high-ticket closing

How To Pitch To Investors When Seeking Funding To Scale Your Startup Business

February 18, 2020 by Dan Lok

Looking to scale your startup business, but need funding in order to do it? Knowing how to pitch to investors will make the process smoother.

If you want to know how to pitch to investors, there is a harsh truth that you need to be aware of. Like everyone on this planet, they are tuned into the radio frequency WIIFM, which stands for What’s In It For Me? Investors are only interested in providing you with funding so that they can get a return on their investment.

Investors want to make money. They do not care about your passions or your dreams. To them, you are just a risk they are considering investing in, in order to make more money.

That means if you want to successfully convince an investor to give you funding to scale your startup business, you need to cater your presentation to that aspect. Your investors will have doubts, fears, and questions about whether or not they can trust you. If you can overcome all of these doubts and objections in their minds, they will be more than happy to give you what you are looking for.

Get Clear on Why You’re Pitching in the First Place

If you want to learn how to pitch to investors, you need to get clear on why you are presenting in the first place. What is the goal of the presentation? What outcome are you looking for?

When you plan ahead and know the ‘why’ behind your reason for presenting, you will be able to much more effectively communicate that to your audience. The investors you are pitching to could have seen hundreds of presentations before yours. If you can’t clearly and effectively communicate why they should provide you with funding, the chances that you’ll do business together are very slim.

Do you have a vision of where the company will be in a few years? What are your next steps once you acquire the funding? Communicating your plan to the investor is very important to influencing them to fund your startup business. Your investor does not trust you nor know who you are. By presenting a detailed plan to them, it shows that you have done your research, and you know what you are doing. You are giving them reasons to believe that you will become successful, and that their money will not go to waste.

When you have clarity on what you want, communicating it to others is very easy. All that’s left is to overcome their objections by presenting a well-organized plan of how you both can succeed. The most important factor when learning how to pitch to investors, is that when your audience has no reason to doubt you, they’ll be inclined to say yes.

Make them an offer they can’t refuse. - The Godfather Click To Tweet

Who is Presenting is More Important Than What is Being Presented

Have you ever sat through a presentation that made you bored out of your mind? Chances are, the speaker spoke in a monotone voice, or exhibited low energy in their presentation. The speaker bored you to death.

If you want to know how to pitch to investors, you’ll need to make sure your presenter makes a good impression. If you are not a good presenter, get someone else to do the pitch, who is good at presenting.

Remember: It’s not about the offer, it’s about the person who’s presenting it. Someone who demonstrates charisma, passion and energy for what they believe in, will come off as someone who is trustworthy and entertaining. Your audience is not just judging the business, but also the people who will be running the company. And if they perceive the CEO or marketing team to be sloppy, they’ll think the same way about your offer.

That’s why making a good first impression is crucial to build rapport with an investor. For them, it’s not just about making a good ROI, it’s also about who they are working with. Successful business people know that there’s nothing worse than dealing with someone who is difficult to work with. And if they sense the two of you won’t be a good fit, you won’t get the funding you need.

If you want to successfully learn how to pitch to investors and scale your business, you need to come off as someone they can trust. That means the way you look, talk, act and move all needs to be aligned with that image. If you get nervous during presentations or freeze up and forget what you wanted to say, that means you haven’t practiced enough.

Practice Until You Are Sick Of It, Then Practice Some More

Having difficulty with presentations or have trouble getting your thoughts across clearly means you haven’t practiced enough.

When I first started doing public speaking, I was terrible at it. Like everyone else, I had stage fright and often got nervous when speaking to a large audience. But as time went on, I realized the reason why I got nervous was because I was not ready. I didn’t put in the work to prepare before the speech, and tried to wing it like everyone else. The problem was that I lacked the confidence to deliver an outstanding performance, because I did not rehearse enough.

So instead of making excuses, I practiced for hours each day, in front of a video camera, to perfect my presentation. My advice for you is to film yourself while presenting. It allows you to see how your presentation would come across to members of the audience. And if there’s certain parts of your presentation that you are not satisfied with, you can be sure your audience is going to feel the same way.

You may feel awkward watching yourself present, but it is the fastest way you can correct your flaws. After all, no one can spot your mistakes better than you can. Think about it as a way for you to see what is wrong, and correct it so you can continuously improve. I guarantee that if you practice and really focus on improving every part of your pitch, your first time presenting will be drastically different from your 20th time doing it. And when you’re finally giving your pitch to an investor, you’ll be more than ready to deliver your lines.

Practice makes perfect. If perfect means getting the funding to scale your startup business, would you be willing to practice?

Why The Best Candidate For Presentations Is Yourself

It may be tempting to simply delegate the task of presenting to another team member and skipping over all that practice, but when it comes to pitching to investors, the CEO and founder should be the ones presenting. As long as you are a good presenter, that is. And if you’re not good at it, perhaps you could learn.

Wondering why the best person to pitch is you, the founder? This is for two reasons:

First, your investors are going to have questions, and you’re the best person to answer those questions. Imagine the scenario where the investors ask if your team member is the CEO, and they reply with no. What do you think your audience is going to think?

“The CEO of this company can’t even show up to their own presentation? Do they even care about their own success?”

Second, is that your team members won’t have the same knowledge as you do. As the founder, you know where you want to take the company in 1, 2 or 5 years. You know exactly why you are seeking funding, why you’ve gone to them instead of everyone else, and why if you two decide to do business, that you can make it a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Your team members won’t have the same knowledge or passion that you do. Like your audience, they are also tuned into WIIFM, and only care about what they have to gain – which is most likely a paycheck. They lack the experience and vision that you as the founder possess. And unless the team member presenting has equity share in the company, they will most likely not demonstrate the best version of themselves during the presentation.

Some aspects – such as passion and vision, cannot be delegated. It’s one thing to have a veteran salesperson do the presentation – it’s another for the founder to take the initiative and do it themselves.

Use The Future as Negotiation Leverage

If your startup business isn’t currently at a point where it can be ‘shown off’, use its future potential as a bargaining tool. Correlating where your company will be a few years from now, is another strategy on how to pitch to investors.

For example, let’s say you sell teddy bears and your business revenue per year is $200K, with $30K as profits. To an investor, they may think your annual numbers are far too low for them to provide you with the funding. He’s impatient and wants to get his money back within a year of investing. But at the rate your company is growing, it’ll take more than 20 years before he gets his return on his investment.

If you currently lack results, you can paint a picture and make them imagine what it would be like if they did invest. For example, if they decide to provide you with more funding, it would allow you to use that funding to increase your production line and sell more bears. Now, that $30K in annual profits could rise to $100K, shortening the time it takes for the investor to make back his money.

Being able to form an image, a vision of where the company could be in the next couple of years is a powerful tool that many successful entrepreneurs use in their lives. This is called visualization, and it allows entrepreneurs to imagine a desired scenario. Once the entrepreneur has an image of what they want, they can then go after it. And if you’re familiar with the Law of Attraction, you’ll know that whatever you can conceive, you can achieve.

You can use this visualization trick to convince investors to provide you with funding. Convince them that the only thing holding your business back from becoming the giant success that it is, is finding an investor who is willing to provide the funding.

Be Willing To Take The Lower End Of The Bargain

One of the problems holding many entrepreneurs back from getting the funding to scale their business, is that they aren’t willing to settle. Besides knowing how to pitch to investors, the other part of your presentation is going to be about negotiation. Imagine that you have 100 balls in front of you. These balls are to be divided amongst you and the person you are doing business with – the optimal outcome being that you get half of the balls and they get half of the balls. It’s a fair 50-50 ratio.

However, in reality this rarely ever happens. The person with the most leverage – AKA the person who is less needy, usually walks away with more balls than the other person. In the situation where you are a startup business and are looking for funding, the investor has more leverage and can call the shots. The investor is aware that he has the upper hand in the negotiation, and will use it to collect more balls – a 40-60 or 30-70 ratio.

