While large specialty retailers and department stores have the liberty of offering huge sales, discount items, and unbelievable warranties, there is something lost in the homogenous consumer experience. Employees are often unknowledgeable, un-invested and are willing to sell you anything, so long as it translates to a sizeable commission. The days of the corner store are over, but a former specialty retail mogul wants to bring them back. Richard Thalheimer, the creator and founder of The Sharper Image, founded RichardSolo.com in 2007 after his departure from the specialty retailer. RichardSolo.com is a new online store where you can find the latest gadgets, unique gifts and luxury items. This online boutique also specializes in unparalleled customer service with your every purchase.

Thalheimer broke into merchandising in 1977 with a startup that began as a part-time office supply business. Soon, he began to sell more consumer-oriented items, including his breakthrough product — a runner’s watch. In time, this small office supply business would become what The Sharper Image is today — a 190-store, 2,600-employee giant. After his departure from the company in 2006, Thalheimer went to work on RichardSolo.com. He started the site with one goal in mind: to create an alternative to the electronic and gadget giants by offering his customers a more personal experience, as well as rekindling the relationship between vendor and consumer.

The unique merchandise at RichardSolo.com is hand-selected by Richard Thalheimer himself. He visits consumer electronic shows around the world in search of the latest and greatest tools to make life easier. So far, the site has a wide range of products, including everything from celestial wristwatches to motorized scooters, working slot machines to GPS navigation devices, kitchen tools, emergency radios, language translators and many other unusual, specialty items. The site also offers a great selection of iPod speakers, and is even a leading seller of the VersTM, handcrafted, wood iPod sound system. For those of you with an iPhone, Thalheimer has pioneered the need for extended battery life with his self-branded RichardSolo Smart Backup Battery; a rechargeable lithium-ion battery made specifically for Apple iPhone and iPod players.

Aside from its great selection of products, RichardSolo.com is known for its responsive and attentive customer service. The driving force behind the company is its offer of personal experience that larger electronics and gadget retailers lack. Consumer inquiries are answered almost immediately and problems are resolved quickly. A 30-day money back guarantee is applied to each of its products in order to make your satisfaction its number one priority, as it should be.

For an experience unlike Brookstone, unlike Best Buy, and even unlike his first brainchild, The Sharper Image, visit Richard Thalheimer’s RichardSolo.com. The service is nothing short of amazing, and the product lineup is qualified by his years of experience in the gadget industry and a passion for merchandising quality products. There’s a greater sense of sincerity about boutique shops, whether they’re online or brick-and-mortar stores. There’s something to be said about high-quality products, but a memorable consumer experience is invaluable.

- Ben Anton, 2008

Superstar-Growth Strategy of America’s Fastest Growing Companies!

By Chet Holmes

Here’s a strategy that has catapulted even the smallest of companies into super-growth mode by learning how to find an army of top producers to grow your business.

No matter how small your company is, you can hire a sales force that can catapult company growth like you never imagined (one company that took this advice grew 500% in two years).

No matter how large you are, you’re probably using the wrong criterion for hiring salespeople. How to attract star talent to your organization? How to learn their weaknesses before you hire them (most companies have to hire a salesperson to find out all the problems they’re going to have- this will show you how to get rid of the lightweights in just five minutes).

What about you? How would you stack up against top producers as a person who has a “natural” ability to build your business?

One-person armies who were struggling have learned to re-think their model to hire sales-staff, and suddenly they are sold-out.

Multi-billion dollar companies had to understand the unique psychological profile of top producers and why they should hire for psychological profile rather than background.

The type of person I’m talking about is someone you can put in a bad situation with poor tools, no training, bad resources and still, within a few months, they begin to outsell your best salespeople or build your company in ways you never dreamed possible.

Two things drive the superstar and they are both critical and work together perfectly when you can find them: empathy and self esteem—a strong sense of self). Empathy: Top producers need to bond with others, to find something likable about every person. This is a wonderful trait to find in a salesperson. They just keep going at the client every which way, trying to find more and more ways to serve that client, to please that client. Empathy is a key trait and part of your interview process must be specifically designed to weed out their empathy.

