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Over the years I have assisted hundreds of budding entrepreneurs in getting started in their businesses. Our Business Development course included everything one needed to know to establish a business. We began by assessing the individual to determine whether they were open to learning, what skills they had to bring to the business table, what their attitude towards business was, and whether their lifestyle was conducive to the hard work of opening a business. We worked with them to develop a business plan, supported them as they learned to get their business off the ground, and even worked with them to obtain business loans from the bank. We know that many people start a business without such support. Our studies showed that only 35% of those who started a business were no longer in business five years later. We found that our business support and coaching catapulted new business owners to an 85% success rate after five years. This percentage increase is not unusual as others who provided business training and coaching had the same result. Many of the businesses we worked with started as “Mom and Pop” operations and others were solopreneurs. The age range included hose in their twenties to those in their fifties. The gender was a mix of male and female, and the geographic location was both rural and city. Almost all of these new business owners wanted to establish a ‘bricks and mortar’ business, hire employees, and contribute to their communities. They were budding entrepreneurs in the traditional sense. Here Comes the New Kid I tell this short story because traditionally that is generally how people viewed business development. A business meant a local grocery, furniture, or bookstore. It meant some form of industry where products were made, marketed, and sold. It meant a place where people went to purchase goods and services. Then something happened. It was the development of the internet. A new breed of entrepreneurs began to emerge. Don’t get me wrong here. “Bricks and mortar” types of businesses are here to stay, but they too are undergoing a transformational change and have an internet outreach. Many are hybrids where they serve both local customers and have outreached their products and services beyond their boarders. Then there are companies that have understood the changing nature of the buying public and developed a massive internet presence like Amazon, eBay, Apple, and many others. Unfortunately, many large retail businesses didn’t adjust fast enough to meet the new emerging internet buyer phenomenon and have since closed their doors. Now we are seeing a new kid on the block, the virtual solopreneur. Virtual solopreneurs don’t want a ‘bricks and mortar’ business they want an ‘internet marketing’ business where their community of customers come from communities scattered throughout the world rather than from their local marketplace. They operate from their laptop. They are affiliates of Amazon, software companies and businesses that have a strong internet presence. They write eBooks, training programs, and develop apps and software that make it easier for people to make “money-on-line.” They work primarily alone but the successful ones’ have a strong network of mentors and colleagues from around the world. Many have administrative support, some from their own family, others hail from other countries and are connected virtually with the solopreneur. The past five years has seen an increase in the number of solopreneurs. The picture presented is like the “phoenix arising from the ashes.” People are adjusting to a new reality. Their place of work has changed dramatically and many no longer have jobs because their workplace went bankrupt or closed for other reasons. And in the past year they have been laid-off because of COVID-19 and have had time to think about their life and the virtual opportunities available to them. Another reason why people are moving towards virtual solopreneurship relates to the workplace itself. To be sure there are those who claim that they do not fit within a structured work environment but increasingly there is an unsettling number emerging. They are those who have relationship difficulties with their boss or manager-minder. Many businesses are struggling with how to lead and manage their workforce. Owners and managers continue to work within a command-and-control style rather than with the flexibility and employee engagement needed for today’s work environment. Most employees are rebelling against this by ‘striking out on their own’ and turning to the freedom that Internet Marketing offers. But we are noticing a troubling problem. We are learning that just like those who wanted to start a business in the past where 35% failed and 85% succeeded with support, we are now witnessing a high percentage failure rate among virtual solopreneurs. That rate varies from 90% to 98%. A shocking statistic. The reason for that statistic is that people who want to get into the internet marketing business think it is easy. The sad truth is that it is not easy. The top 2% so called ‘Gurus” in the internet marketing world have taken years to get to that level. The idea of starting an internet marketing business sounds sexy. It goes something like this: “I can work from home and make millions.” “I will be able to travel the world and provide financial freedom for me and my family.” “Just look at those who have made it, they are rich, and I’m going to become the same.” So, just like those who struck out on their own to establish a ‘brick and mortar’ business and so often didn’t succeed, the virtual solopreneurs of today are falling into the same trap. They plunge into the virtual world without preparation, knowledge of what they are doing, and the discipline necessary to succeed. They start but don’t follow through with any action plan; they lack time management skills and have no real sense of purpose or strategic understanding about where they are going. There was an old saying in our business, “It’s a simple business, but it isn’t easy.” This rings true for the virtual solopreneur. Unfortunately, they:
There is a neat Solopreneur package in our storefront that will give you more information about how to become a successful solopreneur. You can get a sense what it is all about by clicking the button below. Oh yes, don't forget to scroll down to the bottom of that page and get your free eBook on personal branding. Thank you for reading and remember your personal growth and development matters. As always: Take Care. Stay Safe. Be Your Best Self. Richard Richard Fontanie 
