How to Quintuple Response Rates with the Reciprocity Rule
“The soil in return for her service / keeps the tree tied to her, / the sky asks nothing and leaves it free.” – Rabindranath Tagore (“Fireflies,” 1928) In “The Psychology of Persuasion”, Robert Cialdini tells the story of a university professor who was interested in how deeply people feel…
READ MORETapping the Hidden Profit Center in Your Company: The “Business Within Your Business”
Your first business is your main one — the one you know you are in. Your second business is the one you automatically qualify to be in as a result of the knowledge you have to possess in order to deliver your main product or service. You can tap…
READ MOREAppeal to Your Customers Heart and Brain in the Right Order
“Man is a mixture of desires that extend beyond his knowledge and often result in action conflicting with rationality.” – Charles A. Lindbergh (“Atlantis,” Autobiography of Values, 1978) The following story illustrates a million-dollar business secret. RP was unsure about whether he should buy another standard SUV or upgrade…
READ MOREAlways Overestimate The Time It Will Take To Complete A Project
Life is always more complicated than it seems like it should be. No matter how sure you are that you can get that report done by next Tuesday, something (or more likely, several things) will intervene to make Monday night a nightmare for you. Be smart. If you have the…
READ MOREWhen You Want Customers to Buy, Tell Them They Cant
“What the eye sees not, the heart craves not.” – Dutch proverb A few years ago, I came across a brochure promoting the services of an independent consultant named Sommers White. It was written entirely in a question-and-answer format — and the first Q & A in the lead…
READ MORECan You Help This Man Straighten Out His Life?
A recent issue of People magazine on the growing world of the unemployed in the United States (something we’ve been talking about in ETR) profiled Larry Schenone. “Eighteen months after losing his job as an engineering manager for a St. Louis defense contractor,” the magazine says, “Schenone has recovered from…
READ MOREWhy You Can’t Really “Attract” Success and Happiness — and How to Get Them Both
Michael J. Losier sees a relationship between the subatomic world, in which electrons in atoms always orbit the nuclei in prescribed ways, and human experience, in which positive and negative experiences seem to follow prescribed patterns. “Have you noticed,” he asks, “that sometimes what you need just falls into place…
READ MOREHow To Find Customers Who Are 5x More Likely to Purchase
“Seize opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind.” – Bulgarian proverb You have already cultivated a relationship with your customers — you have put in the time and money to get their attention, establish credibility, and close that first sale. That’s by far the most difficult part…
READ MOREWhen It Comes to Productivity: The Old Tricks are Best
“So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.” – Peter Drucker Here is the most important thing I know about management: There is no one right way to run a business. I’ve seen successful businesses built and run by all sorts…
READ MOREWhy Real Estate?
“A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind.” – Albert von Szent-Gyorgyi When you’re a real-estate investor, you’re essentially in the business of finding investors to back your projects. Those investors are lending institutions or private lenders. They receive interest payments from you and, initially,…
READ MOREHow to Make the Price of Your Product Seem Cheap — Even If It’s Not
The typical aluminum-siding “package” we sold retailed at $2,600. That was a lot of money back in 1967, especially in the working-class neighborhoods we sold in. Like all good selling pitches, ours focused on the benefits first. We did a very good job helping our prospects imagine how much better,…
READ MOREThe 14 Characteristics of Successful People
“There are admirable potentialities in every human being. Believe in your strength and your youth. Learn to repeat endlessly to yourself, ‘It all depends on me.’” – Andre Gide According to productivity expert Jeffrey J. Mayer, successful people have 14 traits in common. They: 1. have a dream 2.…
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