Worried? You shouldn't be!

Hello Readers,

I'd like to make a key point that might upset some of you. But it needs to be said.

If you're worrying, you're hurting me.

Woah, slow down there Sascha. I know you're a little radical compared to the normal image of an investor, but you just insulted me.

No.

I didn't. I said in effect, you're wasting my time. And here's how:

Worrying about problems you don't believe you can fix causes stress, which causes panic. If you panic, a natural response is to do NOTHING.

THe body reacts by either reacting or responding based on what's going on between your ears.

If it's good stuff like motivational support or positive input, then you're probably not fearing or freetting, nor are you worried.

But if you're not getting anything but what goes on during the day, you're probably getting an earful of bad news. This wave of bad news we've seen in the media with our economy has hurt us more than it's helped us. True, the economy is in the tank, and that a lot of crinimals are not being properly punished. But that's the feederal governments problem, not ours.

ARe we taking care of the economy in our head?

If not, I can guarentee your business will struggle to succeed EVERY step of the way. And I don't want that.

So take a moment to "get a check up from the neck up" so we can avoid "Stinkin' thinkin'.

And with that, I wish you a prosperous day.

Strengthening our Weak Points!

The New Year is upon us and it’s time for all those wonderful new years’ resolutions, right?

Wrong! The thought of trying to make one actual change that’ll stick actually doesn’t set well with me. Imagine everyone who actually sets out to do something like lose weight or donate more to charity or spend smarter in our tougher economy. Didn’t we say all these things at the beginning of ’08?

Well, many of us did. In fact, I did too, but what I did differently was to set goals I could actually achieve. I hit most of my targets, many of which I didn’t realize I had hit until months after the fact because I was so busy working I didn’t have time to notice. Goal setting is the process of setting a realistic goal that you can accomplish in a given time frame that’s clear and concise. Knowing how I write, I knew I could write 8 novels in a year, and though I only finished and released 7, that’s’ pretty damn good!

New Years resolutions often seem far fetched and without aim other than for generic goals, like “I want to lose 50 pounds by summer.” Come on, we’ve all heard those, right? And we’ve seen the results. Start strong, finish weak in many cases.

So I’m calling for more goal setting with a focus on strengthening our weak points. We’re only as strong as our weakest aspects and for many of us, this could make a huge difference in our lives. Let me explain:

My bench is roughly 155 lbs. I weigh 15 lbs more than that and have a goal of being able to bench 210 by summer using resistance training, proper diet and a proper regimen of lifting. What makes the difference in all of this is my weaker muscles; my biceps and triceps. And my shoulders thanks to a shoulder injury from last March. If I strengthen my arms, I will attain my results much faster because the weaker parts of me are now better equipped to deal with the workload being placed upon them.

We have this problem in sales. Some of us are confident speakers, others could benefit from Toastmasters International. Imagine how much more business and opportunity you can create if your speaking voice is polished even just a little?

On the Real Estate front, who couldn’t use more education? These are tough economic times as I mentioned earlier, so why not buckle down and get back to the basics? I’m sure there are things we all missed when we began this journey.

The point is, that if by discovering and strengthening our weaknesses in one area of life, we’ll find that we improve all around. That can help lead us to a more passionate life!

New Tools!

Well folks, it’s the last month of 2008, how have you done? If you think this is going to be a blog about reflections, you’re probably partially right! I’m big on results, seeing as my mentors and all the gurus preach about results.

Instead, I’ve come to you to discuss a new idea that came to me from my other career and has found a purpose in real estate.

New Tools. We need new tools oftentimes becuase the old ones aren't working any longer.

Let me explain: As a writer, I used anger as my primary emotion to pull from in order to raft passionate, powerful romances that had a point. That point was that no matter what your state of mind, you can overcome any obstacle if you let a little love and faith into your heart.

