Here are the ten lessons discussed in the article.

1. Passion wins — There are many reasons for starting and growing a business.  But the zeal that comes with passion for what you really love doing can make the difference between a business that grows and one that stagnates.
2. Focus is required -  But passion without focus can lead you astray.  Focus doesn’t mean saying “yes” to the one thing that you consider most important.  Focus is saying no to the 100 other good ideas that you discover along the way.  You have to pick carefully.
3. Vision is required too – “Without vision, even the most focused passion is a battery without a device.”  Google’s vision to make “all the world’s information available and to first and foremost serve users” is what drove their stepping into uncharted territory and eventually led to their success.
4. A team culture is vital – Google has managed to establish a networked management model that functions from the bottom up as well as the top down.  A sense of proprietorship unleashes ideas and effort from employees that overwise would never see the light of day.
5. Treat engineers as kings – Those who produce for you are the most important people in your business.  I’ve heard gift company owners say they would be lost without that employee who ties the beautiful bows or creates the ideas. 
6. Treat customers like a king – This is a mistake that many businesses make.  Advertising produces 97% of Google’s revenue but the customers don’t realize it as they use Google’s service which are free and user friendly.  They feel that the only reason Google created those services is to make their lives better.  Google’s adage for employees is similar to Sam Walton’s:  “If you don’t listen to your customers, someone else will.”
7. Every company is a frenemy – Google operates under the principle that there are no permanent allies, only permanent interests.  The internet blurs the borders between companies creating allies and competition which is oftentimes difficult to tell apart.
8. Don’t ignore the human factor – The deeper you dig into a situation, the more complicated people become.  Many decisions are not made as a result of logic but of emotions based on experiences that you may have never dreamed of and will probably never know or understand.  All of us have had occasions when making decisions about our business future is not about business but about us and who we are.  Remember the same is true of our employees, customers, and even our competition.
9. There are no certitudes -  None of us have any guarantees that our business will be here tomorrow or even that we will be.  Google appears impregnable.  But so did AOL and IBM .  Our business models have to be constantly looked at and changed as needed based on current circumstances, economic factors, and our reason for existing.
10. Life is long but time is short -  These words belong to Eric Schmidt, who explained, “Life is long in the sense that we have long memories.  Time is short in that you have to move very quickly.  But to me the most important thing to know is that life has a way of working things out.  We forget so quickly what the problem was three or four years ago.  So my personal view of life is that every problem is an opportunity.”    Google has taken this to heart as they think and act boldly, take risks, and are not tied down by long memories.

Lessons can be learned from any business.   I’ve read lots of business books and taken lots of business classes.  I even teach a few.  But the most amazing insights that have affected my own business haven’t come from books, magazines, or classes.  Most actually come from people who really aren’t in my industry or sometimes they are not in business at all.

“There were no footprints in the snow. You never had to worry about what anybody did last night because there was no last night.”

This was true of the gift basket industry when a few of us, who frequented the early AOL and Prodigy forums and devoured any information we could find, started our businesses — but it’s not true today. You have access to all kinds of free and inexpensive resources and technologies.

A few of us, and even others who came before us, blazed the trail for you. What you achieve today is up to you and how you follow that trail. But it’s also important that you branch out, step off the trail, and create new footprints in the snow.

In the gift basket industry, there are yesterdays.  Looking back and learning from those who blazed the trails can be invaluable.  But there are also many tomorrows and your fresh footprints today will leave a trail for those who follow you.

Just as soon as one enemy is eliminated, new ones pop up.  Your enemies mean business.  They want your business, your customers, and your profits.  They want to put you out of business so they can have it all to themselves. 

Scary, isn’t it?  But it doesn’t have to be.  Your competitors may be bigger than you, have more money to spend than you, and even have created a brand that is promoted with full-color catalogs, expensive websites, and media ads.  But they can’t outspend you in ways that money can’t buy.

