Happy Hump Day!

Yayyy...It's almost the weekend! Happy Hump Day Everyone!!!

Every week, there's always a day where we look forward to the most. Whether it's a day where we know the weekend is half-way here, the Manny Pacquiao & Floyd Mayweather super fight this Saturday evening at your favorite sports bar, any other events that you may have going on like the Kentucky Derby this upcoming weekend, or just a Sunday fun-day. 

No matter what the day, week, month, or year may be; there's always some excitement that we can't wait for. So, what are some of your favorite days you look forward to or events that you will be participating in this weekend?

Vegas TPR 2015 Announcement

Are you ready?? It’s Vegas time baby!! So mark your calendars to hop onto a plane in September. All of corporate, directors, assistant directors, top administrators, and top ETL’s and ETT’s gets a chance to go on an all expense paid trip to Viva Las Vegas! Make sure you are continuing to have a strong mental attitude in a career you are establishing in and do not give up. Because not only can you do great things like travel to beautiful places in the world but you are creating a future full of personal accomplished goals. Always know what you want in life and continue to go after it, because it will only make you stronger. It’s so exciting to get rewarded by just doing your job and all of the right things. Now get excited for Vegas TPR2015.

Here are some fun facts that you may not have known about the Famous Sin City:

-         - The Las Vegas Strip is the brightest place on Earth when looked at from outer space.

-         - Michael Jackson had plans to build a 50 foot tall moon walking robot replica of himself to roam the Las Vegas desert. It was intended to be an advertisement for a planned 2005 comeback.

-         - It would take 288 years for one person to spend one night in every hotel room in Las Vegas.

-         - A man actually did suffer a heart attack while eating at Vegas’ infamous Heart Attack Grill.

-        -  Las Vegas has a “black book,” a list of people who are banned from setting foot in any casino in the city.

-        -  The electric bill for the Luxor pyramid’s shining light is $51 per hour.

Modern Marketing's 2015 Top Performer Retreat to the Bahamas

We love setting goals and most importantly hitting those goals. Competing is what we do best and this competition was really something to reward the Top Performers in the office. Who doesn’t like winning? The competition started in November and ran through February. The four month time period gave us time to hit numbers and excel in hitting goals and quotas.

We are beyond ecstatic that corporate, One Source Provider, has given us an amazing opportunity to be able to enjoy and relax with fellow co-workers in other offices in the northern region. The winners were announced early March and although everyone could not come; we are excited for the Top Performers that earned the trip!

The Trip was a 4 - day cruise to the Bahamas! On Friday, we left the Port of Miami on Royal Caribbean cruise ship Majesty. That night all the Top Performers were recognized at our award ceremony hosted by our VP of sales Carlos Linares. Saturday was a day filled of fun in the sun, where the ship docked at CocoCay, a private island of Royal Caribbean. Sunday, all of the Top Performers and Corporate got to enjoy over 22 pools and 11 water slides at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas! Top Performers were really spoiled during this trip!!

If you work hard enough you will receive the reward you have been waiting for! Who knew it would be a free trip to the Bahamas on the almighty Royal Caribbean cruise ship Her Majesty! Stay tuned to what fun activities we participate in.

Modern Marketing's Emerging Leaders Conference

The 21st and 22nd of February this year marked the first OSP Emerging Leaders Conference in 2015.  Along with having the top Sales Representatives and Administrators from the company present, the main speaker who hosted the conference was our very own Vice President of Sales; Carlos Linares.

While describing OSP's future plans for the company, Carlos taught us what it truly means to be a leader and an entrepreneur.  With the expansion One Source Provider is experiencing, spending a weekend discussing how to develop the people around us as well as ourselves was quite significant.  In fact, one of the greatest things taken away from the weekend was the simple fact that being a true leader and business owner means learning to look past yourself.   

