Ignore how much suckity-suck-suck your business/industry/product/finances/etc. really are:

Fail.

We humans:

1. love praise
2. love good news
3. love happy talk

But, we hate:

1. harsh criticism
2. disastrous facts
3. negativity-up-the-heezy

So, we ignore the bad news.

We continue doing our usual thing:

• ...as our products horrifically suffer.
• ...as our cash flow quickly drains.
• ...as we wreak havoc on our projects.
• ...as we gradually drive away awesome people.
• ...as we steer ourselves toward bankruptcy.

If you want to stay and business and thrive:

1. Confront the viciously-big-bad suckity-sucks of your current situation.
2. Then, gradually demolish each and every one of them.

Examples to get you on your way:

• "How are our finances sucking?"
• "How is our industry sucking?"
• "How are our products sucking?"

Confront the bad. Freakishly. Constantly.

The Oakland A's went out of their college-picking-realm and recruited a 16-year-old 6'7" Latin American pitching talent.

• "It's crazy what they're doing!" the critics say.
• "They're not following sabermetric principles! SABERMETRIC PRINCIPLES!"
• "Boo!"

But get this:

1. The A's had recruited college players because no one else did, helping them exploit market inaccuracies to get talent at bargain-basement prices.
2. Now, since frickin' Moneyball exposed what they did, every team and its mother starts to recruit college players -- increasing prices for college talent.
3. With the herd running to college talent, that creates a market inefficiency for overlooked Latin players, lowering their prices -- producing an inefficient market.
4. A's go bargain-hunting in Latin America.

Kaboom!

The Lesson

You'll command higher premiums by going where the masses overlook.

For instance, take programming + India:

1. Everybody's recruiting programmers from India.
2. That raises the prices for Indian programmers.
3. In the meantime, programmers from Latin America = ignored.
4. That'd mean you'll get more bang for your buck if you recruit from Latin America.

Or get this lesson from the 1960s:

1. Everybody's selling hamburgers.
2. "Let's sell some frickin' tacos! BOOYAH!"

3. Kabam: Taco Bell, son.

Capitalize where nobody else is going.

1. Save costs.
2. Generate more revenues.
3. Command higher premiums.

Buy more Cheetos.

But before you get too happy...

Eventually, the market will realize what a secretive punk you are, and they'll go gold-hunting in your area -- lowering your premiums.

For instance:

1. Folks discover your Latin American talent.
2. More demand + unchanging supply = higher prices for the talent.

"So, I'll go discover another inefficient market -- like Indochina -- to capitalize on the inefficiencies of the market!" you tell yourself.

And, you'd win like a superstar who dances the Kazatzka while drinking your juice in the hood.

Because you can.

You're badass.

Capitalize on market inefficiencies.

1. Prospect once.
2. Win project.
3. Finish project.
4. "No more work! Boo!"

What happens?

No more business happens.

You banked on a referral, but the client could find nobody for you.

• You drain cash.
• You hang on for survival.

The solution:

1. Prospect every-freakish-day like tomorrow's not coming around for your shiny boo-tay.
2. Then, nurture those prospects you find.

How Streams of Clients Come

Generating customers is like this:

• You have a bag of popcorn.
• You steadily grow the sucker.
• And then Kabooooooooom! You start seeing a stream of customers explode into your laps.

That is:

1. seed
2. watch your business's potential grow with every new prospect formed
3. POP!
4. "Uh-oh. Here comes the @#$% herd of clients, y'all!"

How to Prospect

Everyday, try this:

• Initiate a new relationship.
• Seed somebody.
• Give value to somebody new.

If at the end of your work day you haven't initiated a new prospect for your business:

1. slap yo-self
2. tell yo-self: "I will message/phone/email somebody new before I can sleep."

Your company's future becomes freakishexier with every new seed planted.

How to Nurture

Once you've initiated the prospecting, start nurturing that relationship by:

• providing as much value to the prospect as you profitably can

Help the prospect live/eat/work better.

• The more value you provide, the stronger you'll build the relationship.
• (e.g., staying in contact every two weeks = good)

Hint: build your frickin' email newsletter list.

The result over time: The Herd.

Win. You.

Prospect daily. Nurture constantly.

Choose struggling client. Run struggling business.

Choose successful client. Run successful business.

Stamp that @#$% to momma's forehead.

