Dan Lok

The Art of War: How Business Strategy Resembles Military Strategy?

January 21, 2020 by Dan Lok

Have you ever wondered how business strategy resembles military strategy? You may have heard that there a lot of parallels between business and war, right?

In fact, there are several books that have illustrated that parallel. However, amidst all, the Art of War remains a prime template for business owners to borrow powerful business lessons from.

The Art of War was written by Sun Tzu, a Chinese general, over 2500 years ago. It is believed to be one of the best books ever written on war strategies. In today’s times, it’s considered a must-read for business owners.

You see, Sun Tzu wrote this book to illustrate in detail how wars should be fought. He wanted to bring forth the elite war strategies that brought him victory. In fact, you can think of The Art of War as the world’s first self-help book.

Over the years, people have come to see similarities between war and business. In essence, between Sun Tzu’s military advice and contemporary business practice.

Sun Tzu divided his book into 13 chapters. Basically, elaborating on 13 unique concepts and tactics that are integral to a winning military strategy. If you wish to refer, here is a visual representation of this book.

Now, we have read and re-read this book several times. Every time we read it, there’s a new business lesson to learn from it.

Today, we want to share some of the best business lessons we have learned from The Art Of War. But first, we have to adapt his words to current times, to understand how business strategy resembles military strategy.

How Business Strategy Resembles Military Strategy: The Context

First and foremost, we suggest not taking Sun Tzu’s words too literally. Instead, we have to take his advice to generate relevant thoughts that apply to today’s world.

To do this effectively, you will have to think of business as a modern form of war. We can equate war and business, as a group of people pursuing a common goal in the face of competition.

As a business owner, you war with your competitors, right? You fight for market share and ultimately, domination in your industry.

Your competitor is like your enemy and you strive to dominate them on the battlefield of commerce. In this parallel, your enemy is also the challenge you face in day to day business. Furthermore, as a business owner, you are the commander of your army or the leader of your business.

Over the years, we’ve read several books on business strategy. We consider Sun Tzu’s The Art of War as one of the greatest books ever written on business. Every chapter could be applied to closing deals and increasing sales.

The best part about his concepts is that they can be applied to life in general, too. This book is not just for lessons in business.

As we mentioned earlier, we have read this book many times and have implemented many learnings from this book. We want to help you, as an ambitious business owner, apply these to your business and even to your life.

Here we list out 7 powerful business lessons and life principles from The Art Of War.

1. Knowledge Is Power

Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat. If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle.

This is one of the most important lessons we have learned from The Art Of War. Let’s look at how business strategy resembles military strategy, in this thought.

The above quotation by Sun Tzu highlights the importance of two things:

Self-knowledge
Knowledge of your competition

This means that an accurate self-perception is the golden key to success. Also, knowing who you are fighting against, goes hand in hand with it. Let’s look at each point in further detail.

Self-knowledge

Sun Tzu says that it’s important to accurately understand our real strengths and weaknesses. If we can do that, we will be able to become more effective in business. In essence, the more we know about the reasons for our preferences and actions, the better we will understand others.

You see, every decision you make reveals something about yourself. This process of self-analysis will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses.

You know that for success, you have to work on improving your weaknesses. But at the same time, you have to focus on your strengths by taking them to the next level. If you are at a certain level of skill, upgrading it is something to strive for.

Hence, it is important to keep the constant pursuit of self-improvement going. In fact, this pursuit is one of the most powerful habits of self-made millionaires. If you are someone who wants to build upon your success, you should always look to grow your skills.

Have you noticed the behavior of a child? They learn about the world by being curious about every little thing around them. But, as we grow older, this natural curiosity fades. We become rigid in our thinking. Keeping your childlike curiosity, alive, at all times, will go a long way in helping you succeed.

Here are two powerful ways for self-development:

Reading books: The focus should be on self-improvement books, biographies, and books about successful people. This will give you the opportunity to learn and expand your horizons.
Finding a mentor: Speaking from our own experience, if you can find the right person to guide you, your life will change. You see, almost all successful business owners have had mentors. In fact, 93% of them claim their mentors were responsible for their wealth.

Knowledge of Your Competition

When you know yourself but not the enemy, your chances of winning and losing are equal.

Sun Tzu says our chances of winning are reduced by half if we do not know our enemy. Let’s look at how business strategy resembles military strategy, in this case.

What this means is that in order to succeed, you have to know what your competition is doing. Also, you should be aware of your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses. Why is that important?

Well, so you can strategically apply that information to benefit your business. Now, the application of that knowledge could mean taking a step back. It could also mean moving forward.

You see, learning what your competitors are doing can give you valuable insights into your plans. If you can predict your opponent’s action, you have the possibility of generating a mismatch that works in your favor.

So, it is important to learn to spot loopholes and weaknesses in your business environment. This singular factor can be a big competitive advantage for you.

2. Build The Right Team

When the troops are united, the brave cannot advance alone, nor can the cowardly retreat.

If you want to succeed in business, you can’t operate alone. This is an important team-building lesson we learn from The Art Of War. Let’s look at how business strategy resembles military strategy, in this thought.

As a business owner, you have to lead by example. But it’s only the capabilities of your team and employees that can take your business to the next level, right?

So you have to focus on hiring the right people who are a fit for your business. These are the people who can align with your goals and purpose.

Also, it is important that your team is unified with a common purpose. This will help them commit their hearts to your business. It will energize them towards achieving the goals you have assigned.

This spirit of common purpose builds team consistency. A team will work better when people know and trust each other.

It takes time to build productive interaction and mutual trust in a team. So you must give the members the chance to spend some time together in team-building activities. Successful businesses are made up of people who have shared experiences working towards a common goal.

Sun Tzu further says:

When one treats people with benevolence, justice and righteousness, and repose confidence in them, the army will be united in mind and all will be happy to serve their leaders.

As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to keep your team happy and motivated so they keep giving their best. You see, we all know that as a business leader, you are required to have a sound mind. However, if you want to be a great one, you need to have a solid character, too.

3. Create A Solid Yet Flexible Plan

The commander who gets many scores during the calculations in the temple before the war will have more likelihood of winning.

Sun Tzu says a leader with a better plan, wins the war. So, let’s look at how business strategy resembles military strategy, in this thought.

We know planning is integral to success in business. But it is important to remember that no single plan works well for everyone and everywhere. Moreover, there are several factors that can influence the success or failure of a plan.

So first, you have to create a solid plan of action. A plan that will get you started. However, in business, there will always be situations where you may have to change your plans.

So you have to be ready and willing to adapt it according to changing needs. You have to consider all the alternatives available. Hence, your plan must be flexible and adaptable to circumstances.

Planning is a process of understanding what is happening in constantly changing situations and adapting with energy and determination. Share on X

You see, your plan can either be like a tree or a pole. If you want it to bear fruit like a tree, it needs to have branches. But, if your plans are too rigid, you will not be able to adjust to circumstances and fail.

It doesn’t mean that your plan has to be complicated. A simple plan is easier to turn into action.

So, here’s what we suggest:

Set a clearly defined goal and give yourself a schedule to achieve it.
Start working towards your goal. Every plan needs to be followed by action.
Every step is a teacher. If you succeed, take it to the next level. If not, then be willing to adapt and learn.

4. Grow Your Network

Foreknowledge must be obtained from men who know the enemy situation.

Sun Tzu says that spies can help you win wars. So, let’s look at how business strategy resembles military strategy, in this thought.