Here we realize that expanding a business is more than just a numbers game, it is about working smart to develop the right people, so that the trend continues. Most businesses can train their people to do the job great, but lack the relationships that need to be built that makes them last a lifetime. We focus most of our time building relationships with our people and developing them into higher roles within the company, therefore, creating a rock hard foundation to expand our business upon. The real secret to finding success is the realization that it is a journey, not a destination.

With everything we learned and took away from this weekend, it is evident that these conferences will become more frequent and only better with time.  Being able to learn from such a dedicated member of our team as well from each other has only strengthened the relationship between all of our offices.  Learning and growing with each other, while also being able to have fun and enjoy amenities provided by OSP, had us leaving with a lot to take back to our offices, including some new relationships.

Until next time, remember that what a successful person does daily, is what an unsuccessful person only does occasionally. 

Random Acts of Kindness

Meetings, conference calls and late nights in the office can lead to feelings of frustration and unkind words. A few simple acts of kindness can go a long way towards diffusing tensions and creating long-lasting friendships with the men and women you see every day.

Help a co-worker: If you know one of your co-workers has a huge work load or a major project to finish, offer to help. Offer to review and edit work they’ve already completed or offer to take some of the work off of their shoulders by running reports or finishing a presentation. The work will be finished faster and your co-worker will be grateful to have a little extra assistance.

Bring co-workers a special treat: Small surprises and tokens of appreciation throughout the year help people in the office feel valued all year long. Surprise co-workers with breakfast items, snacks or homemade treats.

Email a compliment: The next time you send an email to someone you work with, add a compliment. Acknowledging hard work, successes and other observations boost confidence and attitudes in the office.

Praise your co-workers: It’s always kind to thank your co-workers when they do something nice or offer their support. You can really go the extra mile when you acknowledge something that doesn’t necessarily impact you. Recognizing others for their achievements builds confidence and goodwill among all office mates.

Make your office or work space peaceful: By creating a peaceful and approachable office space you may just become the person others come to when they need to discuss a problem, share ideas or receive inspiration. Everyone needs a calm and inviting place to talk, including you!

Guide your business the Modern Marketing way

There is a difference between marketing to a business and marketing to a consumer, believe it or not. Although you are still selling a product to a person experience shows that the difference between these two types of markets runs deep.

When you market to a B2B you will realize these businesses work hard to streamline the buying process in order to save time and money. This often explains why a B2B purchase is based more on logic and why a consumer's purchase is based more on emotion.

It is true that the cost of a sale for the business-to-business market is more expensive and typically higher than the business to consumer market. The easiest way to explain this is that a business-to-business transaction often takes more consideration.

Let me see if I can explain even further.

Marketing to B2B: When you are marketing to a B2B you want to focus on the logic of the product. You do this by focusing on the features of the product. There is little to no personal emotion involved in the purchasing decision. You want to focus on understanding the organizational buyers and how they operate within the confines of their organization's procedures. The B2B market has a thirst for knowledge and they are information seekers. Be more in-depth with your marketing materials. Your most effective marketing message will focus on how your product or service saves them time, money and resources.

Your business-to-business market is more interested in the logic behind your product. They will want to hear more about the features and how it will help them in saving time, money or resources.

Marketing to B2C: When you are marketing to a consumer you want to focus on the benefits of the product. Their decision is more emotional. Consumers are different in that they demand a variety of distribution channels for convenience, not so with the B2B market. Consumers are less likely to be interested in a lengthy marketing message. They will want you to get right to the point. Consumers don't want to work to understand your benefits, instead they will want you to clearly point out the benefits to them. Your most effective marketing strategies will focus on the results and the benefits that your product or service will bring to them.

Your business-to-consumer market purchase more on emotion. They are more interested in the benefit of the product. They will want to hear more about how their product or service helps them and what benefits it brings to them personally.

For example consider this: My product is lotion.

My lotion will moisturize the skin and relieve itching skin.

If I have a B2B client they will be most interested in the feature of the client which is moisturizing the skin. If I have a B2C client they will be most interested in the benefit which is relief of itching skin.

