Friday, February 26, 2010

You've Got to Toughen Up- Holla!

See this fierce looking fellow right here? That's my Yorkie, Eliot, barking at me furiously because I told him, falsely, I think I saw a "kitty cat"!

You're real tough, Eliot, with your Trick R Treat Halloween t-shirt on there, buddy.
I hate to tell you, but the cat would first laugh you to death.
And then he'd claw your eyes out.

But you see, we can all learn something from Eliot.
In his mind's eye, this is how he sees himself, no lie:



You've heard it said that people look like their dogs?
I'm not sure about that, but in attitude, Eliot and I are two peas in a pod.

I'm going to shoot damn straight with you today. Business is tough. Life is tough. People aren't always going to like you.

What are you going to do about that?

I'll tell you what you're going to do about that.

Realize most people have a strong desire to be liked.

Now that you know that, you have an advantage. You drop that strong desire to be liked right away.

Seriously, get the hell over it. Pandering to what other people want you to do, think you should do, tell you to do- will never get you anywhere of consequence. And besides all that, who respects a Milk Toast?

Many of my friends are elected officials in the community where I live.
One told me recently, "It's like this- no one owns me. I vote according to my beliefs. I say, if you don't like it, then don't vote for me- so what?"

And you know something? That guy is the most respected leader out there.

Entrepreneur Chick has mananged to be successful in business because I don't care if you like me or not.

If I did, I probably wouldn't have married a black man.
But I won't start something just for the sake of it.
(Tony loves to say, "Don't start none, won't be none.")

However, after I've been all sorts of gracious, and it has not been met in kind;
I will peg you for the ass you apparently are.

You're pegged. And I'm done.
Pretty simple.

Sales, The Bottom Line

If you're going to be in business, you have to learn to sell. I've never seen one business yet that didn't have its heartbeat firmly established in sales.

As my good friend, and fellow business owner, Greg, observed, "You can make an awful lot of mistakes but sales will always keep you afloat."

Most people can not sell. The very thought of selling something shakes them to the core.

When they (finally) get the prospect in front of them they start to get nervous, start to sweat, start to not listen, and go on and on and on. Would you buy something from a person like this? I'd lay odds, you wouldn't.

Why can't they sell?
What's holding them back?

REJECTION

Being told "no" is too scary.

Again, get the hell over it. As George, my father, who was a consummate salesman loved to say, "You won't die."

Are you open minded?
Then I 'd like you to watch something for a little bit. You might not like it, you might not agree with the lifestyle, you might find it offensive.

But I'll tell you- this is the thick skin I'm talking about.
These people came up from nothing. Nothing.

Do you think these men were told no a few times? Do you think they turned tail and ran, or did they slug it out and come right back- only harder?
You be the judge.
The next time you drive up to a sales call, Entrepreneur Chick wants you to imagine pulling up in your Cadillac Snoop Deville!


You take a cue from these gangsta's swagger and develope a little bit o' yo own-
 holla back!






P.S. Both Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent are amazing salesmen and outstanding entrepreneurs. Both of them are so adept, they could sell vodka to Russians.

15 comments:

  1. You are so right. What I've realized is that the desire to be liked has to be replaced with actually liking YOURSELF. Then it doesn't matter anymore if someone else likes you.

    "So adept they could sell vodka to Russians" - that's the kind of Entrepreneur Chick non-cliche phrase I love!

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  2. do I know the elected official you are quating??? :)

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  3. Polly,

    I agree, to like yourself is a requisite.

    Knowing who you and what you're about allows many freedoms, namely, not getting involved with people who will hold you down and hold you back.

    Which is why we are becoming such good friends. You believe in me and I believe in you!

    "Vodka to Russains"... it just came to me. I dunno. Ha. And thank you. :)

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  4. Zlatica,

    You are so welcome, you little artist, you!

    I need to drop by and see you in a bit.

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  5. Anonymous,

    I believe you sleep with him. ;)

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  6. This is why I keep saying I'm a weasel. I do care too much what people think. I caught myself out-and-out comment-whoring on this blog for a while. And the word "no" scares and humiliates me.

    But I'm working on that. As the Beatles said: Got to admit, it's getting better. A little better all the time (it can't get no worse.)

    Although I have to say, I'd be a milquetoast as relates to my personality, usually not how it relates to my business. I'm fairly confident in this airline idea of mine; the only reason I'm not is because of mitigating factors like niche-finding (FedEx already has the angles covered) and mitigating factors (fuel prices). Otherwise I believe it's solid. So tell me "No" all you like. I'll make it better and come back swinging harder.

    Thanks, Sarge.

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  7. Postie,

    Let's get this spelling thing out of the way-
    "milquetoast"- ooooh. Hahahaha. We're starting a fan page on FB called "The Blonde Mobsters" or something like that; so when we feel marginalized by being blond, we send over Mark Da Fish from Jersey to rough 'em up a little.

    Back to your comment- I'm not going to argue with you being a comment whore (U SO CRAZY) but let me tell you something.

    Have you seen how many new followers you have? While you might think you're whoring, Postie, I have to say I know you well enough that I believe you to be sincere.

    So, you sucked up a little. So what? I bet there was still more sincerity in that than you're giving yourself credit for.

    People then come over to your blog and check you out, like what they see- and join!

    Nothing to sneeze at, man!

    As for your airplane business, I'm so sorry to have to make you wait so long.

    It took me a freakin' MONTH to throw off that infection. When I'm sick, I'm not creative and I didn't feel like writing.

    Nometheless, I'm going to get to your business ideas- which are as interesting as you.

    Now, who's da ho?

    (But I sincerely mean it, you know I do.)

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  8. Man, I think I'm misting up. I'm honored, EC. I truly am. Thanks a million. You're one of the sincerest people I know.

    Good to hear you've got your health back. That's the important thing. A whole month, huh? That must've been misery incarnate. Hope it's all gone now. Poor Eliot must've been worried sick. He and his gigantic, slavering fangs. ;)

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  9. Postie,

    Awww.

    Actually, Eliot, little brat that he is, loves it when I'm sick.

    He says, "Great! More naps for me!"

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  10. First, your dog is so cute and I love that he sassed you for saying you think you saw a kitty cat. Second, how much do I love the expression "don't start none, won't be none." Love it SO much.

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  11. Wow, this is so true! And definitely something I need to work on...I always tell people never to care what other people think, and I firmly believe that, but when it comes to actually doing it with myself it's so much harder.. I have gotten better over the past couple years, and will keep trying- thanks for the reminder!

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  12. Jenny,

    Thank you! Let me tell you, this dog runs my life. I can't leave the room without him barking, "I DO NOT APPROVE. I DO NOT APPROVE!"

    I showed Tony your comment about how you love his expression.

    He very much liked that.

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  13. Nick,

    I know what you mean.

    Actually, I wrote this post to remind myself too. I write to myself first.

    But I have been thinking, I do care what people think if I care about them.

    I mean, if I've done something hurtful or said something to hurt someone in a relationship I have, than I most certainly care about fixing it and getting back on track.

    In that way, I do care.

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  14. Yes, in that way caring what other people think is definitely important :)...

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