Saturday, March 29, 2008

Don’t Fool Yourselves

Have you ever gone to a business meeting or networking event and collected business cards from companies you were interested in?

When you looked at the business cards that were presented to you what did you think?

Be honest now…


I know when I am offered a card, one that is really unique or has a professional polished appearance I get a favorable impression, in fact it makes the difference between believing the business is successful or not. When the card is designed really well I get the impression they are a well established successful company, one that knows who they are and what they are talking about. On top of that I think WOW this is a really great card.

Do you think that a great business card or professionally designed marketing materials would make your business stand out to a potential client? Yes of course it would.

Remember the old saying “Your first impression is Your last impression?"


Let's think about the flip side…

You go to a meeting and are handed a business cards that is – designed with clip art and printed from a home computer.What do you say to that – what impression do your get?

If they can’t afford business cards how successful are they?
If they can’t even afford business cards how professional are they?
If they can’t afford business cards_______ (fill in the blanks)
Of course in my world, I would say “You need my services”!! Everyone wants to do business with a successful company if you do not portray success through your marketing material you are missing the boat.

How many people have not taken you up on your offers or investigated your website because they are turned off by what they see? You may want to be frugal and cut corners, but business cards and marketing materials should not be one one of those corners.

Last but not least – those free cards you get from places like Vista Print may be free but I can spot them in a second, in fact on the back it has an ad for Vista Print and it should, after all they gave you that product for free.

This is twice as true when it comes to your website...
Uncle Sal may be a wonderful man, and know how to put together a web page (after all it is free, or cheap) but I guarantee 9 out of 10 times it is not professionally put together.
Successful people who are on the Internet know the difference between a home grown websites and a professional one!!

Remember...
It is your professional image as well as your companies professional image that will make or break your business. Everyone wants to do business with a successful person/company, if your image is less you are ultimately losing money.

Don't squeeze pennies only to lose dollars...
When you don't portray yourself as successful or credible a potential client will not want to do business with you. Don't fool yourselves it is the little things that we overlooked that can create a negative impression.

Pamela Jacob Artista Design



Wednesday, March 26, 2008

You may look Professional – Do you act it?

A few weeks ago I was invited to attend Salt Lake City chambers meeting by a client. I was looking forward to the presentation it was advertised as “Learn the Latest on Internet Marketing and Design”.

I don't like to toot my own horn, but I am quite knowledgeable in this field. I have learned from being in this industry for so long, of course if you work on the internet your truth is “the more you know the more you need to know”!! I felt like, even if I picked up a pearl or two of information it was well worth my time.

I am not going to name names but the group that was presenting that day was a well known Internet development/marketing company in the Salt Lake Valley. It was an early morning meeting, and I arrived 5 minutes before the presentation was to begin. As I exited from my car and was running to the building a well dressed man in his twenties was just entering the building as well. I

noticed him because he looked professional, and I wondered if he was going to the same meeting as I was. As he rushed along in front of me, he opened the door and didn't have the courtesy of noticing that I was right behind him – so basically closed the door in my face.

My impression – he looked professional but was not – his manners were going to keep him from where he wanted to go. To my amazement, he was the presenter at this presentation. People were already sitting waiting for him as he arrived. The people at this meeting were professional people from different industries. The fact he was not prepared when they came in, ready to shake hands and connect in a professional way caused him business I guarantee.

Once he did manage to set up, the computer was not working properly, and the presentation was not well prepared. He rambled on and on with little structure. I tried to help him out as he was flailing, I didn’t want to take over, and it certainly wasn’t my place.

One by one these business owners left, by the end of the meeting, there were only about 6 people in attendance. After the meeting, I did have some business owners who asked for my card – and I had really held myself back only saying a few things when I felt he was making little sense.

