Success, Your Dream and You:
A Guide to Personal Marketing
by Patricia Raskin

(c) Roundtable Publishing, Inc., Malibu, California

INTRODUCTION

As we approach the next century, we are facing exciting possibilities. We are coming out of isolation. Networking is here to stay and entrepreneurs, business owners, and managers are actively seeking support from their colleagues. No longer are decisions made solely at the top of an organization. More and more mid-level management staff and line people are participating in decision making. Call it new dimensions in customer service or service vision, people are being brought together to support each other and increase profits as a result of sharing forces rather than opposing them. The new customer service orientation is really a deeper orientation toward cooperation. From that perspective, competition becomes a way to encourage stimulation and movement instead of annihilating the opponent.

Home-based businesses continue to multiply, and the focus on customer service becomes even stronger. Customers and clients do not only want personal attention and empathy from their service providers, they expect it. In the coming years, we will be working towards retaining our clients--not just finding new ways to acquire them. The emphasis is on quality control, focus groups, added value, and support systems.

As the corporate structure and nuclear family has becomes decentralized as our mobility has increased with technological advances, some of our essential human needs have gotten lost in the process. As John Naisbitt states in Megatrends 2000, "The most exciting breakthroughs of the 21st century will occur not because of technology but because of an expanding concept of what it means to be human." So many of us have been left to search for the basic needs of nurturing and intimacy that we often substitute achievement and external rewards as a way to fill the void. However, self-nurturing, self-love, and self-acceptance are essential parts of creating a vision that brings you internal happiness as well as external success. Having faith in vision comes from a deep belief and trust of whatever we conceive we can bring into reality.

Winning environments provide the support system needed to propel you toward your goals. One cannot work in a vacuum and create a winning environment. Finding the right networks is an essential part of creating the support system. However, as technology advances in telecommunications, not only will you have to use your intuition in shorter amounts of time, but, in addition, you will need to extract human tone and feelings from the equipment. In addition to the frustrations of cancelled appointments, you now have to deal with computer shut-downs, modem and FAX delays. So creating winning environments and support systems involves developing a new respect for the telecommunications systems because it has become a large part of the support system.

When you communicate, it is not only important to understand your clients and customers point of view, but to take your own point of view into consideration. If the client's need for help and understanding is met by the provider similar needs, a bonding can occur that goes beyond creating a win-win relationship. This fusion of both parties' intent can contribute toward a collective consciousness for new growth.

Although positive thinking plays an important role in this, it has become an over-used phrase. The answer to so many questions has been, "think positively." And yet--it is just that effort to be positive in our thoughts and purpose -- that enables us to create the desired results in our lives. What would happen if suddenly a new picture came across our television screens and newspapers . . . one that told the stories of the achievers, awards, triumphs, and joys, of the people working together toward a common goal? What kind of world would we have if we used our intuition and understanding of ourselves and others to join together and create powerful and positive results? The response to these questions may be tinged with cynicism and skepticism as many tout that reality is filled with problems, catastrophes and suffering. However, "the stuff that dreams are made of" is "the stuff" that you visualize and believe can happen. That comes from the inner pictures and descriptions you paint in your visions.

And you have the choice as to whether your pictures will be positive or negative. All the resources to reinforce either a positive or negative vision are available. The choice is up to you. John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene go on to say in Megatrends 2000, "Humanity will probably not be rescued deus ex machina (from without) . . . the answers will have to come from us(from within). . . . Apocalypse or Golden Age. The choice is ours. As we approach the beginning of the 3rd millennium, the way we address these questions will define what it means to be human."

In the context of finding the answers from within to create your own "golden age," I have created a 5 P formula for actualizing your success and dream. The words are Purpose, Planning, Passion, Persistence, and Patience.

Purpose

It is here that you define your dream and create your vision. Here is where you answer the questions, "What are my goals and what do I want to accomplish?" And "How is my purpose connected to my overall vision?" I believe that part of your purpose is loving what you do, and staying true to your values. This may mean releasing a client, but then, you have the ability to in draw in a new client, and one more aligned with your values. When you deal with clients, customers and colleagues always check within yourself to see if your purpose is a reflection of what he or she needs. And you can create a winning environment where conflict and struggle is reduced by matching your needs to those of the client and fulfilling your own purpose by meeting the needs of the client.

Planning

Your purpose must be translated into a plan, one that is coherent not just to you, but to others as well. This means putting together a business plan that will define your market, state your goals and objectives (including financial goals), and outline your action plan.

It also means doing your research and pricing your service within the market range in your area. Remember not to omit the most important of the research--you. Count the number of hours you spend on each project when determining your fees. Your labor is a very important part of the equation.

Another part of planning is to maintain your professional image. This includes the way you deal with clients, the way you dress, the words you use, your record keeping and your office space. We often become so involved in what we are doing that we forget the mundane details. However, it is carrying out those details by yourself or with with staff support that helps to maintain your focus. An important component of maintaining focus is to assess your goals and create new ones at least once a year. And in this assessment, create your own forecast by answering the questions: "What direction do I want my business to take? Where do I want to be in six months and in one year? What are my new financial goals?"

