Bob Burg and John David Mann aare the embodiment of their books, The Go-Giver and The Go-Giver Sells More. It’s been a total pleasure to get to know each of them and learn more about this philosophy which I continually strive to put in my life. Here’s a law that might help you understand your importance in your work. Just like their books I know you will find this guest blog post insightful.
- Shifting one’s focus from getting …to giving; in this case, meaning constantly and continually adding value to peoples’ lives, is not only a nice way to live life, but a very profitable way, as well.
A giving-focus causes people to feel good about you and desire to see you succeed. Those we call “Go-Givers” tend to be the most successful people financially and in the other important areas of life.
However, Go-Giver success is more than simply a matter of “nice people finish first.” While being nice is a great thing, it isn’t – by itself – quite enough. After all, you and I both know plenty of people who are nice, and who are broke. No, success is also about doing the correct things in the success process that allow one to finish first. Being a Go-Giver should never be confused with being a self-sacrificing martyr. It’s about following a methodology that allows you to be principle-based, continually adding value to the lives of others, and doing very, very well for yourself in the meantime.
There are “Five Laws of Stratospheric Success” you can follow in order to be a Go-Giver and realize a dramatic rise in both your income and personal fulfillment. In this article, we’ll focus on one:
#2 The Law of Compensation: Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
A publisher of a book on financial planning adds millions of dollars of value to the reader’s life (over many years, of course) while charging just $20 for the book. Yet, despite giving away so much in use value at such a small price, he still makes a profit. Why? Because the book cost significantly less to produce than he sold it for. Each book probably costs about $1.50 and sells for $20. Now, even after all the middlemen involved and with just a $2 profit per book, because he’s added so much value to the lives of so many (in other words, he’s served many people and served them so well) he’s sold millions and millions and millions of books. Even a relatively small profit per book times millions equals a whole lot of money. He served a lot of people and served them well, and his income is proportionate to that.
Of course, in many businesses, the profit margin is much larger and, while you still need to serve many people, it’s most likely not as many in order to still make an excellent income.
Whatever line of work you’re in; whatever you are selling, you’re providing lots of value or – what we call – “use value”; whether that use value is in the form of enjoyment, food, entertainment, medicinal, financial, whatever, it doesn’t matter. And, this needs to be significantly more than what you’re charging for it? That way, lots of people will buy it.
A Universal Law of Economics says that “People exchange their money for that which they feel is of greater value than the money they are exchanging it for.” And, the greater the use value compared to the cash value they’ve spent or invested, the happier they’ll be, the more people they’ll tell, and the more people who will buy it through word of mouth. Of course, it also certainly has to cost less to make than what you sell it for. That way, you are assured profit.
So, while the first law is all about the value you bring, the second law is how you get very well compensated for that value you bring. You do that by, first, providing a use value higher than the price you’re charging, and at less than it costs you to produce that value. And, secondly, by providing that value to many, many people. Exceptional value, PLUS significant reach, equals very high compensation.
The Other Laws are . . .
Law #1 – The Law of Value: Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.
#3 The Law of Influence: Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.
#4 The Law of Authenticity: The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.
#5 The Law of Receptivity: The key to effective giving is to say open to receiving.
“Exceptional value, PLUS significant reach, equals very high compensation.” The Law of Compensation is evident in Burg and Mann’s two Go-Giver Books. You can download Chapter One of The Go-Giver and Go-Givers Sell More by visiting www.Burg.com