The moral of this story – when you have a great opportunity to present to any group of people the professional presentation goes way beyond your appearance. If you are sending an employee - make sure you send the best presenter. If you are the presenter make sure you are prepared. Arrive early – Stay on the task – make sense…

Above all else make sure when you present anything about your business to a possible client that you talk in layman’s terms don’t use industry jargon…

Make sure you are using terminology people understand. IE: If you need to translate what a blog is and does – make sure you can say it as succinctly as possible…

Most of us know these common sense rules, but it doesn’t hurt to remind ourselves – and to teach our employee’s everything that is done in the context of your business must exude professionalism!


Pamela Jacob is the owner of Artista Design. If you need a website developed or redesigned, project manager, consultant or graphic designer – you have found one. Pamela’s specialty is taking an idea and making it come to fruition. “If you want to own an online business that thrives, if you have a passion for something you want to share, if you have an idea that you want to come to life contact me. My initial consultations are FREE”.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

But This Host Is So Cheap!

One of the things that I find confuses a lot of my clients is what type of hosting package to buy. If you are new to the Internet business world and your have never had a website – a host is a foreign word to you, even if you do have a website you may not know what you need in a hosting provider. I hope this article will help clear up some of that confusion. I have met the most brilliant business people who have been confused by terminology so let me first start by explaining the difference between an ISP and an Internet hosting provider… ISP – Internet Service Provider This is the company that actually provides you with a way to access the Internet – if you have a dial-up then it would be something like PC People or Earth Link. If you have cable modem it would be Comcast, Quest – etc. This is the connection that goes from your computer to the Internet. Internet Hosting Provider Which is where you place your website – if you were/are a business owner that had a brick and mortar business you would rent a store and place your goods in that store. The same holds true with an Internet host they hold all the pages of your website, graphics, scripts and everything else. This is a simplified explanation, but you get the picture. Now that we have that out of the way lets talk about hosting packages and what to look for. As a web developer/designer I have worked with the best and worst of hosts. I have found hosting companies that look inexpensive but nickel and dime the customer to death by the time they are done. They look great in the beginning and even sound like a fantastic deal but are really not a great bargain. I have found hosting companies I have loved in the beginning but later have gotten so big or changed hands and the customer service was so bad I had to go else where. I want to warn you of the one stop shop hosting companies that do everything – they will register your domain name – build your website (usually template websites) and host them. Saving you money and touting the convenience of all they do… Ultimately you feel like you are hostage to them – they own your domain and website. Please see this article for more … Promotional Designer: I thought it was a good idea... What do I do now? I know as a business owner you want to save money where you can – which is just good business sense, there are a lot of choices – do your research - make sure that host will meet your needs. I want you to chose carefully – be wise about the host you pick this is so important because all hosts are not created equal.
Factors to look at when selecting a hosting company
  • Live Tech Support This is one of the most important aspects of a host I want to be able to talk to a live breathing person – through chat on the Internet or phone. I do not want to rely on an email period. Which is my position – if my store (website) is down or my email is out of order my business is going down the drain. This is #1…

  • Do they use a C-Panel What is a c-panel you say? A C-panel allows you or your web developer/designer to be able to control different elements of your website. You can add emails, change passwords, even point domain names and many other important tasks. It gives you control over many aspects of your website.

  • What is the up Time If the the server is down and your website is not up on the Internet 24/7 then what happens when your website visitors go to your store? You lose business ! I look for a 99% up time guarantee . There are ways to monitor your up time go to www.artistadesign.com/resources.html you will be able to get a free website monitor. Just click on the monitor you see on the left hand side of the website. You will be able to register and get a monitor to put on your website - best of all it is FREE!

  • Disk Space - Depending on how large you website is will depend on the disk space needed. If you have a logo and a lot of text you will need very little disk space.

  • Bandwidth - If you are running a site with lots of images or downloads you will need a lot higher bandwidth than a small site with mainly text. If you go over your allotted bandwidth you will usually pay a lot of extra money or visitors may not be able to download files you need them to download.

