What is also interesting, the Wynn hasn’t been as effected by the recession, they are still doing pretty well. I got off the phone with some friends of mine yesterday, Jimmy V and Travis Miller of Gravitational Marketing.

You know what is interesting.

They are serving an industry that has been beaten up badly, the Automotive industry. You know what I found most interesting? They had their best month ever. Let me repeat that, they had their best month ever. Why?

They haven’t bought into the sky is falling, and you can’t sell into an industry that has been beaten down. Heck car dealerships are going out of business left and right and the American auto industry is having some major issues.

Travis and Jimmy know how valuable their services are, and they have been creating the connections, the sales and marketing, that has allowed them to flourish.

Are you buying into the stories of your customers on why they don’t need your product or service, when you know in your heart of hearts they need what you have desperately. Are you buying into your own stories on why things are bad for you?

I used to do that, and guess what things didn’t turn out so good.

When I changed my outlook on life, business and helping others my life changed before my very eyes. How is your attitude? Does your attitude match your goals and objectives for the year?

Connect with me, let me here your comments.

Until We Connect Again,
Larry Benet
The Connector

http://www.viddler.com/explore/investorsummit/videos/2/

and see what you can learn from the success secrets shared by 10 multi-millionaire real estate investors. Some of the people who attended the Winners Circle event which is run by Roger Salem and Dave Vanhoose were successful real estate investors like Ron Legrand, Than Merril from Flip this House on A+E, JT Foxx-from the JT Foxx radio show, Lou Brown, Jon Goldman-the Lumpy mail man.

In the video-there are some very cool parts. The 9 minute mark is very cool, as well as the 17 minute mark. Keep your eyes open for some really interesting things in this Awesome Mansion.

The best part of the house, takes place at the 11:50 mark (It is something right out of a James Bond movie). I’m not going to give it away and tell it to you here, you will need to watch the video for yourself to see exactly what I’m talking about.

Tell me your favorite success tip that you have learned and post your comment here on my blog.

—————————-

One of the things I learned from being at the 40,000 sq foot mansion that Roger Salem, my friend and business colleague bought, is what is possible.

• Everything is Possible!
• The power of thinking big.
• The power of being part of a mastermind group.
• The Power of helping others.

Roger was able to buy the house, due to the fact he was helping a business mogul try to sell his home which was listed for $25 million dollars.

—————————-

As many people feel the sky is falling this group is playing business on the offensive. They are playing to win, not to lose. What about you,

ARE YOU PLAYING TO WIN OR ARE YOU PLAYING BUSINESS AND LIFE ON THE DEFENSIVE?

These real estate investors and trainers I met are focused on the opportunities they have not the challenges in the economy. I talked to one of my friends who stands to make 70 million net if everything goes according to plan over the next 12 to 18 months.

Why, because he thinks. He is asking himself what does he have to do, to get in the middle of all the wealth that will be created from all the foreclosures today.

When is the best time to buy things, when they are on sale. Real estate and stocks are on sale right this very moment.

1. Attitude Means A Lot

Here are some other things I took away that you should find helpful in your business. The people I met who were having a great deal of success were focusing on creating Irresistible offers for there clients.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES THAT IS SO IRRESISTIBLE YOUR CLIENTS AND PROSPECTS CAN’T SAY NO TO YOU?
2)Moving the free line

WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN TERMS OF PROVIDING MORE VALUE THEN YOUR CLIENTS EXPECT?

Are there products and services you can afford to give away for free to attract more clients into your marketing funnel. Greg Clement and his partner Josh gave away there $1000 product on purchasing short sales for free, all they charged was for shipping and handling. They did to get their students into a monthly group coaching program.

What can you do, what can you give away that will create more value for more people?

Another strategy during touch economic times you should be thinking about is:

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO CAPTURE MORE SHARE OF WALLET FROM YOUR CUSTOMERS?

Today at the airport at the Chinese restaurant, they charged:

$7.99 for a 2 item combo
but they charged 8.99 for 3 items.

They said it is only another dollar to add a third item. I didn’t need a third item, but they gave a free sample of their orange chicken, and I was hooked so I ordered another item. The moral of the story is that they just upsold me by 1 dollar.

Lets assume they serve 3000 customers a week, and 30% of their customers take them up on the offer. Well that is an extra $1000 a week, or $50,000 a year.

Not insignificant to that small business owner who owns that store.

