"Every Loss Must Be Grieved"

Every loss must be grieved. You can't deal with pain and disappointment effectively by acting like the "thing" didn't happen. You can't dwell there either. Here's a technique that I use to get past discouragement...I plan ahead for it. Let me explain:

One technique that I’ve used to help me manage disappointment is to set aside time for it in advance. I might remind myself in the morning that something disappointing is going to happen on that day but I must keep moving. I must keep moving!

So, what I do is budget myself a set amount of time – say, three minutes for example – to pout, sulk, feel bad and otherwise mourn how much the day sucks when something inevitably happens that I don't like. When three minutes is over, my pouting is over and I’m back to work making like nothing ever happened.

Everybody has poor days. Even the best of us have moments, days, and even weeks that absolutely kick our butts. I’ve found that the best way to limit the negative impact of a bad season is to acknowledge it, grieve over it and then move on as fast as possible.

This idea comes from sports where sometimes a team will lose a game where they just get demolished on the field…then turn around and lose again the next week to a team they have every ability to defeat just because they’re still dwelling on last week’s loss!

Three minutes might be too short for some incidents. Setting aside a full hour might be too much to allow you to move back into your day.

Times are tough for a lot of people and a lot of folks have dealt with great losses in 2010. I know loss, too.

If you have any more tips for people, please add them or email me. I pray that we all learn to get past "last week's loss" and continue to believe and press for God's best!

Prayers and blessings!


Mark Anthony McCray is the Founder of "Live Big, Die Empty" a movement designed to help people live life more abundantly and walk in the purposes for which they were created. Write or call 832-566-2001 for more information and follow Mark on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/MARKMCCRAY and http://www.twitter.com/LiveBigDieEmpty and http://www.twitter.com/TheKoholeth

The Ten Commandments of Marketing Yourself, Your Product or Your Services

I’ll start off with a somewhat controversial declaration: Marketing Rules! Okay, maybe it’s not that controversial. What I mean by that is business is all about marketing when you break it down to the basics. Therefore, successful business is all about successful execution of the company’s marketing function. Don’t believe me? I can swap stories with you that illustrate millions of dollars of lost value for companies that have struggled with the marketing function.

A company can have strong financial managers and accountants, but without customers, for what will they account? Without revenues, what will your IT staff have to maintain? The same questions can be asked of the operations, legal and many executive functions. At the end of the day, a company is successful because it has customers that pay. Without customers, the projections crafted by your CFO and sold by your CEO mean nothing.

Before we launch into the list of marketing commandments, let’s define marketing.

In my view, the easiest way to define marketing is as everything you do to place your product or service in the hands of potential customers. To more easily remember these concepts, marketing is often described as The Four P’s:

• Product (the solution being sold)

• Placement (sales and distribution channels)

• Promotion (finding new prospects and compelling them to become customers)

• Price (pricing and positioning strategy)

In this way, marketing encompasses a number of important activities such as public and community relations, brand management, media planning and advertising, product development and positioning, pricing schemes, sales and distribution strategies and much more. It is important that your company agrees on a definition of marketing. If you don’t, you’ll find that many necessary jobs will go unattended to and many roles unfilled.

Now that we’ve defined marketing, let’s review some guidelines that I believe can help you market your services more successfully. I recently joined LifeCoach Erika Jackson of Turnaround Coaching to talk about several of these. Here's my interview! LISTEN HERE

1. Thou shalt care -

The first rule is to care about meeting people’s needs. People don’t spend money to buy products. People spend money to alleviate a pain or avoid the likelihood of a painful situation. You have to care about that. This is the first and greatest commandment of marketing.

2. Thou shalt have a plan -

Write a marketing plan. Effective marketing campaigns just don’t happen. They are the result of diligent efforts from dedicated marketers.

3. (Unless You are Wal-mart or Dell) Thou shalt not compete on price -

By definition, there can be only one low-cost provider in any market. Therefore, if you can’t be that #1 provider, you are going to have to develop a new niche in which to be #1 and compete on something other than price. If you are the leader and can afford to compete on price, great! If not, play a different game.

4. Thou shalt practice integrated marketing communications -

Advertising is not marketing. Neither are public relations, community relations and direct sales. However, altogether, they each make up a critical part of a comprehensive marketing program. Smart marketers use an integrated approach.

5. Thou shalt execute your plan relentlessly -

Plans aren’t made for your bookshelf. After you write them, use them. Refuse to be a lazy marketer. Refer back to your plans from time to time to make sure that you are still on track.

