Author Archives: frankagin

30-Second Commercial 5 of 8

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Everyone has competition, including you. What makes you unique amongst your competition?

Again, WHY you? Your 30-second commercial needs to convey credibility and confidence that serves to answer that question before it is asked. Consider an example.

“Not only have I helped more than 100 people get into the right franchise, I also spent 10 years as a CPA … helping my clients know what they were getting.”

Who would a prospective franchisee prefer to work with? Just anyone or someone with this background? The answer should be obvious (at least the question was intended to be rhetorical). The point is that Inspiring Confidence (answering the “WHY you?”) is vital to your 30-second commercial.

30-Second Commercial 4 of 8

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There are few options to the basic introduction (as discussed in part 3); it is largely void of creativity, right? That’s okay, because you can more than make up for it with the Message Body. This is essentially the heart and soul of your message and you can approach it from lots of different angles … You can INFORM the person or EDUCATE … You can even AMUSE or STARTLE them to get the point across.

You might be sitting there saying, “There is nothing to what I do.” Certainly, what you do may seem like basic vanilla. What you need to give yourself credit for (and convey in your messages) are all the different WHERE’S and HOW’s you do what you do. With that, you can add some creativity to your message body.

For example, a real estate agent helps someone buy a house. Basic vanilla, right? But there are lots of reasons WHY and situations WHEN they do this, like when people want to…

  • Get out of an apartment.
  • Have a bigger house.
  • Have a smaller house.
  • Have a second house.
  • Renovate and flip a house.
  • Invest in real estate and rent a house…or two.

Each of these could be the basis for a completely separate message body. No doubt, you can do the same for your business or profession. Read on in Part 5.

30-Second Commercial: Part 3 of 8

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Your 30-second commercial should address “who you are?” There is no magic to stating the WHO, the Basic Introduction. After all, it is (well) basic. Nevertheless, this part of the 30-second commercial is important.

In your Basic Introduction you need to clearly articulate your name (is it Mike or Michael … Kim or Kimberly). Then state your title and the work you are associated with. Each of these is important.

Now, nothing says it has to be in this precise order … You could achieve the same thing by re-stating the example “I am a franchise broker with National Franchising Group … I am John Doe” Or “I am with National Franchising Group. My name is John Doe. I am a franchise broker.”

Whatever the case, your 30-second commercial should address “who you are?” The next step is in Part 4.

265) Focusing On Being Your Best

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It’s a natural human tendency, isn’t it? You know, to look over your shoulder to see what the other person has got. Thoughts flow through your mind like …

  • I wonder if I’m in better shape;
  • I wonder if their house is worth more; or,
  • I wonder if they make more than I do.

While these ponderings seem to be natural, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work to push these thoughts aside. You know, focus on you. On what you have. On what more you’re looking to achieve.

This is the reality: It does nothing for you to compare yourself to anyone else. After all, no two situations are alike. You have a unique path to this point in time and as such comparing outcomes is pointless.

Never compare yourself to anyone else. Just focus on being your best and doing your best. Not necessarily “the” best, just your best. Great things will follow from that alone.

Like what you’ve read? Prefer to hear it as a podcast or daily flash briefing? Subscribe to the Networking Rx Minute podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts.

264) Life Is Choices

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“Life is choices. We are constantly making decisions, and the decisions we make today determine who we become tomorrow.” These are the words of Matthew Kelly, New York Times bestselling author, speaker and a business consultant.

Kelly is right. Every moment of life is a choice. You choose to listen to this program. You’ve chosen to continue. You’ll choose whether to take action on what you hear or not. Every moment is a choice.

But also remember that each and every choice leads to something. Good choices raise you up and lead to better opportunities. And these opportunities offer you better options to choose from.

On the other hand, bad choices lead to objectionable challenges. And these challenges present you with undesirable options to choose from.

Remember, success comes from a string of great choices. One by one they build to something wonderful. With that, endeavor to make good choices.

Like what you’ve read? Prefer to hear it as a podcast or daily flash briefing? Subscribe to the Networking Rx Minute podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts.

263) Courageously Forge Ahead

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Know this, if you don’t already: As you embark upon success, not everyone will be firmly behind you.

There will be well-intentioned people holding you back because they don’t truly understand what it is you are after. They’ll say things like, “You better not; you might get hurt.”