What else can you offer your clients, especially after they just purchased something?

Well I am off to the Virgin Unite fundraiser that Richard Branson, Charleze Theron and Selma
Hayak are throwing, I’ll let you know who I meet and what I learn, in one of my next blog posts.

P.S. Do you want to connect with me
and have fun on Halloween. Join me at
the Playboy Mansion October 31st at Hugh
Hefners Home
http://www.connectwithplayboy.com

P.S.S A skill we all need to master is the ability
to persuade others thru the written word. There
is no one better to learn from then John Carlton
one of the worlds top copywriters.  Check out his
mentoring program.
https://m190.infusionsoft.com/go/sws/benet/

Until We Connect Again,
Larry Benet
The Connector

He will be missed, and always remembered.Charlie “Tremendous” Jones was one of the nicest and most positive people I have ever met. Even when he was dying of Cancer, he still was out helping others and doing his best to inspire them.

Even when he lost his voice to throat cancer he took a speech where they showed one of his videos and then he whispered to the audience.

Here are a few videos that I found from Charlie “Tremendous” Jones.

A friend of mine, Greg Reid sent me this one…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbCpDBf8ODE

Let your gift find you…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mtDuo8kZeM&feature=related

Charlie on 3 Feet From Gold…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmgnHnCLLLg&feature=related

One of his favorite quotes is the person you will become is based on the books you read tapes you listen to, and the people you surround yourself with.

For Charlies sake, share a good book or audio with someone today so you can make a difference in someones life, just like Charlie did in countless numbers of lives touched.

Charlie will be missed.

Charlie Jones just a few months ago inspiring people (here he is in the news-despite losing his voice)…
http://www.whtm.com/news/stories/0708/537950.htm

Until We Connect Again,
Larry Benet
The Connector

What are things you are doing to be more memorable and to get people talking about you? Please let me know as I would love to learn what is working for you.

Until We Connect Again,
Larry Benet
The Connector

As most people wait for the sky to fall and listen to the doom and gloom that is in the news we just had our best week in the past year, and I have several of my friends whose businesses are actually up despite this crazy economy.I won’t kid you the past year has been tough, I have faced my fair share of challenges. I refuse to participate in this recession, how about you? I hope you decide not to participate in it either.

Here are 10 tips that can help you take your business to the next level, and help you recession proof your income. Connect with me and let me know what you think.

1. CHANGE YOUR THINKING AND YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE

I used to be a some what negative person, but the moment I made a decision to focus on expecting positive things and being a ball of energy that is contagious amazing things started to happen in my life.

As I write this I am on the plane.

2. DON’T READ THE NEWS, AND TURN OFF THE TV

3. CHANGE YOUR ENVIRONMENT

4. GET AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER

But have some consequences built in if you don’t follow thru on the task you have committed to. If you say you are supposed to make 10 new sales call a day, and you don’t do it, what are the consequences.If you say you are going to work out 4 times a week, and have a date night once a week with your significant other, what are the consequences.

When I miss a call with my accountability call with my partner, I pay 50 dollars to him or his favorite charity.

5. GET A MENTOR

I used to try to figure out things on my own, thinking that was the cheaper way to go, because perhaps I couldn’t afford the higher priced coaching. Well it took forever, and half the time, I didn’t get the results I wanted.

You are paying for not having a mentor, whether you like it or not. What is the one area in your business or in your life that you are not getting the results you want, or it is taking longer then you would like to reach that goal. Today, I just get on the phone with one of my mentors. When I have a problem and I feel stuck and next thing you know in a matter of minutes, problem is solved.

I had a complex problem that came up 2 days before my seminar, and my mentor solved the problem in 3 minutes flat. I had tears of joy after that conversation.

6. CREATE YOUR OWN BOARD OF ADVISORS

Create your own board of advisors or build your own Power of 6 as my good friend and business colleague Dave Stech likes to talk about.

7. CALL YOUR CLIENTS

Find out how they are doing, what they need, and how else you can serve them.

8. CALL YOUR TOP PROSPECTS

When the economy gets tough, and the news is really bad, people get paralyzed from fear. They stress out about their business, their money, they think the worst is going to happen to them. Be the beacon of light they need to get them thru this tough time, give them ideas that can help them not only survive but thrive in this economy.

