Be Present In Conscious Awareness And Grow In Balance And Health

As the energies build in group consciousness it is easy to become aware of the energy fields within our awareness. I feel this most as I am between sleeping and waking in the morning. I start to scan through my body and just be consciously aware of the energies and how they are feeling.

I consciously check if I have a gentle smile on my face each morning. I feel a smile is very special, as it sets up one’s energy vibration for the day. As I become conscious of the smile and my awareness rests with it, I feel the energy start to build and get stronger. I use the gentle smile to allow my awareness to lightly be with the energy, since we know that what we put our attention on grows.

It is good to stay present in the Now – that is, to have all one’s conscious awareness focussed on a single thing like smiling. It creates the space and rests the active mind; you can either focus on your breathing or the energy of the gentle smile.

When I am present and aware in the Now, I do a self-check of the whole of my body. I check how the energy field of my body is feeling by checking that my Soul and Light Body are lining up with my physical, taking a few minutes for all these subtle energies to come into alignment after perhaps astral traveling in my sleep.

This is the time I choose for doing self-healing, using my soul Source energies and the body’s energy blueprint to make adjustments in the energies by visualizing the perfect image of how I would like my physical body to show up. When you work on a Soul level and on your Light Body, the changes you make are natural and help bring your body into balance to reflect your true nature.

This is like working at the level of the Font of Life, where Source energy is emerging into physical manifestation and condensing from light into the fine particles from which will build our atoms and molecules and all the grosser layers of the physical vessel which our spiritual Essence lives in. The vision we hold in our belief system has a profound effect on our physical vehicle.

While we are working with our Source energy, at this level of our body, the body is constantly being regenerated from within. We can choose to change our belief about aging and to visualize our physical self covered in fresh, soft, pliable skin full of life, health and vitality. We can consciously release tension wherever we feel it – asking muscles to relax, become whole and bathe in this elixir of life.

By consciously taking time to charge up our energies and align them with our Soul, we are naturally lining up our energies with the whole Universe. Therefore, when we get up and go into activity we will feel supported by the universe, and life will be a frictionless flow of synchronistic experiences.

While we have a gentle happy smile on our faces, we will see this reflected in all the people we meet and life will become that little bit easier and more natural.

So each morning after waking refreshed from your night’s sleep, take a few minutes to adjust and balance your energies using your awareness of the subtle spiritual Essence that is flowing through your body from the Font of Life, at the core of each of your cells. Breathe in this elixir of life and grow in balance and health each day.

Sales Presentation Tips

Presentation is everything, so make your products look as attractive as possible. Whether you’re promoting the item via the web, a catalog or a brochure, invest in good photography. It encourages an emotional response. Also pay close attention to the copy. If something about a product is unique, make sure you describe how. And if you want repeat business, differentiate yourself from the competition by offering something your competitors don’t, be it personalized service or exclusive products. If your in outside sales then be presentable. Spend a few dollars and have a polo shirt embroidered with your company logo. Don’t go on sales call with your dirty work clothes. You reflect your company and customers will see quality if you and your material look the part.

Six steps to a quality presentation

1. Make the presentation relevant to your prospect. Have a guide for your presentation but make each presentation unique to the client you are working with. You need to make a personal connection with each prospect. If you use a generic presentation for all customers how do you expect to make a personal connection?

2. Create a connection between your product/service and the prospect. If possible make a sample that is specific to what the customer has indicated they are looking for. You can also buy an AutoCAD program that you can create customer sample layouts for landscaping, architecture and so on.

3. Get to the point. Don’t be like some of the franchises that send a sales rep out and spends an hour selling you on the company. At the end of the hour you haven’t heard anything about the product. Be direct and respect your customer’s time.

4. Be animated. You really want to stand out from the crowd, make sure you demonstrate enthusiasm and energy throughout your presentation.

5. Use a physical demonstration. Depending on your business bring samples, pictures, or take your prospective customer to completed job so they can see the quality first hand.

6. Lastly, believe in your product/service. Without a doubt, this is the most critical component of any presentation. When you discuss solutions, do you become more animated and energetic? After all, if you can’t get excited about your product, how can you expect your customer to become motivated enough to buy?

Customizing Products and Services Presents Entrepreneurs a Great Way to Bootstrap a Business

We live in a world where mass production and scalability have enabled consumers around the world the opportunity to enjoy a wider range of Consumer Products and Services than ever before. Large scale production drives down prices. Items that were once luxuries are now within reach of masses of consumers on every continent.

Overwhelmingly the benefits of scale and industrialization are beneficial to society. Jobs, distribution opportunities, global trade and finance have all thrived in large part because of the benefits of a consumer driven world. The Benetton sweater or MAC cosmetic that is purchased in Denver is the same as a unit of either sold in Sydney.

There is a downside to mass production, a downside that presents opportunities for those seeking to position their enterprise successfully within the whirl of this hyper–competitive consumer marketplace. Most mass produced products are impersonal. They offer value, utility and uniform performance features. They do not, however, differentiate themselves significantly from competitors. This is where the creative and craft minded producers can maximize their offerings.

Hermes purses and scarves are famous, but simple examples of a Brand that has been built from scratch, painstakingly over time and by being extremely protective of distribution channels for their limited production, hand crafted products. Hermes controls the price and design of each unit produced with a discipline that borders on fanaticism. When a design becomes popular and demand soars, the family owned Company caps production far short of maximum sales potential. This is a classic example of a limited distribution strategy that serves to increase Hermes’ product desirability among discerning consumers.

Ferrari automobiles, Zegna menswear, Piaget watches, Tory Burch fashions and La Prairie Skin Care and Cosmetics are other examples of Brands that have created world-wide franchises by avoiding any taint of a mass production model. They sell service, customization and personalized product that elite customers demand. The strategy does not need to be limited to exclusive couture brands, however!

The Branding and Marketing Consulting firm that we manage utilizes many different forms of personalized service or customized product assembly to differentiate our clients. In order to be able to compete with behemoth, multi-national brands a new company must be able to identify their Unique Selling Proposition (USP). A better ingredient story or a better mousetrap design will not suffice.

Recently a prospective client approached us with a Perfume concept. The Fragrance world is huge and brutally competitive. The perfumer we met with was keen to commercialize a range of scents, mainly by utilizing generic top notes. We spent a good deal of time trying to define a USP that would differentiate her product, while creating a niche she could occupy. The final, agreed suggestion was to sell a value added personalized blending service with each offering customized, value added and unique to each client. There are a number of added special service features which insure that the Brand will be perceived as unique by her “alpha” clientele.

We have utilized one form or another of this strategy for Gourmet Food products, Toys, Cosmetics, Wellness regimens, Service Providers and many other client projects. An important feature of this strategy is the opportunity to bootstrap the product or service when limited resources are at hand. Local sales can be leveraged to regional sales and beyond. The enterprise can be grown at a pace that is more easily handled by thinly resourced entrepreneurs.

Red Bull, Snapple and Arizona Iced Tea did not start as national and international brands. They were bootstrapped. They found holes in saturated, developed marketplaces and they filled niches. This model is available to creative entrepreneurs who are driven to compete, but understand that they must deal from a different, smaller deck of cards.

by: Geoff Ficke

Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.

After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance.

Geoff Ficke and his consulting firm, Duquesa Marketing, has assisted businesses large and small, domestic and international, entrepreneurs, inventors and students in new product development, capital formation, licensing, marketing, sales and business plans and successful implementation of his customized strategies. He is a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Business School, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.