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(Read part one and part deux of this series here!) 1. Every time you travel out of town, ask yourself, “Who do I know that lives in that city?” Call ahead of time and make plans to get together. Heck, you’re there anyway. 2. Every few months, sit down with your cell phone and call every single person in your phone book. When they ask why you’re calling, tell…

Let’s say you’re on a sales call. And in the back of your mind, you don’t care. Which is not to say you’re apathetic. It’s just that you’re relaxed. With yourself. With your product. With your prospect. So, you “don’t care” insofar as you’re not negatively affected by the thought of failure. If I don’t make the sale, no biggie, you think. You do the best you can, be…

1. There are two kinds of publicity: 1) Getting featured on TV, print and radio as a GUEST, 2) Getting featured on TV, print and radio as an EXPERT. Do both. Especially the latter. 2. State your fee confidently and shut up. Seriously. I actually put my hand over my mouth until the prospect responds. Sometimes 10 seconds later. You have to be sure of yourself and your fee….

Since my recent post about The Secret reached so many people… And since I (think) I’ve figured out how to become the luckiest person you know, I now firmly believe: IT AIN’T ABOUT LUCK! Here’s a fun, easy exercise you can do to prove that to yourself: 1. Think about the “luckiest” things that ever happened to you. 2. Write what great stuff happened as a result. 3. Think…

A is for ATTITUDE B is for BREAK PATTERNS C is for CONSISTENCY D is for DISCIPLINE E is for EVOLUTION F is for FRIENDLINESS G is for GOOD WITH NAMES H is for HAPPINESS I is for IDEAS J is for JOY K is for KNOWLEDGE L is for LAUGHTER M is for MUNDANE N is for NAMETAGS O is for OFF BUTTON P is for PAINT YOURSELF…

My Grandpa Frank always told me, “A chicken ain’t nuthin’ but a bird.” For years I struggled with the meaning of that phrase. I even googled it a few times it and had no luck discovering its origin, other than the song by Cab Calloway. So I asked him one day. “Scotty, age is nothing but a number,” Grandpa reminded me. “Especially when customers or coworkers don’t take you…

OK, so, maybe you’re not an extrovert. Maybe you’re not the life of the party. And maybe you’re not the type of person to just go up and talk to anybody. Does that mean you’re headed up Approachability Creek without a paddle? Not at all! Especially when you bring creativity to the table. Because creativity is magnetic. Let me say that again: CREATIVITY. IS. MAGNETIC. For example, think about…

I’m pretty much obsessed with The Secret. You can’t argue it. It really is a cool movie. Smart. Poignant. Inspirational. And of course, deliciously hokey. Which isn’t to say it’s bad. Just because something is hokey doesn’t mean it’s ineffective. I’ve personally applied several visualization tips from The Secret and seen some incredible results in my personal and professional life. But, (and this is a BIG butt, here)… The…

Thanks to Ye Olde Google Alerts, I stumbled across an article written by Matt Sussman discussing tomorrow’s NCAA showdown between Oregon and Miami of Ohio (my alma matter). I wont quote the whole article, but I about laughed myself out of my desk chair when I read this section: For a school stowed away in Southeast Ohio’s armpit, Miami sure has a lot of famous graduates: Woody Hayes, Weeb…

Read part 1 here! Read part 2 here! Read part 3 here! Mmm…Chocolate Frank Mars was a candy salesman. But he needed something new. Something nobody had ever tasted before. At the time (1923), the chocolate malted milk was the most popular drink in the nation. So he wondered, “Why not put that flavor into a candy bar?” Then he did something no other candy maker ever attempted: he…