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With that being the case, it’s very important that the work you do is based on a passion you have for helping other people.

You’ll never find satisfaction from your work until you tap into that passion and understand the true value you’ve created and how it helps others achieve what they want out of life.

I have learned over the years that businesses that start with a heartfelt, personal story tend to do better.

The reason is people who hear the story resonate with it because it’s authentic. It’s based on how the owner of the business “feels” about the work she or he does.

This type of story resonates deeply with other people because it’s genuine and from the heart.

As a result, creating a story that is authentically your own is the most important thing you can do to find greater satisfaction from your work life.

Of course, when you’re happier in your work life you tend to be happier in your personal life as well.

How do you create your own Authentic Story?

It’s really easy. Start by taking out a paper and pen and get ready to write. Do that now, we’re really going to do this exercise together.

I’ll wait for a minute while you get your pen and paper out.

First, remember, this is not an exercise where you think. This is an exercise where you FEEL.

As you’re doing this exercise don’t think of the answer. Instead, write down the first thing you feel that just pops into your mind.

Remember, don’t think. Feel and then write the first thing that comes to you.

DEAL? Good.

First question; what was the greatest problem other people had that you set out to solve when you started your business?

Write down your answer in one minute or less.

What was it about the business you started that really resonated with you when you decided to begin? This would be the one thing that really helped you achieve the momentum needed to launch your enterprise.

Again, write down your answer in one minute or less.

What is the impact or result that your best clients gain when they engage your service or purchase your product?

One more time, write down your answer in one minute or less.

Now combine the problem with the thing that resonated with you most and the impact or result your best clients achieve and you have created your personal Authentic Story.

Now share your Authentic Story with people who are interested in your offer.

Notice the positive difference expressing your heartfelt story makes on your sales and marketing efforts. People will find you more credible.

If you struggle with doing exercise, call on me.

I’ll help you develop your Authentic Story in 15 minutes or less. No cost, my gift to you if you’re someone who needs help with expressing their heartfelt story in business.

You can request help here.

Or email me your completed story to bill@coachbillgluth.com and I’ll post the best few stories I receive on my blog, with your business name and link to your Web site.

Let’s share our passion and Authentic Stories to add value to the lives of others.

Are you with me?

The philosophy of conscious business operates on five simple principles.

1. The purpose of life is to be happy. The way adults gain happiness in life is to create value in the lives of other people using their talents, knowledge and passion.

2. You use your talents, knowledge and passion to create a business value that people are willing and eager to pay for. You reach out to the people who need you the most with pride and conviction.

3. You sell your value with a strong sense of purpose. You are eager to tell the world about the value you have created. You are able to sell the value you’ve created consistently because you have developed a winning sales process that focuses on caring about the outcomes your clients gain.

You follow your sales process every day with out fail. You care more than other businesses so you stand out in the mind of your clients and prospects. You know there are people who need you, but have not yet discovered you. They are waiting to hear from you. As a result, prospecting is seldom a chore.

4. Once you have those clients, you continue to add value to their lives consistently. You never allow them to underachieve because you did not offer them more of your talent and expertise. You continuously provide the advantage of working with you because you genuinely care about the results your clients gain.

5. You never, ever wait for clients to ask for your help; because you know they won’t. You serve their best interests by seeing what they need, offering it to them 100% of the time and ensuring they are able to use what you offered effectively.

You do this for as long as you’re in business. You feel good about your business and your life everyday. You are eager for each day to start.

If your days are a chore right now, you are not in a conscious business.

You can change that today if you choose. Or you can keep doing what you’re doing and expect a different result.

Use the power of your consciousness to decide what’s best for you. Then take action to change your results and your life.

Next week, in Part II, we’ll develop a conscious business plan that will help you articulate the value you’ve created in a way others can relate to. Stay tuned.

The answer is being relevant.

By relevant I mean that the conversation you are pointing at the marketplace must be something a niche group of people want to interact with. We’ll call that niche group of people your “Tribe”.

For example my friend, Jeff Fagin, The Money Master, had a dream for several years. His dream was to bring the Millionaire Mind work of T. Harv Eker to Phoenix, Arizona.

Jeff envisioned creating a community of people who were passionate about Harv’s work and to build a community and support network around it.

Jeff continued to take action on his passion. It was a labor of love that lasted at least 2 or 3 years. In January 2010 his new 2% Club was launched. At the inaugural meeting somewhere around 200 people attended.

WOW! Great turnout for the 1st event. How did Jeff do that?

