Looking For Venture Capital? 3 Tips to Get Funded
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The 3 Tips to Attract the right Venture Capital to fund your dream
Do you find yourself getting frustrated that your goals are not being achieved fast enough?
Despite all the passion that you have for your work, do you find yourself wishing you could share that passion in a way that was more contagious?
Is it hard to understand why venture capitalists and advertisers are so slow to commit?
No matter what our title is at a job, we are all the CEOs in our own career. Whether we are working for a company or running one, we need innovative ways to break through the clutter and move the needle on revenue.
Here are three key things to remember to tell your story about your products to potential buyers or investors:
I. Sell YOURSELF first!
People buy from people they like and who show empathy for their situation. Establish your credibility, doing it in a way that shows how you helped someone else achieve their goals.
Telling a story is a great tool to promote who you are.
Here’s an example from my past as the Conde Nast salesperson of 2012 for the entire company. I realized that coming up with a “never been done before “ idea was the key to my success. Guess jeans was celebrating their 30th anniversary in the same year that W magazine was celebrating their 40th anniversary. The concept that I came up with and got the CEO of Guess to embrace was to run an exclusive onsert showing 30 years of Guess models with W’s 40th anniversary issue. This generated over $500,000 in new revenue to W. The event’s goal was to find a way to drive press and awareness. We did a party that included images of Guess models such as Drew Barrymore next to images of herself when she was on the W cover. This resulted in amazing celebrity turnout and press for Guess.
A great way to get even more engagement after sharing your story is to ask the buyer for theirs. In the book, What Great Salespeople Do, it says “Everyone has a story to tell if given the chance. People want to tell their stories—they want to be heard, they want to connect, they want to be understood. It’s human nature. Pass the torch to your listeners and watch them run with it.”
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071769714/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=3521976614&ref=pd_sl_10l9lkwvyd_e/
II.Sell the COMPANY
What does your company stand for? People need to hear the story of how your company was founded and WHY. When you tell a memorable story of how the company got started, it gives people an emotional connection.
Howard Schultz toured Italy and saw many people drinking coffee in cafes as a place for conversation and a sense of community. It was so MUCH more than just selling coffee . He wanted to take the same concept to America. He faced multiple rejections from venture capitalists, but was relentless and opened up his first coffee shop in Seattle. The mission remains the same-“Inspire and nurture the human spirit-one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”
What is your company’s mission that helps connect you with prospects?
III. Sell the PRODUCT
So many salespeople make the mistake of starting off the presentation with details and features of the product without selling themselves and the company first. It puts the prospect on the defense out of the gate and ends up creating friction vs having a natural flow of connection.
When you do get to the presentation to pitch the product, be sure to focus on the benefits to either the decision maker, or the end user, or both.
Here’s another great story about a startup that go Mark Cuban invested in their new social media app Ocho. The crazy thing is that it creates videos that are only 8 seconds long. Here’s the story:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239626/
The founders of a new app were asked what made their product unique vs the competition. Here is what they said:
“Everything we build under the hood is designed to power a vision — the experience we want our users to have. For instance, Ocho is the first social network to introduce voiceover and volume control because that’s what we felt was necessary to make good UGC [user generated content] video.”
Note their answer is not about the features, but the focus is on what the benefits are to the user.
“People who tell the stories rule the world” Plato
So the question to ask yourself about what you offer is “Who have you helped?”
If you do not have all the answers to these questions and need some insights, let me know. The first people to send me their email to [email protected] will receive a free 30 minute coaching session.
Soar Your Way to Success with Integrity, Passion and Joy
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When I first started out in sales, despite having some great success, I used to fear someone was going to tap me on the shoulder and say “I’m sorry, there’s been a mistake, you don’t know what you’re doing. ”
How many of you have felt like a fraud in some way or another?
There is nothing wrong with “fake it till you make it” because when you learn something new, all the mistakes are at the beginning.
Remember when you learned how to drive? It was not smooth, nor were you confident to drive on the freeway at night on your first day on your own. Baby steps. First you learn how to drive in a parking lot, then side streets, then freeways. The same is true learning this new way of thinking about yourself as a brand and how to “sell it.” If you don’t like the word “sell” think of it in terms of emotional storytelling that makes you want or desire a certain outcome.
I have learned to define success not only financially, but also by achieving a sense of inner peace about who I am and the contributions I make to others at work and out of work.
When you realize the importance of having your identity be larger than your job description, you are on your way to freedom which fuels your energy to soar.
The keys are:
· Stay in the moment,
· Be comfortable with silence and
· Don’t take rejection personally
These keys will make your career soar and give you a sense of accomplishment.
