How To Turn Your Dream Idea Into A Dream Come True

You know you have an incredible idea a dream that you're driven to share with the world, but you can't seem to put all the pieces into place to move forward.

You find yourself in overwhelm and procrastination. You've reached what's known as an impasse. An impasse is a roadblock to a desired mental path.

Being creative involves getting around impasses. According to Professor Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, more than 50 percent of workers today do creative work. Are you one of them? Do you write, invent, design, draw, color, frame or even tinker with information in a novel way? Creativity drives business. Your creative process is your wealth generator!

Answer this though: if you're creative, developing new ideas, writing, drawing and generally being innovative how do you move through impasses to share your brilliance with the world? And, if you are moving forward, sharing your ideas with the world, are you juggling too many things at once while you're doing it?

Are you doing everything effectively? The real question to ask your self is: "Should I be doing everything? Am I letting my business drive me or are am I driving my business?"

Look around at the truly successful people you admire and you'll see most of them working with teams. You need a team of talented creative and non-creative people around you as well. No one can do everything. As the CEO of your business, your job is to focus on building a team so you can move forward with your dream. Building on your strengths and bringing in support, will free up your brain space so you can easily move through impasses.

Running a successful business requires a strong foundation. You need a business plan, a strategic plan; you need to look into the future to determine where you want to be. How do you create your business plan, strategic plan, create your marketing and strategic sales plan, build your website, write the copy and market the website using social media and good old fashioned sales techniques, create your marketing collateral, oversee business development, build relationships to further extend your reach, and run your day to day operations and accounting all at the same time? It's exhausting just thinking about all those elements. If you can figure that out, let us know!!!

Don't let your business, or "Busy-Ness" drive you right into the ground! Take inventory of all the tools you have at your disposal. This includes all of the relationships in your network. Build on your strengths and collaborate with those who can add strength and value where you need extra support.

Innovative Solutions Productions helps you do just that. If you're overwhelmed, juggling too much for one person, or unhappy with your Company's performance results we are the resource to support you, collaborate with you and guide you to success. Our job is to make your job of developing your ideas not only fun and exciting, but manageable. We help you develop your ideas and EXECUTE!

Whether you're a start up company, a solo-preneur or a well established business, we urge you to reach out to us.

We all have dreams and we will help you share yours with the world!

Carolyn Ziel carolyn@essentialselling.com

Pick Up The Phone Already!

The new sales formula combines social networking with old-fashioned phone calls.

Although it might seem contrary to many, cold calling and social networking are a perfect blend of old and new tools that, when used in conjunction with each other, can really boost your sales.

Take the first step by getting involved in social networking to expand your contact base. This will provide the context and contacts for the cold calls you're going to make. The fact is, as our ability to communicate has expanded, we have become a global community. We can reach out to people around the world in ways we never dreamed of, using sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn. People craving community and connection, coming together to be seen, heard and understood, are changing how we do business.

This is the age of joint ventures and affiliate partnerships. We no longer have to struggle alone to grow our businesses; the trend is to move forward with partners. Why compete when we can collaborate?

As an entrepreneur, you are ideally situated to ride the wave by taking advantage of this new movement toward community. It's not only the internet driving us to be more social, it's a predictable trend in human nature. And it's this bigger human trend that is turning the internet into a social contact machine the likes of which we've never seen.

Here are some ways you can tap into this emerging trend to grow your business:

Think about whom you can partner with and how you can help each other to expand your reach for mutual benefit.

Investigate new ways to collaborate with individuals who are in similar industries or who were once your competitors. (There's even a name for this because it happens a lot. It's called "co-opetition," the combination of cooperation and competition).

Be creative and reach out with the intention of helping each other in the process. This is the key as we move into this new marketplace.

Learn about Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other networking sites through free online tutorials; learn how businesses are benefiting from social networking.

But don't stop there. Take this tool one step further to build valuable relationships and create strategic alliances that can propel you forward in ways you never imagined.