You see, the foundation of your business growth is the size and strength of your network. We know networking requires an investment of time and energy. However, it gets you the results.

As a business owner, you have to choose your network wisely. On a closer level, you should surround yourself with people who are positive and add value to your life.

At the same time, you also need to build a network professionally. When you go to events, you should focus on developing relationships with people.

Moreover, you will never have a strong network unless you actively manage your contacts. Good networking involves both meeting new acquaintances and actively moving those relationships to a closer friendship.

If you’re an introvert, follow this blueprint to develop interpersonal skills, as it will be very useful to effectively network. You see, knowing the right people can literally take your business to the next level. Or help in knowing your competitor’s situation.

This is a very powerful lesson from Sun Tzu. To rightly understand how business strategy resembles military strategy in this case, you have to utilize networking to your benefit. So on your next business trip, we suggest you call and schedule a meet with some people in your network.

Remember to be personal in your approach to maximize the benefit of networking. Your contacts will be flattered by your interest. Whether or not you do meet, the offer breeds a stronger relationship.

You never know what you may get to learn about your competition. Furthermore, an amazing opportunity could come your way, too.

5. Build On Your Success

To win battles and capture lands and cities, but to fail to consolidate these achievements is ominous and may be described as a waste of time and resources.

Sun Tzu is talking about maximizing your victories in battle. So, let’s look at how business strategy resembles military strategy, in this thought.

Essentially, when you achieve some success in business, always strive to take it to the next level. You see, success breeds success. The key to any successful business is getting the first success and then leveraging additional success from each new victory.

Sometimes with success, people tend to stop doing the things that made them successful. When they stop putting in the effort, the competition will be ready to seize the opportunity.

Hence, when you are already in an advantageous position, you need to change your gears and go full throttle.

So, ask yourself:

What do you want to accomplish in the long term with your business?
How do you want to take your short term success to long term success?

Sun Tzu also says:

A skilled commander sets great store by using the situation to the best advantage.

As a business owner, you must train your eyes to see opportunities that others can’t see. You have to always be on the lookout. When you find a suitable opportunity, leverage your strengths and your network, to grab it.

6. Avoid The Avoidable

By taking into account the unfavorable factors, he may avoid possible disasters.

Sun Tzu talks about considering factors that can cause problems, before advancing in any situation, to avoid defeat. So, let’s look at how business strategy resembles military strategy, in this thought.

As a business owner, you have to anticipate problems before they arise and strive to avoid making mistakes. Yes, many mistakes are often visible only in hindsight. However, what you can do is strive to take measures for things you have control over.

Let’s say you have faced an obstacle in the past. Identify those obstacles for which specific measures can be taken.

As a business owner, you have control over:

The quality of your product
Your service
Your delivery time

Since you can control it, you can plan to avoid any errors, right? In fact, that should be an integral part of your overall business strategy.

Anything big or small, that is under your control should be planned meticulously to avoid any future errors. Even small decisions in business can affect the grand scheme of things.

There will always be some mistakes because the human element is unpredictable. What you have to do is take as much advance action as you can, to avoid future errors.

7. Timing Is Everything

When the strike of the hawk breaks the body of its prey, it is because of timing. The timing is similar to the release of the trigger.

Sun Tzu is talking about the importance of timing when pulling the trigger on an enemy, in battle. So, let’s look at how business strategy resembles military strategy, in this thought.

We know in business, timing is of great importance if you want to take full advantage of opportunities. As a simple rule, often the earlier the better, right?

Essentially, you make a decision and implement it. The longer it takes to take action, the more catching up will be required later.

However, sometimes, it is important to wait for the opportune moments to make full use of the chances. It could be beneficial to take a step back and slow down and learn from competitor’s mistakes. Remember, even if your competition seems to have every advantage, a well-timed attack can uncover weaknesses.

Let’s take a look at a relatively recent example here. The launch of the 1st Android smartphone was delayed because of the iPhone’s launch. Would Android have the same success, had they launched as per their original plan? Most likely, not.

They went back and polished their product by seeing their competition. They learned from the success of iOS on how a touch-based software is supposed to be.

You see, timing is crucial to everything you do in business. As a business owner, it is up to you to judge the right time for every step you take.

Forge Your 8-Figure Dynasty

We encourage all business owners to read The Art Of War. If you read it thoroughly and you will see how business strategy resembles military strategy, in every paragraph. You will be surprised to see it’s relevance in both business and in life, today.

However, these military lessons are just the initial steps you can take to take your business to the next level. For the extremely ambitious business owners, Dan Lok has created the world’s most exclusive business advisory board: Dragon 100™.

Dragon 100™ is designed for those who are committed to turning into 8-figure business owners. People who are committed to living life at a level few may ever attain. It is limited to an exclusive group of only 100 serious business owners worldwide.

Dragon 100™ provides an unprecedented opportunity to network with other elite entrepreneurs and learn from Dan Lok himself. For the first time ever, Dan will be taking you behind the scenes of his business.

In this program, he will share his hard-won business experience that has established his global empire. This experience is the most exclusive opportunity for select business owners to transform into the world’s elite.

Do you have what it takes to create a massive, worldwide empire of your own? If yes, then apply for Dragon 100™ and earn the chance to learn from The King of Closing, himself.

Investing In Stocks For Beginners

January 20, 2020 by Dan Lok

Investing in stocks for beginners can feel overwhelming. Are you a beginner investor looking to invest in the stock market? Perhaps you don’t know where to start, or how to get started investing in stocks?

Investing in stocks is perhaps one of the most tried-and-true investment strategies to become wealthy. However, it’s also one of the most confusing. Investing in stocks is a complex subject that means different things to different people.

How to invest in stocks depends on many factors such as, where you stand financially, what kind of investor you are, and what you want to gain from investing in general.

For example, an investment that makes sense to me, might not make sense to you, because you may not be at the level to invest in things that I invest in yet. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t start investing in stocks.

In a moment, I’m going to explain exactly how you can get started investing in the stock market and use this investment strategy to secure your financial future.

How Do The Wealthy Invest Their Money For High Returns?

When it comes to investing, don’t try to get fancy. If anything, you actually want to keep things very simple and invest in what you understand.

Over the years, I’ve learned that being wealthy doesn’t have to be complicated. I personally run my company and my entire organization by keeping things very simple.

As a general rule, when you want to invest in something, the idea is the same. You should choose an investment that’s simple and proven to work.

This is actually how wealthy investors invest their money.

Investing like the rich should be a very dull, plain and boring process. Why?

Because they’re not chasing after the latest investment trends on social media. Or the latest investment schemes and gimmicks, like cryptocurrency, day-trading, “options” trading, forex trading, or any other speculation investing strategy.

Kent Sievers / Shutterstock.com

No. Most wealthy people I know invest in only a small handful of things that are proven long-term investment vehicles.

Stocks are one of those vehicles.

Real estate and businesses are also among those vehicles.

Real estate happens to be one of the most reliable, high-return investment vehicles that wealthy people like to leverage as it can generate a lot of cash flow.

Now, maybe you are not in a position where you can invest in real estate. And that’s okay.

But investing in stocks, on the other hand, might prove to be a better option in the long run as you increase your income.

How Much Can You Make Investing in Stocks?

Let’s say for example if you could go back in time and invest $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway stocks, Warren Buffets company. At the time, it was trading at $19/share. If you fast-forward to today, the Class A shares are about $300,000/share.

Do you know how much that investment would be worth?

