Author: David Matney

I wrote this blog a while back and after a call I had with two supposedly experienced sales pros (I use this term loosely) I’ve decided to dust it off and post it once again. Like Yesterday’s post, if prospecting is the most important habit follow up is for sure the second. As the saying goes, the F.U. Money is in the follow up.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, It never ceases to amaze me how few sales people make the time to follow-up after they have made initial contact with a prospect or merchant.

In the last few months, I can think of at least eight different situations in my own life (business & personal) when someone did not bother taking this initiative.
 These included a guy who designed plans for our property, two different people who spoke to me about creating a promotional piece of literature for my business, a sales rep for a fence company, and a men’s fashion salesman who was asked to send information. You know who never gave up?  The Rainbow vacuum cleaner salesman.
(and we have no carpet)

In each of these situations I was very interested in the product or service offered by the vendor.
This got me wondering…why don’t sales people follow-up?

 I think there are several reasons.

1.They don’t want to appear pushy.
It may be true that  following up too frequently will come across as being pushy. However, very few people ever come close to crossing this line. In fact, one the few times, a salesperson was pushy was more because of his tone, rather than fact he actually followed up.

 As a sales professional, I believe it is our responsibility to keep following up with our prospects until we know for certain if they want to do business with us.
However, I also strongly believe that we can cross that line by making too many calls in a short period of time. So where’s the happen balance?

It depends on how your following up. A weekly phone call is more than enough to keep in touch providing you make sure your call is short and to the point. Walk in follows up I would say every 2-3 weeks unless other wise agreed upon.

2. Don’t waste your prospect’s time by droning on and on. Also, if possible, provide some additional value during your follow-up call. This may give your prospect a reason to choose you instead of a competitor.
They forget. It’s easy to forget considering how busy we are. We may have every intention of calling our prospect but we get caught up in our business.
Unexpected problems crop up, we find ourselves spending more time in meetings ad stuck in traffic, and because we didn’t schedule the follow-up, it doesn’t get done. This is a common dilemma but one that can be avoided by considering the follow-up like a scheduled appointment.

3.They make false assumptions.
I once submitted a proposal to a restaurant and told them I would follow-up on a certain day and time. Unfortunately, I was extremely sick that particular day and it was several days before I recuperated. I then wrestled with whether or not I should call him. I was concerned he would question why I didn’t call as scheduled. In the end, a simple apology was enough to rectify the situation and move the sales process forward.
When someone doesn’t immediately return our phone call or email message, we usually assume the worst – even if this assumption is not verified. I have learned from experience that a lack of response can often be attributed to the fact that the other person is just too busy to respond or does not have an answer for you. They think that the merchant or prospect will contact them. I think this is one of the most  common myths we as sales professionals fall prey to. We think that if we do a good job the prospect will automatically call us back – we don’t need to follow-up.
Unfortunately, we cannot rely on this if we want to achieve our sales goals. I remember talking to a couple of  business owners at a networking function. Both lamented the fact that companies did not return their calls. I pointed out that the average executive receives dozens of phone calls everyday and often hundreds of emails. They are extremely busy which means they forget and the more time that slips by, the less important your product or service may be to them.

4. They have never been taught.
 Many people have never received  formal sales training and have not learned why they should follow-up and how to make this happen. This is relatively easy to remedy. Start by asking or telling your prospect that you will follow-up on a specific day or time. Tell them how you will follow-up (telephone, email, face-to-face) and record this in your day planner, CRM or other time management system.
I use Google now and include a reminder so I don’t forget to follow-up.

Follow-up should also be completed after the sale is completed. A quick telephone call after the terminal has been delivered confirms their decision to buy from you. I also make an effort to send every new merchant a handwritten thank-you card once the terminal has been installed and again after they receive their first statement. I use Send out Cards or Postable.

Here’s the bottom line. You can easily  differentiate yourself from your competition by making the effort to follow-up with your prospects and merchants. Don’t take it for granted that they will call you. Be proactive and contact them.

Let me know how you follow up with prospects.

