One Year From Today

Posted in: Uncategorized by scott_manning on December 29, 2010

ONE YEAR FROM TODAY
(and Scott on being human and what to do about it!)
By: Scott Manning
Today, for a couple reasons I’m just going to hit you with a very quick email, as a little “year-end” finale.
I’m busy, head down, full speed, pedal to the metal, trying to finish up and push hard to get some things done, planning in place, and projects ready for launch come the first of next week.
Actually, while the Holidays have been happening, I had one of our most successful lead generation campaigns get pushed off the cliff and a great response just days before Christmas.
Have another “pre-launch” campaign for a client that goes out of the gate tomorrow.
Am in final stretches of a “fill a program up” promotion for another Client.
And have two, actually three new development projects in process right now…with other ‘new’ clients waiting for the calendar to turn and me to find room to let them in.
I tell you all of this because, nothing in your life actually ‘stops’ or comes to an end, certainly business, money, customers wants, needs, and everything in between, and for sure, bills, taxes, etc – none of it ever stops.
Nope.  Just the calendar, another year, that’s all that really comes to an end.
You won’t find successful people STOPPING and looking around, taking a break, reflecting on their next move.
We do all of that, just WITHOUT the STOPPING.  Everything is ‘on the go’ and it has to be.
Believe me, I believe in and take vacations, I unplug, but motion, movement, effort, momentum, never stop.
From Christmas Eve morning to Tuesday early AM, I unplugged, did basically zero work of any kind, except a couple quick email campaigns that I didn’t get finished before the Holiday.  And I enjoyed the four days.
I’d challenge you to make the list of everything you’ve got “going on” right now.
And then, I’d ask you a simple question – one year from today, do you want to be making more money, serving more people, making a bigger impact, and difference…
Then that list you made, can’t be the same, one year from today.
And probably not ONE WEEK from today.
In fact, it can’t be the same in number. In quality. In opportunity. In income potential.
It can’t be on the same level that it is right now.
Ryan and I reprioritize daily.  Adjust weekly, and raise up our level monthly.  Quarterly we completely re-evaluate and reflect on the business.  Every six months we make some dramatic decisions we’d not thought we would make.  And annually we clean up the mess.
The lesson is in how we work, not just what we do.
And the lesson you should embrace going into this New Year is…
HOW you work, and the size and scope of that list you just made, determines EVERYTHING you’ll do, experience, accomplish, and enjoy, next year.
It also determines whether you’ll be regretting and disappointed one year from today… I hope not.
The choice is yours.
And as a fun little aside, here’s some choices I’m making for the New Year.
(between me and you, I make these same choices ever year…after all, even though I’d prefer to forget about it, I am human, so I know the battle I must fight every day is to not let my ‘human-ness’ get the best of me, as the calendar turns I remind myself of what I need to keep my thumb on)
Scott’s list of habits for 2011:
Sleep less
Read more
Schedule workouts/running as any other appointment
Work faster
Drive slower
Learn from everyone
Listen to no one
Pay attention to those who deserve it
Make ‘my inner circle’ feel important
Thank, gift, share more
Eat better
Complain less
Ignore more
Think bigger
Execute without delay
Follow the schedule
Beat the clock
Tolerate nothing
Enjoy everything
There you have it.  Takes just a few seconds to read and sure helps to focus my energy in the right direction.  Hey, the list could be a lot longer…remember, only human.  It’s a good start.
If you saw my video, I’ll repeat myself on this final Wednesday of the year 2010.
As you look forward to the new year, 2011.  Remember – For you (as long as you believe it and make it so) THE BEST IS ALWAYS YET TO COME
Together, let’s me and you, make it a Happy New Year…the best year ever, it’s what we deserve and best of all, the controls are in our hands. 
Success is our responsibility, and it’s more fun than the alternative.
You’re smart for being here – now, let’s make it happen in 2011!
Scott

December Marketing Video

Posted in: Blog by admin on December 27, 2010

Scott Manning’s Monthly Marketing Video

Click “Play” To Watch The Video

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After You Watch the Video

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TOO Much Time – NOT Enough Goals!

