What is your Purple Cow?

First thing, go out and buy Seth Godin’s books Purple Cow and The Prize Inside. It will be one of the best investments you can make in sales and should help you change your life and mindset. I know what you are thinking…No Seth is not paying me to say this. The pleasure is mine.

The days of print advertising and everyone buys because they see it on TV are over. With the internet reaching 40 and social media allowing viral impacts on a click of the button business has changed. Why does this matter to a Sales Professional?

You must differentiate yourself from all the noise. You must dare to be different or you will be left behind. The only way one will catch attention is to be remarkable or have a remarkable product and/or service that stand’s out from the pack or take something that people are doing today and make it remarkable. I’m working with Venmark and http://ping.fm/epFUr to revolutionize the visual display business. We actually pay the locations to advertise on their screens. Can you imagine making money on your TVs in your store? Why not? That is happening today.

I’m working with Eva who runs a non-profit newspaper called http://ping.fm/n0dV3 Brilliant! How many of us know someone that will NOT watch news because it’s so depressing. Eva created a paper that focuses on the positive. This is what we want. Now we must help her by supporting this paper and advertise in such a great uplifting concept. Anything you can do to help would be appreciated.

Status Quo is not an option or your business will be dead.

Look at all the head hunters running around realizing that their 15-30 points days are over. This little application called LinkedIn that has all connections and references all in one place has taken over. Then there is the headhunter who saw the purple cow and created his own business right on LinkedIn called HigherBracket. Brilliant!




Does your company have a Facebook fan page? Today I checked the count of people on Facebook….400 Million Users and counting. That means larger population that the USA and climbing…..The world has changed like it or not. Real estate agents making their 2.5 percent because….? We have a think called Kijiji that people are flocking too and not to mention the entire business model is under review. The top agents will figure out their purple cow.

Why?

These jobs do not provide the value that the people doing them request. If you are a real estate agent change the playing field. Dare to be different. Steve Hamre with Remax Hamre out of Ottawa is sending out house announcements via Facebook. Brilliant! Why not? If we have learned that big ticket items are made by confiding in family or friends this is a perfect place to share real estate announcements.

My profession in technology sales is cleaning house of all the overhead and reducing salaries because they can. Every day I get calls from my network looking for work. We must create are next job in 2010. We have the entire world all connected looking to be blown away with a truly remarkable person, product or service. The time is now.

What are you going to do today that will solidify your position within your corporation?

So what can you do today to leverage these great times?

Anything you want!

So get focused and start building your own brand and take your own life into your hands! Rewrite the rules and be truly remarkable!

Thank you Seth Godin for reminding us what it’s all about.

By Kyle McGuffin