Tim David's Blog, page 2
February 6, 2018
Doing this ONCE will Virtually Eliminate Employee Disengagement
According to a Gallup poll in 2013, 22% of workers “actively disengage” when the boss criticizes them. (Hmm, how can someone disengage…actively?)
But what’s worse than a boss criticizing an employee?
NOT criticizing them!
The poll found that a whopping 40% of workers actively disengage when the boss ignores them completely. That’s almost twice as many!
Does that mean if you don’t have anything nice to say to your employees…you probably should just go ahead and say something mean?
Nah. Not that either.
Because the poll also uncovered what GOOD bosses do.
Do this third thing JUST ONE TIME, and you’ll drop the “active disengagement” rate of your employees to just 1%.
(Nope…it’s not complimenting them either. It takes somewhere between three and seven compliments to offset one insult.)
Instead, the winning strategy is to “recognize just one of the employees strengths and reward them for doing what they’re good at.”
Easy enough, right? Especially because employees who are engaged in their work bring many benefits to the company. Including…
They report higher job satisfaction and are strong ambassadors for the company
They are more productive. According to research by the Hay Group, “The offices with engaged employees were as much as 43% more productive.”
Employee retention goes up. Makes sense. If they’re more satisfied, they’ll stay.
Recruitment is easier. It’s obvious to top candidates which offices are more engaged.
They are more innovative. They feel they have a stake in the company and work harder and collaborate better when engaged.
They make you more profitable. A study by Wyatt Watson found that companies that have highly engaged employees produce 26% higher revenue per employee.
Besides, isn’t acknowledging someone’s good work the right thing to do? Just one more example of how being good at people will make you good at your job.
Why not go recognize someone’s strengths right now? This one’s too important to put off. Post a comment below with that person’s name and their biggest strength. Then GO TELL THEM PERSONALLY!
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January 8, 2018
Win SIGNED Copies of the 20 Best Business Books of 2017
20 Best Business Books of 2017 SIGNED Giveaway
The signed books included in the giveaway are pictured below. I chose them for a “best of” article that appears HERE in the HuffPost.
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January 2, 2018
Why Do Babies Love iPhones?
What appeal could an iPhone possibly have to babies? Teens like the social connection. Kids like the games. Heck, toddlers like the interactive flashing lights and sounds.
But that’s not why babies are into iPhones.
It’s not like the baby in this photo is checking her email or posting on Facebook. She’s not on level 2822 of Candy Crush. She’s not using the newest gadget as a status symbol.
She doesn’t care whether it’s the latest and greatest. She doesn’t know how expensive it was. She has no concept of data plans or processing speed. The damn thing doesn’t even have to be on.
And yet…SOMETHING gave that gizmo a sense of what researchers call “increased utility” in that baby’s mind.
She is ignoring all the more interactive, flashier toys in favor of a flat rectangle.
WHY???
One reason…
Social learning.
She sees grown-ups staring at iPhones all day long. That’s why her brain automatically decides that they must be pretty interesting.
My book, TRUE Influence is a month old this week. In it, I teach all kinds of science-based influence techniques. But never underestimate the influence of your own example.
Social learning is deeply hard-wired into our brains. We take our cues from others – whether we care to admit it or not. Study after study has demonstrated the power of social influence even when it happens completely outside our conscious awareness.
Gandhi was right when he advised us to, “Be the change that you want to see in the world.”
So as you kick off 2018, let your example be your influence. Remember, someone is ALWAYS watching.
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December 4, 2017
TRUE Influence is Finally Here! (or, What this Book Launch Taught Me)
It’s official. TRUE Influence: The Magic of Human Connection has been released into the world. (Woohoooooo!!!)
Get it now at www.TrueInfluenceBook.com. That’s where you’ll get the best deal and some amazing FREE bonuses.
(You can also grab the Kindle version now on Amazon.)
Let’s make this baby a best-seller, shall we?
Here’s how you can help:
Buy tons of copies as gifts for everyone you know. (And doing it today gives us our best chance of best-selling.)
November 30, 2017
Before the S#!+ Hits the You-Know-What
One of my brother’s co-workers will never live down that time he said (during a meeting with the company’s top brass)…
“That’s when the shit will really hit the you-know-what…”
The what? The FAN? Why couldn’t you just say “fan”?
Hilarious. This happened years ago and the guy’s co-worker’s BROTHER is still talking about it.
Well, Tuesday is when everything hits the you-know-what for me.
It’s my book’s birthday.
Right now I’m in the eye of the storm. It was a whirlwind getting everything ready for print. Now that it’s all done, there is an eerie moment of calm. But I know everything will blow up again when the book hits the shelves.