Posted in: Blog by scott_manning on December 22, 2010

If you ask around, you’ll never hear what I just wrote.
Nope. 
You’ll only hear the opposite…
“so much to do, not enough time to do it in”
And blah blah blah
I say, pfui.
Too much to do is NEVER the problem.
ALLOWING TOO MUCH TIME TO DO anything IS.
That’s the one thing I’ve noticed most about successful people and that you hear me talk about, illustrate, and quite literally beat you in the head with is that the people who make the most money get the most done.  It, for the most part, really is that simple.
Oh sure, you’ve got to be getting ‘the right stuff’ done, but that’s a given, an obvious, at least if you’re hanging out here, with me.  Listening to and learning from Dan and Bill, again, you’re already one-up on information, know-how, ‘what-to-do’…
That’s why the most important thing is “how fast you’re doing it”.
Let me be very clear with what I’m telling you this week, the week of the Christmas Holiday.
The reason you are finishing the year with less accomplished than you had hoped, planned, and predicted, the reason you’ve got more than 10 days worth of stuff left to do but only 10 days left to do it…
Is because You’re giving yourself WAY TOO MUCH TIME to accomplish your goals.
You know the other saying that goes hand-in-hand with this, something like “the task will take up whatever amount of time you allow it to.”
So, as the new year rolls around and this one comes to a close, I challenge you to go back to the drawing board and SHORTEN the time you’ve given yourself to accomplish things in 2011.
At our Year End Mastermind session, which was incredible by the way, at the end of the event I ask everyone (as we do every single month) to tell me the one big things they were committed to accomplishing in 2011 – and everyone went around the room and stated their major objective.
Then, I very directly, seriously, and aggressively said – “Now, that goal you just stated, what you just told everyone you would accomplish in 2011, I want you to make that your 90-day goal, done by March. PERIOD.  Achieve it faster, make it happen.  You don’t need 12 months, do it in 3…or less”
Here’s what will make you a ton more money in 2011 and make you feel like you’re getting stuff accomplished – stop allowing yourself so much time for so few goals.  Whether you need more goals or not is debatable, you do need focus, but you also need speed, and forced action.
You need to do more in less time and it’s starts by you saying that’s what’s going to happen.

2010 Marketer of the Year

Posted in: Blog by admin on December 20, 2010

Register for The January Chapter Event Now

Business Transformation in just 8 Minutes

Posted in: Uncategorized by scott_manning on December 15, 2010

Well it was incredibly possible and real this past Friday at our Year End Chapter Event, through two different exercises attendees were amazed at what they could accomplish in just 8 minutes.
This type of group interaction (which we do some form of every month) was designed specifically to prove a point and allow members to EXPERIENCE the Power of the Mastermind and working with others to achieve breakthrough ideas and strategies for their businesses.
For those of you unable to attend, I’m guessing you’d like to know about the ‘secret’ I was referring to leading up to the Chapter Event last Friday…
 
(which all of your excuses for missing in the event fail, since we did host a great entrepreneur all the way from Washington, YES the State.  Of course he was in Indy to see some friends, one in particular he invited to our Chapter Event…yes they do come from wide and far just to experience the energy, the dynamic, and the success environment of the GKIC Indy Chapter)
First let me tell you – it was INCREDIBLE.

We had 11 kick-ass Competitors for the Marketer of the Year (I wish they all could have won…each presentation was very beneficial to the rest of the attendees)
You’ll find out the very deserving winner sometime soon, and you’ll get to see their presentations…so stay tuned.
So, The Secret of all successful Entrepreneurs who achieve and sustain success is two fold:
First, they NEVER EVER leave Success to Chance – they SCHEDULE their progress, goals and achievements and put themselves in environments that facilitate and accelerate their wealthy, growth, and opportunity.
Second, they are all part of a highly developed, structured program, and an intense group of Entrepreneurs that help each other work on their businesses.
 