We will be most effective in marketing if we understand what both markets need in order to make a decision.

Carlos Linares Leadership Conference in Miami

Carlos Linares is the Founder and CEO of MIT Worldwide Marketing Group. When Carlos is not busy operating his own business, he is traveling around the country conducting motivational speeches on Leadership, Management and Self-progression. 

In addition, Carlos is also an innovated leader in the development and implementation of industry leading training programs that have been adopted by many corporations; including Halo Management Consulting. 

This weekend we were honored to have Carlos come speak at our 'Top Performer Conference' in Miami where he spoke on the importance of hard work and never giving up; qualities that we not only preach here at Halo Management, but also live by. Thank you Carlos- it's people like you who inspire us to do what we do every single day. You're an incredible example of perseverance and leadership. 

Here's a brief bio on Carlos:

Carlos Linares is the CEO of M.I.T. Consulting Group. He is recognized in the Direct Sales industry as one of the elite training experts in coaching Leadership, Management, Sales, Marketing, and Personal Development. Carlos also has a specialized knowledge in developing training mechanisms for the successful training, and knowledge transfer of skills in sales, marketing, management, and leadership.Carlos received his MBA in business management at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fl. 

He started his Direct Sales career in 1998, selling home services in New York City going door to door. He started his first corporation in the year 2000, and during his tenure of managing offices, his reputation for developing leaders, and placing them in their own offices began to grow more, and more as each year passed. During his time that he ran offices, he never made less than $250k a year in business and during his time of independently running his own company his business peaked at 4.6 million a year in revenues.

Over the last 7 years, Carlos has been personally mentored by the world renowned leadership expert, speaker, and coach, who has authored, and sold over 19 million books, John C Maxwell. And as a result, since 2010, Carlos is a founding member of the President’s Advisory Council in the John Maxwell Company. Today, Carlos is a certified coach, teacher, and speaker, and does Workshops, Seminars, Keynote Speaking, and Coaching for Companies. His primary objective today is to add value to the young Men, and Women all over the country, which will at the end of the day lead to exponential growth for
them and their companies.“Leaders don’t tell better stories, they make the stories better.” -Carlos Linares

Things Leaders do Last

Leadership is contagious. What is modeled by leaders is mimicked by others. As you build strong leadership habits, rather than thinking what could you do first, consider the effects of what you do last.

Leaders Battle Last

“The greatest victory is that which requires no battle” 

Leaders navigate through conflicts and trials as though no problems took place. They have to develop a big picture attitude. They see problems on the horizon and handle them well before they hit the shore and do any damage. They prefer solution over problem. 

Leaders don’t focus on where things are currently at, but where things will be heading. You may need to change the course you are going. 

Leaders Speak Last

They allow others to give their opinion. They listen, understand, and acknowledge all t hat is said. Leaders don’t just take everything on board, the assess and weigh all opinions. Then, they speak last after they tie everything together. Leaders know they can learn from anyone, but they excel in making the right decisions with the best opinions. They are not a dictator nor holding a democracy, good leaders have a perfect balance. 

Leaders Celebrate Last

The old sayings will never die; nothing is over till the fat lady sings. Leaders don’t take the pedal off the metal until they've truly crossed the finish line. Leaders see things through a panoramic lens. 

A sprint is pointless if you’re trying to run a marathon. 

Leaders Hire Last

Leaders truly know that anyone can look like a rock star on paper. It is easy to dazzle in a dress, however it is far more difficult to get out on the dance floor. “Don’t tell me, show me,” is what a real leader would say. Quality will beat qualifications every single time. 

 Leaders Sweat Last

“Work smarter, not harder”

This however doesn't mean hard work gets thrown out the window, Leaders work both hard and smart. They always push for more, more productivity, more efficiency. This by no means is them shying away from hard work, it is smart work. Leaders also know how to maximize their strengths and outsource their weaknesses. 