To some entrepreneurs, they may be happy with this deal if it means they get what they want. As long as they get the funding they need, they are willing to take the shorter end of the bargain. But for some entrepreneurs, they don’t like the fact that they are being taken advantage of. As a result, they’ll say no to every single deal and opportunity that comes their way, not realizing that if they would just accept taking the shorter end of the bargain for now, they could have much more to gain in the future.

Remember: Settling does not mean taking the lower end of a bargain forever. You are simply enduring the terms and conditions now, to give yourself an opportunity for re-negotiation later on in the future.

Opportunities multiply when they are seized. - Sun Tzu Click To Tweet

How to Pitch to Investors Using Storytelling

Storytelling is a powerful way to get your point across without sounding like you’re lecturing your audience. Lectures are boring, but stories are compelling. Humans are wired to do things based on emotion, not logic. For example, why are so many people spending $10,000 on a diamond ring, when they are never going to use it again afterwards?

Storytelling allows you to convey your emotions to your audience in a very effective and entertaining way. Especially when it comes to giving a pitch to investors, you want to do everything you can to stand out from everyone else. If you incorporate your emotion and passion into a well spoken story, you will be able to captivate their attention like no one else.

For example, here is a story you could tell that provides your investor with information about who you are, the history of the business and why you need funding:

“2 years ago, when I was in college I realized there was an ever growing problem of men who did not shave. You could see men with stubble and 5 o’clock shadow sticking out in plain sight, as you walked down the hallways. Everyday, my professor would come to class with a thick, grotesque beard. And even I was a victim of this fashion frenzy during times of extreme stress.

One day, I realized I had enough of seeing other men and their unsightly beards. That’s when I decided to make two life-altering decisions:

I dropped out of college
And pursued my dream of creating men’s grooming products

With my friend, who also had problems keeping his beard under control, we founded the company Shave It Off, where we currently provide quality shaving products to men across 30 different countries worldwide.

Our company has been growing faster than we’ve ever imagined, and now we’ve run into a problem only you can help us with: we need funding. Our revenue and profits are currently bottlenecked by our lack of delivery trucks, and as a result we need more funding to buy more trucks. By doing so, we can deliver more products to men all over the world, to help them get a clean shave every single time.”

Now imagine if you didn’t put that into a story, how much less entertaining would that sound?

“2 years ago I dropped out of college. I hated beards, so me and a buddy found this company called Shave It Off. We sell shaving cream to guys around the world, because it makes a lot of money. We’re short on trucks at the moment, and need money to buy more trucks. Want to help us out?”

Captivate your audience by using storytelling in your pitch. You’ll be able to effectively communicate your side of the story, and inspire them to help you achieve your goals as well.

Facts tell, stories sell. Click To Tweet

Get The Perfect Closing Script To Control Any Conversation

In any conversation you’ll ever have, there will always be some sort of push and pull. One person will always be trying to gain leverage over the other, through their words and actions. The person who ends up victorious, is the person who knows exactly what to say.

Those who lack business experience are often taken advantage of, and find themselves on the lower end of the bargain. The person you are speaking with can sense your inexperience, and oftentimes will use it against you to get the best deal for themselves.

However, when you know how to handle questions and objections thrown at you, you can shift the conversation so it flows in your favor. Having the intuition to tell where the conversation is heading and steer it in a direction that benefits you, is a crucial part in being able to influence others to do what you want and win negotiations.

If you want to succeed in business and learn how to influence people to do what you want, get the perfect closing script here.

How To Find Investors Before Your Company Launch

February 12, 2020 by Dan Lok

Thinking of starting your own company? First, you’ll need to know how to find investors to fund your startup.

Most entrepreneurs who are looking to start their own company know it’s not just about having a solid plan of where they’ll take the company in the next few years. It’s not what niche they are going to go into, or the best practices within their own industry. No, it’s about money – AKA startup capital. That’s why you need to know how to find investors.

Successful entrepreneurs and business owners know they need cash on hand if they want to succeed. Research shows that most businesses fail because they lack capital. Without an adequate source of funding, they won’t be able to maintain their operations past the first 5 years of business – which is the crucial moment in time when most businesses fail.

Think of capital as a safety net. Every time you make a mistake in business, it’s going to cost you money. The more money you have, the more mistakes you can afford to make. This is why having capital is very important, and you need investors to raise capital. Compared to a startup with very little money, the companies that knew how to find investors can afford to make more mistakes. And you will make mistakes which will cost you money.

Those who started a business with very little capital (and no investors) only afford to make a few mistakes before they go bankrupt. If you’ve never tried to grow a business before, you’re sure to make plenty of mistakes.

Having capital allows you to endure through those tough first few years, and eventually build up your business to become successful. If you’re looking to start your own company, here are a few tips on how to find investors for your startup launch:

Perfecting Your Business Presentation and Pitch

Before you even begin to look for investors to fund your startup, you should have your pitch down. Have a well thought out presentation that is visually appealing. Documentation of your plan and what you have in mind. The niche and industry you are going to go into. Your expenses, operations, estimated profit and yearly revenue. And most importantly, what’s in it for the investor.

Remember, everyone on this planet is tuned into the radio station WIIFM – What’s in it for me? Realize that from an investors point of view, they are taking a risk. They don’t know who you are, if you are trustworthy or if you’ll even succeed. Worst case scenario, your business could fail, and they lose all of their money invested. Your job is to help alleviate these doubts and fears, and assure them that you are going to succeed.

To do this, focus on tailoring your sales presentation to how it can benefit your investor. Are they getting a 10% equity in your company? Will they get royalties on every product or service being sold? Make it clear that if they decide to do business with you, they are going to get a nice ROI. A little bit of greed in business is a good thing – if you can cater to that side of your investors, they’ll think less about what they have to lose, and more about what they have to gain.

Give them enough reasons to believe they have more to gain than lose, and they’ll have the confidence to say yes. And, if you come across as confident in your well-rehearsed pitch, they’ll be more likely to feel confident investing.

Before You Become a CEO You Need to Become a Salesperson

During the actual presentation, your role is going to be that of a salesperson. Your company does not yet exist – it is simply an idea in your head or on a piece of paper. You are trying to sell your company and vision to the investor, and to do that, you need to convince them that your plan is going to work.

Before you even become the CEO of your own company, you first have to become a great salesperson. Being a visionary and sharing your passion as to why you want to start a business in the first place is good, but unless you are able to clearly articulate your thoughts to the investors, you will never have a chance at succeeding. Spend time to craft your pitch carefully, practice your speech over and over until it comes second hand, and then take action.

This is where skills like closing become very useful. If you have experience doing sales, you will have a much easier time getting over your investor’s objections. Being able to redirect the conversation will allow you to get to the core of what your investor is really after – getting a positive ROI. You already know what kind of outcome they are looking for, all that’s left is to lead them towards that result. Treat them like you would treat a prospect, and get them to say yes.

Having your pitch down and solid documentation of how you are going to get there, is going to help influence investors to believe in you and your vision. But ultimately, it will be up to you and how well you can sell yourself.

Why You Shouldn’t Approach Banks For Your Startup Funding

Thinking about getting funding through traditional methods like the bank? Think again.

Banks have extremely strict lending criteria, and as a startup with no track record, no revenue and no proof of success – the chances they’ll say yes are very slim. As a startup entrepreneur, banks want nothing to do with you. Startups are a risk they aren’t willing to take, and with such a large customer base, banks have many other people they can lend money to at a much lower risk.

If you’re wondering how to find investors to fund your company, banks are the last place you’ll want to visit. Instead, get creative – and tap into the marketplace that other entrepreneurs can be found: Social Media.

Using Social Media and Crowdfunding To Build Your Business

One of the best ways to get funding is by using crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe, Kickstarter and Patreon.

“But Dan, I’m an entrepreneur! I’m not going to accept DONATIONS from other people!”

You won’t accept donations? That is precisely the kind of mentality that is holding you back. Instead of seeing it from the perspective as a donation, think of it as a business loan that you will pay back once your business is up and running. For example, let’s say you need a million dollars before you can start your business. So you set up a Kickstarter page, get the funding and now you’re ready to launch your business. How are you going to pay back your loyal supporters, who got you where you are?

