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Unmasking the 'people-love-to-buy-they-just-hate-to-be-sold-to Myth
It's almost conventional wisdom these days that people love to buy, they just hate to be sold to. Perhaps this is being spun by trainers who want their programs to stand alone from the thousands of selling courses - who knows. But I disagree with the premise, here's why....
Lesson #3: Catch The Fever
“If you love your work, you’ll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you – like a fever,” said Walton.

Lesson #3: Question Convention
“The most important aspect of my personality, as far as determining my success goes, has been my questioning conventional wisdom, doubting the experts and questioning authority,” says Ellison. “While that can be very painful in relationships with your parents and teachers, it's enormously useful in life.”
The Source of Oracle’s Wisdom: How Ellison Achieved Success
“There's a wonderful saying that's dead wrong,” says Ellison. “‘Why did you climb the mountain?' ‘I climbed the mountain because it was there.’ That's utter nonsense…You climbed the mountain because you were there, and you were curious if you could do it. You wondered what it would be like.”
Lesson #5: Create a Vision and Stick To It
“There is a powerful, driving force inside every human being that, once unleashed, can make any vision, dream or desire a reality,” says Robbins. “I challenge you to make your life a masterpiece. I challenge you to join the ranks of those people who live what they teach, who walk their talk.”

Lesson #1: Obsess About Your Customers, Not Your Competitors
“There are multiple ways to be externally focused that are very successful,” says Bezos. “You can be customer-focused or competitor-focused. Some people are internally focused, and if they reach critical mass, they can tip the whole company.”

Estee Lauder Bonus
When Estee Lauder first began growing what would today become one of the largest retail beauty companies in the world, she was met with much resistance. Managers of department stores turned down her persistent requests for store space, while advertising agencies rejected her business because of the company’s small size – the two-person operation of Estee Lauder and her husband Joseph were not enough to convince people of their legitimacy. However, those years of rejection served as the impetus for the Estee Lauder Bonus, which would help the company grow to new heights both then and now.

What Sequoia Capital Looks for in Startups
Elements of Sustainable Companies Start-ups with these characteristics often foretells the success of a business and the likelihood of it becoming a sustainable, enduring company. We like to partner with companies that have:

March to the Beat of Your Own Drum
Your focus for the month is to "march to the beat of your own drum". In other words, don't follow the crowd! Doing this takes a lot of courage. At the same time, it will foster a lot more freedom, success and excitement in your life. The fact is, it's only when you march to the beat of your own drum, that you create new and original ideas.

What’s In a Name These Days?
The name of a business is an essential marketing decision and certainly should be considered in that vein.

Consumers Continue to Choose Credit Cards Over Mortgages
A new TransUnion study shows that the usual payment hierarchy of mortgages over other debts, like credit cards, remains reversed, with consumers paying down cards before worrying about mortgages. It augurs many more housing defaults ahead.
Phrases that Pay - Simple Statements that Increase your Perceived Value
The conventional wisdom about providing great service is that employees must have an attitude that bubbles with enthusiasm. But in the real world of upset customers, long hours, and stress, employee enthusiasm occasionally fizzles. "Phrases that Pay" reveals several ways for employees to sound more helpful and professional even when they're not having a zipity-do-dah day.
Tiger Woods’ Unconventional Crisis Management Deserves An A Grade.
In managing a crisis, conventional wisdom commands to talk to the media as quickly as possible, tell what you know, tell it all and promise more as soon as more information is known. As Tiger Woods copes with what he calls his "personal failings," his one car accident on November 27, 2009 at his estate, some have suggested he employs the conventional wisdom of crisis management. See Magic Johnson on Larry King, December 4, 2009. Tiger Woods has so far resisted, choosing instead to employ an unconventional approach for which, in my opinion, he deserves an A in crisis management.