In today’s economy, the playing field is going to become even more level as customers spend less while seeking more for their money.   Even the giants in the industry are going to suffer – not necessarily as a result of just the economy but from their own failures to look ahead, tighten their belts, and determine what is important to their customers. 

Look at the graveyard of failures already in our national cemetery.  The behemoths, the giants, those we thought would never fall.  Enron, Fannie Mae, Merrill Lynch.  The list goes on even as more and more corporate giants are falling ill.

But you, as a micro business, have an advantage that these giants don’t have.  You aren’t blinded by the vastness of the territory.  Your vision isn’t hampered by numerous employees, marketing strategies, and owner greed.  You can zoom in on what is important to you as a reputable business owner and what is important to your customers.  You can make changes quickly.  You can offer benefits that the larger companies can’t.  You can create a very personal business that will make every customer feel as if he or she is your only customer. 

You don’t have a lot of money to spend, so with proper research and planning, you can spend it wisely.  You have the ability to look at your big picture while still zeroing in on the little things within your business that can increase your profit margin.  You can watch your bottom line as closely as your customers are watching theirs. You can easily implement high impact, low cost strategies for getting and keeping customers using more time, energy, and imagination than money.

Okay, so how do we do it?

The very first step is to determine what needs to be done and then list them by priority.  Don’t just charge into the jungle and make changes in your strategies without careful thought.  Step back and look at the overall jungle.  Look at the market with fresh eyes and learn everything you don’t already know about your business.  You already know that prices of everything, from products to shipping, are on the rise.  You know that customer resistance is going to be higher.  But also look at how other companies are handling the changes and see if you can handle them better.  How are other companies marketing their business and what can you do to make yours stand out in the crowd?

Look back on your own experiences as a customer.  What could have been done to make you a loyal customer instead of a “I’ll never buy one of those again” kind of customer.  Regardless of what is said, the customer is not always right.  But the successful customer service rep makes them feel satisfied even if they didn’t get exactly what they wanted. 

Determine what weapons you need to compete effectively.  Your competitors are getting smarter every day.  They’re reading industry and business books and magazines.  They’re attending seminars and tradeshows.  While they are learning, you can’t afford not to.  But you also can’t afford not to take action on what you know is needed.  And remind yourself that what you would like to have is not necessarily what is needed.

There are only two ways to increase profits.  Cut expenses or increase sales.  We’ll look at both but let’s start with expenses. 

Drag out your accounting records and look at each and every expense.  What could be cut without affecting your products or customers?   Slash every bit of fat in your business.  In the recent presidential election, one candidate said he would slash spending across the board while the other more wisely said he would do a line by line review, cutting the things that weren’t working while increasing spending on those that were.  This is the approach you should take.

It has been said that time is money.  The truth is time is far more important than money.  Time and energy can even be an effective trade for lack of money.  Are you buying packing materials when you could find local businesses that will save theirs for you?  Do you have too many employees doing things that you could do more efficiently?  Do you have systems in place that makes it easy for you or an employee to handle every aspect of your business?  But also are you hiring others to do those things that your time is too valuable to do?  If you overestimate your own abilities, your business may suffer just as much as if you underestimate them.

Look at what sells and what doesn’t.  If you offer a product line that gets very few sales, perhaps you should eliminate that line so that you can concentrate on what sells best.  Only you can do this because only you really know your business.

If you already have customers, they are your most valuable asset.  Nurture them and do everything you can to create their loyalty to you.  If a problem is even hinted at, address it immediately.  Don’t leave that job to an employee.  And if you have employees, be aware of how they are handling your customers.  If you’re not careful, they can lose them for you.  Employees, that aren’t watched carefully, have been known to destroy a business. 

Information about marketing effectively would take more space than I have in this column so I’m going to touch on some of the main things to remember. 