6. Thou shalt not be boring -

the biggest risk is to take no risk at all. Some people consider this to be the greatest commandment of marketing.

7. Thou shalt not be cheap -

While marketing campaigns don’t always have to be expensive, sometimes you have to spend money. There is an old saying that goes like this: If you don’t advertise, nothing happens. I have learned the hard way just how true this is.

8. Thou shalt measure your efforts -

John Wanamaker said: “I know half of my advertising is wasted, I just don’t know which half.” A century later Al Ries said: “If half of John Wanamaker’s budget was wasted at the turn of the century, then three-fourths of the typical advertising budget is wasted today.” Invest time in figuring out how well your money performs when used in various ways.

9. Thou shalt know your customer -

You never know your customers as well as you think you do. You have to know who is buying your service. This might be a very different person from whom you are targeting. Your past experiences, while valuable, do not tell you everything that you need to know and are no substitute for thorough market research.

10. Thou shalt always interact with real customers -

How many marketing plans are devised in conference rooms by people who haven’t seen nor spoken to a “real” customer in years, if ever? Too many! Successful marketing is magical. Compelling people to part with their most precious resources (their time and their money) and give them to you is hard work. The successful marketer doesn’t get nearly enough respect, in my opinion, for accurately identifying a market need, developing a solution to fill it and effectively communicating the solution. I have not known a good marketing professional who didn’t spend time in the field with customers at least some of the time.

These are my commandments. I find that things work better when I make sure that my teams obey them. When we don’t, I am convinced that we pay a great price, even when we don’t realize it. What are your commandments for successful marketing? Write me. Let me know and I’ll share feedback from our readers in the future!

A final note: every job requires dealing with people. Everything is sales. Even if you’re a teacher, you have to sell the school district on hiring you or you’ll remain unemployed. If you run a non-profit, you have to sell people on donating to your cause. Again, to my teachers, excellence in your job involves selling young people on why they need to do their best with the selected material. If you’re a minister, you have to sell people on Christ or to your point of view. Even if they buy your point of view, you still need to sell them on the idea of supporting you financially. Everything is sales.

Get used to it so you can begin to excel in it.

You can begin to sell like a monster, too! Order my eBook "10 Ultimate No B.S. #MonsterTips to Help You Sell More and Earn More NOW!" and you're on your way!

Just click THIS LINK!

*******************************

Mark Anthony McCray is a Regional Manager for Rising Point Solutions, the leading Credit Restoration company in Texas as well as the Founder of "Live Big, Die Empty" a movement designed to help people live life more abundantly and walk in the purposes for which they were created. Write mark@livebigdieempty.com for more information and follow Mark on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/LiveBigDieEmpty

Business Development Skill: The Nine Most Powerful Words You Can Utter

"Where do you feel like you are right now?"

When you are working with a new prospect or just following up on a lead, once you have let them talk and tell you all about the deal or their situation, ask them this question.

It might seem redundant - like they just finished telling you the answer to this question - but I assure you you'll get more from asking this question than just more details about the loan request. When you ask someone where they feel they are, they will start to share more of their hurts, pains and frustrations -- leading you that much closer to getting their business.

"Where do you feel like you are right now?"

When you ask it directly (and sympathetically), the responses you get will lay out the path towards winning your prospect's trust and transform them into a client. By asking them their perspective, you've changed from a salesperson to a business partner, moving from across the table, figuratively speaking, to a seat next to them.

Bonus: When people say that they are frustrated with what they have been hearing from other service providers or don't like how they've been treated, the best question is the most direct. Your reply should be along the lines of this: "What exactly have the other lenders said that you haven't liked?" or "What is the other web designer telling you that doesn't make you comfortable?"

Does it sound like you're trying to angle to get their business? Of course it does! YOU ARE!

...and they will appreciate the direct approach more than you might think.

Overcoming Depression and Isolation

Holiday celebrations, and preparations are coming right up. This might be a tough year for many of us. Hopefully this will help someone.

Coming out of a major heartbreak, I met with a counselor who helped me see the signs of Depression in my life at that time. I thought I was strong and could "power through" all of my problems. I didn't do very well with that method. If you're dealing with depression and stagnation, my advice is as follows:

(1) Pray. I believe God is there for you. He was for me. Sometimes you won't even have the words to pray. Ask someone with some spiritual maturity to pray for you and then with you.

(2) Find a good counselor - I am not a counselor...just sharing some of what I learned. Get some help. Deborah Giles is great. Thaddeus Eastland is superb. You can reach them at
http://www.harvestofpraiseexalted.org/contact.htm. They can help you make decisions regarding methods, approaches, therapies and medications - if needed.

