The Law of Attraction: Intention Law of Attraction

The Law of Attraction: Intention Law of Attraction: by Jason Li 2013 ©

As a sceptic... I originally thought the law of attraction was a load of rubbish...

In fact, an outright scam...

A way to take money off desperate people...

But I now believe it has worked in some ways.

Do you believe? Read on to see my story.

The Secret

I first came across this about three years ago when people and the media were raving about The Secret.

I thought, “Let’s be open minded and at least learn something new, even if I don’t agree.”

So here’s what I learnt.

In summary, if you believe good things are happening in your favour, soon your desires will be fulfilled, such as; you will be walking on a nice beach on holiday and feel the warm sun and the sounds of the waves; the universe will help you get there.

It’s based on vibrations.

So if you think negative things like: we don’t make many sales on a Monday or no-one calls our number anymore – guess what – the universe agrees and delivers your negative vibe... because it is what you want. 

(That’s right, time to gag that energy vampire in your office right now.)

“You get what you wish for”

You get what you wish for has been a known saying throughout time.

The law of attraction is mainly based on this philosophy, and you have to control your mind to ensure you only get what you wish for.

And it has happened to me.

I used to complain that I lived in an economic zone where jobs were low level unskilled  and low paid, so there were no decent graduate level jobs to apply for.

Maybe in a way I liked to prove this too.

Even though I desperately wanted a high paid graduate job, my negative vibes fed me low paid office jobs.

The Law of Attraction for more money

After managing and turning around a failing takeaway during the day as a challenge as an Interim Manager, while co-creating a board game each night and weekends, my attitude changed from looking for a low level job to looking to be a business advisor as I believed I was more than qualified to do so.

And so, not too long after winning a contract from Marks and Spencer to have 10,000 board games in over 200 stores in the UK, I got a job in a government funded agency and got to use my specialist marketing strategy skills.

I was unwittingly using the law of attraction.

I was focusing on what I want, mainly because I really believed I could help people, not just because of my Master’s Degree certificate, but because I proved it that I can both fine tune an existing offer (takeaway) and create a new product (board game) from scratch that beat many household brand name competitors.

So the law of attraction process started when I was ready to sacrifice in the short term an office career and go all practical in doing a business turnaround by running a takeaway, and sacrifice my nights inventing a new product.

“Money will come when you’re ready for it”

Now all this is in vain if you can’t get rich fairly quick.

We all want to have lots of money and free time.

It never happened for me in the past, I’ll admit that.

Again, I desperately wanted the money and the option to do what I want with my time.

Recently I heard a podcast and a very successful entrepreneur said a few years back he was poor and desperate to be rich. He was maxing on credit cards and working all hours, but his businesses were struggling.

And you know what... his mentor said:

“Money will come when you’re ready for it.”

He said he is ready for it. Of course he is; he’s desperate for it. But substantial money never came.

But now, money comes to him all the time, and it makes sense.

Law of attraction gratitude

Part of the law of attraction is gratitude.

Gratitude when you have an opportunity, whether it ends in a result you want.

So let’s say a prospect enquires. Even if they do not buy, be grateful and thankful (say thank you in your mind) that you had a prospect enquire, no matter what the outcome is.

This way you are telling the universe that you are thankful for what has been give to you.

It’s like when a referral has come from your network. It may not turn into an order. But you should thank them for the opportunity.

So if you think negative in a way such as: “I hate all these time waster callers.” Well guess what, the universe takes that on board and the prospects will start to reduce in numbers.

Now, at this point, for those new to this, it does all read a bit hocus pocus. I don’t blame you because I was in the same mind set for ages. So only you can decide to carry on reading this or re-read it again with an open mind.

Law of attraction leads to change

There are so many people who complain about unfortunate bad luck or how they just missed out.

So here is how the law of attraction gets you to where you want to be.

Remember above where I wrote that the law of attraction requires you to focus on where you want to be, the ideal result, outcome and feelings.

