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Accentuate the Positive

Written by: Rebel Brown

Article Overview: We can choose to break free of fear. We can seek out new approaches that power innovation and opportunity - and share them with our audiences. We can focus on helping our customers find new opportunities, improve current practices and solve the problems they already recognize and care about. We can trust that our innovation and expertise will shine through the FUD.

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Accentuate the Positive

I decided to go looking for signs of positive sales and marketing amid the SuperFUD I discussed in my article yesterday, Is Fear the Great Motivator?. I hopped out to some high-tech websites, a traditional FUD bastion. I have to admit I was surprised to find a positive and upbeat focus.

Leaders in PC's, a tough industry, are positive. HP is helping kids to 'Study Hard and Learn Big'. 'Designed with You in Mind' is a core theme of Dell's enterprise business - that carries over to kids and other users as well. Positive customer upside, no fear in sight. There IS hope out there!

I took a look at IBM. More positive and uplifting promos! 'Dolphins. Tiny Babies, Rocket Scientists. All Are Benefiting from the Power of Stream Computing.' What a happy headline - with a beautiful flash picture of dolphins swimming. The article discusses the great results offered by Stream Computing - featuring real world stories. No SuperFUD here. Just an uplifting and positive promise of opportunity for customers. Now that's a new IBM!

These leaders seem to believe that a positive sales approach will win.

So what keeps some of us stuck in the FUD? I think we get carried along by the current of fear that surrounds us. Read a newspaper, magazine or watch tv news and you'll be transported to the negative zone. Chances are competitors are promoting FUD in our market. We tend to go with the flow, follow suit and follow the crowd.

How do we move past a status quo of fear and negativity? The first step is to transform our thinking. We have to consciously choose to focus on the positive. We must commit to seeking out positive stories and metrics that demonstrate positive value. And then we must act on that commitment.

What if we can't find a compelling value-based approach for our solutions? Then we'd better step back and rethink our solution, our focus, our market and the whole premise of our business. If fear is the only way we can successfully compel a customer to pay attention to us - that doesn't say much for our sustainability. Somebody with a bigger fear message can come along, take the customer and leave us in the dust.

When we offer value, we can leverage real-world cases to sell and market positively. We just have to commit to the search. Here are some of my favorite places to look for positive stories.

Its just takes a focus on the positive to find the positive. It's as easy to promote the upside of hope as it is to fuel the downside of fear. We just have to choose and commit.

We each make the choice - do we focus on fear or hope?

We can choose to follow the pack and lead with fear - follow the Shock and Awe approach and scare our customers spitless. It's certainly the 'in' thing to do.

Or, we can choose to break free of fear. We can seek out new approaches that power innovation and opportunity. We can focus on helping our customers find new opportunities, improve current practices and solve the problems they already recognize and care about. We can trust that our innovation and expertise will shine through the FUD.

We can take a risk, choose to be different, choose to be positive and hopeful in a market flooded with fear, trapped in FUD. Wow - how sad is it that choosing to move beyond fear may be viewed as risky in our current business environment?

We can be the fuel to help our audiences reach beyond their own fear to find their next opportunity. Or we can be the ones to scare them spitless.

Think about that.

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Home > Marketing > Rebel Brown > Accentuate the Positive
Article Tags: bastion, busi, core theme, dolphins, enterprise business, fud, helping kids, metrics, motivator, negative zone, picture of dolphins, premise, real world, rocket scientists, sales and marketing, sales approach, tiny babies, tv news, watch tv, world stories

About the Author: Rebel Brown
RSS for Rebel's articles - Visit Rebel's website

For over twenty years, Rebel Brown has positioned and repositioned technology companies for high-velocity growth.  She’s recognized for her expertise in business and market strategy, corporate and product positioning and go-to-market launches.

Rebel’s best selling market strategy book, Defy Gravity, is a guide to creating Powerful Market Positions in today’s new economy.

Rebel has been featured in media including Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc, Business Insider, Startup Nation, ChangeThis.com, First Business TV, Exceptional People and more.

Visit www.RebelBrown.com for Rebel's thought-provoking and informative videos and articles.


Click here to visit Rebel's website
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Re: What can You Learn from a Jobless and Homeless Woman? Re: What can You Learn from a Jobless and Homeless Woman? - Positive thinking and a desire for success are fundamental qualities of an entrepreneur in my opinion.
Re: What inspires you? Re: What inspires you? - Put a Visual Board of your dream and look at it for 10 days. And see the fun. Another inspiration thing is to have "Constant Positive Affirmations". This really shifts energy towards your goal. Say it in the morning and before bed. Robert
Re: Who hates cold calling? Re: Who hates cold calling? - About 15 years ago I worked for this sales company that used to sell anything from Kitchen Knives to Dry Cell Torches. The owner was a very motivating guy and he would ask us to get to the office by 7.00AM and we could sing and dance for an hour before we went to sell the products in the streets, stopping anyone and telling them our products were on discount. We used to sell snow to Eskimos, why were we able to do that? because of PMA (Positive Mental Attitude). The key to cold calling is like beauty, in eyes of the beholder. If you have no PMA, you cannot sell. Remember the law of average that states that if you went to a dance and every girl or guy you approached for a dance decline your proposal. What do you do? Do you stop? If you have a PMA, you continue until you get one person who agree to dance with you despite how ugly you look, that is is PMA and that is the power of cold calling.
Re: Don’t worry, Enrich your life and Be happy Re: Don’t worry, Enrich your life and Be happy - [quote="lisa":1rc4ik2q]Start saying positive things especially about yourself. How you communicate to yourself affects your thinking and your emotions, as well as your self-esteem.Change your mental pictures. What and how you see yourself and your surroundings make a difference to your thinking.Read more. Read about how those people who fought fear with courage and succeeded in life. Through reading, you will gain new knowledge and understanding and it will help you clear whatever is blocking your thinking and create more ideas. [/quote:1rc4ik2q] Lisa is right about this. Positive self talk can really make a difference. When you catch yourself saying something negative (whether verbally or just thinking it), turn it around and make it into the opposite. You have to remember to do this continually until it's just habit that the positive thought/saying becomes the first thing you hear instead of the second. It becomes automatic.


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