to find the right box think in. Originality is an elusive thing and perhaps that’s even the wrong word. In the words of my high school art teacher, “There’s no such thing as an original idea. But you can have an innovative one.”
But is originality the most important thing or even an essential ingredient at that? Hardly. Most of the top money making organizations in the world did not lean on originality to become the top in their fields. Instead it had to do with delivery.
McDonald’s was not original idea when Ray Kroc appeared on the scene. Rather than design a new hamburger Ray focus on delivery. He standardized food prices, franchised outlets, concentrated on producing the food quickly in clean surroundings and then marketing! Marketing! Marketing! Since then many other fast food burger competitors have also appeared on the scene. Has McDonald’s changed course to become more original or unique than their competitors. Not so much. They have stayed the course and concentrated on just doing it better. (Maybe that’s the originality?)
Felix Dennis, creator of Maxim Magazine, once said something that really made sense to me and sheds some light on this questions. I’m paraphrasing now. He said that the power of a great idea is not in the idea. It is in the making of the idea. If an idea is never developed or made it has no power.
In other words your originality is not success. At least not until you can develop it into something that is useful to others in such a way that they are willing to pay you for it. So before you begin to spend time and money to tell your unique story ask yourself does it add value to others and can you communicate in such a way that they get it?
Douglas Vermeeren
If you feel like now is the time to increase your belief and learn keys to success I would like to share more of what I learned in my research with the 400 top achievers in the world. It has helped me make an incredible amount of money, improve my relationships, enjoy great health and live my life according to my highest values and desires. To get started go to www.DouglasVermeeren.com and click on the Maximum Results link. Douglas Vermeeren is also the CEO of Millionaire Training Systems.
MAXIMUM RESULTS Success Cruise dates announced
Carnival Liberty
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Join us on the 2013 Maximum Results Cruise with Douglas Vermeeren
Nov 30 – Dec 5 2013 Leaving from Miami and visiting Cozumel, Belize, Roatan Honduras and the Grand Caymens.
Douglas Vermeeren – The Modern Day Napoleon Hill
Come spend 7 days with Douglas Vermeeren, the modern Day Napoleon Hill as featured on ABC, FOX, CNN, NBC, CTV and CBC. Vermeeren has conducted extensive research into the lives of more than 400 of the world’s top achievers and he can help you create extraordinary success. Doug is the producer of The Opus, The Gratitude Experiment and the upcoming film How Thoughts become things. He is also the author of 3 books in the Guerrilla Marketing series Guerrilla Achiever, Guerrilla Millionaire and Guerrilla Mastermind.
If you are a student of success you won’t want to miss this opportunity!
Come spend 7 days with the modern day Napoleon Hill. On this cruise you will learn:
- How to take your business to over $1M annually
- How top achievers really get to their goals
- The 10 keys to creating massive success
- The brain science behind staying focused with goals that matter
- How to harness the power of gratitude
- Why modern goal setting doesn’t work
- How to Recognize and take advantage of opportunities to grow your business
- Wealth building strategies for your business
- How to build and maintain high level relationships
- How to build a safety net in your network
- How to share your story and be heard (especially at networking events)
- How to attract others to do business with you
- Systems and strategies for expansion and growth
- How to be an innovator
- How to tap into the best success tools on the planet
And much more!
Be sure to bring business cards as you will make some powerful connections on this cruise.
To ensure maximum interaction this cruise is limited to 100 participants.
Investment to participate:
Maximum results members: $997*
Non-members: $1497*
For more information email Rachel@douglasvermeeren.com
*We have been advised that the investment to participate is tax deductible because this is a business/educational event. Pricing includes all seminar activities and materials. This is an All Inclusive cruise. Pricing is based on double-occupancy.
Is your business average or extraordinary?
Powerful Thinking Powerful Results
Is your business average or extraordinary?
By Douglas Vermeeren
Average is defined as ‘being common.’ Common is not something that stands out. Nor is it something that produces extraordinary results. Achievers are never common, average or normal. They are extraordinary. That should be your goal!
While there are many people that are satisfied to be average, my assumption is that the reason you selected this book was because you would prefer to be extraordinary.
What is your standard of excellence? What is extraordinary to you? Often times we let the idea of extraordinary frighten us. At first glance it may seem that it will take too much work and require a high level of commitment.
Here is a the truth that will change everything for you: Extraordinary is found in doing the little things in an extraordinary way.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe said it this way, “To have more you must become more.”
Hard work
Michelangelo made an interesting observation once, he said, “If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem wonderful at all.”
To be extraordinary you need to put in hard work.
I found this first hand when I was working a summer job in college. My job was to sell pest control door to door in southern California. The days were hot and it was easy to justify taking a break to sit in the shade or go find a place to get some lemonade. But I found that when the others stopped if I kept going for one more street of contacts that my paycheck would be significantly larger. Just one more street was my commitment.
