So, typically I do the advising but today I come to you, my loyal readers and summon thy advice

From the lack of posting you’re obviously aware that I’m 1 cheese slice away from pulling my left eye brow out during our latest launch - boy has it been a TON of work and I’m not even near done yet. Once again, it seems it will be down to the wire…

Here’s the thing though, for the first time in a long time, “I’m a nervous wreck.” Hear me out…this is easily my fifth or sixth major product launch. Of all the product launches I’ve ever done, the response from our readers has been about 10 times more positive and radiating on this one than ever before.

All sounds good, right?

Then, why the heck do I have knots in my stomach?

My only wish is that we had a few more promotional partners banging away at this with us - the response has been so incredible that the launch could have been even bigger.

I guess my fear is that we don’t have enough MASS attention to make it a home-run, but that the ones that are observing our pre-launch are going to definitely buy. My god, I sound like a 16 year old girl before her PROM dating wondering if she looks pretty or not…(I’m not used to this feeling, I don’t like it).

My question to you:

When you get nervous or feel a bit trapped - what do you do to snap out of it?

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Hey Everyone, so sorry I have not written, the good thing is that I’ll have TONS to write about probably starting next Wednesday. I’ll try to get a few posts in this weekend as well - just have been SLAMMED : /

Need that vacation soon!

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“Could I hire this person?”

This is a bit funny but my brain has started to become over-run by this question! No matter who I meet, where I meet them or what time, I feel like I am constantly interviewing everyone and always on the look-out for talent.

An adviser had once told me: “Everyone you meet from now on is a potential hire…think about that.”

For the longest time that sentiment made no sense to me and I shrugged it off. It was not until recent that I have really started to value it. Adding to your team is the vital core blood of your business.

The only way you’ll find talent is to look for it, ask for it and keep an eye open for it. So, think of it this way, from now on, anyone you meet - the first meeting is the first interview. Learn about them and put them into buckets…

1. Hire this person
2. Connect with this person’s network…
3. Run from him/her like the plague…

etc…etc…

So lesson for the day? Everyone you meet from now on is a first interview… 

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This is not only my question to you but maybe a statement you’ve caught yourself making once or twice? As you know I recently “revealed” that I’m in the middle of a major product launch (we typically only do 1 of these a year, but this year, it looks like maybe 4-5 of which this is the second already).

Anyways, without fault, with these launches comes TONS of stress, pressure and “trying times.” Now, before I continue, let me tell you something about myself…

I’m a ridiculously resilient and persistent person and it takes a LOT to get me to throw the towel in (I’ve honestly maybe thrown in the towel once or twice in my entire life). However, at the same time, I bottle and bottle till I suffer a nuclear melt-down.

So, I typically hold things in and try to handle everything myself until at some point, I simply “lose my patience.” At this point, in the past, I (like many others) would typically begin making harsh, rash and stupid costly decisions.

But, in the last year or so, I’ve grown quite a bit as a leader, person, businessman, CEO, etc…

I still have a very large “buffer” of what I can absorb and I typically still let it all pile up till I hit a point of being overwhelmed. BUT, it’s what I do at the point of being overwhelmed that has seriously changed.

What Do You Do When You’re At The Point of Breaking?

My new rule is to SEPARATE from the situation immediately. I don’t care how urgent things are - if I’m coming close to melt-down, the computer is shut down and I am off to do something to get my mind off whatever it is.

I make a strict policy to NOT make any decisions or call anyone or contact anyone.

Why? Because I’m typically very irritable and upset - I have a tendency to yell, get nasty and pass my negativity onto my team.

This past Friday I sensed myself coming to the point of melt-down (a small one, nothing major) - I pulled back immediately and tonight (Sunday night), I’m feeling better and making rational decisions again.

(( INSIDER PEEK - Why did I hit that?  Mostly just the stress of work-load and a few people who I just was not getting through to and feeling a bit flustered as to what to do about it. I separated mysef from thsse people and today I now have a plan of action regarding how to proceed - one that may be dramatic or drastic, but necessary and well-thought out. ))

My lesson of the day? Don’t make decisions when you’re “losing your patience” - separate and wait for that feeling to go away. Immediately evaluate what made you feel that way and do what you can to resolve it so that feeling does not come back (yes, even if that means releasing someone from your team - it’s a rough world).

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Many of you may have noticed that I’ve missed a day or two of blogging - I apologize, I know how MysteryCEO.com has become a drug of sorts for you

Well, our company is in the dead middle of a big product launch and I have literally been working around the clock (loving every minute of it - but sleepy at the same time). There is ONE thing I can’t get over, I’ve done quiet a few of these launches and have always promised myself one thing:

Next time, before we even announce the launch date, we’ll make sure EVERYTHING is done - all sales material, product, testing, etc…

What I can’t understand is why I NEVER follow through with that? It seems NOTHING gets done until a firm date is SET. But at the same time, nothing is done at the time the firm date is set (well, not “nothing” - but you know what I mean).

So, in other words - to motivate yourself TO get things done, deadlines become necessary…

Anyways - what’s your opinion on that?  Do you work better with deadlines?

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I had to talk about this today because a statement that a friend/adviser/mentor had made to me once came screaming back in force and punched me in the face as I listened to a friend talk about a business partnership he’s currently in.

Here’s the advice I had received long back:

“The minute one partner starts to think he/she is doing more than the other, that’s the very moment that you better either address it right away and resolve it or walk away from the partnership - nothing good comes after that first feeling unless it’s resolved…”

I know, a bit of a long statement and I paraphrased because I don’t remember the exact quote. But boy is this true!