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Positive thinking combines attitude with action. People often describe another person as having a positive or negative attitude. What does that mean? It essentially means the way the person generally thinks and feels about people, events or things and those thoughts and feelings are reflected in their behaviour. The way the person describes or acts toward someone or something or the way the person stands or sits often reveals their attitude. For instance, some people see any kind of change as negative or a threat, whereas others see it as a challenge or an opportunity; or they always view others or situations from a negative point of view rather than from a positive one. They become “picky, picky” rather than taking a balanced view of the person or situation. Because of their negative approach they are toxic to be around and are an energy drain in the workplace – and that goes for the ‘boss’, manager or employee. From a personal growth and development perspective positive thinking is fundamentally about reviewing your thought processes and personal actions for areas that require improvement and for areas where you think, and act negatively and then turn around those negative thoughts and actions towards a more positive outcome. 11 Keys to Improving Positive Thinking 1. Have Confidence in Yourself and Your Products - One of the barriers to positive thinking is to lack confidence in yourself or your products. First, yourself – if you don’t believe in your business or the products you deliver, you will have a difficult time projecting a positive image to others about yourself or about your product. The key here is that you need to believe in yourself and your product. I have helped hundreds of people establish a business. Often when it came time to make the leap from depending on others for their success (read, feeling secure in their job) to depending on themselves as a business owner, they were afraid to make the leap of faith. And that is okay because without that belief in self they were not ready to go on their own. 2. Expect to Succeed – When others have high expectations of you, you will attempt to rise to the level of their expectations. The same is true if they have low expectations of you – you will drop to the level of their expectations. This is known as the Pygmalion Effect and it has been tested time and time again. We can use the same approach within ourselves: If you expect to succeed and put in the effort you will succeed; and conversely if you don’t expect to succeed you may not – you may surprise yourself if you do succeed, but if you strongly feel that you will not succeed, you probably won’t. You have put a psychological barrier in front of you that will block you from moving forward in a positive way. The lesson here is to expect to succeed and reap the benefits of the Pygmalion Effect. 3. Have a Burning Ceremony - One of the exercises I introduced whenever I was dealing with a negative group of people was to have a burning ceremony. I had them list on a flip chart all the things that caused their negativity. I pointed out that all the things they identified were things of the past. I took all the flip chart papers and tore them in half indicating that they were things of yesterday, and yesterday is no longer here. I then took the group outside and put all the flipchart sheets in a bin and burned them. We then went back inside, and I said, “It was now time to move forward – to develop a new and better future. We cannot change the past we can wallow in it or we can accept it for what it is and move on. It was now time to take responsibility for your future.” This exercise was a welcomed catharsis for the group, and they were able to move on. To this day, I meet people who were members of those groups and they always reference that training event as the turning point in their team. You can follow this process as an individual. Just write down all the things that give you doubt and pain from the past and then burn the paper and move on. 4. Refocus on Possibilities – Now part of moving on is to write down all the things that you have achieved in the past and use these as steppingstones to strengthening your belief in yourself and building your confidence going forward. Then move onto number 5. 5. Visualize Your Future – Give yourself room to dream – without a dream you will not go far because a dream gives you reason to drive for success. Dreams leads to goals. And goals are the precursor to action. Don’t let your dream fade – set aside times to revisit it regularly. Draw a picture of what it will look like. Put it on a wall in front of you. State it in simple language… where do you see yourself professionally and personally in five years? See your business operating at peak performance. Describe what that looks and feels like? What do you need to do to achieve your dream? Identify your KSAVAs (Knowledge, skills, abilities, values, and attitudes) and set out the gaps you need to fulfill to achieve your dream. Then develop an action plan to reach your dream and close the KSAVA gaps. 6. Set SMART Goals and Action Plans – When setting goals don’t think about what is, think about what it looks like in the end. Don’t be confined by where you are at, your finances, your office space, whatever. Goals don’t define the present, they define the future. So don’t fall into the trap of ‘near sightedness’. Become a ‘far sighted’ goal setter. This is important because it allows you to focus on possibilities and achievements. 7. Beat Defeat - As you motor towards your future tuck in your brain that defeat is not an option. Detours yes. Defeat no. You can expect to make mistakes along the way, learn from them, correct them, move forward. You may also have unforeseen challenges both of a personal nature such as an illness or illness in your family, a downturn in the economy or a disaster caused by flooding, or whatever. View these as challenges and find solutions. Mistakes and challenges make you stronger and when you overcome them your confidence is strengthened. You may feel overwhelmed and frustrated at the beginning so take one step at a time. Find a way out of the difficult situation. This is all about becoming a self-leader and taking responsibility for your future. 8. Use Affirmations to Your Advantage - Stare defeat straight in the eye and if you are down or see things negatively use affirmations to turn your stinking thinking around. Sometimes people think that affirmations don’t work. I’m not one of them. I look to those successful people in sports, business and yes, in life. We have seen teams as they run onto the field shout out an affirmation such as, “Let’s go for the win,” or “We can do this.” They visualize the end goal and psych themselves up to achieve it. The same goes for individual sports. Before a run, or a skiing downhill race, individuals will visualize the run, and positively affirm themselves. Walk around a business and look at what is on its walls. Usually, you will see positive posters reinforcing strong customer service or motivational quotes. Why do they do this? Simply because affirmations work. They strengthen confidence, discipline, and resilience. 9. Turn Negatives into Positives – When your thought process begins to turn sour or you find yourself talking in a negative way it’s time to: a) eliminate negative words from your vocabulary, and b) refocus your energies on the positive aspects of the situation. Here are some turn around example: Defeat thought: “My plan not succeed," or "I will fail” Replacement thought: “My idea may not work the way I envisioned but I’m sure it will turn out equally as well, if not better.” Or “I may make mistakes along the way, but those I can correct and learn from.” Defeat thought: “There is so much out there, nobody will buy my product." Replacement thought: “My product may not not fit everyone's need but there are millions of people out there who will find that my product to their liking.” Defeat Thought: “Selling is not my thing. I’m just not good at it.” Replacement thought: “I'm going to take a course on selling and I will become the best salesperson on the block.” 