My client, Johnny G posted a great idea on his newsletter this week that I thought we could all reflect on. It points out that your mindset is everything and applies to both beauty and business.

Subscribe to Johnny's list at his Web site and watch for his new book, coming in February.

From the Take Home Stylist, Beauty Tip of the Week

2009 Miss America winner, Katie Stam gave this definition of glamour. "[Glamour is] that beauty that you feel on the inside, it's that confidence, that radiance inside of you, that's what glamour is," Stam said.
 
Katie believes she is glamous and beautiful. As a result, she is ready to take on the world with her personal expression of inner beauty projecting to the outer world.

Beauty always starts from the inside and reflects to outer world. Without acknowledging your inner beauty, you are only an attractive shell to the people you encounter.
 
Beauty is not about your hair, make-up or clothes. Beauty starts in your mind.
 
On the other side of the coin, I saw a television interview a while back that featured a lady who lost over 140-pounds. She looked fantastic with her fit new  body, great hair style, make-up and clothes. She looked picture perfect.
 
But she didn't have the mind set to support her new look.
 
When she was overweight she was frequently the butt of cruel jokes. She could not let those past experiences go. She was never able to change her thinking, even after she lost all that weight.
 
She became a new person on the outside but the inside still felt like an extremely overweight woman. She simply could not accept the complements people were giving her now.

These are both excellent examples of how beauty starts in your mind first.
 
All you have to do is always remember, you ARE beautiful in every expression of your life. Period! 
 
Your life will change and you'll be a shining light to everyone your encounter, everyday, once you embrace and live this idea.

Thank you for sharing this idea with my readers, Johnny. It's so very true. Mindset has everything to do with who you are.

Of course, who you are deep inside drives the values you create and share with others

I spoke to a small business owner and long time networking friend today. He is pounding hard to keep afloat.

Even his spouse is worried about getting laid off, after a couple of decades with the same company.

He is dipping into a home equity line of credit to live when sales are off.

He is spam emailing and faxing people about what his business offers (readers of this blog know why those recipients won’t care).

He is making desperation calls for referrals to people he did business with in the past (my readers also know why that tactic won’t work).

Through it all, he’s not doing enough to make it.

He's not developed an asset by appreciating his clients and staying in touch with people. He is calling when he needs something and that's it. BIG mistake.

So, I mentioned that he should consider developing a residual income stream to take him through the hard times.

“Oh, I can’t do that man. I’ve been customers of people who did that, but at the end of the day, I’m so tired that I can’t do another thing. I just could not do network marketing.”

“OK,” I said.

“I’ll tell you though," he continued, "If this keeps up, I’m going to be working at Circle K for eight bucks an hour. It’s really bad.”

I thought, “HUH? You would rather work at for eight dollars an hour doing something you hate than look seriously at developing a reasonable residual income stream with a network marketing company in 10 to 15-hours per week.”

The world has changed and each of us has to embrace new ideas if we hope to survive and thrive in the world of 2009. Opening the mind opens new avenues that can help us.

I know that everyone has to find what works for them personally. All I’m saying is don’t be closed off to new ideas that might be helpful.

When it comes to sales, there are a million strategies and ideas to consider. In fact, there are so many, most small business owners feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information.

No matter what kind of business you are in, the one strategy that pays huge dividends at little to no cost is caring.

Caring about your client and prospect outcomes is where sales and marketing really begin.

Care about your clients more than yourself.

Love your clients; not your business. Speak to them from their point of view and not yours.

Always ensure complete client satisfaction, no matter what.

Focus on staying in touch. Contact them using US Mail, telephone, personal visits and emails consistently. One touch every month is best to keep top of mind awareness in your niche.

In future posts we’ll look more into caring as a sales strategy, but for now, start by seeing your sales and marketing messages through your clients eyes instead of those of your business.