Each day of one or two extra streets added up and soon I found that my level of success was dramatically different than those who were satisfied to stop at what was simply required.
The same is true on many levels. If you would experience lasting success you must learn the principle of over delivering or going the extra mile. When you over-deliver people will seek you out as the one who is genuinely concerned about them and their business. They will seek you out and you will be considered the expert and person to trust.
Finding your uniqueness
What makes you extraordinary while everyone else in the room is average? Think about it. Everyone feels that they are unique and special. And they are right we each have unique things that make us very different than everyone else. But if you were to ask 100 people what makes them different, and I have. You would find more than 80% of the people would give you similar answers.
Everyone is unique with special gifts and attributes. Very few people have invested the time and consideration to find what it is that really makes them unique and extraordinary.
And the most unique people are the ones who actually do something with their discovery.
Doug Hall author of the book Jump start your business brain, lists as one of the three key things that aids in business success is to have a business that is ‘dramatically different.’ The trouble is that too often we deliver our business in the same way that everyone else does and everyone else expects. In the end we get the same results that everyone else is getting.
CAUTION: It is important to point out that being different does not necessarily mean a person is extraordinary. We have both met many people that are very different. (Just take a walk in Times Square in New York City and you’ll understand what I mean.) Often these ‘different‘ people are not really leading lives that I would call extraordinary.
In addition to being ‘dramatically different,’ we need to be ‘dynamically different.’
To be dynamic is to be active, energetic, forceful, and powerful.
In what way are your differences dynamic? In what ways are they contributing to greater success and achievement?
Dynamic differences are not accidents
Dynamic differences don’t come about by accident. They come through exploration and consideration. They will come as you use your imagination to look for ways to make a difference that is active, energetic, forceful and powerful.
Are you average or extraordinary?
Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
What can you imagine and create that will make you different? What will you do that will cause you to be remembered as extraordinary? How can you deliver that difference in a dynamic way?
Your most important asset is your ability to imagine and create. Are you using that gift enough in your daily activities?
For more on becoming extraordinary in your business be sure to check out www.DouglasVermeeren.com or www.MaximumResultsCoaching.com
Douglas Vermeeren,
Douglas Vermeeren has conducted extensive research into the lives of more than 400 of the world’s top achievers. Douglas Vermeeren knows what they did to get to the top and he can show you how. He appears regularly on ABC, FOX, CNN, CTV, CBC and is known as the modern day Napoleon Hill. He is the author of 3 books in the Guerrilla Marketing series and is the creator of the hit personal development films The Opus & The Gratitude Experiment. His results based coaching program MAXIMUM RESULTS is currently among the fastest growing in the nation and franchises are now available in selected markets! If you want to make more money as a coach please contact us. For more information on Doug and his programs go to www.MaximumResultscoaching.com or www.DouglasVermeeren.com
Are people Categorizing you without your permission? And are you important enough?
Powerful Thinking Powerful Results
Are people categorizing you without your permission?
And are you important enough?
By Douglas Vermeeren
Our brain and mind work in mysterious ways. These ways can have a significant impact on our relationships with others and can be very influential factors on the success of our business or the lack of it.
One of the functions that we experience regularly can be readily observed. It is called split second categorizing. Let me first explain what it is and then share some examples. After the examples I will include some exercises on how you can prepare for this brain science phenomenon and use it to find your ideal customers and improve your business.
What is split second categorizing?
One of the significant ways our brain is wired is to be on the alert and ready to respond immediately. One of the ways it does this can be found in the way it sorts information. Generally speaking our mind does not take the time to sort information it receives so it tries to find a short hand way to categorize things. For example if I say to you think of the color blue. Your mind doesn’t go through a million shades of blue to consider options. It simply selects a generic blue and that is what you see. In other words, your mind tries to satisfy requests for information as quickly as possible. This sit he same process that creates stereotypes in our mind. Here is another word list that your mind will immediately find a common generic answer or stereotype for. As you read these take a second to notice the picture your mind creates:
Sales man
Dentist
Lawyer
Doctor
School Teacher
Scientist
Mayor
Garbage man
Postal worker
Business man
Entrepreneur
Financial Planner
Real Estate agent
Did you notice your mind finding generic or stereotypical responses to these words? Did you notice that your mind also filled in the blanks on settings or context surrounding these words. For example, did you school teacher stand at a chalk board? Did your doctor have a stethoscope? Was your scientist in a lab coat? Did your salesman have a brief case and was he knocking on your door? Most likely you saw some of the same images. These examples of visual shorthand are common in western society. Are the images you saw perfect, complete or in some cases even accurate to some of the people you may know who have these occupations? Chances are you immediately recognize many exceptions to categorizing your mind did. In fact, most of the categorizing we initial do overlooks the people we know that are actually in these professions. Was your first reaction someone that you know in these roles? Probably not. Recognition and association takes too long in the mind. Your brain is wired for speed. Any answer first – correct or specific answer second.
