Linda --

This is exactly what irks me about this forum - so much to comment on that's relevant that I don't have enough time to get to it all!

[side note to Gordon - when you get rolling it's almost overwhelming the amount of good info that comes out of you.]

> pass them off as tire kickers. Tell them
> that if it doesn't work it's because they're
> not applying it - or not doing it right.
> Bull pucky. *g*

Sounds like most of the MLM companies I've been around.

> You make a good point. You see, when I shop,
> I'm a tire kicker. At least all the stores I
> didn't buy from might think so. I'll go in -
> ask the questions - be hedgy and
> non-committal. That doesn't mean I'm not
> interested. It means I haven't decided who
> I'm going to buy from.

> I think the number of "real" tire
> kickers are much lower online.

First let me state that when I say off-line I generally mean retail type sales and on-line referring to storefronts.

I think it's the other way around - more online than offline. Tire kickers in that it's easier to find the info where in the offline world they often have to get up to go out. I'm defining the people who actually come by a site versus those who come by and then later contact. From the number of people who initiate private contact I do think the number is lower.

Unfortunately it's not as easy to weed them out online as off-line. Offline I've got body language, I've got their words, I see what they look at, etc. Online I still have their words but typed emails don't carry the same degree of "automatic talking" that I get off line. I mean offline I say "Can I help you?" and you say "Just looking" before I get the sentence out. (Which is exactly why you don't ask that - you want a better answer.) With email exchanges much of that disappears. Makes it more difficult to read between the lines. Plus there is the issue of how well a person can express themselves in email.

> I have since found a question that helps
> people decide what it is that they really
> "do" want to do.

> If I'm talking to a married man, I ask him
> what he talks about so much that his wife is
> sick of hearing it, but listens because she
> loves him.
> If I'm talking to a woman - I reverse the
> question.

I really like your question - will have to write it down. If you don't mind how do you deal with the situation of the person becoming quite burned out on their topic after it becomes a business - and the fun goes out of it? That's happened to me with my hobbies when they became my business. Specifically sleight-of-hand. Just curios in that regard. Basically when it went from what they "like to do" to what they "have to do". Pick this up offline if you wish I'm just curious. After it happened to me - several times - I became leary of pointing people toward the passionate areas of their lives as a business.

> I've even had one guy ask if it was okay to
> talk this over with his wife first. He
> wanted to see what SHE would say and see if
> it matched what he thought she would say.
> *g*

This sounds like a wise man!

> (Nevermind the fact that the letter is three
> years old at least.) *laughing*

But the date on that letter isn't three years old - you're not suggesting that they are *fudging* are you?!

> Yes. It works for THEM. There has never been
> a rule that said making money and teaching
> other people to make money were synonamous.

Doing and teaching - two different things entirely. Rare is the person who can do both.

> No, no, no, I told her. Any mom that has
> gone through what YOU did doesn't need to be
> sold. She wants to see the diaper. She wants
> to know the price. She wants to know what
> it's made of. She wants to see little babies
> wearing your diapers. She wants to hear
> other moms say "Thank God, a diaper my
> baby can wear."

What she wasn't seeing is that the process is all still there - it's just that the person interested in her product had already had their hot buttons pushed -- by experiencing the problem. So the steps are the same it's just how they are applied. (I know you know this but I'm pointing out for those who may miss this very important lesson.) It's the process of taking a formula or principle and applying it to your present situation.

The long sales letters have their place. Short ones do too. When I sold waterbeds we had quick sales - new mattress to the guy who had a hole, and long sales - the gal getting a new bedroom suite from her husband or the person who knew nothing about waterbeds. The steps are all there but sometimes circumstances do much of the "selling" for you. For instance I love a waterbed since my feet don't hang off the end. My wife doesn't relate to the problem.

I've thought about doing a series of tapes called - "What I learned about .... from ..." Such as "What I learned about business from an 19th century Card Shark". Or "What I learned about business from a traveling Evangelist who thought I was a Witch - and what the real Witches thought about it!" But that's on the back burner for the moment. Those are topics I can speak about.

Which brings up the principle of "everything affects everything else." It's a point Jim Rohn makes when talking about habits and he's right. But expanding from habits until you get people thinking of their life as whole then it's not just an abstract thing - this business they have. If "Making a little money" becomes the goal - they aren't building a life they can enjoy. It's isoldated from their life. It traps them more.

> I told her there is NO "one size fits
> all" when it comes to business
> strategy. Period.

Thank goodness for that! How boring would it be?!

> From there, it's teaching them how to make
> it happen. It's SO, SO much more than
> slapping up a lame website that doesn't even
> have a strategy to fuel it. That's what I'm
> working on...

I am so depressed now - I thought that was all there was too it....

> I also think we all have a comfort zone and
> a fear zone - and we don't want to tread the
> boundaries of either. Tread on that fear
> zone, or make them feel uncomfortable or out
> of their element and they backpedal. Fast.

Here's another area where online/offline are so different. Offline I can push a bit, I can toe the line so to speak and ease off when the time comes, monitor reactions, etc. Online it's hard - plus the delay means you can't count on emotions remaining remaining constant between emails, etc. I've found it a big change for me over the years.

> It boils down to addressing and improving
> their AQ before you even tread on new ways
> to do business.

I missed what AQ is.

> This is a relatively new part of my
> coaching, prompted by an experience I had
> with a client that grew too fast and
> couldn't cope. Folded.
> That was a lesson I will never forget. Or
> repeat.

This can be a big problem. It's difficult to work with ahead of time. Most people have a hard enough time seeing themselves successful - much less overly successful.

Thank you Linda!

-- Dan Butler
The Naked PC