Authentic Authenticity

AUTHENTICITY

Some people say that Authenticity is a big thing. I think it is bigger than we think.  In many cases it's the ONLY thing some people have.

An Authentic Leader is seen to be a beacon of hope, a strong example, an ethical person who does the right thing.  They are seen to be someone others aspire to be.  They are magnetic forces because others want to align with them for one or both of two reasons.

1. Trust

2. Hoping that some of the magic rubs off on them.

Having the strength to confront your inauthenticities is hard.  Some may say it's the hardest thing you can do because you are looking at yourself in a new way.  When you admit, to yourself and others, your inauthenticities then you are being AUTHENTIC about them.  Denying they exist is further compounding them.

"If you cannot find the courage to be authentic about your inauthenticities, you can forget about being a leader...The actionable access to authenticity is being authentic about your inauthenticities..."

At some point we are Inauthentic as well as being Authentic at other times.  Certainly, situations can determine who we are or what we say and do.  To be authentic we must discover and confront our inauthenticities.  We must also be honest, and tell the truth, to ourselves and others about when we are not being genuine (authentic).  But, how far do we go with that?

In 2010 Domino’s Pizza made a decision to come out and tell the truth about their Pizzas. They agreed that they tasted like cardboard.

In 1991 during a speech to the Institute of Directors, Gerald Ratner, the CEO of Ratner’s Jewellers said ‘People ask, "How can you sell these (earrings) for such a low price?” I say, "because it's total crap."’

In both instances the business world was shocked at the honesty. I would assume the shareholders had a ‘moment’ too. Wow! If some leaders could just fake authenticity they would be happy but, there IS no faking it. With Domino’s it’s a consumable but it was only a recipe issue, the quality is not in question, nobody was poisoned, nobody had their health compromised. With Ratners it WAS purely a quality issue, the goods were not worth the money . Domino’s continues…Ratners went down the tube.

Authenticity is not an easy subject to tackle and wrestle to the ground. One needs to step outside of conventional thought on authenticity. It takes a lot of courage to discuss authenticity/inauthenticity as it lifts the lid on things we may keep hidden, knowingly or unknowingly. Taking part in this chat will certainly broaden our awareness of ourselves, as a Leader and as a person.

A superficial description of authentic is being real, genuine, the “real deal”, honest. Would you be as honest as Ratners or Domino’s? If your business made a monumental mistake, it’s all very well admitting this to your people but would you admit it to the world, your clients or SKYNEWS? How far does authenticity go before we have to make a stand and be, to all intents and purposes, Inauthentic because the outcome may determine that we cannot be authentic in that instance? 

The definition I use of Authenticity is: Being and acting consistent with who you hold yourself out to be for others, and who you hold yourself out to be for yourself.

The central definition is ‘who you hold yourself out to be’. It is NOT your personality, not your thoughts, not your feelings and not social protocols…it is more a DECLARATION that you make, a stand you take on yourself, a commitment to a set of values.

Bill George, Harvard Business School Professor of Leadership and author said:
“After years of studying leaders and their traits, I believe that Leadership begins and ends with authenticity.”

The cold hard truth is that because of certain situations, with certain people, in some ways and at certain times we can all be Inauthentic. Because we avoid at all costs confronting our inauthenticity’s, we are consistently inauthentic about being inauthentic. What if you find yourself discussing ‘How does a person determine when they are being genuine?’

Above all else, Authenticity is CENTRAL to leadership and to being a leader.

Are you authentic all the time? Even when NO ONE is watching? 

If you are Authentic, or if you are aware that you are Inauthentic sometimes, then you have a very great chance of being an exceptional leader.

Dynamic-Transformation / Building Your Future

Dynamic-Transformation is a different thing entirely from change.  It doesn't take the past and change it, add to it or re-organise it.  It creates a new context.  Possibilities that didn't exist now come into being.  The future is built on possibility.  The future is constant. 

If we carry our past with us into the future, we are limiting the amount of space we have in our future because it is taken up with the past we bring into it.  If what we have in our future is our past, our future is going to be consistent with what we had in our past.

If we can take the past OUT of our future, we create an empty space which we can fill with all manner of possibilities and opportunities that are not governed or linked to any past activity. If you do not empty out your past from your future right now then all you are doing is changing your past.

Childhood experiences that have been traumatic.  It can be one experience that was big enough to be traumatic, or a series of experiences.

An example would be: If you have been bullied at school, it's probably not the one time but more likely a period of bullying over time.  That begins to shape who you are, and who you need to be, to become, to survive.  You can't do much at the time about that but you have to do something to defend yourself.  And that leads you into continuing to be that person who has built up defence mechanisms to deal with bullying but at some point you have to find a way to take that past OUT of your future and put it back IN the past.

We all have excess baggage.  We carry it around in our heads.  It's there even when we don't see it.
We are concerned about excess baggage when we go on vacation.  We don't want it then, so we weigh our bags to make sure we are below the requirement.  Trouble is, we carry it around at all other times.

At any given moment of any given day, we reference the excess baggage for information.  Even worse than that, we carry it into our future.  We expect to be able to function and plan and build strategies for a brighter future when we carry our past around with us.

I am not talking about forgetting your past, or where you come from, or your history, or the people in it...

I am talking about today being the day when you stop paying for your bags of excess baggage, and go forward with your hands open to grasp the opportunities that will come your way.

You CANNOT grab opportunity if your hands are full!!

We human beings don't leave the past in the past.  We have the past in the future. When you do that it appears as if the past gives you who you are, and who you are in the present.

Lets imagine the past and the future as two filing cabinets.

If you take the past out of the filing cabinet marked FUTURE, and put it in the filing cabinet marked PAST, what have you got in the FUTURE?  NOTHING!  Which is wonderful. Fantastic!!!!

Why?

Because if, WHO I AM in the present, is determined by the future into which I am living, I can CREATE a future for myself that gives me, in the present, a life of being, joy, happiness, accomplishment...a life worth living.

I will be launching the Dynamic-Transformation Seminar dates soon....and at the seminar you will discover just HOW to empty that future filing cabinet, HOW to take the past out of your future and HOW to free up the potential for your future self.

Female Leadership

 

Over the 25 years that I have been in sales and consulting I have always noticed how difficult it was for any woman in a position of any semblance of authority.  Not only getting there but in dealing with the day to day agenda that being a woman can attract from 'colleagues'

In direct Sales, which is a tough, in your face, no holds barred, environment the level of sexism is high.  It is not as bad as it was in the 80's and 90's thankfully but it is still there.

