As entrepreneurs, we want to have competitive advantages that are so big they seem almost unfair. So what can we do to be so much better, tougher and smarter than the rest of the pack that we make our competitors essentially want to throw their hands up in defeat?
For the answer, I went to Dean Graziosi. A seasoned pro in both real estate investing and direct marketing, Graziosi shares his insights on successful entrepreneurship through his training courses as well as his many bestselling books.
Recently, I asked him to share the key tenets of his runaway success. He boiled it all down to the following five beliefs:
![2015-12-10-1449774054-7568901-aes_graziosi.jpg]()
1. Don't follow the established rules. Consider some of your past successes, especially those that came early on in your career. Chances are you realized them by following your own course, not someone else's. But it's easy to only "color inside the lines" once we get more successful (and feel we have more to lose). Don't stop questioning everything, says Graziosi: "If you're going to follow someone else's rules, you're going to get their results. If you play it safe, you'll never fail -- but ultimately it's failure that plays a big part in building character and confidence."
Example: In 2009, Graziosi wanted to start doing live events based on his real estate books. He was discouraged from doing so by everyone from his media buyer to executives in the live event business who were floundering in the wake of the real estate market crash. "With everyone else folding or telling me not to do it, I knew it was the right time. I partnered with a live event expert and in 18 months we had one of the biggest live event companies in the country," says Graziosi.
2. Make sure your prospects know you really understand them. People will listen to us, like us and buy from us not when they understand us, but rather when they feel understood by us. And yet, how many times do we forget to consider the key issues and needs of our audience and instead focus on making sure we sound smart and clever and interesting?
Graziosi was reminded of this rule recently when he spoke to audiences in Tokyo and Singapore. In Tokyo, he made his speech all about himself, his knowledge and his experiences -- and his comments fell on deaf ears. "I wanted the audience to understand how good I was and that I could deliver, but they walked away feeling like I didn't get them at all."
He re-jiggered his entire approach for his Singapore presentation -- reading the local papers, getting up to speed on the local economy and real estate market and how investors were pursuing opportunities in the current environment. The result: The audience knew from the start that Graziosi understood their situations, and an emotional connection was forged. "I had people jumping up and screaming by the end of that one," he says.
The upshot: When your prospects feel you hear and understand them, it changes the game and makes them eager to engage with you.
3. Never stop being a student. As entrepreneurs, we can learn from anybody -- especially business owners who are still hungry and haven't made their first million yet. Their energy and empowerment can be transformational even for seasoned pros. That's why Graziosi urges us to be sponges willing to take in good information from even unlikely sources. "You can be surrounded by people who are not as successful as you or who maybe seem like they aren't on the same page as you in some important way, but from them you can often learn one thing that will help you perform better in your business," he says.
For example, Graziosi was hesitant to attend one particular seminar but ultimately went. There, he got a piece of advice about how to give away content for free and use that free offer to get people to buy his higher value paid products and services. "I found out what my competitors were selling for two grand and I then gave it away for free, which forced me to create something better to sell," he says. "That advice has probably generated an additional one hundred million dollars, and I often think to myself, 'what if I didn't go to that event?'."
4. Live "inside the mind" of who you're working with. This is advice along the lines of #2 above, but it concerns your existing clients instead of prospects. Often when we're starting out, it's easy to keep our clients' needs and concerns at the front of our minds. Then we start having success, and our attitude and approach -- and even our language -- changes. That quiet confidence we once conveyed starts sounding more like cockiness. We stop living in the minds of our clients and we forget their pain points and why they need us. That's when clients usually stop buying and look elsewhere. By always taking steps to stay on the same page as your clients, you will earn their loyalty and will always be relevant to them in their lives.
5. Use naysayers as your fuel. If you're a successful entrepreneur, or you're working hard to become one, you probably already share this belief. Great ideas are so often met with negativity from others who don't share or even see your vision. If you had listened to those people in the past, you wouldn't be where you are today. But the thing is, naysayers can crop up at every level of idea creation and decision making. Do not ignore them or tune them out. Instead, take their negative energy and transform it into fuel for your vision and your growth engine. "If you ever want me to do something, just tell me how stupid I am for trying it. I've trained myself to take comments like that and make them the wind that propels me forward," says Graziosi.