This is why some crowdfunding campaigns have rewards based on the amount that people donate. Those who donate more money, have access to exclusive perks and benefits such as lifetime discounts on products and services, or limited edition products. Having a reward tier system allows the funders to feel they are getting something in return. You get the money you need for your business, and they get rewarded for their financial assistance.

You Don’t Need Money – You Need Resourcefulness

Finding investors for your startup company launch requires creativity. You are doing something that goes against traditional wisdom, which means you need to think up methods that don’t use traditional means.

The biggest problem that beginner entrepreneurs have, is that they make up excuses. They say things like “I don’t have enough money” or “I don’t know how to do this or that.” As an entrepreneur, excuses will get you nowhere. If you want to succeed, you need to realize that those who have made it, did so not because they had money, but because they were resourceful.

Imagine that you somehow got the startup capital for your company. You’re ecstatic that you finally have enough money, and celebrate with a big company launch. But then a year later, you realize you’ve already burned through all of the cash and need more. Now you’re back where you started. How will you solve the issue this time?

Having money isn’t the solution. Being resourceful is. If you have the skills and knowledge to generate money, you will never have to worry. Money is something that can be taken away from you as easily as you have earned it. And in the world of business where there are many risks and possibilities of going broke, you need more than just money if you want to succeed.

Learning how to be resourceful will allow you to overcome many other problems that you will inevitably encounter along the way. If you make excuses and rely on having everything ‘ready’ before you begin, you will struggle whenever any problem pops up. Think of the problems you currently have now as opportunities, that tell you what aspects of yourself you need to improve on.

Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Click To Tweet

Finding Angel Investors and Getting Them to Say Yes

If you’ve ever watched Shark Tank or Dragon’s Den, you may be familiar with the term ‘angel investor’. Angel investors are entrepreneurs that are wildly successful. They are multi-millionaires and even billionaires that actively look to invest their money into funding companies and startups.

These millionaires and billionaires can afford to take the risk to invest in startups, because to them it is only a small percentage of their net worth. If the startup fails, they simply lose their investment – which is not a lot to them. They understand that if they want to make a lot of money, they must be willing to take big risks. For them, startups are the fastest way to generate more money – a small $100,000 investment could easily net them a 1000% return if the business becomes successful.

If you want to get funding from an angel investor, you need to be prepared. This is why I recommended you first rehears and perfect your pitch and presentation before you even begin looking for investors. Successful people know that opportunities can happen at any time, and if they want to win in business, they have to always be ready to give their best. That means preparing ahead of time what you want to say, and how you should present yourself. After all, you only get one shot at making a first impression.

Angel investors can be found in any local city, online, on television shows, at business workshops, seminars, and even as an associate of your friends or family. The larger your network is, the better chance you have of finding an angel investor. Once you do, all that’s left is to convince them that you have what it takes to make the business successful and generate them a massive return on their investment.

Why Your Network is Your Net Worth

The more people you know, the higher your chance of succeeding in business. Successful business people understand that having connections and growing their network is one of the most valuable assets they can have. In order to build something great, you need a team. And when you know a lot of people, you have access to many more opportunities.

People only do business with people they trust. And for them, they are much more likely to trust a friend than a random stranger they just met. That’s why having a large business network is so valuable, because it allows you to tap into many resources. Finding a business mentor, for example, could make all the difference for you. In fact, if it wasn’t for my mentor Alan, I might never have become successful.

Alan was my copywriting mentor. Before I met Alan, I had started and failed at 13 different businesses, getting myself into $100,000 of credit card debt. Even though I was desperate to succeed, I still did not give up, and did everything in my power to keep moving forward. That led me to attend a seminar, where coincidentally, I found myself sitting beside him in the audience.

At that time, Alan was this super successful copywriter whom I frequently studied. I managed to convince Alan to become my mentor, and after a lot of begging, stubbornness and hard labor, he finally agreed. As time went on, Alan found himself too busy to take on copywriting work from his clients, and instead handed them off to me. Because of Alan, I was able to kick off my copywriting career, find clients and never have to work a 9-5 job again. I knew the right people, and they helped to open many more opportunities for me. That’s the power of having a large business network.

Your network is your net worth. - Tim Sanders Click To Tweet

Expanding Your Network and Business Connections

If you want to expand your network, you have to put yourself out there. That means going to seminars, workshops, making YouTube videos or building a social media profile.

If you’ve been following my work for some time, you’ll realize that I do all of the above. This isn’t accidental, it’s intentional. I knew that if I wanted to spread my message across the world, that I would need to put myself on as many platforms as possible. I had to grow my presence online, so that people could find me and know who I am. If you’re looking for investors to fund your startup business, I would recommend you to do the same.

There are many platforms you can promote yourself on. Some popular platforms are LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Kickstarter. Think of these platforms as your business brand – what kind of content do you want your audience to know about? What kind of content would attract investors to reach out to you for funding?

“But Dan, I HATE social media! It’s so shallow and cliche!”

Instead of thinking about it as social media, think of it as business media. You are using these popular social media platforms as a way to advertise your business. The best part, is that you can do so for FREE. Traditional methods such as running ads cost you money, and considering you are looking for investors for your startup, you probably don’t have a lot you can spend.

Get creative, and leverage social media as your business page. You’ll be able to reach millions of people by either building your own personal brand, or finding others who are doing similar things.

Follow Me On LinkedIn and Expand Your Business Network

Becoming an entrepreneur is not easy. It means you are committing yourself down a path that goes against conventional wisdom and what you have been taught. In order to succeed as an entrepreneur, you’ll have to think outside the box.

If you’re looking for ways on how to find investors for your new company, you won’t be able to do it through traditional institutions like banks. Instead, look for places where investors and other entrepreneurs are most likely to hang out. This could be at seminars, workshops, speaking events or your local bookstore. They’ll also frequently visit crowdfunding campaigns and professional business platforms like LinkedIn to grow their network and connections.

By building a personal portfolio or brand of yourself and what you stand for, you can attract potential investors to your startup. Put yourself out there, by growing your network and posting on social media. If others are interested in what you have to offer, they’ll instead reach out to you.

If you’re looking to grow your business network and meet others who are doing the same, follow me on LinkedIn here.

How Competitive Sports Develop The World’s Strongest Leaders

February 11, 2020 by Dan Lok

Did you know that competitive sports can sometimes show us the world’s strongest leaders? Are you wondering how competitive sports shape and develop a strong leader? Perhaps you’re wondering, What do sports have to do with being a leader?

Well, competitive sports develop the strongest leaders in the world. Why? Because sports are highly competitive and by nature, they push people to achieve more than their rivals. A person playing competitive sports will vigorously train to be a winner. Playing sports also provides opportunities for developing leadership skills.

Competitive sports enable people to function effectively while developing confidence and making quick decisions. On top of that, competitive sports also encourage other elements of skills that I’ll be discussing shortly.

You see, when in a crisis situation, effective leaders recognize when to behave decisively. With that said, when it comes to teams and competitive sports, it involves developing a strategy to win.

To be good at competitive sports, you need to have the ability to focus and be in the zone. Competitive sports help you get in the zone and get into a winner’s mindset.

Human beings are at their best when they’re in the zone. Click To Tweet

Playing and coaching competitive sports also arms people with the traits of being respectful among other competitors, the ability to identify strengths and weaknesses, as well as managing time effectively.

Research demonstrates that competing in sports builds certain transferable skills which can result in becoming a strong leader. Approximately 75% of people who played competitive sports believed that it gave them skills and capabilities in their workplace as well, and 40% of employers support their employees in participating in competitive sports.

Playing competitive sports builds confidence and mental toughness. Click To Tweet

Be Conscious of Your Own Thought Processes

Whether it’s sports or business, it’s the mental game that counts. Because your body is controlled by your mind, you have to imagine that your brain is the main core system, and what you believe in your mind enables you to produce great results.

Some people are gifted with great leadership skills. But what’s important here is, you must become conscious of your own thought processes, and develop a leader’s mindset.