Changing the Face of Personal Communications
It's almost impossible to go out and buy a plain old mobile phone anymore. We threw tons of features/capabilities on them. We changed them from utilitarian to dress accessories...statements of who we are and our importance. But it took the guy on Infinity Circle to really change the keypad and screen. Oh sure the iPhone is sleek and incorporates so many service capabilities (wonder why your cellphone bill got HUGE?). At Apple's WWDC (developer's conference)Steve will once again strolled onto the stage with a clean black mock turtle on and show us his next insanely great offerings. Including the 3G iPhone (probably). Neat thing is that all of his offerings -- even those that stumble -- will all

Lead On: Leading By Self Expression
There's nothing extraordinary about leaders. They simply know how to make it easy for others to work and interact together.
Gather Your Own Information
We have become a society terrorized by information overload. There are no longer any mysteries in our surroundings. We are kept aware of everything at the speed of 24 hour news, internet sites, breaking news, severe weather, along with the minutiae of the subtle changes that occur thousands of times per day. Everything in real time. It’s George Orwell's 1984 on steroids. “Big Brother “ is not only watching but he’s reporting. What we have today pales in comparison to the fear instilled in us by that classic novel.

PR Doesn't Stand for "Press Releases"
How to think about the big picture of public relations
A Case for Marketing Experimentation Making Failure Work For You
We all know what success is: it's meeting goals and expectations based on how we define them. But do we learn from success? In most cases no. In fact success establishes the status quo, ingrains conventional wisdom, stifles innovation and creativity, and promotes the repetition of the same methods, technologies, and ideas that have always been used, even when those methods no longer work.

Company, Product Communications…Open Up, Loosen Up
Hints on how entrepreneurs can efficiently and economically do their own publicity activities and avoid mistakes that even "professionals" make.
The Modern Marketer’s Milking (S)Tool
The three-legged (s)tool for marketing success: Segmentation, Differentiation, Implementation
Markus Frind makes the cover of Inc.
Canadian entrepreneur, Markus Frind, makes the cover of Inc. magazine
The Three Legged Sale
Conventional wisdom tells you that if you can sell the leader you will sell the rest of them. That works sometimes. What do you do if the leader isn’t interested in your product or already has something similar?
Managing Luxury Brands in Recession
The article focuses on how luxury brands can manage the effects of recession and rather gain from it.

Uncovering Soul In The Workplace
The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported "soul is in". In a headline calling it "the buzzword of the '90s" a front-page story reported that some 322 citations for the word appear in the current edition of Books in Print.
Diagnosing a Troubled Company Part I
Companies get into troubled for a variety of reasons. Just like doctors do check-ups to determine what is wrong with their patient, business owners, executives, and their advisors should examine their business to determine what is ailing it. This article starts to explore how to diagnose a company.
Sell More and Work Less: A Strategic Approach to Sales
The secret to great selling is that less is more. Less confusion creates more clarity. Less activity produces more results. Less indiscriminate effort produces more targeted effort. Selling is the most strategic business function there is, and it ought to receive the thoughtful, purposeful attention you give to the other aspects of your business. Concentrate on fewer deals that are worth more to your company – more revenue, more profit, more long-term repeat purchases. If the market or the economy forces you to rely on small deals, don’t spend a fortune to win each one. Keep your eye on productivity. It pays off. Read on for more insights...

Email Marketing Redefined — Is Frank Kern God? Or Just a Minor Deity?
Conventional wisdom says you should ideally get a Customer Lifetime Value average of $1 per person per year from your list. This means on a list of 100,000, you should get $100,000 per year that your customers remain on your list. That is admittedly some decent coin. However, Frank Kern isn’t about achieving decent. Our laid-back beach bum has made $2.2 million from his list of 8000 over the past two years! That translates to an unprecedented CRV average of $275 a person! In his latest product Mass Control, Frank Kern teaches you how he can make a whopping 275 times more than the average from utilizing his powerful email marketing strategies.
Taboo Topics: Talking Politics in the Office
Conventional wisdom says not to talk about sex, politics and religion in the office. The problem is that any office, workplace or organization is mostly made up of people and if the volume of blogs, internet sites, magazines and other media is any indication of popularity, people love to talk about: SEX, POLITICS AND RELIGION!
Doing Well and Doing Good with Green Businesses
While it has been commonly believed that going green is a costly luxury for businesses, there are many ways in which going green can help the bottom line. By becoming more efficient and wasting less, businesses can help the environment and their own business, doing well by doing good.
12 Qualities of Happiness
Learn the qualities of happiness and look at ways you can increase your happiness level in all areas of your life!
Proven Alternatives To Lowering Prices
Many businesses struggle with pricing issues. Maybe you're frustrated with low price competition. Since you need profit to have a healthy business, there is a lot to gain by understanding what motivates people to buy. Discover how you can prosper even if competitors are slashing prices.
Successful People are Self-Taught…ALWAYS!
Before anyone gets in a twist, this isn’t MBA bashing or PhD envy. However, every successful person I’ve ever met is and continues to be self-taught...
Conclusion: Human Capital and Economic Development
Africa has made large strides in raising literacy and school enrolments and improving health. However, in the case of both education and health these gains are lower than those in other developing countries.
Rates of Return on Educational Investment from Micro Studies: The Effects of Human Capital on Economic Development
The conventional wisdom is that there is a high rate of return on primary schooling. This view is based largely on surveys of rate of return studies by Psacharopoulos.
Financial Sector Development as an Essential Determinant for Achieving the MDGs: Increasing Private Credit Shown to Reduce Income Inequality
Whether or not one has access to private credit is a litmus test for wealth or poverty. If you're rich, you have it, and can use it to get richer. If you're poor, you don't have access to it, and you remain poor. Conventional wisdom suggests that building up the financial sector has little effect on this gap.

