Do you know the difference between a JOB and a BUSINESS?

Ever wondered why it seems like you don’t have enough time to get everything done?

You gotta check out this webinar I did recently….

Enjoy.

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Wouldn’t it be cool if you could get almost anything you wanted?

It sounds like a dream, but to some extent, and if done correctly, it can be achieved. In this post I will share how I had one of the world’s most famous comedians and tv stars write jokes for me, saved thousands of dollars, and was able to get my hands on stuff before almost anyone else on the planet.

For this tasty little recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

* A big spoon of hustle
* Big cojones (balls)
* The right mindset and strategy

Before we dive into this, I must stress that credit for this must go to my dad… he always used to say “Dean, if you don’t ask, you don’t get”… and it was later in life that I realised how true this was.

I once remember my dad getting 20% off a pair of shoes at a local market… he did this by a) asking, b) claiming to be a fellow market trader.

A little naughty, but there is nothing wrong with a healthy dose of hustle.

From a mindset perspective, you need to understand that by NOT asking, you are, by default, getting a NO answer.

What’s the worst that can happen? They say no… SO WHAT?!?

I have managed to get thousands of dollars of discount on a new car by just asking… but I also have gotten some pretty strange things as well.

For example, in 2009 I contacted Jimmy Fallon, who is known in the US as a Saturday Night Live performer, and he also now is a late night talk show host… in short, he is a BIG celeb in the US.

Anyway, I contacted him on Twitter, and used a combination of balls, some hustle, and a weird strategy…

Note: I have since changed to @DeanHunt on Twitter.

Anyway, here was my mindset and strategy with this message:

1) It was personal and specific… I referenced something he did the previous day.
2) I went in with the posture that A-list celebrity Jimmy Fallon was an old friend, and we hadn’t spoken for a while…. notice how I refer to him as “Jimbo”, which in my head, seemed like a name only his closest or oldest friends would call him.
3) “Speak soon” was a subtle call to action… it was asking for a reply, without lowering my perceived status and actually ASKING for a reply. It was also a presupposition (which is a fancy way of basically assuming with confidence that someone will do something… a great example of this is to say “WHEN you signup to my program” as opposed to “IF you signup”.

Shortly after, I got this in my inbox:

A few direct messages were sent, and one of them said something like “Jimmy, remind me, what is the best email address to reach you at? I have something that may be of interest”.

An hour later, I have his direct email address…

Long story short, I discussed my up’coming speaking debut, he is a world famous live performer, so I figured he may be able to help… I was specifically looking for a way to open my gig, and Jimmy kindly wrote a joke for me as an opener… that’s right, Saturday Night Live’s Jimmy Fallon was writing jokes… for ME!!

Business Insider did a feature at the time, due to the fact that Fallon had almost 100,000 followers (that was a LOT in 2009)… and listed the 59 people that Jimmy was following… your’s truly was one of them: http://www.businessinsider.com/whos-jimmy-fallon-following-on-twitter-2009-2

That’s right, amongst Shaq, and Lance Armstrong… was little ol me. How weird.

Now, I know this example is a little naughty, I admit that… I thanked Jimmy greatly via email, and we had some fun… no harm was done at all… but I hope this shows an extreme example of how the seemingly impossible can be achieved, by ASKING.

You could easily use this strategy to get access to celebs to get involved in your charity work.

Another, more recent example focuses on the importance of identifying what’s in if for THEM.

You see, if you want to get something, then you NEED to focus on the benefits to the other person.

So here’s the story…

I love video games, and every now and then a game is on the horizon that I simply cannot wait for…

One such game is entitled “Runespell Overture“, it combines poker, with trading cards, and an RPG puzzle element… this to me, is potentially crack in video game format.

Unfortunately, the game isn’t released until July… so, I asked.

It didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to find the developer’s Twitter account, and so I sent the above message… notice how I am essentially saying : If you do this for me, I will do this for you.

A win/win is essential to get what you want.

A few hours later I get an email from the awesome Barry at Runespell, who kindly offers to give me early access. He also read my blog and it turns out we share some interesting mindsets and beliefs.

I of course, offered to pay full price for the Beta.. as I like to support developers. But it means I am getting it weeks before the release date, just from asking.

Summary:

It doesn’t matter if you want to save thousands on a car, or 20% of shoes… perhaps you are looking for an opportunity, or to open a door… if you follow the advice above, and throw in a good measure of hustle, have balls, ASK, and focus on a win/win, you can’t go wrong… and remember, the worst that can happen is they say no.

Stop what you are doing right now and go watch this 58 second viral video.