(3) Take at least one decisive action towards changing the thing that you feel is out of your control - it's not. I am told that the onset of depression often comes from staying too long in a state of cognitive dissonance - failing to act in accordance with your own values for a prolonged period of time. Do something. It will help. Sitting there feeling like you are stuck won't help at all.

(4) Change the voices speaking to you by finding some positive, hopeful and encouraging influences. There's nothing wrong with seeking encouragement until you're able to stand on your own again. It might be pride that keeps you isolated. You might have to cancel some influences.

(5) Change what you say to YOURSELF. Declare your desires out loud. You have to change your confession because your voice means more to you than any other. Simply saying "It's going to get better soon." is much more powerful than repeating to yourself only the worst possible outcomes.

(6) Pray.

If certain statistics can be believed, 20% of all people are dealing with either depression or an undiagnosed mental disturbance every single day.

I believe that one of the enemy's main weapons is isolation followed closely by giving you the impression that you're the only one struggling with the issue. We all suffer and everything we go through is common to all people.

(Forgive me for mashing two scriptures together - I try to be conversational instead of preachy sometimes.)

In any regard, you're not alone. Let's destroy that lie right now.

~~ OK. Preachy-time.

A lot of the problems in our society come from people who are hurting and either don't know it or won't acknowledge it. We hurt other people and destroy ourselves while trying to find ways to dull our pain using our numbing agents of choice.

I DO NOT believe this is the plan of God.

If we would just talk to someone who is spiritually mature and trustworthy and have them pray with us we would experience some healing. If we read James 5 in proper context, it teaches that there is healing in confession to one another coupled with prayer.

My encouragement to all of us is to talk to someone honestly about our feelings and challenges...then pray. That's a good start.

Some Great Books You Might Have Missed...

Previously, I posted a set of book recommendations for entrepreneurs and achievers. Since I was asked for more recently, I am posting this update. Here are three more books that I feel will add a lot to your life and enhance your success!

THE TIPPING POINT: HOW LITTLE THINGS CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE
By Malcolm Gladwell

This amazing book has itself become an embodiment of how an idea can take off and spread like a virus with the right kind of nurture. Among my circle of friends and business associates, this book has been mentioned or quoted dozens of times over the course of the last few months. Each reference has lead to another person purchasing or borrowing the book and then converting into a Malcolm Gladwell disciple.

Haven’t you heard people talk about “reaching a tipping point” or “searching for a tipping point” for their business or career? Pick up a copy of this book and find out what they mean and how the concepts inside it can help you and your business. See? I am adding to the Gladwell virus!

WHY SHOULD WHITE GUYS HAVE ALL THE FUN?
By Reginald F. Lewis

The first time I heard of this book, I was a little stunned by the title. After all, what is more controversial than race in our society? If an author is daring enough to overlay racial issues with business, the ante is raised even higher.

However, I discovered that this book is really for anyone who wasn’t born into the “Ole Boys’ Network.” In other words, if you feel as if you face obstacles to reaching your goals that you feel others haven’t had to face, this book is for you. This inspiring story outlines steps that a smart kid from the wrong side of the tracks took to becoming one of the wealthiest men in America before his untimely death. Before he died, Reginald F. Lewis had become the first African American billionaire and, almost by definition, he had earned the right to teach the rest of us a thing – or three or four – about business.

This is a great book. I still use it as inspiration whenever I need a boost or just a little encouragement.

HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE
By Dale Carnegie

Written in 1936, it is an unusual book that has stood the test of time, changes in the business landscape and countless waves of business fads and trends. After all, the estimated over fifteen million people who have read this book can’t be wrong. Can they?

“This book was designed with professionals in mind, and designed to help professional people do better in business by helping them make social contacts and improve their speaking skills” says one reviewer. I say that the principals taught in this book deserve credit for some of the best successes I’ve ever had.

If you add this one to your library, you will learn:
 The six ways to make people like you
 The twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking
 The nine ways to change people without arousing resentment
Does it sound too manipulative? Don’t be so judgmental. As business executives and professionals, we spend most of our business lives trying to compel people to our points of view. Carnegie just outlines how we can be more effective – and maintain the highest standards of character and integrity!

What I Learned While Struggling

(Or “Some Things You Can Do to Make Sure You Never Suck As Bad at Entrepreneurship As I Did”)

-$113.03.

