Derek Arden - Business Consultant, Author and Professional Speaker » Performance Psychology

Crash through barriers to business

Derek Arden — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:56:37 +0000

Barriers to business are often in the mind, so here are some tips to crash through those barriers -

Keep your goals in focus. Work your plan and plan your work.
Believe in yourself, only you can make it happen.
Keep in touch with all your contacts. A contact is not a contact unless you keep in contact.
Raise your own resilience level.
Stay away from negative people whenever possible
Remember energy is catching. Spend your time with positive people.
Never ever give up.

Be nice to people make their day

Derek Arden — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:29:16 +0000

Mosquito Moments

Someone once said - “If you don’t think little things make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito”
I was in Australia last month and I got bitten by about 10 mosquitos. They make a big difference to how you feel – trust me.

What are your mosquito moments – be nice to people – take time out and make someone’s day. Smile, give compliments, flatter people,

Koi fish and growing your brain

Derek Arden — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:13:32 +0000

If you put a Koi fish into a small bowl it will only grow a few inches in size.
If you put it into a pond it will grow as large as it can which might be over 12 inches in size. It is the same with people, your brain needs stimulation and exercise to grow.
If you give people the opportunity to learn they will exercise their brain power and grow. If you hold them back they will be like a Koi fish in a small tank. Don’t let your brain be tanked into accepting limiting beliefs

Speaking in Woking on Negotiation

Derek Arden — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:08:12 +0000

Speaking in Woking on Negotiation and body language a couple of days ago, I arrived as usual 2 hours early. You have to be there to check everything works. It took one hour to get the projector to work and even then the bulb was failing fast. Fifteen minutes before I am due to speak I went round and shook hands with most of the delegates, this is a great thing to do which is rarely done by speakers. A lady called Scarlett (dressed in a red suite) funny these things, said to me “I bet you are nervous”. Now it is a few years since someone has said that to me and I remembered when I was a less experienced speaker how much that had thrown me off balance. At that point I put up my psychological barrier, pretend bubble wrap I use, to stop her changing my physiological state. The negative idea of being nervous just bounces off the bubble wrap. Of course we are always a little anxious to do well, whoever we are and how ever experienced we are. However to do well you need to put yourself in an empowering state rather than let others take your energy away. (disempowering state). Make sure you control your energy and if others want to give you negativity, just make sure it bounces off your bubble wrap.

March memo from Derek Arden – Summary – 7 habits of highly effective people

Derek Arden — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:45:10 +0000

Here are just some of the pages that I would recommend you look at first before going in and out of the book. Great book lots of power points

1 – How you think is everything.

2 – Decide on your true dreams and goals; Write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them.

3 – Take action; Goals are nothing without action. Don’t be afraid to get started now. Just do it.

4 – Never stop learning; Go back to school or read books. Get training or acquire skills.

5 – Be persistent and work hard; Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up.

6 – Learn to analyze details; Get all the facts, all the input. Learn from your mistakes.

7 – Focus on your time and money; don’t let other people or things distract you.

8 – Don’t be afraid to innovate, be different; following the heard is a sure way to mediocrity.

9 – Deal and communicate with people effectively; No person is an island. Learn to understand and motivate people.

10- Be honest and dependable. Take responsibility.

Derek Arden – from 7 Habits of highly effective people by Steven Covey 15 million copies sold

“What got you here, won’t get you there” My tips

Derek Arden — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:26:14 +0000

“What got you here – won’t get you there”
Thoughts from “What got you here, won’t get you there” by Marshall Goldsmith