Stupid or Brilliant
Sometimes when we extend trust to other people there may be a high risk that they will take advantage of us. For example, if I trust you to watch my laptop at the airport gate while I go to the bathroom, there is a chance both you and the laptop will be gone when I return. I believe when we extend trust to other people, they usually prove to be worthy of that trust.

Other conventional wisdom Related Articles

Coaching Your Business To The Next Level Series Part 3 Assessments
Do you take business actions based upon what you think, what conventional wisdom dictates or what you truly know based upon validated information? Using assessments is necessary to receive an accurate picture of what is happening within the organization.

How To Yield a 7 Percent Sales Increase With An Incredibly Easy Redesign
I have some very interesting split test results that I think will really surprise you. Here's the story of a major retailer who increased sales over 7% by going against conventional wisdom.

Front and Center: Why that may not be the place for your CEO in a crisis
It's a marketing axiom: The leader is the brand. What if crisis is underway---and your CEO's communication skills are not a strength--that conventional wisdom warrants a second look.

Saving Motion, Time and Your Business
Conventional wisdom is that motion time study is only useful in the manufacturing industries, but the Indians are proving it can be applied to improve nearly any business from call centers to software development. Can we afford to ignore their success any longer?
Why Have We Always Done It THAT Way?
As you're continuously challenged to achieve more with fewer resources, at some point you start to wonder if you're trying to squeeze blood from a turnip. While it may not be possible to get vegetables to bleed, there are still countless opportunities to find a better way. What keeps us from pursuing them? Sometimes conventional wisdom can get in the way. By asking "Why Have We Always Done It THAT Way?", I briefly take an unconventional look at conventional wisdom.
Tiger Woods’ Unconventional Crisis Management Deserves An A Grade.
In managing a crisis, conventional wisdom commands to talk to the media as quickly as possible, tell what you know, tell it all and promise more as soon as more information is known. As Tiger Woods copes with what he calls his "personal failings," his one car accident on November 27, 2009 at his estate, some have suggested he employs the conventional wisdom of crisis management. See Magic Johnson on Larry King, December 4, 2009. Tiger Woods has so far resisted, choosing instead to employ an unconventional approach for which, in my opinion, he deserves an A in crisis management.

Unmasking the 'people-love-to-buy-they-just-hate-to-be-sold-to Myth
It's almost conventional wisdom these days that people love to buy, they just hate to be sold to. Perhaps this is being spun by trainers who want their programs to stand alone from the thousands of selling courses - who knows. But I disagree with the premise, here's why....
Computer, Printer, All in One, Typewriter Repair Perplexity-To Toss or Not to Toss
Have you ever wondered if your computer, printer, fax machine, all in one, or even typewriter is worth repairing? The conventional wisdom is toss it out and buy a new one. How do you know where conventional wisdom leaves off and common sense begins? Here are a few ideas.
Meaning of Wisdom – It’s a 3-step process
Albert Einstein once said, “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it”. In order to truly understand what he meant you have know the true meaning of wisdom. Over the years I have been harboring the wrong notion on wisdom. I was under the impression that knowledge is wisdom. And I am sure that there are millions of others who think the same way. Thanks to Dr. Myles Munroe, I got the true meaning of wisdom the other day. I felt so enlightened and free at this newfound knowledge. And I am sure you the reader will find it same too.
Think Small: Micro-Niche Your Way to Success
Conventional wisdom tells us to think big. Having coached hundreds of small business owners, I find the ones that have the greatest success tend to think small.
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