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Today I read a very interesting article by Mark Stevens entitled Sales Lessons From a Fly Fishing Master and found at Entrepreneur.com. Mark Stevens is a bestselling author and the CEO of MSCO which is a management and marketing firm. In this article, Stevens offers seven lessons about sales and being a salesman which I found very valuable. I quote these nuggets below:

1. If there are two versions of you, the salesperson and the civilian, people will see you as disingenuous. There must be only one you.

2. Relate to people exactly as you are. Imperfections are not seen as reasons not to do business with you. Just the opposite, your willingness to be transparent is seen as vindication that you are the genuine article — a trustworthy individual one can reliably do business with.

3. Tell your clients and prospects what they don’t want to hear when you believe that the painful medicine will be in their best interests. They may be upset with the messenger in the moment of truth, but you will stand out from the yes-men when the dust clears.

4. Always carry yourself with great pride, knowing that a salesperson is a “prince of the company.” Others can work the books and make the factory hum, but as IBM founder Tom Watson said, Read more…

I recently read a helpful article on advertising, sales and marketing. It was written by Adrian Miller and entitled “How to Beat a Sales Slump.” In this article, Miller offers five pieces of advice for digging oneself out of a sales slump.

Since slumps seem to be inevitable and affect virtually all entrepreneurs, I felt these thoughts were noteworthy. I also wanted to share them so I (or you) will remember them next time either of us experiences such a slump.

1. Go After the Low Hanging Fruit.

In essence, this means setting attainable targets for the short-run by going after proven prospects that can produce revenue now. Now is not the time to go after the long-shots that have a high probability of failure.

2. Get Critiqued.

In short, we all have blindspots and can all use some good advice. It’s wise to seek out an honest evaluation of your abilities from an objective source. Ask somebody you respect who is knowledgeable of your industry or marketing needs to evaluate your performance and to suggest ways to improve.

[An objective evaluation (with both free and paid options) along with other resources can be obtained online at YourPitchSucks.com. I know the founder Jim Kukral. He offers a wealth of information that can improve your marketing and help fine-tune your sales message.]

3. Read Up.

Take time during the slump to improve yourself. Read and learn from others. Look for ways to be more innovative. Learn new techniques.

4. Stop the Blame Game.

Whether the fault is your own or that of others, the bottom line is you are in a slump and must get out of it. Don’t focus on placing blame but instead on finding answers (solutions) that address why you got into the slump and how to get out.  Focus on developing strategies that will improve your situation.

5. Try Something New.

If you repeat the same thing that failed the last time then chances are it will fail this time also. Don’t repeat failures. Explore new strategies, methods and options. You just might find something that is much better than you ever dreamed possible.

So, with thanks to Adrian Miller for spawning the above tips, I challenge everyone to look for ways to do more with less. Identify the time and resource wasters and eliminate them. Focus on what works and produces success now and do more of it now. Then look for ways to innovate and grow that success into more and bigger successes down the road.

The bottom line: You can get out of a slump!

I am taking part in The FORUM which is a one-year leadership development initiative for Starkville and the Oktibbeha County community in Mississippi. It is sponsored by the the Greater Starkville Development Partnership and managed by the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

One of our class projects is to do an individual research project on a historical person, event or structure that helps make Oktibbeha County what it is today. I chose to research Dr. Douglas L. Conner. My reasons for this choice were twofold: 1) I knew little about him and 2) I had for nearly ten years been driving on a street named after him.

For this project I was able to read his autobiography entitled A Black Physician’s Story: Bringing Hope in Mississippi (1985) which was written with long-time friend and Mississippi State University William L. Giles Distinguished Professor John F. Marszalek. I also was able to interview his wife and daughter. His life was full and his story very compelling. Though he lived to be 78 years old, he never retired.

I have included my report and presentation slides below:

• Report (6 pages with photos; pdf)
• Presentation (9 slides with 2 to a page; pdf)

In closing, I was honored to give this presentation to my class on November 13, 2008. I found that date especially fitting since it exactly marked the ten year anniversary of Dr. D. L. Conner’s passing. I was also honored to share a portion of the story of a man who gave more than 50 years of his life in the service of my community.

Today I completed a two-week study at my church entitled “A Look at God & Government: Biblical Underpinnings of American Political Authority.” In this study, we looked at a variety of things including the following:

• Why government is needed
• Why God established government
• Biblical responsibilities of government
• Foundations and defining features of our American government
• Christian responsibilities to government
• Civil disobedience
• Voting

I have included my presentation slides below in the following formats:

• Full color (2 slides to a page; pdf)
• Note style (3 slides to a page; black & white; pdf)

I recently read a great blog post by Bill Flaggs of RegOnline about strategies for hiring good employees. Bill laid out his 5-step process and some very useful suggestions for finding and hiring great employees. As an employer, I think his advice is worth remembering and personally employing (pun intended).

In a nutshell, Bill Flaggs’ five employee selection steps are as follows:

1. Write a job ad that is standout and personable.

Flaggs uses Craig’s List for this. The example he offered is “Support SuperStar: looking for people to knock the socks off our clients everyday.”

2. Link the job ad to a strong landing page.

Since the ad is online, link it to an interesting and personable landing page (see a screen capture of the RegOnline landing page) that tells prospective employees why they would want to work there.

3. Show why people like to work at your company.

Use a video, letter from the CEO and other interesting details (RegOnline even linked to their Read more…