Julie Steelman Interview: Sales is Not a Dirty Word
Julie Steelman knows a thing or two about selling; by choosing to see her sales role as one of giving overwhelming value and service to her clients it has made her debt free and allowed her to retire (at a very young age) to tropical Hawaii.
If you want proof, how about being able to generate $100 million in sales (this is not a typo) from clients such as Apple, Microsoft, Toyota, CBS Sony and Universal Pictures.
And this is when most people are struggling to make commissions and targets.
In her new book “The Effortless Yes: Get the Sales You Want and Make All You’ll Ever Need”, Julie shares her “a ha” moment after the very lean first two years in the business.
Her Road to Damascus moment can be summed up in one sentence, “It’s not about you, it is about the customer”.
Julie Steelman Interview (unlinked)
Julie’s advice: “Get over yourself because it is not personal; you’re here because you have something unique to give that can make someone’s life a lot better”.
Can’t argue with that kind of logic.
So if you have been finding the whole “selling” thing awkward, uncomfortable and downright icky (a technical term in the sales game), do yourself a favor and invest in Julie’s years of wisdom and practical know how-NOW!
Find Julie Steelman at:
http:// www.juliesteelman.com
How To Ask For and Get A Payrise Using The Kiri Waiata Green Method: Kiri Waiata Green Interview
Kiri Waiata Green is not your conventional business and life coach. Professional qualifications aside this remarkable lady has a God given and unique gift to help her clients find their voice (literally). 
If you are one of the silent majority who struggles to ask for a payrise or promotion and feel you have hit a glass ceiling (I’m talking to you ladies), perhaps it is time to consider alternative methods of approaching your boss for that pay increase and promotion.
So, in corporate speak you are requesting a review of your remuneration package such that it is commensurate with your current roles and responsibilities.
In reality you don’t feel you have the right to ask.
This problem of massive self doubt is one that Kiri regularly helps her clients banish and shatter using her novel and incredible program called “Breaking the Sound Barrier”.
Kiri Waiata Green Interview (unlinked)
Listen to my interview with Kiri as she explains the physics of using sound and vibrations generated at the molecular level to remove limiting self beliefs and emotional blockages to wealth creation.
Kiri is a Beyond Success Qualified Coach, a NLP Certified Practitioner (Success Dynamics Institute), holds a Diploma in Counselling (Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors), and a Certificate IV in Small Business Management.
Find her at
Perry Marshall Interview: How to get Google Adwords to sit, stay, heel and roll over
If you are an internet marketer you will probably have a love hate relationship with Google Adwords.
Let’s face it, Google Adwords can be capricious, fickle, and infuriatingly challenging. This means that most people (read men) can’t seem to stay away from trying one more attention grabbing two liner and praying that they paid the right amount for each pay per click ad. When you understand how Google thinks (today) you’re in the money-literally.
I caught up with Perry Marshall who together with Bryan Todd authored “Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords” and asked how a graduate in electrical engineering came to be known as the guy who can read Google Adwords like a book.
Click here to listen Perry Marshall Interview 19April2011 (unlinked)
Perry has some real gems for anyone who is serious about this line of business. We discussed the importance of mindset and below are four key points he made in this regard.
Firstly be helpful to your customers, over deliver on your service and don’t just sell them a product/widget or whatever it is you are selling. In other words, solve their problem for them. You’ll get repeat business if you are seen as the “go to” guy or gal.
Secondly, don’t take customer rejection personally and as Perry says, “It comes with the territory”.
Thirdly, have enough self awareness to realize you may be a square peg in a round hole if you are in a job that feels like one long hard slog from when you clock on till when you can sprint out the office door at 5pm. This means do something else!
Finally, value your self, your time and your special talents that in one context is seen as a liability but when applied in a different environment really is your key asset to wealth creation.
If you want to understand the nuts and bolts of how to make Google Adwords your best advertising tool, head over to Perry’s website and sign up for some solid mentoring from the guru himself.
Six Steps to Creating a Profit: Interview with Pat Sigmon
It is not very often that I get to talk to a successful entrepreneur and businesswoman can claim to have been in business for 30 years, and in what can be construed even by today’s standards as a male dominated niche.
Patricia Sigmon graduated with a computing degree and founded LPS Consulting Co whose core business is focused on offering businesses computing hardware and software solutions. 
Pat is the author of “Six Steps to Creating Profit-A guide for Small and Mid Sized Service Based Businesses”. This is a no nonsense content rich book crammed with straight forward advice for any business owner who knows they need to improve their profit margin.