That was the balance in my checking account when I finally got up the courage to check on my account balances one morning a long time ago. I may have had the absolute worst experience as a start-up entrepreneur in the real estate field as is possible. I mean, I was ridiculously horrible as a first-time-out business owner. Really, it was so bad that all I can do is laugh about it...now that my crying is in the past.

Anyway, at the height of it (the depths of it?), I turned to a close friend who was much more successful than I and just asked where I had gone wrong. It wasn’t a moment of self-pity. I had many moments of self-pity, but this was a time where I was honestly searching for an answer. What could I do to help make sure – to the best of my ability this time around – that I would never go that way again? I needed to know what to do differently if the Lord ever gave me the chance for a do-over in business and in life.

Here are some of the lessons that I learned. I’ve placed them all down on paper as best I can remember. They aren’t in any particular order.

1. Use as much leverage as you can. Other people’s money. Other people’s energies. Other people’s time. I had to get better at using money, systems, people and tools to multiply my effectiveness and profitability.

2. Never, ever, ever take your foot off the gas marketing-wise. The only marketing and sales strategy that is fool-proof is relentlessness. Whether you go small or large with your marketing almost doesn’t matter as much as consistency...never take time off from telling people your story.

3. Protect your confidence. Guard it closely. Even if you don’t have it, fake it. When people see you lose your confidence, you’re close to being done. There’s nothing an entrepreneur can do once his or her confidence is gone. You have to have it...so take it back and get back to work!

4. Your friends aren’t necessarily your friends. You have to be very careful about whom you keep around you. Not everyone is truly supportive. Some are quite destructive to your dreams and visions and will mask their detrimental statements and actions in the guise of being “realistic” and such fallacious euphemisms. Realistic people have never accomplished anything.

5. Get help. Let me rephrase. Get as much help as you can. Saying the words “I need help” can transform your life!

This is a short list because I’m still learning how to be more successful and how to achieve my goals. I have a lot to learn. However, I’m fairly confident that I will be better off if I can master just those five habits. We shall see. It can’t hurt, right?

To your success.

Mark Anthony McCray is Founder of "Live Big, Die Empty" a ministry and movement designed to help people live life more abundantly and walk in the purposes for which they were created. Write or call 832-566-2001 for more information and follow Mark on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/MARKMCCRAY or http://www.twitter.com/LiveBigDieEmpty

18 Very Personal and Candid Rules for #FinancialFitness

Money is not the most important thing in life.  I talk about this (and more) in my FREE eCourse called "9 Practical Paths to Prosperity" which you can begin by clicking HERE.

Now, having said that and depending upon who you are and your disposition, it may not even rank in your top ten priorities. The listing of one’s priorities is between a man and his God.  Frankly, however, there are myriads of books on the bookstore shelves that will suggest to you what things you ought to value and what things ought to be important to you. There are myriads more books to tell you how to pursue those objectives. I have taken a distinctly different approach: my focus is money in this Blog article.

Why this article?

This is a collection of advice that I was looking for when I was younger, thin on experience and had not a clue as to how to manage my financial affairs as a Christian, entrepreneur, husband, father and first time Chief Executive Officer of a start-up company. I was completely lost financially and felt almost without hope of things ever changing.  Hopefully, you, the reader, will benefit greatly from the challenges, pain and subsequent growth, freedom and joys I have experienced.

If you are like me and you’re serious about taking your finances from nothing to something to many things, I believe you’ll enjoy and benefit from this article greatly.

1. Pay God first. I believe that everything is the Lords, and so we honor Him by bringing Him back a portion of all of the increase with which we blesses us. I am a proud tither. I appreciate the chance to honor the Lord with my obedience in tithing. I can recall too many times wherein I didn’t have any income on which to tithe.

2. Pay yourself second. I believe in saving. I can’t allow myself to spend everything that I take in or I’ll never advance. Save as much as you can. Protect your backside with insurance and prepare for rainy days with savings. W. Clement Stone once said, "If you cannot save money, then the seeds of greatness are not in you.” There is a lot of truth in this statement for saving demonstrates the ability to control our emotions and our circumstances – to appreciate bounty, but not forget the lean times.

3. Then pay everyone else. Plan and budget. Don’t allow any dollar to be idle. Know where every dollar is supposed to go and what work it’s supposed to do for you before it shows up.

4. Sow bountifully. Give as much as you can. I believe in giving. I believe that my harvests increase as I sow more. I believe that the Lord promises me an increase in righteousness as I increase in my giving. There are countless encouragements throughout the word of God that we will receive multiplied blessings (harvests) as a result of our giving (sowing). If you aren’t prospering the way that you would like, perhaps you should examine your giving records? Maybe there is a blessing that God has for you that you haven’t obtained because it requires you to sow a seed in faith?