Put planning ahead of everything else.  Only with planning can you know who you are, where you’re going, and how you’re going to get there.  Planning keeps you and your business organized and efficient.  Create a marketing calendar and use it as your road map to your goals. Reevaluate that plan regularly and be flexible.  If something isn’t working, change it.  If something is working better than expected, determine why and how you can build on it. 

Along with that planning, make a list of all the good things you offer to your customers.  Make it a long list.  Ask your customers why they buy from you and add their answers to the list.  Of course, your competitors offer many of the same benefits but there are those that are unique to you alone.  These benefits are your competitive advantage and what should be pushing your marketing.

Blow your own horn.  If you don’t, who will?  Find ways to tell people what you are doing, how well you are doing it, and why your products and services are far superior to what they can buy from your competitors. 

Marketing your business locally should include sending periodic press releases to the media, networking with other business owners or potential customers, speaking before clubs and organizations, building referral programs, and face-to-face contact.  If you love your business and are enthusiastic, it will show. Print ads are rarely effective unless you have the funds to run them regularly.  Periodic mailings to targeted potential customers are usually more effective.  Email newsletters are about the most inexpensive way to use print marketing.

Accept the fact that technology is important in today’s business world.  The ability to type, use computers, understand the internet and how to use it effectively is more important than ever.  If you don’t have the ability and find it difficult to learn, find someone that you trust to handle this part of your business.    Technical advancements give you more time to do what must be done rather than doing busywork.  Even marketing in your local area is more and more dependent on technology.  You can create a proposal, including photographs, and transmit it to a potential customer by email.  You can stay in touch with existing customers via email much more easily and regularly than by mail and phone.  Having a website, even if it is just an online brochure for your local business, is expected by many in the business world.  And, of course, marketing your business via the internet, using optimization and other skills, opens your business up to a whole new level.

When you opened your business, you entered the jungle.  How you traverse it depends on your attitudes, the weapons you choose, your determination and commitment.  You may decide that this jungle is not for you or you may love and embrace the challenge.  Either way, the decisions you make daily will determine your success as well as your enjoyment.

This article, written by Joyce Reid, was originally printed as a “Reid On. . .” column in Rave Reviews, the leading national full-color trade magazine for the gift basket industry.

I am one of the worst people in the world to tell you how to manage time.  I’m a procrastinator.  I like doing what I like to do and tend to neglect the other stuff.  But, you can’t manage a business that way.  So I’ve created a system that works for me.

Hey, try it!  It might work for you.

1.  The Spirit of Work

Call it spirit.  Call it mindset.  Call it an established routine.  Call it whatever you like but basically it’s just making up your mind that if you won’t to succeed, you have to work.

Here is how I do it.

Since many of my orders come in overnight, I’ve created the habit of turning on the laptop while making coffee the first thing each morning.  Before even getting dressed (and this is just the opposite of those who say you have to get dressed for business in order to do business), I check and print out the orders, take care of any that have to be emailed to dropshippers before 9am, and put the others in the orders folder to be filled later that day.  Then I quickly scan through the emails, answering any important ones.  It’s hard but I avoid opening any that aren’t important until later in the day.

By now, I’m in the mood to work.  But first, I take time for breakfast and get dressed for the day.  You may think this breaks the mood.  But, for me, it just gets me moving faster. 

2.  Running To Do List

I’ve read in time management books that you should sit down each evening and create a To Do list for the next day.  Heck, by evening, that’s the last thing I want to do.  I have to have lists to remember things but I’m not a heavy-duty list maker. 

What works best for me is a “running to do list.”  As I think of something that needs to be done (including personal chores and networking meetings), I add it to the list and cross it off when completed.  I look over what’s left on the list each morning, and do the more important things first.  By the time, they are done, I move on to the more boring ones, knowing that the faster I get those things out of the way, the sooner my work day is over.  Crossing each task off when finished makes me breathe easier when the list is long.