The Lost Art of The Cold Call

Remember AT&T's iconic slogan, "Reach out and touch someone"? It's more important now than ever. Social networking via the internet is amazing, but what if you took it another step? What if you picked up the phone and made a more lasting connection? This is the magic way to turn social networking into something that will differentiate you from others and boost sales.

Recently on Facebook, I found a college friend I hadn't spoken to in 20 years. I sent her a message to reconnect and then went to her info page and noticed that she works in advertising sales for a major corporation. It was fun to connect via message, but it was even more fun to pick up the phone, exchange stories about our lives over the past 20 years and ask for a referral to her vice president of sales. I'm a corporate sales trainer, so this turned out to be a really great lead for me.

Your first step might be to become friends with people online, but don't stop there. Make real connections with people and pick up the phone. If you can't find phone numbers, company names or e-mail addresses on their profile, send them a message and book an appointment to speak on the phone. Cold calls aren't really cold anymore. At worst they are "warm calls" because you've already discovered mutual interests and started building a relationship online. As social beings we tend to have a predisposition to like people who like what we like. So use the similarity of interests you've already discovered to build rapport.

One stumbling block is determining whom to call. Creating your list isn't as hard as you might think. In fact, you can use the social networking and business networking sites to create a comprehensive list of people and places to contact. You can use the sites to conduct searches for individuals and companies in your target market. LinkedIn, in particular, has an excellent advanced search tool.

Social media give us the opportunity to work together in new ways. Now's the time to work collaboratively in teams rather than as individuals. Take full advantage of all the tools available, both new and old. The internet and the phone are a match made in heaven.

For more information on how you can feel comfortable and easily pick up the phone, reach out to me: carolyn@essentialselling.com www.essentialselling.com

Telling isn't selling!

I am a myth buster.

You won't see me on Discovery Channel though, well not yet anyway. You will hear me busting the "myth of selling" through my classes, my writing and when you meet me. This is my goal: to change the way people sell. Selling is an amazingly creative and fun process and that is what I want to impress upon you. Not only that, the art of sales is the art of clear communication, listening and relationship building. Learning this has changed my life and the lives of those I "sell with" and it can change yours as well!


People think selling is about pushing your product or service on your client or prospect. Others still think that it is about telling their story, sharing about how their product or service has changed their life. It isn't. Selling is so much more. Selling is about building relationships and discovering who your prospect is as a human being. Beyond that, selling will help you to discover who YOU ARE as a human being. If you follow my Equation for Success: VISION + VALUE + KNOWLEDGE + TOOLS = SUCCESS you will understand your own VALUE as a human being and this will transform you in ways you wouldn't imagine. The art of sales is a collaborative process. In this process we learn about ourselves, about our prospects and we build strong relationships with ourselves and our prospects!

Think about it, you go to a networking group and share your story. What happens if the person you share your story with has a different story? The person you are speaking with might not have the same problem you had and you could easily lose them right here. You can start over, and start building from that place, but it will be six times harder to build this relationship because you haven't established trust.


Many companies teach their sales people to "share" their story to bond with potential customers and clients. I am the first to tell you that this is a myth. Telling isn't selling. Discovering is selling! Learn about your prospect first and then selectively share your story when appropriate. Be yourself and reach out to ask about your prospect and learn about them. Don't make the sale the primary goal, make learning about your prospect's needs the primary goal and you will make the sale.


If you don't make the sale, you will build a relationship and this will lead to a sale down the road or a referral and a bigger sale. Trust the selling process and have fun with it, don't push.


Selling can be transformative if you allow yourself to embrace the process. If you are connected to your VISION you will feel the passion that drives you and so will everyone you reach out to. What about your VALUE? I mean your VALUE beyond your product or service. When you understand your intrinsic VALUE and reach out to people grounded in this understanding you reach out in a powerful way.