And also to show gratitude.

Well I have been focusing on the results of where I want to be.

In order to get there, I cannot carry on doing the same things I did yesterday, last week, last month or last year.

As you already know, doing the same thing leads to the same results.

And so I have to let the universe know I am willing to accept the changes to get to where I want to be.

It’s the only way my career and wealth can improve.

In order to take steps towards the results you desire, you have to say to the universe you are grateful for the changes that are presented to you.

If you don’t... then the universe believes you don’t want to change, and therefore you don’t want to achieve the better results.

No changey, no better resultsy: end up samey!

The law of attraction and this blog

So this blog was set up to give businesses ideas and tips to improve and get better results.

This can lead on to the human benefit of more free time as profit increases, more money to reward yourself and do more things in life.

But readers can only get to the results if they are willing to take a chance and try new ideas and new knowledge... to get to achieve a better result.

So, what would you like to attract for your business?

What would you like to change to improve your business?

What will you be willing to do to improve your business?

What would you be willing to pay if you could achieve a better result of overcome that nagging problem?

Please share this article if you think it will help or inspire anyone you know.

Further reading:

The problem of creating new products and services

How to generate more leads for my business

When your marketing is not working

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'Anchoring Sales Technique’: Sales Pricing Strategy for more Upselling (secretly used by Gucci and Apple)

‘Anchoring Sales Technique’: Sales Pricing Strategy for more Upselling (secretly used by Gucci and Apple): by Jason Li 2012 ©
 

The anchoring sales technique is used everywhere...

It’s a trap to get you to open your wallet...

And amazingly: as consumers we love it...

In fact, there are even times when you’ve got caught up in it and paid more than you budgeted due to a sophisticated anchoring marketing technique – it’s like legitimate robbery.

What is the ‘anchoring sales technique’?

Almost anyone who has looked at a product or service by a reputable brand would have been introduced to the ‘flagship product’- like the ones you see in shop windows....

This is the product that is the most expensive in the range...

Yet rather than put the prospect off, it will help the business make more profit... and here is how.

What happens here, is that the business will show the prospect the most expensive product with all the bells and whistles, which has the biggest profit mark-up, possibly with features and benefits that the user would likely never use; and then your customer is framed to believe that if they had the budget, they would willingly get this version with all the bells and whistles.

Straight away, your prospect is reasoning that your sales pricing strategy for the products in the range make sense. They’ll even agree with you that the best one in the range really is desirable and well worth selling your grandmother for.

But right now, your prospective customer is just looking for a product within their current budget range. So they start from the most expensive product pricing backwards to the one they can afford based on stripping off the other features and benefits.

But here’s the killer part in this business pricing strategy...

Most people who have a budget range may take a few minutes to work out what they can spend, or are a bit worried about spending money. So when they see the most expensive product priced at let’s say five times the cost of the product they want, they feel like the product they are buying is reasonably priced.

Masterfully, you have in one go taken away any objections based on valuation and pricing.

This is because some people just look at price (see Quality,Price, Delivery article). By framing the customers mind to think of the most expensive price first, it reduces the objection raised at the current price for price buyers.

And here’s the real kicker – the prospect thinks their budget purchase is associated with the premium version, they will perceive the budget version as premium quality – but just a cut-down version.

Anchoring marketing technique

Let’s take Gucci as an example. Gucci will display in their shop windows and on stands in their shops the very finest and most expensive products. The most luxurious products are displayed to raise the prospects expectations.

When a prospect comes into the shop and thinks of getting a little purse for £50, they see the amazingly beautiful purse or clutch bag on the stands. And the stand allows you to touch it and hold it, open it up, hold it some more in different ways, and smell the brand new smell.

At this point, you start to look for your purse. Now if you are a price buyer, you will stick to your £50 purchase rules.