  • CGI Bin - It is very rare you will see a host without a CGI bin. It is important that you have one. If you do not have you own CGI bin you cannot install scripts and programs.

  • MySQL Database - Some programs require a data-base. If you are going to have a shopping cart, a customer log in or a number of different functions for your website in the future you may want to store the information. Some hosts will want to charge you extra for MySQL included in a hosting package - but you will fine most good hosts will include it. Even if you don't think you will ever need it, I would find a host who has it in a hosting package even one which is an upgrade from the one you are purchasing. I find most websites grow as the business grows, and eventually you may need a database for something.

  • PHP - Many dynamic scripts and programs require PHP support. Again, this feature can be extra with some hosts but most good hosts will offer this free. With this you will find free blogging scripts (WordPress) shopping cart scripts (Zen Cart) and many other things. As a matter of fact in the host that I use and would recommend these things are right in the C-Panel and can be applied with a click of a mouse!

  • Perl - If you do not have Perl, you cannot run Perl programs. Many good scripts that you can get for free or buy are written in Perl.

  • SSL (Secure Socket Layer) - If you intend to accept credit card orders directly from you website, you will need Secure Socket Layer included in your plan. This is an easily overlooked feature. To use this feature you need a merchant account – there is no essential need to make this a priority if you have no merchant account – or if you use a 3 party processor such as PayPal.

  • FTP Access – Unlimited and unrestricted ability to transfer files to your site is essential. You will need an FTP program to transfer files.

  • Statistics Program - I use to say have a great statistics program and it still is an essential tool to have. Most good hosts provide this as well.

    My preference is Google Analytics it is an impressive tool and you would not believe how much information you can gain from having that on your website. It goes way above and beyond anything I have seen a hosting package provide. Google provides the code for free you just need your web professional to place it on the pages of your website. You will be able to fine tune your marketing it is outstanding. Pamela@artistadesign.com

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Web 2.0 – what does that really mean?

Are you confused by what web 2.0 really is? You are certainly not alone. If you are from my generation – the generation of horse and buggies (just kidding!) you may be getting dizzy just trying to get you hands around the whole idea of web 2.0 I have really been immersing myself in all the information I can find on what Web 2.0 really means true to form there is so much information that it boggles the mind. So after wading through e-books, e-courses, and articles I have been able to resolve some of the confusion in my mind and even had fun putting together a few marketing strategies of my own. So for those of you who are confused about what web 2.0 is lets clear up a fraction of the confusion. There are 3 types of websites that make up the structure of what is called Web 2.0 Social Media Sites These are sites where members provide most or all of the content. These sites allow members to upload specific media – Video, Pictures etc. Example: http://www.YouTube.com Social Networking Sites This type of site lets there members create personal profiles to share likes, dislikes, passions, and interests... and it allows others to connect with you through different communications channels like forums, groups, chatrooms, comments, private messaging. Business idea's etc. Examples: http://www.myspace.com http://www.linkedin.com Social Bookmarking Sites In a social bookmarking site, users save links to web pages that they want to share. These bookmarks are usually public, and can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, Most social bookmark sites encourage users to organize their bookmarks with tags or keywords. They also enable viewing bookmarks associated with a chosen tag, and include information about the number of users who have bookmarked them. Many social bookmarking sites provide RSS feeds for their lists of bookmarks, including lists organized by tags. This allows subscribers to become aware of new bookmarks as they are saved, shared, and tagged by other users. As these services have matured and grown more popular, they have added extra features such as ratings and comments on bookmarks Examples: http://www. Technorati.com http://www.digg.com These types of sites actually work in conjunction with each other and can work to your advantage – in fact when used right will provide a rich network of back links to your blogs and websites. Search engines love these types of sites and links. Generating marketing plans using web 2.0 link to your websites and blogs to pull you website high in the search engine rankings. I have read that this is actually in some cases out shadowing the old SEO standards, that is a debate raging out on the internet if you have not seen it! Don’t get me wrong you still need to search engine optimize you website however you may be seeing sometime in the very near future where that will be less of a factor then using the tools Web 2.0 has to offer. We shall see? http://www.artistdesign.com/