It would be worth over $16,000,000. For most people, earning $16 million would be virtually impossible.

But if you put aside $1,000 into a stock where you can just let it sit and don’t have to think about it or look at it anymore, one day you’ll wake up with $16 million in your portfolio. Imagine the impact it would have on your life.

But that’s not the most amazing part. Let’s say you had invested $1,000 since 1964, when Warren Buffet first took over the company, and you did that every single year until today.

Do you know how much it would be worth?

Your portfolio would be worth roughly $124,000,000. Think about that for a moment. Let the number sink in.

As you can see, investing in stocks has a lot of potential. But only if you know how to play the game right, which means you shouldn’t blindly jump on some investment bandwagon because you heard it has “potential”.

Most wealthy investors know that investing should not be left to chance. It’s a game you should play with a strategy in place.

Why Most People Think Investing is Risky, And Why it Actually is Not

Most people think that investing is a risky business. If they are speculators or day traders, then, YES, they’re right. Investing is risky.

According to billionaire Robert Kiyosaki, “Many people who think they are investors are not really investors.”

They’ve been taught by society that investing involves chasing after all the drama and chaos. Like putting their life-savings into an imaginary digital currency like Bitcoin, for example.

Since the Bitcoin frenzy in December of 2017, U.S. investors have seen an approximate $1.7 billion in realized bitcoin losses and $5.7 billion in unrealized losses based on a Credit Karma survey.

They’re addicted to the adrenaline rush of speculation in the marketplace. And they base their speculations on hope and luck.

If anything, speculating without any real game-plan or understanding of how an investment works, is actually riskier. They’re essentially gambling.

Those who approach stock investing this way are looking for a shortcut to make that quick buck. They go in with a certain amount of money they’re willing to lose, put that into a stock that “looks good”, and hope to gain something from it when the price goes up.

It’s risky because they could lose all their money the moment the price of a stock drops too much.

People who are too emotionally attached to a stock, for instance, do not have control over their emotions. They let the highs and lows of the market control them instead.

This is definitely not that the way you want to approach investing because you’re basically leaving everything to chance. You have no plan or strategy to make a logical decision.

When it comes to creating wealth through investments, I want you to understand something very important. Your investment skill is very critical, but what’s more important than that is your discipline.

Don’t fall for the shiny object syndrome and jump on the latest investment trend. You have to learn how to control yourself and be clear on what your investment goals are.

When you have clarity on what you want, you’re much more less likely to fall victim to the shiny object syndrome.

It’s not necessarily investing that is risky, it is the investor who is risky. - Robert Kiyosaki Share on X

Apart from discipline, people think investing is risky because they don’t have the investment skill or financial literacy, to evaluate an investment before jumping into it.

Robert Kiyosaki said it best when he said, “It’s not necessarily investing that is risky, it is the investor who is risky.”

What Does Financial Literacy Mean?

Financial literacy is the ability to read financial statements. It allows you to diagnose the health of an investment and see if there’s anything wrong with it.

You’ll be able to tell whether the investment is risky or not before ever putting a single penny into it.

Most people can’t read or understand them, which is why they think investing is risky. It’s the reason why wealthy people can minimize their risk and see if their investments will have any earning potential.

So my point is, almost all investments do come with some level of risk. The degree of that risk varies among different types of investments.

However, it is the investor that evaluates how much risk is involved. This is what makes wealthy people safe investors and allows them to make safe investments.

Investing is Not an Act, But Rather a Habit

Many people make the mistake of thinking that investing is an act. They think it’s something that just happens.

No. Investing is a habit.

You’ve probably heard the common saying that human beings are creatures of habits. And it’s true.

Your habits are the reason why you can wake up and brush your teeth every single day without much thought or effort. It makes up a substantial part of all your daily routines.

When you say you want to invest so you can start growing your portfolio, it should be a habit, not something you just randomly do.

It’s like when someone says they want to lose weight. You can’t expect to lose weight if you go to the gym only once a week and at the same time you go back to eating fast-food.

It doesn’t work like that. You have to make a commitment to yourself that you will go to the gym five times a week while eating a healthy diet.

Investing is very much the same way. You need to make it a commitment and a habit that you’ll do for a long time.

I have the same belief about the rich and the poor. You can’t become rich if you don’t have the habits of a rich person. Likewise, a poor person is poor because they have the habits of a poor person.

To me, it is all based on habits because how you do anything is how you do everything.

How you do anything is how you do everything. Share on X

You’ve Already Made $1 Million – And May Not Even Know It

Let me put this into context, let’s say you’re making $35,000 a year. If you take $35,000 and multiply that by 40 years, you’ll have $1,400,000.

You see, you have over a million dollars but the reason why you haven’t realized it is because you don’t have the habits of investing.

And that’s the issue. Instead of looking for the greatest investment, develop the best and the greatest investing habits.

Don’t wait until you have money because if you’re not investing the little bit of money that you have today, guess what.

As you make more money, you’re not going to invest. It’s just not going to happen because you haven’t made it a habit.

If you’re making $1,000 and you’re not investing $1, what makes you think when you’re making $10,000 or $100,000, you’ll start investing?

It will not happen.

Like I said earlier, It’s not about chasing the latest investment trends.

Now you may be thinking, “So Dan, What are you saying? Are you saying that I just need to put a little bit of money aside and put it into some kind of low fee index fund and that’s all I need to do?”

Yes. That IS exactly what I’m saying. That’s it.

People are running around chasing all of these new, fancy investment techniques when all they needed to was put their money away.

Money doesn't come to you when you're desperate. Money comes to you when you feel secure. Share on X

But when you stop to notice and study how investing really works and how wealthy investors invest. You’ll see that it has nothing to do with picking up on the “hottest investment strategies of 2020,” so to speak.

When you have the habits of investing and when you know how money works and combine that with discipline, more money comes to you.

Master The Wealth Triangle For Long-Term, High-Return Investments

When you develop the habits of investing and start putting money aside, you also want to increase your earning ability. Because then as you’re making more, you can set aside more money for it to grow in value.

You see, the key to actually creating wealth is actually very simple. All you need to do is earn more than what you spend. And here are three ways you could do that:

Develop High-Income Skills
Develop Multiple High-Income Skills
Build a Scalable Business

This is actually a large part of a concept that has guided me on my path to wealth and success. It’s called The Wealth Triangle:

And it starts off with developing a High-Income Skill that allows you to generate at least $10,000 a month in income. Second, building a scalable business. This is a business that you can grow and repeat without a lot of infrastructure, like people and systems. And third is high-return investments to build your net-worth.

Now, you’ll notice that as you learn how to increase your income year after year, the whole world of investment opportunities will suddenly open up to you. Giving you a variety of investments you could invest in.

While that means you’ll have more investment options that you were not aware of before, it doesn’t mean that you should dive into them just because they “look” interesting or “look” like they have potential.

Personally, I have hundreds of investment opportunities that come across my desk and I probably reject 99.9% of them.

I am very careful and aware of what I choose to invest in because I know exactly what kind of investor I am. I know what I want to gain and I’m very clear about the end goal.

Remember, before you make any investment, you need to develop your investment skills and maintain your discipline.

So when you are earning more than you’re spending, you want to take the difference (Earnings – Spendings = Remaining $$$) or the spread.

Then take this difference and invest it in solid, reliable investments over a long period of time. That’s it. There’s nothing complicated about it.

