August 15, 2007

How Much Sleep Do You Need?... Fulfill Your Promise and You Can Decide What You're Worth... Encourage Your Customers to Do More Than Buy... and More.

** How Much Sleep Do You Need?
By Adrian Newman, Founder of e-Wealth Daily

My son is 10 months old today, and he is finally sleeping through the night. He goes to sleep at 7:00 p.m. every night and wakes up at 6:30 a.m. every morning. My two- and-a-half–year-old daughter is basically on the same schedule, although she’s asleep by 8:00 p.m.

However, it wasn't always this good. When both my kids were newborns, they would only sleep two hours at a time and would cry to be fed. As infants, even thought their feeding schedule changed, there would still be interruptions overnight. It was during that time that I realized how much sleep I really need per night.

I'm a staunch believer in getting as many income-producing hours into my day as possible. If I have the time, I try and focus it on my main success goals. For example, I read books while working out at the gym, or I listen to audio books in my car. If there is anything I can do to improve myself, I do it.

This would also cut down on my sleep. I love getting into the office bright and early and I love to stay late. Therefore, I would only sleep about five hours a night so that I could get into the office nice and early. I would create more income-producing hours in my day by staying awake longer.

My wife is still shocked at the lack of sleep I get and, because the baby is now sleeping all night, wonders if I should increase the hours of sleep I get for my own health. This got me thinking. Just how much sleep does a person need to get in a night?

I did some research and found out that the average person needs about eight hours of sleep per night. Saying that, I also discovered that while this is the recommended amount for the average person, some people require less sleep and others require more sleep.

So how many hours of sleep per night do you need? Here's a test you can take to determine the right figure for you:

On Sunday night, go to sleep at a set time and set your alarm to wake up at the time you need to. For example, go to sleep at 11:00 p.m. and set the alarm to 6:00 a.m.. Do this every day until Friday night. On this night, you still go to bed at 11:00 p.m., but don't set the alarm.

Take note of the time when you wake up on Saturday morning and see how many extra hours you slept. Then, take that number, divide it by six (the number of sleep nights this experiment has run for) and you'll determine the extra number of hours of sleep you need per night.

So, for example, by taking the 11-6 model previously stated, where you sleep in until 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, you would take that extra four and a half hours and divide it by six. You would therefore need and extra 45 minutes of sleep per night. (4.5 hours = 270 minutes/6 nights = 45 minutes per night.)

Please note: this experiment has to be done diligently. You have to stick to the schedule, avoid any distractions that could disrupt your sleep, and stay away from caffeine and alcohol.

Once you determine how much sleep you need, you'll be able to have a more productive day.

As I continue say to my clients, "I charge more because I do more — and because I guarantee better results."

The bottom line is — in a lot of cases — how you position yourself with others will determine whether or not you get what you want from them. You can increase the quality of your work. That's always a good way to demand more money. But then what? When you are already the best at what you do, giving your work the most attention you can, then what?

Guarantee results.

Educating yourself and becoming an expert will only take you so far. To be sure, it will enable you to speak the language of the people you serve. The more useful you are, the more money you will make, regardless of how many hours you work or even the quality of your work.

If you want to rise up to the next level, then you need to think differently. You need to increase your perceived value. In my own business, it was simply a matter of putting my money where my mouth was and guaranteeing results. Look at the competition: What are they doing? How they are doing it? What did it take for them to get there? Most importantly, look for that "special something" that you can add to your
repertoire, which will make you stand head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd.

If you're making far less money than you want to, or if you have any other unrealized dreams, now is the time to take a good, hard look at yourself and see what you can do to add value to yourself. I took a long, hard look at my skills and I realized that I could be demanding far more from my clients. I just needed to figure out how to approach them.

You need to identify the benefits you bring to your client, employer, or other contact. I have colleagues who have refused themselves millions of dollars by not identifying what their clients really want: added value. They never raise their rates because they are afraid that they will lose clients. This fear paralyzes them.

Trust me, people are more than willing to pay you more if you can make them more money or bring them more success, power, winnings, or whatever. I want you to remember something: If there was a layoff at your place of employment tomorrow, there is no way you could guarantee that you wouldn't be the first to go.

And I don't care what your position in the company is or how well your boss says you perform. I've seen top executives let go because of the company's spending cutbacks. And they all heard the same thing as they walked out the door, severance package in arm: "It's nothing personal."

So why do we think that it's such a personal thing to ask for more money? You should never be afraid to negotiate your added value in any situation.

You need to make it your job to reshape your prospect's thinking about the value that you — and only you — bring to the table. It's that simple. If you want more money, you need to persuade the customer — whether that customer is a client, your boss, or the man or woman of your dreams — that you have value. Make that person understand the value that you bring to the table and how it will benefit him or her. But also learn to listen before you make your pitch.

In sales seminars, they teach you that it is wrong to go to a client, lay your product or service on the table, and talk about how it's just what the client needs. Instead, they teach you that you must find out your client's primary buying motive before you speak. You must determine their needs and their wants first.

Listen to the responses before you position yourself. Customers will buy into you for their own reasons, not yours, and they are in control, not you. Find out what those reasons are. When you let people speak, they get a feeling of being in control. Little by little, they remove barriers during the conversation and begin to share with you the information that you need. If you take the stance of a salesperson, you will present yourself as someone who genuinely wants to fill a need.

The same techniques used by honest salespeople can also work for you in achieving what you want: the money you want, the contract you want, the position you want, or the raise you want.

** Encourage Your Customers to Do More Than Buy
By Michael Newman, the "Money Finder"

Many of you have probably purchased items through the mail or from a web site.

And as popular as purchasing items through the mail or over the Internet is, there are still loads of people with a "try it before they buy it" mentality, which is something you usually can't do when buying products this way.

For an upstart entrepreneur or inventor, these hands-on people are both your best prospects and possibly your worst nightmare.

Let me start with why they are your best sales prospects.

It doesn't seem so long ago that my doorbell was constantly ringing, and just outside my door were eager door-to-door salespeople wearing suits and carting along a whole slew of products and offers.

They'd have with them the latest edition of some encyclopedia or the latest monster vacuum cleaner guaranteed to uproot my carpet.

Once they'd give their initial pitch, there were three words almost all of them would utter that potentially could turn anyone from just a casual observer into their next paying
customer.

And those words are: "try it yourself."

The encyclopedia salespeople would hand you a copy of the latest edition and tell you to note the quality of the pages and clarity of the photos and illustrations. Or the vacuum salesman would sprinkle a little dirt on the floor and then ask you to turn on the machine and see and feel the cleaning power.

What these salespeople know is that by inviting people to make an action and handling the product, they are helping provide proof that their product is just as good as they claimed it would
be.

And you can't deny that actually seeing a product in action is some of the best proof you can possibly provide.

That's why when you're starting out, you should get your product into the hands of as many people as you can. Go to trade shows, fairs, and flea markets, and be ready to demonstrate the product you've invested your time and money into.

Now, earlier I said that these people who like to try it before they buy it could also be your worst nightmare. Well, that only holds true if you aren't 100% confident in what it is you're trying to sell. These customers are discerning and hard-nosed and are looking for possible cracks in the foundation of your product. So be ready for the criticism and naysayers, because if you can win them over, you can sell to anyone.