Monday, March 10, 2008

Create a Squidoo Lens and See New Traffic

A short time ago word started spreading about a brand new site called Squidoo (http://www.squidoo.com/). It sounded like an interesting concept, a little like a blog and a little like an "About Me" page, they asked you to sign up and create something called a "lens". It was certainly a unique idea, and everyone wondered if it would catch on. Now more than a year later the true benefits of making a lens at Squidoo are clear. It is a great place to create a new site about your hobby, passion or business, but even more it is a great place to promote any existing web site you may have. Not only can you tell Squidoo visitors about your site, but a lens gives the search engines another reason to place your site higher on the results pages; a Squidoo lens is a perfect place to build "backlinks" to your blog or web site. When making a lens at Squidoo you have the option to display RSS feeds from other sites. Place an RSS link on your lens and suddenly the site publishing the feed has a new set of backlinks from a popular and relevant site. That is just what the search engine spiders love to see. What other RSS feeds could you place on Squidoo? Do you submit articles to an article directory, and if so does that directory offer an RSS feed of your articles? If you operate an eBay Store you could post its RSS feed. Of course an RSS feed isn’t the only way to promote your site on Squidoo. You could create static links to specific pages on your site. Write a summary of one of your articles and link to that article. Write some information about an e-book you’ve written or promote and link from Squidoo. You could also simply place a list of links back to different pages of your website. The possibilities are only limited by the ideas you can come up with, but one important tip: don’t just link to your site’s main page, make keyword specific links to particular pages within your site. The general consensus among internet marketers right now is that Squidoo is slipping in the search engine results pages. Squidoo recently made some changes in their templates, and so over the last few weeks it seems to have affected their search engine optimization. Marketers are reporting a definite slip in their SERP (search engine results page) placement. Even so, creating a lens at Squidoo is a profitable way to promote and have back links to your site. http://www.squidoo.com/connectingthedots

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Your Secret to Online Success – Keeping Your Visitors Informed…

You’ve probably heard it said, and it is very true, that it is cheaper to keep a customer than to get a new one. But have you considered how that saying still holds water when you’re talking about traffic to your site?

Once you get someone to visit your site, the expensive part of the transaction is over.

But what is next?

Once they’ve visited, how do you keep your visitors coming back?

Once they’ve made a purchase, how do you keep them as regular customers?

If you want your visitors to come back, take a minute to consider why they came to you in the first place.

Was it for your great content? Was it for technical help or some other service? Was it to get something for free?

Whatever reason brought your visitor the first time could be the key to getting that all-important repeat visit.

But how will your visitors know they can return and get more of what they want?

You’re going to capture their email addresses so you can tell them so, and you’re going to tell them over and over again.

Maintaining an email list of previous site visitors and customers is an integral part of building your online business. Through your email list you can keep these clients informed about new and exciting offers, information and freebies you’ve placed on your web site since their last visit.

Your email list will be the tool you use to keep your site in the forefront of your clients’ minds.

There are two basic types of tools internet marketers use to manage an email list, an autoresponder or a broadcast script.

An autoresponder is just like the name sounds, it automatically sends responses to someone who has subscribed. You can have these responses timed to just about any interval and you can set them up in advance to send out messages for days, weeks, months or years to come.

A broadcast script is used to send out emails to your list as you write them; you could use this to send out announcements on a sporadic basis, or you could publish a regular newsletter.

Some online auto response scripts allow you to perform a combination of these tasks, sending out regular pre-written emails through the autoresponder and adding occasional broadcasts whenever you want.

