Before we go into that, lets look at WHY a business needs to stand out from the crowd.

If you (or someone you know) are in an industry sector that has seen a decline in business in the last 6-12 months (either less customers or customers spending less) here are my 2 questions:

1. Has there been a proportionate decline in the number of your competitors?
As an example, if there used to be 100,000 people buying from 1,000 businesses in your industry, and now there are only 10,000 people buying from the same 1,000 businesses there is clearly going to be a massive revenue reduction. Sure some of your competitors may have gone out of business but my guess is that this competitor decline has not been proportionate to your customer/spend decline.

2. What are you doing that’s different to your competitors?
Using the same example above, are you doing enough to make sure that you are getting the attention of the massively reduced customer base?

One of the challenges that I face with some of my clients is that they often want to do what their competitors are doing – now sometimes this can be effective, but generally is this really differentiation? Just because something is new to you doesn’t mean you are differentiating yourself.

One of the process that I teach is the practical implementation of Joint Ventures.

Joint Ventures has been, and always will be one of the most powerful marketing tactics ever! And for good reason:

* They are easy to set up, and generally they cost you nothing.
* Anybody can start using joint ventures to skyrocket their profits.
* It doesn’t matter what you sell, or where you sell it.
* I recommend wherever possible to focus on the mandate of Joint Ventures are best when they are No risk, No time, No selling, Little to No Money

Consider this: If you could stand out from your competitors, add massive value to your customers and inspire existing and new customers to spend more money, what would your bottom line look like?

Lets look at these factors a bit further:

1. Differentiation – only 2% of small to medium sized businesses use Joint Ventures – nearly ALL big businesses use Joint Ventures
2. Massive customer appreciation – one specific strategy is to give away other peoples stuff for free, which in turn drives word of mouth referrals = more customers.
3. Increase customer spend – customers love getting a deal (if you don’t believe this statement then you have never bought a combo deal at a fast food restaurant…) and will pay more money if the see value in it.

AND if you could set these up to create additional streams of income for you and your business wouldn’t this make Joint Ventures an undeniably amazing value proposition?

The short answer of course is YES.

Don’t freak out if this doesn’t make sense to you right now – it will after you expand your comfort zone and increase your learning.

In the meantime, keep increasing your knowledge base as much as you can…. all you have to do i ask me and I wlll help you along the way.

Go forth and Joint Venture!

Chris Hiller

You have heard me say it before: Joint Ventures are all about leverage – leveraging someone else’s time, skills, money, assets, database or really any other resource they may have. And the reason this is powerful is because now suddenly you don’t have any limitations – none.

Now the challenge for some people is that this might mean that they also no longer have any excuses…. but let’s leave that for another newsletter…

So back to leveraging other people resources – as I was saying the power comes from no longer having limits on what you can do. No longer can you say “I don”t have a big database” because you don’t have to have it – someone else already has it and you can leverage theirs.

But todays very specific lesson is going to be about leveraging someone else’s ability to sell you (or your product).

Now there are a few joint venture strategies you can implement here (piggy-backing, contingency advertising, gift certificates, bundling etc etc), and we can go over a couple of these, but first what I want to do is explain WHY you should get someone else to sell you.

Now conceptually this may make a heap of sense – I can hear some of you now saying “well that’s great Chris, of course I’d like someone else to be my salesperson – cut to the HOW”. But just whoa …. easy there tiger…

You see in life if you don’t fully grasp the WHY of what it is that you are doing, then there is more chance that some of the steps in the HOW will get missed. And then you won’t get the result, which ultimately doesn’t help anyone. Now relax, this isn’t a “wax on wax off” concept where you will be spending weeks of menial chores for me for the “greater good” lesson .

So let’s get right to it: WHY is it better for someone else to sell you (or your product)?
Well quite simply the leverage you get from someone else being your champion is 3rd party reinforcement from someone whom your potential customer already knows, likes and trusts.
And when you have a number of people who are either actively or passively selling your products or services on your behalf (and what I am really saying here is setting people up to become lead generators – not necessarily performing the ACTUAL sale) your business will increase and your network will expand.

You see we all automatically do business with people we know like and trust – it’s in our nature because we want to surround ourselves and associate with people that we like and that are like us – most of the time this is good – however some people surround themselves with negative and destructive people – if this is you, change that TODAY!.

Now back to the 3rd party reinforcement – so what I am saying here is that one of the ways to take your business to the next level is empower other people to actively recommend and refer you business.

Now I’m pretty confident that if you are a somewhat successful business person, what I have just explained is not going to be an earth shattering discovery right? So are you still asking HOW?.

Well guess what… anyone who knows me well, knows that there is actually a method to my madness… and here it is:

I’ve actually already told you the HOW …. in the “WHY” section above I used 3 VERY important words: Know, Like, Trust.

