Archives for November 2009

I love the power of words, don’t you? The words we use mean everything…words have real power. If you use the wrong words to describe yourself or your business, you can unwittingly compromise the results you get. Words create a powerful impression. Conversely, choosing the RIGHT words…highly targeted POWER words, to describe what you’re doing, the effect can be positively amazing.

It’s almost not fair…the power of words, because as soon as you learn how to harness their power, that one skill by itself can dramatically increase your power and effectiveness in nearly everything you do. It literally creates an unfair advantage. Words rock!

The Words You Choose Will Make or Break Your Business!

It’s not news that copywriters and marketers use very carefully selected words to get results. The wrong selection of words in your copy can make or break a project. Everything else can be dead-on, but if your words aren’t right, you’re doomed.

Since the words we choose are so crucial, I want to discuss the massive difference between the words “grinding” and “crushing”. Both refer to different types of work ethic you can apply toward your business, and knowing the difference can make all the difference in the world with regards to how you approach your business and the results you ultimately get.

Unfortunately, most business owners get this really wrong. That’s of course why I’m writing this post. Let’s discuss:

Crushing It

I’m a fan of talking candidly about what it takes to build a business. I come from sales, you know. I’ve knocked doors. I’ve had thousands of doors slammed in my face. I’ve had guns pulled on me. I’ve had things thrown at me. I’ve been kicked, punched and spit at. I’ve also made a lot of money and learned life lessons out in the field that are truly priceless.

I don’t plan on going the door-to-door route again because to be honest with you, because I’ve simply found more leveraged and cleaner ways to get the job done. That said, I’ve learned that there is immense value in just “doing what it takes”. Out in the field, there were survival rules. Here are a few:

• If you need to take a leak…get in a house.
• If you want to go home…get in a house.
• If you want to make money…get in a house.

Working in door to door sales is intense and awesome. It requires that you work as a team, and it requires that you become very aware of the value of getting the job done, no matter what it takes. It’s about results, period.

What does all this have to do with blogging and internet marketing? Bottom line, there’s just a lot of work that people don’t want to do. But if you’re willing to do it, there are huge dividends in store for you. How far are you willing to take it? How hard are you willing to work? How much do your goals matter to you?

The work I’ve done in the field taught me the value of getting the job done, no matter what. That’s crushing it. Get the work done, and you’re not coming home til it’s done. Period. That’s how you build something cool. Crushing is what gets the job done. Crushing it is what builds rocking businesses.

Grinding It

Grinding it refers to the hours you work. If you’ve read my stuff before, you no doubt have heard me talk about the long hours that are often involved in getting results. Often, a lot of hours are involved. There is a correlation between “crushing it” and “grinding it”.

I want to give you a sense of how they relate to each other, because without defining them, one can easily be mistaken for the other, and if you get it wrong, the results can be catastrophic.

I know a lot of people in sales and marketing in many fields that work long hours, but they’re not getting the job done. They’re working, but they’re not producing anything meaningful. That’s grinding.

Grinding can easily be mistaken for crushing, because you’re putting the hours in…you’re out there working hard every day. You have your blog up, you’re posting, you have business cards, you know…all that kind of stuff. But you’re not getting results. That’s grinding it. That’s not crushing it. But since you’re busting your tail every day, you may very well believe you’re crushing it.

Don’t be too quick to assume you’re crushing it! That’s my whole point here.

Crushing it cannot be done in an hour…don’t get me wrong, it almost always takes long hours to crush it! If you have significant goals that is. This isn’t a feel good “hey-you-can-build-a-successful-business-in-one-hour-a-day” post. I just honestly don’t think that’s true. Not for most people. Building a business that rocks takes a lot of work. But the work has to be targeted and effective. That’s crushing it.

Where hard work, long hours and effectiveness intersect…that’s the sweet spot. This isn’t something I know how to show in a pretty graph…it’s a personal philosophy. But since I talk often about working hard, I wanted to clarify; it’s not JUST about long hours, it’s about study, practice and doing everything you can to make sure that the work you’re doing is effective as possible.

It’s so easy to get really, really busy, work really, really hard and start running around, feeling like you’re crushing it. But don’t mistake busyness for effectiveness! Are you pushing your schedule to the max, growing your business and consistently looking to the next level? If so, you are probably crushing it. Are you working long hours, feeling beat all the time but still not growing? If so, you are grinding it. Not where you want to be.

Consolation for Those That are Grinding it

If you’re grinding…I have awesome news for you! You clearly have the work ethic to be successful. You’re just missing an element or two. You need to find them and employ them rigorously. Education, training and introspection are key. If I can transfer anything to you today, it would be that there absolutely ARE answers to why you’re not getting results.

The reason I focus on sales strategy is because it’s beautifully simple. It takes a lot of hard work, and there are always things to learn, but the fact is that I’ve learned something very powerful from my work in sales and sales training. If you’re not getting the results you want from your work…there is, without a doubt, a specific reason for it, and it’s fixable. It’s not a question of whether you have what it takes. Please believe me, you have what it takes. It’s simply a matter of whether you’re willing to do the work. I honestly believe this with every fiber of my being…if you crush it, you will get the results, period. Every…single…time.

Are you willing to do the work? What are you doing to get to the next level? Are you grinding it or crushing it?