Sunday, November 30, 2008

Success in business — the drive to thrive

I recently bought a car. My old car got totaled in a wreck several weeks back.

The car I bought is a smooth riding Oldsmobile Aurora. It’s got a number of bells and whistles my old car didn’t have. Among them is a gadget on the dashboard called an information center.

The information center tells me all kinds of things about the car, including how much oil life is left and how the battery is doing.

The thing that intrigues me most about the information center is the section that gives me an instant readout of my gas mileage. When I start out, it tells me I’m getting five or six miles to the gallon. It increases until I reach cruising speed, where it usually levels out at about 20-something. Going downhill, it can get as high as 99.

The most interesting thing about this is the impact it’s had on my driving. I’m not known for being slow. As a matter of fact, I have something of a lead foot.

But I soon noticed that my gas mileage is considerably lower when I speed up fast. So, I’ve taken to taking my time getting up to speed in an effort to save gas. This change happened almost without my noticing it.

It occurred to me how useful a similar device would be to my business. I wish I had something that informed me when I needed to slow down and pay more attention to folks or let me know when I was getting too carried away with something that’s not important.

Then I realized that I always had the ability to save gas. I knew that I was using more gas the way I was driving. All I had to do was change my driving habits.

Similarly, I know what it takes to be successful in business. I just have to take the needed actions.

Steve DeVane

Personal connections — Relational business-building

Earlier today a friend of mine was talking about her son’s decision about which college to attend. I paid close attention because my oldest daughter is about to go through the same process.

Seems my friend and her son visited three schools. There were a number of reasons behind his choice, but one of the biggest was the visit to that school.

During the visit the school representative went out of his way to make them feel welcome. The prospective students had to fill out a piece of paper with their name and hometown. During his presentation, the school official recognized each student and said something to personally connect with him.

My friend was impressed. She said that if she would have been making the decision, she would have chosen the same school.

That’s how we act in our businesses. Each time we meet someone, we should try to connect with him or her on a personal level. Moreover, we should do that not just because they might be a prospect for our business, but because we want to get to know them.

If you try to connect with them while thinking about the possibility of them joining your business, the connection will likely feel fake to them. That’s not surprising, because it will be fake.

Next time you meet someone, try to be their friend before you try to make them your business partner.

Steve DeVane

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Business boost — build relationships

Earlier today I was putting our riding lawn mower in the shed. My son had mowed the front yard for probably the last time this year.

The boards that we usually use to help the mower ride up into the shed were missing, but I thought I could just drive the mower over the ridge between the ground the concrete floor of the shed.

I was wrong.

The mower got part of the way in the shed and stopped. I put it in the reverse and tried to back out. It wouldn’t move that way either.

Tried it again in forward. Nothing.

Reverse. Nothing.

I tried it both ways a couple of more times, before finally becoming convinced that it was stuck.

So, I turned the mower off, got down and manually pushed the mower the rest of the way into the shed.

It occurred to me that sometimes that’s the way it is with our businesses and our lives. We have all these high-tech ways to get leads and to contact people, but ultimately you have to make a personal connection.

People join people they know, like and trust. That takes building relationships.

Next time your business needs a boost, be sure you’re making personal connections with other people.

Steve DeVane

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Feel better - Shaving the years away

Recently, I did something I haven’t done it years – I shaved my entire face. Since then, nearly everyone who sees the “new” me, asks me why.

I can explain in one quick sentence: I was tired of looking old. You the hair on the top of my head remains mostly black. My moustache and beard, however, were gray. I once had a friend who hadn’t seen me in a while ask me if I was coloring my hair. I joked that I tried it, but the wax from the crayons was making a mess.

I wasn’t coloring my hair, but I could see how she thought that because my moustache was so gray. I resisted the temptation to explain to her that if I was going to color my hair, I’d have the good sense to color my moustache, too.

At any rate, I really haven’t minded looking a little older than I was. But now that I’m getting a little older (closer to 50 than to 40 now), I decided it was time to look more my age.

There’s an added benefit. As someone in the wellness profession, I think I look better. I’ve lost about 25 pounds in the past year, too. I believe that a leaner, clean-shaven me looks better.

And since, I look better, I naturally feel better. Since I feel better, I think I’m a better me.

I had forgotten what a pain it was to shave every morning, but it’s a small price to pay for feeling and looking better.

Steve DeVane

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Pathway to success - change for the better

I recently heard an excellent presentation about making the most of our talents. It included this old proverb: “If you want to know what you’re doing in the future, tell me what you’re doing right now.”

As I thought about it, the wisdom of the statement stuck with me. So often we go through life hoping things will get better. But if we want our lives to change for the better, we have to change for the better.

I’ve also heard it said that the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things and expecting different results.

In our lives, if we aren’t happy, we need to make a decision to be happy. Once we make that decision, we’re on our way to reaching our goal.

In our businesses, if we aren’t successful, we need to make the changes needed to be successful. Once we make those changes, we’re on our way to reaching our goal.

Steve DeVane

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Business skills — Practice leads to success

The other day, I was listening to a college football game while I was driving home. One of the announcers pointed out that the statistics were pretty even, but one team was winning because its players had made athletic plays at the right times.

It occurred to me that the same idea applies to business in general and network marketing in particular. Many people work hard at MLM, but never seem to get ahead. They're as busy as people who have success, but their results don't match up.

There may be other reasons for this, but often it's because the people who aren't successful don't have the needed skills. They do a lot of things, but they're either not doing the right things or they're not doing the right things well.

That's why it's important to learn the right skills in network marketing and keep practicing them until we become good at them. The good news is that the skills are easy to learn and we can practice them whenever we want.

Steve DeVane

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Strong business model - So good, I can't wreck it

Recently, I was in a car accident. It wasn't very bad by most standards, but it still shook me up, literally and pyschologically.

I was sitting at a stop light when someone ran into the back of me, knocking my car into a pick-up truck in front of me. Since then I've had some relatively minor health challenges, but I also had to make some other challenges.

For one, my car was totalled. I had a rental for a while, but then my family had to get by with one vehicle while I searched for a new car. The search took longer than I planned, but I finally purchased a nice, used car.

Between the injuries, adjusting to having only vehicle and the time spent searching for a car, I didn't have as much time to devote to my network marketing business. In most businesses, that could be catastrophic. In MLM, it's not near as bad.

During my time away, my downline kept working and my group has grown. I'm grateful to my great team and thankful to have a business model that kept moving forward, even while I was parked for a while.

Steve DeVane