I have never understood why the question arises about 'women having the right to be in charge, or get promoted etc.  Women have just as much right as anyone to be in a leadership position but a lot of the old 'dinosaur' managers and salespeople would want to make you think otherwise.

I have heard of and seen a few very competent and capable women be turned down for a sales job thru fear.  Not theirs; but the fear of the man recruiting them.  They were far, far more capable than any of the other candidates.  I checked the recruitment system of a major blue chip sales company in London once and when I saw the candidates that had been turned down for the role, and compared them with the candidates that had been employed, I was shocked.

I wasn't shocked at the decision after I heard the conversation that had taken place after the interviews.  the manager that had been interviewing had conducted the interview with his area Manager. 

The Area Manager had told him, "I agree that she is the best candidate but use your head.  She is married and 24 years old with no kids.  You are targeted for 12 members of your team.  She could get pregnant at any time and then have a year off at full pay and benefits and you have to make up the numbers.  She is probably looking for a job like this so she can do just that.  Are you prepared to cover for her for a year?"

There are worse stories than that, believe me. 

Door to door saleswomen being told to wear short skirts and unbutton their tops more so that they get attention and gain interest from the potential customers who open the door.

Derogatory remarks made about women at Director level.  Sexist remarks made during meetings.  Its a point scoring thing which, in every time I have heard it, I have called the perpetrator on their bullshit.  I don't want to hear it.  I don't think it fair.  It's unnecessary and quite frankly, as a man, I don't want to be associated with other men who behave like it.  It is unprofessional and not the kind of thing a leader or anyone who wanted to be a leader would think was correct behaviour.

There is always banter, and practical jokes and a few laughs to be had in any work environment but there is a line.

In this day and age there should be NO difference between a male leader and a female leader.  They are LEADERS.  They do their job, they do it with integrity, they do it with authenticity, and they do it brilliantly.  If they dont' it's because they did something wrong, it's not because they are a woman or a man. 

The more we can encourage women to make a name for themselves in business the better.  BUT we don't want anyone to go into business BECAUSE they are a woman.  I don't believe we should recruit women because we 'need a few to make it look good'.  People, whether they are male or female, should be employed, mentored, coached, and promoted thru a company because of what they can do, not what they are.

2013 Resolution

LOST:  

One whole year. Last seen yesterday.

Contains uncertainty, lazyness and no achievement.

Could you place an ad like that on January 1st 2013?

Be ashamed!! Be very ashamed.
2012 is the year the world ended.

2012 is the year the Mayans said it was going to be 'game over'.

Errm...

Actually:

2012 is nearly ended.

2012 is nearly over.

BUT...it had nothing to do with Myans/ Shmayans

It's New Years Day soon. What are you doing about it?

Plan ahead!
You don't need the end of the world being averted to realise that you are standing on the starting line of a whole new opportunity.

Do you wake up and say 'I can't wait to be mediocre today!'. I could tell you to get a life but why don't you just change the one you have?

Is watching TV tonight going to earn you money? Get you new clients? Expand your business? NO! So...Turn off the tube and get out your Notebook/ Planner!

If you are sitting there thinking 'Wow, a whole year ahead of me'? I guarantee you will soon be saying 'Where the hell did that year go?' And you will say that sooner than you think!

Hold on...ARE you sitting there thinking 'Wow, a whole year ahead of me'?  Have you ever had a deja vu feeling?  Didn't you say that LAST year?

What are you doing today? Watching TV? Reading the paper? Sleeping? Get off your ass and make a to do list and put a deadline in there!

2013 can be the best year ever if you make it so!

Go and do it. I am!

"Those who merely hope that conditions will change, their luck turn, or the person in front of or above them will either retire or die, merely see instead the success of those who grasp the opportunity of the present.  If you waste the valuable time of today, awaiting the promise of tomorrow, you will inevitably, always, be second the the person who, yesterday, prepared for today!" Dave Moore

The Secret to.....

Not unless you get off your ass
and do something it won't!!!!

I don't want to rain on any parade regarding the Law of Attraction but something really bothers me about the whole 'The Secret' industry.

I think the only people who are making any money out of using 'The Secret' are the people IN 'The Secret'.

I wonder how many people have crashed and burned after 'thinking positive' and 'asking' for what they want?  How many people are still waiting for the knock on the door from someone delivering their request?  Waiting for their lottery numbers to come up.  Waiting for the new car. Still looking for that parking space.

The people who are getting a large monthly input into their bank accounts are the people in the Secret.

What's more, the Secret has raised another challenge.  The word 'secret' is now a buzzword bandied about to make you buy other products.  I know, I know: we all like to know a secret but...
...take a look at Amazon....

I just typed in 'secret to sales...' and I can see 2,642 books with some permutation of SECRET in the title.

There IS no 'secret' to sales.  The answer is very simple.  And it is something many salespeople forget to do.  You can have all the answers and all the techniques and all the confidence you want but you have to remember one thing...you have to ASK FOR THE SALE!

You would be amazed at how many salespeople I have listened to on the phone and sat next to in peoples homes.  I have heard some of them talk and talk, sell and sell, and seen a potential customer switch off.  The salesperson talked the person OUT of the sale and....you guessed it...nothing was sold.  They forgot to ask for the sale.

There is no secret to selling.  It is common sense but now we have so many books on the subject with 'the SECRET to...' in the title it's madness!!!

The issue I have with The Law of Attraction as portrayed in The Secret is that it bangs on and on about 'asking for what you want' but gives the impression that that's all you do.  You then sit and wait and, lo and behold, it arrives.  That is BS!

Let's break The Law of Attraction down.  In fact lets just break down the word ATTRACTION.

Can you see a six letter word at the end of that word?

ACTION.

Yep, you have to DO something to get something.  You have to take action to receive what you want.  You can't just sit back and wait for your special delivery.  You order it and then you do something to make it happen.  You take action to make it real.  You do it yourself.  The Universe just helps you out.  THAT is what it does. 

Remember, when you think the universe is not working for you, get the hell out of its way, let it do its thing.  Don't be the obstacle of your own success.

I am a firm believer that everything is attainable and that you can have ANYTHING that you want but unfortunately, many people who watched The Secret think and believe that all you have to do is ask, write it down, believe that you already have it and, miraculously, it will appear. WRONG!