It’s been called for a near century, THE MASTERMIND.
Friday our members experienced it first hand, albeit briefly, they got the point and felt the impact.  In addition to all that excitement I open the doors of opportunity to members in attendance to join the remaining positions left open in the 2011 Scott Manning Mastermind Group and Private Coaching Program.
Good news for those there, bad news if you missed the meeting, but, we’re officially CLOSED UP, in fact, we took in 2 extra applications than spots that were available.
There is no single, greater, guaranteed way to dramatically grow your business and speed up your progress than by being a part of our Mastermind and Coaching Groups.  If you were there you heard it first hand from several members who have been experiencing the Mastermind and Me throughout 2010.
The easiest way to explain this, is the power of multiplied thinking of others, quite literally forcing your progress and holding you accountable on implementation month in and month out.
The other reason is that quite literally, just be being in the room you will attract more money, opportunity, and move faster and think bigger than ever before.
As I told everyone Friday, this is the secret to major breakthroughs because it REMOVES YOU out of your own way.  Which is the only thing holding you back.
Anyhow – Don’t worry, you won’t be left out.  Every month I bring you business multiplying marketing and money making strategies to our Chapter Events and believe me, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
2011 is going to be OFF THE CHARTS!  And as long as you stay close, get involved, you’ll be along for ride.
At some point I’ll be sending you an email where you can apply and get on the waiting list in case I decide to open another group (which I highly doubt) or at least get ready for 2012.  And once in a while, a Mastermind or Private Coaching Member will transfer to what we call “private client status” moving them up from the group and opening space.
For now, I thought I’d share with you 6 BIG Business Breakthroughs that we discussed on Friday…you should give some serious thought to.
And, if you register for our January Chapter Event –NOW- I’ll hook you up with the Audio where I discussed these 6 in detail at the beginning of our Chapter Event.
Consider it my free gift to You, for Christmas and all.  Details below…
Here’s the 6 Breakthroughs –
1.  Change of WHO you sell to…
2.  Change of WHERE you sell…
3.  Change of HOW you sell…
4.  Change of PRICE/PAYMENT STRUCTURE…
5.  Change of PRODUCT/WHAT you sell…
6.  Change of BUSINESS ALTOGETHER…
enjoy and hope all is well…
Scott
PS  -  AND although I won’t know exactly how our Mastermind and Coaching Membership shakes out until next Monday (I know they are all waiting very impatiently…) I do want to say A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to all the smart, progressive, proactive, and confident Members who are making the big leap to big breakthroughs and bigger profits next year in 2011!

12 Ways to Profit and Get Ready for 2011

Posted in: Blog by scott_manning on December 8, 2010

As promised, I’d like to give you a quick checklist on actions I’d be taking if I were you, actually, I am taking these actions.  Some requires some extra effort, some fast attention, but well worth it.  The end of the year only rolls around once every 12 months…got to make the most of it all.

In addition to maximizing the end of the year, you want to be primed for 2011, before it gets here.

For Your Customers:

1. Send some sort of Holiday Greeting to them, show your appreciation. And remind them how smart they are to be your customer at the same time.

2. Have some type of Holiday Sale, or campaign that enters the conversation going on in their minds, they are buying tons of stuff from other people, why not you (now the appreciation and the sale are two different things…I like it best this way)

3. Offer a special renewal program where it’s applicable (and if not, why don’t you have some form of membership or continuity in your business…make that a goal for 2011)

4. A “get in while it’s still 2010 pricing” is a great sale, for any type of premium product or service or a membership program.  Use this in your message, it’s a great motivator, and it’s a great excuse for you to raise your prices.

5. Painstakingly go through your customer database and allocate into a VALUE Pyramid, top 5%, top 20%, top 50%, bottom 50%, etc.  Look at what can be done to move people up to the next level of value.  And then, most importantly, determine what you can do to keep your customers at the top, at the top.  And what can be done to increase their value.  Now add this plan to the ones you’ll work on in the upcoming numbers.  Identify who your best customers are and where you can go and get more of them.

6.  Map out your Customer Relationship and Sales Campaigns for next year.  So many people look at this as being the ENTIRE business, but it’s only a part of the business.  You should be focused at least 50% on getting MORE customers, not just selling your current ones.  Oh, do that, but just make sure it’s not all you do.  So, here, you focus on KEEPING customers, and SELLING them more stuff, what will you do each month.  Take information from #5 and apply it here.

For Yourself:

7. Take a look back at 2010 and make a list of everything that you did, tried, put in motion.  What worked, what didn’t work.  What’s new, what have you forgotten about.  Then dissect it and figure out what you learned and what you can take with you into 2011.

8. Similar to #5, but specifically to your goals and numbers.  What were your real goals, and benchmarks, and where are your numbers currently.  Decide what made it so.  And write down your plan for 2011 specifically about your numbers.

9. Now take #5 and #6 and begin outlining your Marketing and Money plans for 2011.  What you’ll do, start, try, implement.  How much money, customers, etc. will you have and where will you get them from.  Remember your goals/numbers desired in 2011, dictated the rest of the story…make the plan that leads to the results that get you those numbers.

10. MY FAVORITE.  Make a list of all the adjustments, changes, new rules, and most fun, what you are going to eliminate for 2011.  Frustrations, negative people, time wasters, and profit killers.  Make the list and get to work, make Dec. 31st your deadline to have this # fully in motion.