We also don’t fret over what might or might happen tomorrow. My favorite quote from Mexico on this topic is “Don’t cry before they hit you.” Are you worried about a new boss or being fired? If it is not happening now, don’t cry about it. It probably won’t happen and if it does, worrying about it won’t help you when it does happen.
Fear of the future drains all the pleasure from the present. @jwlorr (Click to Tweet!)
You are here to get CLEAR for take off on your SUCCESS flight plan!
Here’s how it works.
What we focus our attention on MOST OF THE TIME informs and instructs the way our lives manifest. If you want to fly from LA to NY, you don’t think about how to get to Chicago. Focus on what you want and where you want to go and how you want to feel along the way. Emerson said “Life is a journey not a destination.” I take it one step further and say, how we feel during the journey is key.
When you add in how you want others to respond, feel around you, then you really soar vs just fly. If some of you are thinking, I’m not in sales, I would offer “ All of us have to sell ourselves all the time. Whether or not we are selling our ideas to get implemented or to get promoted, we still have to sell ourselves.”
You have to sell yourself first to YOURSELF. If you don’t buy what you have to offer the world no one else will either!
When you sell yourself, you are selling your integrity, your value and your ability to do what you say you will do. The people who can sell their concepts and their value most successfully get PAID the most. Did you hear that? Let me repeat it. The people who can sell their concepts and their value most successfully get PAID the most.
Let’s start this off with an Affirmation I would like you to use. “ What I have to offer has value and people want to buy from ME. I am lavishly compensated for my skills and effort.” If you say that to yourself with conviction three times during today, I promise you will start to FEEL a shift in perception. That is the first step towards a change in your belief.
If you are a student, you need to sell yourself to get admission to college. If you are interviewing for a job, you need to convince the person to hire you. If you are a real estate agent, you need to convince buyers that you are the right person to find their dream house. Even singers are told to “Sell it” when they are singing, which means make the audience buy it or get emotionally involved.
How you feel about yourself when you are selling directly impacts the results you achieve. If you are trapped in self defeating and negative perceptions about who you are as a seller and why you are selling….it will be a struggle to be successful.
I will assist in keeping ALL OF US on a flight plan of THINKING that will enable us to FOCUS on EXACTLY where we want to go.
Feel free to EXPAND on that destination in your life. We will be co-pilots in this journey. Please share your thoughts and feelings on selling yourself in the comments below.
Life is an echo. What are you shouting out?
Posted by John Livesay in blog | 0 comments
The only place for inner peace is being present. No regrets from the past, no worries about the
future. How can we be in this space more often? Easy. Just take three deep breaths and remind yourself that you are in charge of your thoughts. You are the thinker thinking the thoughts – not the other way around.
Sometimes we feel our thoughts control us vs us controlling our thoughts. Do you ever feel like your thoughts are like a runaway train? Do you want to stop thinking about something that is making you feel…
SCARED – What if this happens? Then you make it worse and worse and start using your imagination to really scare yourself.
ANGRY – How dare they say or do that to ME? I don’t deserve that! I’ll get them back. As if revenge gives us peace of mind.
SAD – I miss that person or I’m sad that didn’t happened for me. I need this job or house or relationship to feel happy. NOT true.
Remember, you are the director of your own movie. You can say CUT at any time to your internal thoughts.
So often we feel like our life is a movie we are IN vs. looking at our life like a movie we are WATCHING. When you are IN the movie, you don’t have control – you are reacting to what others say or do. When you are WATCHING the movie as the director/writer, you can change it at any moment. Lean BACK from the drama, take a breath and hit the reset button. You can still be scared watching a movie, but you still know it is a movie.
Here are ways to flip the channel in your mind:
Negative: It just won’t work.
Postive : Things work out for me.
Negative: Why even try?
Positive: All my efforts are rewarded.
When we realize that our thoughts and beliefs are behind our excuses or reasons for not living our life to the fullest, we then are able to let them go. Excuses can make us feel like victims. Reframing the excuses makes us feel like the pilot of our journey.
Today we are going to talk about SELF DOUBT and REJECTION. Two topics people ask me about all the time. How can I get more confidence? How do I tolerate rejection?
Let’s look at self doubt first:
Negative: Nothing ever goes right for me
Positive: Things will turn out for the best (it is done to you as you believe. Do you believe the universe is a safe and welcoming place or a dangerous and mean place?)
Negative: You can’t trust anyone anymore
Positive: People trust me and I trust them. (what you give out you get back.)
Negative: I don’t have any talent.