I want to take this quiet opportunity to do two things:
Express my gratitude and enjoy this milestone with you, the best readers in the world.
Beg you to pre-order the book TODAY.
November 29, 2017
November 28, 2017
7 Influence Tactics “Hidden” in My New Book Trailer
My new book comes out on Tuesday so I created a short video explaining what I believe TRUE Influence is.
In the interest of practicing what I preach, I incorporated some influence tactics that should help sell some more books. And in the interest of preaching what I practice, I’m going to explain the reasons behind my choices.
First, here’s the video:
This video is mostly just me talking to the camera. I wanted my face on the screen as much as possible so the viewers can begin to connect with me on a personal level. White background and a plain shirt. No distractions. While animations, special effects, or fancy graphics could have impressed people, connecting with people is much more important. In this case, humanity beats technology.
It’s the real me. No stage makeup. No dying away the gray. No overly-expensive suit and tie. No camera tricks to whiten my teeth, tan my skin, or give the illusion of muscles. This is all in alignment with my message of authenticity. Of course, I did get a fresh haircut and shave. I mean, you don’t have to look like a hobo to connect with people.
The background music is slow. The world is moving fast, but yet the book teaches the magic of human connection. The emotion, tone, and the beat of the song match the message of the book nicely.
I say “I believe…” a lot. I’m not trying to convince anybody by saying “You need to believe THIS!” I’m not trying to gain favor by saying, “Do you believe this? Yeah, me too!” Instead, I’m connecting with the viewer by vulnerably sharing my beliefs first. The people who agree will resonate with me. The ones who don’t, won’t. No convincing required – just connection.
I indirectly address my book’s biggest competitor – the wish list. The wish list is where good books go to die. I don’t know about you, but my wish list is a mile long and I only rarely dip into it to make purchases. If I’m not compelled to buy now, then it’s likely that I won’t ever buy. However, if I just said, “Don’t put it in your wish list!” then you’re actually MORE likely to do so because all I’ve done is planted that seed. Go back and see how I make adding my book to your wish list seem almost embarrassing.
I use different camera angles to reinforce that this book’s perspective is different. Twice in this video I switch to camera view #2. Both times I’m contrasting my book’s theme (human connection and true influence) against the status quo (convincing, manipulating, exploiting, persuading).
I use the tried-and-true formula, Attention-Interest-Desire-Action (AIDA).
Here’s the script I followed, broken down into these four classic components…
ATTENTION:
I believe that if you want to move mountains, you’ve got to be able to move people.
But it’s harder than ever to do that. Information is moving faster, attention spans are shrinking, ads…skipped and ignored – it’s frustrating, but it’s not your fault – technology has changed how we live our lives and how we do business.
The fact of the matter is that with all this noise…you are ignorable.
Stating a problem is one of the best ways to grab people’s attention. These three sentences state that influence is essential, but also quite difficult – now more than ever. In addition, it calls to mind the fear of being ignored – a fate that no one, especially no business owner, wants.
INTEREST:
That’s why I believe that influence is no longer about convincing people, but rather, connecting with them.
You can never build the quantity of your fans and supporters until you build the quality of your influence.
And you can’t just fake it till you make it. Impact comes with integrity. It’s about serving first, selling second. If you want people to listen when you speak, lead where you follow, or buy what you sell, then you must understand that influence is not a skill. It’s a series of skills. There is a framework, there is a hierarchy, there are levels to this game and you don’t want to find yourself stuck in an important situation, when the stakes are high, armed only with the same psychological mind tricks that all the gurus are teaching.
These three paragraphs create interest and curiosity by discussing the flawed ways by which MOST PEOPLE approach influence. It also hints that there is a new way to solve the problem of influence (namely, “connecting with them”…but HOW?)
DESIRE:
When you get this book, you get the scripts, the stories, the tools, and the strategies that modern science has shown to be the keys to building influence the right way, with the magic of human connection.
Because I believe that when persuasion is the goal, manipulation happens, exploitation happens, but when connection is your goal, true influence happens.
If you disagree with that, then do yourself a favor and just leave this book on your wish list. It’s not for you.
But if TRUE Influence is important to you, then this is the book you’ve been waiting for.
This section mentions some features and benefits of the book, but really stirs desire by saying who the book is NOT for. Viewers want to prove that they’re “in the smart club” by agreeing with the advantages of connection and influence over manipulation and exploitation.
ACTION
Order now.
There’s nothing like a crystal-clear call-to-action and this one leaves no room for doubt. And you really should order before the pre-order bonuses go away!
THERE ARE MORE…
What other influence strategies did you notice? Comment below!
