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. 

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.

What’s your niche?

 I’m sure in the course of your entrepreneurial life someone has come up to you and asked what your niche was. And you probably looked at them a bit bewildered. 

     Niche? 

     What niche? 

     I thought that way too! 

     When I first started my cleaning business 16 years ago, I was after any customer that breathed. I just wanted someone to call me. I was gung-ho, ready and willing. 

     As the years progressed, I grew frustrated at certain segments of my customer base…I’ll call them the “no-money” group. 

     I would spend countless hours chasing after customers who I knew couldn’t afford me, yet I performed the service anyway and then complained when they didn’t pay up, pay on time, or even pay at all. 

     It was a vicious cycle.

      So after many losing battles, countless uncollectible invoices and vowing I would never do that crap again…I fired all the problem accounts. 

     Then I got serious! 

     I knew what I didn’t want in a customer. 

     I just wasn’t sure who my ideal customer was. 

     Like a ton of bricks, it hit me! 

     What type of customer would allow me to have evenings & weekends off? 

     What type of customer is worth “X” amount to me in a year? 

     How many of those customers do I need to make “X” in a year? 

     I had created this company to fund my personal life and have more freedoms, not be a slave to a job. 

     I knew what I wanted and what must be done. 

     But I also knew that I needed to “up the ante” on my fun days, holidays, time off with the kids and personal me days. 

     So I figured I only had about 185 productive work days a year. 

     Would $1000 a day in sales work? How about $2000 or $3000 a day? 

     How many niched clients would I need to make a Million in sales?   

     Well if I did $5500 in sales a day I could easily break the million mark. 

     Yeah, it’s a lofty goal! 

     You see, that’s the true power of focusing on a niche that I really never caught on to when I first started my service company. By focusing on a niche you can easily charge more, work less and focus on a select type of client. 

     A buddy of mine took over his dad’s furniture restoration business about the same time I was starting my cleaning biz…we struggled together.

     Then he did something that truly impressed me! 

      He went after just one type of client. Churches! 

      He figured that’s where the money was and where all his work could be. It turned out it was the biggest money bet of his life. Churches from far and wide called his company to restore their pews and chairs. He had more work than he could handle. 

      Learn to niche your product and service and watch your business grow and prosper.                               

  Until Next Time,                        

  “Live with Passion!” 

   Rob Anspach   

 

Rob Anspach is a “brilliantly savvy” entrepreneur who helps frustrated business owners regain the passion they once had by showing them how to be more effective in the marketplace, how to dramatically improve their business so they enjoy coming to work again and how to win over customers regardless of price. Discover how easy it is to make money in your online or offline marketing, to attract and retain clientele and profit from your passions… visit http://www.robanspach.com  today!

 

No wonder you’re not catching anything!

     Over the weekend I had the opportunity to take my 6 year old son fishing with the Cub Scouts. 

      By the time we showed up, there were about 50 kids and their dads (and some moms) strategically positioned around this small lake ready to fish. 

      Fish they did! 

      It was like a “warrior” fish competition. 

      I wasn’t prepared for this level of madness! 

      I brought a small fishing rod for my son, a bucket and a small tackle box. 

      Five minutes into fishing, my son caught this massive clump of algea that sprang into the branches above when he gave it a tug. 

      The next 20 minutes were spent, untangling the fishing line from me, the branch above and shielding my eyes from the gaze the other parents were giving me. 

      “Dad, I don’t like fishing, can’t we just throw rocks at them instead”, to which I really wanted to say, “at the parents?”

      As I was getting my son’s rod and reel ready for round two of “algea into tree” fishing, a real live authentic tobacco chewing redneck approached me and said, “whaja usin fer bait?” 

      I suppose not fishing for many years I was out of the loop on the proper methodologies of bait using (or fishing for that matter). And, this gentleman (term used very loosely here) graciously shared with me “what fer” bait I should be using. 

      Funny thing was, most of the kids didn’t catch anthing. They just wanted to run around, throw rocks and be kids. It was the parents (mostly dads) that were treating this event as a competition.  