How Bad Clients Destroy You

Struggling clients:

1. have freakishly f.u.g.l.y. budgets
2. incur vicious debt
3. are crazily tight on their finances

So, they:

• become super-demanding of your services
• micro-manage the freak out of you
• make you work exponentially harder
• drain your team's morale
• probably won't pay you on time (or at all)
• likely won't buy much more from you

Peep this gem: The clients a company chooses determines its fate.

• Bad clients: will gradually run your business to the ground.
• Successful clients: will help your company thrive.

Rock your fate by selectively choosing your clients.

The Value of Good Clients

The successful:

• are lower-maintenance
• have bigger budgets
• buy more from you
• refer you to more successful clients
• are freakish joys to service

Ultimately, they'll help your company thrive.

The more successful the client you attract, the more successful you'll become.

Collect more of them = See a more thriving business.

BOOMSHAKAH.

Seek the successful.

1. You want to sell your amazing products.
2. But, your shy-frickin' behind fears rejection.
3. So, you continue driving your busted Pinto.

If you're (1) one shy mofo, (2) hate the thought of selling, but (3) want to build a ridiculous business -- what do you do?

Here's what:

Don't climb Mount Humilujkaridario -- yet.

Conquer the mountain's little peaks first.

If you're freakishly scared at the though of selling/being-rejected/hearing-NOs, don't sell your product on Call #1.

Instead, take itty-bitty steps so you're gradually making your way up the mountain.

For instance:

Your First Step if You're One Shy Mofo

1. Do something super-easy, like calling some prospect's customer service department.
2. Ask for some information about their company.
3. Hang up, and congratulate yourself. You're done!

You just desensitized your fear by a little. You're making your way slowly up that mountain.

Break The Fear Systematically.

Gradually break into your fears in subsequent calls; for instance:

• Call #2: Request a brochure.
• Call #3: Recommend something on what you see so far.
• Call #4: Ask for Chief Sales Officer (or a manager).
• Call #5: Send information to the CSO.
• Call #6: Follow-up.
• Call #7: Pitch a purchase order.

Every subsequent call should be as easy-as-pie, something you could oh-so-totally-do! Hooray!

That helps you conquer your fears in itty-bitty-mother-@#%^-baby steps -- until you're selling like cupcakes at Fatty Camp.

Win.

Itty.

1. You display a product.
2. You explain its features.
3. You sit back, and relax.

Will people remember your products?

They might -- but, you'd be super-rifically-ka-duper better off if you highlight the potential rewards of using your product instead.

Why?

Here's how your brain works:

1. "I see potential reward."
2. "I open my learning basket wider to dump more info inside."
3. "I remember more of the info later!"

Research from Stanford's Alison Adcock and research buddies showed peeps immediately tap their brain's reward and learning areas (mesolimbic and hippocampus regions) when they saw potential rewards.

It's like an ugly-looking child opening his mouth wide when he sees unwrapped candy because no one has ever fed him candy because he was so ugly-looking.

That is:

1. see potential goodness
2. prepare wide in-basket

The To-Do

To get prospects/customers/people to remember more about your products, start ridiculously highlighting the potential rewards of using your product.

1. You'll build better brand recognition.
2. You'll increase word-of-mouth.
3. You'll boost repeat visitors.

And ultimately, you'll increase familiarity (which breeds attraction) -- boosting sales.

Highlight the goodness.

1. You have a coffee shop at a vacation spot.
2. You're doing your first marketing blitz.

Who should you target?

• Option A: Vacationers
• Option B: Hotel staff

Companies that exponentially grow look for customers who come back:

1. Time...
2. ...after time
3. ...after time
4. ...after time
5. ...after time
6. ...after time
7. ...after time

People who repeatedly buy from you = The super0ideal customers

• You'll get more bang for your marketing dollars.
• They'll repeatedly return with kaching.
• They're more likely to refer you to other customers.
• They're lifetime financial support for you: F.A.T.

How do businesses grow and thrive?

Like this:

• 1st year: Customer A sends them $1.
• 2nd year: Customer A, B send them $2.
• 3rd year: Customer A, B, C, D send them $4.
• 4th year: Customer A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H send them $8.
• ...and it grows like a fatty...

Target repeatable buyers.

Think repeatable Johnny.

1. You're wondering what customers think.
2. You pose a question on a blog entry sent out to all customers: "How can we improve?"
3. You get back a disappointing @#$ number of answers.

Where'd everybody go, you think?

Here's why you sucked.

How to Dissuade Response

Simple:

1. Pose an impersonal question.
2. People will assume somebody else will answer it.
3. So, nobody answers.

Boo!

