Pretend you or someone you know has a bad habit. A big bad monkey on your back. How did it get there? How did it start? Probably a combination of three things; emotions, authority figures, and repetition.
Let’s use an example.
Let’s just use a younger you for the example, 10-14 years old. And for this example, let’s use the habit of smoking. If you don’t smoke…. replace the word “smoking” with any craving you get, or just pretend you smoke? It is an article about smoking after all.
When you were in that age range we can assume you were learning about your life and how you fit into it. You may not have felt as sure about yourself.
Kids that age sometimes feel self-conscious, dependant on others, powerless, not good enough, or??. We’ll call this feeling “bad”. This is not saying you felt miserable, but maybe didn’t feel “good” as you thought you should feel? Did you feel as “good” as you thought other people felt?
Possibly, (probably) not. Which would mean you wanted to feel better, or at least as good as you thought other people feel. What would make you feel better? That depends on the influences in your life to that point.
How does a person learn things like that? Emotions, authority figures and repetition. You probably saw authority figures smoking – parents, family, friends, role models, and of course, advertisements. Smoking is perceived as tough, strong, independent, self-assured, and unique. All the “good” feelings you were feeling a lack of.
This would start a feeling in your mind, the beginning of a craving. A part of you that believes smoking is what your life needs to fix the bad feeling. Not just in a “knowing” way, but a “feeling” way. This concept will make the most sense to someone whom has tried to quit any strong habit, you know your “feelings” are stronger than your “knowing” any day.
Then you tried your first cigarette, and chances are that you weren’t so good at smoking. That would come with practice.
As life continues you come across situations that make you feel “bad” again and do what you’ve been taught makes you feel “good”. That is repeated emotions and practice and you have a strong habit.
A lot of people working to quit smoking have thought of these things. A lot have not. But, all of the people that have tried to quit smoking have used a lot of time thinking and analyzing their habit. Trying to argue themselves into quitting. But, you didn’t learn this habit by thinking and analyzing. Why would trying to quit smoking that way work?
It is a lot easier to quit smoking with the same methods you started smoking with. A “hypnotized” state of mind combined with emotions, authority figures and repetition. Often called modern hypnosis.
Archive for October, 2007
Building a Smoking Habit
Thursday, October 18th, 2007Positioning in Small Business Marketing
Thursday, October 18th, 2007Positioning is another one of those marketing jargon words that everybody throws around and is important to understand. It’s also important to understand how positioning specifically applies to your small business marketing.
Basically a marketing position describes your unique place in the market. The key word here is unique. What makes you different from your competitors? What features and benefits do you offer your target market that the other players don’t?
Here are a few things that may go into your positioning:
-Price Point – This doesn’t necessarily mean you have the lowest price. You may be the most expensive in town, and that’s OK if you convince your customers you’re worth it.
-Service – Almost every business claims they have great service. If you can provide exceptional service compared to your competitors, your customers will remember you. I’ll never forget calling a surly plumber to try to get him to my house for an emergency on a weekend. he acted like he didn’t want my business and then told me it was going to be $200 for him just to show up, no thanks. I called roto-router who gave me amazing service, a guarantee, and the whole bill was less than $200. I now use them for all my plumbing.
-Features and Benefits – Positioning is not just about what makes you different, it’s also about what you emphasize. Folgers announces to the world that it’s “mountain grown coffee” ( a feature). Guess what? All coffee is mountain grown. Folgers just claimed this feature first. What’s something that none of your competitors are talking about?
-Credibility – Legal Seafood’s clam chowder is served at every presidential inauguration. Many products get celebrity endorsements. Many companies tout how long they’ve been in business. All of these things build trust in the mind of the consumer. What trust-building factors do you have that the competition does not?
-Negative Features – Is there something you don’t have that annoys customers of your competitors? I’m not saying use negative advertising, but just mention the feature and tie it to a benefit. I’m annoyed when I have to pay for parking to go shopping at Mall. Instead of touting free parking, a mall that wants to speak to me might declare, “you’ll never have to pay for parking”. This drives home the pain of shopping with a competitor without going negative.
-Anything Else – Literally anything that differentiates you from your competitors can be part of your positioning strategy – your location, your hours of operation, the way your office smells. Small business owners need to think creatively here.
In a great article by John Jantsch he states that a positioning strategy must answer the question, “why should I buy from you?” This is brilliant in it’s simplicity; it cuts through all the strategic junk that complicates marketing. If you can’t answer this question, your customer is not going to do the work to figure out an answer on his own.
Positioning is an important concept in small business marketing. mastering this idea can lead to much higher profitability.
The 10 Biggest Misconceptions About Romance for Men
Thursday, October 18th, 2007When it comes to dating and romance there are some misconceptions, and some of them are really whoppers. We hate to say it, but the biggest bloopers in dating and romance are generally made by men who have big misconceptions about what their women want in the way of romance.