Competitive sports enable you to execute both your mental and physical potential. Sports can help you become aware of your subconscious thoughts, and your inner motivators.

For example, let’s say you’re going to a competition. If you believe that you’re not as good as others, your subconscious mind will constantly remind you of what you believe. So, if you keep thinking that you’re not good enough – you will not be good enough.

Because you carry those thoughts with you all the time, instead of winning the game, you lose.

Now, let’s turn it around. Let’s say you have more positive thoughts such as, “ I am going to win.” Your beliefs lead you to a certain way of thinking which in turn, produces results.

Therefore, it’s important to always think of winning, rather than worrying about losing.

So, how can competitive sports develop the strongest leaders in the world?

Teamwork

Teamwork is one of the basic skills required for any competitive sport. It gives people the motivation needed during a game or a competition. With that said, participants will do their part by assisting the team to reach their collective goal.

Leaders that are involved in competitive sports must develop team-building skills. And great leaders inspire others by focusing on achieving objectives or common goals.

On another note, it’s not as easy as it seems when it comes to building a top-performing team. Company executives need to establish a good vision and hire talented employees for this. The same goes for a leader that’s coaching a team of competitive sports players.

With practice of good teamwork, you’ll achieve your goals faster. That’s why establishing talented employees, and putting together a great team that works well together, is crucial for success.

But then again, to act as a strong leader, you have to create a team culture that aligns with your vision. A vision that empowers the whole team to take action without hesitation.

Communication with Your Team

Communication skills are the most important element when it comes to sports. In fact, communication skills are crucial for anything we do, whether it’s personal or sports or business. So, in competitive sports, when you’ve mastered this skill, it allows you to inspire, motivate, recognize and appreciate the great work of your team.

Most people can speak and communicate just fine. However, it’s the exceptional communicators who stand out and succeed. Being an exceptional communicator requires a special talent. Especially for business owners and corporate professionals.

So, if you’re someone that’s constantly looking at stacking your skills. I highly recommend you consider learning how to communicate better.

To be a strong leader, finding ways to communicate effectively in any situation will help you succeed in anything you do. Not only will it improve your leadership capacity but also, it helps you be a good listener. On top of that, good communication skills help you persuade your team to perform.

Imagine that you’re a competitive swimmer. You’re underwater a lot, and you might not think communication skills are that important for you. There won’t be any talking while swimming, you’re right, but what about before the race? Competitive swimmers need someone to motivate them with the right words, and that requires communication skills.

Now imagine that you are a coach. You see, when you coach someone, you need to pass on a clear message and motivate them. Your ability to do this effects your team’s performance. That’s why coaches must master communication skills.

Decision Making

When you’re involved in competitive sports, it’ll enhance your decision-making skills, because you’re observing and interpreting information, and you’re required to make decisions quickly. Competitive sports help you make quick decisions in order to succeed.

What do I mean by a ‘quick’ decision? Let’s take soccer, for example. A player only gets a few seconds to decide who to pass the ball to. You don’t have time to procrastinate in making this decision. If you do, you could cost your team the win.

Competitive sports help people develop quick-thinking, which is important for success. Click To Tweet

Sports like soccer, basketball, hockey, fencing, wrestling, and football, require quick-action thinking in order to be win. On top of that, it enables your mind to develop better reflexes and more confidence in making decisions.

But you might have this question in mind: Is this skill learnable? Yes, it’s definitely a learnable skill. Like any other skill, practice makes perfect. So, in anything you do, whether it’s in sports or business, decision making is crucial for success. As a business owner, making wise decisions quickly could put you on the path to greater success much faster.

Now, let’s say you’re a business owner and you’re wondering how you can learn or practice decision-making skills.

Imagine you have an appointment with a prospect, and this is a new prospect. So, as a business owner or a corporate professional, you must know your product and service at the back of your head. And typically, it involves “communication”. Which means you may have a script ready in your mind. Or maybe not – maybe you just wing it and just go with the flow.

Imagine that if you close the deal, you’re closing a 6-figure deal. But what happens when your prospect gives you a bunch of objections? Let me tell you something: Prospects Lie.

So, how can you use the power of quick-thinking to tackle your prospect?

Watch this video to know why we get objections:

Dealing with Success and Failure

Both success and failure have their own advantages. When you accomplished success, be proud and celebrate! And the same goes for failure. Celebrate failure, especially if you learned a valuable lesson. But you might be thinking, Why exactly should I celebrate when I fail?

When you fail to succeed, you learn a lot about yourself, your skills, and your capabilities. You learn where you need to improve. And when you set your mind to do better, that’s an incredible shift of mindset.

So, knowing how to deal with success and failure is important. Competitive sports teach you how to be proud of your successes without demeaning your opponents.

Each and every accomplishment requires a certain amount of focus. So, even if you fail at something, you will focus more to do better the next time.

To some people, failure means – they can’t be successful. And if you’re someone who thinks that way, understand that failure is just a temporary setback. You can learn from your mistakes in order to improve as I said earlier.

I’ve mentored over 5,000 students from all over the world and not everyone tastes success overnight – I know I did not… It took me twenty-three years to be a self-made millionaire. I failed in multiple businesses, made wrong decisions but that did not let me down.

So, stay on track and strive for your goals!

Setting and Striving For Goals

When I get a new mentee, I ask them a lot of these sorts of questions: “What is your goal?”, “How much money do you want to make per month?”and “How much income do you want to earn per year?”

Now you must be answering those questions in your mind.

Most successful people set two different kinds of goals. One type of goal is a short-term goal, and the other is long-term. So why do you need to set both short and long-term goals? Well, a short term goal usually can be achieved quicker than a long term goal.

For example, you want to be the strongest leader in the world. In order to see results, first, you have to acknowledge that you need to take action. And then, you start looking for courses to enroll in. You used your quick-action-thinking skill to make this decision because you want to discover their success and how they implement their strategies – for yourself.

So, you keep on stacking your skills, learning from the best of the best – implementing their strategies for your own team and businesses. Because of your quick-action-thinking, you now see success – that’s your short term goal – learning from a mentor.

Once you’ve graduated or completed all the courses you need, now you take control of your life by practicing daily – to achieve your long term goal, which is to be the strongest leader in the world.

Be proud of your accomplishments, but don’t settle. Keep pushing yourself to your limit. Click To Tweet

Setting goals can be mirrored as your desired improvement. Once you’ve tasted success, you tend to set high goals for yourself. But, don’t be too proud and settle once you think you’ve achieved your goals. That could be dangerous and might jeopardize your future. Therefore, being disciplined is the core of maintaining your success!

Just like any competitive sports, it teaches persistence and consistency.

Competitive Sports Forces You to Be Discipline

Given the points, I spoke about. From “Teamwork” to “Setting goals” – if you have no discipline in anything you do, you’re likely not to see success. But then again, to have the discipline it’s not easy. It requires the right mindset for it.

When you have the right mindset, anything you do flows well and that’s what you want as a leader.

Competitive sports forces you to have the right mindset so that you’re disciplined to learn the skills you need. With that said, to maximize your performance from the learned skill requires a lot of time and preparation.

It takes discipline to improve and excel – success will follow. On top of that, if you have a mentor or a teacher that communicates clearly and concisely – you’ll learn faster. So how competitive sports can give you the discipline to be the strongest leader in the world?

Sports bring different challenges, just like in business, you’ll face plenty of different challenges. Not only does it teach you to recognize the challenges at hand, but with your combined quick-action-thinking skill, you’ll be able to tackle those different challenges at the same time.

As a business owner, we’re only humans. We tend to make mistakes here and there. Knowing your challenges and what mistakes to avoid is crucial to your success.

Identify Techniques

An athlete who does competitive sports faces stressful situations and anxious moments. To perform well, you need to be in the right state of mind. I spoke about success and failure earlier where if you fail to succeed, don’t give up trying and learning.

The thing is, if you’re not in the right frame of mind, you won’t be able to identify the emotional and/or mental factors. These factors tend to prevent good performance.

And in business, as a business owner, identifying your own emotions to one’s task enables you to identify which technique best fits your prospects.

