A simple request; please pass this edition around to folks you care about. If appropriate, ask them to sign-up for the newsletter.  I also want to take this opportunity to thank you, my readers. As a "thanks" for being a loyal subscriber, please accept my gift of "Setting and Achieving Your Goals", an e-Book (normally $43.00), at no charge, to help you get your year off to a good start.  

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Just a few days left

2007 just has a handful of days left in it. I want to encourage you to take a few minutes to process the past 12 months and get ready for the year ahead. I am going to share the outline of the process my clients and I will be using to build on the learning's from 2007 to make 2008 a powerful year.

Consider a quick look in the rearview mirror

I'll hold onto the steering wheel while you look back. I am confident that each of you did the best possible under the circumstances that your life, your industry, and your business threw your way this year. But consider taking a look back to count up your blessings, think about the lessons you learned, and your new insights. Then, think about the things that you don't believe will serve your purposes in 2008.

3 minutes worth of notes that could be worth thousands to you

Consider the power of writing these items down today, and looking at them a couple of times over the next few days. If you are like me and my clients, you will likely add and subtract, with each quick review. For many, this little exercise is worth thousands.

Now, look down the road with X-Ray vision

Next, I want to ask you to consider an unusual process for setting some goals for next year.

First outline your values; bullet points will do. By values I mean things like:

1. Power is the desire to influence others.
2. Independence is the desire for self-reliance.
3. Curiosity is the desire for knowledge.
4. Acceptance is the desire for inclusion.
5. Order is the desire for organization.
6. Saving is the desire to collect things.
7. Honor is the desire to be loyal to one's parents and heritage.
8. Idealism is the desire for social justice.
9. Social contact is the desire for companionship.
10. Family is the desire to raise one's own children.
11. Status is the desire for social standing.
12. Being Competitive, aka Vengeance is the desire to get even.
13. Romance is the desire for sex and beauty.
14. Eating is the desire to consume food.
15. Physical Activity is the desire for exercise of muscles.
16. Tranquility is the desire for emotional calm

Taken in whole from Steven Reiss's book, Who Am I? The 16 Basic Desires that Motivate Our Actions and Define Our Personalities. Berkley Press 2002

Court of law?

If you had to prove what you were committed to in 2007, would there be enough evidence to convict you? One way to really tell is to simply look at your calendar and your checkbook. That is where action meets reality. No evidence means you might be dealing with wishful thinking. Just check it out; at least tell yourself the truth.

Relationships are the gold before and after the money

Next, outline the relationships you have and the one's you are committed to keeping and developing further in 2008. For me, this is simple and goes something like this:

• My maker
• Wife
• My two sons; Alexander (age 15) and Zachary (age 9)
• My 78 year old mother Pat Albertson
• My in-laws
• A couple dozen close friends
• My current clients
• The readers of this newsletter and my other newsletter Performance Insights News -a publication of Performance Leadership Group

Consider letting some relationships gently drift into the sunset

I am also going to make a conscious decision to let some relationships, which no longer align with my values, go. I have kept them alive for historical reasons but I find that I can no longer be true to my values and other commitments by continuing to invest in these relationships.

Three times seven equals 21 bullet points that can change your life

Finally, I will outline just 3 goals that I want to accomplish in 2008 in each of the following buckets:

1. Family
2. Finance
3. Fitness
4. Friends
5. Future
6. Faith
7. Fun

The simple long and short of it

In each of these I will simply have a short term goal (30 days), A mid term goal (90 – 120 days, and a long term goal (180 days to 360).

Simple but it needs action now

Nothing fancy. The key is to do it. Write it all down by this Friday if you can.

Two 5-minute previews of your new reality

From there, the key is to look at this list twice a day for the next 12 months. This is the second most important part of this email: Look at the goals twice a day, every day, for the next 12 months.

The most important part is a two-part beastly

First, make sure that the things you write down are things you really feel passionately about, and can visualize in detail, like they are already fully accomplished.

Part two of the beasty

Second, and this is very unusual in my experience: Just tell yourself that these things would be very nice to have happen, but are simply a choice that you and your subconscious mind have the option of bringing into reality. It is nothing that you must do.