5. Always, always, always ask for the money. The sooner this lesson is learned, the better. As an entrepreneur, sales professional or any other professional whose compensation is based on performance, we have to become accustomed to ASKING for what we want. If I don’t ask, I don’t get. Be importune. Read Luke 11. That’s the model. I’ve been recently blessed to see this attitude in action. Ask! Ask! Ask! If you don’t ask, you don’t get and you’ll be surprised at how many good things will come into your life just because you opened your mouth to ask for them.

6. Be diligent. To quote my Pastor, Thaddeus Eastland, diligence is best defined as "thinking it through, then getting after it and then staying after it." Work as hard as you can. Respond to customers and opportunities quickly. The best ones don't wait for you. Diligence isn’t just about working hard, however. It’s about rising early and looking for every possible opportunity to achieve a goal – uncovering every rock. The Bible says that “the hand of the diligent makes rich” in Proverbs 10:4. This is just one of the many encouragements in the Bible towards diligence in all that we do.

7. Negotiate as much as you can. Negotiate everything. The price isn't always the price. Ask for a discount. If you don’t get a discount, ask for more at the same price. Here’s the thing...you won’t always get the answer that you want. However, my experience is that about half of the time, you’ll get what you’re asking for and sometimes you’ll get more. You’ve got nothing to lose and you just might find that it doesn’t take as much money to get ahead when you’re not paying full price!

8. Always keep cash on hand. A lot of opportunities are missed for lack of means to move quickly. Zig Ziglar made it a habit to leave home with at least $100 in his pocket every day. Who knows? Sometimes you’ll come across an opportunity to be a blessing to someone.

9. Pray as much as you can. Prayer changes things. God can and will give you guidance on the right money moves to make if you ask Him for wisdom. He can and will also give you favor, which is better than having money.

10. Never stop selling, promoting or telling your story. Market every day. Don’t miss a day. Don’t slack. Be relentless. Relentlessness is the one marketing strategy that never, ever fails. When you stop selling, you’re on the path downward financially. When you are relentless about selling, you’re moving up. Never stop marketing and selling. If you can’t do it personally each day, find some ways to use leverage to do it for you – email blasts, sales reps, print ads, etc. can leverage your time and money effectively.

11. Get up early and get after it. They say money never sleeps. It does. But it gets up early. This is closely related to the concept of diligence. A word study on diligence uncovers that it carries with it the idea of getting out of bed and getting started early. Personally, I know that my most productive days and “seasons” have been when I’ve been most intentional about rising and getting to work before everyone else. When I get up late, I often feel like the whole day is close to being wasted.

12. Communicate often and honestly to anyone to whom you owe a financial obligation. If you owe money to someone, talk to them about it. The absolute worst thing to do is to act like there’s no elephant in the room.

13. Don’t allow banks to take your money through fees. Never pay banking and financing charges. Pay bills early and get a discount. I hate giving people money for nothing with a passion! Get rid of your credit cards so that you’re no longer paying money for the convenience of them. If you plan ahead and save, you don’t need them anyway. You probably don't need your credit cards or the charges that come with them. Debit cards work fine for most purposes with some planning.

14. Talk to people. People still do business with people and sales are still based mostly on trust. When I get on the phone, when I take meetings, I make money. This means that I need to answer my phone, make meetings and return correspondence quickly. Plain and simple. If I not talking to people, I am getting broker. If I am talking to people, I’m getting richer.

15. Gratitude and Appreciation. It is hard to increase while despising what you do have. How can we expect the Lord to bless us when we aren’t appreciative of what He’s already done? How can we envy the successful and expect to join their ranks. Thoughts of anything less than thankfulness for our blessings and opportunities keep us out of position to receive more. Take stock of your benefits and not just of your deficits.

16. Simplify and delay gratification. Do you really need it? Do you really need it now? If you don't have it, you may not need it. This is related to the concept of saving. It’s not that we should plan to live lives “without” but that many of the things we want can be saved for and purchased later, cheaper and sometimes not at all after we’ve reflected on them a bit.