You have to take steps, take action, to make this happen. You have to give SOMETHING in order for the universe to deliver.

Lets put it like this.

Every week a man goes to church and prays for God to help him.
"Dear Lord I have no money, no job, a wife and family to feed, Please Lord let me win the lottery this week."
This happens each week for 6 weeks. The man does not win. He starts to become disillusioned, losing his faith, and starts to believe that no one is listening.
On that final prayer he says, "Dear Lord, please please let me win the lottery. I am destitute and have nothing. Please let me win the lottery"
SUDDENLY, there is a flash of lightning, a loud clap of thunder and clouds form over the church. The roof of the church parts and a blinding light shines down on the man and then, through the clouds and the smoke he hears a voice...
"Jim, meet me half way...BUY A LOTTERY TICKET!"

If you are waiting for opportunity to knock on your door, keep waiting. Do something to show opportunity where you live and that you are at home. You do it with Amazon!  You do it with everything else you order online!!  Make sure you do something to make it happen and be ready to receive.  If you don't, you might find what you were waiting for has been left with a neighbour!

Countdown to 2013

It has been a very changeable, happy, difficult, rewarding, challenging and eye opening year so far.
Aside from the personal losses, such as my Mother passing away, this year has been one of positive change.  What I would call one hell of a roller coaster year.  I am SO ready to begin a new year I am buzzing with excitement....so much to do and so much energy to make it happen!  Now the good news for you.....It’s that time of year again!

'Hmmm, do all those online courses
in my email box work?'

THINK!.....

Have you noticed that beginning in November, your Inbox fills up with all kinds of programs the sender claims “will make 2013 your best year ever!” Some of the ones I’ve received involve three day live events where they help you dig through your past and release all the limiting beliefs and negative self-talk that’s holding you back; another offers a “once-in-a-lifetime, special deal that will disappear at midnight” (I got that one three days running! Go figure that!) on a 36 CD program, complete with transcript, workbook and two live group calls, blah, blah, blah, work, work, work; and my favourite, the people who guarantee they will reveal how The Secret really works and how to make it work for you (which leads me to believe that the real secret to The Secret is all the people who are making a ton of money from telling other people how to get it to work)

What all these programs have in common, is they’re all about telling you things you can do and actions you can take, that will somehow magically turn you into “a money-making magnet.” But at the end of the day, all these live events, these “secrets”, these CDs and workbooks fundamentally are, are strategies, strategies that will supposedly “release negative patterns that are holding you back”, “rewire your brain for success”, or some equally bogus hype.

Why is it that all these claims, promises and allegations don’t work?

It’s very simple: what these programs are all about is teaching you a method, a strategy whereby you take something you’re doing, stop doing it, and instead do something else. Like the bright, glossy, shiny CD/DVD program they’re selling you.

I have news for you! Replacing one behavior with another behavior is not going to change your life or make a long-term difference on how successful you are in 2013. Substituting doing something with not doing something is a STRATEGY, and will only work as long as you maintain the willpower, vigilance and discipline to continue to do that strategy.

So, what's the real secret?

The real secret to lasting success is;

• Become a person who naturally and instinctively does whatever needs to be done to be successful.
• Become a person who easily and effortlessly acts and behaves in a certain way because that’s who you are.
• Don't use a strategy to fix what you’re doing or not doing. This won’t work because you’re still the same person you’ve always been, you’re just forcing yourself to act in a different manner.

And, that’s why you, and everyone else, inevitably fails and reverts back to doing what you always do.

You go back to being who you really are.

I know, it can be confusing, you might want to go back and read what the Real Secret is again.

My early Christmas gift to you...

It actually is possible to become the person who makes the choices you’d really like to make, who does the things you’d really like to do, so that you can achieve the success you really want to have. And it doesn’t involve dredging up the past or listening to dozens of CDs and filling out workbooks or flying across the country and spending thousands of dollars on a live event. You don’t need to develop your willpower, walk on fire or glass, be relentlessly vigilant or subject yourself to strict discipline for the rest of your life either.

What you do have to do is be willing to keep an open mind, and allow yourself to consider that something that sounds like the 21st century version of snake oil could actually work,

We are closing in on the New Year, and you, too, are probably getting a lot of emails from people who have products, on-line courses, are holding live events, etc. that promise to “make 2013 your best year ever!!”

I’m sure they have the best intentions, but…

What none of them seem to understand is that replacing one behavior with another behavior is a STRATEGY, and strategies like this only work as long as you have the willpower and the discipline to do them on a consistent basis.

For example, a diet is a strategy, making and prioritizing the next day’s To Do list is a strategy, only checking Twitter/ Facebook and your email twice a day at a predetermined time is a strategy – you get the picture? As long as you can make yourself do it, it works. And we all know that pretty much nobody is able to keep doing it for very long.

Great… so what does work?

What works is becoming the person who instinctively makes the choices you know you need to make to get you the results you’re looking to get. In other words, doing what needs to be done because that’s who you are.

Are you Getting what You Want?

Well? Are You?  Or, are you depriving yourself from getting what you want by not asking for it?

How many times are you really specific?  I mean REALLY specific?  Answer: a lot less times than you think.

Attitude, surprisingly enough (!), plays a large part in this. 

What do you see written here?:

Do you see 'Opportunity is Nowhere'?
Good. If you like that sort of thinking.....

But, do you know what is better?  What you SHOULD be reading?

'Opportunity Is Now Here!'

It's your choice, you decide, your conscious and unconscious minds conspire to read whatever it thinks you want to read. 

Opportunity abounds.  Opportunity is everywhere.  Opportunity is in every situation you find yourself in.  Do you see it? Would you take it? 

I ask people what they want out of life and a lot of times people say 'Money'.  I always ask 'How Much?' and I get the same answer more often than not...'Lots of money'.

To a beggar on the streets, one pound or dollar is a lot of money.  Would you classify it as a lot of money?  No?  Then what is a lot of money? Be SPECIFIC.

If you want to get 'something' out of a situation, be specific about what it is you want.  If you want to lose weight, be specific about how much weight.  If you want to make more money, be specific about how much. 

Give your dreams some idea of what reality is and they will become reality.

Why don't you use what I call 'the Starbucks Method'?

When you go into Starbucks and the Barista asks you what you want, do you say 'Well, I don't want a Latte, and I don't want a Mocha, and I don't want an espresso...' until all that is left is the Cappuccino that you want?  No! You say: 'grande Cappuccino please'.  thats it...specific!