Listen to the interview Pat Sigmon Interview (unlinked)
She shares how a service oriented company can stay fresh and at the forefront of their clients’ mind and warns that ignoring the internet, social media such as Facebook and Twitter means needlessly leaving a lot of money (read profit) on the table.
Pat explains that every employee in your company is in sales, and that includes the receptionist who answers your phone. As she so aptly puts, “It’s all about sales and marketing”.
If you know your business could do with a make over and a boost to your bottom line, why not get her advice. In these challenging economic times, you will do well to have the expert on your side.
Find Pat Sigmon at
www.DavidAdvisoryGroup.com
www.LPSConsulting.com
Do You Have The Brains, Brawn and Mindset To Be An Entrepreneur: Carol Roth Interview
In these challenging financial times, President Obama is encouraging Americans to lift the economy and restore the stocks of this proud nation by reinventing themselves as the new wave of can do entrepreneurs.
Great if you are cut out for it and have the appetite for calculated risks, a bright idea and the stamina of a marathon runner, but what if you are not and don’t know that.
I suggest you listen to Carol Roth who has sage advice for would be tycoons too in lust with their million dollar idea but have not enough business sense to execute their plans.
Click here to listen Carol Roth Interview (unlinked)
She is an investment banker who used her business strategies to secure more than $1 billion for her clients and complete hundreds of millions of dollars in mergers and acquisitions.
Carol knows a thing or two about this subject and recently authored “The Entrepreneur Equation-Evaluating the Realities, Risks and Rewards of Having Your Own Business” a must read for anyone who is tempted to tell their boss to do the anatomically impossible, quit and assume they can create a fortune from their first business venture.
Carol uses her “Spinach In Your Teeth” method of communication that is both truthful and compassionate to let you know if you have the brains, brawn and mindset for the brief. As painful as it is, the uncomfortable fact for some is that being employed may be the best option for all concerned.
With refreshing candour, Carol encourages women entrepreneurs to acknowledge but not buy into the real or perceived gender divide in the world of big business. She tells with grace and good humour her own experience in this regard when she inadvertently found herself the recipient of the “Best Legs in the Business” award.
Get more information and no nonsense advice on www.CarolRoth.com
Jason Cunningham Interview: Where’s My Money?
Jason Cunningham is a thirty something boyishly good looking Certified Practicing Accountant with a sense of humor, and is the author of the financial self help book Where’s My Money.
Beneath the affable exterior is a person who at 13 witnessed first hand his parents’ efforts at recovering their financial standing after an unscrupulous business partner absconded with the cash. Jason states that the adversity he and his family faced shaped character and forged his entrepreneurial spirit.
As a founding partner in his highly successful accounting firm The Practice, he saw the all too familiar financial train wrecks of business and personal clients. An inability to consciously monitor their cash flow and expenditure for the financial year meant that Jason would invariably be faced with his clients’ plaintive and supplicatory pleas of “Where’s my money?”
In response he wrote Where’s My Money, aimed squarely at the financially illiterate who walk amongst us. Judging by the parlous state of most peoples’ bank accounts, it should cover approximately 90 % of the population.
In this interview, Jason describes how our personalities can greatly influence our desire to save, hoard or divest ourselves of our cash, in no particular order.
Jason Cunningham Interview (unlinked)
In addition to the safe and sure methods of long term wealth creation that includes investments in property, the share market or sound businesses he addresses the Gen Y expectation of instant gratification by throwing down the challenge that they provide more value if they want more money from their employers.
His concern that children are not taught the basic financial skills at school has him putting his money where his mouth is. Asked about his legacy, Jason replied, “In time to come I’ll sell the business, not have to worry about the money and become a primary school teacher”. Happy Days, Mr Cunningham
You can contact Jason at http://www.thepractice.com.au
Level 1, 200 Lygon St, Carlton Vic 3053 AUSTRALIA
Ph: +613 8888 4000; Fax: +613 8888 4099
Dal LaMagna Interview: Failure Is Not Final
If you subscribe to self-development eNewsletters, round about this time of the year, (late January of 2011), your inbox will be inundated with a ton of emails with subject headings like “10 reasons why your new year’s resolutions have failed” and that is usually followed by an offer of “How we can help”.
If you have stuck with your resolution to improve your health, fitness, finances, and personal relationships then kudos to you.
Okay, so the title of this article may sound like one of those motivational, “Come on people, pick yourself up when you’re down” types.
Maybe it is, may be it isn’t. It all depends on your perspective.
