Randy Cantrell is the founder of Bula Network, LLC - an executive leadership advisory company helping leaders leverage the power of others through peer advantage, online peer advisory groups. Interested in joining us? Visit ThePeerAdvantage.com
I know two guys who suffered major setbacks in their careers. Their lives were turned upside down financially.
Both men took different, but similar paths toward simplicity. The practical realities of their situations dictated monumental changes in their lifestyles.
The big houses. Gone. The imported fancy cars. Gone. High dollar toys and lake houses. Gone.
Their families. Intact. Their friends. Mostly intact.
I think of them often…and a few others like them. And I smile.
Listen and I’ll tell you why.
A late addition to this episode because it just seems fitting, and because I love his music.
Today’s show addresses one of my most recent urgent topics with clients, pricing.
Coupled with pricing have been ongoing conversations about budgets and discounting. Blame it on the economy, but whatever the reason I’m finding so many small business owners experiencing challenges to their pricing structure.
Prospects blame it on the constraints of the budget. “I don’t have the budget for that amount,” they claim. Quite often we’re stuck with a single priced offer.
Look at those crabs. You’re budget won’t allow you to spend $6. Well, that’s why that one $5 crab is sitting there. Notice there’s only one $5 crab. Brilliant marketing and sales strategy. Save a buck, but there’s only one of them! Buy him. He’s puny, but you can save a whopping dollar. He’s a budget crab!
Washington, D.C. is living proof that budgets were meant to be broken. I’ve never seen a budget yet that wasn’t flexible. It’s an easy scapegoat for buyers. Blame it on the budget. Don’t fall for that.
Mentioned in today’s show is SaltyDroid.info. It has to do with commenting on blogs. Listen to the show and let me know if this has ever happened to you. Call me an “idiot,” but I’m willing to own my words. I was very tempted in today’s show to riff about the curse of digital anonymity, but I’ll save that for another day. My comments at SD’s site do have application to today’s subject though. I did make an effective tie in.
Check out the “Hire Me” page. It’s brand new.
Plug in your email address over there to the right and I’ll make sure you get my Bula Business Builder Newsletter. Don’t worry. It comes out quite randomly.
Two things motivate most people who embark on the road to self-employment:
1. A problem for which they’ve not found a suitable solution
2. Dread
This isn’t a hard fast rule. It’s what I’ve observed during my 39 years of business experience.
Pursuing passion is terrific, but in far more cases than not, I’ve seen people whose passion was to avoid some pain. Maybe it was the pain of going to a job they hated. Maybe it was the pain of dreading that they’d be downsized at any moment. Maybe it was the pain of having a problem for which they could find no solution. Or, they couldn’t find a solution that was as good as one they believed they could create.
“I don’t know what I want, but this ain’t it.”
We’re often more driven to avoid pain than we are to capture pleasure, or fulfillment. It makes sense. First things first and all that.
I’ve taken people to the emergency room before and the first course of action – after quickly assessing the problem – is to get the pain under control. Pain management is a primary driver behind health care. It’s also a big driver behind business building…or career building.
Does that seem shallow to you? It shouldn’t be. To live a life where you can limit the amount of dread…that’s a good thing. An honorable thing.
Mentioned in today’s show:
• Carol Roth‘s book, The Entrepreneur Equation
• Randy Pauch’s Last Lecture • Chick-Fil-A
• We’ve got rich folks in Dallas. Big Rich Texas!
• 1 Tim. 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
• It’s money that matters, but not most. Ask Randy Newman. Or ask him again.
• Money doesn’t care, but people do.
• People. Love. Just 2 things that matter more than money.
"Nothing fails like success." Arnold Toynbee, historian
Cliff Ravenscraft, aka the Podcast Answerman, talks about podcasters making it to episode 7. I think he means that if you can create 7 episodes of a podcast then it’s likely your interest level is high enough to keep going. I’m proof that it’s easy to talk about things that interest you.
In today’s show I’m going to pick back up with Stephen Covey’s book, The 8th Habit. That quote by Mr. Toynbee is worthy of a single show. I built today’s show around that quote and the context of it in the book.
I hope you enjoy this 100th episode (honestly, I passed the century mark a while back what with all the special episodes I’ve released). If it proves anything…it proves I won’t quit. Not today.
A “thank you” show is in the works. There are plenty of people who have helped me directly and indirectly. Some of them don’t even know they’ve helped. Others, are very aware.
Have you ever sat down to think of ALL the people who have helped you? I should do that more often.
The world is full of people who contribute. Yes, there are the takers, but an awful lot of people willingly give. Surround yourself with them and it’ll foster that behavior in your life. Look for this “thank you” show coming soon!
Thanks for listening. I hope you’re subscribed to the podcast.
It’s hard to see yourself as others see you…as you really are.
Yes, that’s me in the mirror. I don’t think I look like that, but sometimes other people do.
The name of the game is awareness. Sometimes our awareness is hindered by our inability to see ourselves as others see us, or as we really are.
Let me give you three specific actions you can take to help you know yourself better. You can give yourself a better, more accurate picture of who you really are when you actively engage in all of them.
For weeks I’ve been staring at this book on my bookshelf. It’s now been almost 7 years since I read it. I’ve been tempted to re-read it a number of times, but for some reason I’ve been distracted with other reading. Juggling too many books at once is a lifelong habit, my 9th habit.
At long last, I’m now re-reading it and decided I’d share my thoughts along the way. No, it won’t occupy every podcast, but I’ll talk about it every now and then. I hope to share some insights and thoughts sparked by Mr. Covey. He’s pretty good at such things, but I confess I found this book a bit cumbersome to read the first time around. That’s why I wanted to re-read it. I suspect I missed some things the first time around.
I’ll discuss this 8th habit and riff on about a few things. Don’t worry, I don’t talk about how Mr. Covey and I share nicely shaped heads to house our big brains…but we do!
Mentioned in today’s show:
Stephen R. Covey
• Ryan Cantrell, my son; Joanna, his wife; Kinsley, their new daughter
• Chris Pearson, creator of the Thesis premium WordPress theme (aff link)
• Copyblogger, whose original killer design was provided by Chris Pearson
• Brian Gardner, StudioPress
• Aaron Wall, whose SEO Book website was my first introduction to Chris Pearson’s work
• James Dalman, a friend I reached out to about a WordPress design for a client (he’s an old school rock-solid design guy)
• Barron Cuadro, the one website design guy (not a friend) who was prompt and professional in returning an inquiry.
• Phil Simon of PhilSimonSystems.com, author/speaker/all-around-good-guy
• Marcus Sheridan, The Sales Lion, blogger/social media expert/friendly-supportive-online-buddy
• One Bible illustration (even the heretics among us will have to agree the illustration is worthwhile)
• Winning friends and influencing people references a book by the famous Mr. Carnegie
• I am NOT opposed to selling things. In fact, I need to sell something. I help solopreneurs and small business owners with management and marketing issues. I sometimes accept payment for such help. 😀
Thank you very much for listening. I’d love to hear your feedback. You can call (214) 736-4406 any time, day or night and leave me a voice mail.
First published in 2004, 