If you want the universe to work for you then ask it for something.  But, give it a clue. 
FOCUS on what you want, not what you don't want.
Ask for what you want and be Specific.
Take some action to make it happen.

The Universe is there to help you.

When you think the Universe is ignoring you, not listening or not delivering...wake up!  Has it occured to you that you may need to get out of its , both physically and mentally so it CAN help you?  You could be your own barrier to success. 

Change your mindset....MOVE!

Psychological Cat Burglar

Psychological Cat Burglar – An Interview with Dr David Moore.

It is safe to say that if David Moore did not exist you would have to invent him.  He is the owner of The Moore Consortium group of companies which cover a variety of the ‘self-help’ streams, from NLP and Persuasion through to Firewalking and EFT.  David spent his early years as a salesman in a variety of industries including Time Share, Insurance, Double Glazing and Advertising.  In the early 1990’s he became a salesman for Cable London, a cable TV and Telephone provider and within a very short space of time went from salesman to team leader, to Field sales Manager to National Sales Trainer.  He was the most successful salesman Cable London produced.  He was the only salesman to venture into the notorious Broadwater Farm Estate in North London, the scene of rioting a few years earlier, and over a two month period there became top salesman.  He became national sales trainer when Telewest increased their share holding of Cable London and flew all over the country training staff from London to Dundee.  It was only after watching a sales consultant present a three day training seminar to Telewest Communications (Cable London’s owners) that David realised where the future really was.  He formed his own Training company, left Cable London/ Telewest and was a spectacular success.

Behind the success he admits there were difficult times.  The loss of a corporate culture was one.

“I had always worked for other people.  I had a very high salary, pension schemes, medical insurance and a car allowance.  Now all of that was gone and I was flying solo.  It is difficult but not impossible.  If it is something you feel you should do then I would suggest you do it.  It is liberating.  It’s very different.  It’s a huge responsibility.  But, it is the only way to really do what you want!”

Over the last 15 years David has incorporated a variety of elements into a program he has developed called ‘Human Potential Technology’.  These include Inner Game and Attitude, Persuasion, Firewalking, Glasswalking, NLP, Hypnosis, EFT and Sales Training.

“I don’t believe in being a ‘jack of all trades; master of none’ as some companies appear to be.  My method is to incorporate a lot of different areas of expertise that fall under the umbrella of Personal Development.  I feel that if you teach Persuasion you must have expertise in NLP.  To teach people how to walk on fire or broken glass you must have expertise in attitude and persuasion.  It all fits within the parameters of development.”

What about the Personal Development or self help movement?

“To me, self help is like self abuse.  You HAVE to do it yourself.  The books and dvd’s only show you what to do.  You must take action and do it yourself.  I do tell people to stop buying self help books because they probably haven’t read all of the ones they already have.  A new one comes along and they put down the one they are reading and order the new one from Amazon and then a few weeks later…it happens again.  It’s a paradigm shift. The answers you want are probably already in a book on your shelf that you didn’t finish.  I have read hundreds of them and I read the new ones and I can see that many of the ‘new’ ideas are just a rehash of older ideas.  I agree that as the times change and people become more aware of self help and human potential we need to teach and coach in a new way.  If we taught today in the style of a teacher from 30 years ago, the chances are we wouldn’t be listened to.”

You spent a lot of time teaching people to walk on Fire or Broken glass.  Was that fun?

“Fun is one word for it.  It was great at the time but I believe it has been done to death.  It is very rare to find anyone who hasn’t either done it or at least heard of it or heard of someone who has done it.  It doesn’t have the novelty factor any more.  The training I put people through before they walked included a lot of life skill training, persuasion and NLP techniques that they could utilise in all manner of areas of their lives.  It was never really ‘only’ about the walk.  I train a lot of people in everything from Sales training and Customer service through to Attitude and Inner Game.  I have always been interested in Persuasion.  How one person can get someone or a company to do something when other people have tried and failed?  I have studied great persuaders of history; I have researched and studied conmen and brain pirates who can get total strangers to do whatever they want them to.  There is an art to it and like everything in life; all it takes is the knowing how to do it.  If someone tells me something can’t be done, I have always believed that was because they  didn’t know how to do it!’

So salespeople have to have the ability to persuade people to buy?

“A good salesperson will persuade people to buy.  A really great salesperson with put a person in a position where they not only WANT to buy, but buying will seem natural.  They have to be put at ease.  I have been very successful in every sales environment I have worked in.  My mentor, Hal Stamford, was one of the UK heads of Coca Cola before he retired and took a consulting job at Cable London and he said once that I ‘could sell shaving foam to the Taliban.’  That’s an interesting concept!”

If I were to become a salesperson could you teach me how to put people at ease?

“Remember, my years of training salespeople stem from my history of selling.  If you knock on someone’s door at 7pm at night, with no idea of who is behind the door and they, in turn, are not expecting you then you have four or five seconds after they open it to put them at ease.  You are then expecting to be asked in, for them to listen to you and for them to buy from you.  I did that on a daily, weekly, monthly basis for two years before the company asked me to show other salespeople HOW to do it.  I was always over target and getting results.  I was earning more money in a week than the Sales Director was earning in a month.  Yeah, I can teach anyone.  I didn’t only look at sales techniques. I studied body language, language patterns, embedded commands even colors.  I was always aware that colors have an effect on people.  I always wore a pink shirt.  Pink is a very powerful color, as is purple.  Not just any pink but what is known as ‘Baker-Miller pink’ or more commonly ‘drunk tank pink’.  It denotes trust.   It’s used in calming offenders moods in prisons, it reduces the anxiety levels as well as blood pressure.  The dressing rooms of visiting football teams are sometimes painted that colour so as to render the players less competitive.  If I worked in a very affluent area then the pink shirt would be accompanied by Gucci loafers, designer suits and silk ties.  In a less affluent area that look was jettisoned for jeans/ chinos and trainers and a leather jacket.  I still had the pink shirt though.”

What about Manipulation or Persuasion in everyday life, like advertising?

“It is more like Social Influence.  It is fun to intercept and decode the psychological DNA of free will.  Once you have an understanding of how to redirect another persons thought processes then your own neural meteorology is something I call ‘Controlled unpredictability’.   You can decide what way it will go but the distance and direction will sit outside the normal constraints.  You just need to know where the brain’s pressure points are.  Where peoples blind spots are.”