Most internet marketing gurus recommend using a hosted service like a hosted solution with its own mail servers, my recommendations would be using Aweber (http://www.aweber.com/) or GetResponse (http://www.getresponse.com/) because these services have an excellent track record of actually delivering emails.

With the proliferation of spam filters, it can be difficult to get emails through, even to those who actually want to hear from you.

A free option would be to send out broadcast emails by starting a private Yahoo Group (http://groups.yahoo.com/) or Google Group (http://groups.google.com/).

No matter what avenue you decide to take – remember that your data-base is gold and you want to keep and maintain your clients. That is one of the secrets of a highly successful business..

For Help with All Aspects Of Your Business Go To Artista Design

Monday, March 3, 2008

A little bit of what I do…


The later part of last year I was approached to design a book cover. I loved designing the cover, and I enjoyed being able to do a lot of other promotional pieces for the book as well.


Little did I know what an amazing book this would be, after I had gotten the final approval on the book cover I was sent a complimentary copy and WOW.

I have now been given permission to publish a chapter in my blog. I have also been give another gift to give to my readers!! If you decided to buy the book within the next 24 hrs you will also get more than $ 2000.00 in bonus’s FREE!!
So Read on!!


What Can a Dentist Teach You about Business, Life and Success?
Discover Secrets To Achieving Total Success!
By Dr. Joe Capista

Book Excerpt
Chapter 8
Five Part Formula for Success

Success is not single sided; it is a holistic experience taking into account all of life's experiences. I view success as a Five Part Formula. Our conversation about success starts with business, but ends with the total life experience.

If I asked a group of people to write down everything they needed for success in business and life we could probably fill countless whiteboards, blackboards, flipcharts, computer files and notepads. I have found there are only five basic skills needed in order to be successful:

Become an Expert / Have a Great Product and/or Service
Develop Sales and Marketing Skills
Get Help from Experts (Mentors)
Control Your Thoughts
Create Balance in Your Life

Each part is equally important to the others as they support a balance of business success and life success. Business and life successes are not exclusive of one another. When you have both, there is a synergy so that you have greater TOTAL SUCCESS as opposed to success in individual parts.

Of the five basic skills listed for success, money is not included for specific reasons. Success is not a result of making money; making money is a result of success. Money is not necessarily a part of success; it can be a way of keeping score. I truly believe that success is the result of providing value and service. We are paid based on the amount of value and service we provide. Money is a measure of that value and service.

When we work with our customers, we should be paid directly for the amount of value and service we provide. In reality, we should be providing more value and service than we are being paid. If you do that, money will never be an issue. You will always be paid the fee you deserve because you are providing more to your customer based on the amount of value and service you provide to them. Henry Ford said, “Wealth, like happiness, is never attained when sought after directly. It comes as a byproduct of providing a useful service.”

The reason I know that money is not part of success is because one of the most successful people I know is my father. My father worked in a factory and never had the opportunity to make much money. Yet he is still a success.

If you are in a position of a professional or you have the type of job where you can make a good living, you should be making money. In fact, you have an obligation to yourself and your family to make money. If you are performing in your job to the fullest extent or with the greatest skills it could be done, you will make money. If you are not, you are cheating yourself and your family.

It's like the Biblical story where the servants were given money from their master. The gold they were given symbolized talents. Two servants worked with the money, made more and were praised. They used their talents. The one who didn't invest the money but instead buried the gold and did nothing with it was admonished and his gold was taken away and given to the servants who made use of the gold. If we have been given talents and do not use them, we are cheating ourselves and, in the end, the customer.

If you never graduated from high school and you work in a factory, you may not have the opportunity to make a lot of money, but that does not mean you cannot be successful. You can still have the components in your life to be a successful person. However, if the people who have been given the talents to make money don't do it, they are cheating themselves by not applying themselves to their fullest extent and making money.

Again, success is not the result of making money; making money is the result of success. Success is the result of providing value and service. Money measures the amount of value and service that you provide. Simply put, when you provide value and service, you will be successful and make money.