Dal LaMagna Interview You can download the mp3 recording and pdf transcript of this interview by going to http://yourmoneyandyourmindset.com/online-store/
You see, we often make the mistake that successful people (millionaires) burst on to the scene as readymade straight out of the box (overnight) successes.
Some of these erroneous assumptions are engineered by the popular press because of the higher drama impact it has on the reader and hence circulation, and revenue (ooh, isn’t that cynical).
The reality is more boring, but nevertheless equally important.
It isn’t sexy to talk about the hard yards, sacrifices and sense of self belief and faith these people showed in the face of adversity.
Show me a person who claims to have just thought up an idea, implemented it and cashed in the millions of dollars without breaking into a sweat and I will show you Pinocchio.
So, I am going to throw you this idea. If you don’t fail, you will not know how to succeed. No, it’s not a mind bender, it actually occurs with predictable frequency.
I have made it my mission to ask self made millionaires how they arrived at their current situation.
Not a single millionaire has glossed over their multiple attempts before finally getting the right business plan, system or model to work well for them. Their candour and honesty is indeed refreshing.
Therefore, I would like to share with you the following interview with Mr Dal LaMagna, the founder of Tweezerman. He is actually a funny guy.
Mr Tweezerman
I have included a synopsis and titled the interview: How to fail your way to success
Dal LaMagna speaks honestly about his sixteen failed business ventures including turning down an offer from Coca Cola and saying no to being involved with the Woodstock Music Festival before he made his fortune from his company Tweezerman.
Tweezerman started as a one-man operation with seed capital of $500. By using head and heart business principles to grow his venture, he was able to walk away with millions when he sold it years later.
Dal shares his wisdom and insights on how to succeed as an entrepreneur in his new book Raising Eyebrows: A Failed Entrepreneur Finally Gets It Right (John Wiley & Sons).
He has done a huge favor to all the budding business tycoons out there by being up front and authentic when he tells it like it is which means you have to do the hard yards and own up to your mistakes, and that’s just for starters.
What more, the man shows that you can be a capitalist and have a social conscience.
I found Dal’s leadership style inspirational-there aren’t many CEOs who genuinely care and will take onboard every employee’s suggestion to grow a business.
Tweezerman flourished because Dal had the foresight to make each and every employee a partner in the business. Yes folks, they got a share of the revenue, not just a monthly pay check.
Do yourself a favor, get the book and read Dal’s many tips on how to succeed in business, and maybe just maybe you will not need to fail 16 times before hitting the mother lode.
Find him at his website:
http://www.dallamagna.com
MJ DeMarco Interview: How to retire young and rich
Ladies, this one is for the men in your lives.
I recently spoke with Michael J DeMarco who has just authored a book with a title that caught my eye.
The Millionaire Fastlane-Crack the code to wealth and live rich for a lifetime
Mr Millionaire Fastlane
MJ DeMarco Interview You can download the mp3 recording and pdf transcript of this interview by going to http://yourmoneyandyourmindset.com/online-store/
MJ’s views and opinions on wealth creation take on a high octane flavour. For one thing, he doesn’t accept that people have to scrimp and save and take 50 years to become financial independent.
He rejects the “get rich slow” plan which see people in the twilight of their years before they can enjoy their hard earned cash.
His ideas certainly challenge conventional financial wisdom that is offered by many other well known finance gurus on the scene.
In my interview with MJ now in his thirties, he tells of a chance meeting with a young man getting into his Lamborghini at an ice cream place, where he, as a spellbound 12 year old awoke to the possibility that one day he too be like this young millionaire.
From that fateful encounter he made it his mission to study the habits and characteristics of young millionaires and decided that in the simplest terms it would mean becoming an entrepreneur.
He pulls no punches and tells it like it is; that people can either do nothing (Sidewalk strollers), take the Slowlane and wait until they are in their 70’s before being able to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Then there are people like MJ who elect to take the Fastlane and retire YOUNG without sacrificing lifestyle.
And yes, he does drive a Lamborghini.
Yours in health, wealth and happiness
What has leadership got to do with becoming wealthy: Part 2
In Part 1 of this series, I finished with the statement that a good leader demonstrates emotional intelligence in his/her daily dealings with their staff.
A good leader realizes and publicly acknowledges that they cannot achieve their goals on their own, and a good leader learns to place their well-founded trust in their staff.
This folks, is another form of leveraging of your time (as in time equals money) to succeed in whatever business you are in.
So, how do you recruit good staff who share the same values, ie work ethic and general outlook in life. In other words, how do you find the best people who will fit nicely into your business organization.