Happy Selling,

David

Today I’m going to share with you the most important habit for merchant sales professionals. .  One common theme I found was the need to develop one important habit – that habit is PROSPECTING.

I know you are thinking, “Well, of course, David!”  Okay, so let me ask you a question.  In the last five working business days, did you walk into 20 businesses for the first time prospecting?  Or did you make enough calls to talk to 20 business owners on the phone every single day of the last five?  If not, keep reading.  

Why is prospecting the most important habit?  Because everything else almost takes care of itself.  If you find a prospect who says, “Yeah, I’m actually really interested.  I don’t have my statement here.  But if you come back tomorrow, I’ll get you my statement.”  You ARE going to find a way to get back there tomorrow.  No one needs to force you or remind you to get back tomorrow.  Rather, you WANT to go back because you found somebody who is interested; you want to make the sale.

When a prospect says, “Hey, we’re ready to move forward,” are you going to find time to get the paperwork done?  Of course you will; you want to make a sale.  Once the paperwork is done, are you going to find time to follow through with the submission process?  So, these things will take care of themselves.  Believe me.  You don’t need to schedule time to watch Netflix or Hulu.  You will find the time.  There’s no need to schedule time to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  You’re going to do those things.However, what is the only thing you won’t do if you can help it at all?  Prospecting.  One road-block which prevents prospecting is over-thinking.  Stop overthinking it.  Go prospecting.  These are questions I hear from sales people:

• “Well, David, should I target one specific business type?”  Or,
• “Should I target all the businesses on a street?”  Or
• “Should I call them?”  Or,
• “Should I walk in?”

My answer, “YES!  Any of those are fine.”  Go prospecting.  You must prospect every single day for two or three hours.  Whether you go after a specific vertical or go into the field doesn’t matter.  There are definitely advantages to certain strategies.  However, I’ve found those advantages really don’t matter for 90% of the merchant sales professionals with whom I talk.  The reason is they’re not even going prospecting AT ALL anyway.

Many sales people are prospecting perhaps one day a week for an hour but are asking, “What strategy should I use?”  That’s like sitting in a parking lot in a car out of gas while asking how to steer the car.  Yes, steering the car is important.  It’s just that steering doesn’t matter if you’re out of gas because you’re not going anywhere.  So, until you develop the habit of prospecting and put some gas in the tank, my great prospecting ideas won’t help you go anywhere!

Prospecting is one of those things that either you ARE doing or you’re NOT.  The people I know who are successfully prospecting, are doing it almost every day.  Some of them have a strategy where one day a week they just do closing and follow-up, which is fine.  But then four days a week they’re out prospecting.  If you really want to be successful as a sales professional, go prospecting.

Here’s another quick tip for you.  Whenever you’re trying to convince yourself to do something that maybe you don’t want to do, always have sticks and carrots.  Use the idea of trying to get a horse to move.  You can hold out a carrot, and the horse will come to you to get that treat.  Or you could give them a little whack on the behind.  Then they’ll move forward as well.

Do the same thing for yourself.  What are the sticks that you can use?  One is accountability.  Find people you know and respect and say, “Look, I really want to be successful.  In order to do that, I need to make sure I’m walking into my first business by 9:00 a.m.  And I need to make sure I’m still in the field prospecting by 11:00 a.m.  May I text you at 9:00 a.m. when I’m walking into my first prospect?  And then may I text again when I leave my last one?  That will give me a little accountability.”

What about treats?  People think this is so corny.  Although I say this all the time, nobody does it.  I’m really serious though.  Is there some ice cream shop that you love in your area?  Is there a candy bar that you love?  Do you love sitting in Barnes and Noble to read a magazine?   So what do you just love to do that takes maybe a half hour?  Every single day when you’re done prospecting, go do that.  That’s not very complicated.

  Sticks and carrots – give yourself what you want after you do the prospecting.    

Whose opinion do you value?  There are always people who we respect.  There is nothing wrong with that.  Be accountable to them.  Make sure you’re going to do the thing you need to do.The most important habit for a merchant sales professional is prospecting.  

