The Nine Most Powerful Words You Can Utter

"Where do you feel like you are right now?" When you are working with a new prospect or just following up on a lead, once you have let them talk and tell you all about the deal or their situation, ask them this question. It might seem redundant - like they just finished telling you the answer to this question - but I assure you you'll get more from asking this question than just more details about the loan request. When you ask someone where they...

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Stop Being Such a Rookie.

Back when I worked in VC, we considered the people who were overly obsessed with "protecting" their ideas to be rookies. It was laughable. In fact, asking someone to sign an NDA was enough to get the meeting cancelled right on the spot! It wasn't that anybody wanted free reign to "steal" ideas... it's just that good ideas are a dime-a-dozen. Literally. We used to call it the "San Francisco Rule" meaning this: any good idea has eight people...

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Duh. Pinning!

Great article suggesting that "Pinterest now drives more referral traffic than Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn combined." Oh, yeah... here's mine! I have to admit. I think it's pretty cool so far! http://pinterest.com/markmccray I must admit that two days there has done more for me than months on Google+ or LinkedIn. I'm not alone in my thinking. Here is an article showing major brands are closing their Facebook stores and taking up on Pinterest...

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The Art of Giving Advice

You know how you can tell a judgmental person? Their language includes a lot of "should" and "ought" statements. It's just something I listen for when I talk to people. It doesn't bother me personally. It just lets me know the kind of person I'm dealing with. But do you know who cares? The people listening to you!! A lot! Professional "counselors", "advice-givers", "teachers", "coaches", "pastors" and other "experts" might want to be careful...

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