10. Know the Difference Between Selling and Marketing - You may be good at marketing but not selling. Marketing is all about educating your potential customers about your product. Selling is closing the deal. The big thing about marketing and selling is to use all the avenues at your disposal to find customers, develop relationships with them, understand their needs, and ask for commitments to buy. Always remember, people buy for their reasons and not yours. So, when people are reluctant to buy ask yourself whether you have given sufficient information about your product, whether you have established a warm relationship and whether you understand their needs. 11. Avoid Negative People Who Are ‘Nay Sayers’ – When we are negative, we attract negative people; and, when we are positive, we attract positive people. Now ask yourself which group of people would you rather be with? Positive people help you grow and develop in a healthy way. Negative people reinforce your negative thoughts and feelings and drag you down. Sometimes it is hard to distance yourself from negative people; but if you want to grow and develop your business or change your lifestyle for the better then it becomes necessary to surround yourself with people who will help you build your business and support you in your changes. Please stay safe and remember your personal growth and development matter. Thank you for taking the time to read this article, Richard Fontanie Thank you for reading articles from the FontanieMagazine. You now know that the e-Zine focuses attention on five broad areas:
Business Growth – wherever it is; LeaderManager Development- become the executive you were meant to be; Workplace Culture – making better workplaces; Skills4Success – strengthening adult knowledge skills for life; and Health and Wellbeing – nurturing your whole self. Presently all the articles are free for personal and company use as long as you identify the source of the article. You know that writing original articles take time and several of my associates have suggested I charge a subscription rate for my efforts. I have chosen not to do so as this is my way of giving back to those who believe personal growth and development matter. So, how do I support the e-zine? Well, there is a STOREFRONT with a growing number of items that people can purchase; there is a paid membership site FORTIS MEMBERSHIP which concentrates on eight dimensions of health, wellbeing, and training (all e-books and video training I develop are free to members); and there is FACSi Academy which has over 150 courses and training manuals for purchase and finally I provide Executive Coaching to select clients. If you have an e-Zine or equivalent here are a dozen ways to promote it. 1. The ‘Give Away’ Method Inform your potential subscribers they will receive a free e-book for subscribing. You could also include your e-zine ad in the e-book and allow them to give the e-book away or offer resell or master resell rights. This method is posted on the FM Welcome page. 2. Give ‘Private Label Rights’ Method Inform your potential subscribers that they will get the private label rights to the articles if they subscribe. People will be able to read and use your content as they wish. There is a huge demand for private label content these days. Mine are already free for users with the proviso that they identify the source. With PLR the source is not identified and can be used as the person sees fit according to the terms provided. 3. Use ‘Content As They See Fit’ Method Inform your potential subscribers that they can reprint or republish the articles or content if they subscribe. People will be able to read and use content as they see fit. You could include your e-zine ad under each article they republish, or in my case I stipulate they note the source of the article. 4. The ‘Future Goals’ Method Inform your potential subscribers the goals they will achieve when they subscribe to your e-zine. You could inform them how your content will help solve their problems, improve their lifestyle, or resolve challenges they face. 5. Goal ‘Non-fulfillment’ Method Inform your potential subscribers what they may not be able to achieve if they don't subscribe to your e-zine. You could inform them how not reading your information or content could cause future problems, safe them from making mistakes, or make their life worse. 6. The ‘Prize Promotion’ Method Inform your potential subscribers they could win ‘prizes’ by subscribing to your e-zine. You could inform them that you will randomly select a subscriber every week to get one of your products for free. To make it interesting you could include an action they need to complete in order to receive the prize. 7. The ‘Cash Card’ Method Inform your potential subscribers they could win a ‘Cash Card’ prize of $50. by subscribing to your e-zine. You could inform them that you will randomly select a subscriber every week or every month for the ‘Cash Card’ prize. You can make this a time limited offer by saying for the month of February, for example, receive a randomly selected $50. Cash Card from Amazon. 8. The ‘Subscribe Forward’ Method Inform your current e-zine subscribers to forward your e-zine to their friends, family, or associates. If they like it, they'll end subscribing and forwarding it to their circle of acquaintances. It's a virtual answer to word-of-mouth marketing. 9. The ‘Monthly Circulation’ Method Inform those on your existing list that they will receive articles that they may have missed during the past month. In the e-mail letter identify the ‘Prize Method’, ‘Cash Card’ Method or one of the other methods. Also identify other related ‘Ads’ in your email. We send out monthly ‘ You May Have Missed Articles’ and at the bottom of the email we promote two or three further items. 10. The ‘Weekly Circulation’ Method Send a weekly FREE article to those on your existing list. This gets regular exposure to the e-zine. Highlight a special promotional item and include an ad of one of your other products or services. We have done this in the past. It is an article posted as an email. 11. The ‘Play-it-Forward Bonus’ Method Inform those who visit your e-zine site that if they forward the e-zine to a potential subscriber and if the person subscribes, both those that forwarded the e-zine and the new subscriber will receive a bonus such as an e-book or one of the methods described above. With this method you will need to ensure you are capturing the email address of the new subscriber and the person who forwarded the e-zine. 12. The ‘Engage Them’ Method Inform your potential and existing subscribers that you accept article submissions. You’ll get people who will subscribe just so they can submit articles and see them published. Make sure you inform them that you will identify them as the author and will give a link to their website. You will need to develop a policy around articles you will accept. By using the ‘Engage Them’ Method you can potentially get a steady stream of content without doing all the heavy lifting yourself. By the way, if you are requesting potential subscriber emails, we found that asking for their first name works best. Make sure you also include a confidentiality clause at the bottom of your opt-in page, something like, ‘we do not rent or distribute your emails to others.’ And if you are going to send them promotional material it is also advisable to include a sentence that goes something like this: ‘By entering your email you agree to receiving promotional material and information about our products on a timely basis.’ Thank you for reading, Richard P. Fontanie In the internet marketing world we have Rights, Rights and More Rights. These rights are often confusing to those just starting out. Even those who have been creating products for some time need to remind themselves about how each works.
