Business Owners

A simple formula that can boost your confidence.

While selling can be scary, every entrepreneur has to master the skill of taking something out into the marketplace to see if other people think it’s valuable enough to buy…… While selling might still be unnerving, the potential buyer’s response gives you important feedback. Being conscious of what this feedback means gives you more confidence going in.

This is what the formula looks like:

Yes = Rewards us.

No = Teaches us.

Maybe = Kills us.

A “no” is not your biggest danger.

Every salesperson is aiming for a yes, wants a yes. Getting one means you’re going to be rewarded with a check. And, of course, checks are the lifeblood of any business. The check is your reward for creating something that’s of value to another person.

The flip side of that is a no—no one wants to hear no. But no does hold value for an entrepreneur if they’re open to seeing it. If you take a good look at why your sale was unsuccessful, you can take away a lot of learning. No teaches us useful information that we can use to improve, and keep on improving.

Many entrepreneurs, though, will even delay getting an answer—they’ll put it off to the next meeting—if they sense they’re not going to get a yes. They’re not courageous enough to accept a no. So they settle for a maybe.

I say it’s better to receive a fast and honest no than a drawn-out maybe, which is all about uncertainty. With uncertainty, you’re stuck. You can’t move forward in a confident, decisive way at all. And even one maybe can affect any number of other pending sales or areas in your business. You just don’t want to be in that situation very often, if ever. Maybe can kill us.

The truth of the matter is, the person who says they’ll think about it is very seldom ever going to say yes, so you might as well get to the no as fast as possible and learn the lesson that will improve your approach and your performance.

Develop the yes-or-no mindset and capability.

My advice to you is to develop the mindset, the habit, that in any sales situation, you always want a yes or a quick, clear no. You look to the no for the learning that will stack the odds in your favor of getting a yes the next time. And you completely avoid the dangerous territory of maybe.

I always aim to force the issue. Is it a yes, or is it a no? I never allow a person to say, “Maybe,” or “I’ll think about it.” This strategy makes your life as an entrepreneur very simple and incredibly clear. The most important result, though, of making the commitment to only accept a yes or a definite no, is that it takes courage. But with courage, your yes-or-no capability develop, and your confidence—which I always say is an entrepreneur’s greatest responsibility—automatically goes up.

The thing that does kill entrepreneurial confidence is the decision to settle for a maybe.

Finally something good about Facebook

5 Things Facebook Can Teach You about Money

Facebook. You either love it or you hate it. Or you hate it. Or you really hate it.

Really, Facebook’s not all that bad, but you have to learn to take it (or your “friends” who are on it) with a grain of salt. Yeah, you might think it’s one big time-waster—and it can definitely be that—but you can actually learn a lot of lessons from Facebook. Don’t believe us? See if this changes your mind.

1. It’s pointless to compare. 
   Sally just posted about her trip to Cancun. Mark just gloated about his awesome raise at work. Paul just posted a photo of his new BMW (probably leased). Everyone’s life is so perfect, isn’t it? Actually, no, it’s not. When it comes to life and money, remember that everyone’s Facebook version of themselves is always better than their actual life. We all want to show off or exaggerate the “better” part of our lives. On Facebook, that’s where the comparison trap comes into play. Be comfortable in your own skin.

2. You won’t like everything.
   We’re talking about getting out of debt here. Or consistently investing each month. Like those annoying over-the-top political posts on Facebook, your experience getting out of debt and socking away a good chunk of change each year won’t always be fun. You might not want to press the “like” button every morning. You’ll have to make sacrifices. You’ll have to spend less. You’ll have to be disciplined. That might not always be exciting, but it’s worth it.

3. Surround yourself with positive people.
   When you have annoying “friends” on Facebook, what do you do? You either unfriend them or hide them from your feed, right? If you’ve got a bunch of haters in your life and you’re surrounded by a bunch of so-called friends who make fun of you for trying to get out of debt, then you need to dump them like a bad habit. If they can’t respect your decision, then you don’t need to be around their negativity. Take a break from those “friends.”

4. Other people will be happy to spend your money.
   Look over to the right side of your Facebook page. Ever notice those ads? Those people would love nothing more than for you to click on their link and buy something from them. That’s advertising, and there’s nothing wrong with it. But when it comes to your precious dollars, you have to choose which, if any, marketing voices you will listen to. If you don’t come up with a game plan for your money, those companies will.

5. The buck stops with you.
   Your Facebook profile is what you make of it. Nothing gets on there without you clicking the Submit or Upload button. If you upload a picture of yourself drunk and passed out, you only have yourself to blame. If you write a mean-spirited status update that ends up going viral, you only have yourself to blame. With your life and money, you reap what you sow.  If you continue to make bad choices with your money, those decisions will eventually catch up with you. Are you getting the theme here? You are in control. And there’s no better way to control your money than living on a budget. When you name every dollar coming in and going out, you’re in the driver’s seat. And it’s not hard to get started.