The key is to go DO it, and do it every single day. 

Happy Selling,

David

This blog is primarily for merchant services sales reps, but every so often I like to share a thought that is more philosophical that has helped me. 

I know exactly what it is like to struggle in the field and then come home at 2 in the afternoon because you just can’t seem to “Make” yourself stay out any longer. Maintaining personal discipline as an independent sales rep is difficult and indeed some find it nearly impossible! I still have a very long way to go in building the type of personal discipline I want to have, but allow me to share a couple tips that may surprise you about building discipline.

Tip #1 – Embrace reality in all but a few areas at a time. When a sales person tells me that they are going to change their whole life and do a complete 180 degree turn around, I wish them the best and pray that they are able to pull off this transformation. The harsh reality though is that this strategy rarely works. The best way to develop personal discipline is to accept and embrace the reality of your flaws and weaknesses in all but a couple areas, and then work only on those chosen areas until you have developed strong, positive habits. Then you can move on to the next area of improvement. “If you try to fix everything about your life, you will probably fix nothing.”

Tip #2 – Discipline is about knowledge not effort. It is unfortunate that many people have decided they can “will” themselves into better living. They say things like, “If only I had a little more will power, I would spend more time in the field.” Here is a question for you, if you saw a red hot oven burner, how much discipline would you need to refrain from setting your hand on it? You know why this doesn’t take any discipline? Because you understand that not touching a red hot burner is in your interest and you understand exactly what will happen if you take that action.

If you want to develop discipline, increase your understanding. One of my favorite statements is this; “Great actions follow great convictions.” If you really want to increase your “discipline” about spending more time in the field, you need a deeper understanding. You need to take a couple hours and listen to a sales book so you will develop a strong conviction that if you did go out in the field, you could become successful. Or, you could use our income calculator to see the long term results of your prospecting efforts. Understanding the benefits of your efforts long term would be much more effective than just “willing” yourself to work harder. The first time I got a “buyout” offer on my residual portfolio and I realized how much each account was really worth, I spent a lot more time in the field because I had a new understanding about the value of my efforts.

Tip #3 – Most successful people are experts at tricking themselves into developing discipline. One very successful man I know used to hide three alarm clocks in his room in order to get up at 4:30am. He believed this one habit would have a dramatic effect on his performance, so he hid one alarm clock under his bed, another one in his closet and a third one under the dresser. He said that he hated getting up early but by the time he climbed all over the floor to turn off these alarm clocks, he was awake enough to make it into the shower and start his day. Years later, he now gets up at 4:30 am without an alarm clock because his body is so used to this habit and he has moved on to “tricking” himself into other good habits.

Another successful person I know wanted to have a stronger weekly devotions time. This particular friend was very health conscious and already had strong habits in this area. For him to have a candy bar was a big deal and there was one candy bar in particular that he really liked. So, every week for several months, he decided that he would conduct his weekly devotions in his car in a parking lot at a nearby store. Before starting the devotions time, he went in and purchased this candy bar and he would eat it while having his devotions. This developed strong positive feelings in his mind associated with his weekly devotions.

These “tricks” may sound childish to you, but both of these individuals were in their 40’s or 50’s when engaging in these activities and both men were already very successful in this field. It takes a certain amount of humility to admit that resorting to “tricks” will be effective to develop discipline but if you can pull it off, it will be incredibly effective. Start developing your skills at self-trickery and understanding now, and you will develop more discipline than you ever thought possible.

I hope these tips help you accomplish more of what you believe you should be doing!

Happy Selling, 

David

There is greatness inside everyone of us, but we must first understand that we have to choose to be great.

Greatness comes from the determination to do incredible things. It all begins with having a dream and the willingness to be the best at what we do.

There is incredible potential for greatness within all of us. The decision is completely up to us to accomplish extraordinary things. It all starts with a burning desire to achieve great success.

The truth is, most people choose to be average. When you really think about average, it’s just as close to the bottom as it is to the top. You are capable of something better than mediocrity.