The problem is that I pulled a lot of that aggression from my past and from stored up anger, which had somehow managed to disappear in April of this year. In short, after almost 18 years of being pissed off and angry and using that to fuel the last 8 years of my romance writing career, I had no anger. My darkest romance written to date was finished in July or thereabouts and had been given the angst and annoyances that I had felt in the past as well as most of my aggression as of late, but the old stuff in me was gone.

This made me feel like I’d had no more creativity since that came from that dark, angry place sometimes labeled a dark night of the soul. Except that I willingly gave that part away and back to where it belonged and had managed to craft four more stories since July. A very dear friend of mine told me that it was time for new tools for both of us as writers.

Does that make sense? Our old ways are of no use anymore and in whatever profession we’re in, be it real estate, writing, sales or you name it, the tools of old will get us only so far. But if we find a way to utilize those old skills, we’ll invent new tools to suit our purposes and allow us to help others as well as ourselves. Is there a way you can use old technology in a different manner to get business accomplished? Can you take a new method and put an old spin on it to create a more unique tool for your purposes?

That’s what’s involved in helping others. We’re all problem solvers, whether we realize it or not. The way in which we go about creating our solutions can be an intense journey that challenges our minds and provides us with a bit of fun if we let it.

So I’d encourage you to seek out new tools for business, for living, for enjoyment of life. Did you realize that this blog was my first new tool of 2008? Based on the feedback I get occasionally and the stat counter, I see it’s serving some purpose, which is good.

Since we’re winding down, I’ll ask you the standard questions. Have you had a great year? Did you do bigger things, help more people for the greater good? Did you learn your purpose and start applying it to all aspects of your life?

If not, that’s okay. Just look at your results and your tools. A simple evaluation will tell you where you’re going. I’d stress that you keep the evaluation easy and not too concise, lest you get bogged down in over analysis. Spend maybe an hour at most, no more on self reflection. If you trust your instinct, which I encourage, you’ll figure out what you need in order to end this year on a good note and start the next year with a bang!

Things coming around full circle!

It's November here in California and that means the weather is...interesting to say the least! I'm used to Texas weather in some regards I guess, the humidity that lingers in teh air while it rains and remains hot for much of the year.

WHereas living in Oakland, it's cold and rainy now LOL!

But, back to business. Have things come full circle for you this year? Have you set goals only to find yourself waning on them early on or in the middle of the year? If so, now's the time to take a moment and re-evaluate those goals, see where your preformance is.

I bet you'll be surprised. I was.

I origionally planned to have 8 releases out this year. At last count I'll have 7.
I planned to make a LOT of money in real estate. I gained a LOT of education this year.
I planned to lift stronger this year. I'm in pretty good shape according to my cardiologist.
And next year is setting up to be a better year for me.

Does your list look like mine? Is it similiar? I hope so. See, when we lose sight of our goals, things tend to fall apart. But a quick glance at our goals and progress can be seen in a new light. It's the second to last month of the year and we're getting ready to wind down. Can you look at your goals and set reasonable progress markers?

The end of the year is coming and I'm tring to slow down, just to have a bit of peace of mind over the holidays. HOw about you?

Sorry for the repost...

But I'm kinda sick still.

Anyway, with the economy in turmoil, I figured the best thing I could do was remind everyone that we need to continue to spend money in order to stimulate the economy. I did my part, and for those that are opposed to kink, forgive me. But using the same style of storytelling that Zig Ziglar uses to get his point across, I have theorized that buying a new singletail whip will help stimulate the economy.

In these troubled financial times, it's neccesary for Americans to have trust reaffirmed by our government. Since they've let us down, it's up to the backbone of our country, the SALESMEN, to once again reaffirm our faith in the capitalist society.

So I have a plan.

Some of you know I've been playing with singletails recently. Now for those not in the know, a singletail is a 4 ft bullwhip used in the vanilla world for hearding cattle, driving sled dogs, etc. In the BDSM world, it's used for enticing and punishing, turning on and arousing, sexy little submissives.