The following points are covered in corporate planning. I have interpreted the terms to apply in an entrepreneurial setting:

• General management: Running the day-to day operation, using your time management skills which includes creating new goals, targeting new clients, promotional campaigns, and financial forecasts.

• Strategic planning: Planning for your growth in six months on paper.

• Organizational development: Training your staff to align their vision to your vision and to use the necessary skills to implement your goals.

• Research and development: Reading periodicals in your field, understanding new market needs, new products and services in your field, and creating surveys to test your ideas.

• Marketing: The process of creating the awareness of your product or service and meeting the customer needs through such vehicles as advertising, public relations, promotional campaigns and the media.

• Sales: actually making the transaction happen between you and your client or customer.

• Human resources: Selecting the right personnel, dealing with personnel wages, benefits, and issues.

• Finance and accounting: Keeping track of receivables and payables, which may mean hiring a bookkeeper or accountant.

• Operations: Dealing with the tools such as manuals, computer programs, and electronic systems that make the business operate.

These technical terms can be translated on paper into your own language by stating their personal application to your business. You may not know exactly where your business will be in six months, but, by writing down your goals with the intent of bringing them into reality in the specified period of time, you create the business affirmation to make it happen.

Passion

There's a lot of truth behind the lyric, "do your passion and make it happen." For passion is the driving force behind putting your purpose and plan into action. And, when you are passionate, commitment and motivation are automatic. Passion comes in like a big wave and sweeps you to your destination. I'm not sure that passion can be developed. I feel that it comes from a voice deep within you that must come to the surface and be heard. And the voice gets louder and louder, often to the point of explosion-- until it finds a way to be expressed. The positive side of passion is that you don't have to try. Its exciting energy creates a life of its own and it transforms work into pure joy.

Persistence

Passion is great. But what happens during the difficult times when you, who are the motivator, are not motivated and your spirits are not spirited? That's when you can bring your persistence in to help you along. An important part of this process is getting the support of friends, books, nature, as well as using your own inner resources to persist through hard times. Writing and saying affirmations will also help to create, transmit, and actualize those wishes and dreams. Affirming where you are and how far you've traveled gives you the acknowledgment and encouragement to go on. Mistakes indicate a choice of wrong timing, wrong strategy, or wrong market. Persistence means having the courage to look at your mistakes, then reassess and move forward in a new direction. To find new direction, you can reach out by joining organizations that support your vision and look for contacts who will help spread the word about your business. Breaking down those large tasks into manageable pieces will help you prevent procrastination and complete projects.

Patience

Last but not least--and sometimes the greatest word of all--is patience. It's not easy to wait for the right things to happen, but this waiting time can be a most creative learning time. For it is during these pauses that you create new ideas. You have the opportunity to restore your balance by shifting activities and reflecting upon your process. I feel that success depends on how well you can develop and maintain a balance among your many roles. Work, play, sleep, relationships, hobbies, and fun are all vital parts to a balanced life.

You can learn how to visualize the process by using the creative waiting time to pause and look at where you are. Patience doesn't mean stopping. It means allowing and watching the process unfold. It teaches you to stop, wait and listen to your intuition for guidance. And it pushes you gently to understand, evaluate and appreciate the situation. It also gives you time to replenish, renew yourself, refuel your passion, while anticipating the excitement of achieving the long term goal.

It is during those "patient pauses" each day that you can spend time reviewing your successes and lessons and plan how you can attract more of what you need. You can extend this valuable attribute of patience when dealing with clients by thinking like a child and asking yourself, "How can I explain my product or service, slowly, lovingly, and with simple words?" Our clients need to hear the simple explanations that we often overlook, while quickly explaining our products and services in great technical detail. Patience may be the one quality that forces us to slow down, assess our position, change strategy, and create a new plan.

It is possible to create an environment where your clients will walk away smiling because you have made a positive impact on their lives by giving a part of yourself. But first, you need to understand how your internal mechanism works.

Ruth Ross, in her book Prospering Woman, states nine laws of prosperity. I believe in them so much, use them in my own life, and feel they are so related to personal success that I am including them here.

• Law of Self-Awareness: "When we know who we are and what we want, we can have what we want in life."

• Law of Wanting: "Experiencing choice means knowing what we want and why we want it."

• Law of Planning: "Without planning there is no consistent prosperity."

• Law of Releasing: "We must get rid of what we don't want to make room for what we do want."

• Law of Compensation: "There is a price for everything and we must always pay."

• Law of Attraction: "We attract what we are."

• Law of Visualization: "We become what we imagine, positive or negative."

• Law of Affirmation: "We become what we want to be by believing and affirming that we already are."

• Law of Loving: "Whatever we want for ourselves, we must also want for others."

It is my hope that you can bring your personal light into the workplace to illuminate the lives of others. By sharing your own process and inspiring others to create their own success, you become a powerful catalyst for transforming dreams into reality.