I, myself had experience with this last year and my partner was courteous and “ballsy” enough to catch this himself and come to me and ask to leave the partnership. He was very fair about it  and actually made it very equitable for me so I could not really argue or get mad.

But, he saved the both of us MONTHS of pain and trouble.

Today, this was the same advice I gave my friend - either resolve it immediately or find a way to walk, we go into business to IMPROVE our lives, not make them worse… 

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This is what’s on my mind today…

I’ve been evaluating the “sales process” inside my head and thinking about what has worked best in the past. One of the recurring themes I picked out was that any time I have “let things play” out and simply rely on my charm - the sale has happened.

At the same time, when we’ve been in “crunch mode” it always seems that the sales take longer and even if they happen - they feel very pushed and lead to more dissatisfaction for both parties in the end (versus building a strong relationship first).

What led me to this thought was this last weekend. I spoke at a seminar hosted by arguably the largest company in our industry. It was an honor enough to just be invited, however it seems to be turning into much more than that.

I was such a hit at the event that their CEO has already struck multiple follow-up conversations with me including a potential Joint Venture. See, I’ve been wanting to find an “in” with them for over 3 years, but frankly always avoided it because NO ONE in our industry (yes, NO ONE) has had any luck - even names that are much bigger than mine.

Some how, all of a sudden, the tables have turned in the sense that “I” feel as if the sale is coming from the other side (which is a great position to be in). You see what happened here was that I presented my value before anything. I made them realize that there was money in working with me and my company before EVER making them feel like “I was trying to get the best of them…”

The best salesman is always the one that lets the customer feel as if it was their own decision to buy the process, when in reality, he/she held their hand and led them right to the decision. By mistake (not purposely), I think I may have done the same thing here…

All in all, try changing your mindset from “selling” to “relationship building” - show value first, let them see what life could be like with you and/or your product then slightly pull it away. The sale seems to get much easier that way…

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I spoke on Saturday to a crowd of about 400 and although I’m very used to public speaking, I have to say that this is the largest group I have ever spoken in-front of. I’m never really nervous about it any more, but it still can get you if you think too much about it.

Speaking in-front of 400 people or 40,000 people for that matter is the exact same really as speaking in front of 10 - it’s all in your mind if there is any difference at all.

If you want to speak well in front of a crowd, here are 3 tips I highly advise…

1. Humor - If you’re not a fun or charismatic person, you’ve got a lot of work to do before you can get on stage (or just don’t get on stage). If you can’t get the crowd into your conversation and responding, they’re lost. I don’t care HOW technically amazing your talk is - people are people and you need to FIGHT for their attention.

2. As for Audience Feedback - I always ask questions where I say “Raise your hand if you agree?” - sometimes people don’t raise their hands, they think it’s a rhetorical question - well I stop and repeat myself until they do.

3. MOVE AROUND - I like to be on stage, left side, then right side - then sometimes come OFF the stage. The more you can force the audience to follow you around, the more they are tuned in.

If you stand still, talk in a plain boring monotone voice - kiss your presentation good bye. I don’t care if you’re presenting a way for humans to fly, you’re not going to have the crowd (ok, maybe then you would…)

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Today’s post is really short because quite honestly, I’m tired and want a break - actually, I’m in LA at a conference and need to fly home today (not looking forward to the red eye flight).

Something I have learned from reading Dale Carnegie that really stuck with me is to get RID of the word “…but…”

See, Dale teaches you NOT to criticize someone (whether it be spouse, child or team member) - never criticize, only compliment. If there is something you need someone to change, you always lead in with something good and THEN say what you want them to improve on, it makes a major impact.

Example/

“Jim, your reports are amazing, the graphs and charts are well done and very helpful, but, can I please get them on time from now on?”

WRONG - saying it that way, you just NEGATED your compliment totally…

Try this..

“Jim, your reports are amazing, the graphs and charts are well done and very helpful, could I have next week’s report on Tuesday, it’ll give me that much more time to get the full effect of your hard work…”

BOO YA! Try that, I’ve already been doing it - works like a charm.

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A few days ago, the news came out that an airline (ATA) had just randomly one morning woken up and canceled all their flights, released all their employees and pretty much vanished from existence.

Let’s make a list of all the people the CEO screwed over because he was too much of a “wussey” to step and do this the right way…

1. Left THOUSANDS of passengers stranded.
2. All the people who were expecting those passengers (whether for a birthday party or a critical business meeting - thanks ATA).
3. Their OWN employees - no notice, no income - nothing.
4. Their partners - Southwest is a route sharing partner and had no idea, they were left blind-sided and had to scramble to cover the slack.
5. Airport officials - Can you imagine what the stranded passengers did to these people?
…the list goes on.

I know that I’m probably making it sound easier than it is, but I don’t care if you lose your pants (literally) - for a company this big, you see it coming. A fear of investors and your “reputation” can NEVER lead you to “screw over” those very people who are loyal to you and depend on you.

I want to apologize for my tone here, but I’m fuming upset since I read this…how can anyone be so irresponsible and selfish?

Some of the employees didn’t even find out from their bosses, they heard it on the NEWS or from a family friend who heard it on the news.

Well, This DID Present An Opportunity For Southwest…

As tough as this was on Southwest, it presented a serious opportunity for the airline. Southwest scrambled last minute and did everything they could to pick up the slack of their ex-partner. You think those stranded passengers may fly Southwest next time? You bet your 2 cheeks they will.

Hats off to you Southwest - stepping up to solve a problem that truly isn’t even yours, it’s admirable and it’s how a customer should be treated.

ATA - I never flew you, I never cared and never knew what you were and now I’m da** glad of it. Going out of business is fine, it happens - doing it overnight and flicking off everyone around you is just jaw-dropping. 

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