Look at this logically: if you conceptually agree that people like to do business with people they know, like and trust, then the natural extrapolation of that is that people aren’t going to refer you business if they don’t know you, like you, and trust you – they can’t – it would go against there core being and belief system (unless they were completely unscrupulous, but then you probably wouldn’t be hanging around them anyway right?).

So what I a essentially saying is that the way to get someone to “sell you” is to get them to know like and trust you – my guess is that you would expect nothing but the same in return.
And the way to get someone to know, like ad trust you is to ADD VALUE to them!

The easiest way to add value to any person or relationship is to spend time with them (remember I talked about this in my last newsletter) and to find out what makes them tick – ask questions, see if you can help them out, connect them up, solve one of their problems.

Then from this point the 2 of you can work together to come up with creative ways to implement one or more joint venture strategies to create a win/win relationship.

Let me give you an example:
Last week I was talking with Michael Silk (he is an AMAZING copywriter out of the UK – if you need a copy writer, fire me an email and I will connect you with him), and he was asking me some questions about how to re-work or re-package one of his programs and we started talking through some of his options – this call actually turned into an informal business coaching session. We get towards the end of the call and Michael says” hey thanks very much Chris, this has been really helpful – I have an idea I have been meaning to test out with my list and I want to use your coaching and mentoring program as the product”. He then went on to explain his idea (which incidentally is actually quite brilliant, and with his permission, I will share it with you in the coming weeks) which essentially will involve HIM promoting ME and my coaching/mentoring to his list in a unique way – wow how awesome is that – I didn’t call up Michael and say “hey why don’t you promote me to your list”. What I did was add value to him and his business and then he and I expanded on an idea he had, which as it happens turned into a win for me also.

And this example is one of many times last week where I have spoken to someone who isn’t yet a client, doesn’t know how I could help them, or maybe even just needed a nudge along the way, where my entire goal during the call has been to work out how to help them and their business.

You see when you lead with a “how can I help you“ mentality, instead of a “what’s in it for me” perspective the outcome you will get is completely different.

So here is my challenge for you: this week go and think about who already has access to your desired customer base, and start building a relationship with them – if you get stuck with thinking about who this person might be, or are looking for some outside the box ideas, send me an email and I will see if I can help (and you never know, I might even show you how to practically use one of those JV strategies I mentioned above )

Massive action is the mark of true winners – go out and make it an awesome day!

Until next time

Chris Hiller

The reason this is important is because in business, like life, everything revolves around the power of the relationships you have. You have heard the saying that your income is in direct proportion to the 5 people closest to you right? Well maybe it’s time to have a look at who is influencing you and who’s advice you are listening to. So the obvious next question is: how do I expand my network, or create new relationships?
The answer to this question for some people is a dreaded four letter word ….. time….. more specifically you have to INVEST TIME.
You see you can’t hope to find someone that already has what you want (which is the fastest way to become successful) and expect them to give you the magic pill – it doesn’t work like that.
What you have to do is to add some value to them in some way and/or invest some time in getting to know THEM – the person.
Here’s an example:
A number of months ago I met a guy at a trade show and he and I connected right away – he is a really sharp dresser, well spoken, driven and passionate – I could see al of these things right from the start. Over the next few months we connected a couple of times on a few different projects but he and I didn’t really spend much time getting to know each other. The only times we really talked was regarding someone else’s event or product etc etc.
So fast forward a few more months to last week – he emailed me and said that he was spending the week at a cottage about an hour and a half north of Toronto, doing some planning and strategizing, and invited me to come up to meet with him. Now we are all busy right? So my initial reaction was to brush it off – too much on my plate, I too have deadlines and clients that all need my attention etc etc…. but given that I am telling you about this in an email, I’m guessing you realized that’s NOT what I did – No what I did was decide to take action and meet with this guy. And a couple of days later we did just that – we spent a massive amount of time talking – not about work or business but about what was important to us – essentially what we were doing was finding out was what each other was passionate about and what makes us tick. The reason this was powerful was because we got an opportunity to get to know each other. I am VERY confident that we will be working together because we have a lot in common outside of the business wold – something that I may not have found out if I didn’t take the time to investigate.

The only way to do this is to spend time together and ask questions!

So now why did I tell you this story?

Well quite simply because I want you to be thinking about who you are listening to and who are your greatest influencers? And after you think about that, if you work out that maybe you should expand your own network, then take some action and connect with someone you have been meaning to get to know. Can’t think of anyone right now? Well then go and find an expert who you have resonated with in the past and rekindle your learning relationship. You see what you are really doing here is expanding your mind-set to listen and learn from new people. And you know that we never stop learning, right? It doesn’t matter if we are learning from our existent network (providing they are a positive influence on you) or from industry experts – the key is to connect and either build on a new or existing relationship; or at the very least challenge your belief systems by learn from someone who has been there and done that!

