Jim Rohn, self-made millionaire and successful author, said “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”. Brian Tracy once said that: “you cannot scratch with the turkeys and fly with eagles”; you cannot relate with mediocre, uninspired and unfocused people and expect yourself to be different from them.

You need to surround yourself with people who empower you, compliment your areas of expertise, and fill in the gaps you are missing. Those who can help you step outside your comfort zone to accomplish the goals you set out, and can keep you accountable for actually doing what you say you are going to do.

You will be inspired by them and receive resources from them. Joining or creating accountability, mastermind, or a coaching group is a great way to surround yourself with like-minded, driven, successful people that will propel you to higher level of success.

Who is holding you accountable? Who helps you be more creative? Who inspires you? With all of the bad news about the economy, downsizing, market crashing and so on it is more important than ever that you take steps to learn something new, find an accountability program that you can implement, and surround yourself with successful people who are on the same path as you.

The next time you are looking to learn something new, find a program that has accountability tied to it.  Not just a one day seminar that inspires you, I run a program for Referral Institute based on the book The 29% Solution.  It is a weekly tele-program and every week I am responsible for holding my callers and participants accountable for doing the work, not just reading the book.  In the process, it holds me to a higher level of accountability and we all win.

So think about it, what programs are you in or who have you surrounded yourself with that creates accountability for you this year.

Hazel  owns and operates a franchisee of Referral Institute, a worldwide referral marketing training organization. As a Master Trainer, Hazel provides business-expansion expertise to entrepreneurs and corporations by teaching business professionals comprehensive referral marketing stratagem. In 2006, her franchise earned both the Top-Grossing Franchise award and the honor of hosting the Referral Institute International Conference.

Training is one of the most important things that business people should do for themselves.  Here is a mathmatical formula to show you how much you should be spending on your training and education

Annual Income $,___________x 10% = Investment in your self improvement

I personally have invested ore than $100,000 in my expert ice as a Referral Expert with the Referral Institute.  How much have you spent on your self improvement?  This is not the place to cut your budget!

If you are going to be the expert in your field, you must keep your saw sharp or someone else will clear cut your forest!

Hazel  owns and operates a franchisee of Referral Institute, a worldwide referral marketing training organization. As a Master Trainer, Hazel provides business-expansion expertise to entrepreneurs and corporations by teaching business professionals comprehensive referral marketing stratagem. In 2006, her franchise earned both the Top-Grossing Franchise award and the honor of hosting the Referral Institute International Conference.

People have to hear things and see things 7 times before they take action, so advertising is important and PR are very important to your business.   but I agree that word of mouth is a powerful way to build your business. It is ALWAYS WORKING, it may not be in your favor, but it is always working. 

Here are a few things to remember about word of mouth.

1. In order for WOM to work well for your company or you as a person, you MUST have a clear, concise message that others can carry easily and repeat to people they know. For instance, I have a friend who reviews property taxes for commercial buildings, if you are over paying then she will file an appeal and get you a refund of the over payments. That message is too long…here is the message that everyone carries for her….. Denise takes the pain out of property taxes, you should call her.  Simple, easy for others to remember.  Most business people have a muddled message.

2. WOM is the most dangerous form of marketing, in that you cannot control people. They may carry the wrong message or a negative message.

3. Word of Mouth is always working, it just may not be working in your favor. Negative WOM travels faster than positive WOM.  Dr. Misner discusses this topic in the book, Truth or Delusion.

I remind BNI members and Referral Institute graduates regularly that WOM is always working. It is important for them to keep the message simple, consistent, and positive. A great message backed up by poor service or a poor image is going to create Negative WOM.

Hazel  owns and operates a franchisee of Referral Institute, a worldwide referral marketing training organization. As a Master Trainer, Hazel provides business-expansion expertise to entrepreneurs and corporations by teaching business professionals comprehensive referral marketing stratagem. In 2006, her franchise earned both the Top-Grossing Franchise award and the honor of hosting the Referral Institute International Conference.