One of the FINEST singletail makers in the country is Victor Tella. I met him recently at Folsom St. Fair but have been playing with his 8 plait whips occasoinally at Whip Works singletail workshop once a month. These whips are fluid, very snake like and are just works of art. I plan to purchase one.

Now some of you already know I own one. And I'm happy with my singletail, it's been good to play with and learn on, but as with anything, why not buy the best I can afford!

How can my singletail purchase help the economy you ask? Very simple. Money isn't backed by gold anymore. It's backed by people's confience and is a representation of said confidence in the government and our system. (There is nothing else backing money if I remember Rich Dad saying)

So...I give Victor Tella $235.00 for one of his beautiful, handcrafted made in America snake whips. I trust him, in otherwords.

My payment is hopefully processed online by machines running some form of a database, probably Oracle or some version of Linux/Unix, here in America. IT guys run those machines and do tech support, thus earning a living.

He in turn orders leather from his vendor, then has to possibly order knives to cut the leather into strips. Victor doesn't take short cuts and use precut leather or pre dyed leather, so there's another thing he's got to order. Dye. I want a black and purple whip, or perhaps two other colors. I am the dark wolf prince...after all.

AFter he's painstakingly crafted my beautiful whip, he then must purchase a box to send it to me in, at the post office. Then, that post man(or woman) must go through the ordering process, using computers (again set up and supported by IT people emoployed in THIS country) to get my order onto a truck/plane or other vehicle to deliver it to my door.

Money has changed hands so many times in the above scenario that I couldn't tell you exactly WHERE my final dollars ended up, but I can tell you that I have put money back into the economy, all becuase i like a little kinky sex.

Oh, and this purchase is "research" oriented so I get a tax write off, which helps ME save more money to put back into the economy.

Make sense?

Winton Churchill - Salesman and Author of Email Marketing for Complex Cycles!

Thought we'd try something a little different here on the White Wolf blog. This interview is geared towards the sales part, an importantp art of our careers in most businesses I can think of. So we spent a few moments with Winton Churchill, a leading sales expert for some advice and to talk about hiw new book "Email Marketing for Complex Cycles"

Let's start with the book:

This book contains information which is beneficial to the following people and businesses: small business owners, professional consultants, marketing executives, sales executives and people in technology companies. Most have complex sales cycles which simply means, they form a relationship with their prospects before the prospects make a purchase.

These topics and themes are in your book.
• Building rapport with prospects
• Presenting information in a way that they don't drown
• Reducing tedious and demeaning sales tactics
• Closing more sales
• Shortening sales cycle
• Reducing stress in sales organization
• Reducing uncertainty about meeting forecasts

The content is easy to understand and it is packed with great information for any business that wants to use email to reach prospective clients. When done right, email is a very powerful marketing medium - Winton Churchill knows how to do it right.

You Will Discover:

● 3 keys to improving the quality of your leads
● 5 techniques to increase the number of leads you get
● 3 little-known conversion tactics that turn leads into revenue
● 1 mistake that dooms most lead generation to anemic results
● 2 unconventional ways to shorten your sales cycle
● 3 ways you've been brainwashed when it comes to email
● 6 special needs shared by all complex sales cycles
● 3 critical stages of success (and what to do at each one)
● 18 essential components you need to get going
● 8 indispensable "fast track" strategies to get you on the road to success

Level the playing field!...Compete with your strengths.

About Winton Churchill
Winton Churchill is Founder and CEO of Churchill Method, Inc. , an international sales and marketing consulting firm that helps clients improve their sales and marketing processes. He is the author of "Email Marketing for Complex Sales Cycles." He has held senior positions in both F500 technology firms including Apple, Oracle, Spinnaker and Sun. He headed sales & marketing as VP at Contact Software, the developers of ACT!. He is Past President of the South Bay Association of Chambers of Commerce. The SBACC serves 18 Chambers and more than 53,000 businesses in coastal Southern California.


For More Information and A Special Offer For Each Person Who Purchases Email Marketing
For more information, visit www.churchillmethod.com. Visit www.virtualblogtour.blogspot.com for the most up to date information. His full tour schedule is posted at http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2008/06/winton-churchill-email-marketing-for.html. Winton Churchill is offering a wealth of free gifts for every person that purchases his book Email Marketing. Visit www.churchillmethod.com/bookbonus for full details about how to download all of these free gifts.


Now let's talk about HIM! Here's the Interview!

1. Tell us how you became involved in marketing and sales

Just after college I co-founded an electronics company. We built digital test equipment for digital design engineers. My partner was a college friend. He was the engineer and I was everything else!
Our early days involved developing a product. Once the product was complete I began to generate some leads. The next step was to go sell those leads. The only practical way to do that was to get on an airplane and go see the prospects where ever they were.
I quickly learned that if I could produce better leads before I went on those trips, I would sell more on the trips. So my early success in marketing had a very positive impact on my sales. Throughout my career (even as VP Sales & Marketing) I have worked to keep that linkage tight so good marketing work translates into sales.

2. Tell us, why sales cycles? What does that mean exactly and how can your book help sales professionals to understand their importance?

Many businesses look at the sales process as one giant hairball. Sales are either good or bad or maybe something in between. We have found in our consulting work, that by looking at an entire sales process from beginning to end, and breaking it up into discrete sections, we can often make a series of small improvements that add up to a big improvement in the overall functioning of the sales and marketing part of the company.
Too often sales professionals are too close to the action to see how the different parts can be improved. By following our process of breaking the sales cycle into 3 main categories then breaking those components down even more you can often quickly repair a faltering sales proccess.
Its like a car with an engine that doesn’t function properly. It may only be the fuel filter, but that can bring the whole car to a stop. Once the problem is properly diagnosed, it is easy to make a simple repair.

3. Was Zig Ziglar an inspiration of yours?

That is a great question! Yes... I have found Zig's work on goal setting to be very effective. His warmth, insight and experience make him a great teacher. Over the years I've listened to many of his audios and given them to members of my sales team when it seemed like their sales performance was not what it could be. It is so important for high performers to always improve their skills and I suspect Zig has helped more than most.

4. How do you think technology is changing the face of sales? How do you feel about this?

Technology has certainly made it much easier to identify and attract prospects.
This is good.! Too many small businesses in particular struggle with their sales. Their cycles tend to be uneven, and the revenue ups and downs can make life miserable in a smaller company.
The good news is that the technology available today means no company should ever have to worry about those problems again. By taking a few simple steps they can ensure their sales and their marketing processes are as reliable and effective as they can be.
But I feel sorry for the business owner or executive who doesn't embrace this technology or is slow to come to it. A lot of times our consulting work is helping just such a company get caught up... bringing them into the new millennium in terms of using the tools that are available.
The transition can be painful and awkward at times but the rewards are astounding for the company that sticks with it. We work to take some of the sting out of the transition.