11.MY FAVORITE #2.  Make the list of everything you want to tackle and try NEW for next year.  Make a list of everything you are going to do to make sure it happens and that you’ve got the support you need.  As example, mark you schedule for the year, allocate all Chapter Events (seriously) Mastermind Days (if applicable) Private Coaching (if lucky) and whatever else you know you need.  This is your Implementation Plan that ties into your “what’s new” plan.  New business, new market, new income stream, etc.
12.  Now, this will be your favorite part.  Plan and schedule, your vacations for next year.  You should be able to outline your 2011 calendar after completing #1-11, now go back and decide on when, where, and how you’ll take some time away.  There’s no right amount.  But you need to put them in place, it gives you something to look forward to, and if you commit to them and tie goals to them, you’re stuck, in a good way, to making sure you stay on track for the year and for your vacations.

Now after all of that, you ought to be ready for Christmas and to take a break.  I know this, with money and opportunity comes great responsibility, planning, and strategic thinking.  Nothing is on accident.  And the 12 ways to profit and get ready for 2011 are a perfect example of what it takes to make success happen ON PURPOSE.

Pace yourself, do half one weekend and half another, then go back through each of them between Christmas and New Years…just make sure you don’t finish 2010 without a plan to start 2011.

Enjoy The Month.

Scott

PS – which includes, by the way, making sure you’re at our Chapter Event in just two days, on Friday December 10th where you’ll find profitable ideas and powerful marketing strategies each and every month.  This month, THE MARKETER of the YEAR contest with a trip to the 2011 Marketing and Money Making SuperConference in Chicago at stake.  And the single most secretive and empowering success strategy that I’m giving away at this months Chapter Event, the one strategy that you can literally, just show up, and make money…it’s seldom ever talked about this way, most people won’t admit to it’s power or share it secret.  I’m going to and you’d better not miss out…if you do, you’ll feel like the Grinch stole your Christmas, and it’ll be your own fault.  You get on Santa’s list by clicking here, http://www.NoBSIndy.com/chaptermeeting

What can you do in 31 days?

Posted in: Blog by scott_manning on December 1, 2010

I find it silly that many entrepreneurs I know lazily coast through the end of the year.  They use the Holidays as excuse, ‘no-ones-buying’, or not enough time, or why start something new now, etc.

When they ought to be racing to get the most out of what’s left.  Think about it, if you’d like to willingly hand over about $8 for every $100 you earn, then I know some people who’d be happy to take it from you.  Because that’s what it’s like giving up 1/12 of your year.

Now’s the time to kick it into high speed, put the pedal to the medal, because EVERYBODY’s buying something.  And even if your product or service isn’t much of a ‘holiday item’ there’s a lot more you can do.  Everybody knows you run faster when you see the finish line for this 12 months, you don’t slow down.

Now, next week, I’m going to give you 12 specific things you can do, in honor of the upcoming 12 days of Christmas – this week, just some things to think about.

1.  The most universal ‘reason why’ and conversation in people’s heads – The Holidays

2.  The most obvious and real Deadline, the end of the year – or Christmas

3.  The perfect time for renewals, upsells, and upgrades – great for fear of price increase

4.  Best of All, it’s the perfect time for something New – everybody’s looking for it and wants it

Simply, use what you’ve got, the asset of the Calendar, but whatever you do, don’t slow down.

Sure, once in a while there’s good reason to NOT do something…

For example in most industries it’s a terrible idea to have a seminar in the middle of December.  And sending a bunch of direct mail to Professional Practices who might take extended vacations across Christmas and New Years is also a waste.

But, doing nothing.  Bad idea, of which you will not feel the consequences of it until long after the Holidays, about the time your credit card bill comes in January when you were too busy shopping instead of stocking up on ideas and money.

Oh, spend, spend, spend, but don’t forget that your primary responsibility is to SELL, SELL, SELL!

What should you be doing, right now, that December’s here?

Well, there’s a giant list of lots of productive and profitable things You can and should be focused on, that the end of the year is perfect for.  I’m going to give you my top 12 next week.

For example, what you do in the next 31 days will directly impact how fast you start 2011, how many new customers you get in the first 30-90 days, and certainly how much money you make.

Know this, it’s easy to make as much money this January as you did last January, go ahead and kick back and take a rest if that’s all you want.

Want more?  Then the time to make it happen is right now.

Today my intention was to at least attempt to motivate you to get off you couch from in front of the fire place, eating Santa’s cookies, and get back in the workshop…there’s toys to be made, opportunities created, and money to collect.  Get out there and sell something…you wouldn’t willing give up a 1/12 of your income, 1/12 of your day, or 1/12 of anything – so don’t give up a 1/12 of you year.

Get to work.  And stay tuned next week for a special Top 12 ways to profit now.

Tis the Season for getting geared up for the next year and making the most of the what’s left of this one.