That's called a diffusion of responsibility, where people assume no responsibility because they think others will step up.

1. "Hey, he didn't ask me directly!"
2. "I'm sure somebody else will answer it!"
3. "So, I will not answer!"

You end up with nothin', you sad little soul.

If you want mucho feedback, what do you do?

Say NO! to posing a question to the world.

Instead:

1. Choose X amount of folks.
2. Make your requests personal to the recipient.
3. Win.

That's backed by super psychologist Cialdini: "To diffuse the diffusion of responsibility, be sure to individualize your requests."

1. "Hey, he's really wants my opinion!"
2. "So, I will answer his request with all my heart!"

Yay for you as you increase the number of feedback responses you get to ridicoulsly rock your business like it ain't no thang but a cherry pie on a tie.

Personalize el requesto.

Bob's trying to generate more leads for his catering company.

1. Bob: "Hey, let's test if this direct mail piece performs better than the one we mailed last month!"
2. Dikembe: "Bob, you're a moron."

Why Is Bob a "Moron"?

What occurred last month probably won't occur this month.

For instance, more graduation-dinners/weddings/conferences will probably happen this month than last month -- rendering Bob's test super flawed.

To test well, testing conditions must be as identical as freakishly possible.

How to Test Effectively

1. Run tests simultaneously.
2. See what works better.
3. Win.

Restrictions:

• Population (e.g. target markets) should be identical.
• Subjects (e.g. people) should be randomly chosen.

Hooray!

Are results really reliable?

You want statistically significant results -- not results that happen by pure chance.

For instance:

1. You interview three ugly people.
2. Two want to jump off a cliff.

Does that mean 66% of all ugly people in America want to jump off cliffs?

NO WAY JOSE! HIGH-FIVE!

To Test for Significance...

Use this free split-testing calculator to see if your results are really significant.

By the way:

• Goals: Mean the # of desired actions taken (e.g. newsletter sign-ups)
• Visitors: The number of people tested in each group

(There, we just saved you from solving complex statistical mathematics.)

If you see your results as being at least 90% statistically significant, take it.

Remember, you want to make consistently good decisions that over time, will pull you ahead -- regardless if there's a slight chance that your results might be incorrect.

Example Up

Bob identifies his testing parameters:

• Target market: 1000 California business owners between 30-35 years old.
• Testing collateral: Two different ads pitching catering services.
• Mail date for both: Tomorrow.

Flash Forward a Few Weeks...

Bob gets back his results (so far):

• Ad A: 500 targets, 25 leads called
• Ad B: 500 targets, 10 leads called

He plugs his results into the nifty split-testing calculator, and sees that Ad A has a 98% chance of kicking Ad B's ass if Bob sent his ad to all of California's 30-35 year-old business owners.

(Note: anything above 90% chance is good. Take it.)

So, Bob concludes Ad A is the winner! YAY!

Simultaneous tests that reach statistically significant results win, b!#ch.

Think of stereotypical seller Joe Goe.

1. He's aggressively pitching you, daily.
2. Dude-just-does-not-stop. Ever.

Why Joe Can't Sell

Joe's approach is like prodding some stranger to buy you a free gift.

1. You'll probably succeed once in a kabillion tries.
2. You'll turn the rest of 'em off fo life.

Say NO! to being a net-negative on peeps' lives.

Instead, be a net-positive -- and sell more.

Provide Ridiculous Value

How to sell your IT services to Billy:

1. First, provide Billy value -- genuinely. (Teach him where to source for the best tech suppliers, how to keep maintenance costs down, tips to build his software application iteratively, etc.)
2. Billy still won't buy? Provide him more value.
3. Still won't buy? Provide him even more value.
4. Still won't? Provide him even much more crazy-ridiculous value.
5. Etc.

Billy tunes in more to your messages because you're helping his life, making him more open to your offerings.

Value, Value, Value, Value.

Keep piling on value, and he'll eventually:

1. Buy from you, unsolicited.
2. Or, he'll refer his connections to you.

(Rule of reciprocity: You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.)

Hooray for you.

One caveat:

You have to really want to help.

People can spot ungenuine mother-kabluckers from a million miles away.

If you sell some product that provides absolutely no value to peeps' lives, you'll:

• lose those customers for life
• lose their networks for life

Your long-term earning potential: S.U.C.K.

When you:

1. genuinely try to improve people's lives
2. sell stuff that improves their lives even more

...you'll become a ridiculously-legendary selling machine who wrestles carne asada burritos for fun.

Ridiculous value.