Although there have been many words and pages already dedicated to the first three parts of the formula, they are so important they bear repeating. Looking at the five parts you would find the following:

Become an Expert Have a Great Product and/or Service

Expertise is not easy to come by and many people fool themselves into thinking their knowledge is adequate and self-designate their level of skill as that of an “expert.” Some people believe because they fulfilled a required curriculum or passed a test they are suddenly an expert. It is not uncommon upon completion of dental school that some dentists think they know everything they need to know. In reality, they know very little.

Markets change and demands for the service you provide changes. If you don't recognize the market shift or change in demand for what you are doing you will be left behind. This is true for any industry. At some point I knew that if I wanted to be an expert dentist, and more specifically a cosmetic dentist, I had to get specialized training. There were four places I could have gone for the next level of training. I chose The Las Vegas Institute of Advanced Dental Studies (LVI) because I liked their philosophy and what they had to offer.

In the last few years alone, I took multiple courses that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in time and expense to become a cosmetic dentist. It was a major commitment and one I was willing to make. Anyone who is an expert in their field has to make an incredible commitment of time, money and energy. It doesn't just happen by chance. I also discovered along the way that as I focused on improving my skills as a cosmetic dentist my skills as a general dentist improved.

Developing a high level of expertise was really a matter of vision for me. In the last eight years I knew I wanted to do more cosmetic dentistry. I was intrigued by what was possible and instinctively knew I had to learn more. The standard curriculum no longer met my needs and I needed more professional training. I also realized early on that improving my overall ability is about being fair to my patient. Everybody, no matter what industry they are in, needs to be on top of their game.

If you're not at the top of your game, you're not being fair to your customer. It may not mean you are giving them an inferior product, but you're certainly not giving them the highest quality of service. I've discovered many folks balk at continued education and advanced training. They are captured by a mind-set that whispers, “I don't deserve to spend that kind of money on myself,” or “I'll just get by.” I've found these folks are usually worried about what they're giving up, mainly in dollars, as opposed to what they're going to get.

By investing in your own training and education, you will gain more in the long run than you're giving up. With increased skill comes increased confidence. With increased confidence comes increased competence. The rewards will continue to multiply. Many are comfortable with the status quo. They feel because they've been at something for a long time it qualifies them as an expert. I learned a long time ago just because you've got a lot of years in or you've done something repeatedly, that doesn't necessarily make you an expert. Some people work in a vacuum doing the same thing day in and day out thinking they are the best at what they do. Wrong!

You can't increase your expertise on your own; someone has to teach you. I don't care if you're already at the top of your game, there's somebody that's on top of you that's doing it better. That's the person you have to talk to!

This is about your Service, your Product and the level at which you deliver. Years ago I heard a saying that has stayed with me, “If you're not moving ahead, you're moving backwards or you're dying.” I know as long as I'm fixing teeth, I'm going to be focused on learning a new and better way and definitely keep up with the latest and greatest techniques and technology.

If someone wants to be considered an expert, they have to put constant effort into learning all they can about what they do, what their customers need and what the market demands.

Develop Sales and Marketing Skills
The success of your business is directly proportionate to your ability to sell and market. Taking that one step further, I believe the success of your life is directly proportionate to your ability to sell and market. The better you sell and market the higher level of success you will attain.

I'm not talking about selling used cars. I'm talking about selling your Services, Products or ideas. Additionally, you are selling your philosophies, your principles to your children and selling to make relationships with your spouse and family better. I'm talking about selling Products and Services they want and need that are going to make them better people. Sales and marketing is not about you getting something; it is about you giving something.

Sales is a kind of strategic influence. Too many times we think of sales as manipulation because we have the vision of the slick salesperson; the person who's trying to sell for his or her good and not for the good of the customer. Sales is about benefits and coming to a mutual agreement with your customer that what you have to offer is of value. Once value has been established, you have the responsibility to influence the person to say, “Yes.”