Most people look at those that have achieved greatness as either lucky or just gifted. While there may be some luck involved, and certainly everyone has gifts and talents, the truth is greatness requires hard and determination to achieve. If you truly want to be the best, you have to make that commitment to plant the seeds of greatness now and you will reap the harvest later.

It’s important to believe that you can be a top performer and accomplish great things. You must have the expectations of yourself first before you can do great things. Never limit yourself. You can go as far as you believe. In order to live a life of excellence, you must think thoughts of excellence.

Once you have chosen greatness in whatever you are doing, the next step is to take action. In order to be the best at something, it is going to take hard work over a long period of time. When you look at top performers in business, music, or sports, everyone will speak of the hours, days, weeks, months, and years of hard work. Every one of them experienced struggles, but they worked hard, and they never gave up. They may have had some moments of doubt and thoughts of giving up, but they stayed focused on their goals and never quit.

Consistency is the key when it comes to achieving greatness. Your success journey will be tough, challenging and difficult along the way. This is so true, especially in the beginning. Never give up! You are going to improve each and every day. Make the commitment to work hard, stay focused and hungry and you will see your dreams come to fruition. There may be a day that you feel like throwing in the towel. DO NOT QUIT! You are one step closer to achieving your dreams, and I promise you that you do not want to live with regret because you quit. Stay strong and I guarantee that your future self will thank you.

Most people want their big dreams to be accomplished right away. They’re thinking is like going through a drive-through window looking for instant success. You can have success out of the gates, but for your big dreams to really come true, you must work hard consistently over a period of time. There are no secret formulas. 

Remember, there is greatness within you. It is waiting to come out. Start right where you are and make that commitment today. Be patient and have faith. If you put in the effort and you never give up, you will achieve greatness. The time is going to go by anyway.

Greatness is waiting for you. Now go out there and get it! 

Happy Selling,

David

Keeping your pipeline stuffed is a sure path toward frustration.

Build your sales pipeline in a way that deals flow through with ease from top to bottom.

How? I’ve got this week’s Top10 tips for how to build a healthy sales pipeline.

In true David letterman fashion, from the home office in

BANZAI PIPELINE HAWAII

Here are the Top 10 Ways to Build a Sales Pipeline.

10. Know your solution.

Know how you (your product, your service) help people. If you don’t know your solution, then why are you putting together a sales pipeline?

9. Know your ICP, Ideal Customer Profile.

Knowing your perfect customer upfront is absolutely key. This is going to help you determine what goes into your pipeline.

8. Know how to bring value.

What are the questions that you need to be asking?

Are there studies that you share that customers normally like, (or whatever it might be)?

How does this value turn into outcomes that customers get after they buy from you?

7. Build your cadence.

You can begin to build your cadence based on the answers to the questions above. 

How many times do I have to send them emails,  mail, or a text to turn them into a customer? I need a cadence that I can administer multiple times to many, many people at the same time. So, as you build out your cadence, don’t build it so complicated that you can only handle one prospect at a time. That’s not a cadence.

6. Create your questions and talking points.

We spend so much time developing the information we want to share and not enough time spent on the questions we ask. In my cadence,  my messages,  my conversations, in everything I communicate, what are the questions I’m going to ask? What are my talking points?

My absolute objective is to be able to have this platform of information that I’m so comfortable asking and talking about at any time with any prospect that it becomes a routine.

5. Establish a routine.

I can establish a routine that I can repeat over, and over, and over again. If you don’t have a routine, it’s just not going to work because there are too many activities involved to be successful.

Organization of a routine brings a method to madness.

4. Leverage your CRM.

Don’t think you can get by without a CRM. Of course, you don’t have to have a complex CRM. The top of the food chain is Salesforce and Dynamics, for instance. If you’re a small business, you really don’t need those. You can get by with Clientvine, or any number of more simple CRMs.

3. Know your CTAs, call to actions.

As you’re asking questions, or going through your cadence, what are your call to actions going to be? You need to make sure that you have one for each message you send out.

2. Build your schedule.

This builds off of your ever-important routine.

