For those of you that aren’t familiar with Dan Kennedy -  you should be.  Dan is one of the leading direct marketing experts in America, and is quite the personality.  He is also a prolific writer on the subjects of entrepreneurship, sales, management of people – and just about everything he writes is worth reading.

On his blog today, he has a post about taking chances and understanding risks and what you can and can’t control.  I thought a particular section of the post was worth sharing here:

Here is what I know: The changes we make will be more important than the changes that occur around us. I know you win by focusing on what you can control. I know that money never really dries up; in different circumstances, it moves differently. There’s always plenty available. So, we’ll prosper. Period. I know that, in microcosm, Halbert was right; there’s hardly a problem that can’t be solved with a great sales letter – the macro version, most problems can be solved with better marketing. You can sell your way out of just about any set of adverse circumstances. (And a whole lot of problems persist purely because of lack of good salesmanship.) I know that we actually do have more to fear than fear itself, but that most decisions made based on fear turn out badly. I know that Pollyanna positivism, whistling in the dark graveyard is dumb, too; you have to create reasons to be optimistic, so you get to make decisions based on positive expectations. It’s foolish and dangerous to just be or act optimistic. There are a lot more things I don’t know. Like whether Gore’s right. So I focus on working with the comparatively short list of things I do know.

As you may be able to tell, Dan is all about personal accountability, and taking control of your own destiny to the greatest degree possible.

I can’t think of any more important message than this right now.  When the economy sucks, it’s easy to throw your hands up in the air and lower your expectations of yourself, your customers, and your business.

Don’t do it!

Continue to invest in yourself and your business every day – approach your day with the right attitude, try new approaches to sticky problems, put in an extra hour of prospecting each day – and you will eventually reap the fruits of your labor.

MRC

www.mspcoach.com

I’m a big fan of books that open my eyes and teach me valuable lessons, and I always promote the ones that I think have a big impact (I also promote business that I really love the same way and often rant about In N Out Burger, as anyone that knows me can tell you!).  If you read this frequently, you probably saw the post I wrote recently about the books that have had the most influence on Everon.  Well…I’ve got a new one to add.

When the student is read, the teacher will appear.

That’s the way I felt when I read Dan Kennedy’s latest book:

Now, please don’t judge the book by the cover…or specifically the title.  Dan is well known for being a pretty bold guy, and his book titles are a way to get attention.  But man are they valuable.  Dan is a lifetime entrepreneur with a lot of hard-earned lessons, and he shares a ton of them in this book.

I don’t think I’ve ever underlined so much in a book as I’ve read it; it has so much valuable advice.  I first read it three weeks ago and still haven’t stopped carrying the book in my work bag every day so I could reference it throughout the day.

I think many people will be turned off by the word “ruthless”, but my interpretation of it is very positive.  By ruthless he means absolutely, positively, 100% committed to getting things done without being deterred by distractions, bad employees, or excuses of any kind.  Who couldn’t benefit from being a little more “ruthless” when it’s defined that way!?

If you are currently having challenges with difficult employees, with managing your time, or with managing your profits – I HIGHLY recommend that you buy and read this book.

MRC