PLR, MRR and RR all stand for exclusive licensing rights for products that you can resell. PLR means Private Label Rights. MRR means Master Resale Rights, and RR means Resale Rights. At first glance they appear quite similar but in reality they are quite different. If you do not know the difference and resell a product incorrectly you may find yourself in deep trouble with the product maker, or at least the maker’s lawyer. Let’s take a look at how each of the PLR, MRR and RR work. In Internet Marketing, PLR (Private Label Rights) is a term we often see, and it is used to describe products commonly used by marketers. It gives us the right to re-sell and usually comes with the right to re-label the product with our own brand. Simply put private label rights are special licenses that allow an author or creator to sell his work granting varying rights to the buyer from personal use only to unrestricted rights. With PLR we can do whatever we want with the product – re-design it into an eBook, develop special reports from it, rebrand software, or produce a podcast from articles. We just have to make sure we are operating within the limits of the acquired rights. We can find Private Label Rights content in products that include graphics, software, eBooks, articles, sales pages, videos, and audios. In short, these are products often used by internet marketers to generate profit by either maximizing the PLR product for their own use or profit from it by reselling it. Over time PLR has evolved from the simple to a sophisticated concept, adopting many different types of PLR rights. For example, you may earn the right to re-sell a product but you’re restricted from placing your name on it. Or you can earn from it with reselling rights. Since there are different variations to the various rights, we need to make sure we check the license first before purchasing a product. Then we need to follow the right term of conditions the producer provides so that we avoid major and serious consequences. Every PLR product and package comes with a list of rights and entitlements. 1. PLR – Private Label Rights This is the best type of product license since it provides us with the most freedom to change or modify the product. PLR license entitles us to ‘own’ the entire product and individual copyright. We can modify the product the way we like — from a bit of altering to major revamping— and we can sell it at a higher price or give it away as a freebie if we so choose. 2. MRR – Master Resell Rights With MRR we don’t own the copyright, but we own the ‘Master Rights’. This essentially means we can use or sell the product or sell the same rights to others but we are restricted from altering or modifying the product from its original form. One other important factor to remember about MRR is that we may or may not be allowed to use the product as our own private label ownership (copyright) in addition to the original copyright as indicated by that particular license. 3. RR – Resell Rights With RR we own the ‘Resell Rights’ but not the copyright. In this case we are not entitled to change or alter anything from its original form. Our freedom is restricted to using and selling the product as is. We cannot sell or transfer these rights to others. Other limitations may be laid out in the license so, read the license carefully. Conclusion It’s extremely important that we know the difference between PLR, MRR and RR when we buy a product. Knowing the differences between them allows us sell and market the product correctly. Keep in mind that there could be hundreds if not thousands of people using the same material that you are, depending on how many PLR rights to the unit are being sold. Consequently, because there are a many buyers, single units tend to be cheaper to purchase than having to create a new one from scratch. The bottom line is that PLR products can help your bottom line when you purchase them and maximize them to their full potential without breaking the limitations of the set of rights given you. Thank you for reading, Richard Fontanie. 11 Tips to Successfully Negotiating Online By Jeremy Cassell is reprinted with permission from Priority LearningLink.
Negotiating face-to-face may not be practical for many months to come, so how do you negotiate a variety of situations successfully? Here are some of my top tips to negotiate successfully online. First things first, though--let's agree on a definition of negotiation so that we all start off on the same footing. A negotiation is a discussion between two or more parties, which starts with a position of non-agreement. It is a process whereby interested parties resolve disputes, agree upon courses of action, bargain for individual or collective advantage, and/or attempt to craft outcomes which serve their mutual interests. The art of negotiation is a critical skill in business and will serve you well throughout your career. Whether this means getting better deals for your clients or negotiating a higher salary, negotiation is everywhere. Yet, many business people struggle with negotiation for a number of reasons: lack of confidence, lack of clarity about what they want, or simply they do not know the basics of negotiation. The good news is it can be taught. These are the qualities that make a great negotiator: They have identified what they want. They put themselves in the other parties' shoes. They will prepare a BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement). They identify an optimum position and a fallback position. They understand that you need to distinguish between positions versus interests. Interests are the drivers of all parties in a negotiation. They ask the right questions. They separate the person from the problem and avoid getting emotionally drawn in. Ultimately, they are prepared, have researched thoroughly, and considered the negotiation from all angles. As you can see, none of these qualities are ones you have to be born with. Anyone can learn to be an exceptional negotiator. With this in mind, here are my top tips for negotiating successfully online. Whether you are a seasoned negotiation pro or new to the art, this advice should help you transition to the new normal with confidence. 1. Use your camera, not just the audio It's tempting to keep the camera off, especially if you haven't had time to make your top half look businesslike. However, I encourage you to switch it on in order to facilitate a connection with the other parties. Turning on the camera gives you access to extra information: How is the other party presenting themselves on camera? Are they close to the lens or further away? Do they use hand gestures? These are things you can subtly copy to help build rapport. 2. Match their email's tone In real-life scenarios you might find yourself mirroring a speaker's body language to put them at ease. In the virtual world it's not always possible to negotiate over a call. So a virtual equivalent of the mirroring technique would be to match a person's email tone. Is their email long? Short? Informal? Formal? Resist your usual email template to copy theirs. 3. Avoid email when resolving conflict Having said how to set the tone of your emails, try to avoid email when resolving conflict. It's all too easy for tone to be misinterpreted. Arrange for a video conference call instead, as soon as is practicable. Don't fall in the trap of avoiding a difficult conversation. 4. Summarize frequently Attention spans are shorter in video calls. Many things can distract people during a negotiation--from email or Slack notifications popping up on screen to the lure of social media and home distractions. It's, therefore, a good idea to frequently summarize your discussion as it progresses to ensure that everyone is on the same page. 5. Lobby in advance Give yourself every chance of success by "pre-suading" and lobbying in advance. One great resource to draw inspiration from is Robert Cialdini's Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion, and his follow-up book Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade. Dubbed the godfather of influence, Cialdini offers practical advice that will help you master his six key principles of successful influencing, as well as how to persuade parties to come to an agreement before negotiations have even begun. 