When I think about every great achievement I’ve been fortunate to experience I realize that there is always one, and usually many more, relationships involved.  Someone helped me, introduced me, taught me, mentored me or just shared an idea with me.  I truly believe that relationships are the determining factor in our ability to achieve great things.  Here is a television interview I had recently where I share my ideas about expanding our sphere of contribution and building more powerful relationships.

I recently returned from a conference for the National Speakers Association in Phoenix, Arizona. As a past president of the National Speakers Association, I’m very involved in what goes on and I enjoy meeting with my peers and friends, communicating on a regular basis. Here’s what I discovered during the meeting. It was a small meeting of maybe 225 people. Some of the friends that I regularly hung out with were not there and what happened was I had the opportunity to build relationships with some new people or to further relationships with some people that I only had known…

A regular coaching client, Amy, called me the other day.  She said that her business just wasn’t growing at the rate she expected and needed.  We talked about how long she had been in business, where her sales leads were coming from, and where the majority of her business originated. After asking Amy several questions it became apparent that Amy wasn’t getting in front of enough new people on a weekly basis to have the necessary opportunity to grow sales.  “Sales is a numbers game.  You have to meet enough people and have the opportunity to share what you do…

I was in the backyard playing with my two youngest daughters.  It was late in the day, and the sun was low on the horizon.  The night air was cool and our shadows were long on the driveway.  My youngest daughter, Allison, walked up and stood right at the end of my shadow and said,  “Look how big you are daddy.” When you added Allison’s shadow to mine I did look very tall.  I certainly covered more ground.  Building your center of influence is quite the same thing.  You as an individual can only cover so much ground.  You can…

There are many ways to grow your business. You can increase sales to existing clients, you can add additional products and services to your offering, and you can even merge with another organization. The easiest and fasted way to grow your business is through referrals. Cold calling is a proven way to develop business. The only problem is that it can be slow and tedious. And, although there is a time and place for cold calling, other ways of building your business may work more effectively for you. Certainly advertising can pay off, but you had better have significant funds…