 Isn’t that dangerous?

“Only if you were using the knowledge for something bad.  As it is, I have people coming to me for answers.  They are stuck, at a point in their life where they can see no future or change.  I do what needs to be done to help them.”

What is the basic process?

“There is a system that is used in all forms of Persuasion.  Conmen use it, politicians use it, members of the public use it without knowing they are using it.  It’s an algorithm.  There are three A’s to persuasion.  Attention, Approach, and Affiliation.  The basic raw material, your message, is what people pay attention to.  The manner of your delivery is going to predetermine how people will process or approach it.  Thirdly, how you are evaluated by others, your body language, language patterns, verbal and non-verbal cues are the parameters of affiliation.  In essence, the Human Potential Technology program we run offers our SPICE^© program. Simplicity, Perception, Incongruity, Confidence, Empathy.  Once you deploy a technique that encompasses those ingredients, it ships so much psychology into the brain’s bloodstream, people lose all resistance to persuasion. “

Where do you see yourself in five years time?

“The Moore Consortium will be worldwide.  The Dynamic-Life Academy will have a team of trainers around the world and certification programs.  I am looking forward to the future and working on it now.”

Dreamer, Nothing But A Dreamer!

Roger Hodgson of Supertramp coined that phrase and what is wrong with that? It's a very good thing to be.

As I sit here with a mug of coffee, black, two sugars, stirred anti-clockwise (it improves the flavour) my mind wanders off. I'm not concerned, It's nothing unusual. It does that sometimes but it never strays far and it always comes back.

My mind is thinking of a hundred, a thousand, things at once. I get a bit of a glazed look on my face (not good when driving) and some people look at me and ask 'What ARE you thinking?' or the classic one; 'Penny for them!' A penny? They are worth more than that! People who really know me take no notice. They just wait to find out what direction I am now going to go in thanks to the thought.

I am a dreamer. A Day Dreamer. I think deeply and day dream. There is nothing wrong with that.

We have voices in our heads that tell us to do things. That is called THINKING. Part of my training program means I ask groups of people 'Do you have a voice in your head that tells you to do things?' A few people sit there and look at the ceiling and mouth the words 'do I?'

If people don't put their hands up I usually tell them 'The voice I am talking about is the one that said "voice in my head? Phuq that I am NOT putting my hand up for that one!"

(I once asked a group of people if anyone had a phobia about putting their hand up in public. One person put their hand up! - Unbelievable. You can't make this stuff up!)

If you dream at night you will be very lucky to remember it next morning. Well, you remember the bad ones, the nightmares.

People often say to me; "I can't imagine doing what you do, even in my wildest dreams!" Well, if you can't imagine doing it in your wildest dreams, how are you going to do it for real?

Dreaming during the day is just an extension of thinking. It's giving your imagination some time to wander around to see what it comes up with.

T.E Lawrence (of Arabia) wrote a book called 'The Seven Pillars of Wisdom' and in it he wrote the following....
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible."

If you imagine it, dream it, see it...then you will achieve it. Naturally you have to take some action to get it but if you see it in your mind, you will receive it. Dream it, and do it.

 

If you think I am alone in that thought then let's leave the final word to the late, great, John Lennon;

"You may say I'm a dreamer, But I'm not the only one.

I hope some day you will join us, When the world will be as one."

Imagine!

The Difference that MAKES The Difference

What's the Difference that MAKES the Difference?

To me it's got to be attitude. That self assuredness, that energy, that belief that no matter what happens, no matter what obstacles appear, you will achieve what you want to achieve.

People always look for cop outs. Excuses. They have a but!

"I could have done that...BUT!"
"I would have done that...BUT!"
"I should have done that...BUT!"

That's the old 'coulda, woulda, shoulda' scenario. At the heart of that scenario is another word. 'Didna'.

I know that if you have the right attitude you can achieve anything.

I use myself as an example.

• I have an air of uninsultability. I don't care what people say about me. Why should I? They don't know what they are talking about! They must get my name right though!
• I decide where my energy goes, nobody else.
• Everything people say or do to me is energy, and it's just a toy for me to play with.
• I don't take anything that people say to me at first to be written in stone. In other words, what people say first can be changed.
• Nothing in life has any meaning except the meaning I give it.
• I never hate people who are obviously jealous of me. I respect their jealousy because they must think I am better than them or they want to be me!
• 90% of people are running on autopilot 90% of the time
• If I am told something can't be done it's because the person telling me doesn't know how to do it. So I go and do it.

It is also important to think different. A case in point.

I had a conversation the other day regarding work. Someone was looking for a change of career. It seemed that working from home might be better than going out to work. I made a quick suggestion.

"What about some form of MLM? Multi Level Marketing is booming. You could get on the vitamin and herbal remedy market. There are a lot of companies looking for people to sell products and you could have vitamin evenings and sell the products at home to people who come around for the evening party?"

What was the response...? Well...objection.....?

Before I tell you the response/ objection let me reframe it....

Throughout my career I have advised people on what to do for a business venture, in what to sell, and how to sell. In all of those areas I get the same response as I got here. The same! What amazes me is how the same reply from me always makes them realises what a stupid, dumbass objection it is...

The response/ objection?...

"Do you know how many companies there are out there selling that?"

Duh! Yes I do. Maybe not to the exact figure but I can hazard a guess...

My reply?

"Do you know how many people there are out there buying that stuff?"

Simple. There are millions of people out there. BILLIONS of people in the world. Are you telling me that they are ALL buying from these companies. No. They are not.

Advertising either works or it doesn't. If it didn't work then people wouldn't advertise.

I had someone tell me once, 'I don't advertise because I know it won't work!' 
I told them, 'You know when you will realise that it does?  In a years time when you place an advertisement that says 'Business for Sale', THAT is when you will realise advertising works!'

We all know Louis Vuitton, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Rolex, Breitling and all manner of stuff that we desire and /or buy. Why do they advertise? Why do they HAVE to advertise? Because it works.

Then I got this...

"If people want things like that then they would just go down to the supermaket and buy them."

No WAY!  People have to be TOLD what to buy. They have to be given options.

That's why you sell someone a years supply rather than a months.

What's more, selling things on the internet or at home is designed to undercut the big stores as well as the small exclusive ones. These MLM companies market stuff that you cannot buy in stores. The opportunity is there!

It's a matter of doing things Differently. Thinking Differently. Selling Differently. Being Different. And that's the difference that MAKES the difference!