3.  Handling Distractions and Personal Chores

This is probably easier for those of you who have an away-from-home office or retail location.  For those of us who are homebased, it is much harder. 

I try to take advantage of the benefits of working from home such as less travel time and the ability to multi-task personal with business chores (but I’ll talk about the downfall of that later). 

I can let the washing machine work its magic while I accomplish business chores and can vacuum when I need to take a break from a long work session that requires a lot of sitting.  My retired husband is probably the biggest distraction as I have to consider his schedule (or lack of one) as well.  But since he’s been retired since he was 50, we have worked out that pretty well.  But it was h#%& the first year he was home all the time.

Email is a big distraction.  I check it regularly throughout the day.  It only takes a few minutes and I don’t read the ads and other stuff that can wait.  The important bits are orders and emails from customers and my GiftBasketNetwork members.  Those are top priority.

The big advantage of working from home is that I can take time out of the middle of the day to do other things knowing that I can finish up needed chores in the evening if necessary.

As most of you know, I operate a number of website businesses.  I’ve been asked how do you fit the computer work into your day.  The answer is “I don’t”.  Ever since I was growing up in the 50’s when we had the TV on in the living room while doing homework, I’ve learned to listen to TV while working–and I do it quite well.  I have a desk with my laptop and needed files in the family room where my husband watches TV in the evening and I work on my website stuff.  If there is a program that I want to devote my full attention to (like Mystery and Masterpiece Theatre on PBS), I simply take a break and watch it.

4. Take notes and put them aside

What?  If you don’t do it now, it doesn’t get done?

Of course, you have to act on your ideas and notes but the timing is crucial.  If you act on every idea or every note you make that very minute, you’ll find yourself going off into a thousand different directions.  The end result is nothing gets done.  This is when multi-tasking is not good and just creates more problems.

So think while you work, make notes, and then act on them when you finish what you are currently working on or add them to the running to do list.

6.  Learn to Say NO!

If you agree to do everything that is asked of you, you’ll never get any work done.  People who work in offices tend to think that because you work at home, you don’t have a “real” job and can take on those chores that they don’t have time to do.

I’ve learned that if the request is not something I want to do, does not benefit me, or I don’t have time for, I politely decline.  When I explain that I have “blank number of orders that I have to get ready to ship out before the UPS man arrives”,  it helps put my “homebased business” in perspective for them.
7.  Learn to delegate and automate as much as possible.
I’m one of those folks who believe that no one can do something as well as I can.  Well, that’s a belief that I’ve had to get over.  As a result, I’ve discovered that there are people who can actually do certain things better than I could ever do.

I’m still working on this and don’t know if I will ever completely handle delegation as well as I should. . . but I’m working on it.  If you have the same problem, begin with those little tasks, like hiring a teenager to handle addressing and mailing those marketing letters or postcards.

There are times when it takes a lot of valuable time to learn how to do something that could be better spent doing those things you are good at.  Computer programs and marketing are good examples.  I learned Frontpage and Search Engine Optimization back when my business was slower and I’m glad I did as I save a lot of money by doing these things myself.  But if you don’t have the time to learn, it is a much wiser use of time and money to pay someone else to do them for you.

When I started the new website GiftRetailersNetwork.com, I knew that I wanted it to be an “authorized access only” website since it was being provided free to those in the gift and gift basket industry and I didn’t want the search engines to access the forum or other parts of it.  I could have spent days learning how to do this myself.  Instead I hired Laura at Firelight Web Studio to build it as a joomla site instead of an html site.  She was reasonable, taught me how to handle all the data entry myself, and saved me a lot of valuable time and frustration.

8.  Take Periodic Breaks

I try to break my work schedules into two-hour segments.  That’s about as long as you can concentrate effectively on one chore.  I work for roughly two hours, then get up and walk around, have something to drink, play with Delilah (my mini dachshund), or make personal phone calls.  Sometimes, I’ll take Delilah up to Buffalo Park for a walk or go do something with Ron (the wind beneath my wings).  Then, when I’m ready to get back to work, I’m refreshed and can do a better job.