It will inspire, and sometimes, we get so caught up in the details, we forget that we can do ANYTHING if we keep on trying.

What’s more, when something is new to us, it will seem scary, dangerous, and daunting, but just like this kid, we need to push through and keep going.

Enjoy:

I was recently at a live music show, it was a cool show, but that is NOT what I am here to talk about… you see, there was a valuable lesson that I took from this show, something that I feel is a huge factor in business success.

I call it the win win win… the triple whammy of the world of wins.

Here is the story from the show, and then I will explain why this is powerful, and how it could benefit YOU.

Ok, there is a bar here in Nashville that has a live music show every Sunday… the cool thing is that they teamed up with a local radio station, and the show is broadcast live on that station.

Now, this may seem like a simple enough deal, but for me, it is a great example of a win/win/win.

Here is why:

Win 1 = the bar – in this arrangement, they are getting massive publicity every single week from the radio station… what’s more, they will attract bigger artists due to the fact that they have the live radio audience as part of the benefits… afterall, playing for 70 people in a bar is great… playing for 70,000 on live radio is waaaaaaay more attractive… so this is a BIG win for the bar.

Win 2 = the radio station – they get a venue for free, they get a more tangible, real world benefit for their artists, and they get to embed themselves physically into the local community. This is a win for the radio station for sure.

Win 3 = the audience – the audience get to see relatively big named artists in an intimate environment… they also get to see and meet the people who they have been listening to on the radio. Oh, and they get to be a small part of a live, on air broadcast as well.

As you can see, this is a win for all parties involved.

Sounds simple enough, heck, it might even sound like a no-brainer… yet this is the first time I have ever seen this… and I am sure that 99.99% of bars don’t do this.

So what is the moral of this wee tale?

Well, firstly, look for a win/win/win for your product or service… they are out there.

Secondly, don’t just go to the usual places for joint ventures and strategic relationships… I once heard of a luxury spa that did a win/win/win with a Mercedes dealership… it went a little something like this:

For every person that purchases one of the top of the range BMWs, they got a free $200 gift card for the local spa…

Sounds generous right?

Well, it exploded business, and the super smart part is that it was targeting extremely high-end customers.. so the average lifetime value of these leads was in the thousands of dollars.

Win 1 = The BMW dealership – they get a nice little bonus for the customer at zero cost… this may help convert a few people to make the purchase… which may = many hundreds of thousands in extra sales.

Win 2 = The Spa – They pay $200 for customers worth thousands… brilliant!

Win 3 – The customer – They get a $200 gift card, a nice bonus.

I feel that both of these examples are outside the box deals, and in both instances, business is booming.

So my question to you is this: what outside the box win/win/wins can you find in YOUR business?

Have a great day.

Dean

I spent years of my business life trying to put a square peg into a round hole… overcoming this was one of the biggest breakthroughs I have ever had… today I will hopefully show you how to do the same.

Ok, so what exactly am I referring to?

Quite simply, I see people trying to do things that are not suited to them… now, I must stress, I am all for pushing comfort zones, but we all have a series of values, skills, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, abilities and obstacles….  so surely it makes sense to build a business that fits all of the above…. right?

Unfortunately, most people don’t do this… they hear that X is the latest hot topic, and they jump on that, with little thought of whether it is a good fit for them or not.

Just because something works for someone else, does not mean it is going to work for you… despite what marketers may tell you.

In a nutshell, stop looking for others for guidance and start looking inside yourself first.

Sounds simple enough… but it is hard to identify something when you are not sure what to look for, not all of us are lucky enough to know aged 6 what we were destined to do. So here is my DNA questionnaire… answer all of these questions honestly, and you will have a much clearer understanding.

* This is under the assumption that you are doing, or want to make money online in some way.

1) What are three things that you tend to find easy that others find difficult?

2) What are three things you find difficult that others seem to find simple?

3) On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 = super shy and introverted and 10 = loud, confident extrovert, where are you?

4) What have you done previously that has given you a successful result? (it doesn’t matter if it is a small result)

5) If you could only deliver ALL of your content for the next 10 years via one of the following, which one would you choose? (writing, audio, video, in person, on stage)

6) On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being highly unorganized, and 10 being incredibly organized, where are you?

7) Do you prefer to work alone or with people?

8 – If you could outsource one aspect of your business, what would it be?

The above should help you find your own DNA and identity… copy and paste the above questions, and then answer them in the comments section of this blog post, and I will happily take a look and perhaps give some recommendations and advice to you.

From now on you shouldn’t have to try and squeeze a square peg into a round hole ever again.

Dean