      It got me thinking. 

      Most entrepreneurs start out like the unprepared fisherman. 

      Instead of using rods and nets to fish, they use advertising, marketing and word or mouth techniques. 

      And like the “warrior” fisherman, the entrepreneur will get better at capturing clients (fish) as his/her experience grows. 

      The true fisherman is patient, understands the dynamics of his equipment, knows what bait to use to attract and (this is the big one) knows where the right fish are. 

      I meet so many entrepreneurs who act like the clueless fisherman. They have no idea how to advertise, where to find the best clients or what do when they get them. 

      Basically they are like the typical 6 year old who throws stones into the water in hopes of stunning a few fish along the way. 

      If you want the best clients, you have to learn to be a better entrepreneur. 

      Study marketing!  

      Study the habits of your potential clients! 

      Use the right tools to make capturing clients more effective.    

      Now go out and fish!       

     Until Next Time,   

       “Live with Passion!”

        Rob Anspach   

 P.S.  Knowing where to fish is just as important as knowing how to fish!

P.P.S. Discover how to be a better entrepreneur…reply for details or click on the icon below.

 

How frustrated are you?

The other day I decided I had had enough with the piles of papers and other “crap” that was on my desk and made an executive decision that I must do something with it.

However, being the “smart-ass” that I am, and knowing full well that what I was about to do would probably, change that, most likely get me fired being employed elsewhere…I threw caution to the wind and just did it my way.

Ooh, it wasn’t pretty.

But it certainly felt good!

Papers, checks, various business cards, bills, files, pens, pencils – yep, everything on my desk that wasn’t connected to my computer was now scattered all over my office. But, my desk was clean.

Most people would never do what I did. Though they might feel like they need to do it, and really they should do it, but they don’t. They hold back.

Impulse control is nice to have…it keeps us grounded. Yet, sometimes, prevents us from being expressive and venting our frustrations.

Entrepreneurs need an outlet to get rid of all their pent up frustrations, even if it’s just tossing papers around.

Getting frustrated, in most cases, will lead you to taking some sort of action.

Me getting frustrated at the mess on my desk, led me to take action, it also got me to rethink how I file, where I put my papers and what can have the priviledge of being on my desk.

How is tossing papers and reorganizing going to help build my business your say?

Well, I hear it all the time… “It’s the economy!”, “People aren’t willing to pay for quality anymore!”, or “Advertising doesn’t work, it’s just a waste of money!”

Getting frustrated at the lack of clients you have or the lack of quality clients or even the lack of sales right now, should force you to take massive action and do a major course correction…or maybe you’re not frustrated enough yet!

Well, sure the economy isn’t as strong as it was a few years ago, but don’t use it as an excuse to not make money, or capture clients or promote your business.

For every story I hear about some company ready to go under, I hear equal stories about how successful others are.

Do you know what the difference is between the successful company and the not-so successful one? If you read this far, it should be obvious!

One got frustrated enough to take action, the other didn’t!

What company do you want to be?

Until Next Time, 

   “Live with Passion!”

     Rob Anspach 

 P.S.  Frustration leads to action! Action leads to progress! Progress leads to innovation! Innovation leads to success. Success leads to fortune! Get Frustrated!

P.P.S.  Exclusive subscriber notice…Gets posted to website on Monday May 23, 2011… Mark your calendars for February 3, 4 & 5 (2012) for the Be A Better Entrepreneur seminar. The event will be held in Orlando Florida and will be priced at $2995 per person. However, the first 30 people who sign up will save $2000 and get into the event for only $995.00 – click the link to take advantage of this fantastic pricing. Plus, the first 30 will receive a private marketing jam session one of nights of the seminar.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=6HZ2KWEYGN8NJ

Seminars designed exclusively for the self-employed!

Contact Information

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Email: rob@robanspach.com                                   Phone: (717)330-7947

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube & WordPress!