9.  Create Balance

I admit it.  I’m a workaholic.  I enjoy what I do and it has a major priority in my life.  The older I get, the more I want to share all that I’ve learned about business in general, computers, and the gift basket business specifically with those who are looking for knowledge.  Most weeks, I work all seven days and you may find me on the computer at 6:00 some mornings and at 10:00 some evenings.

BUT, I do have a life and try to keep a good balance between business, family, and my own personal needs.  I’m not the typical “cookie baking” grandma but I do take time for my daughters and grandchildren.  Last Saturday, I took the whole day off and went to my grandson’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor.  Yesterday, I took the afternoon off and babysat one of my daughter’s children and foster children while one child had foot surgery.  When Ron comes home, I take the time to stop and visit with him and I usually have lunch with him each day. 

Balance is the one thing that can make the most difference in your busy life and will make the difference in how you are remembered long after you’re gone.  I really don’t care if I’m remembered by how many gift baskets I made and delivered or how many websites I created (although these things are important to me right now).  But what is more important is how my husband, daughters, and those grandkids remember the celebrations we shared, the fun we had, and the fact that I was there when they needed me.

10:  Create Your Own Time Management Techniques

When I was a young mother, I read just about every time management book and article I could find.  Some of the ideas worked for me while others used more time to manage the technique than just getting the job done.

The above are some of the ways that I organize my day, and as you can see, it’s far from organized.  It’s more about managing my time than organizing it.  This works for me.  It may not work for you.  It all depends on where you are in your life (and that changes), what your needs and responsbilities are, and what time you have left to manage.  If you’re working a full-time job outside the home, those hours are already managed for you.  All you have left to control is the time you have outside the job situation. 

If you’ve created some time management techniques/skills that work for you, I and my readers would love to hear about them.  If you’re reading this via email, you will need to go to the blog itself and post your ideas.

Marketing can be all this and more.  But what is important is what is working for you

If you’ve been trying every thing you hear about and calling that a marketing strategy, you’ve got some work to do. You need to create a winning marketing strategy that will tip the scales in your favor.  What works for one person or company may not work for another.

This is true not only in business but in politics as well.  Touring the countryside, talking direct to people works great for President Obama and played a big part in his election.  This strategy hasn’t worked so well for others.  Each of us is unique and each needs a unique strategy that works for us.

 If you’ve been trying lots of different things to reach your customers, you need to sit down and determine what works and what doesn’t.  If you’ve been in business for awhile, that is relatively easy to do.  Go back through your orders for the past six months and record where each of them came from.  Are you getting 60% of your orders from that networking group or is it one order every two or three months?  Are the cold calls producing appointments and resulting orders?  How about that website?

Once you know which techniques work for you and your company, this should be the center of your marketing strategy.  I’m not suggesting that you give up those things that work okay but not great.  But as long as you concentrate most of your energy, time, and money on the techniques that bring in the most orders, you can add a little salt to the pot with some of the less sucessful techniques as time and money allows.

Create a winning marketing strategy and you’ll have a winning business

What would you do with that last year?  What would you do differently?  Would you stop spinning your wheels, attending to all the little details, being a perfectionist, taking care of the mundane tasks that don’t make much difference?  Would you spend more time on your business?  Travel?  Your friends?  Your family?  Your personal and spiritual life?

Each of us would answer that question differently.  Each of us sees life through different eyes.  All of us are at different phases in our life.  Each of us has different values, different goals, and different dreams.  And most of us think that we have all the time in the world to accomplish those goals and dreams.  But it ain’t so!

I don’t claim to be a philosopher and I certainly don’t have all the answers.  But each day that is added to our lives adds additional knowledge and growth.  And as of today, I’ve had 24,028 days to accumulate the joys and pains of daily living.