5. Can you give us a powerful excerpt from your book for the blog?


Yes...when I speak I am always asked when is the best day of the week to send an email. Get this right and your responses can be double what they are if you send your email at the wrong time. Here is the excerpt:
What you send is important.
When you send it is almost as important—and in some cases, it might even be more so.
Schedule your outbound email when it has the least competition from distractions:
• Don’t send email on Monday or Friday.
• Don’t send the day before a holiday or the first day back after a holiday.
• Don’t send on an election day.
• Morning arrivals tend to get the best responses. The email should be seen as a “recent arrival” to the inbox.
• Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings are good.
• Don’t send if a disaster is in progress, or a riveting news event is capturing everyone’s attention.
You can’t always anticipate the best timing. But as a general rule try to avoid times when people have other things on their minds. You just don’t want to be in somebody’s hair during a terrorist attack or some kind of other emergency that’s consuming their attention or causing them anxiety.
Be careful not to fall for “opportunities” to get lists from brokers during those times either.
A number of disreputable vendors offered discount rates on mailing to their lists after the attacks in September 2001, hoping to catch some people who would say, “Oh gee, we can save 50% on so and so list if we go with it next week.”
In cases like that, you might think you’re saving money, but you’re actually wasting it. You’ll get a very low response rate.
6. Where can people learn more?
Well probably the best thing they can do is take a look at the book. It’s been engineered to help the typical business reader get a firm grasp on how this technology can specifically help them in their business. I took great pains to keep it in terms a business person would understand rather that so many of the jargon-filled, mathmatically complex books on the topic.
Most people can read it in about 2 hours and walk away with a much clearer idea of how they can apply the prinicples and tactics in the book.
Purchasers of the book also get free electronic access to the following:
1. 12 Emergency Tips For Improving Response To Your Direct Mail or Direct Email Lead Generation Programs. Audio mp3
a. If you've developed an e-mail campaign, designed a white paper, developed a new web page and aren't seeing the results you want, this CD can help. Most marketers throw the baby out with the bath water. With this CD you'll learn how to spruce up that program that isn't living up to your expectations. Don't start over, just tweak what you've got.
Retail price $125

2. 7 Fatal Mistakes Senior Executives Make With Their Complex Sales Cycle ...And How You Can Avoid Them. Audio mp3
Because complex sales cycles are so tricky and individual, it is no wonder that senior executives have a hard time getting a handle on them. Often times their "vision" is obscured by days to day operations. The Churchill Method has identified 7 common mistakes most likely to mess up your sales cycle with concrete, action-oriented ideas than can help you avoid those mistakes.
Price $65
3. Sales & Marketing Diagnostic—A 12 factor, self-scoring spreadsheet that will help you identify the weaknesses in your sales and marketing.
The checklist helps you rate your own sales and marketing process with respect to the things that matter most when the economy turns sour. And keeps you from getting caught “flat-footed” when the turbulence hits. Run this periodically to keep yourself on track.
Price $29
These bonuses add a new dimension to the content of the book. It helps people take the thoughts and ideas from the book and gain more clarity on how to put them into action.

Here is the link for the sample chapter:

http://churchillmethod.com/chapter.html

The book is available at:

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/5rv7t5

Barnes & Noble: http://tinyurl.com/5jykgy

My main website is here:

http://www.churchillmethod.com

And my blog is here:

http://churchillmethod.net/blog/
If you look through our website (http://www.churchillmethod.com ) you find a number of reports, audios and resources that will help you begin to analyze and improve your whole sales process.

For more information, visit www.churchillmethod.com. Visit www.virtualblogtour.blogspot.com for the most up to date information. His full tour schedule is posted at http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2008/06/winton-churchill-email-marketing-for.html. Winton Churchill is offering a wealth of free gifts for every person that purchases his book Email Marketing. Visit www.churchillmethod.com/bookbonus for full details about how to download all of these free gifts.

Thanks and best of luck to Winton Churchill!

Missing updates!

Hello Passionate Peoples!

I apologize for the lack of regular updates, you see I've been under severe deadline with two publishers and have been deling with edits and cover art etc. The beauty of this is that I"m living my dream of being a full time writer and my results are impressive as I spend more time devoted to just my writing!

I'm lacking in real estate progress it seems.

Or am I?

Well, in my spare time I've managed to make some contacts that'll help me by allowing me to help them. Realtors, network marketing people, other investors and of course, distresssed homeowners.

So there has been progress, thankfully. But not much, it's been slow. I can deal with slow results though, even in this tough economy.

I promise there will be more regular updates probably starting next month. I'm kinda free for a few days at the end of September so we'll make some powerful posts for you to pass on :)

Cheers!

Sascha Wayne