I have Been a big fan and admirer of Brian Tracy since 1990 when I won a contest while in training at GTE and received "The Psychology of Selling"

I believe he has the best perspective of and prescription for SUCCESS
in many areas of life. Read these articles and let me know what YOU
think...

Brian
Tracy is the most listened to audio author on personal and
business success in the world today. His fast-moving talks and seminars on
leadership, sales, managerial effectiveness and business strategy are loaded
with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that people can immediately apply to
get better results in every area. For more information, please visit Brian on
the web at: www.briantracy.com.

3 Ways to Succeed In This Economy

By Brian Tracy

Excerpt From:  Sales Success

Are
you wondering what to do to attract clients and create a surge in
sales? Are you frustrated by getting minimal response to your
advertising or online promotions? Are you asking yourself,




"How can I avoid having my sales and profits dry up in this market?"




"Should I reduce spending on marketing to preserve cash?"




If you're like most business owners and marketers, you're doing
everything you know how to bring in more sales, and you're still not
realizing the profits you want. You've worked for years to grow your
business and now a financial meltdown that you had nothing to do with
is making it harder.



What can you do? You could bury your head in the sand and hope you've
still got a business in a few years. You could copy your competitors'
marketing, but their sales are hurting, too. Or you could ask yourself,




"Is there a way I can actually grow my business in this economy?"




Yes, there are easy and inexpensive ways to increase your profits.




Start with these 3 steps:




1. Change Your Marketing Strategy

When we get the rare
cold spell here in San Diego, I change the clothing I wear. I put on a
sweater or even a jacket. The same is true for your marketing strategy;
when the economic climate changes, you need to respond.




In good times you can get away with fairly ineffective
marketing, and the rising tide will float your boat along with
everybody else's. In an economic downturn, you can't afford to be
haphazard about your marketing. You'll pay the price in reduced sales.
Spending money on ads or mailings that barely generate sales isn't
affordable anymore.



2. Focus Your Efforts

While fusion food is popular here in San Diego, we don't have a single
restaurant that is a combination of French, Italian, Mexican and
Chinese cuisines. Can you imagine a pasta dish with jalapeno cream
sauce and a ginger root topping? It'd taste terrible. That's not a
time-tested combination of flavors; it's a mess in the kitchen.



Unfortunately, most small business marketing isn't much more than a
mess in the kitchen, a collection of sales and marketing activities
that don't work together. Many businesses don't grow as fast as they
could because they don't have an optimized marketing strategy or a
system for implementing it.




3. Use Cost Effective Marketing Strategies

Let me tell
you a secret. Some of the most effective marketing and selling tools
are inexpensive or even free. Most people don't use them, so when you
do, you can easily beat the competition. 92% of businesses overspend on
marketing. They're wasting money on marketing that isn't getting
results.



You may be doing all the right marketing activities, but without an
effective marketing system, you could be struggling for a long,
unprofitable time.

Listening Wins Sales

By Brian Tracy

Excerpt From:  Entrepreneurial Success

There
are books, articles and multi-day courses on listening. There are
audio/video-learning programs that include hours of instruction and a
variety of exercises. They are all valuable and helpful, but what they
teach can be distilled down into a key skill. Your mastery of these
skills, through discipline and practice, is all you need to become an
excellent listener, with all that that entails.




Listen Attentively When Others Speak

The best listening
skill is to listen attentively. Lean forward; face the prospect
directly rather than at an angle. Focus your attention on the prospects
face, on his or her mouth and eyes.




Hang On Every Word

Listen without interruption. Listen as
though you were hanging on every word the prospect was saying. Listen
as if the prospects were about to give you the winning lottery number
and you would only hear it once. Listen as if this were a million
dollar prospect who was just on the verge of giving you a major order.
Listen as if there were no one else in the world to whom you would
rather listen at this moment than this prospect, and to what this
prospect is saying.




The Most Important Skill of All

The ability to pay close,
uninterrupted attention to a person when he is speaking is the primary
listening skill. It is the hardest facility to develop and is
simultaneously the most important of all. It requires continuous
practice and discipline. And it's not easy. It is hard to keep your
thoughts from wandering, but the payoff is tremendous.




Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.




First, imagine that your customer is the most fascinating
person in the world. Hang on every word as if he was about to place a
million dollar order.




Lastly, lean forward when your customer speaks. Nod, smile,
agree and be both active and involved. Listening builds sales
relationships.