Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

It’s Knowing How That Counts

by

This week’s Monday Morning Message from Wm. H. Danforth, founder of Ralston Purina:
What is the Monday Morning Message?

“Give some men a thousand years in the very center of the most fertile valley in all America and they would come out of this garden spot with a handful of worthless weeds and a spray of poison ivy.”
—The Silent Partner.

Many men buy expensive fishing tackle and appetizing bait, but they catch few fish. Many men carry much ammunition, but they get no birds. A salesman can go into a territory rich in possibilities and get little tonnage.

You may have ambition to win. You may have resources and boundless energy. But you fail because you are lacking in the “Know How.”

If you have some specific problem that you must solve this week, write it down on a blank sheet of paper. Then opposite it write down every possible “Know How” that will hasten its solution. Then set yourself the task of mastering each “Know How.”

Do you have the skills you need to reach your goals? Perhaps you could solve your problems and become more successful if you had better computer skills or you were a more effective public speaker or your writing was stronger.

Identify the skills you need, then make a plan to acquire them.

Scare Yourself

by

Eleanor Roosevelt offered the advice that you should, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Good advice generally, but especially when it comes to marketing your products and services.

Marketing scares a lot of people. It is scary to pick up the phone and call someone, or approach them and ask for an order. What if they say no? Well, what if they say YES? You won’t know until you ask.

Or maybe you’re afraid to speak in public, attend a networking function, invest in advertising, write an article for your professional association newsletter, volunteer for a committee, or send a press release. Whatever scares you, promise yourself that you will try it if it is something that will benefit you and your business.

If you’re still thinking about starting a business, but scared to take that first step, take it now. Sign up for a class at your local Small Business Development Center, register the name of your business and get cards made, put up a website…whatever it takes to get started.

Then, keep scaring yourself. Take the chances that will lead to success. And let me know about it. Tell me how you took my challenge to scare yourself, and what you accomplished as a result.

Success Without Goal Setting

by

Ditch goals and get the life you want today by living in the now. A guest post by Madisen Harper

Each year millions of people fail to achieve their dreams. 97 per cent abandon their commitment towards self improvement within 30 days of their New Year’s resolutions and Harvard Business School say goals get in the way of success. All in all it leaves people discouraged, frustrated, unmotivated and feeling like failures.

Why do people continue to set themselves up for disappointment year after year?  [Read more…]

Does Success Mean You Can Slow Down?

by

carrie-fisherI love reading quotations. Some of them are funny, some are motivational, some share a little bit of wisdom. There is one I found recently that I really liked from, believe it or not, actress Carrie Fisher. (Yes, Princess Leia.)

Carrie said,

“There is no point at which you can say, ‘Well, I’m successful now. I might as well take a nap.'”

Lots of people think that if they can become successful they can simply sit around doing nothing after that. Well, it usually doesn’t work that way. Success may give you more freedom, but it often comes with more responsibility, too.

This quotation points out again how important it is to have work you love, work for which you have a passion. Are you doing what you love? If not, are you taking steps to create a business or career you can love? It is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

How To Remember People

by

shake-handsPart of being successful is being likable. And part of being likable is making other people feel important. One way to do that is by remembering who they are and, even better, some details about them that they shared with you. In an nutshell, remembering names and people everywhere you go has a big effect on your success.

Here are five simple ways to remember names:

  1. Whenever you hear a name, repeat it once—that helps fix it in your memory. Repeating the name also can confirm that you heard it correctly and that you have the correct pronunciation.
  2. Use it two or three times in speaking to the person you were introduced to. People love hearing the sound of their own name, and using their name in conversation will make them feel valued.
  3. Whenever you use the name, make a mental picture of the person, which further helps etch the name in your memory. Think of it as taking a mental snapshot of the person, and associate that image with the name.
  4. Write down all the new names you have come in contact with during the day. Make note of the way they were dressed and the conversation you had. Visualize again what the person looked like. If you received business cards from the people you met, write the date and where you met on the card, along with any other notes of what you learned about them.
  5. Review your list of names or the business cards you collected later, and recall the faces that go with the names. The better you are at visualizing the people you met, the easier it will be to connect a name to a face the next time you meet.

Try this “art of remembering” for one month. Use it for names. Use it for remembering things you want to learn. And you’ll find all names and all things simple and easy to remember.