When you’re putting money aside, suddenly you’ll have more money. And as you keep improving and upgrading your skills, you can earn more and you can invest even more.

Money doesn’t go to the people who need it the most. Money goes to the people who know how to multiply it. Share on X

Now you can go enjoy life.

That’s the key when you understand how money works. Everything else is simple.

So that’s what I recommend.

You don’t need to learn how to pick that perfect stock. You don’t need to learn how to pick the perfect investment. And you don’t even need to be a sophisticated investor.

If you want to do that, you definitely could. But what I’m saying is that for most people, they simply don’t have the time, the discipline, or the intelligence to learn how to be a sophisticated investor. You don’t need that to win.

All you need to do is follow this simple blueprint:

Establish your discipline
Put some money aside consistently
Invest for the long term

Now you may be thinking, “Okay, Dan, I get it. That’s the 40-year plan. You’re telling me what I need to do over the next 30 to 40 years investing over the long term. But what if I want to become a more sophisticated investor? And I want to be an active investor with a 3-year, 5-year, or 7-year plan. What do you suggest?”

The Best Way to Become a Sophisticated Investor

I will be conducting a small intimate, exclusive workshop called Secrets Of The Rich in Las Vegas for a small group of my students and for my fans – where I will reveal some of the best-kept investment strategies of the rich.

Now I’ve never done this before. This is the first time I’m doing this. Usually, I do events with a very big group of my students.

But this is going to be a very intimate event where I’m going to teach you how to become a professional investor. I’m going to teach you how to build the foundation and learn some of the fundamentals of investing.

So it doesn’t matter what you invest in, you will now have the intelligence for the rest of your life to look at different opportunities with a strategy to win.

You’ll no longer have to risk losing money and chase after the latest investment gimmicks and schemes. You’ll be equipped with the knowledge and skillsets to evaluate any investment opportunity with confidence.

If you want to become a sophisticated investor that earns high returns with minimal risks, click here to access my exclusive live-stream event now.

(Featured Image Credit: Bart Sadowski / Shutterstock.com)

The Most Important LinkedIn Content Strategy For Your Personal Brand

January 20, 2020 by Dan Lok

What is the most important LinkedIn content strategy? Many people already focus their content marketing efforts on other social media platforms, other than LinkedIn.

But on LinkedIn, there is also a lot of potential for content marketing. My team and I tried different approaches on LinkedIn and noticed something.

The difference between LinkedIn and other social media channels is this: The rate on which a post dies is a lot slower.

Let’s take Instagram as an example. When you post a piece of content it gets the most engagement within the first hour after being posted. If you don’t get many likes or comments fast, the post will die down. It’s all about those first few hours. So, content on Instagram is relatively short-lived.

LinkedIn is currently very different. That’s why content marketing on LinkedIn is something you should absolutely consider. Especially if you want to build your personal brand in your niche.

So, what is the most important LinkedIn content strategy? How can you build your social brand?

Is Copywriting The Key To Your LinkedIn Content Strategy?

In my opinion, to know and utilize copywriting is the most important LinkedIn content strategy. What does that mean?

Copywriting is a skill that allows you to persuade others through your written words. If you know copywriting, you know to write in a way that gets others to act.

On LinkedIn, there are two important chances to use copywriting: Your posts (updates) and your content (articles on LinkedIn).

If you know some principles and rules of copywriting your written content will go up in engagement. You will know exactly how to position your personal brand, too.

Articles on LinkedIn are a lot like blog posts. Profile posts, on the other hand, are more like traditional social media ads.

How To Write Engaging LinkedIn Posts

How do you write a good LinkedIn post? A great way to start is giving your posts these three parts: a hook, the main content and the call-to-action.

First of all, your post needs a hook. A hook is something that draws the reader in. It could be an interesting question or an unusual claim that you are making. Anything that stops them from scrolling and actually gets them to read your article.

Remember though that on LinkedIn, most people aren’t looking for light entertainment. They are looking for content that makes their life easier or is helpful to them in some way. They are looking for value or useful knowledge. So really deliver value in your posts.

The way LinkedIn posts work is that you will only see the first three sentences on the feed. Then comes the “open more” button. You want to make sure your hook is right at the beginning, so the reader actually clicks on the “open more” button.

Good copy is crafted in a way that the reader is guided from one sentence to the next.

Before they noticed they read your whole post and want to engage with it.

After the hook, you could tell an interesting story or give valuable information to the reader. Something so that they actually want to read on.

You also always want to have a call to action at the end of your posts. The call to action tells the reader what they should do next. Is there a link they should click? Should they leave a comment? Share your post with a friend? Clearly tell the reader what you want them to do exactly.

So as you see, a LinkedIn post looks like a typical social media ad.

But as not many people are actually posting content on LinkedIn yet.

That’s why it’s a great chance to get a lot of engagement. It should definitely be part of your LinkedIn content strategy.

How To Write World-Class LinkedIn Articles

The second piece of written content in LinkedIn are articles. They are very similar to blog posts.

When you write an article on LinkedIn, it’s a great idea to keep sharing them in your posts too. This way your articles will get more attention.

In your articles, you want to give valuable advice to your readers. Keep in mind who your audience is. You will mostly communicate with other business owners or self-employed people. They are on LinkedIn to expand their network and possibly to find jobs.

It’s a very different audience than on most other social media channels. So don’t go ahead and copy your Facebook posts on LinkedIn. Instead, keep your audience in mind and write for them.

Focus on your niche to build up a strong personal brand. Really think about what you want to portrait. Position yourself as an expert through your content.

Articles are usually longer than posts. However, they shouldn’t be long-winded. In articles, you don’t want to do academic writing. Keep it conversational. It’s best to write in the language of the audience in your niche.

If you make it sound like a scientific paper, most readers will scroll past it or stop reading in-between. Why is that?

Because, on social media, people aren’t using their full attention. They scroll through their feed rather mindlessly. If your copy is too hard to read, they won’t bother.

The Importance of Copywriting

The thing with copywriting is, most people don’t know how important it is. They think it’s enough to quickly write out a post.

But, writing something on the go isn’t a content strategy. Copywriting is not like the writing you learned in school.

Actually, you sometimes break the rules of traditional writing in order to sound more conversational. Copywriting isn’t about being academically correct. It’s about engaging the reader and get them to take action.

Copywriting is most prominent in ads and sales letters. But it’s also valuable for your LinkedIn content strategy.

I personally started out in copywriting. I see how most people don’t really understand how copy works. It’s about captivating people and it’s closely linked to marketing.

That’s why when you learn the skill of copywriting you also will understand marketing on a deeper level.

It’s not enough to quickly write out a text. You have to understand your niche and target audience first. Then tailor your content to them.

So, you might want to learn how people get engaged and re-engaged by your written words.

If you use the principles of copywriting in your LinkedIn content strategy, your engagement will skyrocket.

Leverage Videos on LinkedIn

Videos are another great piece of content on LinkedIn. Especially, as there aren’t as many videos yet as on other social media platforms.

So this is a great time to start out. No matter if you are new to video making or a novice who is used to making videos.

LinkedIn videos produced some impressive numbers of engagement:

more than 300 million impressions on the platform
three times more engagement than text-posts
videos are five times more likely to start a conversation between LinkedIn members

For your own videos, you want to make sure you know exactly what you want to portrait. Be yourself, but highlight the parts of your personality that fit with your audience.

If your clients tend to be more professional then you want to make sure to dress professionally and the camera is set right. Even the camera angle is important.