If you are a bit flexible on your budget, then the anchoring marketing technique has got you involved in enjoying products at a higher quality. You have actively told yourself higher quality holds more value to you. And so you are likely to upgrade your search to a product to be closer to the most expensive and luxurious product in the shop, which could be ten times the price at £500 for a purse!

Anchoring telesales technique

In telesales, you can also have an anchoring telesales technique by making sure you have more than one product to your prospect. Of course, this depends on if your business does have a variety of products to offer prospects.

You can offer three alternatives and packages available to help prospects upgrade to a mid-range package if you have a basic, middle, and an ‘all the bells and whistles package’.

Anchoring sales tips

Make sure that the most expensive product is credible so that price buyers understand there is a lot of added value in the most expensive product or package.

But what strategy would you use to price the middle product? Is it cost of production or cost of doing the job? Well try to do the following and test your results.

Help the customer by pricing the mid-range product at a price closer to the cheapest price so that even price buyers can be drawn to pay a bit extra for the better quality offer. You’ll be anchoring more sales of people buying the cheapest to the next level up.

Anchoring marketing tips

Make sure that your most luxurious product is the best value product you can possibly offer. Let’s say you are selling carpets, then it has to be the finest rugs so that prospective customers know you can cater great quality if they are willing to pay for it.

Make sure the product is prominent for all prospective customers to see, can feel, touch and dream of having.

The price rise then drop method: helping prospective customers think you have ‘bargains’

Some retailers use this method to increase revenue with this anchoring price technique. They raise the price of a brand new product that is superior to the current product line. For a good few weeks, they get all the people who are not price sensitive to buy the brand new latest model. Then when sales drop off: they drop the price to a new lower price. But remember, this lower price is already profitable and is close to the price they would be happy to take orders at anyway.

Now check out the price of the older product when the next brand new model is on offer. You can work out the margin difference with the new model, and what the business can accept as the price for the older model. Don’t think businesses are losing money at the lower price or doing you a favour. They’ve been stuffing the tills from people who have to have the latest products for weeks on end.

So the original high price is in fact extra cream for their profits

And it makes prospective customers think they are now getting a bargain; how nice of the retailer or manufacturer! Hey, you want to believe in the hero brand right?

It happens a lot with technology. For example, when Apple bring out a new iPad or iPhone, the current line drops in price. But remember, Apple are not losing money because the price has dropped; no, they are still making a good profit. If they were losing money, then they would immediately discontinue the line instead.

What product could you have that is the absolute premium in quality and profit for customers?

What mid-range products can you add that take customers away from the low cost low profit margin products?

Please Pay It Forward by sharing this article. Someone you know might find it useful and it might help them generate more revenue or profit. It only takes a minute and they might even like it.

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When your marketing is not working

When your marketing is not working: by Jason Li 2012 ©

I have heard different reasons why marketing is not working. These include people trying marketing promotion tactics such as: newspaper advertising, radio ads, leaflets, cards in newsagent windows, networking groups, word-of-mouth through friends, telesales, and so-on and so-on. But don’t blame the graphic designer. He or she is running a business and will help you spend and create any fancy artwork you want. They might not understand marketing strategy, but are amazingly good at design.

If your marketing promotions do not work, it’s normally because you asked the designer to create the wrong thing which you signed off. But now here is a way that you can reduce the chances of getting it wrong so that you are more successful and the graphic designer does not get their reputation tarnished.

All the above are really classified as promotions and part of marketing communications. It’s still part of marketing, but if you generally have a problem with your promotions then it is usually more to do with not doing marketing strategy properly. What you say in your communications is down to what you have strategically offered. If this is wrong, then people who see or hear your message have not found your offer irresistible.

Promotions and marketing communications are really just the message and how you communicate the message. Eg. Buy one apple get one free written on a leaflet. Sometimes, businesses can jump the gun and start communicating offers without working out what is enticing to a prospective customer.

Marketing is the finding out what your target market needs or wants so that you can create a product or service of value that meets the customer needs. Once you have done this, then let people know about it.