Here are the ten biggest romance misconceptions:
The first is that sex and romance are one and the same. Romance can and does lead to sex, of course, but to assume that the sex act is a romantic encounter just because it happens couldn’t be farther from the truth. People can have sex and not connect on a personal level at all. In fact, it happens far too often.
The second of the ten biggest misconceptions about romance is that it’s not important in a long term relationship: “She knows I love her. I’m here, aren’t I?” With that attitude, perhaps not for long. Romance must continue throughout the entire relationship or the love and the relationship will die.
Some also have the idea that it’s expensive to show romance in a relationship. What a misconception. How expensive is a walk in the park, a walk on the beach under the moonlight, a dance in the living room, or a love poem you wrote yourself and left for your loved one to find? It’s in fact often the least expensive romantic gesture and the one that came from your own hands, your own mind and your own heart that are the most romantic. Thinking otherwise is a big misconception.
The idea that all women are romantics and no men are is one of the biggest misconceptions. As with any other attitude, desire, or practice, people are individuals. Our sexist society has given men the message that being romantic is not being macho and not being macho is the kiss of manly death. Nothing could be further from the truth. A romantic man is one that is confident enough in himself that he can show his true feelings. A romantic man is loving, considerate and a good listener. Romance must come from both mates or it will not flourish.
Giving candy and flowers can heal all wounds. That is a common misconception about romance. The gesture of taking the time to choose just the right bouquet and just the right vase, or the kind of chocolates you know are her favorite can mean a lot, but trying to heal a bad wound that you’ve created by calling a florist, whipping out your credit card and having someone else deliver what it took you all of two minutes to decide on is not going to be much of anything except an empty gesture. Personalization, effort, knowing your mate and caring what he or she likes, wants or needs – those are romantic gestures. If flowers and candy are the answer, so be it. Far too often they really aren’t.
The last four of the 10 biggest misconceptions about romance is that there are romantic people and there are those that aren’t and neither can change; that you have to do a lot of preparatory work to be romantic; that the words “I love you” are enough and make everything else right; and that remembering her or him on Valentine’s Day, birthday and Christmas are enough romance.
10 inaccuracies in a man’s perception of romance.
Human resources strategy for running your business
Thursday, October 18th, 2007Human Resources
Working in partnership with you, we provide hands-on assistance to your managers and staff in all areas of the employment lifecycle from advertising a job, through to performance and reward management, and exit.
Policies & Procedures
We can:
Conduct a detailed review of all current company policies and procedures in compliance with legal requirements and corporate initiatives and review bi-yearly.
Develop new employment policies and procedures as considered necessary.
Produce customised staff handbook containing all relevant policies and procedures in compliance with legal requirements.
Undertake detailed reviews of the organisations contracts of employment for permanent staff and contracts for service for casual staff if required adding all new legislative changes.
Recruitment
Your company can realise economies of scale and achieve service standardisation by allowing us to manage the recruitment process from vacancy through to shortlisting and selection. We will undertake all administrative requirements throughout the lifecycle of the vacancy, updating all necessary systems where applicable. Intellect Business Services can do as much or little as required throughout the process.
Job Descriptions
We can:
Undertake a review of all current Job Descriptions and Person Specifications, working with staff and managers to ensure they are reflective of the tasks that are undertaken.
Create new Job Descriptions as necessary.
Assess the current Job Evaluation system and competency framework to meet the changing requirements of the business and implement through consultation with all stakeholders.
Ongoing Advice
We work in partnership with the client to provide hands on assistance and guidence in circumstances that require the skills of a Human Resources professional or a Health and Safety consultant who is independent to your organisation. You can focus on your core business objectives, confident in the knowledge that these issues are being taken care of. We also provide tribunal representation.
Training
We provide a wide range of bespoke training to ensure managers are compliant with all aspects of employment and Health and Safety law; these could include maternity updates, disciplinary/grievance training, appraisal training, age discrimination and its impact. All course detail is written and delivered in partnership with you.
Employee Records
We can keep all HR files and electronic records for your staff where required. We will ensure all compliance checks have been undertaken on your employees. We will store your HR records in an appropriate manner to safeguard the confidentiality of all records and data. We can produce HR reports as required.
Accounting
Intellect Business Services provide a complete accounting function to you without the need for employing an in-house specialist.
Whether you are a small sole trader or a large corporation, we can offer a fully tailored package to suit your needs. Your package can include monthly or quarterly management accounts, bookkeeping, invoice processing, credit management, budgets and forecasting, accounting software training and development, and any other service you feel can benefit your business.
We can also offer a VAT Return service, to include Intrastat and EC Sales Lists if required.
Company Formation
Want to set up a new company and not sure where to start? Intellect Business Services can assist you by completing all necessary paperwork with Companies House and provide you with ongoing support and advice through the process.
All aspects of Human Resources and Health and Safety. Policies and procedures for Human Resources and Health and Safety including the creation of Employee Handbooks.