Competitive sports train you to recognize your own emotions so that you can identify certain techniques to maximize your performance. Click To Tweet

So, as a leader and a business owner, how can this help you in your business?

If you noticed, I speak a lot about mindset, because, I truly believe, “when you set your mind to do better – you’ll achieve anything in life”. Whether it’s competitive sports, in business, or in your personal life.

To identify the right techniques, it’s like learning human psychology. Understanding your own emotions gives you the ability to understand your prospects. And given that, you will be able to know which kind of technique to apply in order to seal your deal.

That’s where your quick-action-thinking and decision making comes in.

For example, when you face a prospect that has no time for nonsense and expects you to go straight to the point, but you need the time to speak to him or her – what are your techniques to tackle that kind of prospect? Will you let your emotions get in a way with such a prospect?

So, learning how to identify techniques when it comes to business is crucial and I don’t have to tell you the reasons behind it.

High-Ticket Closer Certification Program

At the beginning of my entrepreneurship career, I made a lot of wrong judgments. I let my desperation make the decision for me. And because of that, I wasted so much time developing just to watch it crumble. I blame my desperation!

I realized I needed to acquire a certain set of skills to be successful. In order to maximize my performance, over the years I learn and test many different skills. That’s why I compiled the best and came up with a program that’s like “One size fits all”.

The High Ticket Closer Certification Program enables you to acquire all the skills that I just spoke about. Not only will you discover your hidden skills and talents, but you will also be able to generate a high-income.

And if you’re a business owner who not only wants to be a strong leader – High Ticket Closer Certification Program will also be able to improve your close rate drastically – with effective implementation.

We make successful people be more successful. So, do you think this is the program for you? Whether you want to stack your skill, or to master a certain closing skill, or perhaps to purely earn handsome commissions.

My point is, don’t be like me – decide based on desperation! If you make the wrong judgment, I can tell you this now… you’re likely to deal with failure faster than success.

Want to Develop a Strong Leadership Mindset?

Now, if you’ve been following me, you must know that this certification program is extremely expensive and intense. That’s why it’s not for just anyone. This high-level program is for leaders who want to be the best and the strongest in the world.

As I said earlier, I’ve mentored over 5,000 students from all over the world and to be successful, you need to work hard and train yourself daily just like any competitive sports. You can’t set your mind to train today for tomorrow’s competition. So, don’t expect to achieve anything if you have that mindset. And I also said, it took me 23 years to be where I am today.

Developing a strong leadership mindset is a learnable skill. Just like any other skill, if you find a good mentor that is able to unlock your potential to maximize your performance. Don’t stop right there. Run to the finish line and claim your prize.

With my exclusive, 7-week intense program, I can guarantee you will be able to achieve an incredible shift in your mindset. Click here if you want to develop a strong leadership mindset.

Leaders are always looking for the “magic bullet” – the proven strategies and the proven techniques to be successful. If you want to discover the magic bullet that develops the strongest leaders, click on the link below to watch all my free videos. My team and I produced videos every day so that I can help you maximize your performance.

Click here to subscribe right now!

How Leadership Differences Between Men and Women Are Evolving Today

February 10, 2020 by Dan Lok

How are the differences between men and women in leadership evolving today? Are there any significant differences between men and women when it comes to business and leadership?

I believe that a true leader possesses certain skills and certain personality traits. It doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman. Leadership is more connected to your personality and skills. Therefore, I like to take a more individualistic approach. Some people are suited to be good leaders and some aren’t. It’s not so much about gender, and more about if your skill level and personality type suits leadership.

On my team, there are plenty of skilled men and women in very senior positions. I think that the marketplace is hungry for more female leaders. So while men might have been favored by society as leaders before, the era of female leaders is fast approaching.

Still, it can’t be completely dismissed that there are some general differences between men and women. This is often because of the different ways men and women are treated by society, and how they’re treated as children. Keep in mind, these are very general differences. At the end of the day, we are all different and only some of those differences can be explained by gender.

You also shouldn’t view these differences as set in stone. Think about the general direction that society is viewing gender differences right now. It might change or it might stay like this for a while. All I know is, some of the best leaders in our world today, are female.

Let’s discuss how the leadership differences between men and women are evolving today.

What Are Some Common Leadership Differences Between Men and Women?

Let’s have a look at some general trends in regards to men and women in leadership.

In recent years, women have expressed a higher level of interest in skyrocketing their careers. Thanks to a higher awareness in society, more and more women are now more readily taking on leadership positions. The men no longer need to be the breadwinner of the family. Some women are even choosing a high-paying career over spending more time with their family. Families and household dynamics are definitely changing.

When it comes to women in leadership, society is slowly but steadily becoming less discriminatory and more accepting. Many companies have certain policies and measures to promote more female leaders. Such measures don’t come from looking down on women. Instead, companies nowadays know that women in leadership positions can create phenomenal results.

The percentage of women in leadership positions has constantly increased. While in 1950 only 13.8% of manager positions were assigned to women, in 1980 it increased to 26.1%. And today, we are talking about more than 50%. Click To Tweet

One problem, however, is that women don’t yet find themselves in the top positions very often. They are more likely to find themselves in middle-management positions. So when it comes to differences between men and women, men are still more present in top leadership roles than women are. But we can see that this is changing, and we can at least see the number of women entering into top leadership positions rising.

Let’s look at management boards, for example. In the US, approximately 19.2% of the board seats of the largest companies are held by women. In Canada, approximately 20.8% of board seats are held by women.

There are also fewer women in top positions when it comes to the government, law or medicine.

So, there is definitely still a lot of room for women who want to strive higher.

Now, let’s have a look at leadership styles. Are there any differences between men and women when it comes to leadership style?

Are Men and Women Leading in Different Ways?

When it comes to differences between men and women, there is always an important question asked. Do they have different leadership styles? And, if the answer is ‘yes’, which style is more effective?

Again, I would argue that individual people have very individual leadership styles, regardless of gender. It’s not so much connected to their gender as it is connected to their personality. However, some might argue that women are more likely to have certain personality traits that men are less likely to have. So, let’s explore this.

First, I want to clarify that I still believe that regardless of gender, different people will naturally have different leadership styles. When we look at two men, for example, one of them might have a certain leadership style, and the other would lead a completely different way. And the same goes for women. So, differentiating leadership by men or women might be too one-dimensional of a viewpoint.

However, we can’t ignore some of the general trends that do relate to gender. There are trends we can observe in the leadership styles of men and women. In many case studies, women proved to be as effective leaders as men – sometimes even more effective. But there are still some stereotypes that only die down slowly.

Many people still possess a bit of a bias in terms of favoring male leaders. However, many people who worked under female leaders would often say they want a female boss again, because they liked having a female boss.

Often, one of the big differences between men and women is their self-perception and self-confidence. Women are more likely to be harder on themselves and women tend to experience imposter syndrome, where they experience low self-esteem and feel undeserving of their leadership position. So, while many women might think to themselves, I’m not good enough to do this, men are more likely to exaggerate their self-confidence. Men are more likely to think to themselves, I can do this. That’s why men might be more proactive when it comes to applying for a leadership job. They’re confident they can do the job, and can easily learn what they do not yet know.

So, let’s assume there is an opportunity to apply for a leadership position. The woman might think she has to wait and learn more, before applying. The man, on the other hand, might be more likely to believe he is good enough and can learn the rest along the way.

Women tend to undervalue their skills. If you are a female leader and want to be more effective, I would suggest working on your self-perception and self-confidence. You don’t want to miss out on great opportunities because of self-limiting beliefs.

Differences in Men and Women’s Leadership Approaches

Both men and women have the ability to be very competent leaders. When an opportunity presents itself, either gender can succeed.

Some people would argue that the differences between men and women lay in their way of working or their approach to leadership. Men in leadership positions often focus on the following: Accomplishing tasks, implementing structure, and establishing power.

Women, on the other hand, often focus on caring for the team on a personal level, motivating the team and subordinates, listening to the team member’s ideas, and problem-solving.