Self esteem: Make no mistake; great sales results come from people with super strong self-esteem. Only a person with an extra dose of self-esteem barrels into a client eight times after the client has said no. People with weak self esteem go away after only a single rejection. People with weak self esteem fear rejection and so never actually close a sale.

Studies show that 48% of salespeople give up after only one rejection. Only 4% will try more than 4 times. Yet today, it takes 8.4 rejections to get a meeting. And what makes the difference between someone who will face that rejection one time and quit or 40 times and never quit, is purely personal (self esteem).

www.howtodoublesales.com has training programs that do that. But you can hire someone who, without you ever asking or training, is built that way. These people will have way more heart about getting that sale made.

Another aspect of a strong self esteem is personal ambition. Don’t you love it when you hire someone who innovates, expands upon and improves every single task you assign to them? This self esteem and need to please can make these people seem overly eager-to-please in a job interview. Maybe even come on too strong. Don’t let a little bravado put you off; it is the quintessential ingredient in every superstar.

In an interview, the person is the product, so they must present themselves with confidence, assure you that they are the one you’re looking for. This aggressive behavior will scare some employers, but it is exactly what you need in a salesperson.

Ground Rules for Hiring Superstars

First, age and background are not relevant. I’ve hired 24-year-olds who have out-sold 20-year veterans. One of my greatest finds came from a stereo store. Here was an awesome salesperson that might’ve never become the millionaire I helped him become had I not seen the traits he had. Another great find was a salesperson who tried to sell me a sweater in a clothing store. I snatched her right out of there and she ended up running three divisions of a company I ran. I recently found a 70-year-old man who has the best skills I have ever seen for getting top executives on the telephone. And he had been a line producer for feature films. So disregard age or background.

Second, you must design your ad to attract this rare animal. My ads begin like this:

SUPERSTARS ONLY: Don’t even call unless you are an overachiever and can prove it.

The ad does not request a resume. The first thing we do is screen calls on the phone. Here’s a great way to test a top producer: Line up your candidates for a simple ten minute conversation. Tell them: “we talk to candidates for ten minutes to determine if we want to interview them.”

When screening calls, I always apologize for being gruff and to the point, explaining that I am overwhelmed with responses; then I say, “Tell me why you think you’re a superstar.” I then deliberately act unimpressed and slightly abrasive. If I intimidate them over the phone, I brush them off quickly. A top producer will not be intimidated. If they can’t talk their way into an interview what makes you think they’ll ever talk their way into a client. Save yourself a lot of trouble and get rid of those with weak self esteem right off the bat.

Too often you interview candidates as the nice person you are and it gives them the chance to be nice as well. Then you hire them and find out six months later that they can’t close a sale and shy away from the really big sales out of fear (weak self esteem). With the technique above, you find out early how well they handle rejection. It saves everyone a lot of time and YOU a lot of money.

For part 2 of this article please go to www.howtodoublesales.com

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Starting and managing a successful small business takes time, energy, money and a HUGE commitment. But the payoff can also be HUGE, in terms of personal accomplishment, satisfaction, happiness, and M0NEY! So just how committed are you?

Here’s 10 questions to help you find out:

(1) Have you taken the time to create a business plan?

A business plan ensures you have a well-thought-out plan for your business. It doesn’t have to be a big, formal document. But it should outline your budget, your goals, and how you plan to achieve those goals. This way you have focus.

(2) Have you taken the time to create a marketing plan?

If you don’t have a marketing plan chances are you’ll spend more money trying to get clients AND you’ll achieve fewer results. Taking the time to create a marketing plan, even if it’s only a one-page document, will enable you to be laser-focused so you’ll get better results.

The 10stepmarketing System makes it easy to create one plan that serves as BOTH your business and marketing plans. To learn more visit www.10stepmarketing.com.

(3) Have you committed enough financial resources to operate and market your business for at least one year?

You have to invest in your business if you want it to succeed. It doesn’t have to be a big sum of money, but it’s got to be enough to accomplish the goals you’ve set in your business and marketing plans.

(4) Are you willing to invest in yourself?

To grow yourself and your business you must always be learning. Take seminars. Buy books and CDs. As one of my teachers Brian Tracy says, turn your car into a “University on Wheels.”

