Zig Ziglar Goal Setting

The other day I listened to Zig Ziglar’s Audio book called; How To Be A Winner. Zig truly is the sales & motivation master. His insights are inspiring and if followed and executed, they will truly help you lead a successful life.

On this particular CD, he gave a few outstanding tips on goals which I’d like to share. Entrepreneurs by nature are generally goal oriented. Not all entrepreneurs will formally write out their goals, but they generally have them. Often those goals are financially based. Nearly always they are performance based. For example, this month I'll sell x amount of new units. Or, this week I will introduce my service to 10 new prospects.

Ultimately, creating the goal properly is essential. Zig outlined 6 steps for creating a goal, as well as 4 characteristics of goals. They are:

6 steps of creating goals

1. Identify your goal. What do you want to accomplish?
2. Set a deadline for reaching your goal
3. Make a list of obstacles that must be overcome to reach your goal.
4. Identify people who can help you overcome those obstacles.
5. Makes a list of all skills you have and those you need to obtain in order to achieve your goals
6. Develop a plan to achieve this goal.

Also, there are specific characteristics that each goal must possess. This will help you set the correct type of goal.

Characteristics of a Goal

1. To be effective, the goal must effect change
2. You must have big goals as well as long term goals
3. If you don’t have daily objectives you qualify as a dreamer and not as a doer. Daily action toward goal achievement is essential! Zig added, The difference between great and near great is the awareness that making it big means working every day to your long term objectives.
4. Goals must be specific, not vague or general. If you want to reach your goal you must be able to see touch & smell it.

Goals don't have to be complicated or overly lofty. I've found the most effective goals are simple, achievable, yet will stretch you slightly outside of your comfort zone.

I encourage you to follow these goal setting tips. Try it right now. Create a goal for something you'd like to achieve in the next week. Then, leave a comment to this blog post and tell us how you did.

Always remember, Whether you think you can or think you can’t you are generally right!

An Unplanned Infusionsoft Roadtrip

I spent the past few days on an amazing road trip with my family. We visited tons of little towns and tourist spots in Utah. Little did I know that it would turn into an entrepreneurial voyage which taught me more about the small businesses in America.

Many of the people we visited were entrepreneurs. We visited a house painter, a small business marketing expert, a nutrition product reseller, an artist and the marketing director for a small chemical business. Some of these were long time friends while others are new faces.

It’s always fun and refreshing for me to meet with entrepreneurs. I love their can-do attitude. They always seem to be working through challenges & obstacles, rather than letting life run them. They lead great lives. This doesn’t mean that they are all rich, but rather they are all fulfilled with what life has to offer.

I made a point with each visit to ask each what their biggest challenges in business were. Each had the same answer; they are good at what they do, but they have no idea how to market themselves or their businesses. Their follow up ranged from non-existent to minimal. They needed help, but as with most entrepreneurs they had little extra finances to hire the necessary assistance.

This lead to many good conversations about Infusionsoft. Infusionsoft combines CRM, email marketing and ecommerce into one system. But, the real magic is in the automatic follow-up engine. It makes it easy for entrepreneurs to fix their follow up failure. I was able to coach these friends on how to properly follow-up with each prospect & customer, without taking time away from their core business functions.

All were very interested in what Infusionsoft had to offer. I was excited to help my friends grow their businesses through Infusionsoft!

This wasn't intended to be a work trip, but I’m sure glad it turned into one. I guess that's what happens when you love and live your work.

Entrepreneurship is not only the back bone, but also the heart & soul of American business.

Success Tips From Abraham Lincoln

In memory of President's day and Abraham Lincoln's birthday, many websites & media outlets are posting content ranking the success of our Presidents. In many of these, Abraham Lincoln is listed as our greatest President. Frankly, I have no idea. I'm not even sure how one would go about ranking presidents.

Regardless, I found one article which really caught my attention. It's from askmen.com and lists tips & advice from Lincoln on how to live a successful life.

In short, the article gives many one line tips on how to be successful. One tip every blogger should follow and that's 'in communication, be brief & direct.' Very fitting advice for our A.D.D. generation.

Another tip, 'Be Open to Change' seems to be great advice for this day and age. All of us know some one are are in the middle of some sort of major change. With so many companies cutting jobs, many of these changes are forced. When in this situation, you can either look at this as an opportunity, or be bitter. Being open to change means being willing to look at a difficult situation as an opportunity.

I encourage you to look at yourself; are you leading a successful life? If you are or if you're not, still take a second to check out the entire article here.