9. RAISE YOUR EXPECTATIONS AND YOUR STANDARDS OF YOURSELF

Some examples of that for me include getting a personal assistant to manage my personal affairs not my business affairs. Getting an assistant that travels with me at all times, which is different then my assistant who is back in Atlanta handling our day to day business affairs.

10. BUILDING DEEPER RELATIONSHIPS WITH MORE INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE

I just attended a meeting with Hip Hop Mogul Russell Simmons and the cost was a $1000 dollar donation to his charity. Some would say it was expensive to fly all the way to Texas for one day, but it was a great investment. Half the people I met, are really hard to pin down, and get them to respond to e mails so this was a great way to connect with many of them in a short period of time.

Not only did I get to meet Russell, I had the opportunity to connect with other movers and shakers who can help me advance my business, and I created new relationships and reconnected with some old friends, many who are likely to do business with me in the coming months.

Connect with me here on my blog and tell me your best idea for winning big in this crazy economy.

Until We Connect Again,
Larry Benet
The Connector

Lesson #1
RELATIONSHIP MARKETING WORKS

Read the rest of the post to see what I mean.

Lesson # 2
NEVER GIVE UP

About 2 months ago my partners and I thought about canceling an event for the Speakers and Authors Networking Group  that we held in NAPA last week…

What a mistake that would have been.

Lesson # 3
YOU EITHER HAVE TIME TO GET RESULTS OR MAKE EXCUSES

Lesson # 4
SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE ALWAYS FIND THE TIME TO DO THE THINGS THAT ARE HIGH IN VALUE AND HELP THEM WITH THEIR BUSINESS

I organized an event with some nationally known speakers and authors. People like Jack Canfield of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Self Made Billionaire Bill Bartmann, Alex Mandossian, Stephen Pierce, Chet Holmes, Armando Montelongo of A&E TV Show “Flip This House”, Ron LeGrand, and Joel Comm just to name a few.

The most successful people in their industry took time to sharpen their saws. Heck I watched Jack Canfield take 100 pages of notes, and Ron Legrand was working hard to implement the many new ideas he learned at the conference.

Another person in attendance was Internet Marketing superstar Joel Comm- he is one of the online marketers I respect the most, he sold his first company to Yahoo. He is the author of the NY Times best
seller the Ad Sense Code, he is creative, he’s a pioneer, and he has a very cool new application for the Apply iPhone.

To pick up his new book and a whole bunch of bonuses just visit:

http://www.affurl.com/go?p=a767608&w=chto

Lesson # 5
WHAT I FOUND IS WHEN YOU CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE YOU ARE ABLE TO CONNECT WITH LIKE MINDED PEOPLE WHO ARE GIVERS THAT CAN HELP EACH OTHER MAGICAL THINGS WILL HAPPEN

I figure between 30-50 million dollars of deals happened as a result of the event.

Check out this video testimonial from Vishen Lakhiani-of MindValley Labs, who flew over 30 hours
to attend the event I recently organized. He walked away with over 5 million dollars in new partnerships for his business.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/lbenet/videos/86/

Find out why he felt it was one of the best investments he ever made.

You will have the same opportunity to create similar results for you and your business when you attend my Connection mastery event in LA, September 12-14th.
http://www.connectionmastery.com/connection-mastery-bootcamp

When you create value amazing things will happen to you.

Some of the great things that happened to me:

1. One of the best marketers I know offered to mentor me for a year.
2. Jack Canfield of Chicken Soup For the Soul said to call him anytime I needed help.
3. Several A-list speakers and authors have offered to help me promote Connection Mastery.
4. I created a new relationship with a legend in the field of real estate investing

What great things will happen for you when you attend my upcoming Connection Mastery event in LA September 12-14th?

Visit: http://www.connectionmastery.com/connection-mastery-bootcamp

Connect with me, let me know what you have done for your strategic partners, that they have found incredibly valuable. Hopefully I’ll be able to connect up with you and see you in LA at my event.

Until We Connect Again,
Larry Benet
The Connector

A good friend of mine once asked me if I had CONTACTS or RELATIONSHIPS. It was one of the those light bulb moments for me.

It made me really think hard if a lot of the people.

I knew were  just contacts or were they relationships.

There is a BIG difference between the two.

There is also a big difference between those who understand how to use Social Networking, and sites like Linked In, Plaxo, Facebook, and some of those other web 2.0 sites and those who don’t.

Don’t get left behind, learn these cutting edge strategies before your competitors do.

