It is Harvest Time!!
Are you feeling it? Is your bank account over-flowing? People are begging to work with you? You can’t keep enough product on the shelf?
Did you know the fall season accounts for about 70% of business and recruiting in most sales professions? Are you having these results? This is the time of year sales come easier, people are in buying mode, and also looking for sources to create more income.
If you have been working your business for any length of time, you have planted seeds through the spring and summer. If those seeds were planted in good soil, watered well, got sunshine, and you kept away the weeds. You will experience an amazing harvest right now.
How does this apply to your business?
1. Good Seeds- Make sure you are planting good seeds. If your ideal client is stay at home moms, going to a working moms seminar is not the ideal place to find seeds. This seems like common sense, but I meet many people at business networking events, who do not have a B2B (business to business) model. They are networking with the hopes that someone will refer to them. On occasion this does work, but this is an example of gathering seeds that may never grow. Make sure you are gathering good seeds that work with your business model. If you sell purses, do not hang out at a Men’s health club! Go to events with professional women. Find others who have a similar market, and join together to share your seeds.
2. Planting your seeds- Do you come home from a networking event and have a stack of business cards? Do you stick those in a box, on a table, or just leave them in your purse? What if the farmer left all the seeds in the drawer? What would his excuse be for why he has no corn in the field? Can you see why your seeds are not growing? You never planted them. I also see many business owners just scattering seeds. They throw sales pitch on facebook, they share a 30 second commercial offering a sale, they are pushing videos, or company audios at people. The worst is sending people to a replicated company website!! As a business owner they think they are planting seeds, but really they are just standing with a bag of seeds and sprinkling the seeds every where they walk. Can you see that sprinkling seeds all over the ground will never grow your seeds? You must plant those seeds into good soil!
3. Good Soil- What is good soil? The soil compliments the seeds right? You want to make sure you are hanging out in the right conditions. You need to be where your ideal client and target market are doing business. If you plant the good seeds into good soil, you will see them sprout. What types of places are your ideal clients? Is this a place that your ideal prospects go to buy? If I am looking for a new pair of black shoes, I go to the mall. So if I was selling shoes, I need to be where the buyers are at. I would not hang out on facebook all day, telling everyone about black shoes. Remember also, seeds being planted in soil are done at the right time of year. Pumpkins are planted in June or July for a fall harvest. If you are putting together a Christmas promotion, you should be planning in September. By November, your New Years Sale should be ready. Don’t you hate it when you walk into the store and Christmas items are out in October? I think the stores must know alittle about marketing, they are not going to wait until December to put out Christmas items, by then it would be to late. Think like a business, act like a business, and you will get paid like a business.
4. Water your seeds! Once your seeds are planted you cannot just hope that they will grow. You must continue to water them. This is one of the biggest secrets to getting your seeds to sprout and grow. The secret is consistency. What would happen if you watered today, and ignored your seeds for a month, then went back and watered everyday for a week, then skipped a few weeks and so on… you would have no growth, or very little. Can you see now why your seeds might not be growing? There is no consistency. The fastest and easiest way to get consistency is through an email auto-responder (http://list.workwithliz.com) People must connect with you a minimum 7-10 times to be able to develop trust and like. If you are marketing every week or more, you will see the fastest sprouting in your business. Just like watering, do this a few times a week to see results.
5. Sunshine- Your seeds need good weather. We know plants are strong and even as weather changes many plants make it through, but they do still need somewhat ideal conditions. One of those conditions is sunshine! What are you shining on your business? Are you staying positive? Planning your work, working your plan? Are you smiling every where you go? Are you taking daily action? Like the sun you must come up every morning and shine all day! You will see your seeds harvest!
6. Weeds- We all have weeds that are going to show up. Those nay-sayers, negative people, orders that do not go through, parties that cancel, and just things in life going wrong. Do you leave the weeds in the ground to smother your business, or do you pick them as soon as they appear. The easiest way to pick weeds from your life is to listen to postive things. When you drive listen to motivational and business CD’s, surround yourself with positive people, and give more. You will fill your garden with only sprouting suceess, and pick away all the weeds.
I am wishing you an amazing harvest in your business. In the call below, I share ways you can grow more, learn about the difference to what is called tomato marketing and avocado marketing, and grow a successful business. To listen to a recording of the recent training on this subject, Click Below or download and listen to the MP3. Share below with the community what you are doing for your harvest, and any AHA! moments or ideas. I want to hear from you!
[audio=http://lunchwithliz.s3.amazonaws.com/12-Sep_15-38.mp3,Lunch With Liz Sept 12,download]
Looking forward to your comments!!