6. Favor shorter meetings A long drawn out negotiation is painful enough in real life, and quickly becomes unbearable online if it drags on for more than half an hour. Take this into consideration in your planning and encourage multiple short meetings over one mammoth one. This will work to your advantage. 7. Allocate more time to research and preparation Preparation is key to all negotiations, whether online or in-person. Here are a few things you can do to prepare for a negotiation: Gather knowledge about the case and the client. Decide agenda and objectives. Allocate roles if negotiating with a colleague. Speak to the client and find out the negotiation parameters and fallbacks. Consider leverage and BATNA. Identify interests--yours and theirs. Identify optimum and fallback for all parties of key priority negotiation points. Brainstorm; generate options. 8. Agree on the rules early on It's important to manage expectations from the start. Before the negotiations start, all parties should agree on the rules of engagement. Write them down and share them with all parties before subsequent meetings so they stay fresh in everyone's mind. 9. Make use of technology tools Negotiating online can be an advantage rather than a hindrance. Use your platform to further inform and engage everyone during the process. For example, use the breakout rooms for confidential discussions, or use polls to vote or gauge where everyone stands. 10. Keep a positive mindset Virtual or not, a positive mindset is key to a successful outcome. Work towards a win-win for all parties and be open to extending your own comfort zone. If you do not do this, others will exploit your comfort zone preference. 11. Use silence Finally, and most important, don't be afraid of silence. It's tempting to fill virtual calls with talk, but this puts you in a weaker negotiating position. Instead, listen actively, speak less, and let other parties fill the silences instead of jumping in. Bonus: Key questions to ask during a virtual negotiation Ask these questions: What would be a win for you as a result of our virtual conference call? What do we need to focus on, in order to get agreement? What are the reasons for adopting that position? Why is that so important to you/your client? On a scale of 1-10 . . ? From your perspective, what is driving that? What other options might work for you? Is there any reason you can't? What seems fair and reasonable to you? What evidence do you have that this is the best option right now? How do you feel about including this element in the final document? Which parts of my proposal sound sensible? What would have to happen for us to get agreement quickly? Avoid landmine questions: Do you really think my client will accept this? Are you now not going to agree to this? Do you honestly expect me to believe this? Don't you see--you are just wrong? Click here for the original article. To learn more from Jeremy Cassell Click here Priority Management is a worldwide training company with 55 offices in 15 countries. We have successfully trained more than two million graduates in Priority workshops. Our programs help companies and people be more effective and manage their workflow in and out of the office by providing tools, processes and discipline. Simply put - A Better Way To Work! Clients range from Fortune 500 companies, small-to-medium businesses and government/military employees. Priority Mangement.com Thank you for Reading, Richard Fontanie btw I owned a Priority Management Franchise for over 30 years. I highly recommend their training.  We hear and read an awful lot these days that people want to get back to normal. Whatever that is? Often, in their mind they are thinking that normal is pre-COVID-19. Well folks I don’t think that is going to happen. And here’s why.
Whenever there is a significant change in life it never goes back to where things were before the change. History tells us this. Just look at every significant change that took place since 1900. After the First World War things were not the same as prior to the war. After the Spanish flu things were not the same after the Spanish flu. After the advent of the development of the automobile and air travel, we approached travel differently. After the Second World War we developed new social, health and educational systems. After the development of the internet we approached our shopping, communications, and yes even our relationships differently. After each change the way we approached business, work and life after the event were never the same as they were before the event. Often when people face change, they become afraid – afraid of losing what they have accumulated and afraid of what the future might bring. We still have people denying climate change, claiming the earth is flat, claiming that the US didn’t land someone on the moon, and that 9/11 was caused by the US government. Adjusting to new realities is a fact of life. We cannot hang on to yesteryear, nor yesterday – they are past. Everyday a new world opens up for us. People who have most difficulty with the new day always seem to see the storm clouds rather than the sun above the clouds. They are shadowed by the darkness rather than the light, which as Leonard Cohn sang (and I paraphrase) always shines through the cracks. I have seen the same reactions to change in many of the organizations I have worked with. It’s the ambiguity and paradox that we experience as a result of the change. We are not comfortable because our comfort zone is shaken. Our sense of security is lost in the turmoil. And ever so slowly we become comfortable with the new. In these days of rapid change, however, becoming comfortable with the new really means becoming comfortable with ambiguity because the new doesn’t stay very long. During change we come face-to-face with ourselves. Often it relates to the lack of confidence in ourselves that we can get through this, and that things will be alright. In many ways we have given our sense of who we are over to some other person, institution, or movement. We become chained to what we know and what comforts us and we perceive things through those lens rather than an openness to the different and the new. We can’t seem to let go because we no longer have a sense of control. Does this then make all change appropriate or acceptable? No, not necessarily – if the change is not for the common good, doesn’t hold to universal principles and values, and isn’t inclusive than it isn’t sound or healthy change. Negative change usually means change for a privileged few or one group over another or for selfish reasons to the exclusion of others. Reactions to change in business, organizations, and institutions, whether they be religious or otherwise, often get played out by people bucking the change process and wanting to keep the status quo. They often focus on keeping past policies, procedures, structures, and even rubric. What is not realized or understood is that change is evolutionary, unfolding and what worked in the past no longer works today. Each age and stage of organizations and society has its follies which require fixing. As we go through the ‘fixing’ pain occurs. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “there are no gains without pains.” So what do we do:
So will there be a new normal? Absolutely, but it wont look or feel like the past. It’s about building better and not recycling the past. The real message here though is to be ready for an uncertain future fraught with difficulties and pain but there is hope for the better when people work together to find solutions rather than holding on and holding back. Thank you for reading, Richard Fontanie  Guess what? In order for you to succeed in business you need to make sales. Our firm helped over 150 individuals open their ‘bricks and mortar’ business with over an 80% success rate after five years of being in business. Our success rate was predicated on two factors: we did a lot of screening of people who wanted to establish a business; and those who went on to open their business we provided small business training and then coached them through their ups and downs.