Positive: I am as talented as I need to be. (Love this one because it keeps the door open for us to develop and grow.)
Negative: I’m just not creative
Positive: Creativity flows through me all the time. (When do we stop believing we are creative? Small children believe they can sing, draw, paint etc because they have not learned to judge themselves or compare themselves to others as the barometer of success.)
Negative: I don’t have patience for that
Positive: I remain calm and centered. (When we are impatient with others, we are really impatient with ourselves.)
Have you ever said any of the following to yourself:
“Learn this faster.”
“Don’t make that mistake again.”
“Hurry up, etc.”
Quiet the thoughts in your head and you will learn patience and compassion for yourself and then…You can give it to others.
Negative: I’m too shy.
Positive: People welcome me when I express myself. (Number one reason people are shy is because they fear what they have to say is “not good enough or interesting enough.”)
Negative: I don’t have a chance.
Positive: There are unlimited opportunities for me. (When you give up before you even try –with thoughts like “I don’t have a chance,” or let the odds stop you, you will never succeed. Who cares if they are seeing 100 people for one job, don’t let the odds of making it stop you from giving it your all.)
Negative: I have never been good at that.
Positive: I can choose to learn anything. (With enough focus, practice and desire, you will be surprised what you can do. If you hold on to your thoughts of “I can’t do it,” then you don’t leave the possibility open to learn it.)
Think of your thoughts as a form of cement. If you keep repeating the same thoughts over and over, it becomes a solid foundation that requires big effort to break. If you keep your thoughts fluid, then the cement has not become hard and can still be made into a different form.
Negative: I can’t speak in front of crowds.
Positive: At the moment, I am not COMFORTABLE speaking in front of crowds. (Do you hear the difference? The negative is firm cement-I can’t. The positive –at this moment, I’m not COMFORTABLE which allows for training and practice to get comfortable.)
Negative: I’ve never been any good at that.
Positive: I can choose to learn to do anything. (I used to say I don’t cook, now I say I choose not to cook.)
Negative: Someone always beats me to it
Positive: I only compete with myself. (This is a huge concept to grasp. When you come from a place of scarcity, you think someone else will win and you will lose. If you come from a place of abundance, you will celebrate others success as an example of what is possible for everyone.)
Negative: I never know what to say.
Positive: When I’m myself, the right words come to me. (A friend said she could never ask anyone to lunch, because she would not know what to say. I told her, be yourself, pretend you are talking to me. Don’t worry about what to say. Ask questions.)
That brings up the difference between closed and open ended questions. Great way to get a conversation going is to ask open ended questions-ones that require more than a one word answer. An easy way to ask an opened ended question is “Tell me about the meeting” vs. “Was the meeting good?”
Closed: Did you like the show?
Open: What was your favorite part of the show?
Closed: Do you understand ?
Open: What part of this do you think you can use?
REJECTION
Negative: I’m just not a salesperson or I can’t sell anything
Positive: People want to buy from me and they value my expertise (When you speak from the HEART and with passion, you don’t need to be “Pushy.”)
Negative: “ I can’t take rejection.” (The number one reason people don’t go into selling or don’t do well at an audition or start their own business or make more money.)
Positive: I never take rejection PERSONALLY. I view no as just meaning no for NOW…not forever.
When I was selling ads for W magazine and I would not get the sale, I would sometimes think, I wonder if another salesperson would have gotten the sale. In other words, was it me they are rejecting or my lack of talent to persuade or be creative enough, etc.
What the secret to rejection is “NEVER reject YOURSELF!” The first way to not reject yourself is to not take rejection personally. Then you realize that you don’t have to agree with the rejection. I pick another magazine to run ads in vs the one I’m selling. Doesn’t mean I reject myself as a good seller. Doesn’t’ mean I reject the product/magazine I’m selling. It doesn’t mean I have to agree with your decision and suddenly make myself feel less than.
Everyone is free to buy what they want and not every person or product is the right fit, so when I remember who I am is not based on any one outcome or sale, I can say to myself, NEXT. Just as you do when you have a negative thought come to you, say NEXT. Don’t fight it –just let it go. Same thing when you get “rejected.” My favorite affirmation while I am waiting for an answer is “This or something better.”
If I get rejected, then the belief in abundance of opportunity and potential, allows me to remember to say “ ON to the NEXT” sales call, audition, interview, date, etc.
Negative: This territory has no potential. (This is like saying there are no good men/women in this city to date-scarcity thinking again.)
Positive: Sales come to me from sources expected and unexpected. (I say this to myself EVERY day. When we open our minds up to getting money, results, opportunity from UNEXPECTED sources, it frees up the universe to bring it to us.)
