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The secret to success

Written by: Jim Straw

Article Overview: Most people who say they want to succeed, go around all their life looking for some "secret" that people like me are sure to know. They just know that if they ever learn that "secret" they will be successful, too. Over the past 50 years in business, I have heard it thousands upon thousands of times from "success secret seekers" ... "I ain't gonna get into no nickle and dime business. I want to make millions, not nickles and dimes."

The secret to success

Sorry, I hate to tell you this - but ...

There is NO "secret" to success. -- That's the problem.

Most people who say they want to succeed, go around all their life looking for some "secret" that people like me are sure to know. They just know that if they ever learn that "secret" they will be successful, too. -- Ain't gonna happen because there ain't any secret.

All they need to do is start "doing" something. -- That's all it takes. -- Once they start "really" doing something ... other than searching for the "secret" to success ... whatever they are doing will expand and grow into the success for which they couldn't find the secret.

Over the past 50 years in business, I have heard it thousands upon thousands of times from "success secret seekers" ...

"I ain't gonna get into no nickle and dime business. I want to make millions, not nickles and dimes."

So, they keep buying what they think are "secrets". They never "do" anything, longer than it takes to find out they didn't learn any secrets, they just learned how to "work" at something ... instead of making them rich. Then, they go on to the next "secret," hoping against hope that the new secret will "give" them the riches they seek (without doing anything other than knowing the "secret").

The funny thing is, they all seem to think they are better than me ... and all the other successful people ... because they honestly think that I just woke up one morning, learned the secret, and made a fortune. When, in pure fact, I started selling nickle and dime items, door to door, in my youth ... selling one item to one customer, one sale at a time, making a nickle or a dime on each sale.

As I matured, my endeavors expanded and grew ... changed course ... adapted to the ever changing economy ... moved onward and upward. Each instance of my growth predicated upon providing what my potential customers needed or wanted. Making sure that I gave more value in return for the value I received - and - even today, I still sell one item to one customer, one sale at a time.

The VAST MAJORITY of people who say they want to succeed, only want to succeed if they can make it all at once ... just one sale won't do it. They want big sales, or thousands of sales, immediately. -- So, when a new opportunity only produces a few sales, they move on rather than making those few sales over and over and over and over ... until those few sales have grown into thousands upon thousands of sales.

Most of them are looking for someone to help them do it, rather than looking for the tools they need to do it themselves.

If you want to succeed, "do" something. Let what you are "doing" lead you onward and upward until you have the success you seek. -- There are NO "secrets" to it.

Many people know the facts. -- Many people have the talent. -- Many people have the need. -- Many people have what it takes. -- But ... very, very few succeed because they are seeking the "secret" to success rather than doing something.

---

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Article Tags: customer one, economy, endeavors, fortune, funny thing, nickle and dime, nickles and dimes, seekers