You always have to have the other person's highest good in mind. In fact, Charlie used to tell me about the U Attitude. When he first presented the U Attitude idea, it was foreign to me. He would sit in front of me, hold his pad of paper and he'd draw a U. One part of the U started with the customer coming tome and it ended back with the customer to complete the U. This means the process has to start with the customer, come to me, and then go back to the customer. The customer always has to be the person who benefits the most in the sales process and the U Attitude has helped me to remember this over the years.

Selling is about helping the client. The times I have been sold by people who have good sales skills is fantastic; a great experience. They see what I want and what I need. They know how I'm going to benefit by it and they help me get there. Sales require compassion, understanding, and talking in such a way people are comfortable dealing with you. When you create comfort for your customer, they will return again and again. Most of my patients do business with me because they say they trust me. They'll say, “If that's what I need, I trust you know what is best.” They have put their faith in me and I'm not about to let them down.

Selling isn't rocket science, but it is a powerful skill. I've seen more than one salesman take advantage of a person with lesser knowledge or expertise. This is not what I consider ethical, professional or right. I am committed to interacting with my patients and customers as if they are my brother or sister. I'm always challenging my integrity with the question, “If this were a member of my family, would I recommend this procedure? Am I presenting the best possible solution and filling their true need?”

Focusing on these questions helps me to be more assertive, especially if a patient doesn't understand how important the decision can be in that moment. I've actually said, “If you were my sister or my brother or my father, I would have you do this.” I tell them this is for their benefit, not for mine.

I've told people, “I'm not doing this because I'm trying to charge you a fee, I'm trying to help you. I want to help you get something better than what you have.” Being assertive isn't uncomfortable for the customer or salesperson when done from a place of integrity and support.

People who have a problem with sales or are afraid of sales don't look at the benefit they create for their customers. They only see it as taking rather than giving. If you really believe in what you are doing, you recognize the sale is a contribution to your customer. We have an obligation to help our customers say yes to what they want or need when it benefits them and we know we are providing value and service to them. We also have an obligation to let them know when they shouldn't make a purchase if we believe it is not in their best interest.

Our responsibility is to help them make the best decision once we have established value or perceived value.

Get Help from Experts (Mentors)
Success is not a solo journey. To succeed you need to let others help you improve your business and your life. There are many ways to accomplish this. One is through a relationship with a mentor. I firmly believe you have to take the time to be mentored. There also comes a time you must be willing to share your knowledge by being a mentor.

Being mentored is one of the greatest events that has happened to me. I have had many mentors in my career. Without a doubt, Charlie Schaivo has been my primary and most influential mentor. However, Charlie didn't teach me everything. What he could not teach he led me to. Charlie is a very smart man. He knew what he could do to influence me and he knew when I needed the expertise of others. He would lead me to courses and to people who could teach me what he could not.

Charlie pointed me towards the DiSC® Profile. As you read in a previous chapter, learning the DiSC® profile system was one of the most important shifts in business and consciousness I have had in my life. It has helped me immensely in both business and personal relationship building.

I spent a full week learning behavior profiles in 1985 just so I could be more successful in my business. Little did I realize that it would also impact my personal life. I also took a two-day course on Adventures in Attitudes® a couple of years later through Charlie. From there he encouraged me to take more courses in sales, marketing, success, and leadership. All these course have little or nothing to do with dentistry, but everything
to do with my ultimate success.

The courses I've taken that were unrelated to dentistry have made me a much more successful dentist than the courses related to building my technical and clinical skills. I am not discounting technical training; it is simply to emphasize that you need a well-rounded education through the guidance of others.

Mentors are essential. You can't pick up a book and read enough to get the accelerated learning that a mentor can provide. It doesn't mean you can't learn these skills on your own, but it's going to take much, much longer. And you will probably never learn at the depth and level you would from a mentor.