                    

Rob Anspach is a “brilliantly savvy” entrepreneur who helps frustrated business owners regain the passion they once had by showing them how to be more effective in the marketplace, how to dramatically improve their business so they enjoy coming to work again and how to win over customers regardless of price. Discover how easy it is to make money in your online or offline marketing, to attract and retain clientele and profit from your passions… visit http://www.robanspach.com  today!

Rob is also the creator & dynamic force behind Success Secrets TV, the new online show dedicated to helping entrepreneurs stay successful… check it out by going to… http://www.SuccessSecrets.TV

It’s now even easier to promote your website with this little feature!

Imagine, everyone who goes to your website now has the power to instantly tell their friends about it in “real-time”.

That my friend is the power of a little thing called the “LIKE” button.

And, now you can put that power to use right away on your site. Or sites!

Yep, getting your friends, clients, visitors and maybe even your competitors to share with their friends and followers what you and your website is all about just got so much easier.

Everytime someone clicks the “LIKE” button on your website, it instantly shows up on their Facebook wall/stream. So if you clicked on the “LIKE” button on my website it would show up as ” You just liked a link” and it would display the link name and a description.

Maybe, it’s just me…but, I think it’s pretty sweet!

It’s yet another tool in your marketing toobox that you can use to get others to help promote you.

Until Next Time, 

   “Live with Passion!”

 

 

   Rob Anspach 

P.S. Oops, I almost forgot to give you the link to get your FREE “LIKE” button.

http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like/ - use the XFBML code as this is more acceptable on websites than iframe is.

P.P.S.  Exclusive subscriber notice…Not yet posted to my website… Mark your calendars for February 3, 4 & 5 (2012) for the Be A Better Entrepreneur seminar. The event will be held in Orlando Florida and will be priced at $2995 per person. However, the first 30 people who sign up will save $2000 and get into the event for only $995.00 – click the link to take advantage of this fantastic pricing. Plus, the first 30 will receive a private marketing jam session one of nights of the seminar.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=6HZ2KWEYGN8NJ

Seminars designed exclusively for the self-employed!

Contact Information

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Email: rob@robanspach.com                                   Phone: (717)330-7947

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube & WordPress!

                    

Rob Anspach is a “brilliantly savvy” entrepreneur who helps frustrated business owners regain the passion they once had by showing them how to be more effective in the marketplace, how to dramatically improve their business so they enjoy coming to work again and how to win over customers regardless of price. Discover how easy it is to make money in your online or offline marketing, to attract and retain clientele and profit from your passions… visit http://www.robanspach.com  today!

Rob is also the creator & dynamic force behind Success Secrets TV, the new online show dedicated to helping entrepreneurs stay successful… check it out by going to… http://www.SuccessSecrets.TV

I won’t criticize you if you take this option!

We hear it all the time! It’s been drilled into us!

Failure is not an option!

We are told to strive to be the best, to never give up, to never surrender.

But, failure is an option.

It’s a viable option.

An option not to be taken lightly, but used as a last resort.

Most entrepreneurs (actually, most people in general) when faced with a difficult situation tend to cave and run away.

It’s that ole’ fight or flight proposition that keeps us going.

Sure, we can take a stand, and have a “never surrender attitude”, the “captain goes down with the ship approach”, or we can take another approach.

He who runs away, lives to fight another day!

 

It’s okay to fight for what you believe, especially in the promotion of your products and services… but, it’s also okay to cut and run.

It’s the knowing when, that confuses most people!

A great deal of entrepreneurs are under capitalized (under funded) and don’t realize that the game may take longer to play than the time frame they originally set for themselves.

Be patient!

If what you are doing in regards to the promotion of your business, isn’t producing, it’s time to change things. You don’t necessarily have to quit, just change the rules a bit.

Know your limits!

Have realistic expectations!

Give yourself adequate deadlines!

And yes, expect the best but prepare for the worst!

Have an exit plan!

Ask for help!

Only give up when you absolutely have no other choice!

Walk away only when you know that you gave it your all, you tried all the options and exhausted all avenues.

Failure is an option. It’s also an opportunity.

