One of the greatest benefits of blogging is getting emails and comments from readers. It’s extremely encouraging and I’m so grateful for everyone who takes time out of their day to read this blog. It’s also really cool when I receive an email from readers in other countries.

I don’t usually share the emails on the blog for a number of reasons. Often, the note is personal in nature or the reader didn’t feel like having it broadcast to the world. I respect that. Today, I received the email below from a reader in Saudi Arabia (how cool is that?!) and was so encouraged and inspired by it that I had to share it along with my response. I’ve left the sender’s name out in case he/she doesn’t want to be named publicly.

The advice is really about how to win in business. It doesn’t matter what path you’re on, I believe these principles apply to everyone.

If you have any additional advice that you would like to add to it, please share in the comments below! I’d love to hear what you would have responded with.

Dear Travis,

I Hope this email finds you well.

My Name is [redacted], Egyptian living and working in Saudi Arabia. I’m a huge fan of your “career path” and I would love to take the same pass, Although, the resources where I live are very limited. I currently work as a Digital Media Manager in a multi-national company and I’m also a PHP developer.

I have some key questions and I believe you have the right answers. My question is how to be like you, to have the same career path, where should I start? What should I study? What are the keys that would allow me to be a good successful business developer and be able to set good business strategies? I actually have so many questions but those are enough for one email

Thank you very much for you time,
Best Regards,

[Redacted]

Hi [Redacted],

First, I want to sincerely thank you very much for your email. It was very special and I am very grateful that you sent it to me.

Second, I think it’s awesome that you want to head down the path of being a business strategist and business developer! It’s an exciting path and, if you really enjoy it, you’ll figure out the best way to make it work for you. While I’m not very familiar with your culture and business climate, I will try to offer you some advice that I believe transcends geography and culture. I hope this helps to get you started on the right path.

Business is all about relationships – we conduct business with people we trust and like. Become the type of person who people trust and people like. That’s the very first step. After that, everything you do should be about helping other people and helping businesses grow. If you have family or friends who are in business, offer to help them find ways of improving their business. At first, you may need to offer them an introductory rate for your services. That’s okay. Ask them if they would be willing to give you a testimonial that you can use on your website as well as refer you to others who may need your services.

Tell people what you are doing and how you can help them. Attend events in your area. When people ask you what you do, don’t tell them that you’re a business developer. Instead, tell them that you help your clients grow amazing businesses (or something similar). Their natural response will be to want to know more and they will invite you to explain your statement. That’s when you can communicate how you do it and tell them more about what you do.

If you are interested in going to school, enroll in business courses. However, I think you can learn a lot more from reading business books. There are some great authors and that is where I learn more than anything else. If you’re interested in which books I recommend, visit this link: http://travisrobertson.com/book-shelf. It has a list of many of the books I’ve read and I continue to update it with more all the time.

I believe this is far more valuable than a university education. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue an education at university. It simply means that your education should not stop once you leave university. You should always be learning and growing. The truth is that I have learned more from the books that I have read than all of my schooling combined.

Much of what I’ve learned about business, I’ve also learned through experience. I study successful businesses to see what makes them successful. I study unsuccessful businesses to understand what makes them unsuccessful. I’ve also worked for both types of businesses and took on leadership roles wherever I could.

I also recommend that you consider sharing your thoughts and ideas on a blog. It’s a great way to demonstrate your understanding of various topics and build credibility within your community. Your clients want to know that you have the ability to understand their needs and provide them with the best ideas and suggestions for their business.

Blogging is a form of teaching. It will help you form your thoughts and ideas more clearly. I always learn more when I have to teach something than when I simply learn for understanding or information. Teaching forces your brain to simplify, synthesize and clarify concepts and information. Blogging is just one of the ways to do this. You could also teach classes and speak at local groups and events.

The final suggestion I would make is to learn to listen for people’s real needs. Often, people and businesses you are working with either don’t understand what they really need or they don’t know how to ask for it. In order to be successful at helping others, you need to be a keen observer and develop the ability to hear the question that isn’t asked. Listen to what people are saying, but also try to “hear” what isn’t being said. This is a skill, but the person who masters it will set themselves apart from others.

I have no doubt that you will be successful on this path. Please let me know if I can help you in any other way.

Sincerely,
Travis

Share Your Advice

What advice would you give this reader? I’d love to have you share it in the comments below.

Each week, I post of list of articles that I think you’ll find interesting, educational, or inspiring. I read so much during the week that I just have to share with you what I find. If you want to be a leader, if you want to be successful, you need to read.

Also, in honor of Veteran’s Day, the image used on this post is of Harrisburg Recruiting Battalion Executive Officer Maj. Jason Meisel and was provided courtesy of ArmyStrongPA. I thank all the men and women who have served, actively serve, and will one day serve this country in uniform. God bless and protect you all.

If you’ve got an interesting article to share with the community, please leave it in the comment section below!

Here are this week’s links:

Go Ahead, Raise Your Business’s Prices – A great article from Jason Fried who authored a book called Rework on why you should raise not lower your prices.

Judo Technique: Turning “Failure Expectation” into domination – If you’re looking at this title and wondering if you’re going to learn how to throw someone across the room, you’re not. This is a great article on how an average guy got accepted into one of the most competitive schools in the country (Stanford) without having great grades simply by using techniques that can be applied to all areas of life. It’s an excellent read.

