Even though the Republicans in the U.S. are the minority party in terms of numbers, they have beat the Democrats in the last few Presidential elections.
George Lakoff, a gent I met at Harvard and MIT in the 70s, has written a delightful little primer for his liberal progressive party that’s become a best-seller – Don’t think of an elephant!
The subtitle gives the success formula:
Know your values and frame the debate.
Knowing your values is not as easy as it sounds. If you’re in sales, and your value is to sell, you’ll end up saying whatever you must, to make the sale. That’s what business has done for the last 50 years, and because so much of what sales people promise isn’t true, people today don’t trust business anymore.
To connect with people today, you need to connect first with those who share your deeper interests and values. Once you have that connection of shared values, THEN you can discuss products that reflect those values.
That means you need to know your own values.
Republicans have gotten this right, says Professor Lakoff. For example, most fiscal conservatives do not like big government spending and taxes, which they believe encourage people to become dependent on government largess, instead of helping themselves.
If you agree with that, as many do, then that is your value vis a vis this issue. Now that you know your value here, you need to “frame the debate.”
The Republicans have done that by positioning their tax reduction programs as “tax relief.”
Immediately, ‘tax’ in this phrase becomes an affliction, a burden from which we need relief. The phrase ‘tax relief’ is so popular now that even Democrats use it to talk about their ‘tax relief’ program, when in fact they believe in taxes to help those who need assistance (in their eyes).
Clever, huh?
So ask yourself: 1) what are your values as they relate to your product or your business? And 2) how could you frame that so people who already share your point of view, can more readily jump on board and not be distracted by detractors?
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Learn to tell your story so you can amaze and delight your niche: Here’s a book and CD program to help. And here’s help for talking in a human voice about your business – a CD set and cribsheet .
Kim,
Great food for thought! My values are easy to define when it comes to my product. Everyone should be healthy and care about their body. Are you saying how I word that to those who hear their name being called so they not just like the product but love it is the sales hook?
Way to go Republicans!
Nancy Carlson @NMC
perfectmombusiness.com
My values related to my products and business are the same values I live my life by. I can’t change my values without changing who I am so I don’t. Values for me are contribution, honesty, compassion, patience, fun.
How these relate to my business or product –
I am compassionate about animal’s health care or in some cases lack of. I give honest information about my products based on my own experiences. I have fun working with others while teaching them how they can add fulfillment to their pet’s life.
In a sentence it would be – It’s time….for healthy pets.
How to frame it? I’ll have to work on that one.
Thanks for a great post
Time to take an honest inventory of ourselves. Our values lead us to our why. I’ve heard over and over again, “Find your why.” Yet, I’ve never heard anyone teach how to find for this mystical why. Some of us have discovered our why, some haven’t.
Here is a simple little exercise you can do to help find your why.
Step 1: Write down your values and principles. All of them, even the little ones.
Step 2: Go through the list and rate them. Use a 5 point system with 5 being there is no way I would ever change or compromise this value/principle and 1 being a completely changeable value/principle.
Step 3: Mark the values/principles that you actually do adhere to and practice in your life. Also, mark the ones you would like to incorporate into your life. i.e., you would like to value your health more, but you don’t currently eat right or exercise.
Step 4: Look at the values/principles you marked with 4’s or 5’s and marked as values/principles that you currently adhere in your life. This is who you are. This is what you do and how you behave.
You may find that there are some things you might want to change. Change can be a good thing.
It is important that you be honest with yourself without being critical of yourself. This is not easy. Ask others who are close to you what they think.
Now, you can look at your values and principles and see which ones apply to your product and/or business. Start approaching your prospects from the perspective of your values and principles. When you run across others who are similar, you’ll grab their attention long enough for them to see what you have to offer. They may or may not buy. Is so, great. If not, no worries. They just might gladly lead you to someone who will.
Blessings,
Connelly
Hey Kim,
All good points.
I read George Lakoff’s book a couple of years ago. It makes perfect sense. Framing the issues/values, etc. is primary in communicating effectively.
The Republicans have used Orwellian language to frame the issues. This can be somewhat disingenuous and manipulative if used to misrepresent things.
This type of communication can also be misused to deceive people as well. Which the Republicans have been masters at doing. Tax Relief in their play book is tax relief for the upper 1% of income earners, is this truly tax relief?
So yes, this makes sense, let’s just hope that it is used in an authentic way instead of a disingenuous one.
Regards,
Erin Ely
http://www.elyorganics.com
I always loved the phrase “Own Your Life” which was coined many years ago in trainings by Don Faila. To me, “owning your life” applies to health in that it means you take charge of your own health to maintain wellness and prevent illness as much as possible. Owning your life also applies to financial freedom in that it enables you to make your own choices about how much money you will make, how much effort and what type of effort you’ll expend to make that money and how you’ll use your money and your time to create the life you want.
It really boils down to you owning your life instead of someone else owning and controlling your life. We all have to live under basic rules and structure, but within that larger structure, you can have many choices about your more personal structure.
Another premise that I structure my presentations around is “simplicity”. I have come to believe that the NWM industry has changed too much from the original simplicity of a home business. The changes started out as aids or tools to help us connect through internet, etc., but it’s gone much farther than that. Our language has become so technical that people outside our business can’t relate to it. Marketing plans, in my opinion, have become way too complex. If after almost 15 years in the business, I have trouble understanding all the various aspects, how can I help someone new to the business to understand. I like a marketing plan that can be explained in 5 sentences or less on the first approach. I also like marketing plans that pay a good first order bonus, but also have back-end bonuses that you can build to. And, I’ve been thrilled to find a company that has a pricing structure that allows people to retail locally if they want to for right now money. So, I explain the marketing plan with words like simplicity, back to basics, gain quick rewards and build for longevity.
And it has to be fun! I had an upline say, “If you’re not having fun doing your business, then you’re doing it wrong.” If fun wasn’t important to me, I could go back to a j.o.b. When I figured out that my business hadn’t been fun for a while, I knew it was time for a change. If I was feeling stressed, how could I want to share that with someone else?
So, I’m looking for people who care about their health and want to control their life; people who want simplicity with rewards now and in years and generations to come; and people who want to have fun and enjoy their business.
It’s imperative that I stay on that theme because it’s what’s important to me and what will keep me excited. I feel it’s something I can share from the heart with people and feel that I’m helping them add value to their lives. My mission should never be to fit square pegs into round holes or try to persuade people about what they want or need. My mission is to find those people for whom this is the right thing for them; people with whom I have a match. That’s a win-win situation for us both.
JUDY MARSHALL
http://www.judyann.networkmarketingcentral.com
Judy, great post.
Connelly