Because Jeff had a true and unwavering passion that was directed at a niche group of people who wanted to share that passion with him.

How about you?

You can’t become relevant without a passion.

You can’t become relevant unless your passion is something a niche group of people gravitate toward.

To make that happen you have to realize one very important secret.

You can only become relevant when you communicate a message that is based on your true talents, knowledge and passion; like Jeff did.

And once you are truly relevant your Tribe will appear and interact with you.

If you don’t believe me, become a Fan of the 2% Club on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/2percentclub and be sure to check out the 2% Club Web site at http://www.2percentclubphoenix.com/ too.

I admire you, Jeff. You are a brilliant man. I love to see true passion in action. Go on over to Jeff’s sites now to see the power of passion in action.

Then ask yourself, “What am I passionate about that is relevant to the desires of one small group of like minded people?”

For me the answer to that question was helping talented, passionate and knowledgeable Entrepreneurs learn how to achieve balance, satisfaction and profit with freedom.

That happens by creating a value that enhances the lives of others.

So my Tribe is comprised of conscious people who want to achieve happiness by making a difference in the lives of others using their greatest strengths. The result of doing that successfully is true business and life satisfaction.

What is YOUR passion and who is your Tribe?

The comment line is open. I’d love to to learn more about your passion and the people you help.

Now here’s the thing to watch. Only the most passionate people will have something to add.

Watch those people, they are going to make a big difference in world with their small business.

The rest? Well they are mired in procrastination and will “Get to it when they have time.”

That is the status quo mindset. And the status quo is often ignored because their message is just not compelling. It sounds too much like everyone’s voice. The result is no one really cares to hear it.

If you suffer from status quo-ism realize there is help that you can ask for so that you can begin to see things a from a broader perspective.

This conscious personal brand approach focuses on marketing your talent, knowledge and passion rather than focusing on your services or products.

We all know that people buy from people they know, like and trust.

Today, with the proliferation of social media and content marketing strategies, people learn to know, like and trust you through the messages and personal stories you create and share.

To get in touch with your conscious brand story there are really just 5 basic questions that you will want to answer.

The 5 basic questions that will help you create a conscious personal brand that is focused on your talents, knowledge and passion are:

1. What am I all about as a human being?

2. Who am I in business?

3. How do my best clients describe the value I provide to them?

4. What is the one thing must I accomplish in business and life to find deep fulfillment and true happiness?

5. What value can I create to enhance the life of someone else that allows me to do work that matters most to me, personally?

If you don’t have an answer to these five questions, you are and probably having a hard time of it.

To reverse the trend, do some soul searching.

Start by building awareness.

When people ask you about what you do for a living, do you relate a job title or company name? If so, your work probably feels more like drudgery than joy.

Tell them about your personal mission, your greatest talent in business, your extensive knowledge and the passion you have for what you do instead.

All it takes is admitting where your deepest passions truly lie.

Look at your testimonials and analyze them to find the common threads. What do most people say about the value you have given them?

Having spotted this trend, I developed Coach Bill Gluth.

My passion, knowledge and talent is helping you use your passion, knowledge and talent to create a happy life and a business you love that makes a difference in the lives of other people.

Basically, the purpose of this new service is to help you use your greatest strengths to add value to the lives of others.

I even started writing a book about conscious life and business.

The first installment is a free manifesto called 8-Powerful Secrets to a Happy and Fulfilling Life. Check it out and see if the ideas resonate with you.

Now more than ever:

Your talent, knowledge and passion is needed by distinct groups of people.

You can lead a tribe and help them gain what they want out of life, no matter what you do.

The best personal brand you can ever create now and in the future is one that focuses on how your authentic talent, knowledge and passion enhances the lives of other people.

Trust in the value you are selling. Passion for spreading the word about your offer because you believe in the value you’ve created deeply. When you add the sincere desire to make a difference in the life of another human being you become unstoppable when compared to others.

If you do not have that level of commitment to your business and the offering you are bringing to the market now, it often simply takes a shift in mindset.

The missing ingredient is often passion.

Without passion, your marketing message is just more noise in the marketplace.

In a sales situation, you’ll probably spend your time trying to push features that no one cares about. As a result, you will hate sales.

All you are really missing is passionate value creation. You miss the benefit buyers receive because you’re not looking out for the best interests of your prospects. You are worried about making a sale instead.

When passion enters the picture, however, you’ll see your offering in an entirely new light.

When your mission is to create value that affects the lives of other people, you’ll want to study, engage and understand them so you can add even more value to their life.

It feels great so you want more.