Leaders get off the Ship Last 

It is an unspoken, but sometimes broken rule; the captain is the last to leave a ship. The most tragic ship wrecks are those of which the captain is the first to abandon his crew. A leader does not step into a role without accepting the responsibilities, they know every decision they make affects many lives, if they steer one way, the entirety of the ship is also going that way. 

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Motivation! Modern Style!

The nature of being an entrepreneur means that you fully embrace ambiguity and are comfortable with being challenged regularly. Choosing this career path is completely irrational because the odds of succeeding are dismal, but most succeed because of their unwavering belief, laser focus on delivering and persistence.

Even these “go-getters” would use some motivation for the great entrepreneurs that have greatly succeeded before them. Here are some of my favorite motivational quotes that make a difference in my life, both personal and professional

1. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”- Peter Drucker

2. “Winners never quit and quitters never win.”- Vince Lombardi

3. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which
      is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out
      your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They
      somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

4. “My biggest motivation? Just to keep challenging myself. I see life almost like one long University
      education that I never had — everyday I’m learning something new.” – Richard Branson

5. “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” –Bill Gates

6. “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do
      things differently.”- Warren Buffett

7. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”- Thomas Edison

8. “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”- Albert Einstein

9. “As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.” - Donald Trump

10. “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”- Winston Churchill

11.”Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.”- Thomas Edison

12. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the
        ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in
        your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

13. “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether
        we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.”- Vince Lombardi

14. “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”- Bill Cosby

15. “Success is not what you have, but who you are.”- Bo Bennet

Do you read motivational quotes as part of your work day? Do you have any particular sayings that have made a difference in your life?

Modern Marketing Hire the Best People

One of the things that great companies do is they hire the best people. These successful companies aren't afraid to recruit the best candidates from other organizations or pull talented people from other industries. There are three attributes that are most important to an organization when hiring: attitude, competency and mindset.

Attitude. An employee has a passion for the organization and what it is trying to accomplish and is excited about being a part of the organization.

Competency. An employee has the right skills and capabilities to do his or her job, or has the ability to learn the right skills.

Mindset. An employee understands the value of collaborating with peers and comes to work every day looking for ways to improve the performance of the company and increasing the impact he or she can have.

Here are the issues if your candidate doesn't fall into the sweet spot in the center:

1. Good attitude and strong level of competence, but the wrong mindset. The candidate will be focused on his or her own goals and accomplishments and will not be willing to collaborate to improve the performance of the company unless it benefits them personally.

2. Right competency and mindset, but the wrong attitude. The talent will leave because they have no loyalty for the organization or connection to what it is trying to accomplish.
3. Preferred attitude and mindset, but a low level of competency. You will suffer productivity loss. Even though the employee might be a great person and have great energy and passion for the organization, they don’t add any value because they don’t have, and can’t learn, the required skills.

4. The right mix of attitude, competency and mindset. With this mix, you achieve profit maximization. This happens because every employee you hire is adding value to the organization on a consistent basis.

You’ll notice that I didn't mention experience, and that is for good reason. When you find a great talent who is passionate about what your organization is doing, experience doesn't matter. Great people can decipher what they need to learn in order to be successful. Twenty five years in the same industry or with the same company is not necessarily a good thing. It’s much harder to unlearn what you know then learn what you need to know.

Even if you don’t have a specific role in mind, when you find someone who has all three attributes, hire them. Find a role for them. You can create a new role if you need to because they will contribute tremendous value for your organization.

However, if any one of the three attributes is missing, employees will not last very long with your organization. You will be hiring the wrong people for the wrong reasons. Integrate the search for these three attributes into your hiring process and you will attract better people and make better hiring decisions.

Modern Marketing had the Keys to Success

Success is defined differently by all. For some, it may be getting a stable job, for others it may just be paying off those student loans. Success is not a standard definition that all can easily achieve. It is important to take the time to define what success is for you, and what it is that you can do to accomplish that. And of course, it is always important to know that you never have to settle for anyone else’s definition of success.