If you let NOTHING get in the way of your target, nothing get in the way of your dream and nothing get in the way of achieving what you want then nothing will.

You have to change your beliefs, change your attitude and change your mind set.

You must not let anything get in your way.

Here's an example...This is someone who never let anything get in their way, never let anything stop them, adapted situations to suit and changed themselves...they know the meaning of the difference that makes the difference.

The man is Chaim Weitz.

Though he is from a Hungarian family he was born in Isreal and his Mother took him, at the age of 8, to live in America even though he was unable to speak English.

When older he made money selling comic books at conventions. He learnt to speak English, German and Hebrew as well as his native Hungarian and taught in schools in America under the name Gene Klein.

A few years later he picked up a guitar, changed his name to Gene Simmons and morphed into the guy in the pic at the top of this blog!

If he can achieve a personal metamorphosis like that...anything is possible. That's the Difference that MAKES the Difference!

Laura Berman Fortgang - Coach of Coaches

Here's another recommendation for you and, again, it's a very talented and knowledgeable lady from NYC area (I must get over there again soon)......

Some of you may know her, know of her and some of you may not know her at all, for which I say 'you are serious about personal development aren't you?'

I have followed Laura Berman Fortgang for almost 12 years now.  I met her quite a while ago at a seminar she ran in London after the publication of her book Take Yourself to the Top, of which I have a signed copy but hey, I'm a fan.

I think she pioneered the whole idea of coaching and got me interested in the whole coaching scene.  I cannot find anyone coming close to her (not that I have looked) and I always have considered her the best there is in the business and personal coaching field.

She has a common sense approach and a focus on what works for her clients.  Laura is also a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, corporate spokesperson and interfaith minister.

She is the best-selling author of five books now published in 11 languages:

• The Prosperity Plan
• The Little Book on Meaning (Finalist for a Books for a Better Life Award)
• Now What? 90 Days to a New Life Direction
• Living Your Best Life
• Take Yourself to the Top

When you read a list like that and look at the figures one thing is obvious.  She knows her stuff.

Laura has also been a media perennial for years. Her appearances on Oprah, The CBS Early Show, NBC's Today, Good Morning America, various nationally syndicated and cable outlets as well as a long stint as contributing editor for Redbook Magazine and in other major print and digital media have helped her reach millions of people who want to improve their work and life.

Do yourself, your business and the people around you a big favour and go to:
http://www.laurabermanfortgang.com/index.html

or follow her on Twitter
@LauraBFortgang

Prepare to be amazed and...See You At The Top

Preventing 'Death by Powerpoint'

I have sat through many presentations in my previous life as a Sales Director at companies like Telewest, Cable London and Holiday Ownership Exchange and believe me, I feel your pain when it comes to Slides or Powerpoint presentations.

As soon as you walk into the seminar room and you see the laptop and computer your heart sinks because you KNOW that not only have you got to listen to someone, you have to read the slides and, probably, make notes.

I love French Cinema and I speak a little French so I ignore the subtitles as much as I can but many people hate the idea of reading a movie, they want to watch one. 

It's the same with presentations.  Some people have EVERYTHING they say, EVERY WORD, up on that screen and they not only read the slide out but they POINT AT THE WORDS AS THEY GO ALONG!!!

That is a combination of lack of confidence, bad presentation skills and overkill.  It is such poor preparation that it borders on Preparation H!!

When these presenters look at the audience can't they see the sea of bored people with a glazed look on their faces. (I know, I was one of them).

Steve Jobs had a list of rulles for presentations.

1.   Open with words that are in line with the theme by using a headline.
2.   Make the theme clear and consistant so it sets the direction.
3.   Provide an outline.
4.   Open and close each section with a clear transition.
5.   Sell an experience.
6.   Use powerful words like Extraordinary, amazing, cool, awesome and incredible.
7.   Make numbers and statistics meaningful and then break them down.
8.   Analogies help connect the dots.
9.   Paint a simple picture that doesn't overwhelm.
10. Rehearse it.

In order to create a PowerPoint presentation that is engaging and compelling, use this list as rocket fuel that will fire your presentation to the stars.  It's a list of do's and dont's that has been built over years of experience.  Add what works for you and let me know your own tips.

1. Clip art is funny but don't even think about using crap that a 10 year old could have come up with.  Your credibility will be shot.  Limit the clip art or better still leave it out completely

2. Add an unexpected, personal, FUNNY photograph.
3. The slide is meant to reinforce the point you are making.  NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND

4. Don't EVER say, "This one's a little hard to read." SLIDES ARE FREE. Split the slide into two.
5. Don't have your slides spin around or have moving text -It is very annoying!  I have heard salespeople in the audience next to me having side bets on which direction the slide will come in from. 
6. Don't put more than one point on a slide.
7. Count the laughs. At least one for every five slides. (If there's at least one laugh every five slides, you can count on one other thing: money.)
8. Use a white background. The fancy ones are distracting.  They are an embellishment that detracts from your message.
9. Include a logo. I put a bug-size logo in the lower right corner of every slide. I have no idea why, but no one has ever said anything to me. And I figure if it's good enough for MTV, Comedy Central or any of those Cable channels, it's good enough for me.
10. Use the font IMPACT. Set the master screen for 44pt and shadow the type.
11. Emphasize words by blowing them up a few point sizes. Make them a different colour. I use Purple.

12. If you're labouring over one slide that you are trying to "make work," delete it. It was probably a weak point.

13. Use slides that tell a story, rather than relate a fact. Stories are the most powerful part of the sale. Here's the rule: Facts and figures are forgotten, stories are remembered and retold.

14. Are your slides engaging? There are two kinds of slides: engaging and distracting. Review each slide and ask yourself, "How engaging is this slide?" If it's not engaging, then it's distracting, so why the hell are you using it?

15. Are your slides asking questions or making statements? Questions will promote conversation and engage. Statements are just that - There is no conversation.

16. How many of the claims that you makE in your sales presentation, by PowerPoint or verbally, are backed up with proof?

17. Incorporate video testimonial clips throughout your slide presentation to back up and prove that your claims are real and transferable-real, transferable, and acceptable to the customer.

By now you're probably totally disheartened about your PowerPoint presentation because I've exposed it for the powerless "point" it is. But take heart. Your competition's slide presentation is equally pathetic.