Well, I am a firm believer in asking questions beyond the standard run of the mill enquiries so beloved of human resource types, during a formal interview process.
Without straying into the “no go” zone about their personal life, and orientation which is none of my business, I want to know what makes them tick, what inspires them to get out of bed in the morning to come and work for me.
This is because I can then get a better sense of the person. To me they are not a number or a drone but real people who have real feelings, fears and aspirations and hopefully a burning ambition and a bit of fire in their belly.
It’s a bit like being on a first date, a lot of this time is spent talking, shooting the breeze and when a person is at ease, they reveal themselves.
All I have to do is shut up and listen and observe. So, a good leader knows when to speak and when to be quiet. I’d hazard the ratio is a 20:80 split. Do you get my drift?
Do yourself a favor and read up on body language; believe me that speaks volumes when it comes to getting an honest response from your interview candidate.
As I previously said, people are not motivated by money as much as feeling that their contribution is worthwhile and publicly acknowledged.
This is the human connection that you are looking for. If you get this right, your people will go the extra mile for you, simply because you have gotten them wholly involved in your vision.
And it all comes down to the “C” word, communication.
For the old school types, communication consists of me (the boss) talking and you (the minion) listening and carrying out my wishes. It does remind me of one of those typical army movies where the drill sergeant yells at the recruit, “Hey, meathead, if I want your opinion, I will give it to you”.
For the rest of us who do not subscribe to this method of communication, stay tuned and I will share with you some worthwhile ideas.
Yours in health, wealth and happiness
What has leadership got to do with becoming wealthy: Part 1
Answer: Everything!
Leadership, or more importantly good leadership underpins your ability to succeed.
As a great leader, you are the inspiration, visionary and literally the soul of your business.
Click here to listen to the full recording Leadership and Wealth Part 1
It applies equally across the spectrum should you be the CEO of a multi national corporation or a solopreneur with a red hot idea.
The most reliable way to creating wealth is to build up a business that turns over significant dollars and selling it as a viable concern, or have a business model that can be replicated many times over, then licensing these as franchises.
The caveat here is that your business must provide exemplary value for a service and/or product that is second to none, and that the consumer is willing to pay top dollar for what you offer.
I use the example of your toothache and your smiling dentist, Dr Fang.
If you had a toothache you’d probably ignore it for as long as it is possible. Show me a person who enjoys sitting in the dentist’s chair with a high speed drill on their teeth and I will show you someone who is flat lining.
However, there will come a time when all the pain killer tablets in your bathroom cabinet will not stop the sharp shooting pain that makes you want to grab a hammer and hit your toes with it because that is the only thing that will take your attention away from your toothache. This usually occurs round about 9 PM on a Sunday evening.
At this stage you will not care if you have to take a second mortgage on your house to have your toothache dealt with.
Dr Fang is more than happy to oblige, fixes your toothache and makes the pain go away (for a fee).
Dr Fang knows that toothaches do not occur between the hours of 9-5 on weekdays only. In fact, he/she has noticed that if their dental surgery was open 24 hours a day 7 days a week, there would not be a shortage of patients in their waiting room.
Because Dr Fang cannot be at more than one place at a time, they hire other dentists and support staff to replicate their service across town or even the country.
Their secret weapon is that they are able to leverage their time. Another equally important component is that they aim for staff members to have the same passion and work ethic.
If you are a heart centered businessperson, not only will you be looking at a bottom line of increased profits or revenue, but as importantly, that increased productivity has not come at the expense of your employees’ well being.
Put yourself in Dr Fang’s shoes and ask yourself, how do I get my staff to share my big picture goals and visions for my business?
Here’s where effective, strong and good leadership becomes vital to a business not only surviving but thriving, GFC or no GFC.
Just reiterating, as a great leader, you are the inspiration, visionary and literally the soul of your business.
Essentially, leadership is firstly knowing yourself (and being wholly comfortable and accepting of who you are).
Secondly having a clear vision of what your (business) goals are.
Thirdly, it is being able to clearly communicate this vision to your staff and getting total buy in from them. They have to do this voluntarily or else it will not work (think Captain Bligh and the mutiny on the HMS Bounty).
This includes building trust, getting your workers to function as a cohesive unit and motivating them to perform at their highest level, and to do so on a consistent basis.
Impossible, you say?
Not if you are an emotionally intelligent leader.
People are not motivated by money as much as feeling that their contribution is worthwhile and publicly acknowledged.
More on this in my next post; until then
Yours in health, wealth and happiness