For every failure there is a life lesson.

Learn from your failures and you become stronger, wiser and hopefully more productive.

Until Next Time, 

   “Live with Passion!”

 

   Rob Anspach 

P.S. A friend posted this quote by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross on her Facebook wall this morning that summed it up rather nicely… “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”  

P.P.S.  Not yet posted to my website… Mark your calendars for February 3, 4 & 5 (2012) for the Be A Better Entrepreneur seminar. The event will be held in Orlando Florida and will be priced at $2995 per person. However, the first 30 people who sign up will save $2000 and get into the event for only $995.00 – click the link to take advantage of this fantastic pricing.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=6HZ2KWEYGN8NJ

Seminars designed exclusively for the self-employed!

Contact Information

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Email: rob@robanspach.com                                   Phone: (717)330-7947

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube & WordPress!

                    

Rob Anspach is a “brilliantly savvy” entrepreneur who helps frustrated business owners regain the passion they once had by showing them how to be more effective in the marketplace, how to dramatically improve their business so they enjoy coming to work again and how to win over customers regardless of price. Discover how easy it is to make money in your online or offline marketing, to attract and retain clientele and profit from your passions… visit http://www.robanspach.com  today!

Rob is also the creator & dynamic force behind Success Secrets TV, the new online show dedicated to helping entrepreneurs stay successful… check it out by going to… http://www.SuccessSecrets.TV

It works for them, why not you?

Can I get personal with you?

I’d really like to get to know you better!

Sorry, does that sound like a “come-on” line?

No, I don’t want to date you…but, I do want to know more about you.

I want to know the real you!

How did you start out in business? What made you the entrepreneur that you are today? Why do people feel comfortable using your service?

Yes, I know, lots of questions.

But, it’s these exact questions that most of your customers are dying to know too! They want to know you. They want to hear your story!

What makes you tick? What drives you? What do you read? How do you spend your time when you’re not selling a product or pleasing a client?

The entrepreneurs who have discovered how to share their story, ultimately make more money, have more success and yes, seem to get all the spotlight.

My friend Andrew Mazer of ModernCoupon.com tells people how he got started. He lets them know his background and what led to the development of his company. He’s open and honest.

In my interview with Charlie McDermott of Stand Out Video, Charlie shares his backstory. What he did before creating Stand Out Video, and how that shaped his future. He’s proud of his past. He’s passionate!

Anne Beiler the creator of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels would tell her story to everyone she met. In time her market stand was transformed into one of the most lucrative franchises in the world. Even though Anne is no longer involved with Auntie Anne’s she still tells her story. In fact, she ended up writing a book called, “Twist of Fate”.

Your life to you may sound uninteresting, or perhaps embarrassing…

but, it’s your story, and it should be shared.

Sharing your story of how you got started as an entrepreneur helps your customers get to know you. It forms a connection! It’s that’s connection that allows people to know you, and trust in you. And, the more they trust in you, the more they will buy from you and tell their friends about you.

Until Next Time, 

   “Live with Passion!”

 

   Rob Anspach 

  P.S. Actually tell your story! Not just a small bio that says, “Hi, I’m so-so and I’m Gemini and I like long walks on the beach”. This ain’t the dating game. Providing an open, honest, believable story will create a foundation of trust and a long lasting relationship with your customers.

Seminars designed exclusively for the self-employed!

Contact Information

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Email: rob@robanspach.com                                   Phone: (717)330-7947

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube & WordPress!

                    

Rob Anspach is a “brilliantly savvy” entrepreneur who helps frustrated business owners regain the passion they once had by showing them how to be more effective in the marketplace, how to dramatically improve their business so they enjoy coming to work again and how to win over customers regardless of price. Discover how easy it is to make money in your online or offline marketing, to attract and retain clientele and profit from your passions… visit http://www.robanspach.com  today!

Rob is also the creator & dynamic force behind Success Secrets TV, the new online show dedicated to helping entrepreneurs stay successful… check it out by going to… http://www.SuccessSecrets.TV