I recently purchased a pair of authentic Vintage Versace sunglasses online and was amazed at the number of fake designer sunglasses and handbags advertised on the internet. In fact, there are more videos and websites dedicated to promoting and avoiding counterfeit products than there are sites selling genuine designer items.
What does this tell you?
The market for rip offs and counterfeit items is huge. According to fashionistas, editors and bloggers in the industry, the total spending on fake or “knock-off” designer goods eclipses the amount actually spent on the real thing. In fact, if you see someone on the street with a Versace, Hermes or Fendi bag, there’s only a 1 in 100 chance that it’s authentic. Customers prefer replicas.
So how does this impact you and your business?
Unfortunately, many consumers would rather invest a little to give the appearance that they appreciate quality. The fakes are inferior, but many customers choose them anyway because they want to maintain a facade. They want the quick fix – the easy path to looking successful but few want to make the necessary investment of time and money, required to BE successful.
In order to stand out in a marketplace where imitations and charlatans are plentiful, you need to do the opposite of what your competition is doing.
Where their message is confusing, yours must be simple.
When they are selling features and benefits, you must present the solution.
Where they are focused on their brand, you must identify your customer’s pain and cure it.
Where their claims are unsubstantiated, yours must be tangible.
There will always be a long list of vendors and products to satisfy the insatiable appetite for “almost authentic”. And in the end, the purchaser will always get exactly what they paid for. If you continue to compete based on price alone (or intangible claims), 99% of your customers will continue to assume that you are not the real deal either.
Rest assured, your potential customer will continue to be in pain no matter which replicas and quick fixes she purchases in the meantime. Eventually, the pain will become so acute that she will seek out your genuine solution. Make it easier for her to find you by having a clear message that helps her to decide and say “Yes.” Help her to know that you are authentic – put a fair price on what you do, provide tangible proof your solution works and then deliver on your promise.
Solutions are like diamonds, precious and rare. Fakes are like dry leaves in the fall, found everywhere.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6586136
Rhondalynn Korolak, Author of "Financial Foreplay®" and "On The Shoulders of Giants
Have you ever heard somebody say to another person “Don’t spill that coffee.” and seen that exact thing happen, that you know will happen…. which is that they do spill the coffee by accident!
Right now you are laughing because it is funny. It is funny because it happens all the time. For some reason it seems the more you tell someone NOT to do something, the more likely it is that it WILL happen. Why is that? Sometimes we attribute it to simple disobedience – for example a child testing a parent, when the parent has said “don’t do that.”
However, it is more than just a simple testing of the boundaries. There is a biological, scientific reason for this and it has to do with the way that our brains are wired.
So why do we always seem to do the very thing that we are told not to do?
Read More
Rhondalynn Korolak, Author of "Financial Foreplay®" and "On The Shoulders of Giants
Have you ever heard somebody say to another person “Don’t spill that coffee.” and seen that exact thing happen, that you know will happen…. which is that they do spill the coffee by accident!
Right now you are laughing because it is funny. It is funny because it happens all the time. For some reason it seems the more you tell someone NOT to do something, the more likely it is that it WILL happen. Why is that? Sometimes we attribute it to simple disobedience – for example a child testing a parent, when the parent has said “don’t do that.”
However, it is more than just a simple testing of the boundaries. There is a biological, scientific reason for this and it has to do with the way that our brains are wired.
So why do we always seem to do the very thing that we are told not to do?
Read More
14 Mar 2010
When Is “I Don’t Know” The Right Answer?
Rhondalynn Korolak, Author of "Financial Foreplay®" and "On The Shoulders of Giants
Lily Allen may not be an authority on business, but she hit the nail on the head with her honest, irreverent spin on a timeless mystery – “how to know what to do when you have no idea and you’re not prepared”. In her platinum selling song, she sings:
I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore
And I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore
When do you think it will all become clear?
Everyone knows that we have been conditioned NOT to admit that we don’t know all of the right answers. Even though we know it’s not true, our teachers, bosses, politicians and even the media have modelled this “fake it until you make it” mentality. Since the mind doesn’t know the difference between a real or imagined event, acting ‘as if’ seems like the logical solution to temporary uncertainty, or does it?
“I don’t know” is a simple phrase. Simple and powerful at the same time. While there can be no doubt that to use it denotes uncertainty and the risk of embarrassment, with it comes an attribute that is far more rare and influential…authenticity!
Over the course of my life, I have been asked some difficult questions both personally and professionally – I’ve been put on the spot, caught unprepared and left exposed and vulnerable. Many times, I racked my brain to come up with the answer – a plausible response that hit the nail on the head or got me out of jail [metaphorically speaking] for free! Other times, I just got lucky.
But occasionally I must admit, “I just don’t know!” I simply cannot say for sure. I just don’t have the answer right now.
Sometimes admitting you don’t know can be the most empowering, intelligent, authentic and liberating response that you can offer. Compared to stumbling through a half baked idea, outright lying or trying to pull a cohesive response out of thin air, admitting you don’t know is a sane solution to this diabolical dilemma.
To be honest, none of us has “The Answer” to everything. If you think you do, chances are you know even less than you thought! If someone has taken the time to ask a question and placed their trust in your expertise, they deserve pearls of wisdom not propaganda.
In fact, in order to be a true leader and to earn authority, which is the foundation of your ability to influence others, it is simply not enough to be knowledgeable. You also need to be truthful. Therefore, in order to master the power of influence, you must establish yourself as both honest and powerful in your communications.
When in doubt, “I don’t know but I will find out” is the best answer.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3925288
Rhondalynn Korolak, Author of "Financial Foreplay®"
One of the wonderful things about personal characteristics like confidence or preparedness is that if you pretend to have them, you have them immediately. Since the mind doesn’t know the difference between a real or imagined event, acting ‘as if’ is a logical and sensible solution to temporary uncertainty!
Because our mind has such a profound influence on our external experience, choosing to adopt beneficial emotional states is the first step to truly mastering your life. All that we are and have experienced to date is a result of what we have imagined to be true in our minds. If we are unhappy with the results, our experience can be changed as quickly as we can change our minds and imagine a new meaning.