For business, it’s best if the camera angle is going up. You don’t want to be looked down on. Also pay attention to your body language, mimic, and gestures.

Keep in mind, you are on LinkedIn and the users there value a certain type of content.

LinkedIn is Different From Youtube

In youtube videos, most people are a bit more hyped. It’s okay to be more casual and outgoing. On LinkedIn, you might want to tone it down a bit. You don’t want to turn off your potential contacts.

Really be mindful of who your clientele is and what you want to appear like in your videos.

Even for videos, you want to follow the principles of copywriting. Maybe script out what you are going to say. Don’t read out your script though, you want to stay natural and engaging. Share on X

Don’t be over the top, but don’t sound a robot either. Be a human being that has something valuable to say.

Again, you want to know your audience and what kind of words they would use. What kind of person do they see as an authority? What topics are they interested in? What will stop them from scrolling and watch your video?

If you focus on them it will allow you to build a strong personal brand.

What Kind of Content Does Well on LinkedIn?

When it comes to content, you want to be original and valuable. Don’t repeat the advice that everybody else has already posted. Or if you have to, add a different angle to it.

Original content is interesting and a great way to build your personal brand.

Nobody likes boring stuff. Keep it fresh and engaging for your readers.

Again, it all comes down to good copywriting.

Also, don’t be too self-centered in your content. Yes, you want to position yourself as an expert, but that doesn’t mean you want to boast.

You can position yourself as an expert by actually caring about your readers and adding value to them.

If you only talk about yourself in your posts, your readers will get bored. Really think about what’s in for them.

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An Underrated LinkedIn Strategy: Hashtags

Hashtags are another thing you want to add to your LinkedIn content strategy. They are severely underused on LinkedIn – which means there is a lot of opportunities.

It’s most common to use hashtags on your posts. So, if you write a post on sales, for example, you can add the hashtag #sale.

But your hashtag shouldn’t be only in your post- Also put it in your comments when you comment back on other people. It’s gonna trend and your name will keep popping up in your industry.

You can also put hashtags in your LinkedIn profile. Put it anywhere, where it makes sense. You don’t want to spam people but you want your name on posts that get trending.

If your name keeps coming up in trending posts, you will get known in your niche on LinkedIn.

Which hashtags to use exactly is a question of marketing. Again, know the audience you want to attract. What hashtags are popular and relevant in your niche?

Increase Your Network on LinkedIn

Another vital part of your LinkedIn content strategy is to expand your network.

Whether it’s followers or mutual connections, for LinkedIn, every connection you have counts. So really work on getting a bigger network.

One thing that is so great about LinkedIn is that it is relatively easy to reach users in other people’s networks. If a person engages with your content, that piece of content might show up in their network. So you can really branch out into other networks.

And the more people are in your network, the more people you can reach in their network. It almost sounds like an MLM – thankfully it’s not. But this is how LinkedIn is set up. If you know and understand this part, you can see how important networking is on this platform.

So, by posting valuable content that is very engaging you expand your network. And because you have a bigger network now, the next piece of content gets even more engagement.

Do you see why this is so powerful to build your personal brand?

This way you will get well known in your niche. Your name keeps coming up on relevant topics in your sector. Others will see you as an authority in your field.

Choose The Top Trending Material

Now you published all that amazing content. You’ll likely see that some posts, articles or videos got a lot of engagement. Maybe it got many comments or got shared a lot.

You want to pay attention to which posts were trending. This means the readers do resonate with something you said. You managed to position yourself as an authority and expert in your industry.

Now you want to go ahead and copy that post on your LinkedIn profile for several reasons. It re-engages people back into your LinkedIn content. Also, it keeps your post alive. If you don’t do this the post or piece of content might die. But if people re-engage, it goes back up and might even show up in their network all over again.

So that’s a huge advantage of putting what already worked back into your profile and have it re-trend again.

Monitor Your Performance

Now I said that content on LinkedIn doesn’t die down as fast as content on other social media platforms.

Still, your post has to perform well within the first few hours after you published it. In those hours after posting only a part of your network sees the post. If they react well to it, your reach expands.

If none of your connections engage with your post, it will die immediately. It won’t even get a chance to trend. That’s why it’s so important to know a bit about copywriting. An engaging copy will get your content to actually be seen. Copywriting will also help to keep your posts alive.

So pay close to attention to your posts early after it was published. But even later, keep monitoring your content. If you notice some of your posts aren’t performing well, you can learn from that and adjust your strategy.

And of course, also monitor which posts are doing especially well. Find out what made these posts so good and apply the principles to your future posts too.

Understand LinkedIn

Another important part of your LinkedIn content strategy is to understand how LinkedIn works. What kind of content does well on LinkedIn? How does the algorithm work? What kind of people are on there and what do they value?

An important aspect to note here is the use of links on LinkedIn. LinkedIn wants the users to stay on the platform as long as possible. So, when you post a link, LinkedIn doesn’t like that. The algorithm will pick it up and your post doesn’t rank well. You want to avoid that, as you want all your content to be visible and trending.

So, what can you do? Instead of external links, direct your users to other posts that are already on LinkedIn. Share valuable information with your audience but don’t send them to leave the site. This way, LinkedIn won’t punish you.

Want To Develop The Number One Skill You Need To Succeed In Content Marketing On Any Social Media?

Now really, the basis of every successful content strategy on social media is copywriting.

It’s about understanding the user, writing for them and persuading them to take action with your words. And that’s exactly what copywriting is all about. We see a lot of this on LinkedIn.

It’s so much more than just writing. It’s persuasion in your written words.

In my early twenties, my career skyrocketed after I mastered the skill of copywriting. It allowed me to increase my income and slowly get to where I am today.

Many of my followers kept asking me to offer training so that they could learn copywriting from me.

That’s exactly what I did. I created a free, on-demand training that explains the principles of copywriting in greater detail.

In fact, copywriting works for all social media channels. If you want to take your LinkedIn content strategy to the next level, check it out.

Click This Link To Access Dan Lok’s FREE Training.

How To Position Yourself As An Expert

January 18, 2020 by Dan Lok

Do you know why it’s important to learn how to position yourself as an expert? Because establishing yourself as an expert in your industry means that people in your industry will think you’re the best.

If you’re viewed as an expert, you’re viewed as the best.

Most people want to work with the best, learn from the best, and collaborate with the best. This means that if you figure out how to position yourself as an expert, you’ll be highly sought-after. Opportunities will be endless.

Furthermore, most people are willing to pay premium prices to work with the best and to work with experts. For many business executives, working with an expert is worth every dollar.

In fact, the moment a business increases its hiring budget, they’ll often seek out experts to hire, especially if they can now afford to hire a coveted expert.

Another great thing about learning how to position yourself as an expert, is that once you become viewed as an expert, you are highly trusted. This means that your clients and peers will trust you with big projects, large-scale public speaking opportunities, coveted media slots, exclusive contracts, and more.

Successful people have often established themselves as an authority figure or expert, in a particular field or subject area. They become known as the person to go to for their niche.

You will feel very significant if you’re known for something. Once you learn how to position yourself as an expert, you’ll be known for something, and it’ll lead you to amazing opportunities.

In this article, I’m going to guide you on how to position yourself as an expert. If you are able to establish yourself as an expert, incredible opportunities will come your way, and you’ll earn a much higher income than you do now.

In other words, becoming viewed as an expert is extremely good for business.

Let’s discuss some various ways you can work towards positioning yourself as an expert.