And there will be people pulling you back because they are so afraid that you are going to achieve something that they won’t. They will attempt to assert peer pressure to deter you with criticism, such as “that’s a waste of time” or “you’re such a workaholic.”

Sure, it can be difficult to forge ahead in the wake of these detractors, especially when some of them are family and friends. Nevertheless, put on blinders, insert earplugs and courageously forge ahead.

Success is a special thing. And it’s special, in part, because you’re willing to take on challenges even when it feels like you’re all alone.

Like what you’ve read? Prefer to hear it as a podcast or daily flash briefing? Subscribe to the Networking Rx Minute podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts.

262) Network Building From 1,000 Acts

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In China for the better part of a 1,000 years, the government practiced a form of torture known as “Death From A Thousand Cuts.” Under this form of execution, the convicted person was not killed mercifully. Rather the villain was executed by a series of daily small incisions. These collectively over time spelled doom for the condemned.

Establishing a strong network is truly the reverse of this. You successfully build a network by consistently performing literally thousands of small and seemingly insignificant acts.

You flash a big, happy smile thousands of times. You perform thousands of kind acts. You exhibit reliability with unfailing consistency thousands of times. No one smile, or single kind act, or individual demonstration of dependability has any significance in and of itself. Collectively, however, they have an immense power to build your network.

Knowing that it takes thousands of insignificant acts to build a great network, continually ask yourself, “What seemingly, meaningless network building act am I doing right now?”

Like what you’ve read? Prefer to hear it as a podcast or daily flash briefing? Subscribe to the Networking Rx Minute podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts.

261) Magnets And Pushers

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As author and consultant Paul Edwards says in his popular book, Business Beyond Business, “The difference between a pusher and a ‘magnet’ is that magnets create gravitational ‘pull’ that draws people towards them.”

Edwards goes on to write that “pushers see people more like transactions to be carried out.” The pusher believes that someone has money and they seek to get it. While the exchange is generally fair – money for a product or service – the pusher mindset is one of “what can this person do for me right now?”

Edwards indicates that magnets are different. They see people as untapped reservoirs of knowledge, ideas, passion, dreams and connections, in exchange for similar resources and energy.

With that, today, stop and look around. When you see someone new, see a wealth of long-term mutual potential. See a person with whom you can exchanges contacts, thoughts and opportunities. If you condition yourself to do this, you’ll have the power to attract people to you.

Like what you’ve read? Prefer to hear it as a podcast or daily flash briefing? Subscribe to the Networking Rx Minute podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts.

260) Airplane Maintenance Mindset

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While air travel is faster, more efficient and safer than ever before, we still need to contend with gravity – the Earth’s unrelenting pull on all physical objects.

Therefore, to keep air travel safe, those in air transportation vigilantly maintain aircraft. While they might never change the engine in their car, you can be sure they replace aircraft engines on a routine basis … whether it needs it or not. After all, being stranded on US-41 is no big deal but being stalled at 10,000 feet is.

So, as you cultivate the relationships within your growing network, care for them as you would maintain an airplane. Don’t wait for a relationship to be broken before you tend to it.

Never chance that something might go wrong. Rather, routinely reach out to the important people in your life, whether personal or professional. See how they’re doing. And in so doing, you’ll show that you care. That will serve to keep your entire fleet of relationships airborne.

Like what you’ve read? Prefer to hear it as a podcast or daily flash briefing? Subscribe to the Networking Rx Minute podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts.

259) Own Your Failures

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If you’ve been at this game of business long enough you will no doubt experience failures and setbacks. Some will be relatively small, such as not upselling a client at the 11th hour on the last day of an already record month. Others will be large, such as not getting the promotion or losing that big client. And a good many will be somewhere in between.

Whatever the case, these moments will leave you feeling a degree of disappointment. And that’s okay, as that’s part of being driven and goal oriented. What’s not okay, however, is blaming others or circumstances as you ruminate on your shortcoming.

Whatever the “would have’s”, “should have’s” and “could have’s” might be, in the final analysis on some level it’s your failure. Own it. Commit to doing better. Then move forward with your pride and the respect of others.

Like what you’ve read? Prefer to hear it as a podcast or daily flash briefing? Subscribe to the Networking Rx Minute podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts.