The power of positive expectancy
Ok, the jury is in.
It’s official.
I cannot STAND whiners and complainers.
One of the major influencers for me to spend more (or less) time with someone is to the extent that person exhibits a negative or defeatist attitude .. or if they practice the power of positive expectancy.
It’s incredible how many people expect or assume that things won’t go their way .. and then they’re disappointed and surprised when they turn out to be right.
This is the mentality of victims and losers, and something that has no place in my world.
It’s something that I’ve never tolerated since I had a very powerful “a-ha!” about a decade ago. Truth be told, part of the breakthrough I had was the realization that I was one of the best whiners and complainers the world had seen.
It was one of those things that I had never been conscious of, until I was reading a magazine that spoke about negative attitude, and suggested that you keep track of how many negative thoughts you had about other people, things and situations.
I did this for a few days, and was shocked at what I found.
When I spent a few days actually being conscious of when I thought something negative, or said something negative, or was expecting something negative to happen, I was astonished. I was doing it dozens of times a day, and had never been aware of it.
This was part of my journey, and doing this simple exercise helped me become aware of it.
Around that same time, I read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. If you’ve read the book already, you know that the underlying “secret” of the book is that what you focus your thoughts and attention on is what you create and expand in your life.
These 2 things came together for me, and instantly caused me to become much more aware of when I was being negative. What it also did was made me realize how many people I spent time with that were constantly negative, judgmental, and chose to be victims instead of in control of their lives.
How to find a money making niche
If your business isn’t making the money you expect, it’s a good chance that you haven’t quite hit on a money-making niche. You’ve probably identified a targeted group of potential customers but you may not have identified a targeted group of customers who aren’t spending money for what you’re offering.
Today, I’m going to give you a practical primer on finding a market niche. You’re going to read some of the items on this list and think that they won’t work or apply to you, but don't be so quick to dismiss them. These tips apply to everyone, in every industry. That said...
Everyone is not your ideal customer
It’s counterintuitive to think that by focusing on a smaller market you will actually make more money, but it’s true. Real money is found in targeting and identifying a market niche found inside the intersection of wants, trends and frustrations. The biggest mistake most business owners make is stopping their search for a niche too soon.
After you’ve selected a particular demographic, look at what they want. Wants are emotional desires. Wants are the reason behind the product. They go far beyond the basic benefits. For example, women who have recently gotten divorced want to feel whole again. They may be attracted to a variety of different products such as weight loss or coaching. They aren’t really buying the product; they are buying how they want to feel.
Trends are another important aspect of finding a niche. You’re looking for ideas, behaviors and products that are trending up and growing in popularity. Mobile devices are a trend. Social media is a trend. Reality TV is a trend. If you’re at a loss, just head out to a neighborhood sporting event and watch kids and families interact. What are they talking about, what products are they using? Again, don’t differentiate between B2B and consumer because these lines are fairly blurred these days.
Finally we head to the most powerful buying trigger: frustration. Frustration is a function of the frequency, intensity and duration of a circumstance or event that just irritates your customer to the point of distraction.
To put these into perspective take out a piece of paper. On the top put a picture of a person that represents your target market. Draw three intersecting circles and label them wants, trends and frustrations. Then inside each circle draw icons that represent each of those elements for your audience. This will activate your brain to think differently and connect with that audience.
Use a marketer’s mindset
The first thing you will have to do is stop looking at your product or service like a consumer, and start looking at it as a marketer. Consumers get snared and engrossed by the message and don’t see beyond the purchase. Marketers are focused on understanding customers’ needs, wants and deeper desires and then delivering on those in the form of an offer. Focus on your ideal client and explore how your product or service will help them achieve those deep desires and wants. Don’t snicker. If your product is technical or industrial, remember that B2B customers are people too. Explore what your project means to them, will it help them get a promotion, be a hero, invent or develop something new? Think bigger and beyond the tangible.
Follow the money
It’s standard marketing practice to look for an empty space and fill it. But this isn’t always appropriate for every product or service. Notice car dealerships, retailers and even food trucks are most successful when they go to a place where there are lots of people already spending money. At that point, they don’t have to find an audience; they only have to stand out and attract those people who are most attracted to their offer.
Another terrific guerrilla strategy for following the money is to find everyone in that space and do an analysis of how successful they are, who they are attracting and how they are succeeding at attracting people who spend money. Notice the advertising, the headlines and the offers. Critically examine their marketing messages and the customers that are attracted to them. What is it about those messages that pull customers in?
Explore and implement a money-making model
Running your business in reactive mode eats into your profit margins. Simply making, selling and delivering a product or service isn’t enough to keep your head above water. You need to create a money-making model that attracts and moves the most profitable customers through your pipeline. Online marketers have really perfected money-making models. They’ve carefully crafted landing pages that attract specific markets, they give tons of free educational information and they’ve turned the upsell into an art. Make the time to explore and evaluate online marketing offers and then adapt those practices to your business.
Look around you
Notice that there is a persistent conversation about how bad the economy is and how there are no opportunities out there. Then acknowledge the conversation, and start looking around at the businesses that are successful. There are many, many businesses out there that are outrageously successful. If they are successful and making money, you have that opportunity as well. Take a critical marketer's look at your business and use these tips to further define your niche and develop a model that gives this audience exactly what they want and desire. You will not only build profitable sales, but you will also bring joy and satisfaction to your customers.
Today, I’m going to give you a practical primer on finding a market niche. You’re going to read some of the items on this list and think that they won’t work or apply to you, but don't be so quick to dismiss them. These tips apply to everyone, in every industry. That said...
Everyone is not your ideal customer
It’s counterintuitive to think that by focusing on a smaller market you will actually make more money, but it’s true. Real money is found in targeting and identifying a market niche found inside the intersection of wants, trends and frustrations. The biggest mistake most business owners make is stopping their search for a niche too soon.
After you’ve selected a particular demographic, look at what they want. Wants are emotional desires. Wants are the reason behind the product. They go far beyond the basic benefits. For example, women who have recently gotten divorced want to feel whole again. They may be attracted to a variety of different products such as weight loss or coaching. They aren’t really buying the product; they are buying how they want to feel.
Trends are another important aspect of finding a niche. You’re looking for ideas, behaviors and products that are trending up and growing in popularity. Mobile devices are a trend. Social media is a trend. Reality TV is a trend. If you’re at a loss, just head out to a neighborhood sporting event and watch kids and families interact. What are they talking about, what products are they using? Again, don’t differentiate between B2B and consumer because these lines are fairly blurred these days.
Finally we head to the most powerful buying trigger: frustration. Frustration is a function of the frequency, intensity and duration of a circumstance or event that just irritates your customer to the point of distraction.
To put these into perspective take out a piece of paper. On the top put a picture of a person that represents your target market. Draw three intersecting circles and label them wants, trends and frustrations. Then inside each circle draw icons that represent each of those elements for your audience. This will activate your brain to think differently and connect with that audience.
Use a marketer’s mindset
The first thing you will have to do is stop looking at your product or service like a consumer, and start looking at it as a marketer. Consumers get snared and engrossed by the message and don’t see beyond the purchase. Marketers are focused on understanding customers’ needs, wants and deeper desires and then delivering on those in the form of an offer. Focus on your ideal client and explore how your product or service will help them achieve those deep desires and wants. Don’t snicker. If your product is technical or industrial, remember that B2B customers are people too. Explore what your project means to them, will it help them get a promotion, be a hero, invent or develop something new? Think bigger and beyond the tangible.
Follow the money
It’s standard marketing practice to look for an empty space and fill it. But this isn’t always appropriate for every product or service. Notice car dealerships, retailers and even food trucks are most successful when they go to a place where there are lots of people already spending money. At that point, they don’t have to find an audience; they only have to stand out and attract those people who are most attracted to their offer.
Another terrific guerrilla strategy for following the money is to find everyone in that space and do an analysis of how successful they are, who they are attracting and how they are succeeding at attracting people who spend money. Notice the advertising, the headlines and the offers. Critically examine their marketing messages and the customers that are attracted to them. What is it about those messages that pull customers in?
Explore and implement a money-making model
Running your business in reactive mode eats into your profit margins. Simply making, selling and delivering a product or service isn’t enough to keep your head above water. You need to create a money-making model that attracts and moves the most profitable customers through your pipeline. Online marketers have really perfected money-making models. They’ve carefully crafted landing pages that attract specific markets, they give tons of free educational information and they’ve turned the upsell into an art. Make the time to explore and evaluate online marketing offers and then adapt those practices to your business.
Look around you
Notice that there is a persistent conversation about how bad the economy is and how there are no opportunities out there. Then acknowledge the conversation, and start looking around at the businesses that are successful. There are many, many businesses out there that are outrageously successful. If they are successful and making money, you have that opportunity as well. Take a critical marketer's look at your business and use these tips to further define your niche and develop a model that gives this audience exactly what they want and desire. You will not only build profitable sales, but you will also bring joy and satisfaction to your customers.
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