Give yourself the tools you need to excel in your business and in your personal life. Check out the insights, tactics and actionable strategies from today's top entrepreneurs at AES Nation.
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For the answer, I went to Dean Graziosi. A seasoned pro in both real estate investing and direct marketing, Graziosi shares his insights on successful entrepreneurship through his training courses as well as his many bestselling books.
Recently, I asked him to share the key tenets of his runaway success. He boiled it all down to the following five beliefs:
1. Don't follow the established rules. Consider some of your past successes, especially those that came early on in your career. Chances are you realized them by following your own course, not someone else's. But it's easy to only "color inside the lines" once we get more successful (and feel we have more to lose). Don't stop questioning everything, says Graziosi: "If you're going to follow someone else's rules, you're going to get their results. If you play it safe, you'll never fail -- but ultimately it's failure that plays a big part in building character and confidence."
Example: In 2009, Graziosi wanted to start doing live events based on his real estate books. He was discouraged from doing so by everyone from his media buyer to executives in the live event business who were floundering in the wake of the real estate market crash. "With everyone else folding or telling me not to do it, I knew it was the right time. I partnered with a live event expert and in 18 months we had one of the biggest live event companies in the country," says Graziosi.
2. Make sure your prospects know you really understand them. People will listen to us, like us and buy from us not when they understand us, but rather when they feel understood by us. And yet, how many times do we forget to consider the key issues and needs of our audience and instead focus on making sure we sound smart and clever and interesting?
Graziosi was reminded of this rule recently when he spoke to audiences in Tokyo and Singapore. In Tokyo, he made his speech all about himself, his knowledge and his experiences -- and his comments fell on deaf ears. "I wanted the audience to understand how good I was and that I could deliver, but they walked away feeling like I didn't get them at all."
He re-jiggered his entire approach for his Singapore presentation -- reading the local papers, getting up to speed on the local economy and real estate market and how investors were pursuing opportunities in the current environment. The result: The audience knew from the start that Graziosi understood their situations, and an emotional connection was forged. "I had people jumping up and screaming by the end of that one," he says.
The upshot: When your prospects feel you hear and understand them, it changes the game and makes them eager to engage with you.
3. Never stop being a student. As entrepreneurs, we can learn from anybody -- especially business owners who are still hungry and haven't made their first million yet. Their energy and empowerment can be transformational even for seasoned pros. That's why Graziosi urges us to be sponges willing to take in good information from even unlikely sources. "You can be surrounded by people who are not as successful as you or who maybe seem like they aren't on the same page as you in some important way, but from them you can often learn one thing that will help you perform better in your business," he says.
For example, Graziosi was hesitant to attend one particular seminar but ultimately went. There, he got a piece of advice about how to give away content for free and use that free offer to get people to buy his higher value paid products and services. "I found out what my competitors were selling for two grand and I then gave it away for free, which forced me to create something better to sell," he says. "That advice has probably generated an additional one hundred million dollars, and I often think to myself, 'what if I didn't go to that event?'."
4. Live "inside the mind" of who you're working with. This is advice along the lines of #2 above, but it concerns your existing clients instead of prospects. Often when we're starting out, it's easy to keep our clients' needs and concerns at the front of our minds. Then we start having success, and our attitude and approach -- and even our language -- changes. That quiet confidence we once conveyed starts sounding more like cockiness. We stop living in the minds of our clients and we forget their pain points and why they need us. That's when clients usually stop buying and look elsewhere. By always taking steps to stay on the same page as your clients, you will earn their loyalty and will always be relevant to them in their lives.
5. Use naysayers as your fuel. If you're a successful entrepreneur, or you're working hard to become one, you probably already share this belief. Great ideas are so often met with negativity from others who don't share or even see your vision. If you had listened to those people in the past, you wouldn't be where you are today. But the thing is, naysayers can crop up at every level of idea creation and decision making. Do not ignore them or tune them out. Instead, take their negative energy and transform it into fuel for your vision and your growth engine. "If you ever want me to do something, just tell me how stupid I am for trying it. I've trained myself to take comments like that and make them the wind that propels me forward," says Graziosi.
Give yourself the tools you need to excel in your business and in your personal life. Check out the insights, tactics and actionable strategies from today's top entrepreneurs at AES Nation.
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