Don’t miss the call I am doing today with David Nour, author of Relationship Economics.

David is one of the most connected people I personally know. His clients include Marriott, Cisco, and KPMG.

For those of you who are interested in spending more time with your family and taking more time off, you owe it to yourself to be on this call, because David Nour uses technology better then anyone else I know to save time, make money and build powerful relationships.

Here is the call in info:

3 pm EST today August 14th
605-475-8590
5914810

Connect With Me-What is a Social Networking Best Practice that helps your business-join the conversation and share with us. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and what is working for you and your endeavors.

Until We Connect Again,
Larry Benet
The Connector

Listen to the replay of my interview with Mike here:
http://larrybenet.audioacrobat.com/download/dfd73080-68b9-22b4-ef19-4edfcbc8206e.mp3

I am excited he will be speaking at my upcoming Connection Mastery event.
http://www.connectionmastery.com/connection-mastery-bootcamp

Here are some ideas I took away from our interview.

• If you want to attract more prospects to your website make sure you have some compelling offers
• Do you offer any free trials, free reports, a free audio CD, a free book, free training, a free seminar
  etc… you get the idea. All of these tend to work very efficiently in providing value.

Two other great ideas he shared were:

• Creating simple 3 minute videos around the top 10 questions that your prospects ask you, and the top 10 questions they should be asking you.
• He also suggested another way of providing great content that would be valuable to your prospects would be to interview experts in your industry via video, and post the interviews on your site.

Video is a great way for people to get to know you and build rapport with you.

Connect with me. What is the best marketing thing you have done leveraging video. Let me know what you did, and what the results were?

If you want a free trial to Traffic Geyser
click here http://www.yourtrafficsystem.com

It really is an invaluable tool, that will help you with online lead generation and a whole lot more.

Until We Connect Again,
Larry Benet
The Connector

One of the best business people I know is Dave Stech. This multi-millionaire businessman is one of my Power of 6 that I go to for seeking counsel, guidance and help.

Dave has agreed to speak at my upcoming Connection Mastery event in LA- September 12-14th http://www.connectionmastery.com

Dave is a former Kodak executive who as an entrepreneur has retired 3 different times. He is also a mega successful real estate investor. By applying the Power of 6 he was able to net over 1 million dollars on a real estate project in less than 90 days, with very little of his own money.

Check out the Replay of the call I did with Dave during July:

http://larrybenet.audioacrobat.com/download/f327c459-25af-6e5e-ff30-2ca515f5aacc.mp3

Until We Connect Again,
Larry Benet
The Connector

Click Here to Read Article

About 2 years ago I met Kevin Bacon’s cousin, so I guess I am one degree away from Kevin Bacon.

Which brings up an interesting strategy.  If you focused on building relationships with a handful of some of the
most connected and influential people in your industry, then you would have a very good shot of always being one degree away from most anyone you would like to meet in your industry.

You don’t need to know everyone, you just need to know enough of the right people, and hope you have contributed to them in a meaningful way.

For example if you built relationships with the top fundraisers or the people who head up the democratic and republican parties there is a good likelihood they could open up almost any door you would need to see within the respective democratic and republican parties.

If you had a relationship with JK Rowling who wrote Harry Potter, Mark Victor Hansen of Chicken Soup for the Soul, and John Grisham, you would probably be one person away from anyone in the book industry.

If you had a relationship with people like John Doer of the influential VC firm Kleiner Perkins, or VC’s at Benchmark Capital or Sequoia Capital you would likely find yourself one phone call or e mail away from most people in the tech industry.

My good friend Sarano Kelley, has been implementing some of the concepts we teach and has been leveraging his students, friends and colleagues to get introduced to the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Stephen Spielberg, Warren Buffet, Garth Brooks and Michael Miliken.

Focusing on who are the influencers, and see how you cultivate relationships with them and add value to them, and instead of being 6 degrees of separation, you can be one degree of separation.

We will be teaching this one degree of separation at my Connection Mastery event in LA Sept 12-14th. If you haven’t yet registered t isn’t too late go to http://www.ConnectionMastery.com and reserve your spot now.

I invite you to Connect With Me tell me: Who are you one degree of separation from? Who are people you would like to meet and do business with? What are your biggest challenges in making the connections you want to make?

Post your answers and comments in the comments section below, I look forward to connecting with you!

Larry Benet
The Connector
http://www.cConnectionMastery.com