What’s your schedule going to look like Monday through Friday? I realize no two days are ever alike, but you’ve still got to have routines.

Routines ensure you follow up enough times with these prospects as you work to understand who stays in your pipeline and who comes out. (You have to be willing to take things out of your pipeline just as much as you are putting things in.)

And the #1 way to build a sales pipeline is…..

1. Execute the plan.

This means continuously reviewing your pipeline because you don’t want a sewer pipe. A sewer pipeline is where I have all these names and all this stuff in there, and I just don’t know what to do with them. I want to have a water tap that I’m putting prospects in. The questions I can ask have been prepared and practiced. I know the solution I can help them with. They fit my ICP. I know how I can bring value, and I can move them through quickly. That’s executing.

Have a happy weekend,

David

I believe there is one particular reason why people fail in the merchant services industry.  It’s not because they can’t sell or are inherently lazy or stupid.  Rather, it’s because they are not organized for success.

One misconception with which I battled for years seems to be common.  This concept that going to work and getting the job done is simple could not be further from the truth.  The greatest challenge in my own business career has not been mastering financial concepts or understanding profit and loss reports.  Rather, creating structure and discipline around myself to leverage abilities and make things happen has been the most difficult.

As a sales rep there are two levers to pull.  One which I address often is the closing percentage.  That’s a lever you can pull.  A higher closing percentage or doubling your closing rate will double the number of sales.  The second lever of equal importance is the number of contacts you make.  To pull that lever requires an increase in the number of contacts daily, weekly, and monthly.  The only hope for that increase is to be organized for success.

Here is one simple tip which will help you in that organization process.  Remove your priority levels.  In my opinion priorities – thinking about priorities – is the biggest enemy of efficiency and organization when performing simple tasks.  In making sales, for instance, don’t waste time pondering which of the prospects in your pipeline is the “best” or top priority.  You shouldn’t need to wonder whether going to your child’s soccer game is a more important priority than your work time.  The key to making these types of decisions is DON’T make them!  Have a structure and system in place which makes those decisions for you.

When you were a W-2 employee, there was no decision to make between working or other activities.  There were extra rules and set hours to work then.  That’s structure.  You learned how to game the system to do what you wanted and get your work done.  However, now you must recreate that structure for yourself.

As a sales professional, you should have only two priority levels:  (1)  Important enough to do.  (2)  Not important enough to do.  This morning I had about seventy-six emails in my box.  So, at 6:30 a.m. I began working on those and had an empty box by about 8:30 a.m.  Here’s the way I work through my emails.  For each email, I make the decision whether or not to take action.  There is no A, B, or C priority.  I don’t decide whether I should act now, next week, this evening, or tomorrow.  My question for each email is, “Am I ever going to do anything about this email?”  If the answer is “no,” I delete it!  There were perhaps eleven of those seventy-five emails to which I replied, “Hey, thanks so much for asking me about this.  I’m not going to do this right now.  Have a great day!”  Then I delete it.  This is preferable to leaving it in my box or months, thinking about it every day, and making that person wait and wonder.  Why waste time and mental energy?

There are emails to which I should act.  In that case, I have a crazy radical concept.  I DO IT!  I don’t put it in a folder.  If I need to make a phone call, text or email, I DO IT!  That is the most challenging thing you will do is force yourself to work.  When I realize there is a prospect who needs a phone call, I have a default instant reaction of dialing the number.  If an email reminds me of a needed visit in person, I grab my coat and go.  Don’t prioritize it; JUST DO IT!

If you follow that simple tip, you will be incredibly effective and efficient.  Leverage your abilities to get things done by eliminating unnecessary decision making.  

Happy Selling,

David

If I were to ask you to describe someone that truly believes in themselves, what would you say? 

I think immediately the description would be that when they enter a room, people notice them. 

When they speak, people listen to them.

They definitely have strong body language. 

Most people would say that these type of individuals have no insecurities at all. 

The truth is, everyone struggles with some sort of self doubt. The key is to learn how to overcome the self-doubt.