In addition to Charlie, there was also Dr. Ciampoli, the dentist I bought my practice from. Even though he had many areas that were antiquated, he taught me a lot about handling people and patients. He was a good mentor for teaching me the importance of being technically competent and honest with patients.

There were many others over the years. Each had something to teach me. Fortunately for me and for all of my patients, I was willing to learn. If there was one thing I would recommend to anyone who wants to be wildly successful, it is to find mentors and learn from them.

Through Charlie I developed a list of mentors/teachers that have served hundreds of thousands of people just like me: Napoleon Hill, Earl Nightingale, Og Mandino, Dennis Whitely, Zig Ziglar, Wayne Dyer, and Mike Vance to name only a few. I would listen to their tapes until I wore them out and had to get another. I've used the knowledge of seasoned experts as my mentors even though many I have never met in person. I gleaned every bit of wisdom they had to offer. I have found some of the original thought leaders to be so profound I still listen religiously to their material.

Mentorship doesn't have to be a difficult experience. There are very informal as well as formal methods of mentorship. Let's begin with the informal. Consider the top five people you spend time with the most. Each can be a mentor in his or her own right. To be successful you need to make sure those you associate with most are people that inspire you and lift you up. You must be clear about who you want to spend time with and understand the power they have in your life.

There is an exchange of energy in all relationships. Some people enhance our energy; others can actually deplete our energy. I'm very deliberate in choosing people that increase my energy and fuel my dreams. We may not call one another mentors, but the influence we exert on each other's lives is the same as a mentor/student relationship. I feel so strongly about this I've made efforts in the opposite direction, minimizing
relationships with certain people because we weren't on the same track or heading in the same direction. I look to mentors in both my personal and professional life.

Charlie was a great mentor for my marriage as well as work. Certainly my parents who've been married for over 50 years are incredible mentors when it comes to relationship and marriage. I have some mentors that I simply examine their life and admire their capacity to live it to the fullest. Take for instance, Euse Mita, the leader of the reflection group in which I am an active member. He is a great example of this kind of person. I have known him for about 25 years and over that time he has mentored me and I sometimes have mentored him. Even though we do not see each other very often, when we do meet and we are together, I walk away a richer person. A brief encounter with Euse can keep me going for days.

There are many forms of mentorship some formal and contractual and some informal existing within the relationship of a friend or family member. As valuable as having a mentor is there will come a time when you are asked to mentor. Seize the opportunity to mentor because the learning never stops! I am currently mentoring a businessman and even though he is learning new things, I am increasing my skills and stay sharp by prepping for our mentoring sessions.

Having the right kind of mentor and noticing who you spend time with leads into the fourth and fifth necessary components for success: Control Your Thoughts and Create Balance in Your Life. Because the fourth and fifth parts are so
important, I have devoted an entire chapter to each.

Success – A Five Part Formula
Success Summary
Business Success and Life Success are not exclusive of each other.
1. To have TOTAL SUCCESS you need success in both areas.
2. To have TOTAL SUCCESS you need to:
Become an Expert (have a great Product and/or Service)
Develop Sales and Marketing Skills
Get help from Experts (have mentors)
Control your Thoughts
Create Balance in your life
3. You may not be the “best” at what you do, BUT be the best you can be.
4. To be the best in your field requires continued training.
5. The success of your business and the success of your personal life is directly proportional to your ability to sell and market.
6. Our lives revolve around selling a Product, Service or idea.
7. Sales is strategic influence, not manipulation.
8. Develop a 'U' Attitude.
9. Always have the customer's interests foremost and have integrity and honesty in your sales process.
10. Sales and Marketing are skills that need to be learned. Very few people are “natural born” sales or marketing people.
11. You need people — mentors — to teach you what you do not know.
12. Find successful people and study their behavior.
13. Mentors can be living or dead.
14. Pay people to teach you what you do not know.

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