Specialize in a Niche Area of Focus

As soon as you decide you’re going to narrow your focus and specialize in a particular niche, you’ll fast-track your way to expert-level status.

It’s very difficult to be viewed as an expert unless you specialize in something particular. If you specialize in a service such as copywriting or closing, for example, you’ll get more clients than you would if you were a general freelance writer or a general sales person.

An expert eats, sleeps, and breathes his or her special skill. An expert’s sole focus is typically on that one thing they want to be the best at.

The reason this works is because you gain your audience’s trust when they know your focus isn’t split between various services, fields, or industries. Once it becomes clear that you’ve dedicated yourself to one niche, you’ll attract more clients and more opportunities.

Have you ever noticed that you tend to gravitate towards ‘specialists’ because you view them as experts? I want you to imagine that you’re searching online for a freelance graphic designer to design your new company logo. What would attract your attention more: A general graphic designer, or a graphic designer who only designs company logos, and specializes in logos?

That’s why it’s best not to claim to be an expert at everything, but rather an expert at one thing.

Get Media Coverage

When you’re trying to figure out how to position yourself as an expert, hopefully you won’t forget how important media coverage is.

I’ve been interviewed by Fox Business News Network and CNBC, as well as plenty of media coverage from Forbes and Entrepreneur magazine.

If you’re interviewed in a big magazine, or quoted as an expert in a large publication, you’re effectively positioning yourself as an expert.

Wondering how to accomplish this? One thing you can do is pitch people who write for large publications that have a target audience that aligns with yours. If the writer is intrigued by your story, they might contact you for an interview or a quote.

Worried that you don’t have what it takes to craft a compelling pitch to the media? Many people hire copywriters to write their pitch for them, so that it’s as persuasive as possible.

Another thing you can do is use HARO which stands for ‘Help a Reporter’ and sign up for email updates as an expert source for the media. Often, popular magazines and well-known publications will send out queries, looking for a particular expert in a particular field, who can contribute advice to their article or story. By responding to several of these queries every day, you’re bound to get some media coverage.

When people start seeing that famous publications are quoting you as an expert or interviewing you, you’ll immediately be viewed as an expert and you’ll be highly sought-after. Being featured in a popular magazine is a very effective form of social proof.

How To Position Yourself As An Expert Using Social Proof

You might be wondering, What exactly is social proof? Well, social proof is a social and psychological phenomenon that describes people’s natural tendency to ‘do what everyone else is doing’, ‘follow whoever everyone else is following’, ‘buy whatever everyone else is buying’ and copy the actions of others. The term was coined by Robert Cialdini in his 1984 book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

With the rise of social media, the concept of social proof has become much more powerful than Cialdini himself could have predicted.

For example, if your Instagram account has hundreds of thousands of followers, people will view you as an expert and be more likely to follow you. I currently have over 1.5 million followers on Instagram, and this just makes more people want to follow me and work with me. This is social proof at work.

Similarly, if your book is for sale on Amazon and has hundreds of positive reviews, this is another form of social proof that positions you as an expert.

You can call yourself an expert all you want, but it doesn’t mean much unless other people are calling you an expert, too.

I always say that what other people say about you is infinitely more powerful than if you say it yourself.

This is especially true when a popular public figure or influencer endorses you as an expert. Whenever someone famous or well-known endorses you, this is an especially powerful form of social proof.

Provide Value on Social Media

Short Instagram stories, Facebook Live videos, and YouTube videos are a great way to show your followers that you are an expert on a particular subject.

You don’t want to give all of your knowledge and expertise away for free, but you do want to provide value in these videos to demonstrate that you not only know your stuff – you’re an expert.

You can answer common questions your audience has, so that you’re providing valuable advice and positioning yourself as an expert.

When you’re figuring out how to position yourself as an expert, you’ll want to keep track of the common questions and concerns from your audience. Make sure to provide expert advice on your social media that answers some of these common questions.

Publicize Your Awards, Accolades and Experiences

Be sure to tell your story to your audience about how you got to be so good at what you do, and how you became an expert in your field. Describe your experiences that lead you to your current expert-level status.

Furthermore, don’t forget to publicly share any awards, accolades, interviews or press that you’ve received. All of these media mentions and awards help boost your position as an expert.

You might be thinking, But what if I don’t have any awards or accolades? If you don’t have any yet, why not apply to be nominated? Sometimes awards are awarded through a voting system, and other times there’s a panel of judges. Sometimes, a submission of some kind is required to be considered for an award. With a support system behind you, you can try to get yourself nominated for recognition.

In 2019, I won the Eventex People’s Choice Event for Closers in Black. The award is based on votes from members of the public, and I came in second place. I also won one of the 2019 Best in Biz Awards and a 2019 Stevie Award.

Speak at Public Events

It’s not easy to get a position speaking at a public event. However, being up on stage in front of an audience definitely positions you as the expert. Everyone knows that the person up on the stage is the expert. I recently gave a public speech on the stage of StartCon Australia, and I’ve also done two TEDx speeches.

Speaking on these prestigious stages definitely helped me establish myself as an expert.

Whenever I’m given an opportunity like this, I make sure to prepare very valuable material for my audience. I make sure not to let such an important opportunity go to waste.

Testimonials, Testimonials, and More Testimonials

The more testimonials you have from impressed customers, the more you’ll be viewed as an expert.

I have received thousands of testimonials. Many of these are video testimonials from students who graduated from my High-Ticket Closer Certification Program (HTC graduates) with positive reviews.

These reviews and testimonials only make more people want to enroll in HTC.

Associate With A-Players

Don’t get caught associating with B players. Why? Because winners surround themselves with other winners. A-players surround themselves with other A-players. Experts should therefore surround themselves with other experts.

People will respect you more if they see that you associate with A-players and work with the best.

I associate myself with A-players such as Dan Pena and Jay Abraham.

So, where can you meet A-players? You can meet A-players at elite networking events, or within elite communities such as my HTC community or my Closers in Black community.

Charge High-Ticket Prices

Experts always charge high fees, and part of positioning yourself as an expert is raising your prices.

Many of my mentees have thanked me for teaching them how to charge higher prices. I equip individuals with the self-confidence and closing skills necessary to charge higher prices. It’s these premium prices that help position you as an expert.

No expert would charge a low fee, so if you want to learn how to position yourself as an expert, raising your rates must be on your to-do list.

If you discount your services or charge low fees, people will assume you must be pretty amateur and not an expert. Everyone understands that they get what they pay for, and they assume they’ll be paying more for an expert.

Write a Book

Although it’s a lot of work, writing a book is another powerful way to position yourself as an expert. You’ve heard the expression, “I wrote the book on that.” Well, the truth is, if you write a book on a niche subject, people will automatically assume that you must be an expert in that niche.

Imagine if you are trying to figure out how to position yourself as an expert in interior decorating. If you’re trying to close a high-ticket client, wouldn’t you be more likely to close that client if you could show them the recent book you got published on interior decorating?

I have published over a dozen books, including several books on High-Ticket Closing, and people started calling me the King of High-Ticket Sales.

I don’t really want you to call me that, so please don’t. The point is, because I teach a course on High-Ticket Sales and I’ve also written books on it, people know that I’m an expert in this niche. I’ve established myself as an authority figure on this subject.

The Closer’s Black Book is one of the best books I’ve written on the art of closing, and people buy it because I’ve established myself as an expert on this subject. The people who buy this book know that they’re going to learn about closing from the best, because I am a master at closing. Click here to buy a copy of The Closer’s Black Book.