Not everyone feels confident all the time. What separates successful people and those that are not as successful is the way those feelings are dealt with. It’s OK to be afraid, but we must not allow that to stop us. 

Your philosophy should always be, “I may have fear but I’m going to do it anyway. Nothing is going to stop me.”

Doubting oneself is basically a learned behavior. Most of that comes from the opinion of others and life experiences. 

Self doubt is driven by fear and stops us from achieving great success. The key to learning how to get rid of self doubt is to figure out how to overcome those fears.

The first step is to find out what are some of the beliefs that you may have that are holding you back. 

It’s a good idea to break out a sheet of paper and write them out. Once you identify what is holding you back, you can then change your belief system. 

The power of the mind is an incredible thing. You can definitely change your mindset from unlimited beliefs to absolutely believing in yourself and your abilities.

It’s also imperative to make sure that the way you talk about yourself and the way you talk to yourself is nothing but positive going forward. Do not be self deprecating even if you think it is funny. Changing your self talk is a powerful way to turn self-doubt into self-confidence.

Take a look at the people you are surrounding yourself with. 

Are people bringing you down or are they lifting you up? 

Find the people who are in life where you want to be and simply do what they do. Of course, make sure they are living with integrity. 

Surround yourself with people that are positive and supportive.

Once again, everyone will deal with some sort of self-doubt every now and then. It’s important to recognize that. Once you’ve recognized that, quit wondering how to get rid of it. 

I can’t stress enough the importance of taking action immediately. 

You don’t need to keep getting advice from everyone. Do not delay. 

There are no more excuses. Start today, start small and just keep moving forward. As you see achievements, you are going to start building confidence. 

The goal is to put the self-doubt behind you.I’m going to make a guarantee with you right now.  On the road to success, you WILL have some roadblocks.During this time, the ones closest to you will probably start doubting you. In fact, you may start doubting yourself. You must get rid of that mindset immediately and not listen to any naysayers. It’s time to push even harder. This is what separates true success from mediocrity. Do not quit, do not ever give up and don’t look back. Keep marching forward.Learn the lessons in the failures and the setbacks. Get up and get going.

You were designed with a great purpose. Look in that mirror every morning and proclaim

”I believe in myself and my abilities.  I will not allow fear or self-doubt to get in my way.  I am taking action and building my confidence every single day.”

Happy Selling,

 David

Depending on what part of the country you live in, you’ve probably seen some tell tale signs that spring has arrived. today, according to the calendar it’s the first day of Spring. I for one was anxious for spring to arrive, as it historically marks the start of one of the best times to sell credit card processing services.

Granted the official start of spring started a few weeks back, but as we jump right into the middle of April, I’m curious to know what steps you’re taking to help promote your credit card processing service.

Now,  it’s time to review your sales plan to make sure your profits will grow as fast as everything else around you this season.

Allow me to use this old saying of “the early bird gets the worm” really does apply here. That’s why I’d like to ask you to take the time to honestly answer the following questions.

1. Is your toolbox up to date?

First start by taking a look inside your toolbox. Do you have all of the general tools you need to sell credit card processing? If so, are your tools up to date?

2. Do you have the newer tools you need to be competitive in your market?

Even if you provide the best merchant service, it’s critical that you make sure that you have the new tools you need to be competitive, like  next day funding or touch screen point of sales.

Now mind you the key word here is “need,” not “want.” There are a lot of new “cool” offerings, but time is going to be precious over the next few months. Make sure that there is a need before committing the time to obtain the tools and skills necessary to sell any new offerings.

Here are few I would like you to add to your tool box

1. Clientvine CRM –  If you’re like many merchant services sales people I know, chances are it’s been a while since you updated or even used a CRM. Dive in as there’s a good chance it needs some tweaks, or perhaps even a complete overhaul.

Let me share an incredible CRM called ClientVine. It’s a full featured CRM that has a huge plus,  It can  do a statement analysis! The good folks at ClientVine will upload our schedule A’s so the system knows our pricing parameters. 

Once again, for more information on ClientVine please feel free to call or email me.  