Let go of something having to look a certain way and come in a certain time to give you your good.
Negative: This buyer hates all salespeople. (That is like saying all guys are jerks if you are a woman going on dates. Guess what you attract if you believe this. We are always looking for reasons or experiences to reinforce our beliefs.)
Positive: I always respect the buyer and therefore the buyer always respects me. (We can agree to disagree, but we don’t need to be nasty or aggressive to get our point across in a negotiation.)
People treat us the way we TEACH them to treat us. Sometimes just saying, “that doesn’t work for me,“when someone is rude or angry, can stop the tirade.
It is important to offer another solution. Look we can both want the same thing-let’s make this as pleasant as possible. You have a deadline to meet, I have a quota to meet, etc. Speak in terms of shared goals and let the other person know you understand their point of view. Look I know your boss or client needs you to get the best deal. We can do that in a way that still shows respect.
Negative: There is too much competition.
Positive: I am unique and what I have to offer has value. (No one wins when all you sell is the lowest price. When people say the price is too high, it means they don’t see the value in paying that amount. Do you value yourself to realize that competition is not something that intimidates you?
The reality is if there is no competition, there is no value in getting the job or making the sale. If you are the only candidate or the only actor going up for a role or the only person selling a product, then people don’t have choice. The real victory comes when people choose you. In order for that to happen, YOU have to Pick YOU over the competition in your mind FIRST.
Using these self-talk sales examples are a great way to give yourself renewed confidence in your ability to sell or express yourself.
Confidence comes from:
1) Remembering that who you are is NOT dependent on other’s opinion and
2) That you deserve success.
Both of these are required to be confident-free of others and a belief that you deserve it. Terry Cole Whitaker wrote a great book “What You Think of Me is None of My Business,” that says it all when it comes to letting go of other’s opinion.
“If you don’t feel you deserve success, you won’t.”
“Let yourself achieve it. You deserve to be on the planet, you deserve to be happy and you deserve to be successful when you put your passion and effort to work.”
Let’s go back to “Sales come to me from sources expected and unexpected.”
When I called on Lucky Brand Jeans-they had not spent money on ads in two years. I kept in touch with them anyway with an occasional note about the denim industry or phone call. One day out of the blue, I received a phone call saying “we now have a budget and we want to work with you again.
While I didn’t stay in touch with the expectation I’d see any immediate business from them, I did not give up on the idea that they might come back into the marketplace. I certainly did not put them on my list of potential or projected business for the year. It was a great feeling to get the call that they had money to spend and that I was one of the first calls they made when they were ready to spend it.
I did not forget them so they did not forget ME! See how that works?
By being open to receiving business from accounts that you have focused on and also willing to accept “Guilt free” sales from unexpected sources, you don’t block the abundance that surrounds all of us. So many people feel “guilty” about having money or sales come in –I didn’t earn it or I didn’t work hard to get it, so therefore I don’t deserve it. What I say is there are plenty of times you work on something that does not pan out, so you also deserve to have some if most things do not come to you with ease and grace.
Do you believe everything has to be a struggle or do you believe you can put in the effort without it being a burden and be successful? Since your thoughts create your reality, if you think you don’t deserve a sale unless you work hard for it, then that will be true for you. By believing the universe is unlimited, you can take your career to the next step.
You don’t have to know all the details of WHY good things come to you when they do or even HOW they will come. All you have to do is accept the fact that they will!
What should you do if you do have a negative thought? Will all of your negative thoughts come true? How can you erase the effect of all these negative thoughts?
That is like asking – Does one unhealthy meal really make you fatter? Does one wrong turn when driving mean you are lost forever? Does one sleepless night mean you will never sleep again?
The answer is the SUM total of ALL your thoughts give you your experience. Let me repeat that-the SUM total of ALL your thoughts create your experience.
One thought alone does not make you a success or failure. @jwlorr (Click to Tweet!)
Giving yourself permission to have the occasional negative thought allows you to let go of the mistaken idea that you have to be perfect all the time to feel good about yourself or be successful. Just keep thinking the type of thoughts you match your desired outcome to so that 51% of the total is positive. Then you can keep working to the goal of 100%.
To close today’s message, think of the universe as an impersonal law like gravity. It works the same for everyone. Just like when you shout into a valley. The echo you get back is what you just shouted out. Each echo is a fresh every moment and is not dependent on what you shouted five minutes ago or five years ago. You get back what you put out.
Are you willing to get back a new echo? Give it a try and write about it in the comments. You have everything like self esteem and confidence to gain!