This is a powerful place to visit, your intrinsic VALUE as a human being and why you are special. When you are able to truly appreciate your own VALUE then you easily lead by example. People are drawn to you and you can easily build powerful relationships with others, because you have built a powerful relationship with yourself. KNOWLEDGE is your bridge to your prospects and clients. When you add in the TOOLS you can only WIN! Selling becomes bridge building because we are touching people in a way that lets them know we care.


I believe that we can change the way people do business. Selling becomes a way of connecting that shows our clients or prospects we care about them, not only about the sale. We don't tell our story but we listen to theirs. We just relate to them as human beings and we offer them our presence and our clear communication. We don't tell them our story until they ask and they will. So, selling becomes so much more than just telling!

I would love to hear from you!

Reach out to me and tell me your stories and share your thoughts about the selling process and I can share them with my readers: carolyn@essentialselling.com

What is your definition of an expert?

Here is Webster's Definition of an Expert: "one with the special skill or knowledge representing mastery of a particular subject".

I believe an expert is someone that is always learning. I believe an expert is someone with an open mind, a creative mind, a flexible mind. I believe an expert is someone who is open to changing. I believe and expert is someone with an open heart.

Really an expert is someone who doesn't always have the right answer and accepts that someone else might.

The more open we are to learning the more opportunity we create for ourselves. In business we want to see all sides and have an open mind. We can be in service and offer a benefit AND get well compensated for the benefit we bring. We can be in a place that is cooperative not competetive.

An expert can see the doors opening and takes the steps forward to cross the thresholds. Along the way an expert helps others and this collabroation is what supports everyone's success.

I would love to hear your thoughts. What is your definition of an expert? Email me and let me know how.

I can post some of your answers in my next newsletter or blog post! So do send them along! Thanks for sharing...have a great day!!!

Email: carolyn@essentialselling.com

Our Community Is Getting Bigger!

Business is changing.

We are part of a global community now! We can reach out to people all around the world with sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. People are coming together, they are craving community and I believe this is changing the face of how we do business.

If you are an entrepreneur you are someone with adventure and openness in your heart and this new wave of coming together will support you as you grow your business. It is the time to take advantage of this new movement toward community and utilize all the tools available to broaden your reach.

This is the age of Joint Venture and Affiliate Partnerships. We don’t have to struggle alone to grow our businesses; the trend is to move forward with partners. Why compete when we can collaborate?

I recently returned from a unique event called CEO Space and their motto is “Collaboration NOT competition”. At this event, people actually came up to me and asked, “What are you doing and what do you need next?” rather than thrust their business card at me and ask who I know. This is quite a shift from your average conversation at a typical networking event.

This is the time to shift the global community and our global consciousness and work together in new ways. It is time to work collaboratively in teams rather than individuals. It is time to think “outside of the box” or completely do without the box.

Here are some things for you to think about as you look at this emerging model of business. Think about who you can partner with and how you can help each other expand your reach. Think about new ways to collaborate with individuals who are in similar industries, or who were once your competitors. As you reach out, keep in mind how you can help each other in the process. This is key as we move into this new marketplace.

Utilize all the social networking and take it one step further. Go beyond the emails, messages, newsletters and tweets. Be different, pick up the phone and make a real connection with someone. Then determine next steps to find out how you can help each other and further your careers together. This is really a win-win relationship.

It is so much fun to scour Facebook, look for old friends and post what we are doing. However, take full advantage of this amazing tool and really build valuable relationships by reaching out beyond the norm and create some partnerships that will propel you forward in ways you never imagined.

I know that sometimes people feel uncomfortable picking up the phone, but I can help with this! I teach people how to EASILY pick up the phone to reach out and build relationships, whether to build Joint Ventures or Affiliate Partnerships or to just reach your target market and sell more. For more, reach out to me, who knows, we might be able to work together and help each other along our paths. carolyn@essentialselling.com

For more information on how to attend a CEO Space Meet Up Group in the Los Angeles area contact me.