Education to help you grow your business is a business expense and is tax deductible. Let Uncle Sam finance your growth!

(5) Are you willing to spend time to learn how to better operate and market your business?

If you don’t know everything you need to know to successfully operate and market your business (and who does?!?) commit the TIME to learn.

Not only should you be willing to invest money in courses, books, CDs, coaches or whatever it takes, you have to be willing to spend the TIME.

(6) Do you seek advice from those are already successfully doing what you’re trying to do?

Have you identified other businesses or individuals who have already accomplished what you’re trying to accomplish? If not, find them. Learn as much as you can about their businesses. Model them. Get advice from them.

I just paid a big chunk-of-change for a one-hour consultation with someone who has successfully done what I want to do. Was it worth the money to get her advice and recommendations? You bet! It’s definitely faster and easier than trying to figure it out on my own.

(7) Do you have a team?

If you’re still trying to do everything on your own, you should ask yourself how serious you are about building a business. For years, I worked alone. But I now realize I was making a living not building a business.

If you’re serious about building a business, get the proper team in place to ensure your success. You should be spending your time doing what you do best, and find others to help you with everything else.

(8) Have you created systems in your business?

All successful businesses have systems in place that allow routine activities to be repeated over and over again, to ensure the same results. This also ensures your business does not rely solely on you for its success.

(9) Do you track everything you do?

The only way to truly know if what you’re doing is working, is to track. While it takes a bit more time and planning upfront, it can definitely save you time and money in the long run.

Every time you make a change in how you run your business, track it so you know if that change is making your business more successful, or not. Track every marketing activity so you know what’s bringing you business and what’s not.

(10) Are you willing to take a good, hard look at what you’re doing, and make changes if it’s not working?

Sometimes we have so much time, money or energy invested in doing something a certain way we have a hard time changing our approach if it isn’t producing success. That would be admitting failure, right? WRONG!

It would be a failure to NOT make a change! Being in business is a learning experience and one that requires constant fine-tuning.

Try this formula: Plan, take action, evaluate, fine-tune. And repeat as often as necessary until you find what works for you.

So, how’d you do? Don’t worry if you didn’t pass my commitment quiz. Your business is a work-in-progress. Your goal should be to work toward having all 10 of these pieces in place.

If you do, your business will have a much greater chance of success AND you’ll be a whole lot happier!

(C) Copyright 2005 Debbie LaChusa

Studies have shown that successful entrepreneurs possess these characteristics:

1. Self-confidence

This is that magical power of having confidence in oneself and in one’s powers and abilities.

2. Achievement Oriented

Results are gained by focused and sustained effort. They concentrate on achieving a specific goal, not just accomplishing a string of unrelated tasks.

3. Risk Taker

They realize that there is a chance of loss inherent in achieving their goals, yet they have the confidence necessary to take calculated risks to achieve their goals.

Entrepreneurs are people who will make decisions, take action, and think that they can control their own destinies. They are often motivated by a spirit of independence which leads them to believe that their success depends on raw effort and hard work, not luck.

So which of these three main characteristics is the most important? Believe it or not, it has to be self-confidence. Without self-confidence, nothing else is possible. If you don’t believe in your abilities, then the first challenge that arises may knock you off the path to achieving your goals. Here are a few things to keep in mind for maintaining a higher level of self-confidence.

Positive Thinking

Well, it all starts with a positive attitude, doesn’t it? Believing that something good will happen is the first step. Negative thinking simply is not allowed. You must truly believe that there are no circumstances strong enough to deter you from reaching your goals. Remember too, that positive thinking can be contagious. When positive thinking spreads, it can open doors to new ideas, customers, friends, etc.

Persistent Action

Now all of the positive thinking and believing in the world is useless if it is not applied towards a goal. You have to take action, no excuses are allowed. This action must also be persistent. Trying once and then giving up is not going to be enough. Keep at it one step at a time. If you can’t get by a certain step, then find a creative way to try again or just go around it.

At the beginning of this article we identified a few traits that are common among successful entrepreneurs. You should be able to look ahead and see yourself where you want to be. Now just maintain a strong belief in yourself and your skills, stick with it, and don’t give up. If you can do that, you’re already half way there!