1 – HAVE A TO STOP LIST NOT A TO DO LIST.
2 – SHIFT INTO NEUTRAL WHEN PEOPLE WIND YOU UP – Chill, does it really matter?
3 – THE HIGHER YOU GO THE MORE THE PROBLEMS YOU FACE ARE BEHAVIOURAL – It’s not technical skills, it’s getting things done through people that are the challenges.
4 – FEED-FORWARD – To make progress, let’s have feed-forward to make us even better than we are. This overcomes the issues with feedback; dominant people prefer praise to criticism.
5 – WHEN YOU ASK FOR FEEDBACK – the only question that works is “How can I do better?”
6 – MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THEY ARE BETTER THAN THEY ARE – Beware 95% of people in successful groups believe they perform in the top 50% of the group
7 – YOUR FLAWS AT WORK ARE THE SAME AT HOME – they don’t disappear when you walk through the front door, don’t let your family suffer.
8 – APOLOGISING – the magic move which people appreciate.
9- COMMUNICATION IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY It’s not what you say – it’s what they hear. –
10 – COGNITIVE DISSONANCE – How people see things through their filters, what are your filters, give them a rinse through.
11 – THANK YOU – As an answer it creates closure.

Derek Arden January 2010

Survey shows two thirds of retailers prepared to haggle

Derek Arden — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:38:02 +0000

Today I have two radio interviews set up, one with radio 5 live and one with 3 counties radio
This is what we are discussing
Why are Brits so reluctant to haggle? There are three reasons
1 – Fear of rejection
2 – Lack of self confidence and self esteem
3 – Assumption you can’t because there is a printed price tag

How do you get round this mindset?
1 – Put yourself in the right frame of mind (state)
2 – Practice on small items at a car boot sale or market
3 – Deep breathe, think of the cash you are going to save and go for it

How do I do it?
Pick someone who looks friendly

Use gentle statements and questions
It is a little bit outside my budget – can you help me
It is more than I was expecting to pay
My partner wouldn’t like it if I paid that much
What flexibility do you have on price – I am looking at another option
If they say they don’t – say I bet you do – with a smile

Don’t be a victim of Pareto – get focused

Derek Arden — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:51:59 +0000

Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian economist, 200 years ago. He noticed that 20% of what we do contributes a massive 80% of the results we get. However that means that the other 80% of our time, energy and contribution – only contributes 20%.

This appears to work in all aspects of what we do in our lives

So start thinking now for 2010, How am I going to focus on the 20% which is going to make a massive difference?

Christmas – Negotiations

Derek Arden — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:39:30 +0000

Christmas is a great time to play, relax and have fun. Sometimes things can get a bit tense, people say the wrong things and as we meet family we don’t see that often, we don’t know them as well as we think we do. This is a great chance to practice your listening skills and keep your reactions muted. It will enhance your relationships and when the time is right you can make helpful suggests to take the issues forward in a positive manner.

Bite your tongue as my Mother used to say and keep your thoughts to yourself. Have great family win win negotiations.

Negotiate your Marketing

Derek Arden — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:02:30 +0000

I have been asked to look at the marketing of a prospective client. So I thought I would highight some usual issues that tend to happen in these circumstances. This lady is an alternative therapist and apparently very good at what she does.

Looking at her website, it doesn’t have a picture of her, show what she does for the reader, have testimonials or USP’s (unique selling points). All pre-requisites.

I am not sure if she knows what her goals are – (if you don’t know where you are going, every road will take you there)

Once she has decided this – she needs a marketing plan. Like her goals it can be short and succinct. In a filofax if necessary, but written down as easily accessible, and updated. Things change.

What marketing might she do? We all know word of mouth marketing is the best – and best done by networking and getting people, your ex-clients to spread the word. If not you need to be a part of a larger organisation that does it for you, and takes a big slice. This is an alternative for people who do not want to do it themselves. My great friend and business associate Martin prefers this option.

Marketing options

Website – upgraded as suggested above
Blog
Newsletter – to all previous clients, new contacts etc
Ask for testimonials from all old clients, and use them
Stories in newsletter about clients who have been “healed” and on blog
Business cards – which market – not just say who she is…… and give them away
Brochure that markets – but don’t spend a lot on it – content more important
Free talks
A self help mastermind group
Give stuff away
Twitter
linkedIn
Facebook for business etc

These are my thoughts. If you are self employed or a small business, to be successful you have to do this yourself. Even the CEO’s of large corporations keep a close eye on the marketing ideas, budget and results.

The problem is with marketing, you don’t know which part of it is successful, however if you do enough, are congruent the results will come

Derek Arden – October 2009 – Negotiating, marketing and sales