Here is the secret solution: Convert the time you're wasting by watching television reruns and use it to develop your own PowerPoint presentation that is 100 percent in terms of the customer's needs and desires. Your PowerPoint presentation should engage the prospective customer by asking questions and promoting dialogue, include a little humour to keep the sales presentation alive, and support every fact and claim with testimonials.

And by the way, there's one question that you better make certain appears toward the end of your PowerPoint presentation: a question that asks for the sale.

One of the best pieces of advice I can give you to make sure the Powerpoint presentation you are constructing is interesting is this.  When you are done, leave it for two days.  Then look at it again.  If it STILL looks great, use it.  That break will let your mind review it with fresh eyes.

 

*With thanks to Steve Jobs and Jeffrey Gitomer

You-Nique

Do you wonder what makes you different from everyone else? Are you looking for an answer to "What makes me special and unique?" that is more meaningful than just your fingerprints or a spiral of DNA?


Understanding how each of us is unique is an essential part of questioning who we are and why humanity exists. To help you find an answer to this ancient and universal question, we offer a new way of looking at things.

Are you Unique? Do you go your own way? Do you follow your own beliefs?

Being unique can make you start to feel awkward about who you are. If you are not like everybody else ... you can feel like you don't fit ... and don't belong.


And that is a horrible way to feel .. especially when you consider that everyone is unique. Everyone, underneath the things that define a generation or a culture, is truly unique and vastly different ... from the things they love -- to what inspires them or makes them laugh.


Do you remember the scene in The Life of Brian when, having been chased and followed by hundreds of people, Brian addresses the crowd from his bedroom window and there is the classic exchange...

Brian: You are all Individuals!
Lone Voice: I'm not!

Being an individual means you are unique.

Do you have any idea just how unique you are?

What makes you unique?
Is it what you do, or how you do what you do?

If you want to Stand Out, you have to be OutStanding.
It's a simple as that. And Simplicity rules.

Simplicity is harder than you think. We all have the ability to make things difficult. We analyse and go over details again and again when in fact what we should be doing is refining and streamlining.

If you want to be unique you have to strip everything down and discover just what sets you apart from everyone else.

Sustained success comes only when you take what's unique about you and figure out how to make it useful.

Whatever it is that you do to make yourself unique you have to decide whether or not it is something that will generate interest, business and raving fans (repeat customers).

What are your strengths? How do you use those strengths to overcome your competitors, if you consider your competitors?

Remember that there is no one else on this planet like you. No one else can do what you do, in the way you do it. If there were then I can guarantee that they wouldn't do what you do for the same reasons you do it.

The same thing applies to businesses and other types of organizations. But in this case, it is called branding and is known as what makes you stand apart and stand out from the crowd ... in both good and bad ways.


Being unique in business may be just what your company needs ... and should shout about. But just being different isn't what you want to focus on. Instead, you want to be distinctive -- in the things your customers and clients value most. And that is what finding your business niche is all about.

Seminar Dates

Dates and Locatiions to be finalized by The Moore Consortium and Dynamic-Life Seminars...




Dynamic-Life Academy Inner Game and Human Potential Technology Training.......

2012
September: Brighton - Bristol - Birmingham

October: Manchester - Newcastle - Edinburgh - Glasgow

November: London - Jersey

December; Paris - London

2013
January: London - Jersey

February: Oslo - Barcelona

April: Los Angeles - New York -  Universal Orlando

Tickets and booking information coming up.....

Thanks to Derek and Jill at DLS for their organization of this.

He's Either Mad...or Both!

Do you know the definition of insanity?
It's doing the same thing again and again but each time expecting a different result!

How many people do that on a daily basis? 
How many drive the same route to the office only to get caught (unexpectedly?) in the same traffic jam?
How many get on the tube train the same time every morning and bitch and whine at how crowded it is?

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."
Yadda yadda yadda!
In other words....
If You Keep Doing The Same Thing Your Results Will NEVER Improve!

Is that insanity?
Is that normal behaviour?
Isn't it more likely that it's just the way some people are wired?

It's pretty harmless in the great scheme of things. 
It appears to me that society is very quick to label someone 'mad' or 'insane'.  It's a cop out.

But, here is a question for you dear reader: What is the definition of EVIL?

Some people, like the Brady's, Sutcliffe's and Breivik's of this world, are classified as evil.

Are they?  Are they Evil?  Or does 'Evil' sell more newspapers and get more attention than 'mad' or 'insane'?  It's a tabloid headline. 

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you!  What people like those three guys and others did is inhuman and totally wrong and they should be damned for eternity, and they shouldn't have playstations and tv's in their cells, they should be made to eat concrete and dirt, they should be whipped with barbed wire and giant flying dragons should crap molten lava on them forever and I know you would like ten minutes in a room with them to really show them something because you have children and it could have been them and if they were going to court you would be outside the old bailey banging on the side of the bus while waving your kids at the news cameras... but, are they evil?

Evil is a state of mind into which pretty much anybody could get.  It's a label used socially to define a group of people as inhuman.

Every year in England and Wales there are about 700 murders.  Only a third of those are thought to be murders that occur in the context of mental disorder.

There is nothing about killing someone or doing something violent that means you are mad.  Research shows us that it appears to be something that all human beings can do in certain circumstances.

We tend to concentrate on the people who look and sound a bit strange - the person with the wild eyed stare or the too short trousers - rather than think the woman sitting next to you on the tube train, or the man you are sleeping with could kill you, in the right circumstances.

That a mentally ill person is dangerous and we all need protecting from them is a very powerful stereotype that goes back to Roman times.  Truth is, the majority of the violence that is carried out in our society is carried out by well people and your chances of being killed by a mentally ill person is the same as you winning the lottery.

I know it sounds like a joke but how many times have you heard of someone who worked in the same job for thirty years, had a nice home, a loving wife and three kids, a mortgage that was always paid on time, bills that were always paid, a stable family, church goer, 2 holidays a year, never drinks or smokes or does drugs and then, one day, they get an axe and wipe out everybody?  When the newscrews ask around the neighbourhood all you hear is 'He was a quiet man, a very quiet man!'

Sometimes the most obvious looking person is not the one you need to watch!

Nobody believes that their kid is going to develop schizophrenia or going to run amok and kill a load of students in Oslo and on an island in Utoya like the aforementioned Mr Breivik.

The strange thing about that case is that, in a murder, the defence argues that the defendant has a mental illness and the prosecution argue that the defendant is sane.  This is the first case I have seen where the defence is saying their client is 'mentally well' and the prosecution is saying 'he's insane!'

