August 21, 2008

Entrepreneurs - Are You Too Afraid To Promote Your Business To Others?

I had my day in court and what an interesting discovery I made.

This discovery is something that you should take notice of because this could be one of your biggest Entrepreneur Business Challenges.

When I went to the courthouse, I had to wait a bit outside until the guard opened the door. While I was waiting, there was quite a bit of activity going on. There were a lot of people standing around and news crews from every major television station in the Phoenix area.

Now this caught my attention.

As an Entrepreneur this could be an opportunity for you to really get yourself known in the marketplace and it won’t cost you a dime. It’s advertising you couldn’t afford to buy.

When you have an opportunity to be where there are camera crews from news stations, you also have the opportunity to advertise your business and what you do. The news crews don’t care because they need a story and if you’re willing to give them a one, they don’t mind giving you a plug.

PR can be a big part of boosting your business without costing you anything. You just have to be aware of the opportunities around you and then take action. Do you remember what I talked about in a previous Wealth Builders blog post about procrastination?

If you didn’t, now would be a good time to review that post.

There are opportunities all around you to grow your business, but just because you’re in a particular situation that you may not want to be in, you may tend to overlook the obvious. Or worse yet, you’ve programmed yourself with procrastination.

Unfortunately, the news crews were only interested in the case they were covering and I wasn’t part of that case.

Oh well. Maybe next time.

Besides the television crews I mentioned that there was another huge opportunity and most people were missing out.

What I’m about ready to tell you might just shock you because it did me. So hang on.

Remember I said there were a lot of people standing around waiting to get into the courthouse? This is a prime opportunity to network and that’s exactly what I did. But what shocked me were the responses and reactions I received as I was talking to people.

It was certainly now what I expected…

Before I started talking to anyone I made a decision that I was going to do a research project. I was going to research how people reacted just by me approaching and talking with them. If you’ve never done this before, it is very enlightening to say the least.

As I was working my way through the crowd I noticed many people staring at the ground as I walked past. This is a clear indication that they’re just too afraid to talk to a stranger. These people avoided eye contact at all cost because what if I started talking to them?

That’s pretty scary, right?

I know I’m such a scary guy. I totally get that.

All kidding aside… The people who were approachable had a totally different thing going on inside them. Now this is where it gets really interesting. So pay close attention. This could be you.

Most of the people I talked to were Entrepreneurs. They all owned their own business. That’s a good start. But, there were two observations that I made (and this is the shocking part) that blew me away.

I engaged these people and asked them about their business and what they did. I also asked them how well they were doing in business. I also showed a lot of interest in their business and kept asking more questions as if I’m an interested prospect.

Now at this point I would have expected two things…

First, I expected them to ask me what I did for a living. And second, I expected them to ask me if I was interested in their product or service that they were selling.

I hope you’re sitting down for this because I sure wish I would have.

Would you believe that none of these Entrepreneurs ever asked me either question even after I started the conversation with them, broke the ice, built rapport with them, engaged them about their business and acted like an interested prospect!

To me this was absolutely unbelievable.

I couldn’t believe what I had witnessed. Not one person asked… and I talked to quite a few people.

I don’t think these Entrepreneurs would have allowed me to purchase what they were selling even if I pulled out cash right then and there. They didn’t want to be part of promoting their business and selling what they had.

Do you see a problem here?

Hello!

This is a big challenge for many Entrepreneurs and it’s one that you must definitely overcome if you expect to succeed.

If you’re afraid to get interested about what other people do or worse yet, you’re afraid to talk about what you do, then you’ve got some major obstacles to overcome. It’s not impossible but it will certainly take some effort on your part and I’m going to help you get through that in the coming weeks.

In the next Wealth Builders blog post I’ll look at both of these situations and explain to you what’s happening in these situations at much deeper level and more importantly how you can break free of this trap.

So stay tuned…

In the mean time, make sure you use the methods in my best selling book Wealth Without a Job to help you get through these fears. If you don’t have a copy of Wealth Without a Job, make sure you invest in your copy today. It’s only $25.00 and it costs far less than what you’ll loose when you miss opportunities like I discussed.

Now it’s time to Write a Comment below. Let me know what you learned and how this Entrepreneur Challenge may be showing up in your life. Also, let me know your thoughts about what you will do differently when you Write Your Comment now.

Remember, when you participate and Write Your Comment, you’ll be moving forward faster than those who Choose not to Write a Comment Now. Make sure you congratulate yourself after you Write a Comment because you’re a winner!

To Your Success, Andy Fuehl