Read, Read, Read Your Book

I'm a big-time reader. I have been for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, science fiction and fantasy novels held my attention and I'll admit that I still love a good read in those genres.

These days, though, most of my reading comes from the "Business" section of the bookstore, with a smattering of self-improvement scattered throughout for leavening. My current undertaking is Michael Gerber's "The E-Myth Revisited" -- for the third time.

I'm always amazed how reading a book multiple times changes its meaning and my response to it. The first time I went through E-Myth, I was faintly interested, but was turned off by Gerber's seemingly breathless admiration for the McDonalds way of doing things. Turning my business into a franchise just didn't appeal to me.

The second time through, I began to see the value of what he was writing, but became horribly depressed by what felt like an impossible task of turning my (at the time) part-time business into a systems-driven, money-making venture. I doubted that I had what it took to become a business owner.

This time? This time I'm actually really enjoying the read. I'm excited by the concepts of developing a business as it will be in ten years. I no longer feel overwhelmed by even imagining what that could be like. Now that I am approaching the first year anniversary of my going full time on my business, I feel less like the owner of a job and more like the owner of a business.

So how have books changed for you when you've read them more than once?

The Stars out of Reach

Here we are, close to the end of October. Today in my sales class, we discussed goal-setting. The underlying concept is that, once you have some idea what your life goals are, you have more motivation to succeed in sales.

I'm a strong proponent of setting goals, regardless of whether it helps you in your sales career or not. I've been looking over my list of 101 goals for 2007. By this time I'm probably around 80% done with them, right?

Not really.

It's actually closer to 40%. I might make it to 50% by the end of the year.

So what happened? Why am I not further along? Was this a complete failure on my part?

I don't view it as a failure. Some of the goals are time-based and I won't finish them until later (though still before the end of the year). Getting my third degree black belt falls under that category. Others ended up not making sense after investigation. I had intended on joining a particular networking group which proved to be not as advantageous as I had originally thought. Still others, well, OK, with some of them I just didn't manage my time well.

Still, one of the great things about making goals is that, even if you fall short, you can still be proud and even happy with the result. After all, suppose you had a goal of making a profit of a million dollars on your first book sale and you ended up with only $900,000. You'd hardly be crying on your way to the bank, right?

So, I'll be getting busy on my goals, both my list of 101 for 2008 and with my longer-term goals to make my life that much more exciting in the years to come.

So, are you proud of any of your goals which you failed to reach?

Building for a Reason

So, I was assembling the crib we had purchased for our soon-to-be baby. While I was mired between steps three and four in the instruction sheet, I reflected on how much this was like building a website.

Stick with me here.

With a website, you can have a lot of fun working on designing and building the site. You can pick out how the user will interact with the site, what colors and fonts it will use, and which images you want to have to represent you and your company.

But that's not what's important.

With a website, you can take a certain amount of pride in the fact that you actually have a site. Perhaps you are in a line of work where people don't usually think it's important to have a web presence (are there any businesses like that, truly?). Having a site makes you the leader of the pack.

But that's not what's important.

With a website, you can feel that thrill of excitement, when the last page is in place and you put it into production mode, so that all the world can beat a path to your electronic door.

But that's still not what's important.

With a website, the important thing is that, first, you have a purpose for creating one, and, second, that it achieves that purpose. Whether it be for marketing, sales, advertising, or communication, the site is a tool created for a specific purpose.

So, what does that have to do with building a crib?

The crib we picked out is beautiful -- made of dark, solid maple. Lisa and I really enjoyed shopping for it and I, with my puzzler's brain, loved putting the whole thing together. When we saw it in the baby's room, it looked perfect -- just what we'd hoped for. I can't wait to show it to friends and family.

But that's not what's important.

What's important is that my baby-to-be has a safe, warm place to sleep.

So, what's the important part about what you do?

Reassurance

Lisa and I had our private Lamaze childbirth preparation class the other day. Our instructor, Stephanie Schaldenbrand is one of those people who are angels sent to earth.

This being our first child, Lisa and I have had the occasional twinges of nervousness. Stephanie helped us look those qualms in the face and reassured us that what we were experiencing was really not out of the ordinary. Just knowing that helped us to feel more comfortable right away.

Similarly, for most of us in our businesses, we need to reassure our customers or clients. They come to us with problems that they think are unique and make them veritable freaks of nature. Perhaps their books aren't up to date (and haven't been for some time). Maybe their marketing materials actually scare people away. It could even be that they have a website which actually embarrasses them. In any case, we have to calm and reassure them that, first, whatever the problem is, they aren't alone, and, second, that we can help.

So, what problems do your clients experience for which they need reassurance?

Sneaky Call

I got a call while I was out. It was from my bank, Chase. The young gentleman on my voicemail sounded like a respectable bank representative. The message went something like this:

"Hello, Mr Peters. This is Tim from Chase bank. I'm calling because we have a few questions about your account. Please call me at 123-4567."

Great. So what did I do now? Did I forget to make a deposit? Are we overdrawn? Did someone get hold of our checking information and drain our account of all it's funds?

As panic settled around my heart, I tried to dial the phone with one hand while the other was attempting to login to my online banking account. I hear the phone ringing in my ear as I'm fumbling with my password.

"Hello? Chase Bank. Bruce speaking."

"Is Tim there? He left a message on my voicemail."

"One moment..."

My password is entered and the screen goes blank in preparation to show me my account information.

"This is Tim speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hi, Tim. This is Greg Peters. I have a message on my voicemail that there was some sort of problem with my account?"

The screen pops up. Everything looks fine.

"Oh, no, Mr. Peters. There's no problem. I just wanted to take this opportunity to let you know about some great deals we're tunning right now on our home equity line of credit..."

Needless to say, I was relieved that there wasn't any real problem. Also needless to say, I was so irritated with this over-eager manipulative buffoon that I wouldn't have taken his line of credit if he had offered to pay me to do it.

I'm in sales training right now. I understand that sometimes you have to do something a little extra to get past the electronic gatekeepers.

But there are lines you shouldn't cross.

If the salesperson is attempting to start out our relationship with duplicity he is doing both of us a disservice. Even if I desperately need what he's selling, I won't even consider it. If we've already got an existing relationship, he's gone a long way toward damaging it irreparably. I don't think I'm quite ready to pull my funds out of Chase just yet, but it certainly wouldn't take much to push me over that edge.

So, what do you think? Am I overreacting?