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November 27, 2017
A Pie Chart of Your Biggest Regrets
Yesterday, on social media and via email I asked my readers to fill in the following blank:
I Regret That I Didn’t__________________
Here are the results (excluding the Facebook jokes)…
Spend enough time with loved ones – 26%
Finish school – 21%
Invest in x, y, or z – 21%
Document something important – 16%
Pursue my hobby/business – 11%
Visit someplace special – 5%
This is why I’m so passionate about teaching influence.
Because influence can solve all those problems!
Personally, I would have been in that dark blue section of the pie if I didn’t have a mentor who inspired (AKA influenced) me to pursue magic as a career while everyone else was telling me to be “more realistic.”
And if my magic business failed, I no doubt would have regretted not finishing school too!
And without a successful business, I never would have had the good fortune to design a lifestyle that is full of quality time with loved ones.
One person’s influence saved me from years of regret. Your influence can spare someone from regret too.
That’s why I wrote TRUE Influence. So you can help someone follow through on a good decision.
You’ve got a message to share. You’ve got a product or a service that can help people. Don’t let it rot on the shelf. Get a little better at TRUE influence every day so that you’ll be ready when the time comes.
The book comes out in exactly ONE WEEK! Pre-order today to grab your free bonus package.
Okay…I still wish I bought stock in Google.
What’s your biggest regret? Comment below!
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November 26, 2017
What Wrecks You?
Towards the end of the movie, Schindler’s List, Oskar Schindler famously says, “I could have done more, I could have done more… This car,” he says, “why did I keep it? I could have sold it and saved ten more lives. This stupid diamond pin,” he said of a pin on his lapel, “Even that I could have sold and gotten enough money to save one more life.” He kept weeping and kept repeating, “I could have done more, I could have done so much more.”
Even a great man, who overcame immense personal risk to save over 1,200 lives, still felt a deep sense of regret for not having done more.
What unfulfilled purpose wrecks you?
It doesn’t have to be as serious as it was for Schindler. What abandoned hobby, deserted dream, or missed opportunity makes you feel the pain of the path not taken?
Your purpose destroys you a little more every day that you don’t pursue it.
Did you try and fail? Did your passion slowly fade over time? Or were you too fearful to begin?
Tell me in the comments below…What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
I may feature your comments in a future article.
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November 25, 2017
Without This, You’re Not Even in the Game
Too many people ask me how to build influence when they haven’t even figured out the most obvious first step.
RULE #1: Don’t sell crap.
Whatever you’re selling…make it good. Whether it’s a product, service, or idea – put time, effort, and resources into making it the best you can make it. Don’t sell crap.
Quality SHOULD be the obvious starting point. Nobody’s buying into your solution if it isn’t good. The problem is: quality isn’t always the focus. We all get distracted sometimes. We all get tempted sometimes. We all get lazy sometimes.
I know that I was tempted to skimp while putting together my book, TRUE Influence.
It started as a collection of my most popular blog posts. Do I just copy and paste them into Word and call it a book? Nope. Deepen the research. Interview the story subjects. Rewrite each chapter and add new ones. Organize everything into a coherent narrative. This book could have been compiled in a month. Instead, it took almost three years.
What about editing? I’ve written several books and thousands of articles. I can do it myself, right? Nope. I sent advance copies to 75 people who I respect for feedback. I paid not one, but two professional editors from a major publishing house to go over every paragraph with a fine-toothed comb.
Graphic design and layout is easy enough with modern word-processors, right? Nope. Pay the professionals and let them work their magic.
Regarding format, I can just do a simple Kindle version, right? Nope. Having paperback, an audio version, and all electronic publishing formats available will be more convenient for readers.
Oh and as for marketing…do I just quietly release the book on Amazon and maybe sell a few copies on my web site and at my live events? Nope. To launch this book the right way, I took three months to plan and execute everything from email to social media to guest posting. I hired a company to coordinate my podcast tour. I created a whole web site just for this book launch. I produced several new free bonus products as incentives for anyone who orders a copy. I called in dozens of personal favors for help spreading the word.
Because I did all that, it’s guaranteed to become an instant best seller, right???
NO!
RULE #2: Focus on the Process, NOT the Result.
A quality product won’t become an instant best seller just because it’s a quality product. “Good” is just the OBVIOUS STARTING POINT. It simply gets you in the game. (Tweet That)
If you’re in it for the long-haul like I am, then focus on the process, NOT the result. Don’t cut corners. Don’t skimp. Bring your A-game.
The results will take care of themselves.
At the end of the day, it’s simple: make stuff you’re proud of. Make it so good that not only will you want to show it off to everyone, but they’ll want to show it off too.
Without quality ideas or products, becoming more influential shouldn’t even be on your to-do list.
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