Posted by:
Michael Masterson
August 11, 2008
Issue #478
We all have dreams. We all carry movies in our minds about how life could be for us in a better world. Sally dreams of a big house with a built-in pool. Harry dreams of an eight-car garage filled with vintage Porsches. Jill fantasizes about painting pictures at the seashore. Jack wants that corner office with the view.
Chances are, Sally and Harry and Jill and Jack will never get what they dream about. They will go on playing those mental movies for themselves or talking about them to friends and family members.
Failing to live your dreams is not necessarily a bad thing. Lots of people are perfectly happy dreaming of one life but living another. The problem arises when the gap between fantasy and reality results in unhappiness or even depression. When this happens, it’s time to master plan a new life. And the first step is to establish goals.
Goals are different from dreams in four ways. They are specific, actionable, time-oriented, and realistic.
Specific: Being rich is a dream. Developing a $4 million net worth is a goal.
Actionable: Winning the lottery is a dream. Winning a foot race is a goal.
Time-Oriented: Developing a $4 million net worth is a goal. But developing a $4 million net worth in five years is a better goal.
Realistic: Developing a $4 million net worth in five years is probably reasonable. Developing a $4 million net worth in four months is not.
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Posted by:
Michael Masterson
February 7, 2008
Issue #349
He had an oversized mustache, a beard, and a substantial pot belly. He was wearing Gucci loafers, Armani jeans, a red Izod shirt, and a big, red turban tied Sikh style. His name was Betu. K had spent some time in his shop the day before and told me I had to meet him.
When K meets and likes a man I don’t know, the reptilian portion of my brain retracts in fear. "Who is this Mr. Adorable?" I want to know. "And what is he doing charming the wife of another man?"
In his defense, Betu was a rug merchant. And his job is to persuade people to buy from him.
Using charm to sell your product is legal. And, in fact, it’s been a defining characteristic of the Indian merchants we’ve encountered. We’ve found them to be enthusiastic salespeople, though their techniques are subtler and less forceful than, say, merchants in Istanbul. When you buy a rug in Istanbul, you feel like you’ve been beaten up a little. When you buy a rug in India, you feel like you’ve had some good, playful fun.
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Posted by:
Michael Masterson
October 11, 2007
Issue #252
"For us, our most important stakeholder
is not our stockholders, it is our customers.
We’re in business to serve the needs and desires
of our core customer base."
– John Mackey
When you think about growing your business, you probably think about acquiring new customers. That is usually the right strategy. But you can also increase sales by persuading your existing customers to spend more money with you. One way to do that is with "back-end" sales – selling your customers more specific, and usually higher-priced, versions of the first product they bought. Another way is with "ancillary" sales – selling them similar and similarly priced but different products.
At a recent marketing seminar sponsored by my largest client, SW, the CEO of a European division, gave a great presentation about ancillary sales. She explained that her division went from $5 million to $22 million in five years, based on a policy of launching about twice as many information products as they were accustomed to launching.
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Posted by:
Michael Masterson
September 13, 2007
Issue #229
“Wealth is not without its advantages
and the case to the contrary,
although it has often been made,
has never proved widely persuasive.”
– John Kenneth Galbraith
If you aren’t yet a millionaire, this message is for you.
My fourth book with John Wiley & Sons is currently on the bookshelves. The title: Seven Years to Seven Figures: The Fast Track Plan to Becoming a Millionaire.
The title makes an audacious promise. I’m sure more than one critic will write it off as irresponsible. “The ordinary person can’t become a millionaire in seven years,” they’ll say. “It’s wrong to give people false hope.”
When the title was first suggested, I had the same thought. “Yes, this idea could get people motivated. But is it realistic?”
I thought about that question for some time, and concluded that I wouldn’t make any promises in the book that I couldn’t keep. My big promise - a seven-figure net worth in seven years or less - seemed a likely candidate for the chopping block. But when I mentioned my concern to my writing assistant, she asked, “How long did it take for you to make your first million?”
I thought about it and realized that it took me about two years to become a millionaire after I’d made up my mind to do it. What’s more, I realized that most of the people I’d mentored had also done it in less than seven years. For example:
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Posted by:
Michael Masterson
July 26, 2007
Issue #187
If you think simplifying your life will mean making less money, enjoying less success, maybe even being less effective as a businessperson, think again.
Simplifying your life is about having more – not less – of the good things. More productivity. More passion. More meaning, love, friendship, serenity, etc.
You can have more of those things simply by having less of the bad things – unproductive work, unsatisfying rituals, self-destructive habits, energy-draining acquaintances, battles, bad feelings, and fatigue.
You can have a fuller and simpler life … and enjoy it more too. As I try out and succeed with techniques to help do that, I’ll pass them on to you.
Today, I’d like to talk about one way to simplify your life at work. If you follow my suggestions, you’ll not only achieve more productivity but also gain more serenity by avoiding emotionally costly conflicts.
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