Are You Looking For A New Opportunity?

http://animoto.com/play/9j0AqBBJq2NJgnA4CxOCtw

Are you tired of working the same old job? Maybe you have just decided that there has to be more to life. I know because that is where I was.

What Do You Do?

How many times have you been asked what you do for a living?  How do you answer?  Most people start with “I am…”, however as soon as you start your sentence like that you automatically put yourself into the sea of sameness.  Today I am going to share with you something that I learnt which has helped in changing the way I approach this question.

Since starting my own business, this is one thing that I really struggled with.  I wasn’t sure how to answer or what I should say.  Recently I attended a seminar presented by Dr John Demartini and Benjamin J Harvey.  It was here that I finally got some clarity and had a breakthrough.  I found this experience so beneficial that I wanted to share it.

When someone asks “what do you do”, they don’t want to hear “I am a business owner”, “I am a doctor”.  By asking this question they are actually challenging you to see if you can get them to say the 3 magic words “Tell Me More…”.  These days before telling people what you do you need to gain their permission first.  It is seen as somewhat rude to do so without that permission.

So how do you get these 3 magic words out of them, to open up the gates to discuss what you do until they tell you to stop?  You start your sentence NOT with “I am….”, but with “You know how…”.  It seems strange at first, at least it did for me.  I want you to say it a few times, start getting comfortable with it.  Now, whatever you tell people, you want it to sound interesting and intriguing, because at the end of the day;

“If it is vanilla and bland, than no one will want to join you”.

                                                                                                Dave Crane

What you are about to answer when someone asks “what do you do…” is broken down into 3 parts

1. You know how
2. Well we help them
3. Using XYZ step system

Selling your product or service is all about being a good story teller.  Selling today is very different to what it used to be.  People are looking for that emotional connection and something they can relate to.  Here is an example of putting the 3 parts together that I use;

“You know how so many struggle with feeling that they have to work that 9-5 job to earn the income they want, but then they don’t have the time to enjoy it.  Well I help people to create a lucrative income with the flexibility and freedom to enjoy it using our simple 3-step Home Business Model.”

I would recommend you spend some time writing down your own script and practice it.  The more you practice it, the more comfortable you will be and therefore the more natural it will sound when someone asks.  An amateur will practice until they get it right, a professional will practice it until they don’t get it wrong.  Once you have done this exercise I would love for you to share it down in the comments section and also share this article with your friends and colleagues.

A YEAR OF CHANGE

I am not sure exactly what triggered the events that followed, but I do know it was a choice that started a domino effect.  I was in a place in my life where certain events were happening around me and I was drowning in negativity.  I started questioning my life, where I was, what I had achieved and where I was going.  I can tell you right now, that if I had continued along the same path, I wouldn’t have gone very far.  I looked at the life my parents had and the people around me, not that there was anything wrong, but I wanted more.  There had to be more, this couldn’t be all there was, doing the same thing day in and day out.  Go to work, earn money, stress out and wonder how all the bills were going to get paid.

An opportunity came up to have my own business and work from home.  Immediately I was sceptical and very unsure.  It was a big decision for me, especially as I had never had any aspirations what so ever to be a business owner.  I pondered, I thought and I procrastinated over what to do.  I then recalled a saying that I had heard a number of times.  ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result’.  I wanted something different, something more.  Therefore something had to change, I had to change.  I made a conscious choice this year to focus on change within myself and doing things differently.  I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but was willing to roll up my sleeves and give it my best shot.

It has been 6 months since making this choice and I am still amazed by the events that followed as a result of this one conscious choice.  Let me paint a picture for you; obviously it all started by making the choice to start my own business.  As I was still looking for some more clarity, I decided to attend a meditation retreat.  At the retreat I met a young woman who asked me what I did and after mentioning I had just started my own business, was invited to attend a young entrepreneur group.  So I attended the next meet and they had a guest speaker who was so engaging and almost mesmerizing with his knowledge and passion.  It was that night that I discovered that he was conducting a seminar that following weekend in Adelaide.  At this point I couldn’t believe how everything was just falling in to place.  I attended the seminar, which was amazing and from that a Facebook group was created.  I was able to connect with amazing, positive and like-minded people, an integral ingredient when aiming for success.

Now I am sure what I have described may seem like it all came easy, I can assure you it didn’t.  I had to deal with a number of personal issues going on in my home life.  I had a husband who wasn’t overly supportive and most of all I had myself.  Unfortunately most times in our life our biggest saboteur in life is our self and I knew my biggest challenge for the year was going to be to overcome my own fears and beliefs.  I had to learn to make my own decisions and not allow other people’s opinions to affect the choices I made, especially being a people pleaser for so long.  With any success comes adversity, but if you are expecting it to come knocking than you can better deal with it when it does.

The last 6 months has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride.  However, it has been fun, challenging, exciting and most of all I am HAPPY.