Do You Need Help Figuring Out How to Position Yourself as an Expert?

If you need help figuring out how to position yourself as an expert, let me ask you this: Are you ready to invest in yourself? The Dan Lok Shop has several items that will help you learn how to position yourself as an expert. Click here to visit the Dan Lok Shop and set yourself up for success.

LinkedIn Strategies To Master Networking

January 5, 2020 by Dan Lok Leave a Comment

Have you ever gone to a conference or networking event and you were an absolute wallflower? All you did was watch everyone else connect and making deals?

All the other people seemed to manage to take it to the next level. They took it outside the event and generated business together. But you were standing on the side – all alone?

Maybe you managed to make some connections. You got some business cards but you already know you won’t really use those. All you made were loose, superficial connections.

So now, you spent all this time preparing and actually being away from your business. But you are not really taking anything away from the event.

Going out there and spending time away from your business is an investment, however. That’s why you want an ROI – Return on investment.

What if I told you, you can resolve all of this by leveraging LinkedIn? Most professionals don’t do this, because these strategies are a bit unknown. But really, there are millions of professionals on LinkedIn right now. They are waiting for you to connect with.

Let’s make sure the next event you attend will be worth your time. Let me share the 3 Unknown LinkedIn Strategies To Master Networking.

LinkedIn Strategy #1: Before The Event

The LinkedIn strategy number one is to put some time into research before the event even happens. Find out who is attending and connect with them beforehand.

On the event page, you can usually find and attendance list. Go through the list, take the names and put them in the search engine of LinkedIn.

Connect with them directly. Message them and let them know that you are going to the same exact event and why you are going to be there.

That way, you have the first touch point before the event actually happens.

At the event, you can go up to the individual and re-introduce yourself. They might recognize you because you have already made that connection beforehand.

But even if they don’t recognize you, you’ve done your research. You’ve looked at their LinkedIn profile, check the jobs they have done and the projects they were on.

Usually, you find all of those points in their LinkedIn description or in the experience part of their LinkedIn profile. Remember some interesting facts about them. Ask them about specific projects they worked on in the past.

They will likely be surprised that you remembered. That is a great way to build a good relationship early on. It shows, that you actually care about the individual and what they are doing.

On LinkedIn, you can also check other people they are connected to. Simply scroll down the page and look at the recommended section. You also want to connect with those individuals and check what projects they’ve been on.

LinkedIn Strategy #2: Follow Up Sequence After the Event

Use this second LinkedIn strategy after the event.

So, you had that touch point with the individuals before the event. During the event, you introduced yourself to them. Now afterward, you want to make sure you connect with them again.

After all, you want to take the connection to the next level. This is to make sure the connections you made have actual value for you and the other person.

The 7 Touch Point Theory

A touch point is whenever you interact with another human.

Have you heard about the 7 Touch Point Theory? This theory says that you have to interact with a person 7 times to build trust and rapport. By the seventh touch point, you are usually ready to deepen the relationship.

This theory is often used in sales. The idea is, that a lead has to interact with a brand seven times before they consider buying from them. But the principals are equally powerful for building business relationships.

Touch points can happen through direct interaction – for example, if you message the person directly. But, it also helps to have some indirect touch points. First, you connect with them on LinkedIn. Afterward, you post high-quality articles or other content on your profile.

Make sure others see your posts frequently to generate more interactions with them.

Ideally, the individual and you have different forms of touch points over time. Obviously, you don’t want to spam them with messages. That would more likely scare them away from you.

Some experts argue that the ideal number of touch points might actually be 13 and not seven.

Most people get a lot of messages and see ads all over different social media platforms. That’s why it might take more than seven interactions to build that trust and rapport.

Once the relationship has deepened, you are ready to take it to the next level. That can mean you get a sale or form a business partnership. Sometimes it means you get an official introduction with another person they know.

LinkedIn Strategy #3: Be a Super-Connector

LinkedIn strategy number three is being a super-connector.

What is a super-connector? It’s a person who might not have any direct value to give, but they have indirect value – which is their network.

Let’s say, for example, that you met John, who has a Facebook ad agency. John needs a copywriter. If you know someone who is an excellent copywriter, you may go ahead and introduce those two.

When you make that connection you aren’t directly adding value – as you are not the copywriter yourself. But, by making that connection you added value to both parties. In the future, they are more likely to trust you because you built that rapport.

You have given value to both individuals and you are now a super-connector that they both know and trust. They will think about you for any future business references.

What is Rapport?

Rapport is basically an emotional connection between people. Sometimes rapport happens naturally.

This happens when you get this feeling that you and the other person simply get along well. The conversation is in the flow and there are mutual trust and understanding.

If you meet a new person you can make sure to build rapport. Even if the other individual and you don’t have that much in common.

Usually, you would want to break the ice. Talking to a new person can be stressful to some, so pick an easy and safe topic for the first conversation.

If you’ve followed LinkedIn strategy number one and actually contacted them before the event, this will be even easier. Simply introduce yourself again and fall back on your research.

During the conversation, you want to be an active listener and show empathy. Keep eye contact for approximately 60% of the conversation.

An expert tip for rapport building is to mirror the other person’s body language subtlety. You can’t do this too obviously though as the other person might feel ridiculed.

So, make the best out of the touch points you have during events and follow up with your LinkedIn strategies.

How To Become A Super-Connector

Maybe these LinkedIn strategies sound valuable to you but you feel you aren’t a super-connector yet?

If you attend conferences or networking events regularly you will quite naturally become a person with a huge network.

As it grows you will get to know more and more people who are experts in their field. Those are valuable contacts you can refer to later.

Use LinkedIn to organize all your business contacts. That makes connecting others easier too.

The three top tips to becoming a super-connector fast:

You want to attend events often and always show up when you said you will be there. Don’t reach out to people on LinkedIn and introduce yourself if you don’t plan to show up. It’s a waste of time.
Always follow up and keep old contacts fresh. Individuals want to feel cared about. Show them that they are more than a number on your LinkedIn profile.
When you connect two other individuals, always do so with a clear idea in mind. Make sure the connections you form are actually valuable for both parties. Never make a connection just for the sake of making a connection.

Become A World-Class Connector

Do you still struggle with confidently speaking to people, influencing them and persuading them? Is your fear of public speaking interfering with your ability to make a strong impression in networking events or prospecting calls? Do you want advanced ways to skyrocket your confidence so you can get more clients and retain them? There is a way, if you’re willing to put in the work.

To elevate your life and career success, you must become a master closer, negotiator, speaker and connector all-in-one. That’s how you get competitive advantage and stand out from the rest. To accelerate your growth, click here to get The Rainmaker Collection now.

Why “B Players” Are Dangerous For Your Business

January 3, 2020 by Dan Lok Leave a Comment

One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is underestimating how dangerous their team’s B players are for their business. B players can prevent your business from reaching its growth potential, and can also prevent your business from scaling.

The problem is that many business owners don’t have high enough standards for their employees, so they think of B players as being “good enough”, and they trust B players with critical responsibilities. These critical responsibilities are duties that can negatively affect the business if done incorrectly, which is why only A players should be entrusted with these responsibilities.

Most businesses have a team that is comprised of A players, B players, and even a few C, D, or E players. Unfortunately, it’s common for only 10% of a team to be top-performing A players. Around 20% of a team will be comprised of C, D, or E players who should have been let go ages ago. Does that sound familiar? This means that at least 70% of your team is comprised of B players.