In other words, men tend to have a more authoritarian leadership style. They derive their power from their status. Men tend to take less advice from the team when it comes to leadership decisions. They might be more strict, they might come across as less caring, and give more direct commands.

Women generally have a more collaborative management style, encouraging participation and listening to ideas. They derive their power from effectively managing and cooperating with their team. So, when a female leader makes a decision, she would probably listen to the team’s suggestions first. After the decision is made, she would also communicate why and what that will mean for the team. Female leaders often provide more details and explanation regarding their decisions, than male leaders do.

In other words, women often lead with a transformational approach, while men take a transactional approach. Women spend more time with subordinates and focus on inspiring them. Men are less involved and often just give orders with no further communication. This also means men tend to provide very clear instructions. They are good at communicating who on the team is or is not meeting their expectations.

However, there are also men who take the collaborative or transformational approach. And there are also women who are very authoritarian or transactional. You see, I’m not talking in absolutes, I’m just talking about general tendencies here. Both of these leadership styles have great advantages but also have their limitations. Effective leaders can’t be too rigid about their approach.

Differences Between Men and Women – Who is More Likely to be a Better Leader?

Some people would argue that women are, in fact, better leaders than men. They exhibit a lot of leadership traits that men tend to lack.

A US consulting firm called Zenger & Folkman, conducted a study on leadership. They ranked men and women on 16 different leadership characteristics. The conclusion? Women ranked better than men in 12 of the 16 characteristics.

For example, the women exhibited better communication skills than the men. They were more respectful of the culture and ethics of a business, and exhibited more patience. If women are this great in terms of leadership skills, we definitely want to see more of them in top leadership positions.

The thing is, men and women, go through different life experiences as they are growing up. They get different advice from their parents and teachers. Women, for example, are often encouraged to be more nurturing, caring or emotional than men. They might have different role models, too. That could be another reason for their different leadership approaches.

Again, this is very generally speaking. People are already different as individuals, regardless of gender, even if gender plays a factor. Individual personality differences, however, might be bigger factors than the differences between men and women.

So, even if women ranked higher in leadership characteristics in Zenger & Folkman’s study – and we definitely want more female leaders – no two people really have the same leadership style.

Every company is different, so one approach might be perfect for one business, and not work at all for the next. There are many variables. That’s why comparing women’s and men’s leadership skills is so hard to do.

I would argue no gender is better than the other. One person might simply possess a specific leadership style that suits a certain company perfectly. It’s all very situational.

What are Some General Effective Leadership Traits?

Now there might be some differences between men and women as leaders. Yet, I want to suggest to look at something else. At the actual person. To determine if a person is a good leader, let’s look at their actual traits. What are they good at and what do they lack? Are they willing to learn?

What should a good leader act like?

I noticed that the best leaders have something in common. They have a clear vision and follow their mission no matter what. They have this clear idea of where they want the team or company to go, and guide others. So great leaders, they… Click To Tweet

Effective leaders don’t necessarily lead by authority. Instead, they lead by persuasion. What does that mean? They inspire others to work harder. That’s what a great leader does. They find ways to motivate their team to work harder and work smarter.

Great leaders communicate their “why”. Leaders should always make their team understand the goals and objectives. They make sure others understand what they are doing, and why they are doing it. Such a leader would want to find out what motivates their team members. They make sure everybody is working hard because they want to, not because they have to.

So, rather than forcing others to work hard, effective leaders lead by example and figure out their team’s primary motivators.

Their team then naturally wants to follow their lead. Great leaders, no matter if they are male or female, inspire hope and hard work in others. They give them something to believe in and specific goals to work towards. And they remind others of the common goal often. Important leadership skills and traits include clarity, vision, and charisma.

What Are Women Better At?

When we discuss the differences between men and women, I’m convinced we can learn a lot from each other. This is, again, more generally speaking. But there are some things male leaders can learn from female leaders, and vice versa.

When it comes to leadership, what do women tend to be better at?

Women tend to be better communicators. They usually excel in verbal communication. And that kind of communication is important when you are in a leadership position. Think about it: How could a leader communicate their vision and mission without verbal skills or listening skills? That’s why women are great leaders. They are also great at problem-solving and at nurturing the skills of their teammates.

Women often take more initiative than men do, which is another great characteristic to have as a leader. Most people would think that men take more action, but actually, the opposite is often true. Women often have to fight harder to actually get leadership positions. That’s why they are used to taking initiative. They have great work ethic and think ahead.

Another difference between men and women is this: Women very often work twice as hard. Here’s why: Very, very often, when a man and a woman share a household, both work full time. However, the woman is the one who often also takes care of the household and possibly also organizes the care of the children. So, they actually get two or three jobs done at the same time. The willingness to work harder often makes women less lazy and more excellent leaders.

What Men Are Better At?

What do men excel at and what can we learn from them?

Most men don’t face the same obstacles a woman would face – especially if they want to become a leader in a top position. But that doesn’t necessarily mean leadership comes to them easy. Becoming a leader is competitive for both men and women. That’s why at the end of the day, it’s about the value they can bring to the table.

Most successful men have great self-confidence. While women tend to doubt their skills, men are more likely to rise to the challenge without self-doubt. That allows them to take action faster and get promoted – before their female colleagues even feel ready to try. Effective leaders can’t be indecisive, and men tend to be less indecisive and less hesitant than women.

Men are also great when it comes to focusing on short-term outcomes. Women tend to look at the long-term results and want to know that everything goes well along the way, even if it takes longer. Men, on the other hand, want to see results faster. So they would measure their success by creating results consistently.

And as I mentioned before, men often think in a bit more of a strategic manner. When it comes to leading a company, a strategy is important. If there is no system or strategy behind a business, it won’t last long.

Why We Need More Female Leaders

I personally think that the differences between men and women aren’t that major. Both men and women can make very good leaders. When you look at the information that is out there, many people argue women are better leaders than men. Now, I believe, this shows us how hungry the market is for female leaders and female CEOs.

In the average household, women make most of the purchasing decisions. That’s why females are needed in the marketing world, too. Women have great social and financial capital.

In the global market, companies can’t ignore 50% of the population – which is also half of the workforce. If a business would do that, they wouldn’t stand a chance against their competition. A company where all of the senior-level staff are men, would probably not do as well as a company that also had females in senior-level positions.

What does this mean for the differences between men and women in leadership? And how are the differences evolving? The market is slowly becoming more inclusive. So I’m confident we will see even more of an increase in female leaders in the next years.

The differences between men and women are definitely not easily explained. No longer is the old cliche, “men are rational and women are emotional” assumed. If anything, both men and women want to be both emotional and rational to be effective as leaders. For example, if a leader is able to connect with their subordinates on an emotional level, and evoke positive emotions, that team member might perform better. And, being rational and logical are of course important traits as well.

Hungry For More Business-Related Advice?

As you read this article, perhaps you started to wonder if you would be an effective leader. On my YouTube channel, I regularly provide advice about leadership and other business-related topics.

I run several high-level businesses and in my YouTube videos, I provide insights on how I reached my current level of success – after immigrating to Vancouver from China and being 150k in debt. Now I’m a multi-millionaire, and my followers come to me for advice. What would it mean to you to learn from a millionaire, and get tips on how to avoid common pitfalls, and learn how to be an effective leader?

If that is something you want or need, then subscribe to my free YouTube channel. See you there. Click here to subscribe.

How Effective Leadership Communication Impacts Business

February 10, 2020 by Dan Lok

If your employees are lazy and if your customers aren’t buying, one of the first things you should look at is how effective your organization’s leadership communication is.

The art of communication is the language of leadership. All great leaders are great communicators because that’s how you inspire. You have mastered the power of the spoken word to influence people to support your cause and follow you wherever you go.

If you want to motivate your employees, increase your sales, and grow your business, follow this advice on ways to improve your public speaking skills.

Watch this video about why public speaking is important for leaders.

Problems Originate From Poor Communication

When you’re a strong leader, you can take people where they want to go, even if they don’t necessarily want to go where they should. So that means as a leader, when we are communicating, we have to push and challenge people a little bit.

