In the book of John we are told that the truth will set us free.

Today, the truth is setting many weak businesses run by good people and good businesses run by weak people free…of the burden, the obligation, the opportunity of running their business either poorly…or at all.

The truth behind the truth is that consumers “vote” with their wallets and as consumers are FAST becoming more discerning with their spending SUPERIOR MARKETERS of goods and services are being rewarded with an increasingly larger share of that vote. As it should be I might add.

Notice that I said superior MARKETERS. NOT inventors or manufacturers or distributors but marketers. But to be a superior marketer you must be comfortable thinking of yourself as superior, thinking of your product as superior, thinking of your service as superior, thinking of yourself as worthy of superior pricing and then being comfortable telling the world that you are superior.

But there’s a catch: For well over a generation we have been force fed such drivel and nonsense as “outcome based education” and “non-competitive” sporting leagues where our kids play games but they don’t keep score. (As a matter of fact, in May I attended a soccer game played by the young daughter of a college classmate of mine in Chicago and the parents were not allowed to cheer! I kid you not. They didn’t want to create too much pressure or hostility with exuberant applause and support. You can’t make this stuff up.)

But the marketplace keeps score. Your prospects keep score. Your clients keep score.

So how do you rid yourself of the thinking that it’s rude to toot your own horn? How do you become comfortable developing and sending superior marketing that sets you apart from the competition, that builds value in the minds of your prospects and gives you the right to charge premium pricing while your competition grovels for crumbs and negotiates on such erudite items as free shipping and engraving?

Several ways:

1. Find someone that has superior knowledge or expertise in a particular field in which you need to improve.
2. Be open to review by your peers and ignore the fence-sitters and bystanders and peanut gallery that do nothing but live to critique the PRODUCERS.
3. Find someone that has produced superior results of their own AND ARE STILL DOING IT. I say “still doing it” because our marketplace, nation and world are changing before our very eyes and marketing plans and tools and techniques that made money in early 2008 may be pooh pooh today.
4. Seek out “devil’s advocates.” If your idea or program can’t stand up to a little scrutiny by a fellow expert with a different viewpoint then how tough are you and how good is your plan? Really. Tough times call for tough people taking tough action. Now sit up straight and take it like a professional. Remember, it’s just business.
5. It’s OK to listen to well-meaning friends and family if they have no agenda, no axe to grind and are close to the ideal profile of your prospects.

You can choose to develop yourself. You can choose to make yourself superior to the vast majority of your competitors. You can choose to make more money in a down economy than your competition ever made in a good economy.

But choose you must.