When starting a business or making any kind of business related purchase, thinking of an exit strategy is key. Think of your worst case scenarios and have back-up plans just in case.
An example I’d like to use is buying a classic car. So let’s say you want to start a project for fun and for profit. You want to buy an old car and fix it up to re-sell afterwards. First you research the cost of repairs, feasibility of finding parts and how much this fully restored car costs. After getting rough figures on all of this, since you need to make a profit, you’ve got to purchase your old car at the right price. So you get a good deal, but after taking it to a mechanic, you realize it needs far more repairs than you first thought. At this point, you don’t want to invest further money into the car, so it’s a loss, right? Wrong. You had an exit strategy. Since you bought the car on the cheap, you can sell the parts and your best case scenario at that point is to break even and recoup your expenses.

When somebody is considering doing some business with you, the main factor at play is their confidence/risk factor. What your job is in closing the deal is to lower their risk and raise their confidence.

Nowadays, people are as skeptical as ever of a salesman’s promises. Those with an online MBA often have the skills to make a better sales pitch. They’ve been lied to before and are weary of your claims and jaded from all the bad service they’ve received. So you need to build up their confidence in your product/offer.

Here’s what you need to do in your sales pitch: find out what it is that they want, figure out how to give it to them and communicate it to them effectively.

1. Anesthesiologist – $292,000/yr. – Very stressful job, requires 12+ years of training.

2. OBGYN’s – $222,000/yr. – Risky job, always an in demand job.

3. Psychiatrist – $177,000/yr. – High hourly fees, little overhead costs.

4. Nurse Anesthetist – $157,000/yr. – Same as an anesthesiologist

5. Sales Director – $140,000/yr. – Without the salesmen you have no sales.

Make it easy for your readers to get your content. Put your rss feed in a visible spot on your site. Don’t fill your site up with ads. Your first goal is to build up readers to your blog, worry about making money later. Some people swear by creating mailing lists but I’ve never tried that myself. Ultimately without your readers you’ve got nothing so keep them coming back by updating and happy with minimal ads.

Often times when releasing a product/site/service you want to wait until it’s perfect. I mean what’s the point of putting something out there that isn’t perfect only to turn away potential customers, thus losing them forever. I disagree. Instead, put it out there immediately, call it a beta, ask for help with bugs and suggestions. The web in 2010 and beyond is different than it was 10 years ago. Now everyone has an email account, a profile on a social networking site or maybe even a blog too. Communication is encouraged and done more now than ever before. So put your product/site/service out there, say what it will be and what it will do, get them to sign up for free and let them know when it’s ready.

Pique your customers curiosity about your product. Tell them in a simple way how your product will make something in their life easier. Don’t promise the world to them though, they won’t believe you. Instead, under promise and over deliver. Be aware of your limitations, make sure your customers’ expectations are within your abillity to fufill.

Hard work is overrated. The hardest workers are usually the lowest earners. Work smarter not harder. Delegate your menial tasks and concentrate on thinking and creating.

Increased circulation of a product decreases it’s value (over saturation). It’s key to recognize that the more one is seen the less valued they may become. Create your value through scarcity.

You are what you wear. Like it or not, books are judged by their cover. Instead of being idealistic lets be realistic. First impressions are the most important ones. Take the time to look your best and others will notice. You never know when a big opportunity might head your way, so be ready for it and dress to impress.

Make yourself invaluable at work. Even if you are in a dispensible position, make yourself indispensible by doing the little things at your workplace that fellow co-workers don’t do. Friendships are important, networking with the company bigwigs will count as well. But the way to make an impact is to learn the business inside and out and do tasks that are regularly not assigned to you. This way, when downsizing time comes, they’re likely to consolidate positions so multi-taskers will win big here.

-The first rat gets killed in the rat trap and the second rat gets the cheese.

-Don’t panic. Give it 48 hours, get all the facts, then take action based on facts not emotion.

-It takes the same amount of time and effort to make a thousand dollars as it does to make ten thousand dollars.

-You learn a whole lot more on the way down than you do on the way up.

-The harder you work, the luckier you get.

-The only constant in business is change.