It’s this split second categorizing that has kept us safe. Our brain first separates all things into safe or unsafe. (Or friendly/unfriendly). Then next your brain will sort things into answering whether an object or thing can serve you or it can’t. (Survival mode again.) If it decides that it is something can serve you your brain will further categorize it as to risks involved through association. The brain at this point begins to analyze more critically. it is still categorizing but it is investing more time investigating. (ie. Will it cost too much? Can it really do what I think it can? Is there a risk to explore further?)
This is how our mind works even in business relationships. Here’s the example that I promised. Return in your mind to a recent networking event you may have attended. Preferably a breakfast or lunch meeting where everyone was gathered around a table with the opportunity to introduce themselves. Remember how you felt as different people introduced themselves and their business opportunities. Some of these people were very interesting to you, but you heard enough, you didn’t need to know more. Some of these people were not interesting to you at all. And lastly, perhaps a few were extremely interesting to you and you knew you needed to connect with them. What was the difference? This is split second categorizing at work.
You immediately categorized these people into those that could serve your interests and those that could not. Is it true that those same people may have actually had something valuable that could have helped your business. perhaps. But the way they presented themselves and their opportunities caused your brain to categorize them as unimportant to you. And because of that presentation you will most likely never follow up with them or do business with them.
So how can you keep from being categorized as unimportant? How can you be categorized as relevant to others? This important question will have a significant impact on the number of leads you generate. And because of that it will have an immediate effect on your company’s bottom line.
You need to find a way to be categorized as important. And here are a few suggestions that will help you do that:
(Before I share these suggestions I want to let you know there is a great worksheet for Maximum Results coaching members that will help you be more successful in making your business and brand more important to others. In addition, in our members only area there are more tools for our coaching students that will allow you to sell more, create stronger customer loyalty and become categorized as the expert in your industry. Be sure to check it out at http://www.MaximumResultsCoaching.com)
- Understand who your customers are
Only by understanding who your customers really are and what they really want can you create offers that they categorize as relevant to them. By categorizing and profiling your clients first you can begin to recognize how they are going to categorize you. You can profile them based on their sex, age, occupation, income, social status and even education. In this day and age we are encouraged to be politically correct yet the truth is our brain still categorizes people according to race, gender, religious affiliations and so forth. Be sure that you also take these things into consideration.
- Recognize their needs and apprehensions
The more you understand and categorize your customers the more you will be able to anticipate what their true needs are and their true apprehensions. I use the word ‘true’ intentionally because in my experience most business owners I have met have never invested the time and effort to truly know how their customers categorize. These business owners assume that since they are in serving a specific industry that they get what their customers want and they know how to communicate it to them. Nothing could be further from the truth. The ways customers categorize changes regularly and the way they need to be marketed to also changes regularly. Buzz words change meaning over time. Opportunities that were once hot become stale. And a negative experience with one brand can paint the entire industry. To be success you must include as part of your strategy a constant mission to stay relevant and important to your clients.
- Craft your presentation
Even if you understand how your customers categorize you will need to invest a substantial amount of time crafting your presentation. A big part of your emphasis should be on the beginning of your presentation. It is said that first impressions are based on the first three seconds of an interaction. This is split second categorizing at work. I find one of the strongest ways to begin is to use something called ‘pattern priming.’ (We talk more about pattern priming within the coaching program. It is a powerful tool for persuasion and increasing sales.) In a very simply application pattern priming at the beginning of your presentation could include questions that your prospect needs to have answered. Great examples are the questions/statements/headlines that appear on the cover of magazines and newspapers. For example: 5 easy ways to tell if your boyfriend is cheating on you, The number one reason you can’t lose weight, 3 mistakes that business owners make that keep them broke, How I survived an abusive marriage, How to make a million dollars without trying.
Split second categorizing is something that you will never be able to escape. If you learn how to use it to your benefit it can be a great asset for finding your customers and becoming important to them. We only invest in the things that we value. And the first way to increase your bottom line is become relevant to those who can purchase your products and services.
Douglas Vermeeren,
Douglas Vermeeren has conducted extensive research into the lives of more than 400 of the world’s top achievers. Douglas Vermeeren knows what they did to get to the top and he can show you how. He appears regularly on ABC, FOX, CNN, CTV, CBC and is known as the modern day Napoleon Hill. He is the author of 3 books in the Guerrilla Marketing series and is the creator of the hit personal development films The Opus & The Gratitude Experiment. His results based coaching program MAXIMUM RESULTS is currently among the fastest growing in the nation and franchises are now available in selected markets! If you want to make more money as a coach please contact us. For more information on Doug and his programs go to www.MaximumResultscoaching.com or www.DouglasVermeeren.com
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