SALES 101

I was at a great event this past week.

The motto of this event is "Cooperation NOT Competition". What a great way to do business!

How many times do you go to a networking event and come home with a stack of cards that people basically threw at you? Recently this happened to me, I was at an event and an architect thrust her card at me and said, "Hi, I'm Beverly(not her real name) and I am a Real Estate Agent, here is my card, so if you know anyone let me know".

Wow. That was an ineffective sales pitch. Really, I just took her card and it is sitting here on my desk as I type this right now. I don't even know what to say to her to follow up and I AM AN EXPERT AT THIS. I know nothing about her and she knows nothing about me, there is no sense in that. How can we help each other grow our businesses using this model?

We can't!

I could feel her desperation, I could see her nervousness and really I could tell she didn't really know how to sell herself.

That is the problem with this model of competition, you have to sell yourself.

I believe that "Sales" is about building relationships and in order to do that you have to ask questions that lead you to the real answers. You can't solve a problem if you don't know what it is, right?

Why not give this "new model" a try at your next networking event. Walk up to someone and ask them, "Hi, My name is Carolyn (use your own name), what are you doing and how can I help you"? I bet you will get a warm response and this will be the beginning of a great relationship. This is the building block to sales!

Write to me and tell me about your responses and the quality of connections that you make. I bet they will be pretty great!

Good luck out there. Keep in touch and don't forget to visit my website to learn more about building relationships, the core of Essential Selling. www.essentialselling.com

Email me your stories and I can put them in my next newsletter! carolyn@essentialselling.com

How's Your Retention Rate?

I read an interesting article this morning about Twitter and retention statistics.

The article explained that after someone joins Twitter, that person might not come back for a whole month.

It got me to thinking. All these social media sites need to keep their users interested and coming back for more. With all the competition of Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and other sites popping up every day, the big question becomes: How do you keep someone interested?

This should be a question that you are asking yourself as you reach out to “sell” in the marketplace. Because, as we know if you have been following my blog, we ALL sell no matter what!

So, how do you keep your customers interested? How do you keep your customers loyal? How do you keep your customers?

Here are some tips that will help answer this very important question:

Remember you are building a relationship.

Selling is relationship building. People like to do business with people they trust and they like. Let your prospect know you care by asking questions to understand how you can help and answer a need. You can’t answer a need though if you don’t know what it is, so ask questions to uncover that need and THEN offer your solution. This builds trust and let’s your prospect know you care.

Keep reaching out:

Selling is about connecting and connecting and connecting. You can’t just reach out once and expect to make a sale. It does happen and when it does it’s great, but it is rare. What you need to do is keep reaching out to your prospects AND your current clients to continue to learn more and more. This takes discipline, organization and a great system. You need to have this in place so you can continue to keep in touch. In sales absence does NOT make the heart grow fonder.

Be unique:

What do you have that is original and different from your competitor. What is your brand? What is special about what you have to offer? In some cases, it could just be YOU. That is ok, take advantage of you. If you reach out from a place of confidence, power and good intentions, this will ring true for your prospects and clients. You will notice that more and more your prospects and clients will be drawn to you because you are genuine. You don’t have to push, just be yourself.

Use the phone:

You can build a relationship on the phone and selling is building relationships. So, use the phone. Reach out to people and differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t just send an email or even a letter. Say hello, and build a relationship on the phone and in person!



I don’t know how Twitter will keep people interested. I do know how we can; by reaching out on the phone and in person, with the intention to be “of service”. This is what can make all the difference in a market flooded by social media, e-zines, newsletters, email marketing, voice broadcasting and tweets.

For more on how to reach out from a place of power and confidence, to anyone on the phone and in person visit my website and sign up for my next course: Essential Selling’s Cold Calling Wealth Building Technology™. www.essentialselling.com carolyn@essentialselling.com