During the review process we screened out more people than we accepted. One factor we considered was their ability to sell. More than one of those individuals said that they wanted to start a business but didn’t want to sell. That was o.k. if they could hire salespeople, but if they couldn’t they needed to put their salesperson hat on. We found the comment “I don’t want to sell” a red flag because the lifeblood of any business is all about attracting and retaining customers. Over the past couple of years I have been moving my successful face-to-face consulting and training business to an on-line business. Common to both internet and face-to-face businesses is the ability to market and sell. There is a difference though between marketing and selling. Marketing is about informing your community or potential customers about your business and what it has to offer. Selling is about closing the deal once you have a customer or potential customer in front of you. Marketing for both businesses most often deals with potential customers who you don’t normally see. It is about attracting leads to your business through all matter of ways, such as advertising, public relations, providing good information, promotion, attending trade shows and more. There is a difference, however, when it comes to selling. In a bricks and mortar business the sale most often occurs during face-to-face encounters but in an internet business the sale most often is faceless. During an internet sale you need to help people decide to buy your product or service without actually seeing them. However, there are aids to this. Most successful Internet Marketers call upon the visuals of You Tube, and keep in touch through Skype, Zoom or Facetime. So although not physically present, we can make a virtual presence. The essential key for both businesses to making sales and maintaining customers is the ability to develop long-term relationships. I still regard myself as a newbie in the internet marketing world, but I have learned some valuable lessons along the way. Here are some of them. 1. Email those on your email list on a regular basis with something of value outside of selling a product. Most emails I get from internet marketers are about products they are promoting (read, selling). Rarely do I receive anything from them outside of product promotion. Yes, they do offer “bonuses” if you buy, but that is a promotional element as an enticement to buy. 2. Send emails to all those who send emails to you. Share one of your best practices with them. Don’t sell anything with this strategy, just build a relationship and add value. 3. Pick out 10 people on your list every week and email them a relevant PDF, eBook or article with a note that you are thinking of them. 4. Blast out a ‘Thank You’ to all those on your list. They are helping you become successful. Don’t wait until you’ve made it as they are helping you today along your journey. 5. Check your marketing strategy and ask yourself whether you are selling stuff or asking how you can help others. Make sure your strategies are about adding value. 6. Find out what your internet marketing associates need, both those who market and sell to you as well as those who you consider your mentors and support system. Be bold and ask them what you can do for them or what they need. You may be surprised when you hear their answer. 7. Strengthen distant relationships by telling stories on YouTube or in emails about your experiences such as what’s working for you and how it may help others. For instance, I often tell stories about my consulting experiences and how it relates to my new internet marketing venture; others tell stories about how they have risen from the brink of bankruptcy to a successful on-line business. 8. Start a Facebook group to share information and learn from each other. I found you don’t have to be an internet marketing guru to share information. You just have to be honest, forthright and ethical. And join Facebook groups where you offer suggestions and respond to other requests, rather than joining only to mine new contacts for your own marketing and selling benefit. 9. Coordinate a webinar where you and others share information about what is working and discuss how to resolve specific marketing issues. 10. Communicate regularly through social media such as Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and others. 11. Provide freebies to those on your list. They could be copies of your own blog posts, PLR articles or eBooks you think will help them. Don’t expect something in return and be surprised because the return will come. It’s a very simple strategy, ‘give to get’. 12. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify. The genius in us makes the complex simple. I find there is too much complexity in the internet marketing world. I’ve learned most from those who explain the complex in simple terms – it tells me they understand. Often when we explain things in complex terms it makes us feel important, but when we do it with simplicity it humbles us. 13. Join an internet make money online training program such as Breakthrough (I’m a member). 14. Keep learning. There is a wealth of information on YouTube about internet marketing and selling. Here are a few I pay close attention to: Trevor Carr, John Chrestani, Caffienated Blogger, Jonas Lindgren, Jono Armstrong, Richard Fairburn, Paul O’Keef, ODI productions, Project Life Mastery, and Paul Nichols. 15. Just like ‘bricks and mortar’ businesses, internet marketers have national and international conferences where they learn, socialize and expand their business acumen. If you can take advantage of these, and if you can’t I found that at least the learning is often posted. You can find out about them through your network of internet marketers. 16. Leads, Leads and Leads. Making money online is in your list building capacity. Many of us when starting out don’t have a list – or have a list from another life.
17. And, don’t forget the importance of face-to-face encounters. Remember your professional associates and personal network and ask them how you can add value to what they do.
18. Just as you are an internet marketer and seller, you are also a buyer. Here are a few cautions about products you purchase:
These 18 marketing and selling strategies boil down to: Learn from others: simplify the complex; add value without expecting a return; communicate consistently; continually search for leads; do everything with integrity; keep grounded; and always say thank you. Thank you to all those who are helping me along my journey and thank you for reading. Richard Fontanie Last year I wrote an article on the ‘Five Essentials for Home-based Business Operators’. Little did I know then about what we are experiencing today. I'm referring of course to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) that is spreading throughout the world. Governments and companies of all stripes are taking drastic action to curtail this ugly and deadly contagion.