10 Things Every Small-Business Website Needs – A great list for any small business. I highly recommend you check your website for these things. If you’d like help, feel free to contact me for a quote or to create an online strategy.

Things You Should Do Immediately After Launching a Website – Very valuable information on the behind-the-scenes stuff every website owner/small business owner should do for their website. I’d also add that, if you’re a brick-and-mortar business of any kind, you should set yourself up on Google Places.

Social Media in the Industry: Customization is the Key to Success – There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all social media strategy. Like traditional marketing, social media marketing must be tailored based on your needs, goals and customers. This article give a few examples (albeit at a very high level). But it should get you started in the right direction. If you still feel like you need help, feel free to reach out to me for help.

The Art of Continuous Self-Development – Want to start making changes in your life? There’s a Japanese concept that was introduced to the world after World War II called Kaizen which means “change.” The idea behind it is to make small, continuous changes rather than drastic large changes as a way of improving. I thought it was a thought-provoking read. However, sometimes, we need to make a drastic change and light a fire.

I’ve had an insanely busy week. As a result, I’ve completely dropped the ball on writing a blog post this week. When I sat down to write, I was reminded of a question I heard recently.

The question?

What would you do in your life if you were absolutely confident that you would succeed?

And then it hit me. This is a great opportunity to try an idea I’ve had for a while – an open discussion. I spend a lot of time on this blog expounding on ideas. That makes sense since it’s my blog.

But what I really love is the dialogue and the conversation with you. So I want us to try an open discussion in the comments around a single question. It could bomb since it’s possible nobody will respond, but who cares? I also don’t know how often we’ll do these. However, this week seems like a great week to try it.

So, in the comment section at the bottom of this page, answer this question: What would you do in your life if you were absolutely confident that you would succeed? It could be anything. Just have at it – no restrictions.

To get the party kicked off, here’s my answer:

I would stop procrastinating on an e-book I’ve been working on and get it finished. I believe it can and will succeed, I’m just in the self-doubt phase of the project where I question everything about it. This is also why I have a team of fellow entrepreneurs I meet with on a weekly basis to hold my feet to the fire. I’ll no doubt hear about this on Monday.

What would you do?

Photo credit: Stuck In Customs

In 1519, Captain Hernán Cortés landed in Veracruz to begin his great conquest. Upon arriving, he gave the order to his men to burn the ships. As I imagine it, someone then laughed and Cortés promptly thrust his sword into the man’s chest. After which, the rest proceeded to get hammered on rum by the glow of the blaze. Almost like a bloodier version of The Pirates of the Caribbean with Cortés played by Johnny Depp.

Here’s the lesson: Retreat is easy when you have the option.

Let that ruminate in your brain for a moment. I had to.

We all cling to something that acts as our escape hatch or our exit strategy (in the negative connotation). It’s our safety net “just in case…” What we fail to do is honestly complete that sentence. We lie to ourselves. If we were honest, we would say, “This is my safety net just in case I get scared.”

We postpone action until we no longer feel fear. Either that, or our actions are shallow attempts never designed to succeed. In reality, we must learn to act decisively in spite of our fear.

Burning Things that “Make Sense”

“That doesn’t makes sense.” We love that phrase. We love to hide behind it. We tell ourselves that certain things don’t make sense. It would have “made sense” for Cortés to keep a ship or two if not his entire fleet. But Cortés was on a mission and he knew that the only way to keep himself or his men from quitting on the mission was to take that option off the table.

What Cortés did was force himself and his men to either succeed or die. Retreat was not an option. I believe that to truly achieve the level of success we each desire, there are times when we need to “burn the ships.”

The question we have to ask ourselves is this: What are my ships? What am I afraid to let go of?

I can’t answer that question for you, but I can give you some areas to consider as you ponder the question, “What ships do I need to burn in my life?” Take a look at them, then feel free to add your own in the comments below.

As you consider each one, if it jumps out at you, ask yourself why. What is it that makes it hard to burn? Is it a false sense of obligation to it? Is it fear of the unknown? Is it fear of being perceived as a failure? What is it?

• Your Current Job – Are you afraid of trying something new? Are you comfortable? Are you convinced that this is as good as it gets?
• Your Field of Employment – Have you been dreaming of a career change? Does every ounce of your work drain you? Are you a people person stuck behind a computer screen? This is one I had to wrestle with.
• A Bad Business Deal – Why is it a bad deal? Why can’t you let it go? Do you feel obligated to the relationship?
• An Unrealistic Dream – Sometimes this is the toughest one to spot. I enjoy watching TV shows like American Idol because you get a chance to see people who are willing to put it all on the line in front of a national audience for their dreams. During the tryout rounds, you’ll witness as people who are ill-prepared give what they believe to be a stellar performance. Unfortunately, they don’t recognize the lack of skill in themselves. It’s sad because they are neither willing to put the work into accomplishing their dreams nor willing to modify them accordingly. Instead of dreams they have fantasies and that is a sad state for anyone to live in.

What are other “ships” that often need to be burned? What “ships” have you burned? How did it feel at the time? How does it feel now?