2. Cash Bouy- Is a merchant cash advance company that has been around for quite a while. Cash Bouy has been in the business of helping small businesses. We all know that getting working capital can be challenging for some of our merchants so at Cash Bouy, they make business funding simple.

3. Are you taking full advantage of what your payment processor has to offer?     Touch Screen POS

You need a good point of sale offering. Rather it’s Clover, Lavu, find a system that can meet your needs. For example, consider the  merchant services software that is available from your current payment processor. Does it offer any unique advantages that you could be leveraging any more effectively then with a POS?

4. How comfortable are you with available pricing options?

In one of my past  blog posts, I spent some time talking about the benefits of tiered pricing and why you shouldn’t cast it aside simply because Interchange Plus appears to be easier. If you’re not sure when to use each method, follow this simple rule.  Under $10,000.00 in volume it would be best on tiered, over $10,000.00 a month put on IC+. This will work well most of the time. 

5. Are you offering a Dual Pricing option?

If your not offering you prospects a dual pricing option your doing yourself and them a disservice. This is an opportunity to save the thousands of dollars and also to make increased residuals for yourself. Find a processing partner that offers a compliant program on terminals, point of sales system, mobile, gateways etc.

In order to be successful selling credit card processing, it’s critical that you perform this exercise before one of the best selling seasons has come and gone.

I’m curious to know your answers to these questions. 

Did you find any areas of concern? 

What steps do you plan to take so you can maximize the growth of your credit card processing service?

Happy Selling,

David

Each day, we are all given the same amount of time. 

No matter who we are, we all have 24 hours in a day. 

I think we have all said at one point in our lives, “It seems that I don’t have enough time in the day to do the things that I need to do.”

This is why it is absolutely imperative that you take inventory of your day. My question for you is…. 

Are you spending your time or are you investing your time? 

There is a big difference between spending time and investing time. Spending actually means that you are using something up without getting a return.  When you invest in something, you have an expectation of getting a good return on your investment. 

Investing your time means that you are engaging in activities that are going to bring you rewards. I call them MMA’s (Money Making Activities)

Most of the time, when you hear the word ‘invest’, you think of money. It is just as important to start thinking of investing, when it comes to your TIME as well.

While you are taking inventory of your days, write out how much of your time is just being spent without getting any reward from it. You will be stunned by how much time is being wasted. 

How much time in your day is being wasted watching meaningless television or being on social media? Ask yourself if you are really getting anything out of doing that. 

The truth is, this applies to many categories. So many people waste time when it comes to spending time doing things with no rewards. Are you just spending time in a relationship or are you investing in that relationship? 

Are you spending time talking to negative people and gossiping, or are you investing your time with people that are going to help you grow? 

Are you spending time sleeping too much or are you investing in your body to create better health? 

I could go on and on. I know you get the picture.

After you have taken inventory, you will be very pleased to know that you have a lot of time now to invest in making a better life for yourself. It all starts with setting some goals. Once you have put your short and long-term goals together, write out a plan on what it’s going to take to achieve these goals. Once you have the goal and the plan, it is now time to invest every second of your life to achieve your dreams. 
It’s all going to begin with how you spend your mornings. When you win in the mornings, you win the day. It’s time to begin your day with investments. Rise early. Have a gratitude journal. Start each day with good exercise. Have some good quiet time focusing on positive thoughts. Make that commitment to invest your time wisely.

When it comes to business, it’s important to understand that time is your capital. You must make every second count. Make sure you are investing your time wisely and make sure you are investing your time with the right people. You have a choice! You can either choose to be just plain busy wasting time or you can choose to invest your time wisely, and be productive.

Starting today, adopt the philosophy that life is an investment. You must figure out how to invest your time. Do not just spend time and waste it with no rewards. Invest your time wisely and make your dreams come true.

Happy Selling, 

David

Saint Patrick’s Day is this Sunday and for most of us it’s just a fun day to wear green and pinch those who don’t, but for the Irish Saint Patrick’s Day is a national holiday. There’s a lot more to Saint Patrick’s Day than clovers and green beer.