17. Use leverage. Leverage #1: Put money to work making more money. Leverage #2: Find ways to capitalize on the efforts of others. Look for business opportunities that allow you to make money while you sleep. It’s very difficult (nearly impossible?) to become wealthy solely off the efforts of your own hourly output. Leverage #3: Systematize your work so that it doesn’t take as much energy to accomplish the same outcomes. Leverage #4: Invest in tools that allow you to do more and do it more efficiently in less time. This is the very practical area that I believe separates middle class from upper class. Most of the wealthy people that I have known have been masters at using OPM, OPE and OPT (other people’s money, other people’s energies and other people’s time). This is also one area in which I believe I need to work on myself the most.

18. Earn as much as you can. Be relentless about your goals and creative about how to achieve them. Give yourself a raise. Raise your value to people and dare to be compensated for it. There is no virtue in earning less than you are able and gifted to earn – to being as productive as you can be with your time, talents and treasures. How do you know that your bounty isn’t designed to be a blessing to someone else? Doesn’t the Bible say that a good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children?

If you have a tendency towards becoming a money-hungry power broker, it is not my desire to encourage your love for money so that you walk away from God. However, I am heartsick over the false dichotomy with which a lot of Believers operate so that they are afraid to prosper. Many are afraid to prosper because they believe it is somehow holier to be impoverished. So they live well below their privilege and fail to use basic financial wisdom in stewardship.

There’s also the other extreme within Christendom whereby everything is about prosperity.

I hope to live with financial balance according to the guidance of Proverbs 30:8-9 whereby I am not so overtaken with poverty that I disgrace the name of the Lord. Neither do I want to be so overtaken by riches, that I feel like I don’t need Him. I hope that I’ve written something that helps you find greater financial wisdom and prosperity with proper spiritual perspective.

To your success.  Be sure to join "9 Practical Paths to Prosperity" if you want to walk through more lessons with me.

Mark Anthony McCray helps people live on PURPOSE, achieve higher PERFORMANCE and experience true PROSPERITY. Be sure to subscribe to this blog so you don't miss a thing and forward this to a friend if you found it helpful. All material © Copyright, Mark Anthony McCray unless otherwise noted!

He can be reached in the following ways:

Mark@LiveBIGDieEmpty.com
Phone: 281-846-5720
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Click HERE for information on Mark as a speaker or presenter and HERE to learn about coaching programs to help you realize your potential and live more prosperously!

How to Become More Productive

"Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend." - Theophrastus

"Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else." - Peter F. Drucker

Here are some quick tips for my fellow entrepreneurs - reminders, if you will - for ways that you and I can increase our productivity within the limited time that we have. I've found that more and more of us are working at more than one business or have a job on the side. It's easy to get caught up in the routine of each day and forget to be aggressive, expansive, productive and efficient. Here are some good time-maximizing practices that you may have forgotten:

1. Practice and prepare your scripts, your language and your presentations before you get into meetings. Think about what you'll say when meeting someone for the first time. Think about how to handle objections. Don't allow yourself to be caught off-guard.

2. Do something every single day to try to generate new business and/or tell your story to a new prospect. This can be done a number of ways: pass someone a business card, send an email, write an article for an industry magazine or update your blog. You never know where you're going to find your next Client.

3. Follow up with old contacts and prospects - those who chose to do business with you and those who didn't. First, you never know how their situations may have changed since you last visited with them. Second, sometimes people really do lose your contact information.

4. Take excellent care of your current clients. Don't just provide customer service. Provide customer OVER-service. Don't just communicate. Over-communicate. In uncertain market conditions, they could use your reassurance.

5. Be coached. No one has accomplished anything really great without coaches, Pastors, leaders and mentors from whom they could learn and improve. If you don't have a good one, get one! Just make sure they are excelling in an a role in which you want to excel or improve.

6. Read good books and listen to great audio programs every day. Make it a habit to feed your mind and soul well so that your attitudes can be healthy. Fueling your mind well will help your bottom line tremendously. Allowing discouragement and dejection to seep in will kill your business.

7. Exercise. This speaks for itself, but it's absolutely critical that you keep your energy level up and your mindset healthy if you're going to succeed as an entrepreneur or sale professional of any kind. Also, the stresses can really drag you down if you don't find healthy ways to process them.

8. Follow a schedule. It helps to have anchored times in your daily routine even if you don't plan every moment. There ought to be some elements of your life that are regimented.

9. Systems can increase your power. Systems create leverage and help you do more with less. Just the same way that sharpening an axe allows you to chop wood faster, using systems and tools in your work (investment sometime required!) can multiply your effectiveness.

10. Have fun! The days go by faster if you remember to find enjoyment in everything you do...and the necessary work doesn't seem quite as taxing. "Whistle while you work" is what I think they used to say!