The hard & fast rules of being a “Top Gun” – part 1

Discover the guarded secrets of how using social media will have your business doing ‘fly-bys’ over your competition…  

This is part 1 of an article I wrote for Cleanfax Magazine…stay tuned next week as I reveal part 2. 

It’s been 25 years since the movie “Top Gun” hit theaters. Yet, it’s one of the most quoted movies of all time. 

Why? Well, a few factors… it had the ability to educate, entertain and engage. The exact same qualities that every business needs to have when using social media. 

“It’s just a walk in the park, Kazanky!” as Maverick explains to the other pilots. 

And, it really is. Social media can be the easiest way to promote your business without all the expensive advertising we as business owners have been programmed to buy into. Consider Yellow Pages, coupons, television, newspaper and radio your targets and social media the new weapons in your fight to win the war for new customers. 

Yeah, it’s a little cliché. But, it works! Some days it literally takes your breath away. 

All you have to do is three simple things and it can make all the difference between standing on the deck and shoving it into overdrive: Educate, entertain and engage. 

If you want to be considered the “best of the best” by your customers and even your competition you have to set the pace. Although there are no hard and fast rules to social media, those that follow the rules of engagement definitely achieve a higher status. 

No need for speed 

Speed is not necessarily a good thing with social media; sometimes it can lead to disaster. 

Uncontrollable downward tail spins. Can you walk away or do you… crash and burn? 750 million Facebook users couldn’t be wrong, could they? 

Sadly, only a small percentage of Facebook users are entrepreneurs who use the service as a means of promotion. 

‘It’s a target-rich environment!’ 

Maverick actually was referring to the women in the bar when he said that, but social media could have the same connotation. With social media, your target environment is your friends, fans and followers and their friends, fans and followers and so on. 

The key is not to have your fans think you “lost that loving feeling”. A constant supply of well-fueled posts that entertain, educate and engage will always keep them feeling that you care. 

Okay, enough with the Top Gun references for a bit. It was that last quote right? Too much? 

Social media can be the same way. Too many posts can have your fans, followers and friends feeling confused and somewhat abused. Sure, you want to tell the world all about how you feel, your newest gizmo that you’re selling or the red convertible you just bought… but do it over time. Just like in a normal conversation, you allow the other party to respond. You share with them and allow them to share back. One-sided conversations turn people away as do too many posts in a day. 

Anything you use in the offline world can be used online to educate, entertain and engage your social media followers. 

As I mentioned before, the field is wide open to what you could post, but keep in mind, the majority of your followers may not share your humor, use of harsh language or have gun racks in the back of their trucks… keep it clean and follow the rules.                

                                       

  Until Next Time,                  

     “Live with Passion!” 

   Rob Anspach    

  P.S.  To help make you a “Top Gun”, I’m relaunching my “Be A Better Entrepreneur” coaching and seminar series. I’m in the process of planning several 1 day seminar events (on the East & West coast of the USA) and scheduling multiple on-location consulting sessions. If you would like more information on the seminar events or the coaching services, feel free to drop a line and I’d be honor to help you make your story better. 

Your story!

   Over the weekend I watched a few movie flicks with my kids.    

   Although the stories were different they shared a common theme. 

   Embracing your story! 

   “Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that doesn’t make you who you are, it is the rest of your story, who you choose to be… So, who are you?” -Kung Fu Panda 2 

    What makes you…well, you? 

    You’re story may not be interesting to you, because you live it. It’s interesting to others because they didn’t. 

    Don’t like how the story is written, rewrite it. 

    Yep, you can change your story at anytime. 

    Yet… 

    “No man can walk out on his own story!”- Rango    

     The chapters of your life can get better or worse as you go on…it’s your choice. 

     If you made choices in the past that were sketchy, there is always time to write a new chapter. That’s life. That’s your story. 

     I’ve known people whose story is so sad, yet they aren’t afraid to share it with someone in hopes the other person can benefit in some small way. 

     Your stories help you be authentic to your clients. 

     They can connect with you and share your pains and joys. 

      Last year I interviewed David Kekich for my Passions to Profits Interview Series…a brilliant storyteller and CEO of Maximum Life Foundation. David’s story goes like this…a successful businessman who while weight lifting felt a pinch in his back, that pinch was his story being rewritten. The very next day he was paralyzed from the waist down. Over the next few months, his fiance left him, and he was forced to sell his house and sports cars to pay for his medical expenses. 

      David didn’t like this chapter in his life and vowed to make it better. In doing so, he changed his future and became successful again. 