So I have put together this Friday’s Top 10 Lucky Facts About St. Patrick’s Day

From the Home Office in Dublin, Ireland here is

Top 10 Lucky Facts About St. Patrick’s Day

10. We should really be wearing blue on St. Patrick’s Day.

Saint Patrick himself would have to deal with pinching on his feast day. Though we’ve come to associate kelly green with the Irish and the holiday, the 5th-century saint’s official color was “Saint Patrick’s blue,” a light shade of sky blue. The color green only became associated with the big day after it was linked to the Irish independence movement in the late 18th century.

9. St. Patrick wasn’t Irish.

Although he made his mark by introducing Christianity to Ireland in the year 432, Patrick wasn’t Irish himself. He was born to Roman parents in Scotland or Wales in the late 4th century.

8. St. Patrick’s Day used to be a dry holiday.

As you might expect, St. Patrick’s Day is a huge deal in his old stomping grounds. It’s a national holiday in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, but up until the 1970s, pubs were closed on that day. (The one exception went to beer vendors at the big national dog show, which was always held on St. Patrick’s Day.) Before that time, the saint’s feast day was considered a more solemn, strictly religious occasion. Now, the country welcomes hordes of green-clad tourists for parades, drinks, and perhaps the reciting of a few limericks.

7. New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day parade has been happening since 1762.

New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is one of the world’s largest parades. Since 1762, roughly 250,000 marchers have traipsed up 5th Avenue on foot—the parade still doesn’t allow floats, cars, or other modern trappings. People like Miracle on 34th Street actress Maureen O’Hara and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, have served as grand marshal. In 2020, the parade was canceled for the first time in its centuries-old history due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

6. There are no female leprechauns.

Don’t be fooled by any holiday decorations showing lady leprechauns. In traditional Irish folk tales, there are no female leprechauns, only nattily attired little guys who spend their days making and mending shoes (meaning they earned that gold they’re always guarding).

5. There’s a reason for the shamrocks.

How did the shamrock become associated with St. Patrick? According to Irish legend, the saint used the three-leafed plant (which is not to be confused with the four-leaf clover) as a metaphor for the holy trinity when he was first introducing Christianity to Ireland.

4. Cold weather helped St. Patrick’s claim to fame.

In Irish lore, St. Patrick gets credit for driving all the snakes out of Ireland. Modern scientists suggest that the job might not have been too hard—according to the fossil record, Ireland has never been home to any snakes. Through the Ice Age, the island was too cold to host any reptiles, and the surrounding seas have staved off serpentine invaders ever since. Modern scholars think the “snakes” St. Patrick drove away were likely metaphorical.

3. There’s no corn in that beef.

Corned beef and cabbage, which has become a St. Patrick’s Day staple for Irish Americans, doesn’t have anything to do with the grain corn. Instead, it’s a nod to the large grains of salt that were historically used to cure meats, which were also known as “corns.”

2. Americans run up quite a bar tab on St. Patrick’s Day.

In 2023, it was estimated that 15 million pints of Guinness would be consumed worldwide on St. Patrick’s Day. And in 2024, it was estimated that in America, overall beer sales would be up 174 percent. In fact, it’s the biggest day for bars in the country. And in general, in 2024, it was expected that Americans would spend $7.86 billion celebrating the holiday.

And the #1 Top 10 Lucky Facts About St. Patrick’s Day is ….

1.  St. Patrick’s Day could have been Saint Maewyn’s Day.

According to Irish legend, St. Patrick wasn’t originally called Patrick. His birth name was Maewyn Succat, but he changed it to Patricius after becoming a priest.

Whatever you’ve heard about St. Patrick, you won’t be surprised that a lot of the malarkey over the patron saint of Ireland mixes a healthy dose of man with myth. It’s the Irish way to create legends from well told stories. While you’re imbibing on your Irish travel, you’ll see how, quite possibly, you too will start to believe everything you’re told … or will you?

Have a great St, Paddy’s day weekend,

David