When you want more of that great feeling you’ll realize that sales and marketing becomes the way you achieve it in business. As a result sales and marketing stops being the chore it may be today.

When it comes to sales, the passionate value creator has no equal.

When you believe in the value you create for others with all of your heart, sales becomes a non-issue. You are no longer there to qualify, present and close. Sales stops being uncomfortable.

You visit a potential client to understand their situation and ask questions that clarifies their desired outcome. Then you simply diagnose and prescribe a course of treatment that gives them what they want.

You don’t waste time trying to sell anything. You simply understand and recommend in the best interest of your prospect. You are authentically using your knowledge and greatest talents to help another person get what she or he wants.

And that feels great.

Sales and marketing superstars are changing the course of business and life with the values they create.

The simple reason is they have the passion, talent and vision to see a bigger picture that you may not see today.

In this new decade, if you hope to achieve all that you desire you have to realize a very important fact.

That fact is if your business is not built on your greatest talent, deepest knowledge and genuine passion it is going to fall flat as we move into the “future”.

It can be a hard fact to face but also ran’s and commodities will be ignored more than they ever have before.

Buyers want authentic.

They need your knowledge to grow.

And they are attracted to passion like a strong industrial strength magnet.

Miss one of these elements and you are missing the key to business growth in 2010.

If you’re not sure what your strengths, talents and knowledge are you can easily learn by asking your clients.

Ask the simple question “What do you feel is the greatest value you have gained from my service (or product)?”

Their answers will be very revealing. Just analyze them. Find the common threads in their replies and learn to see your business through your clients eyes.

For example, in my new Coach Bill Gluth Web site I posted testimonials on the side of each page to share client comments.

In gaining those comments I learned:

That clients find value in the fact that I help put them in action to get business building things done.

I help clients understand the value that their clients see in them.

I am blessed to know that my clients see that I truly care about them and their outcomes.

And I take them down a path of peace, fulfillment and happiness in business through the work we do together.

All great things. All things that came from the words my clients shared with me when I asked them what value they’ve received from my services.

Try it.

Just send a personalized email to all of your clients. Do NOT send it as a bulk mail with “Undisclosed Recipients” in the To: line.

Make the subject line: Can I Ask For Your Help?

Tell them the truth. “In 2010 I am revamping my business based on my client feedback. Will you please reply to this email and let me know what do you feel is the greatest value you have gained from my service (or product)?”

Easy.

All you have to do is take action. That can be the hard part.

If you need help, I personally know the “Conscious Life and Business Coach”. He can certainly help you.

More to come in the New Year. New directions, new services and new inspiration for a brand new decade.

Those moments happen because you were speaking in a way the listener could not hear or understand you.

As human beings, we best learn from pictures and stories. Words alone tend to fall on deaf ears.

Think of California. Chances are you did not see the State name in your head.

Instead you saw an image of the shape of California on a map or pictured yourself on a beach, listening to the waves lap onto the shore.

If you were explaining California to someone, you would probably tell a story about an experience you or someone you know had there. Maybe you would show photos.

You would tell the story or show the picture to bring your point to life.

The same holds true for business and sales.

When you want to drive your point home, use the tools and techniques most human beings need to gain understanding. Use pictures and stories to explain your point of view.

How do you get started?

Chances are you already do it. Have you ever said “picture (or imagine) this …” and then went on to tell a story that created a mental picture in the mind of the listener.

Or, have you ever been to a class or seminar where the speaker used PowerPoint slides to make her point?

Of course, we all have. The reason the slides were used (or misused) is to provide a picture to help you remember the point being made.

The next time you’re on a sales call or creating marketing materials, try this.

Tell stories about client successes instead of giving your standard sales presentation. Take the prospect through the start of your relationship all the way through the success your client had.

I did this to build business for my client Celebrity Hairstylist Johnny G., the person who makes YOU look and feel like a star.

We did a mailing campaign to prospects around his Scottsdale salon when it was brand new.

The mailer was a cool looking flyer in an envelope. The only content on the flyer was testimonials from his happy clients. There was no “sales speak” at all.

We also included a hand written post-it note, inviting people to come in and experience Johnny’s services.

Within 2-weeks of the mailing he gained 7 to 10 new clients (at last count) in addition to referrals from some of those people. Needless to say, he was happy with the results.

All we did was tell stories of his client’s experience.

Put your sales presentation into PowerPoint but don’t use words, use pictures instead. Explain your point visually with pictures and minimal words.

I did this for a client who does in-home sales to consumers directly. We developed a sales presentation that was a flip chart using pictures to drive key client benefits home.