So, since I can’t speculate on what you would do, I’ll talk a little bit about me.  For me, my life is my job.  And that life includes family, friends, my own goals and dreams.  At this stage in my life, I find myself asking “Is what I am doing making a difference?”

I’m at the point in my life where I can do just about anything that I want to do.  I have enough money to live comfortably.  I’ve raised my daughters and take time to enjoy my grandchildren.  My husband and I will soon be celebrating 49 years of a happy marriage.  So why would I spend my time building internet businesses, writing blogs, and sharing what I’ve learned about business in general and the gift basket business specifically?

Part of it, of course, is the competitive spirit and challenge of creating a successful business that is as much a part of true entrepreneurs as breathing is.  But even more is the drive to do something that matters as I conduct business in a humane and ethical way.  The approaches I use to achieve my goals are as important as achieving them.

Take this blog, for instance.  You see the ads in the right hand column.  They’ve been carefully selected to include only those opportunities that I have personally use and can recommend instead of all those opportunities that could perhaps make me lots more money.  This blog was not created to be a money-making blog.  It has other goals.

The older I get, the more I require the freedom to express my own feelings and to tell things as I see them.  I’ve seen the backside of the results of the need for paying advertisers — even in our own industry.  For example, when you attend conventions and tradeshows, the products you are going to see pushed in the classes are not necessarily those that the speaker would have recommended if given the freedom to do so.  They are the products supplied by the vendors.  And if a speaker knows something negative about a vendor or personally feels that they aren’t a good match for our industry, the freedom to say so isn’t there.

I remember attending a “Jubilee” a number of years ago.  All the speakers had this beautiful peacock printed cello that they used on their baskets.  Of course, it was available from one of the vendors.  And, impressed by the recommendation of the speakers that this was going to be the “hot” look for the season, I bought a roll.  That roll–and it’s almost a full roll– is still sitting in my bucket of cello.  Anybody want a roll of peacock-print cello?

Writing is one of the talents I’ve been given and I’ve learned the techniques to make it work well for me.  I’ve used that ability in the past to teach some of the knowledge I’ve accumulated in a column for one of our trade publications.  But the freedom to express my feelings about a paying advertiser wasn’t there.  As a result of overstepping that limitation, that column is no longer in the magazine.

So, this blog is the result.  I can say what I want without having my hands slapped.  I can be honest and express my opinions.  I am beholden to no advertiser.  Of course, there are still the limitations of not writing something that is untrue and can’t be proven.  But I wouldn’t do that anyway.  This blog allows me the opportunity to share what I have learned through the years and perhaps, as a result, help others create success.

The same is true of my website at www.giftretailersnetwork.com .  It allows me to provide information and the ability to communicate with each other for the members of my other website at www.giftbasketnetwork.com .  And, I am beholden to no advertiser.  The vendor members at the site don’t pay a dime for membership.  They have to contribute to the cause, however, by providing a discount to the members.  In exchange, they receive the ability to communicate with the gift basket companies through the private forum.  It’s a win-win situation and part of my way to give back to the industry.

This post is a lot longer than most — and more personal.  But, I’ve been asked:  “What is the reason for this blog? What do you hope to accomplish?”  And, I’ve felt the need to explain.

This blog is simply the answer to two questions:

• My life is my business.  What am I doing with it?
• Is what I am doing making a difference?

Back to the original question of  “What If? ”  I’ve talked about the business part of my life.  The rest of it is too personal to share in a blog.  But if I died tomorrow, I could tell myself, “I’ve accomplished my goals.  I’ve allowed the most important parts of my life–family, friends, faith, entrepreneurship–to influence each other and, hopefully, I’ve made a small difference in someone’s life along the way.”

Do we always make the right choices?  No.  We tend to follow the path of least resistence.  That’s human nature.   But here are some tips to help push us more towards making the choices that can truly make a difference in our lives and business.