Very often employee problems are the result of lack of communication. Lack of employee performance is also from lack of communication.You need to have a system in place to check on the performance of your employees: what are their strengths, their accomplishments, their challenges. If you aren’t aware of their struggles, how can you help them improve?

Similarly, if you want to shift the direction of a company to make it better or to grow it, don’t focus on the company itself. Work on you, the CEO, and the other leaders of the company. Paint a clear vision and mission for everyone to follow.

If I shift the leaders, I shift the company. It’s like when you’re driving a big ship. If you turn the wheel by a small degree, the entire ship will turn.

Lack of sales in the company, like poor employee performance, is also from lack of communication, starting from the company to the marketplace.

As the leader, it’s your role to motivate your sales team. How can you inspire them to close deals, to improve their skills, and understand why selling your products is so important? It’s not just about making money. What can you do to change the company’s marketing so that your customers and your sales team understand the value that you’re bringing to the marketplace?

Strong communication skills are vital in leadership. Eventually you will develop your own leadership and communication style to motivate them. Some people may not like, it, so you’ll have to accept that not everyone will agree with you or like your style. You know what’s best for them.

Poor Communication Means Poor Sales

When I am selling something, my internal dialogue is so strong I can sell someone something they didn’t even know they wanted yet. But when I’m done selling, they say, “Thank you.” That’s not a bad internal dialogue to have. That’s how much conviction you need to have.

So what is an internal dialogue? It’s you understanding the mindset of the person you’re speaking to. Your prospect can be your employee or a potential customer.

As you’re speaking, you anticipate and you react to what they’re saying. It’s part of sales psychology to understand what’s going on in their mind. Your conviction needs to be so strong that you sell the other party on whatever you want, whether it’s an idea or a physical item.

So my question to you is, how strong a belief do you have when it comes to your products and services? Your conviction makes a difference. If it’s only 50%, how is it affecting your results?

You might think your prospects don’t know, but I guarantee you, they know. They know the minute you open your mouth. It’s all at a subconscious level. They pick up on your tonality, the words you use, and the way you control the conversation.

We can’t force people to move forward with us, but our passion can motivate and inspire them.

Conviction Drives Business Forward

As a communicator, as a leader, your energy has to be high. If you’re a five on the energy scale, your audience is going to be a one. If you want them to be at an eight or nine, you had better be at a ten. It’s the same with employees. If they’re unmotivated and low in energy, it’s because of you.

The most important person you have to influence is yourself. And you’ll need to do that all the time. As an entrepreneur, you don’t have the luxury to relax. When you chose this path, you gave that up. Your energy always has to be high to motivate yourself, your employees, and your prospects.

Ideally if you want to raise the energy level of others up to an eight or a nine, you need to get yourself up to a ten or eleven. You don’t have to be loud or outrageous like a highly animated person on a stage.

You just have to have a little bit more conviction. People crave certainty. Your employees need to know that they can lean on you for courage and solid decision making. When you walk into the room, they will stop what they are doing and pay attention. Your voice is clear, positive, enthusiastic, and authoritative when you speak.

You will need that high energy level when you deal with your customers. You need to be at a ten, because if you aren’t confident in yourself, your company, and your product, how can you sell to your customers? And if you can’t sell to your customers, how can you help them?

So confidence and conviction need to be in your voice and your attitude.

You might think that you want to be nice so you don’t offend anyone, but no transaction will take place. No one is doing business with anybody. Customers are not benefiting from your products and services. Even if you deliver great value, they might never find out if they don’t buy.

If you want to be a great leader of a company, then start with strong communication skills. You will motivate employees to perform well and customers to buy your products.

Begin your leadership by inspiring yourself.

Feeling Uncertain About Your Business?

If you want to breakthrough your current performance as a leader, and want to effectively increase your business revenue, book a free consultation with one of my advisors to discuss your goals.

10 Insider Secrets For Creating A Personal Brand Based On Your Unique Superpower

February 7, 2020 by Dan Lok

Are you looking into creating a personal brand, but you don’t know where to start?

I see and hear a lot of bad advice when it comes to creating a personal brand. People who never actually built a successful or powerful personal brand themselves, want to tell you how to do it best.

It’s smarter to listen to people who practice what they preach. That’s why people ask me for advice on creating a personal brand, since I have credibility in the form of success and millions of social media followers.

Personal branding is important because ultimately, your personal brand will differentiate you from your competitors. When creating your personal brand, you want it to stand for something. The last thing you want to do is to be another boring realtor, another pushy sales agent, another coach who lacks that ‘X’ factor. You are unique, and you need to figure out your unique superpower and incorporate what makes you stand out into your branding. Your personal brand should be a reflection of your unique superpower.

I spent a lot of time building my personal brand. And that’s why today, I want to share 10 insider tips on creating a personal brand based on your superpower.

Why Should You Be Creating A Personal Brand?

A personal brand isn’t something you create after you already have millions of followers on social media. Instead, I like to think of your personal brand as your reputation and your image. If you asked others to describe you in three words, what would they say?

Would people say positive things about you and your brand? Would you like what people said? Or would it be negative?

Get some clarity on how you want others to see you. Figure out the three words you wish other people would use to describe you, and your brand. Those three words will become the base of your personal brand.

For example, the three words could be, “Diligent, “Honest”, and “Humorous”. It can be whatever you most desire to be known as.

Now, my personal recommendation is not to stop there. Next, you want to find out what your unique superpower is, and build your personal brand around that.

Why Should Your Personal Brand Be Created Around Your Superpower?

What do superpowers have to do with creating a personal brand? If you’ve followed me for some time, you know that I love superheroes like Iron Man or Batman. Studying comics, I noticed one thing. Superhero characters often have longevity. People remember these characters. Some of these superhero characters have been around for decades. People like to follow the story of superheroes.

That’s why when you are creating a personal brand ,you want to model your brand story after a superhero story. Basically, you are creating a character. The character is you, but maybe not all of you.

In other words, perhaps you tell your audience certain stories from your past, such as things that shaped you, but you don’t tell them about your current private life. That’s perfectly okay. Your personal brand doesn’t need to be based on your full story, or include every little detail of your life. With personal branding, you just have to reveal enough of a story so that you are authentic and people can connect with you.

Focusing on your superpower also has another benefit. Instead of trying to be good at everything, you narrow it down to what you are best at. What you’re best at is your special gift – your unique superpower. You have positioned yourself as an expert on one particular subject.

If you claim to be an expert at everything, nobody will believe you, and nobody will like your brand. That’s why specializing in one thing or one niche creates a lot more credibility. If you position yourself as an expert in one niche subject or field of focus, your brand will garner more respect and attention.

I personally have been using this strategy, and it’s been working. I have positioned myself as an authority figure and established myself as an expert in certain niche fields related to business, copywriting, sales, and closing. That means that my personal brand won’t be for everyone. My brand is for certain kinds of people who are interested in learning what I am an expert at. P

art of developing my personal brand involved telling my story of how I became an expert at these things. I won’t be around forever, but the character of Dan Lok will live on.

Below are 10 insider secrets for creating a personal brand using your unique superpower:

1. Creating A Personal Brand by Discovering Your Superpower

The first thing you need when creating a personal brand based on your superpower is, of course, your superpower. I’m not talking about superhuman strength or the superpower of flying, though.

Your superpower is what you exceed at. You superpower is your special gift, skill, or talent – it’s something you are exceptionally good at.

It could be anything from public speaking to consulting to SEO copywriting. Your superpower is based on your primary skill that you are an expert at.

Focus on a superpower that you enjoy, which will also bring value to the marketplace. Then, communicate your superpower to your target audience.

What if you aren’t sure what your superpower is, exactly? Determining your strengths and weaknesses is an important task to further your growth. So you might want to dig deeper and get to know yourself.

Usually, your superpower feels effortless. It’s what you’re naturally the best at, without trying that hard. You are great at it, and it amazes others. Your superpower can be a skill or something you understand more clearly than others. It could be something you’re so good at, you’re are almost fearless. When you discover your superpower, you will notice because it will feel just right, and you’ll feel very confident doing it.