And one more thing, spree killers usually kill themselves.  It's a fascinating question why he didn't!

Chasing Your Dream

I watched a dog yesterday.

It was sitting on the side of the road when a car drove past.

The dog was obviously bored and looking for something to do, waiting for something to come along, when along came an Alfa Romeo.

It drove past the dog, the dog looked at the car, then chased it.  It didn't have to chase the car for long as it stopped only a few hundred yards along the lane. 

I watched the dog.  It stopped when the car stopped and then, after giving the car a quick glance, walked back to where it had been sitting, sat down, and carried on staring across the fields.

Chasing that car seemed like a good idea at the time but the dog had overlooked one vital piece of the equation. 

It had no idea what to do with the car when it caught it!
                                               ____________________

What are you like when an opportunity comes your way? 

There you are, minding your own business, or dreaming about running your own business, when....BANG!

No, you haven't been hit by a car.  You have been waiting for something to come along and now you have seen a car appear on the horizon, like an idea or an opportunity.  Then it gets nearer and you start to look at it.  Then you get intrigued by it.  Then you chase your dream.  The car is off down the road and you are chasing it.

But when you catch the car, or the idea, what are you gonna do with it?  Are you going to get in the driving seat and drive it?

Where to?

Dogs chase cars with no idea what they are going to do with them when they catch them.
Conversely, Cats don't chase cars.  They look at the car going by and probably think 'Hmmm, nice car, Alfa Romeo' and carry on relaxing.  They just can't be bothered to seize opportunity.

Don't be a dog and chase things for no reason.  Don't be a cat either, and let opportunity go by.

Be someone who has the end in sight.  Know your destination.  Know your direction, plan your route, know why you are taking the journey and then, when an opportunity comes your way, chase it, get in the driving seat and hit the accelerator!

You-Nique

Do you wonder what makes you different from everyone else? Are you looking for an answer to "What makes me special and unique?" that is more meaningful than just your fingerprints or a spiral of DNA?


Understanding how each of us is unique is an essential part of questioning who we are and why humanity exists. To help you find an answer to this ancient and universal question, we offer a new way of looking at things.

Are you Unique?  Do you go your own way?  Do you follow your own beliefs?

Being unique can make you start to feel awkward about who you are. If you are not like everybody else ... you can feel like you don't fit ... and don't belong.


And that is a horrible way to feel .. especially when you consider that everyone is unique. Everyone, underneath the things that define a generation or a culture, is truly unique and vastly different ... from the things they love -- to what inspires them or makes them laugh.


Do you remember the scene in The Life of Brian when, having been chased and followed by hundreds of people, Brian addresses the crowd from his bedroom window and there is the classic exchange...

Brian: You are all Individuals!
Lone Voice: I'm not!

Being an individual means you are unique.

Do you have any idea just how unique you are?

What makes you unique?
Is it what you do, or how you do what you do?

If you want to Stand Out, you have to be OutStanding. 
It's a simple as that. And Simplicity rules.

Simplicity is harder than you think.  We all have the ability to make things difficult.  We analyse and go over details again and again when in fact what we should be doing is refining and streamlining.

If you want to be unique you have to strip everything down and discover just what sets you apart from everyone else.

Sustained success comes only when you take what's unique about you and figure out how to make it useful.

Whatever it is that you do to make yourself unique you have to decide whether or not it is something that will generate interest, business and raving fans (repeat customers).

What are your strengths?  How do you use those strengths to overcome your competitors, if you consider your competitors?

Remember that there is no one else on this planet like you.  No one else can do what you do, in the way you do it.  If there were then I can guarantee that they wouldn't do what you do for the same reasons you do it.

The same thing applies to businesses and other types of organizations. But in this case, it is called branding and is known as what makes you stand apart and stand out from the crowd ... in both good and bad ways.


Being unique in business may be just what your company needs ... and should shout about. But just being different isn't what you want to focus on. Instead, you want to be distinctive -- in the things your customers and clients value most. And that is what finding your business niche is all about.

That way, you begin to build loyalty to what makes you different ... like Classic Coke or Starbucks' coffeehouse experience that harkens back to Lloyds of London and the bankers that backed the shipping trade.


How To Make Your Business Unique


1. Largest Selection
One way that you can make your product or service stand out is to offer the largest selection of products, services or programs.
Example: Home Depot, E-Bay, Staples, Amazon.co.uk

2. Innovative Product
If you have a new product or a service that others don’t offer, you will have something that no one else can offer.
Example: Windows, Viagra, Value Program

3. Multiple Uses
Once you have a product or service to offer, look for other ways that the customer can use the same product or service.
Example: Baby carrier that has carriage base, electric can opener with knife sharpener, Aspirin can be used as pain reliever and heart attack preventative. Cell phone is a camera too.

4. Superior Customer Service
Keep reminding your customer that you are eager to help them by giving extra-ordinary support on your product or service.
Example: Nordstrom's is known for this. Doctors who make house calls, a mobile lawyer's office, a glass company that comes to your workplace to change the glass in your automobile are other examples.

5. Convenient Location
Make it easy for customers to do business with you by providing them access in exactly the place where they will need your product or service.
Example: Bank in the supermarket, ATM in airport, setting up a stand to sell umbrellas on a busy street corner on a rainy day.

6. Expert Consulting
If you have deep knowledge of your product or service, you can be useful in helping your customers before and after the sale is made.
Example: Computer sales person who understands connectivity issues and can help you integrate your equipment with the new computer. Estate Agent who has huge rolodex and provides referral to other vendors that new home owner would need.

7. Price
If you have a product or service with a high price, you offer prestige. If you offer the lowest price, the thrifty customer will be attracted to your product or service.
Example: High Price - Lexus, Canyon Ranch etc. Low price - Target, Wal-Mart

8. Lasting affect
The product or service you offer have a longer lasting affect than any others.
Example - Extra strength Tylenol, Bike lock that cannot be opened, car battery that lasts 5 years, long lasting car tires.

9. Guarantee
Offer a guarantee with your product or service.
Example: Money back if not satisfied. Free conversion back to previous vendor if not satisfied.

10. Packaging
Offer a package that is different from others. (prettier, stronger, environmentally friendly, easier to open, child-proof)
Example: Packaging material that dissolves in water, free gift wrapping for all purchases, child-proof aspirin bottles, juice drinks with straw.