• Develop Routines.  By creating a daily routine, we develop habits.  They can be good or bad depending on the routine that we choose to put into place.  But a routine makes us do things consistently and, as a result, we become faster and faster at whatever we are doing.
• Look at the Big Picture.  We can avoid a lot of frustration by asking ourselves, “In the long run, does this really matter?  Will it make any difference a week from now?  Thirty days from now? Ten years from now?”  If you can’t answer yes to at least the first two questions, don’t waste your time doing it.  The answer to these questions can frequently make the difference between choosing time for family and taking care of yourself and business chores.
• Make a Schedule.  Instead of making choices and scheduling what is truly important in our day, we tend to follow the “whatever is thrown at us” mode.  It’s true that emergencies happen, orders come in that have to get out, and “today may be the only time to get out and smell the flowers.”  But instead of living in a daily reaction mode, schedule the things that are truly important and then work around that schedule.
•  Trade the word “On” for “In” Some of the Time.  Most of us work “in” our business every day doing things needed to maintain and grow our business. We read emails, answer the phone, network, fill orders, etc. But plan to take time out of your week to work “on” your business.  Review your business and marketing plan. Look at your profit and loss statements.  How is your cash flow? Check out your inventory.  Determine what you need to do to grow your business.  Decide what is working and what is not.  By taking a big long step back and reviewing your business from a different level than the day to day operation,  you will see it in a different perspective.  Take the time to decide where you want to go from here, what you want the coming year to be like, and what you have to do to get there.  The result will be a more successful and satisfying business.

A twisted little Catch-22.

The only way to break it, is to do it. It takes a shift in mentality. And maybe some pleas for help.

But it is the difference between grim survival, and thriving. It is the difference between hand to mouth existence, and prosperity. A difference worth making some sacrifices for.

As little as an hour or two a week, spend on work that takes you forward, instead of just keeping you where you are just barely keeping up, can move you into a more manageable environment within weeks.

I’m not just philosophising here. I’m speaking from experience. I’ve been against the wall and ready to sit down and just cry because I could not cope with the load anymore. I’ve had to make choices when it seemed there was no choice.

It can get better. It takes a shift. In thinking, and in priorities. It takes the realization that the only way to stop today being so overwhelming is to do a bit that makes tomorrow a little lighter. If you choose the right tasks to do today, then they will go on making many tomorrows lighter.

There’s a kind of miracle in that… and it works.

The above post is from our Guest Blogger, Laura Wheeler, owner of  Firelight Business Enterprises.  She is an incredible wealth of knowledge about the internet and building website businesses and has been a valuable resource to me.

Sure, some of us have more of a “natural ability” in some areas.  But there are many people with no natural ability that are successful.  And there are many people without a so-called “natural abiliity” that are very sucessful.  Like a foot race, this natural ability just gives you a few feet headstart over the ones behind you.  It’s what those in the starting position do — with or without that natural ability — that makes the difference.

To understand what I am talking about, you have to understand a little bit about the brain and how it works.  No, this isn’t going to be a science lesson — but it could be one of the most important things you will ever learn.

What does the brain do best?  The brain recognizes problems and figures out a way to overcome them.  If you’re walking up the stairs and encounter a closed door at the top, your brain would tell you what to do and you  would automatically try to open that door.   You’ve encountered a lot of closed doors since childhood and your brain learned that you could either open them or you had to turn around and go back.  No matter how many closed doors you come to, you would try to open it.

Now, if you reached the top of those stairs and instead of a closed door you found a huge snake blocking your way, your brain wouldn’t know what to do.  So it panics.  You either turn and run down the stairs or you freeze and can’t move or even scream.  Your brain doesn’t know what to do so it shuts down instead of telling you how to react. 

For those of us who are writers, it is referred to as “Writer’s Block”.  But this same thing affects all of us, regardless of what you are trying to do. 