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Re: How Much Of Ourselves Should We Give Away...? - what a great topic david start here, it reminds me of a movie i watched resently called KUNFU PANDA. The movie is all about keeping secret. there were two secret kept: the secret of dragon scroll and secret of cooking, later the secret was revealed which was no secret kept. the reason am relating this movie with the topic is that, you can give out 90% for free and hold on to 10% secret which will make you have more customer and traffic. I know some marketers both the internet and offline that will give you 100% product for free but whenever they want to sell to you the little one you will be glad to respond because of their gesture. What I would like to say is that giving out most of the product is a great marketing strategy to win more buyers to your future products.
Re: THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS ALL IN YOUR HEAD...RIGHT NOW!!! - I'd say the secret to success is never to give up on your big dream, but quickly to drop what doesn't work towards getting you there.
Re: Can you read body language and convert it into a sale? - [quote="Kevin":2b3i4dqy] So what is your husband's secret? Can you give a specific example of what he does in order to win over customers?[/quote:2b3i4dqy] I don't know his secret, he was born this way, and has 40 years of training. He tried to teach me and coaching me, giving me opening lines, and we did illustrations of real conversation. No luck. He knows how to talk to people, and how to read them, even if it's over the phone, he knows exactly what to say and how to say it, he always tells me "you shouldn't say this, you should say it like this". I am amazed every time.
The greatest success secret in the universe - Men through out all ages are looking for the greatest success secret in the universe. Men have searched everywhere looking for that secret. It might surprised you that it not a secret after all. Only people have not really known what it is. It is so simple that we neglect it. I don't know if you believe the bible or not. But the secret is spoken by Jesus Christ long time ago. He said do unto others as you will like them to do unto you. This is the golden rule and it was echoed by the greatest thinkers of all time. "Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live." ( Oscar Wilde) "It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself." (Anna Eleanor Roosevelt) "We should bear ourselves toward others as we would desire they should bear themselves toward us." (Aristotle) "May I do to others as I would that they should do unto me." (Plato) "What stirs your anger when done to you by others, that do not do to others." (Socrates) This is the greatest secret of all times. If you ever want to be successful in your endeavor you have to do what you are doing as you will like to be done to you. If you are a teacher teach as if you will want to be taught to. If you a writer write that book as you will like to be written to This is what gives us the spirit of excellence. Excellence performances warm our products to people's heart. Coca cola does not become the leading soda maker in the world by advertising alone, but by giving the masses what they want. No matter how much you spend on advertising if your product is bad, you will not succeed. People will just buy your product once and forget about you. You can only deceive somebody once. He is a fool who is deceived twice. In Yoruba land we have an adage that says, you can only trick a lady to bed once. Your product must be produced with yourself in mind. Your product must satisfy yourself to the highest level before you begin to sell it to others. What you sow is what you will reap. Sow joy you will reap joy. Sow smile you will receive smile. Sow tears you will reap tears. This is the law of the universe. This is the golden rule. Don't say people don't like you when you don't like others. Don't say people don't love you when you don't love others. Treat your customers like king that they will never want to leave you for your competitors. If you are selling a product and you don't have what they want at a point tell them when they will get it immediately. This will make them come to you all over and over again. I read about a supermarket in America that gives one to three year guarantee on any product they stock. The manager was telling his staff one morning that look if any customers come in asking for refund on any product give it to them. If you see a customer wheeling a tyre to this supermarket refund his money to him. One of the staff was surprised and asked "But we don't sell tyre here!" "It does not matter, as long as he is our customer, we must satisfy him." How will customers not be loyal to this type of supermarket? Your success lies in your hand. Let me end this post with this story. A young man held a bird in his hand and was about to trap a wise man who everybody believes is wise with a trick. He asked the wise man. "Wise old man. I know you are wise. The bird in my hand is it dead or alive" The old man looks at him and said "The answer lies in your hand. If I say the bird is alive, you will squeeze it to death and make me a fool. If I say it is dead you will release it and let it fly away. You determine if it is alive or dead. The answer lies in your hand." The moral of the story is that your success lies in your hand. You can kill it or let it live. You can do unto others as you want then to do unto you.
Trade secrets - Hi BizLoanz4u, I think I've only had a non-disclosure agreement with my web designer and I've never even felt the need to have one with my business coach when we were discussing my ideas. In fact, I knew that if he talked about my business with other people, it'd probably be in my best interests. When people talk about your idea, it helps provide free exposure and possibily even attracts others to get involved with your business. I believe that a person could probably have the most original idea, then write up the best business plan and even post it on the web or leave it on a college campus library table and the following would hold true: 1.) The idea or trade secret probably isn't original or a secret. 2.) The majority of people who stumble upon the "confidential" business plan would NOT act on it. 3.) The few who dare to take the risk and implement the idea would fail. 4.) And there's probably a better chance of winning the lottery or getting attacked by a shark or hit by lightning than for a person to find your idea/trade secret and turn it into a successful business.


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