As offices and business close down there is a resurgence of ‘working from home.’ Four years ago I moved my consulting and training business from an office located in the centre of our city to my home. That was my choice. What we are witnessing today is how businesses are responding to this global health crises. From their perspective business must go on and one way to make this happen is to have employees work from home. So, not by personal choice, like mine was, employees are needing to establish home-based offices. This shift in the ‘way we do business,’ also provides opportunity. It may give employees, who once thought of establishing a business, a chance to test out a home-based business. A business that doesn’t rely on someone else or having to travel to an outside office located within a company or government complex. To help those who are now having to adjust to their new-found freedom from office politics and such, I’m updating the article of April 2019 to reflect this new reality. Please read on… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Over the years I have assisted over a 100 budding entrepreneurs as they ventured out into the marketplace using their home office as their first base. Those were heady and exciting times, both for me as I learned about their business and for them as they ventured out into the marketplace with their products and services. There were five essentials we discussed as foundational to helping them adjust to their home office. They were important then and they are just as important today as many are now having to work from home. Self-Discipline: I encourage you to review your disciplinary practices. Just as there are distractions at an office setting – people interrupting you, office politics, desktop messes, noise, emails, shifting priorities, you get the picture – there are distractions in the home setting – television programs, social media, friendly telephone calls, neighbors dropping by, poor priority setting, and desktop messes to name a few. I have often said that it takes more discipline to operate a business from home than from an external office. At home there are no supervisors or minders watching over you and urging you on to better perform. At home you are the leader-manager in charge. It is completely up to you. Your performance or lack thereof falls completely on your shoulders. The locus of control moves from outside yourself, to inside yourself. To perform well you need discipline to:
Keep to your knitting Avoid facetime, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and others, unless of course they are essential for your business, and if that is the case then set time aside to deal with them appropriately. Don’t let them interrupt your knitting. Take Breaks You can get lost in your work especially if you feel you are on a roll and ideas are flowing and tasks are getting accomplished. However, a huge mistake that home-office practitioners make is not taking nutrition or energy producing breaks. What I mean by ‘energy producing breaks’ are breaks that take you away from what you are doing at the moment and giving your mind some rest time. Energy producing breaks include going for a quick walk, tending to a household chore, taking a five-minute meditation break, or fuelling up with an energy bar or a dish of fruit. The point here is the need to break from your office work and focus on something else for short periods of time. This gives your brain rest and up ticks your over all energy. Research suggests that 90 minutes of concentrated effort and then a ten or fifteen break produces more in the long run and contributes to alleviating burnout. Separate Office Space It’s important that you find office space for yourself and your business. This is somewhere in the home or apartment that you can call your office. For some this is initially on the dining table or in a bedroom. The point here is that you need a space to conduct your responsibilities or your business, someplace where you can keep all the important stuff. For some that means a place for your computer, paper, envelopes, books and whatever else is needed; for those who claim that they are completely mobile - everything they need is on their mobile device – will also need someplace within their home to call their specific office space. I have yet to find a serious businessperson who has everything on their mobile. A good practice is also to dress as if you are going to the office. If your office culture is one where the dress code is casual, then dress casually; if it is one where more formal attire is the practice, then dress appropriately. When we are transitioning to a home-based office setting our findings suggest that you keep to the same or similar routines until you have built up the resistance to your new-found distractions, or as some people like to call them – temptations. Networking Working from home can be a lonely and isolating experience. We know that businesses grow based on relationships. In order to build relationships we need to be in contact with people. Simply stated we do this is by getting out of the house or apartment and meeting customers and colleagues in the field. It is important to expand relationship building reach by joining a professional association, a business network association such as Chamber of Commerce, a women or men’s business network, a service association such as Rotary and Kiwanis International, or becoming active in your faith-based community. Getting involved in outside activity helps you build necessary relationships and provides a social outlet that you would not experience by keeping yourself isolated in your home office. Of course the above applies to those who have or are establishing a home-based business and doesn’t necessarily reflect the temporary nature of home-based operations. However, the importance of getting out of the home still applies. It just means that you need to avoid crowded places and follow the advice of the health professionals. If you have been quarantined because of the virus that is another matter. You will need to find other ways to network such as using the telephone, email, Skype or Facetime Administration One of the things I heard most often from home-based business owners was their pushback on administrative tasks. This is one area where procrastination was the word of the hour. Administration is often seen as an afterthought, but not paying attention to the detail that administration asks of you, may cause serious difficulties in the long run. Take for example not paying attention to outstanding bills, up-dating client information, attending to customer invoicing, or submitting due taxes. In the long run not doing due diligence on these matters costs you money, affect your cash-flow or impact your customer relations. So before procrastinating on administrative tasks think about the loss of income, customers and cash-flow. Three important ingredients for a successful business. In the case of a temporary home-based office, you may still be required to keep on top of your administrative tasks. These will most likely be determined by your employer. Whatever they may be, set aside time to get them done. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, these are anxious times primarily because of the ambiguity of what the future holds. We do not know the full extent of the impact of the Coronavirus. It may well turn out to be a very bumpy ride. We already know that it is causing serious disruptions in the way we relate, do commerce and plan for the future. In some respects the virus may be a blessing as it is forcing us to step back from a world that was spinning out of control causing tremendous anxiety and stress. It may be giving us time to step back and breathe. We need to hold on and keep calm as life teaches us that this too shall pass. It’s worthwhile to keep in mind the words of Steve Maraboli: "Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you have power over instead of craving control over what you don't." Thank you for reading Richard P. Fontanie Note: Steve Maraboli is a motivational speaker, behavioral scientist and best-selling author.  To truly understand the entrepreneurial spirit we need to get into the minds of successful entrepreneur. It is here where we find the 5 characteristics of an entrepreneur. And it is here where we learn that the entrepreneurial spirit isn't something that can be taught, but instead, it is something that is developed from within.