Leverage your super-computer while you sleep

Now, each night before you hit the sack, review the list (I keep mine next to my bed in a plastic sleeve) and ask your brain to work on one thing standing between you and one of your objectives.

All of the above is about setting up for new action

The key to a 2008 that exceeds 2007 is simply taking new actions. I like to ask myself, “What action can I take right now to move toward my goals and dreams”?

Name any hero you have

The only difference, in most cases, between your hero and you, is the actions they take and have taken so far in life. If you can dream, write, and take actions, you can have a powerful reality in 2008.

That's it. Simple & sweet. Best of all, it works.

Cheers,

Eric

PS: If one of your goals for 2008 is producing more revenue, consider taking my Marketing Fast Track course. Many of my past clients boosted their incomes by 10 percent, with a few getting well past 100 percent, last year. Your mileage will vary. For more information on the Marketing Fast Track program, you can go here. To sign up directly, go here.

PPS: Alternatively, if you want to get more margin/profit out of your current flow of business, consider taking our Margin Boost course, starting January 17^th. For more information on the groundbreaking Margin Boost program, go here. To register for this powerful and profitable program, go here.

When you check, out you will find that there is no cost for this book. And please remember to refer a few friends.

PPPPS: Last week, I mentioned that I had sent 100+ letters per week and that it had worked very well for getting people to call me and asking me to tell them more. I also related that it only worked for a while, and then quit working.

The rest of the story

At the time, I didn't know why it quit working. It was to be years before I could accurately diagnose the problem. The years between then and now, left me with lots of scar tissue. With luck, I can help you avoid that result.

Direct marketers know this story

Essentially I had committed many of the basic sins in direct marketing but didn't know it. Here are the sins:

1.      Once I ran out of targets like people who had already purchased from me, I just started sending my letters to any name and address that looked like possibilities. Spray and pray. I had not taken the time to build a good list.

2.      I didn't take the time to validate the list. After the initial blast, I used a purchased list of targets from a local company. The list was old and largely inaccurate. Essentially, the person I wanted was no longer at the address and the mail was either tossed or “returned to sender.”

3.      I treated everyone the same. I didn't really understand why people were buying what I sold. My letters addressed only one problem. I didn't mention the other problems my offering would address. I just thought that they would figure it out. Now, I know that they never do.

4.      I had a poor call to action. I asked folks to call me. Most people don't want to talk to a salesman right off the bat, unless the need is pressing. I needed to offer a low-risk way for them to get more information without talking to me, the sales guy.

5.      I didn't follow-up with a phone call in a reasonable amount of time. If they didn't call me, I didn't call them. Pretty stupid.

The fix is simple. Just not easy:

A.      Build a list of targets. Break it into groups of sub-targets that look similar to each other. For example, you can segment by revenue, age, income, title, industry and so on. Whatever makes sense in your business.

B.     Have somebody call through the list and just verify the business name, address, target name and role (if it is a business-to-business situation). Most lists that you can purchase are at least 50 percent bad. According to Dunn and Bradstreet (one of the largest sources of market data in the world), lists go bad at a two percent to five percent  per month from the time of initial creation. Old lists are usually bad lists.

C.     Tune your message for each segment of your list. Lawyers likely care about different aspects of your offer than doctors or retail establishments might. Think about the problem the target group has, and talk about how your offer makes that problem go away.

D.     Create a low-risk call to action. Build a “no cost” report telling your prospects about how to make a good decision when buying what you sell. You can also list a phone number that they can call to get free information. You can include a postcard that they can return to get more no-obligation information. You can suggest that they call a customer service rep for more information. You are only limited by your imagination.

E.     Build a plan to follow up with each target at least three times via the phone. Some targets are worth up to five attempts via phone. Most are not. Let your experience be your guide.

F.      Record, on your list, what they tell you, so you can leverage what you learn the next time you reach out to that specific target.

Is all of this worth it?

I regularly meet with sales managers and senior sales executives from a wide variety of industries. These executives tell me that most of the top performers do one of two things:

·         They have a methodical system of some kind

·         They have, and maintain, a great network

These executives tell me that the folks who don't have one or both of the two approaches above, quit, get fired, work too much, and make less than is possible.

2008 is approaching quickly and I have a bonus for you: