How To Get A Client Or A Prospect To Say No, So You Can Get A Yes
April/May 2022
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5 Steps To Get To An Extraordinarily Successful Business And Life
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10 RULES FROM GEORGE FOREMAN On What It Takes To Reach The Top (And Stay There)
This is a courtesy publication brought to you by SpliceNet
Jim Gast - CEO Of SpliceNet Consulting
April/May 2022 Contents
3 Letter From The Editor 5 Be Inspired 6 How To Get A Client Or Prospect To Say No, So You Can Get To Yes 8 5 Steps To Get To An Extraordinarily Successful Business And Life 12
16 Screw SEO The Biggest Mistake On Your Website 19 Hot Tech 20 5 Free Ways To Get More Clients 22 If You're Selling Your Business, Which Employees Should You Tell? 24 10 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Direct Mail Now
10 Rules from George Foreman On What It Takes To Reach The Top (And Stay There)
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Let ter from the Edi tor
Where Do You Go When You Have Questions About Building A Better Law Firm?
T here’s a popular phrase in business: “If you’re not growing, you’re dying.” Many people, like business guru Tony Robbins and writer William S. Burroughs, have said it in different ways, but the truth remains the same: The minute your business stops growing is when it starts dying. That moment between life and death became viscerally clear for many law firms in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Firms were called on by clients to help them adjust and answer questions about the future. Some firms struggled to build and maintain virtual relationships with clients and employees — they didn’t have a plan, they faltered, and some closed their doors. Lawyers are seen as experts, thought-leaders, and doers. You are. That’s why you know that building trust with your clients is the key to your business. If you help them feel safe, secure, and prepared, they’ll stick around for decades. You get to know their families, you have dinner, you go to funerals. When people have questions about big decisions in business or life, they call a lawyer. But if you don’t have answers, can’t figure out how to get on the virtual call, or manage workflows with your team from afar, clients will walk away and find someone else who does it better. Clients look to you, but firms like yours need resources to look to when you have questions or when you need answers. During the pandemic, resources likes that didn’t exist for many of my clients. When I started SpliceNet in the early 1990s, I had a single law firm client who begged me to help him install Timeslips, a billing software designed for attorneys. I got him set up, and soon I had a line of law firms out the door that needed help. Law firms like yours helped me start my business, and today, after I’ve worked for 25 years with over 200 law firms, you continue to be the lifeblood of my work. So, when the pandemic hit and I saw
my clients struggling to adapt, I stepped in and founded No Law Firm Left Behind. Through livestreams, podcasts, and now this magazine, No Law Firm Left Behind reaches law firms wherever they are. As your business adapts during a post-COVID-19 world, think about how you’ll take advantage of some of the best aspects of remote work and apply them to your firm. You won’t stay out of the office forever; you may already be reading this in the leather chair of your quiet workspace. Perhaps this next phase of growth will bring you more flexibility, a greater understanding of client needs, and a fresh outlook on how technology and space impact your relation- ship with your clients and employees. In No Law Firm Left Behind, you’ll hear from business experts on topics that will keep the business of your law firm thriving: marketing and sales strategies, leadership advice from multimil- lionaires, and digital trends that will change the way you work for the better. Not only will you and your law firm not be left behind, but these resources will also slingshot you into next-level success and growth.
Jim Gast CEO Of SpliceNet Consulting JimGast
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BE INSP I RED
“There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” –C.S. Lewis
“The brave may not live forever — but the cautious do not live at all.” –Richard Branson
“If all you can do is crawl, start crawling.” –Rumi
“The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend time feeling sorry for themselves.” –Barbara Corcoran
“Whatever you do or dream you can do — begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.” “What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.” –Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“When I dare to be powerful, to use
“Whatever it is that you think you want to do, and whatever it is that you think stands between you and that, stop making excuses. You can do anything.” –Katia Beauchamp
my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” –Audre Lorde
“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.” –J.B. Priestly
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How To Get A Client Or Prospect To Say 'NO' So You Can Get To 'Yes!' By Chris Voss, CEO Of The Black Swan Group
D oes yes really always mean yes ? Absolutely not. When we say yes , we’re committing to something. And immediately after we’ve committed, we begin worrying about what we’ve just signed up for. This means that, at best, every yes is a conditional yes . And oftentimes, it’s even worse: a counterfeit yes that’s uttered simply to get the other side to shut up. Would it be ridiculous to find out that getting the other side to say no is actually what you should be gunning for when you sit down at the table?
The Beauty Of Saying No Whereas yes is a commitment, no is protection. There isn’t any shaky ground here, either. When we say no , we mean it. No is always no . Why not use these three ways to make no work for you?
1. To break an impasse 2. To get someone’s attention, especially if they’ve stopped responding to you 3. To help someone think clearly
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So, I asked the waitress the above question, and she told us that it would be perfectly fine to sit there as long as we were out by 6. We were, and I left her a great tip. Is It A Bad Idea To Cut A Deal? One of our clients used this during a break in a recent training session to cut a deal back home. She left the room during the break and used it to suggest an alternative solution that her colleague had been resisting.
Getting someone to say no is easy. It’s one of the best com - munication skills you can possess. Just flip your yes-oriented questions into no-oriented questions. Instead of asking the maître d’, “Is it okay if we sit in the reserved section of the restaurant?” ask them, “ Would it be horrible if we sat there?” Pretty much every yes-oriented question you ask can be flipped around by adding phrases like these to your statement: • Have you given up on ... ? • Is it ridiculous ... ? • Would it be horrible ... ? • Is it a bad idea ... ? Have You Given Up On This Project? When you ask the other side whether they’ve given up on the project — or whatever the issue at hand might be — it triggers the safety of no . At the same time, it also taps into prospect theory, the Nobel Prize-winning concept that loss aversion drives action more than the desire for gain. Did you know people are twice as likely to take an action to avoid a loss than they are to accomplish a gain? Use this knowledge to your advantage. Our clients swear by this question. In fact, it’s one of the top email subject lines that produces results. There’s one caveat here: Make sure you’re ready for a quick answer and are prepared to deliver a “That’s Right” Summary™ before you move any further. Check out these scenarios and think about how you can apply them to your business negotiations. Would It Be Ridiculous For You To Come Speak At The Negotiation Course I Teach At USC? I asked Jack Welch, the legendary CEO of General Electric (rest in peace), this question when I approached him cold at a book signing once. He stopped dead in his tracks and gave me his personal assistant’s contact information so we could try to make our calendars sync. Unfortunately, the timing didn’t work. But how many people can get digits like that? Think about how many questions someone like Jack Welch is asked every day, and how almost all of them are yes-oriented questions: Would you sign this autograph ? Being able to say no and feel protected makes us more open to other ideas. I also got “Shark Tank’s” Robert Herjavec to buy tickets to The Black Swan Group’s one-day negotia- tion training master class using this same kind of question. Would It Be Horrible If We Sat In This Section? One day, a couple of colleagues and I had just come out of a conference. We were a bit thirsty, so we headed
His reply was straightforward: No, it wouldn’t be . And the deal was made. The Power Of No-Oriented Questions I actually ask everyone who works with me to only use no-ori - ented questions™ with me late in the day. Science tells us we’re only capable of making a certain number of decisions every day, and by the end of the day, our brains start to wear out. This is why people like Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs have been notorious for wearing the same thing every day. They’re not interested in burning up mental decision power on what shirt to wear when the decisions they make every day are worth millions of dollars. When someone asks me a Calibrated Question™ that begins with what or how and I’m fatigued, I likely won’t answer until the next day. If they give me a Is this a bad idea? type of question, I actually find myself quickly focusing — and even getting a little bit of energy — and being able to answer. Practice makes perfect. Use these communication skills in low-stakes scenarios, like the next time you’re checking out with a clerk or on the phone with your cable company. (Think: Would it be ridiculous for you to give a loyal customer like me the same deal you give new subscribers?) Is it a bad idea to leverage the natural human inclination to say no to get things done? Well, what do you think? n
Chris Voss is the CEO of The Black Swan Group, a firm that solves business negoti - ation problems with hostage negotiation strategies. Chris is also an Adjunct Profes- sor at the University of Southern California
(USC) Marshall School of Business and Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, where he teaches business negotiation in both MBA pro- grams. Chris is the internationally acclaimed bestselling author of “Never Split The Difference.”
into a restaurant in search of a happy hour cocktail — just one. There was a problem: There weren’t any seats at the bar. But there were seats in a roped-off section of the restaurant.
Find out more at BlackSwanLTD.com
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SUCCESS FACTORS
5 Steps To Building An ‘Extraordinarily’ Successful Business And Life
2020, while navigating the pandemic amid one of the worst economic disruptions in history (college enrollment was down double digits nationwide), HPU had their largest enrollment ever and was up 6%. Being extraordinary isn’t just something Dr. Qubein preaches to others. It’s a decision he makes for himself every single day. And what an extraordinary life he’s led. After his father died when he was 6, he was raised by his single mother who had a fourth-grade education and “a degree in common sense.” When he was 17 years old, he came to the U.S. from Lebanon with $50 in his pocket and little command of the English language. He supported himself with numerous entrepreneur- ial endeavors while attending college. His business ventures include growing a bank and Fortune 500 companies, serving as chairman of an international consulting firm, and serving on and chairing boards of national companies. He’s authored a dozen books and delivered more than 7,500 speeches. As a philanthropist, he’s served as director or chairman of many organizations. His awards, accolades, and accomplishments are far too many to list. But he doesn’t strive for excellence and to be extraordinary for recognition or to impress anyone. “I want to be best in class, not because I want to prove anything, but because I want to lay my head on the pillow that day feeling I gave it my very best,” Dr. Qubein said.
A mid a sea of sameness and ordinary, Dr. Nido Qubein, President of High Point University (HPU) gives the call to action: “Choose to be extraordinary.” Advocating this guiding principle to students and entrepreneurs, Dr. Qubein believes whether you have an ordinary life or an extraordinary one is a choice you make each day. Dr. Qubein exemplifies what it means to transcend the ordinary. He transformed HPU from a small mediocre college into an explosively growing, vibrant university, leading the pack in academic excellence, innovation, and creativity. No obstacle holds him back. During the Great Recession from 2007–2009, HPU experienced tremendous growth. Philanthropic investors generously and eagerly provided funding and resources, with gifts over $300 million. This wasn’t a stroke of luck, either. In “98% of America would rather be comfortable than be excellent; isn’t that sad?” –Dr. Nido Qubein
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children’s museum project. “This museum will serve as a beacon of hope for our city and for children to look forward to when we emerge from the pandemic.” Dr. Qubein stated. Dr. Qubein and his wife are the lead donors for the project, named the Nido and Mariana Qubein Children’s Museum in their honor. “What’s so special about you?” he asks. You must constantly ask the question and constantly be changing. “If you don’t do it fast enough, you become old,” Dr. Qubein said. “You start making excuses. You stop taking risks.”
Here are five ways to strive for excellence and choose to be extraordinary. Think Vertically.
“Don’t you dare think horizontally,” Dr. Qubein says. “If you want to strive for excellence, at a minimum, you’ve got to think vertically.” Horizontal thinking, the way average people think, is when people don’t think about why something is the way it is. While
Always Be Better Than YouWere Last Year. If, today, the thing you are selling is the latest, the finest, and the best, then
touring the HPU campus, a horizontal thinker will observe, “Wow that’s so cool that they play classical music on the promenade.” Vertical thinkers demonstrate curiosity about why things exist. A vertical thinker would say, “I wonder why they play classical music?” Vertical thinking forces you to think beyond the surface, to dig deeper, and it helps you improve. To take it a step further, diagonal thinking is when you connect the dots in such a way that you truly understand why something works or is successful. Diagonal thinkers “know so much in-depth stuff that it makes this perfect jigsaw puzzle,” Dr. Qubein said. “That makes it hard for someone to imitate what you do.” Don’t Seek Ideas; SeekWisdom. have is information, people will use you and discard you,” Dr. Qubein said. “If all you have is knowledge, people will only call upon you when they need you. But if you have wisdom, they will always respect you. And if they respect you, they’ll always do business with you.” At HPU, Dr. Qubein heavily promotes that every student has a success coach and a four-year development of Life Skills plan. “Knowledge does not equal understanding,” Dr. Qubein said. “The reason we all need to be coached, the reason we need heroes, role models, and mentors, is because we have to take knowledge — that is sometimes raw data — and turn it into understanding.” Whereas you gain knowledge and skills from a book, a speaker, or a bootcamp, using a system such as a mastermind helps you gain wisdom. “What you don’t get today, you get tomorrow,” Dr. Qubein explained. “It’s a continuum. It begins to penetrate your soul.” Ask Yourself Every Day, ‘What’s So Special About Me AndMy Company?’ Prompted by the fact that there are a million people in the world who can do your job, Dr. Qubein asks him - self every day how he can be more extraordinary, inspiring, and caring in each area of his life. Last year, in an effort to spur the revitalization of downtown High Point, North Carolina, he forged ahead with the construction of a nearly 60,000-square-foot The biggest mistake anyone can make in today’s environment is to focus on gaining more knowledge. “If all you
tomorrow, it may not be because things are continually chang- ing. Aiming to be the best in technology, Dr. Qubein spent $90 million on technology for the HPU campus. To stay ahead of other universities, he invests in new technology every year. “It’s a continuum,” Dr. Qubein explained. “I know I have to spend $5–$10 million every year, just to stay even. If you are just as good today as you were a year ago, you’re worse off. You must be better than you were a year ago, just to stay even. That’s the way the world really works.” That is also why, despite the threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, he pushed forward with a $170-million basketball arena and conference center. “This is unique,” Dr. Qubein said. “ I don’t know of another [university] that has a hotel and a conference center and a basketball arena all together in one building. The arena is set to open this year. Always better your best and you’ll never look back with regret.”
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Develop AGrowth Mindset. Part of the HPU mission is that every student graduates with a growth and entrepreneurial mindset so they will have the confidence to overcome any obstacle and be willing to adapt. When schools started shutting down
during the pandemic, HPU figured out how to overcome this challenge. Knowing students are educated best in the classroom with live faculty, HPU didn’t merely shut down and go online. They adapted by booking hotel rooms and put safety measures in place, such as changing the way their food operation worked to keep students safe. They prepared to quarantine and isolate students if they became sick. They built a new health services area and had separate entrances for people who thought they might be sick with COVID-19. There were challenges, but they persevered. Families responded positively and loved it. “This is a time for us to inform our clients, to involve our clients, to inspire our clients,” Dr. Qubein said. “But mostly, it’s a time to be agile, flexible, and resilient.” Extraordinary doesn’t just happen. You must be vigilant, be obsessed, and accept no excuses. You must relentlessly focus on being better and striving for excellence every day. You can’t think horizontally and expect to get the best the world has to offer. You must decide to think vertically, adapt, and continually seek to understand. You must control your mindset despite the obstacles in your way. Dr. Qubein says, “You must raise the standards and choose to be extraordinary.” n
Check out this invaluable advice fromDr. Qubein in this video clip from his interview with Robin Robins.
If you are just as good today as you were a year ago, you’re worse off. You must be better than youwere a year ago, just to stay even.
MSPSuccessMagazine.com/Nido
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WWW.SPL ICE.NET | 11 M A X I M I Z E M A X I M I Z E M A X I M I Z E M A X I M I Z E R E L A T I O N S H I P S R E T E N T I O N R E T E N T I O N R E F E R R A L S R E L A T I O N S H I P S M A X I M I Z E M A X I M I Z E M A X I M I Z E R E F E R R A L S Are you ready to take your marketing game to the next level and set your business up for long-term, sustainable growth? Are you interested in engaging your audience in a unique, personal way that will set you apart from the competition? As a full-service content marketing company with over a decade of experience, we have had the opportunity to set thousands of businesses just like yours up for success. We have proven marketing strategies that can guarantee better retention rates, more referrals, and more reactivations for any business - and we are willing to share our expert knowledge with you for FREE . Ready to get started? Scan the QR Code To download a FREE copy of “Your Guide to Building a Winning Content Marketing Strategy” Don’t Miss Out! Set your business up for success with an expert content marketing strategy…
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On What It
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was always trying to be a tough guy and kept getting into fights,” Foreman said. “All the guys in the day room (at Job Corps) said, ‘George, you’re always picking on people, bullying people; if you’re so tough, why don’t you become a boxer?’” He moved to California, met a boxing coach for the first time, and started learning how to box at the gym. After a couple of weeks, the coach matched him up with a light heavyweight. “The guy was so skinny, and I told every friend I had to please come down and watch me,” Foreman said. Expecting to win, instead, he was humiliated and decided to quit boxing. “The kids at the gym just laughed me out,” Foreman said. A few weeks later, the trainer ran into Foreman on the street, asking him where he’d been. Not wanting to admit the real reason, he made up an excuse that he didn’t have shoes to box in. After the trainer gave him a pair of boxing shoes, Foreman had no more excuses and returned to the boxing gym. Only 20 months after his first boxing match, Foreman won a gold medal at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. He caused controversy among African American civil rights activists after winning when he waved an American flag around the ring. The activists saw this as a way of appeasing the oppressive, white-run society. Foreman told Ebony’s Hans Massaquoi, “I was so proud that I had won. I wanted the world to know that I was from America.” Hurt by the reaction, Foreman adopted a surly, tough-guy image and became known for his mean facial expressions, which made him unpopular and rejected by the public. Foreman fought
eorge Foreman, the second wealthiest boxer of all time, is a household name today, but he
didn’t become one easily. To truly understand and appreciate his resilience, you must look back at his life and the obstacles he’s faced. The two-time heavyweight champion, Olympic gold medalist, record-busting salesman, author, and serial entrepreneur had a troubled youth in Texas. Foreman’s father abandoned him, his mother, and his six siblings when Foreman was only 5 years old. Often roaming the streets as a youth, he got into trouble and didn’t like school. Bigger and stronger than most kids his age, he got into fights, lived in abandoned houses, and robbed people. At 15, he dropped out of school. He was street smart, but he could barely read and write. After being chased by police, he awakened to the truth about the destructive path he was headed down. The next day he signed up for the Job Corps. “I’d heard a commercial with Jimmy Brown and Johnny Unitas,” Foreman said. “They were great foot- ball players, and they said, ‘If you’re looking for a second chance, join the Job Corps.’” There he learned bricklaying, forestry, and carpentry as well as how to read and write. He sent money to his mom each month to help support his family. He took up boxing as a challenge after listening on the radio to the heavyweight title match when Cassius Clay fought against Floyd Patterson. “I
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t Takes To Reach The Top (And Stay There) Rules m George Foreman
knockouts, he once again contended to regain the heavyweight title and was scheduled to fight Michael Moorer for the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight titles. However, the fight almost didn’t take place because the WBA didn’t have Foreman ranked on its list of contenders and remained unwilling to sanction the bout. The promoters even canceled the fight. But Foreman took it to court and won. The presiding judge said the WBA acted “capriciously” in not sanctioning the fight, and as long as Foreman obtained medical clearance from Nevada doctors, he was eligible to fight for the WBA title. In 1994, George Foreman shocked the world when he became the oldest heavyweight champion, winning back his
his way through the ranks, and in January 1973, he became the heavyweight champion of the world when he knocked out the undefeated Smokin’ Joe Frazier in two rounds. In 1974, he experienced his most humiliating and famous fight. After a 19-month reign in which he was undefeated (40 and 0), he lost to Muhammad Ali in the eighth round of the fight known as the “Rumble in the Jungle.” “I lost the most wonderful position I’d had — the heavyweight title,” Foreman said. “I was devastated. I couldn’t live with myself, so I had to start fighting again to be a champion.” He fought his way back to the top and once again was a No. 1 contender. But then one night in 1977, after losing a 12-round brutal fight against Jimmy Young, Foreman experienced a profound religious experience
and became a born- again Christian. He retired from boxing as a changed man. He got rid of his luxury cars, several houses, and his pet tiger and lion and started living more of a “regular guy” lifestyle. He preached on street corners, co-founded a small church, and found- ed the George Foreman Youth and Community
"I think you have a major advantage when you start from the bottom because you have nowhere else to go but up. And I started from the bottom." –George Foreman
title after losing it to Muhammad Ali 20 years earlier. Fore- man was 45 years old and spent most of the match getting beat by the 26-year-old, undefeated Michael Moorer, who had physicality and youth- ful energy on his side. But in the 10th round, Foreman used
his power to knock out Moorer in one of the most memorable moments in sports history. Foreman defended his title three more times. Out of his 81 career fights, Foreman posted 76 wins and 68 knockouts. He’s been inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame and International Boxing Hall of Fame and is rated the eighth greatest boxer of all time. As a result of winning the heavyweight championship a second time, Foreman received countless endorsement offers and became a successful entrepreneur, building an empire outside of the ring. He became a brand ambassador for several multinational companies, including McDonald’s, Doritos, Nike, and KFC. He spent over a decade promoting Meineke Car Care Centers and grew the business to over 1,000 franchises. Consid - ered one of the most successful pitchmen of all time, Foreman
Development Center in Houston with his brother, Reid. “For 10 years, I never even made a fist,” George said. “I became an evangelist with the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and never fought anybody.” But by 1987, because of a series of terrible investments and his former extravagant lifestyle, George was broke. Without enough funding, his youth center faced getting closed, so he made the difficult decision to come out of retirement. When he returned to boxing, reporters made disparaging remarks and accused him of staging a publicity stunt, partly because he’d become a pitchman for products to supplement his income. Despite look - ing out of shape and past his prime, he began beating younger, fitter boxers. He also displayed his new persona — a pleasant, likable guy with a sense of humor. After 24 wins, including 23
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with, and your skills are nothing. You’ve just got to come out and swing and fight.” Always stick to your convictions. Your convictions are what matter to you the most and signify to the world what kind of person you are. When Foreman became a boxer the first time, he did it for glory and fame. Declaring his convictions changed his motivations and his life. After losing the fight against Jimmy Young, Foreman found himself in the fight of his life. In the dressing room, bleeding from his forehead, hands, and feet, Foreman began having a conversation with himself, justifying that he didn’t need to worry about the match. During his internal conversation, he reviewed all he had — a big television contract, a home, horses, a Rolls- Royce, and all the money he needed. Telling himself he could retire, he heard an unexplained voice that said, “and die.” “After a while, death multiplied in my conversation,” Foreman recalled. “I realized I was about to die, and I didn’t know what to do … I was in this dark space. Over my head, under my feet, and around me, was absolutely nothing. If you multiply every sad thought you ever had in your life, that’s where I was in this dump yard of nothing. I got mad … I said, I don’t care if this is death, I still believe in God … that’s when someone grabbed me, a hand pulled me out of nothing. I was alive in that dressing room … and I wasn’t afraid anymore. I saw blood on my hand and my fore- head, and I was screaming, ‘Jesus Christ is coming alive in me.’” Foreman quit boxing, became an ordained minister, and began sharing his experience. “The lesson I learned was conviction,” Foreman said. “You’ve got to believe in something. It doesn’t matter how powerful and wealthy you are if there’s no guide.” Be humble. Foreman recalled being overconfident when heading into his fight with Muhammad Ali. He’d expected to knock Ali out in one or two rounds and didn’t study Ali’s fighting strategies. He never looked at a newspaper or watched an interview that Ali did. If he had, he would have heard Ali explain exactly how he planned to beat Foreman and could have adjusted his own boxing strategy. #5 Give people something they want. Don’t be discouraged if people don’t buy from you. Figure out what they want and give it to them. When George became an ordained minister, he began preach- ing on street corners at a friend’s suggestion. But nobody would stop to listen to him. “This broke my heart,” Foreman said. “After a while, I realized I’m going to make these people stop and pay attention to me.” He began telling his boxing story about beating Joe Frazier, which brought people in droves. “I learned how to sell myself on that street corner,” Fore- man said. “You can’t be shy. You can’t let it break your heart, you just got to say the next one will stop. I found out it’s not easy to make someone stop on the street and listen to you unless you’ve got something for them, and I had something — that story.” #6 #4
made a deal that solidified him as a household name outside of boxing. After Salton Inc. approached Foreman to sell their grill, he made a deal to put his name on it and become their spokes- person. The George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine earned him 40% of sales and later, a staggering $138 million to buy the rights to use his name on the grill in perpetu- ity. Selling over 120 million units, 1 out of every 10 people in the U.S. owns his grill. Between royalties and the buyout, Foreman pocketed a minimum of $250 million from the grill, making it one of the most successful endorsement deals in sports history. In a private Technology Marketing Toolkit Producer’s Club Meeting, George Foreman shared his biggest lessons learned and how you can become more resilient in the face of adversity.
Look for the positive. Even in the lowest moments, there are advantages. Foreman looked at being at the bottom as an opportunity. “I think you have a major advan- tage when you start from the bottom because you have nowhere else to go but up,” Foreman said. “And I started from the bottom.” Create guiding
#1
principles. Principles are the foun- dation of our beliefs and values and guide our actions. Foreman’s life changed positively when he found his principles one night after robbing someone. Being chased by the police and dogs, he climbed under a house where he covered himself from head to toe with sewage water from busted pipes under the house so the dogs couldn’t smell his scent. While hiding, he thought about a speech his mom had made about not having a thief in the family. “I was so scared,” Foreman recalled. “I realized for the first time I was a thief. I thought to myself if I can get from underneath this house and the police don’t grab me, I’m never going to steal anything from anyone again. After a while, the sirens passed, and I crawled from under that house and said, ‘That’s it.’ … I had been on the journey of my life, and I never stole anything again because I had something I’d never had before: principles. I had a badge of principles, and I knew if I could come from that bottom, I can make it all the way to the top.” Fight through the tough times. Real champions fight hardest when faced with adversity, and they never give up. Foreman learned this lesson after returning to the gym following his first loss. This time, Foreman learned how to box extremely well, so his trainer entered him in the Golden Glove fight. When the bell rang in the second fight, his opponent, #3 Winters, hit Foreman so hard that he went down and became dizzy enough that one woman appeared to look like eight women wearing the same outfit. As he heard the referee count down, one or two of the women would disappear with each count. “I remember there were only two left, so I thought I should get up before they all left,” Foreman said. “I jumped up, and I thought I’m going to put this boxing and bobbing and weaving down for a moment and just fight this guy … I turned into a windmill and the next thing you know, I won the boxing match. I learned that sometimes you just gotta fight. All the rules you’ve got to play #2
Be proud of yourself. Don’t let ego get in your way. Foreman learned not to shy away from his beliefs. If someone rejected him, he said a kind word. “I didn’t want anyone to know that George Foreman
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was on the street corner preaching,” Foreman said. “I decided I’m going to be proud of this.” Learn to sell. When Foreman went back into boxing, he was getting a lot of criticism in the newspaper and on TV. Reporters were making jokes about his age and weight and talking badly about him. Foreman investigated buying newspaper ads to promote himself, but when he discovered a full-page ad in USA Today was almost $100,000, he decided he needed to learn to appreciate the criticism. “I learned to play with it,” Foreman said. “I’d talk my head off when I’d get on television. I learned to sell George Foreman, the boxer, and Madison Avenue started to pay attention.” Foreman did commercials for Pepsi-Cola, Doritos, hotels, Meineke, and so on. After selling a lot of products for other people, a friend suggested he get his own product to sell. This is how he came to partner with Salton, Inc. for the George Foreman grill. “We did an infomercial and talked about how it worked,” Foreman said. “I’d see people at the airport, and they’d yell, ‘We love you, George.’ … They loved the grill and it started to sell. I would mention it everywhere. I was a favorite of Jay Leno, David Letterman, and all those guys. They’d invite me over and want to make fun of the grill. I’d bring one over, and I’d cook on their show. It became the talk of the town because I sold it.” #8
We’re not going to destroy anything that someone else is work- ing on to make my products the best. It’s got to be the best because it is. They took my advice and said, 'You were right,' and I said, ‘No, THAT is right.’” Be kind. Foreman was inspired to change to a likable person after observing how kind people were to him. “They didn’t care about money,” Foreman said. “They just liked me … and they treated me so nice. You don’t have to be the champion of the world. You don’t have to be rich or have a nice custom car. People are kind to you. I wish I would have known that when I was champion of the world; I would have treated people so much better.” Experience taught Foreman that people buy you, not your product or service. “It doesn’t matter what you have,” Foreman said. “People buy you. So don’t hurt anybody. Don’t disappoint everybody. If you meet that expectation of yourself, then they’ll buy your product because they feel like they’re buying you. Be the nicest human being in the world, not the second nicest. Find out who’s the nicest and see what he’s doing so you can ‘out nice’ him — and you can sell anything.” Foreman’s journey has taken him from poverty to being a multimillionaire to being broke and back to where he now has a $330 million net worth. He’s displayed courage and resilience and says without principles, fight, and conviction, “You’re not fit. No one is going to give you anything. I never let anything discourage me. As long as I had my principles, my fight, and my conviction, I can succeed.” His positive attitude and belief that the best is yet to come reminds him to be thankful and that bad times don’t last for- ever. “Every day I put my feet on the ground and be thankful for that day and happy I’m alive,” Foreman said. “Because there’s a possibility of me doing great things if I can just stay alive this day.” Check out this inspirational clip from Robin Robins' interview with George at one of our 2021 Producer’s Club meetings at MSPSuccessMagazine.com/george. n #10
Don’t destroy someone else to make yourself look better.
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Foreman refuses to tear down another person. When shooting the first infomercial for the George Foreman grill, the script put down competing prod- ucts. “I looked at the script and said, ‘Nah, I’m not going to do that,’” Foreman said. “I’m not going to tear up someone else’s product just to make mine good. We’re going to make it good.
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SEO B ack when I was a real estate agent, before you ever put a home on the market, you By Mike Stodola
The Biggest Mistake On Your Website That’s Costing You Clients Now
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If I went to your website right now, just looking at the main page and without scrolling down, would I know the following three things: WHAT Do You Do?
showed up without me needing to scroll down. Do we instantly know what they do? “Managed IT Services” Do we instantly know who they do it for? “Servicing Nashville Businesses” Do we instantly know where they do it? “Nashville” Now, in all honesty, I think this site could use a little bit of a cos- metic makeover, but I’ll take CLEAR over CLEVER any day of the week. Furthermore, they go on to hit on a
“staged” it. This basically consisted of decluttering, depersonalizing, and rearranging furniture to make the spaces appear larger and more open and finally getting rid of that floral print wallpaper in the bathroom. The point is that, before you started bringing prospective buyers through the home, you wanted the home to look its best. A few days of work and maybe a couple thousand dollars spent on paint, carpet cleaning, minor repairs, and a storage unit could yield 10 times that in return in the offers you received or be the difference between getting and offer or not. You get this. Heck, you’ve probably done this, and it makes good sense. What’s arguably as important as your home is your company’s website. It’s your “home” online. It’s the place you want prospective clients to see you, hopefully schedule an appointment, and hire you. But so many people worry more about getting more traffic, SEO, paid ads, website ranking, etc. that they ignore the first step: making sure their site is attractive to their ideal client! So, even if they get people to come to the site, it’s a mess or looks like every other site that’s out then and is generic and bland. Let’s look at the single quickest way to fix that and get you started down the right path. Are you ready? What I’m about to tell you is super easy to change, and I will even give you an exact formula you can use to fix things in about five minutes. When an ideal prospect comes to your website, they should immediately know that they are in the right place for you to help them.
WHO Do You Do It For? WHERE Do You Do It?
Let me give you two examples. (I’ve excluded company info to protect the innocent.) I did a Google search for “small-busi- ness IT support near me” and clicked through some of the websites I found. Check Out This First One: When clicking on that page, I really don’t know what they do. Sure, I can read “Infrastructure – Network – Secu- rity – Automate – Cloud,” and if I were a contestant on the “$100,000 Pyramid” game show, this may be okay. But that’d be like someone coming into a home I’m trying to sell to them and me saying, “Rooms, appliances, stairs, space.” Not exactly compelling. Furthermore, to even get to the fine print, I’ve got to get past the headline: “We are passionate about delivering on our promises.” Well, I should hope so. You mean if you promise something to me, you’ll actually deliver on it?! If we put them through the three-question test, how do they do? Do we instantly know what they do? Nope. Do we instantly know who they do it for? Nope. Do we instantly know where they do it? Nope. I think we can do better. Let’s Look At Example Two: Same search as before — vast difference. I’ve again excluded the header and the company info, but this all
pain point many people have with their current “IT guy.” Here’s Another Great Example: They are even MORE specific on WHO they do business with “NYC Law Firms.” If you were the office manager for a law firm tasked with finding an IT company and hit this page, you’d know you found a real option. The Simple Headline Formula: We help (WHO) in (WHERE) with all of their (WHAT). Example : We help manufacturers in Dallas/Fort Worth with all of their IT, tech, and ERP needs. If You Really Want To Get Advanced, Do A Slight Add-On: We help (WHO) in (WHERE) with all of their (WHAT), so that you can (2–3 things they hate dealing with).