You sit down to try to write a sales letter.  You try to tie a bow for the first time.  You stand up in front of a group to talk about your business.  You try to build a website.  You make a cold call to a corporate client that you hope to impress.  You go to a networking function for the first time.  Anytime, you try something new, the brain goes into panic mode.  It quickly scans through all your memories for a memory of success at doing this.  And it fails to find one. 

Instead it finds failure.  And fear of failing again.  And you believe that you can’t do it. 

Everyone else is just born to write a good sales letter, speak in front of a group, make a cold call, build a website or whatever it is you are trying to do.  They are the talented ones.  You have no talent.

But what you fail to understand is what the brain of these so-called “talented people” is doing.  And why.  The secret that successful writers use to overcome Writer’s Block is the same secret that you can use to overcome “Cold Feet”.

Those who are successful at doing what you are attempting and failing at has a brain that has

• A memory of success
• And it’s not just success that happens occasionally or sometimes.
• It’s success that is a direct result of having structure, a mentor, and a memory filled with success.

They didn’t just sit down in front of the computer and write a great sales letter on the first try.  They weren’t always dynamic speakers.  That first website that they built was pretty pitiful. 

They’ve been through the drill before.  In the process, they learned the techniques needed to acquire the skill they were striving for.  And these “talented” people had a teacher or a mentor (or even a book or manual) that helped guide them past the obstacles that lead to failure.  The more the drill is repeated, the more it became ingrained as a part of their memory process.  As a result, they’ve built a structure that makes it possible for them to succeed each time.  And they’ve created a memory bank of successes.

And then suddenly it happens.  You need to build a website that gets results.  You need to stand in front of a group that is looking to spend lots of money on gift baskets.  You call on that corporate client that has a huge holiday budget.

And, if you’ve been through it before, you have the structure and techniques instilled in your memory.  And the memories of success become the dominant ones.  Your brain no longer goes into panic mode.  Instead it whirls through all the memory banks and pulls up just the right one — without your even being aware of the process.

This is the same way that you learned just about everything in life.  It’s how you learned to walk.  Watch a child take his first steps.  He falters and falls.  Mom encourages him to try again.  He pulls himself up using the coffee table for support and tries again.  Over and over until he is walking, then running across the room.  And now, you don’t even think about the techniques, the structure required to walk anywhere you want to go.

Remember when you learned to swim for the first time.  How about riding a bicycle?  That’s why they say, “Once you know how to ride a bicycle, you never forget.”  Actually your brain pulls up that earlier success from your childhood and, even though you may falter a bit in the beginning as the memory of the techniques are whirled into place, you climb on that bicycle and ride away.

So if you’re sick and tired of having cold feet and feeling the fear of failures, stop believing in this myth called “talent.” Do what the so-called “talented ones” have done and create your own memory bank of success.

There are mentors ready to help you, to teach you the techniques, the path to follow and those to avoid.  That is the very reason why I’ve created this website, why Gift Basket Network exists, why I’ve created Gift Retailers Network, and why I’m continuing to create new opportunities for you to create those memory banks that mean you don’t have to have talent to be a success!

Watch this video and then come back:

Everyone Needs A Helping Hand

Did you smile as you watched?  Did you see how it can apply to us as well.? 

I’ve been asked by several people, why are you spending your time creating this blog and writing in it just about every day?  What do you hope to accomplish?  What are you going to get out of it?

Well, that video says it all.  Everyone needs a helping hand at some time or another.  I’ve created several successful businesses through the years.  And now it’s time to extend that helping hand.

This is just one of the “helping hands” in the works.  There are others planned.  I’m asked a question on several gift basket related forums and received a variety of answers.  But I know that some of the readers of this blog don’t visit the forums.  Some of you are not even in the gift business but have found this blog helpful.  So, it’s time to ask you the same question.  Here it is:

“What do you consider your biggest business problem or frustration to be?”

Your answers will help me zero in on the areas where a “helping hand” is most needed.