By: Betsy Hayden
Everything begins and ends with your attitude. In his book, 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, Dr. John C. Maxwell expresses, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” While this is true, attitude comes into play long before leadership. It bears repeating: everything begins and ends with your attitude.
Most entrepreneurs and relationship marketing business owners believe that things are slow in the summer—the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Those of you that know me know that I believe “We design our lives by the choices we make.” That being said, if you decide things will be slow in the summer—if this your attitude—you will NOT be hitting your goals or serving your family and community well. So, let’s talk about how you are going to design you summer and life.
Why did you start your business? To have extra income? To tuck money away into a college fund? To have a bit more freedom? In asking this question, I frequently hear people respond “freedom.” So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty: why do you think your business will give you freedom? We have all heard—often from those who originally shared these opportunities with us—promises of freedom. But this freedom they talked of was not freedom to do anything and everything. It was financial freedom. Your business is not going to get you freedom; what it can get you is flexibility. There is a big difference between flexibility and freedom.
Wait, this is supposed to be about sizzling my summer sales! I’m getting there, but you will get to adapt the attitude of flexibility, not freedom. You’ve got two choices:
- Build momentum now through July, nail August and hit September growing vets and excited new people—insuring a great fall and holiday seasons, locking down 2018, OR
- Buy the lie that summer is slower and try to get some—typically no more than a third—of your people back in the groove in September? That would really mean October and, boom, they’re done in November. People who pack it in during the summer do the same thing during the holiday season.
Good, you chose option one!
To build momentum you must have a plan. You have to calendar your family and your work. Hint: most productive people work on a 90 day calendar, and that is just what we are scheduling now. Notice I did not say “deciding” the old joke;
Five frogs are sitting on a log and four decide to jump off, how many are left on the log? Five, because deciding is not taking action!
I love the Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule. The law of the vital few states that, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the This is true for you business. 80% of your ROI is going to come from 20% of your efforts. Identifying that top 20% will put you in the winners’ circle and hitting your goals by the end of the year.
Hint: most of the entrepreneurs I work with who have great success have plans and systems for these three things:
- Follow-up: The biggest difference in successful business owners is following up.
- Make new contacts: Have a plan to meet new contacts and be prepared where ever you are to acquire someone’s contact information.
- Work with your current leaders and team to build a summer plan: Remember, when you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want. The speed of the leader is the speed of the team.
You know this, so what makes the difference? Schedule two hours per day to make new contact and follow-up calls without fail. You can vary the time of day you do this to catch people, but you must do it each day. When you make that initial contact be sure to ask, “When is a good time to follow up?” It is just that simple, or let them know when you will be following up with them because you have a schedule and have already planned to make your follow-up calls at a set time.
You will want to work a heavier schedule like six hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays or Mondays and Wednesdays. Hire a babysitter for a few hours to go to the pool with you so you can work poolside. You are setting the example for people you may want to recruit as team members. Host a power hour with your team once or twice a week—I suggest two or three times a month in person, and the rest you can have scheduled virtually (zoom.us is a great forum for this). Remember if you were working a corporate job you would be working eight hours a day. Work your business like you are the CEO (because you are) and use your flexibility to your advantage.
When you work to build your teams during the summer think about:
- Who has more time than usual? Teachers, college students, tutors, dance instructors.
- Who needs more flexibility? New mum, someone taking care of an ailing parent, or disabled child or family member?
- Who needs more money? (Everyone! But everyone is not your target market) Parents of a high schooler going off to college, someone getting divorced, or a woman planning a wedding.
Most of this information is at your fingertips and available via your family and friends on Facebook. The key to your success is your ability to break the mold and differentiate your approach from the general approach. The difference between mediocre entrepreneurs and great entrepreneurs is that a great entrepreneur finds opportunity in adversity!
In short, check your attitude, calendar your fun, focus on your business, and take advantage of the recruiting bonanza summer offers. Unlike fall and winter, in summer prospects receive very few calls and are more receptive to your opportunity. So, recruit during the months you have such a huge competitive advantage, and you will also have more time to find, nurture, and train your downline to be prepared to capitalize on the holiday season.
If you would like help in differentiating yourself with a specific approach from a general approach, I offer brainstorming sessions, plans for your business, and building a summer marketing plan. Feel free to contact me. I work individually and with teams.
Betsy Hayden holds a degree in Architecture and a minor in Drafting & Design. Working for 5 of the largest engineering firms in the world Betsy used John Maxwell’s Leadership principles to lead successful teams. She is the CTO (Chief Thriving Officer) of Awesome Focus.
She is a Certified Speaker, Trainer and Coach of The John Maxwell Team and Appreciation At Work. As a professional speaker she focuses on: Leadership, Team Building, Communication & Recognition. Betsy can be reached at: 843-597-6555 or emailed at: 2awesomefocus@gmail.com