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Example : We help manufacturers in Dallas/Fort Worth with all of their IT, tech, and ERP needs so that you can eliminate downtime, streamline siloed systems that don’t communicate, and avoid ever needing to worry about “tech” again. I know this is a big departure from headlines like “Cloud, Infrastructure,
Intelice.com is their general site, so it doesn’t rank anywhere when I look for “Washington, D.C., IT support.” Looking for IT services in Columbia, Maryland? Then you’re likely to find Intelice.com/managed-it-services-co- lumbia . They have several other areas they service, all with similar webpages that you’ll be directed to in a search. So that’s it. Change your website headline using the formula I shared to answer the three questions: What, Who, and Where. Then, for extra credit, build other pages to increase your SEO juice and attract the right people. Until next time! n
This ad (that I prepaid for 24 months) generated a grand total of ZERO inquires … ZERO leads … ZERO anything. I guess less than zero, really, because I spent thousands on it. Within a short period of time, I had a lot of websites, marketing materials, reports, etc. with headlines like “Helping Libertyville’s Heritage Area Home Owners Sell Fast.” I also had “The First-Time Buyer Specialist For Mundelein” and “Gurnee” and “Grayslake” and many others. It was rinse and repeat. I even targeted “Buffalo Grove Home - owners Who Back To High-Tension Lines Sell For Top Dollar!” I “specialized” in 47 different things and had webpages (not whole sites, just a page on my site) that targeted each one specifically. And you can do the same. As a bonus, having multiple pages, each with a different location or market segment, will also help your SEO and attract more people to your page, and that’s really what you were trying to do in the first place. Not sure? Google “Washington, D.C., IT support” and see who comes up first after ads. For the last several months (and maybe longer), it’s been this site: Inte- lice.com/washington-dc-it-support. Notice it’s NOT Intelice.com.
Mike Stodola is the Chief Marketing Officer at Technology Marketing Toolkit, where he brings his passion for marketing and sales to its members and
Expertise,” but that’s the point! Make sure your headline can answer those three questions, and you’re in good shape. “What? What’s that, you say?” I think I heard someone saying, “But I have multiple markets and serve multiple types of clients, so how do I do this?” Easy! If you have multiple markets or multiple niches, just make a different page for each. I made this same mistake when I first got into real estate before the market- ing gods bestowed their wisdom on me. In fact, I remember being proud of my very first ad headline that encompassed EVERYONE. Ready to be amazed? “Helping everyone in Chicagoland from first-time buyers to seasoned real estate investors.”
customers. Mike founded, grew, and sold two of his own service businesses outside of Chicago before seeking to take his experience to thousands of other entre- preneurs by working with companies that focus on them. In his free time, you’ll probably find him eating his way through his new home of Nashville and posting photos of his food journey on Instagram.
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Bam! That should be golden, as there are about 10 million people in “Chicago - land,” and I had just announced I could help them all!
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HAVE A LAUGH
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HOT TECH TOOLS T TEC T LS
Top Tech Tips To Help Prove Your Value We're a few months into 2022, which means it's time to check in on how much you've stuck to your New Year's resolutions. If one of your resolutions for 2022 is to demonstrate increased value to your clients (and we’re sure it must be), we’ve gathered our top five suggestions for how you can hit the ground running.
Help Your Clients Transition To A Hybrid Work Environment. Organizations are desperately looking to their MSP to help them transition to a hybrid environment. Accord-
Select The Right BCDR Partner. Look for unified BCDR solutions that are hardened against malware and use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to detect suspicious patterns and alert administrators to ransomware before it wreaks havoc. Solutions with anti-phishing defense capabilities empower end users and provide another layer of protection from credential compromise, ensuring that phishing attacks are stopped before an account takeover occurs.
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ing to a McKinsey survey, 9 in 10 organizations plan on combining remote and on-site work going forward. Different clients will have different expectations of what a hybrid work model looks like, which is why it is important you consult with each client to develop a common understanding and regularly assess any changes.
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Dust Off Your Clients’ BCDR Plans. It is crucial to regularly update your clients’ business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) plans, especially for customers who have adjusted their data protection strategies to accommodate the new hybrid work environment of 2022. Share user-friendly “runbooks” with clients that include procedures and protocols for departments, teams, and individuals that need to be followed during a disaster.
Be Prepared. Schedule A Technology Alignment Review TODAY For This Summer.
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Backup Is One Thing; Restoration Is Everything. According to Kaseya’s MSP Benchmark Survey, fewer MSPs are testing their disaster recovery programs weekly or monthly. More are relying on annual testing when compared to the previous year — 30% in 2020 versus 17%
Pre-schedule alignment reviews and be sure there’s a calendar invite sent promptly that includes the technical point of contact. Set an agenda for the review and include a pre-review and post-review check with a point of contact to begin and end the proactive engage- ment. Make your presence known: If you’re on-site, take a little bit of time to talk with end users. If you’re remote, use Slack, Microsoft Teams, or email to notify end users about the review and offer technical tips and tricks.
in 2019. This is a disaster waiting to happen. Use your sandbox to test disaster recovery (DR): Partition client virtual machines and perform tests without affecting production servers. This assures clients that their hybrid workforce can access systems (either on-premises or in the cloud) and everyone, including remote employees, can access data in case an actual disaster occurs.
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