      So maybe you’re struggling in your business right now, and you don’t seem to think there is a future. Just remember, the final chapter isn’t written yet…and there is still time to write it.           

      Until Next Time,                  

   

  “Live with Passion!”

   Rob Anspach    

  P.S.  To help make your story successful, I’m relaunching my “Be A Better Entrepreneur” coaching and seminar series. I’m in the process of planning several 1 day seminar events (on the East & West coast of the USA) and scheduling multiple on-location consulting sessions. If you would like more information on the seminar events or the coaching services, feel free to drop a line and I’d be honor to help you make your story better. 

The Facebook Fiasco!

 It’s been two days since the “powers that be” at Facebook decided to mess with our heads again and shuffle around how they display posts and feeds. 

     People were crying foul! 

     How dare you mess with our way of life. 

     As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror!  

     Not to mention anger, frustration & sheer annoyance!      

     Well, according to sources, this is just the beginning! 

     Your precise Facebook is no more!

     Well, not like it was. 

     Facebook wants to make it better! 

     Seriously? Screwing with people’s minds and making them cringe everytime they sign on to your service is making things better?    

      Or as John McClane says, “Just a fly in the ointment, Hans. The monkey in the wrench. The pain in the ass.” 

       My 19 year old daughter was so annoyed at the rapid changes Facebook was making she was contemplating deleting her account and just using her Google + account. Which incidently, she says was more like Facebook a few years ago, but with easier to use, cool features.  

    “No need to fear…Underdog is here!” 

     Sorry, just always wanted to find a place to use that phrase and there it was! 

     Well, for now I have a quick fix that will help solve some issues.  

     If you want your Facebook feed to go back to normal…here’s what you do. 

     First, go to your account settings (which is in the top right corner, with the little arrow pointing down, the arrow next to home…click it) and go to notifications. At the top right is a box that says email frequency. Uncheck that box and your feed will show all the posts again.  

     Then go to your home page and anything in the “Top Stories” click on the down arrow in the upper right and “unmark as top story” – now your newsfeed will be setup by timestamp rather than randomly picking “top stories. 

      It’s a start and will help bring some semblance of normalcy back…at least for a few weeks until Facebook rolls out more nerve whacking stuff. And, believe me, what that have planned will make Wednesday’s fiasco a walk in the park.           

      Rapid changes to your service can and will upset people and is the fastest way to lose customers. Facebook may have the ability to offset those defections of people who go elsewhere, but the average entrepreneur doesn’t. So, if you plan on making changes, do so in a manner that won’t upset the majority of your customers.     

  Until Next Time,                   

     “Live with Passion!” 

   Rob Anspach    

  P.S.  As changes occur on Facebook or other social sites, I will try to have up to date, easy to understand instructions or fast fixes that will have you back up and posting again.

How many times is it for you now?

An old friend came up to me the other day and commented on how “together” I was and that I seemed to have a perfect business. I just shook my head and said “why yes, yes I do”…then I laughed and told him the truth. 

       It’s not perfect…no way…far from it! 

       But, I have secret… 

       I used to be that person who would think if it was perfect all these projects that I am working on would have been done and making me goobs of money by now. 

       But instead, those projects would sit on my desk waiting for me to look at them, finish them or toss them aside. 

       How many times is it now? I would say to myself. 

       That question would echo in my mind as I start to develop yet another project that may never see the light of day. 

       Unfinished project after another. 

       Oh, I keep saying to myself, I will get to it! Then that “next big thing” becomes a dust collector sitting on my shelf. 

       The cycle of insanity starts to mess with your head.  

       Then all of a sudden you are afraid to do anything for fear that you won’t finish what you started. Entrepreneurs stop being risk-takers, inventors and even marketers.  

        Stop fearing the unknown.         

        Yes, doing too many projects at once is bad. But doing nothing is worse. 

        It’s good to get creative, but limit your choice of projects to a minimum until you are caught up.

        Here’s the secret! 

        Learn to say “No” to yourself! And sometimes to others as well. 

        What I’ve learned is that we entrepreneurs get so inundated with “stuff” that we forget what made us entrepreneurs to begin with. 

        Freedom! 

        It wasn’t the money or the fame or the great benefits…nope it was freedom! 

        Freedom to do what we want, when we want! 

        Somewhere we did a 360 flip flop and convinced ourselves busy is more important than freedom. Bullshit! 

        If you want to feel better, have more control and quite frankly less bullshit, then…

        You need to schedule a few personal days throughout the month to give yourself freedom to do what you want, how you want. 

        If you want to chill out at Starbucks, or watch Oprah in your pj’s, or take in a movie or simply spend sometime doing fun stuff…now you can! 