Business owners typically pay the most attention to the top 10% performers on their team (the A players) or the bottom 20% (the C, D, and E players) while the B players get ignored. Is it dangerous to ignore your B players? Yes. We’ll get to that later. First, let’s discuss what a B player is.

What Exactly is a B Player?

The best way to explain what it means to be a B player, is to compare a B player to an A player. An A player is easy to spot on your team. The coveted A players are noticeably ambitious, self-motivated, proactive, self-reliant, and known for their consistently high energy and peak performance. A players are the winners on your team, and they don’t go unnoticed.

B players need more micromanaging and external motivation in the workplace, as they have trouble with self-motivation and self-discipline. B players are decent at their job and do some things well, but you can’t rely on them to take your business to the next level.

Their work will be fine – sometimes it’s even good – but it won’t be great. If you want great, you need A players.

Think of it this way: The “B” in “B player” stands for bare minimum. Many of them do an okay job, but it’s rare that they’ll do much more than the bare minimum. In other words, it’s rare that a B player will exceed your expectations.

A players, on the other hand, are known for not just meeting expectations but exceeding expectations. A players go above and beyond what’s in their job description.

On the other hand, B players will say things like, “That’s not in my job description” which is an indication that they want to get away with doing the bare minimum – nothing extra.

B players tend to be quite lazy, and they prefer to stay in their comfort zone. This means they will rarely ‘think outside the box’ and get strategic to solve a problem. A players understand that they often have to leave their comfort zone to solve big problems. A players are also much more motivated to solve problems because they strive for greatness.

B players are less ambitious. B players also tend to make excuses for poor performance rather than taking accountability like an A player would.

Why Do B Players Fly Under The Radar in the Workplace?

One of the reasons why B players are dangerous for your business, is because they tend to fly under the radar. They get away with being mediocre because they just barely meet expectations by doing the bare minimum – and they do a decent job, so they often go unnoticed.

B players fly under the radar because they don’t make waves. They don’t make serious mistakes, nor do they achieve anything seriously outstanding. They hide out in their quiet comfort zone of mediocrity. And mediocrity is dangerous. Nobody wants a mediocre business.

Remember how earlier, I mentioned that business owners typically pay the most attention to the top performers on their team (the A players) or the bottom performers (the C, D, and E players)? This is largely why B players in the workplace get ignored, and this is why they get away with their inferior performance.

B-Players Often Repel A-Players

While you, the business owner, might not pay much attention to your B players for the reasons I just mentioned, do you know who does notice them? Your team’s A players. You see, the A players on your team get frustrated with the B players’ level of mediocrity. This is dangerous, since you want to keep your A players happy.

Your business could be in serious danger if you lose your A players. The problem is that A players want to be around other A players. They don’t want to be working hard, and look over at a B player playing a game on their phone or taking a sip of a beer.

B players can also damage your business by repelling A players who may have otherwise been interested in working for you. It’s harder to attract A players to work for your company if you have a lot of B players on your team. A players attract A players. Remember that.

Can You Turn B Players Into A Players?

I know what you’re wondering. You’re wondering if you can turn your B players into A players, instead of letting them go. Unfortunately, most of the time, it’s too costly to try to turn B players into A players. It’s a wiser business decision to just replace them with A players, and it’s typically more cost-effective, too.

Janine Popick, co-founder and CMO of Dasheroo, told Inc, “You’ve got to nip your B-players in the bud. Either get them to “A” status by coaching and mentoring them, or cut them loose. You don’t want to look back and think about where your business ‘could have’ been.”

My advice would be to only coach and mentor a B player if you truly see potential in them. You should also ask yourself, what is causing them to under-perform? Is it laziness? Ego? Fear? Mindset? Can you change them? You have to figure out if it’s a personality issue, a behavioral issue, or a capabilities issue. None of these can be easily changed, but of the three, it’s easiest to change a capabilities issue with coaching.

Sometimes you can change their mindset to think more like an A player, but sometimes you can’t. Sometimes B players have deep-rooted issues and they are a long road away from being ready for change.

You should only give a B player about six months to improve before sending them packing. I’ve seen B players turn into A players with the right mentor, but it’s rare.

In other words, coaching a B player and turning him or her into an A player is the exception, not the rule. Once you do a cost-benefit analysis, you’ll probably realize it’s better to just let your B players go.

When Should You Let Go of Your B Players?

When is it time to fire your B players? As Larry Yacht, former Navy SEAL and co-founder of Plan Sight says: “The answer is Yesterday.” Yacht says, “I have never been in a situation where I have decided it’s time to let someone go, and not realized I should have let them go weeks ago. If you ever ask yourself if you should let someone go, the answer is that you should have let them go yesterday.”

I’ve personally have learned how toxic and destructive just one bad apple in an organization can be. B players typically know they’re getting away with under-performing, so they know it’s only a matter of time before they’re fired.

It might be a relief for them to be let go. Perhaps your requirements outweigh their capabilities, which has been causing them stress for some time.

Perhaps they’re just not cut out for the mission you had hoped they’d successfully embark on within your organization. You wouldn’t send one of your team members on a dangerous mission knowing they’ll fail, because if they fail, it puts the whole team in danger.

It’s better to just cut ties. The sooner the better.

Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Get Rid of B Players

It’s not always an easy decision to let employees go. However, as a leader I have to make these decisions all the time. I have to fire people. It’s often not a popular decision. Any type of change causes conflict because many of your team members won’t like the change. But don’t worry – they will adjust.

Larry Yacht explains, “We are conditioned to be lazy and to not like change. We want to conserve our resources, which is why we often want to keep someone around instead of letting them go. Any change will require mental resources, physical resources, costs and conflict.” Yacht also explained that he tends to analyze the problem with the employee or contractor in question. If he finds that it’s a capabilities issue, he asks himself, What’s the cost to improve their capabilities, and is it worth it?

You have to focus on your business goals, and stop accepting less or settling for less. Have higher standards for your business, and figure out ways to attract more A players. You business will have a higher chance of survival if you attract more A players. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, less than half of small businesses will survive 5 years, and only one-third of small businesses will survive 10 years.

Speaking of your business’s survival, you can never put B players in charge of sales. They aren’t ambitious enough to feel the need to beat sales targets. They’ll be happy if they just barely meet those targets.

Chances are, replacing three B players with one A player will leave your business in a better position. Your business will then have the potential to be great. I know it’s a hard decision, since some of your B players do good work sometimes. John D. Rockefeller, one of the wealthiest Americans in history, famously said, “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”

Hire More A-Players in 2020

If you want to see your business achieve more success, one of your New Year’s Resolutions should be to hire more A players in 2020. You need to replace your B players with A players.

Serial entrepreneur Jon Soberg once said of B players: “Every person you hire who is not a top player is like having a leak in the hull. Eventually you will sink.”

You don’t want your business to sink, do you? Luckily, the A players you bring on board will quickly patch the holes your B players left behind.

You may be wondering how to attract more A players. The thing is, just like closing big business deals requires the skill of closing, so does closing A players. You’ll need to be a great closer to convince a multitude of A players to work for your company. If this is your goal, it might be time to upgrade your closing skills.

If you want to master the art of closing in order to close more A players to work for you, and to close more business deals, watch my free training on High-Ticket Closing here. Your business can skyrocket in 2020 if you commit to your success.