Along with the author of the amazing article, Stephen Key, I added my option on what it takes to be a successful person, no matter what the end result is for you.   

Seek out new experiences:

People live in their comfort zone. It is not until you step out into the unknown that you will realize what you are capable of doing. The wider the range of experiences, the more you will be exposed to different people, lifestyles, and points of view. If you can put yourself in someone else’s shoes you will have more empathy. Seeking out new experiences means you are challenging yourself and willing to learn.
     
Abandon your expectations:

Expectations lead to disappointment. The high expectations you have for someone or something may be something they aren’t even capable of. Walk into unfamiliar situation with an open mind. It is almost impossible to be let down if you don’t make assumptions about what should or shouldn’t have happened. When you open yourself up to possibilities amazing things will happen.

Treat everyone you meet with respect:

Everyone has something to offer. You can never judge a book by its cover. If you prejudged Steve Jobs and his white tennis shoes and khakis, a chance to network may never occur. To be successful, we all need help. It is impossible to predict who may be able to help you later. Don’t ever miss out on an opportunity to befriend someone, keep the judgments out.


Celebrate milestones, large or small:

Set a goal, no matter how big or small. And when you reach it, reward yourself. You’ll be much happier if you celebrate each step of the way. If you wait to celebrate that one exclusive goal, you might get discouraged along the way. When you celebrate, get together with friends and family and let them share with you your achievements.
   
Let go of the past:

Mistakes are the stepping stones to success. People who are willing to take risks and make mistakes. I believe that people learn for the mistakes they make. However with that you have to let go of the mistakes, and just take the lesson. Stop beating yourself up, and try not to be so hard on others either. 

Modern Marketing, Tony Robbins and Selling

For those not aware of Tony Robbins, I suggest googling him ASAP. The reason being? He is one of the most influential speakers of our time. Not only has Robbins improved many people’s personal life with his motivational talks, his insight into the business world has impacted business globally. In our business the art of effective selling is key. I strongly believe our system is in tip top shape, however as all entrepreneurs know, you can always get better. Here are some lessons that entrepreneurs can learn from Tony Robbins’s books, videos and presentations.

Know your purpose: In a day to day sales world, you must have a sense of a goal for the day. It is far too easy to walk into the office, check emails, sit of Facebook and get complacent. When you come into work every day you have to have it in your mind of what you’re going to achieve. Knowing your purpose will make the biggest impact you can imagine.

Give positive meaning to everything: Here is our office we refer to non positive people as “neg bombs.” There is no situation in which being negative will help the outcome. The sales rep’s life is all about risks. The greater the risk you take the greater the reward you will make. It’s very simple. Recognizing what you can control verse what you can’t control will keep your head in the game and ready for the next opportunity.  

Realize that everything you do has a consequence:  There’s no neutral in sales: A sales rep's interactions with customers will either be positive or negative. Every action you take matters. It is always the best idea to always be on your best behavior, even if no one is looking. Recognize your strengths and don’t let others see into your weaknesses.

Know that everyone is unique, different and amazing: Sales is a competitive world and sometimes even cut throat; where people put themselves on the line every day. They often get shot down. Looking at the world through the lens that everyone has meaning will positively affect every facet of your performance. Don’t get deflated when buyers and competitors don’t behave like you want. Don’t get down when you don’t make the sale, its nothing personal. Find someone that wants it, always just move to the next person.

Be driven by your desire for adventure: What drives you? It is important to figure out what moves and motivates you. Figure out what you want out of life and what attracts you to reach it.

Expect the unexpected: What are you going to do when something unexpected happens in sales? (By the way, something crazy always happens in sales.) Why do you think we’re always the storytelling life of the party? When any situation arises, it’s important to respond with the right action that helps you solve a customer problem and take the next step.