2. Be Clear on What You Want to be Known For

Tying back to your reputation, what do you want others to say about you?

Maybe there are others that have a similar superpower to yours. For example, there are several motivational speakers out there, but what if your superpower is motivational speaking? How do you break through the noise and stand out from the crowd? You do this by creating a personal brand that is solid, unique, and powerful.

When you are clear on what you want to be known for, you don’t leave anything to chance. If you look at my personal brand, for example, what do people know me for? Possibly things like “Dan Lok is a millionaire”, or “Dan Lok is the King of Closing”, or “Dan Lok is the boss in the Bentley”, or “Dan Lok wears a red suit.” Now, do you think any of that was by accident? No. I made very conscious choices about my personal brand and what I wanted to be known for.

So, what do you want to be known for? What do you want to be viewed as an expert in? Make sure you are clear on this. Then start to communicate it with your actions, words, and personal branding.

3. Creating A Personal Brand By Adding A Face To Your Business

Another reason why personal brands are so powerful is this: When you are creating a personal brand, you are adding a face to your company. Your business isn’t just a logo or a product anymore. That’s important, because people don’t really connect with logos. They connect with humans beings they like and trust. That’s why adding a face to your personal brand can really help you.

Adding your face to your brand adds credibility and increases trust. Why? Because at the end of the day, people buy people. They don’t buy products as much as they buy people.

With a strong personal brand, it’s no problem if your product or career might change. You and your personal brand stay the same. You are so much more than a logo and that’s why you will stand out. If people are connected to your story and you ‘why’, they will follow you. Even if you change careers. They want to know what you as a character will do next.

4. Creating A Personal Brand by Adding Your Backstory

All superheroes have on thing in common. They have a backstory, which tells their audience how they became superheroes in the first place.

There are three very powerful ways to tell your backstory:

The reluctant hero: In this story, the hero is an ordinary person. But something changes in their lives that makes them step up as a hero. In the beginning, they aren’t sure if they can do this though. Only when they find a reason – a strong ‘why’ – they fully pursue their story as a superhero.

An exceptional person who overcame serious obstacles. People aren’t interested in ordinary people. They love to watch people who are great at something and succeed, despite obstacles and challenges in their way. When you build your personal brand on such a story, people will want to follow you, because they are wondering, What will happen next? People also love underdog stories.

Us versus Them. This is another powerful story because people tend to naturally think in belief systems. It’s very powerful if you and your tribe have the same enemy. Use this tip only for good.

Now all you need to do is look back and see which of the three fits best with your story. Are you a reluctant hero who only found your true calling after something significant happened? Or have you always been on your path and overcame big obstacles to get where you are? Or maybe you want to create your personal brand on an us vs. them framework?

Decide which one you are, and start telling your story. Storytelling has infinite power when it comes to marketing. Maybe you heard of the saying, “facts tell and stories sell”?

5. What Do You Stand For?

When you are creating a personal brand based on your superpower you also want to communicate what you are stand for.

If you look at popular superheroes, they all stand for something. People don’t care that much about what you do. They care about why you are doing it. So if you share your story and share why you are doing what you are doing – wouldn’t that add much more power to your personal brand?

Think about successful entrepreneurs or celebrities that you look up to. What do they stand for? What does Elon Musk stand for? Or what about Oprah?

This also ties back to your backstory and your ‘why’. Tell people what you stand for and why. Are you contributing to a good cause? You will be creating a powerful personal brand if you are. Even if others are doing similar things as you, you can find a way to be unique. Even if others have a similar ‘why’, nobody has the same unique backstory as you do. So when you link the two together you will stand for something and nobody else can do it the same way. You will be able to cut through the noise and stand out with your story.

6. Creating A Personal Brand Based On Your Parables

You might be wondering, what are parables? Simply put, parables are your stories. You have your main backstory but you also have other stories that you use to make a point or strengthen your personal brand. So, if you watch my YouTube videos, for example, you will see I have a few stories. I have my copywriting story about my first mentor who taught me the art of copywriting, I have a story about my mother, and a story on how I used to work in a supermarket, and so on.

You’ll want to create an inventory of stories that you can tell when you are making a certain point. You also want to continuously add more stories to your inventory. Because at the end of the day, marketing is storytelling. Never forget that facts tell and stories sell.

7. Your Secret Language

When you are creating a personal brand, you also want to pay attention to how your target audience is speaking. Maybe they are using certain words and phrases that don’t make much sense to outsiders. But when you use the secret language they will feel connected to you much faster.

So, you might want to do some research on your target audience and see how they speak and what their lingo is. But since you are your personal brand, you want to make sure your secret language also makes sense to you.

You are unique and you want to show that by creating a personal brand. Don’t try to copy others. Don’t try to copy me. There is only one you in this world.

8. Create Your Own Technology

This is very closely linked to your secret language. When you are creating your personal brand you want to come up with your own technology or your own mechanism. What do I mean by this? This means you are creating a system that helps your customers solve a problem, and then you give it a name.

For example, if you are an accountant you most likely already have a system in place. You have some way of how you help your clients. Now all you need to do is give that system a name.

Maybe you hear of the book “S.P.I.N. Selling”. In this book, the author is teaching how to sell following a certain method. He came up with it and called it SPIN.

Now while there are many people that teach sales, he is the founder of the SPIN sale technology. He stands out from the crowd because nobody else uses this kind of technology.

Maybe what he teaches is very similar to other sales methods. But because of the technology, it is special. You could easily do the same for your superpower when creating a personal brand.

9. Creating a Personal Brand For Your Niche

When it comes to marketing and branding, you don’t want to appeal to everyone. Many people think it’s better for sales to try to relate to everyone, but it’s actually not. Trying to market to everyone is counterproductive. You become too vague and you end up selling to nobody. Why? Because consumers in the marketplace would rather buy from someone who specializes in solving the specific problem they’re looking to solve.

Take a look at your current customers – what kind of professions do they have? If a large chunk of your audience are realtors, start by marketing to realtors. If, however, a large part of your audience are entrepreneurs, market to them. You get the idea.

Nobody goes to get a specific surgery from a general practitioner.

It’s the same when creating a personal brand. Maybe there are several things you are good at. Still, you want to start narrow and very specific. If needed you can always go a bit broader later. As I said, your specific superpower also helps you to be more specific. You aren’t an expert in everything. You are the go-to person for one or two very specialized things.

10. Creating a Personal Brand Based on Your Signature Style

When creating a personal brand, your signature style will play a role, too.

Remember my superheroes analogy? All superheroes have a signature style. They all have a special suit or outfit that they wear when they get into their hero persona. That’s also what I did with my red suit. I wear my red suit for special occasions, like when I’m on stage. People easily remember it and it became part of my personal brand identity.

Your signature style means more than the clothes you wear, though. Your signature style incorporates the color themes you use on Instagram, and the general feelings you evoke with your style. Is it luxurious? Sporty? Intellectual? Adventurous?

Your signature style also is formulated by the way you speak. Are you direct and authoritative? Or are you warm and bubbly? How about humorous and sassy? Choose a way to speak to your audience that matches your signature style and helps solidify it.

Again, you want to make very conscious choices about this. Base it off your unique superpower. I also suggest you make sure that your personal brand is congruent. Congruent in itself and congruent with your personality.

Ready To Supercharge Your Personal Brand?

You’ve probably learned a lot about creating a personal brand by reading this article. However, there is still much, much more to consider when it comes to building a powerful personal brand.

Since you are your personal brand, you should always be working on bettering yourself. If you become better, your personal brand becomes better, too. That’s why I always advocate for the importance of lifelong learning.

If you want to supercharge your personal brand and become a better version of yourself, now is the right time.

To celebrate the Lunar New Year, I’m offering a special discount in the Dan Lok Shop. Buy any two of my courses and get one for free. So, for example, you could get my Personal Branding Secrets, my YouTube Secrets and choose one more course for free. Use this package deal to educate yourself and create an even stronger personal brand.

Check out the special Buy 2 Get 1 Free store-wide discount HERE.