November 16, 2009

Sell Your Skills for Big Money... Fulfill Your Promise and
You Can Decide What You're Worth... Can You Hear Success
Coming Your Way?... How to Create a Successful Money
Team... and More.

More and more these days, I'm noticing how people are embracing their talents and using them in business. Consulting businesses are becoming more popular all the time, and people are profiting from their skills.

I can't think of a better business than one running on the steam of your own talents. You have worked hard, you have experience and education, and now you can use all of those things to help others -- and make a great income.

Business and individuals alike are using consultants for any number of things. You name it and people are doing it. Creative consultants, public relations consultants, computer consultants, productivity consultants, financial consultants...and the list goes on.

Essentially, anything you have expertise in can be turned into a consulting business. You can make money from your expertise.

The face of business is changing every day. Technology seems to change hourly, and even things like approaches to public relations and marketing change with trends. So companies have taken to hiring consultants to come in for a period to help their organizations get back on track.

If you have the experience, the tips, the techniques and the training, then why not share that with others while pulling in a hefty profit?

Consulting is very trendy right now, but it's not a trend that I see fading anytime soon. It's a business venture that you won't have to sink a lot of money into, because your biggest asset is you.

Selling your skills can be done on a part-time or full-time basis, just make sure that you aren't stepping on any toes if you retain your full-time job.

Attracting money is a lot easier when you are working on your own steam and talents. You are in control of a consulting business, and you are being hired to do what you do best.

There is a high demand for knowledge and expertise, as businesses need to stay on top of changing trends and technology. The best way to help yourself is to help other businesses. A company could spend a great deal of money sending employees to train by taking courses -- it's a lot more economical to bring in someone to help out everyone in one shot.

So, if you long to be in business for yourself, but love what you do, then a consulting business could be a great way to get the best of both worlds.

As I continuously 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 were 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 way of 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 could 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.

Last week, I started on the topic of becoming a better listener to improve your moneymaking skills. Today, let me add a little more advice to help you perfect your listening skills.

Another key to listening is truly taking the time to listen to what you're being told, rather than simply waiting to get the next word in. One way to get away from this is to remember that at any moment the person speaking to you could say something of high importance, so it's a good idea to pay close attention to ensure that you don't miss it. If you do, it could spell trouble.

Next, I've always found it to be beneficial to either repeat what you were just told, or at least paraphrase the information. For example, when you're talking to someone, try to always begin your response by repeating the last sentence or so that they said. This way, you not only demonstrate that you're listening, but you also get to hear what that person has said come out of your own mouth. This can really help you digest the information you've just been fed, along with giving you the opportunity to see if you correctly understood, while seeing how it sounds coming out of your mouth. When you say it yourself, you may be more prone to notice any problems with what you've heard.

If repeating doesn't necessarily work for you, then try paraphrasing what you've just heard. This allows you to coherently break down and simplify what you've just heard, reiterating the gist of the statement back to your competition. It allows you to fully understand what they are saying, while giving you the ability to put what you're hearing into your own words.

You can also greatly improve your listening skills while increasing your understanding of what someone is saying by taking notes during conversations and negotiations. Taking notes lets you highlight the important parts of the conversation (because you'll tend to make notes on the information you consider the most pertinent) and can serve as a reference tool later on. The reference tool becomes important, because it's usually the case that a negotiation takes a couple of steps. Reviewing your notes gives you a point of reference to refresh your memory, so you can come back to the competition with well-formulated thoughts and opinions based on hard facts instead of just relying on your memory.

If you haven't got a pen and paper handy, you can still digest what people are saying to you by delaying your response time. Therefore, when it's your turn to speak, don't jump in right away. Instead, wait a few seconds before delivering your response. This allows you to digest the information you've just received and respond with something of relevance and pertinence to what your competition just said.

By becoming a better listener, you can better equip yourself for a negotiation. Listening allows you to find out what other people truly need, while providing you with the best opportunity to make them happy. By giving them what they want, you can secure the business or results you desire.

** How to Create a Successful Money Team
By John Hurd, Chief Wealth Researcher

My hometown has very strong passion for one thing. It seems that, as far back as I can remember, this town has been absolutely nuts for hockey. And with good reason, as several National Hockey League players have called this town home over the years.

Growing up, it was hard to find an empty outdoor rink that wasn't crammed with pickup hockey teams battling it out until the lights were shut off.

One of my first jobs was at a local sports shop that was known as the go-to destination for aspiring hockey legends. The store stocked the latest and greatest hockey equipment and the staff was required to be up-to-the-minute on all hockey news and product breakthroughs.

I worked side-by-side with some of the town's more celebrated junior athletes. Customers not only wanted us to help fit their children with skates and equipment, but they also wanted to get our thoughts on who was hot -- and who was not -- on the ice.

At the cash counter near the back of the store, you could find any number of parents, coaches and players gathered around, discussing last night's game and picking up some last-minute supplies.

The owner recognized that this sense of community really helped to keep his business open year after year. So, he came up with a plan to help encourage customers to return to his shop week after week.

In a town obsessed with hockey, there were also a number of schools and clinics that included everything from basic skating lessons to intense training camps on par with what many pros go through.

So, the owner of this shop approached one of the most sought- after coaches in town to come to the shop once or twice a week to help on the sales floor. And the coach jumped at the opportunity.

You see the storeowner knew what he was doing, as many people came in just to talk to this coach. He'd help fit skates and equipment and would plug his upcoming training camps. He once told me that he had to stop advertising in the local paper, because he was drumming up so much business from just one or two days a week in the shop.

This partnership proved to be very profitable for both the coach and the shop owner. Customers flocked to the store just to share a few moments with the coach and the coach pulled in enough students to fill his camps to capacity.

So, when it comes to your moneymaking ventures, consider any opportunity to team up with another local entrepreneur. But be sure to discuss what both of you want from the relationship. As long as you aren't competing for the same customers, by combining your efforts with someone else, you could create a highly profitable local connection.