        It’s hard to do! 

        But once you schedule those days and you stick by those days, you will actually feel better when you take them. 

        When you get back to your office, you will feel refreshed and ready to rock and roll. Your days will be more productive and you will end up making more money then had you worked those personal days.                                       

  Until Next Time,                 

     “Live with Passion!”  

   Rob Anspach     

  P.S.  Many entrepreneurs experience “burnout” before enjoying freedom…that is so messed up! Make freedom a priority so burnout never happens.

Did You Notice?

I tweaked my website a bit! Maybe, you noticed…or did you?

If you haven’t been there lately, I would like you to head over after reading this and click on the “like” button at the top of the page…okay, thanks.

It’s all about luring the big fish! You know, give a man a fish feed him for a day, teach him how to fish feed him for a lifetime stuff.

Yeah, it’s all true.

You my friend need to learn how to be a better fisherman, and when you do, you will become a better entrepreneur.

Yep, fishing will help you.

Actually fishing is the key!

 Learn the proper ways to fish, where to fish and how to attract the right fish and you will become a master at the trade.

 Not into the whole fishing thing? Neither was I at first, but I discovered that it’s something that is absolutely necessary for the survival of my business.

 Like I said, fishing is the key.

Now click here to see what the heck I’m talking about.

Talk soon!

Until Next Time,

 ”Live with Passion!”

Rob Anspach

P.S. Catching fish is easy once you know the secrets.

Three weeks can make all the difference!

It’s been 3 weeks since my last post.

In that time, I traveled half way round the world to be a chaperone for the youth of my church. We visited some pretty amazing places. Some very humbling, some very choatic and others helped put my life in a new perspective.

We visited the Grotto at Lourdes France, The Basilica’s in Loyola & Burgos Spain and then participated in World Youth Day in Madrid.

While in Madrid we suffered from heat exhaustion and got the experience of being a human sandwich while riding the Metro. (eew!)

I had only been home for about 8 hours when the earthquake hit. Not a very welcoming sign.

Then the next day I was incapacitated with a sinus cold (most likely from the recycled airplane air) that sidelined me for a few days. Then the hurricane struck.

No power! No water! No cell service!

I thought okay…more signs.

Most of us take for granted all the great things we have until we can’t get them elsewhere. We are used to instant access to computers, cell service, fast food, heck you name it…if it makes our life easier in any way we do it, right?

It took me a while to see the signs before I had that “lightbulb” moment!

Doing things the easy way…isn’t always the best way!

Accepting who I am and what I stand for is and will always be what people judge me by. If I am true to myself, so will people be towards me. If I am false or misleading, people will see right through me.

Here’s the kicker, and why my life is taking on a new perspective.

You see, not that I found religion, I’ve always had it…it’s just that religion is now more important to me than used to be. Yeah, three weeks can make all the difference.

I’ve heard it before and most likely I will continue to hear it again…you can’t mix religion with business.

I’ve even taught this in my social media classes.

I was wrong!

You see, what I discovered was the complete opposite of what I taught and what I heard…and this just doesn’t apply to religion…it could even be politics.

Talk about it!

Share your thoughts, your views and your stories and watch in amazement as your sales grow!

Yeah, I did say grow! As in more sales, mega money, boat loads of dollars.

What the fudge, Rob!

Why you flip flopping?

Simple!

The more in common you have with your client, the more comfortable they will be hiring you the next time, or shelling out mucho dinero for what you to deliver.

So regardless of your religious beliefs or political agendas, if you find others that share your convictions, your commonalities will help solidify sales.

How to find people like you?

If you’re a church going person, well, that’s the first place I would look.

Or, maybe if you’re into the political scene, join the local party and get to know the group.

Look for people just like you!

And those people will introduce you to more people and soon you will have a list of people who share the same ideologies as you.

All because you stopped trying to avoid the controversial “hot button” and talked about the exact things people warned you not to.

I’ll leave you with this… a quote from Adam Hommey (a facebook friend), “Proclaim who you are in a positive way and allow it to resonate with those who resonate with you!”

Talk soon!

Until Next Time, 

      “Live with Passion!” 

   Rob Anspach 

  P.S.   I’ll be conducting a social media marketing teleseminar towards the end of September. It’ll be packed full of “ready to use now” tricks and tips followed by a Q&A session. Every participant will receive a copy of the teleseminar along with a special bonus (valued at $99). The cost to participate in this seminar is just $74. If you would like to learn the secrets to making social media work for you, simply reply to rob@robanspach.com with “YES, tell me more” and I will email more details and a link to sign up.