Using this idea resulted in two of three new sales reps closing a deal in their first couple of days; after only 3-days of training.

Prior to this the ramp up time to first sale for new reps had been a month or longer.

The pictures helped the reps remember the presentation and increased prospect comprehension; shortening the sale closing cycle.

Develop your storytelling skills and then put pictures to the words and see how much easier sales and marketing becomes.

Unfortunately, 85% of businesses are not as good as they need to be in generating sales, which is why we have the staggering failure rate we do in small business.

Sales can be very complex. Or it can be extremely simple. It’s all a matter of the mindset of the practitioner.

Let’s take the simple road.

What does it take to be effective in sales? Just one thing; awareness.

Awareness of your client’s problem.

Awareness of the solution that is acceptable to your client; expressing that solution as a dollars and cents value.

Awareness of the process the client will go through to decide to purchase or not.

Jeffery Fox, author of How to Become a Rainmaker offers the following steps to sales success.

* Cherish the client at all times

* Treat clients as you would your best friend

* Listen to clients and decipher their needs

* Make (or give) clients what they need

* Price your product to its “dollarized” value (in other words don’t sell price sell the value received from purchasing)

* Give your clients more than they expect

* Thank each client sincerely and often

* Help clients pay you so they won’t be embarrassed and go elsewhere

* Ask to do it again

Six Figure Sales Coach, Kevin Nations, provides the idea of business rapport.

He says the rapport you want to have with your client is that of an advisor, someone who the client feels comfortable discussing challenges with (pain) and trusts enough to provide a solution.

I’ve found the best sales skill anyone can develop is the art of active listening.

Ask questions, listen, and write down what you hear.

Clients feel engaged and heard when you, as the sales person, take the time to make note of what is being discussed.

Note taking also “forces” you to become an active and engaged listener.

Next time you’re on a sales call, focus on your personal listening style. Are you really listening and engaged in what the client is saying or are you calculating your next response?

David Hepburn, Master Sales Trainer and Business Networking pioneer offers the following thoughts to consider:

The sales person goes in to a call without a plan. The client that you are trying to involve in your product (sell) has a plan.

They lie, steal/cheat and then hide. That’s the client’s plan.

They lie and tell you they are interested in your products, they love them, and they are the best.

They steal or cheat when they ask you to be an unpaid consultant and educate them on everything they need to know and then they tell you “they’ll think about it.”

And when you try to get back to them, they hide and you have to send out the Search and Rescue Team just to get them to tell you NO.

That’s the basis of the Buyer’s Plan. If sales people don’t have a plan to combat this plan, they will lose every time, even though they think that they have a chance to make a sale.

David sees the biggest challenge most sales people have is “Winging it.”

They are hoping for the best instead of practicing, preparing, maintaining positive thoughts upon entering the client’s office, etc.

Let’s face it, very seldom does a small business owner, in the role of sales person, prepare for the sales call. Yet preparation is the shortest path to sales success.

Here is the easy way to make your sales effort more effective.

The ACTION step you need to take is very simple. Take one idea from this article and practice it this week.

Next week take another idea and practice it.

By the end of a few weeks, you’ll be better at sales than you are today.

People only care about themselves. They care about the results they gain from using your services or buying your products.

They only care about their growth and success. They care about the short and long term value they gain from working with you.

Here’s where your communication breaks down.

You are probably communicating as if your target market cared about your business instead of their personal interests.

“I’m a __________ (fill in the blank with your profession) and I help people (offering something you sell) with my services (or product).”

The first problem are the words “I and me”. The word “people” is the other challenge.

What people? Who do you help? How do you help them exactly? What is the result of that assistance?

Instead of thinking “I and me” when you’re communicating start thinking “you and your”.

“If you are a (niche target market) who suffers from (the challenge your niche target market wants to overcome) and would like to (result they gain from working with you) I am offering (your sales attraction soft step; e.g. free white paper, eBook, special report, audio or consultation).”

In communicating you need to have one I or me and two or more you and your statements when you communicate to your target market.

Most people see their business from their personal point of view; they cannot express the value they provide to other people.

What can you do if you’re “I and me” challenged?

First understand what the value is you provide other people? If you don’t know ask.

Then understand the Return on Investment (ROI) people typically gain from working with you?

Finally realize the niche target market you most effectively serve.

When people ask you what you do stop telling them your job title or category of business. Start telling them the problem you solve, niche market your serve and ROI you provide.

It’s hypnotic. People suddenly respond to your communications because they suddenly understand “What’s in it for me.”