Here’s another interesting thought: Most people hate the very idea of the salesperson, yet we all fall under that category in one fashion or another.

The question is: How do I embrace my inner salesperson?

Acknowledge that you sell on a continuous basis in your day to day life.

Admit it. You do it. You just don’t think of it as selling. You would probably say “I’m just sharing my favorite_____________with so and so.

Sharing. Replace the word selling with sharing. There. That feels better doesn’t it? Isn’t funny how changing a word can alter your perspective? When it was selling, you shuddered. Now that it’s sharing, you feel all warm and fuzzy. We all like to share – we like to share our things, our thoughts, our ideas, our favorites, ourselves. Stop and think about that for a moment….. It’s the same thing.

Choose a new thought

When you choose to think of selling as sharing, it shifts the way you feel about it. When you feel empowered by something you will be more successful at it. For all of you who own businesses or work for a business (that would be everyone), this is vital.

-What thoughts do you entertain around selling?
-What new thought might you choose instead?
-What is one thing that you can do today to embrace your new thought?

“People don’t care about what you have to say until you care about what they have to say”

How true is that? Think about that for a moment – It is part of our nature as humans to want to be heard. Most people go through life just trying to be understood and when we are around someone who truly listens to us it is a breath of fresh air. And, what do we want to do? We want to be around those people as much as possible. Be part of their inner circle. We talk about them to everyone we know because they are the most genuine authentic people. They really hear us.

When we own a business or represent a business, we need to truly be in touch with what our clients need. We need to know what their challenges are, what they are excited about, who they are, so that we know how to best serve them. The only way to do this is to listen.

Listening is one of the best ways to sell. If you are in touch with your potential customer/client you will know how to work with them and create a win-win situation.

Be In Service of Others

Building on listening, let’s go into service. I’m not just talking about excellent service on the part of us, our business/product, I’m talking about being IN service of others.

When meeting another person for the first time, do you screen them for potential customer status? That’s a given. What about if they do not have a remote chance of being in need of you or your product? Do you write them off and move on to the next one?

What would happen if you looked at each person in terms of what you can do for them instead of what they can do for you?

Think of the people that you really like to do business with.
-What characteristics do they embody?
-How much of their success do you feel is in direct proportion to their ability to listen and really help you?

My challenge to you:

Practice really listening to everyone you connect with this week and find one way that you can be in service of them that exceeds their expectations.

Chris Hiller

www.wealthcreatornetwork.com

PS. Take a 14 day FREE trial of Wealth Creator Network today and see how you can learn from the “been there, done that” hand picked experts.

In it’s simplest form, this means that if surround yourself with positive and successful people then you will be positive and successful. Naturally, if you surround yourself with the opposite type of people, then that’s what you will get.

For anyone that knows a really successful person (or 2) then you will know that there a number of things that they do on a regular basis to achieve and maintain their success. We will go into some of these in the coming posts, however for now I want to focus on why it is important to be aware of who is influencing you.

You see everyday we are making endless numbers of choices. We choose what to focus and and what things mean to us (perception and perspective). We choose who to spend time with and ultimately whom to listen to. And it is this last choice that I want to discuss here – who are you spending time with and who are you listening to?

Now if you aren’t as successful as you want to be, I am not saying that you necessarily need to go out and get rid of all of your friends/family (although I have met some people that could probably benefit from doing this!). What it means is that you need to be aware of the influences that your network is having on your emotional and physical life. Ask yourself this question: Is this person helping me move towards my goals? If the answer is yes then great! If the answer is no then perhaps it is time to move those people to the outer circle. Truly successful people have others in their inner circles that are actively and passively helping them move in the right direction. And don’t forget that human nature (or God, or the Universe, or the “Secret”, or whatever higher plan you believe in) will make sure that you always meet your expectations. So if your expectations are low and you are hanging around unsuccessful people then you will achieve little. Have you ever heard the saying: “If you aim at nothing you will hit it every time”?

If however your expectations are high and you are striving towards a massive goal with purpose, and you are surrounded and supported in your efforts, then look out world because here you come!

I once did this exercise with a client and they uncovered amazing personal relationship resource – they were part of a church group that actually turned out to be very well connected with a politician. Talk about massive amounts of power and leverage!. One of the greatest things that I get out of taking on mentoring clients and teaching them how to set up Joint Ventures in their own business, is like-minded people that I can work closely with. I get to become part of their inner circle (which equals access to their networks) and they get to become part of mine. This creates a great win-win relationship.

So my suggestion to everyone here is to do an assessment of your network (and no, this doesn’t mean you provide everyone you know a 16 page questionnaire to fill out) – take a really objective look at the people that you spend the most time with. Find out who people are and what they do. I suspect that you might even be surprised at who you can get access to, but never really noticed before.

Again, sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees, so take a step back and look at the big picture.

As always, whatever you do, doing it with greatness – go hard or go home!

Chris Hiller