Let’s get back to basics

There are two general strategies: low cost supplier or high margin differentiated.

A low cost supplier is offering the very basic version at lowest cost to undercut competitors. Obviously, if you can add in some quality in your offer, for example if you make a cheap biro pen and add a nice smooth pen nib, and can still be cheaper, then do it. Your offer here is to the cheap biro pen market with a nice smooth pen nib so that it is not the same as other cheap biro pens.

A high margin differentiated is an offer of where you create better quality and maximum value than your competitors. But it will cost more due to quality components or expertise. Examples include Mercedes Benz, iPads, or a top lawyer.

Market research

A mix of theoretical and practical research will help.

Let’s say you are a landlord. You can ask at the estate agent questions to get an idea of who is your tenant type, or how to change your property to suit tenant types.

Ask good questions such as:

“From your experience ‘Miss estate agent’, what three things would a doctor want to feel comfortable living here?” You could directly ask a friend who is a doctor or a doctor who is looking at your property.

“When do students normally look for accommodation?”

“How many professionals would you say rent in the city?”

For more on working out your customer see quality, price, delivery.

Niche and market segments.

Yes there is a large market out there. You could say you are a landlord and want to rent out a four bedroom house with garden in the city. At first logic you would think there’s a million people in this city and they all need to live so we are in business. But then you do see houses that do not fully rent out, so the million people in the city means it’s a certainty guarantee does not wash.

You might notice that certain properties suit a certain type of tenant. Let’s say that the typical tenant for your property is a female in 20s with an office job earning £20k plus. This is your niche, your segment of the market, your target market. The whole market are all the tenant market types, and particular types are segments such as 20s office professionals, or 40s office professionals, or students, or doctors.

Work out which segment would suit your property and be the most attractive in this niche.

Differentiation

This is where you can create and highlight where you are blindingly obviously different from competitor offers.

Let’s take a landlord trying to put on a house for rent. There’s no point just putting a four bedroom house and garden for rent on the market. The garden might suit 40s+ office professionals. So find out what 40s+ people like to do in the garden. Make the garden a place where they can sit on a bench and read a book, or an area to grow their own plants etc. If you have doctors then have book shelf furniture and a nice office desk if you are a furnished property. If you are renting to university students then point out how you are close to student bars, the library, local supermarket, cheap shops, playing fields, condom machine (even students can afford a romantic meal at the local cafeteria with a partner and more).

Another example is offering to manufacturers a unique service where you are the only intellectual property lawyers in the city.

Unique Selling Point (USPs)

What is unique that you have that attracts customers to your products and services.

From the above differentiation, there will be features or benefits that your property has that others in the city cannot offer, or only a few can. Such as a flat with a balcony that overlooks a beautiful park.

Value chain

The value chain are other parts of your business that adds value, not just the product or service that the customer can only see or feel. So you can create more value for the tenant too. Not just based on property. Here are some examples.

The estate agent provides 24/7 service, so if the tenant has problems such as boiler not working, then a property manager will come around within 3 hours.

The finance team take monthly direct debits so the tenant does not have to go to a bank to withdraw hundreds of pounds rent.

For £20 an hour a maintenance man can come round to help on lifting or fixing things like cabinets.

The house has wireless so tenants can be on the internet in their own rooms.

Promotions and Marketing Communications

Now we know what our target market wants and we are clear what our offer is. Now we can start working on promoting the product to potential tenants.

So we have gone from just plain spending lots of money on leaflets and newspaper ads saying four bedroom house with garden looking for tenants to a targeted marketing communications at prospective customers who will find great value in the offer.

Execution and Implementation

There is a lot of theory and ideas here. But this is essential to providing a structure in how to provide the right kind of value to the right target market.

The hard part is now for you to do it. Doing it is the part that makes all the difference. I am happy to give you the ideas that have worked and for you to fill your cup with knowledge. Now you have to put aside a couple of hours and work on the above ideas to make a difference to your business.

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