A person with an entrepreneurial spirit shifts the locus of control from outside him or herself to inside themselves. They drive themselves to succeed and are highly motivated to achieve something when others are afraid to take a risk. They don’t wait for someone else to start. They are self-starters. However, contrary to popular opinion they just don’t jump at things that fancy them. They are calculated risk takers. An entrepreneurial spirit develops in those individuals who can demonstrate a genuine passion for building something great and those who are willing to push themselves to the limit to achieve their goals. Here are five characteristics that represent those with an entrepreneurial spirit. 1. They Are Deeply Passionate Passionate people know what it's like to completely understand a subject and are willing to dive deep into their understanding of the subject. People with an entrepreneurial spirit are genuinely passionate about the problems they are trying to solve and are energized by any challenges they face in their pursuit. 2. They Are Always Questioning The average individual hardly ever considers how ordinary, everyday things can be improved. Those who have an entrepreneurial spirit can't help but try and find ways to improve the ordinary. They continually question why things are done the way they are and enjoy bucking the system to make necessary changes to succeed. 3. They Are Optimistic To be entrepreneurial is, by nature, to be optimistic. People who possess an entrepreneurial spirit don't waste their time thinking about what they aren't able to do, but instead, see the possibilities in everything. When you are first starting a business, the odds are strongly against you becoming successful, but by remaining optimistic, you can overcome challenges and survive setbacks along the way. 4. They Take Calculated Risks Along with being optimistic, entrepreneurs are predisposed to a high tolerance for risk. Rather than jumping blindly into action, those with an entrepreneurial spirit make calculated moves while understanding that they don’t have a guarantee of succeeding. Successful entrepreneurs also can work autonomously and can be decisive. The entrepreneurial path isn’t always clear, so you have to be able to stay agile and adept in a high degree of ambiguity. 5. They Take Action Above any other characteristic, those with an entrepreneurial spirit know when to execute on their ideas. You have to be able to go out and act on your plans to get real, honest feedback. This is because your ideas are meaningless until they are acted on. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, you realize that the execution of your ideas is everything when it comes down to your success. Not everyone will be successful as an entrepreneur. It is essential to possess these five characteristics of an entrepreneurial spirit if you want to succeed in your business. The flip side of being entrepreneurial is ensuring that systems and processes are in place to get the job done. Often the entrepreneur isn’t the person to wear both of these hats. If your strength is one of an entrepreneur and not a manager, then I highly recommend you hire a manager and delegate the managerial tasks to her. Then let her manage, while you provide the entrepreneurial leadership. Thank you for reading, Richard Fontanie When it comes to business and sales, building a strong relationship is critical. The stronger your relationship is with your customer, the more likely they will refer others to your business.
Every day we have an opportunity to connect on a human level with our customers. We live in an age where efficiency is the byword. Our communication boils down to a text message, a quick email or a telephone message. Human contact is put on the back burner. So how do we keep the human contact with our customers alive in today’s fast paced marketplace? The last thing you want to do is make your customers feel like a statistic. When given the chance show them that their business is appreciated. Talk to them, strike up a non-business conversation with them. It could involve just about anything, such as the weather, sports, a movie, and pets. This doesn’t need to be a long conversation. You can make it ‘short and sweet’ as they say. The key here is that you are making a human connection and not acting like a robot. Non-business conversation puts your customer at ease and gets them talking. The more they talk to you, the more they will open up to you. This gives you a bit of a window into their lives allowing you to understand them better. The end result may be an opportunity for you to make more sales. My cautionary point here is for you to be genuine and not seen as manipulative. Customers seek genuine interactions and they can see through manipulative communications. Keep your conversations simple. For starters, get to know your customers by name, then address them by name. Say things such as, “how’s it going today Bill?” Or “how was your weekend Wendy?” Or “is there anything I can help you with today George?” Make your presence known and felt. You can use the same tactic when communicating by email, text message or telephone message. Use your customer’s name. Their name is important and is tied to their identify. Your customer wants to feel appreciated, so take a few minutes of your time to show them that you care about them as a person. Another way to strengthen your relationship with your customer is to keep a Rolodex or digital address book handy with a list of all of your customers birthdays, anniversaries, and special events. Keep your eyes and ears open for when customers talk about upcoming events in their lives. Such as children’s birthdays and graduations. When the appropriate date approaches, send your customer a card, whether it is a holiday card, a birthday card, a graduation card, or a congratulatory card. Just send it. Your customers will appreciate the fact that you remembered them on their special day. This will only strengthen the relationship you already have with them. By the way personal cards, via snail mail, is appreciated a lot more by the elderly than emails. This is an important factor once you recognize that the elderly population comprises over ten percent of your customers and depending on the products and services of your business perhaps an even greater percentage. The elderly comprise a significant number of people, often forgotten, in the age of push button communications. There are many reasons to build a strong relationship with your customers. I suggest two of them: One main reason is that customers value and appreciate good customer service. They want the peace of mind of knowing that if something ever happened with their product or service, that they would have you to turn to as their go to person. This is significant because your customer will have this in mind when your competition moves in to take them away. And believe me, your competition will try to take them away. As long as you provide excellent customer service, you have a much greater chance that your customer will stick with you. There is no substitute for excellent customer service. Customer service is the most important thing to a customers, even more important than what they pay for goods or service. The second reason building relationships are so important is because of the referral process. A customer that is treated with respect and provided excellent customer service will most assuredly refer their family and friends to you. Why wouldn’t they? Your most important asset is your customer, so build and strengthen the foundations you have with them. By building strong relationships, you will be building your sales. Thank you for reading, Richard P. Fontanie |
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