Business Help: Fake It Till You Make It
Starting a new business, whether virtual or brick & mortar can be very daunting. It is so easy to get caught up in the minutiae that we sometimes forget that we are always selling ourselves. In the spirit of that philosophy, it is wise to remember that our interactions with each person we come across will either help perpetuate the positive energy and business towards us or repel our would be clients because of our negativity.
Remember to fake it till you make it!
What does this mean? Well, first off, when someone asks how your business is coming along they don’t want to hear that your phone isn’t ringing, you don’t know if you can pay the bills this month, you feel like you spent way too much money on advertising and your staff is stupid. They don’t care.
It’s the same as when someone sees you for the first time today and they say, “Hi. How are you?” They don’t really care. It’s an automatic response. They want to hear you say, “I’m great! How about you?”
Why is this? Most people feel bogged down with enough problems of their own that they do not want to know about yours either. Especially if you are a chronic whiner.
So when someone asks about your business, they want to hear, “It’s better than I expected!” or “I’m really excited about where it’s going.” etc.
People are attracted to success.
[ad#in-post-image-ad]People like being around successful people. Customers love going to popular places. If you act down and out and worried all the time, people stop enjoying your company and start finding ways to avoid you. Your staff will quit because you will be too depressing to work for. Your customers will stop coming around because they don’t want to frequent a place that might not make it. People who could possibly mentor you and help you in your success will not want to be around you until you change your attitude.
If you want to be successful, act successful. Be graceful, considerate, thoughtful and present in your interactions.
When I opened my first salon, we had 66 clients in our first month. I was ecstatic and worried at the same time since our income was no where near our out flow. I found out that 66 clients is double the usual number for the first month. However, even though our numbers were growing 50%-300% each month, it didn’t seem quite fast enough with the vast advertising bills we were accumulating.
No one knew of my concerns barring my husband and a business associate. To the world, we were fantastic! We kept up the positive attitude and before you knew it, we were ranked 11th in the world after 6 months, 4th after 10 months and 3rd after 1 year in business. Keeping a positive outlook and really believing in myself pays in many ways.
If you haven’t watched ‘The Secret,’ you must! It’s more than just thinking positive. It’s being positive!
The Truth
There are a few people in your life that really do want to hear about your downs as well as your ups and help you through the hard times. The majority don’t care. Remembering that in business will help you grow exponentially faster than laying out all of your worries and troubles to everyone who lends an ear.
Being successful starts with acting successful. Fake it till you make it. Start now.
What success story do you have about being positive?
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Lee,
I landed here on your website from twitter. Liked your style.
I would like to add that it’s not really “faking”, it is a “success mind set” that one has to have in order to succeed. It is the mental image and faith in your abilities that even if you don’t see what you want to see in your reality, still it is there and it is going to show up in the physical realm.
That attracts situations and people who help you on your way to success.
Maybe it is just a play of words here but your advice is highly empowering.
Keep up the good work.
Awww shucks…thank you very much.
It’s so funny when you read simple things like this it makes you realize what is the difference maker and how simple it is. When I first started building my own business and I couldn’t find any partners was because they would ask me how I am doing and they could tell that I wasn’t doing well
. And when they asked me how business was going I would respond with it could be going better. WHO WANTS TO GET INVOLVED WITH SOMEONE LIKE THAT!!!?? I changed my wording to others ; don’t get me wrong the business I had is still a great business and now it’s going well , because now when people see me I always say to them it’s going great you should see what we are doing. Thanks for the article great point
You are most welcome Lee.
@Alpesh Shah It takes a minute to remember these things during times of stress. It’s funny to be able to look back and see yourself through someone else’s eyes, but you seem to be better for it. Good luck today and always in your business venture!