One of the things I did not mention was that while there I was able to interview a number of cast members working in different roles throughout the Magic Kingdom. These interviews will be added to the 17 interviews I did with Disney cast members back in May. Together, these interviews will be compiled into a work I am currently referring to as The Disney Chronicles.

What I want to do is share the marketing and systems insights I took away from my visits to Walt Disney World and my interaction with the different cast members.

One subject I want to briefly discuss with you today is what I call the "attractive character."

You may be thinking, “How in the world does this apply to me and my business?”

Well, first and foremost - attraction is attraction, no matter if you're attracting money or clients.

One of the very important things I remembered from working at Disney which was seriously reinforced by my recent visits and interviews has to do with being who you appear to be. The only time I got into trouble as a Disney cast member was one day I decided that as the resident magician at the House of Magic, I needed to dress differently than the retail cast members. Hey, I was 21 and full of myself.

I talked the young lady downstairs in wardrobe into letting me have a different costume - tux and tails. I was working for about four hours when a senior supervisor came through the shop. He immediately called me over and very politely asked why I was dressed that way. After my answer, he most courteously informed me that I was not appropriately dressed for my role and that I needed to go down stairs during my lunch break and get a new, appropriate costume. At Disney, you are cast for a role and you play that role.

When your clients or customers meet you face to face, you need to act like they expect you to act. n otherwords, you stay in the role as an authority on your subject matter. If you come across as a pushover, or someone who appears indecisive, or show you don't have what it takes,  they will not respect and do business with you no matter how much of an expert you really are.

This whole concept hit me over the head really hard at dinner Saturday Evening.

I had made reservations for us to dine in Cinderella’s Castle in The Magic Kingdom.

This is what they refer to as character dining, meaning Disney Characters appear throughout dinner for pictures and autographs.

At this location, Cinderella (or a cast member acting as such) was announces and made her appearance. Everyone lined up to have their picture taken with the character. Once that was done, we were waiting around to be called up to our table. The Cinderella Character was standing with her Character Assistant waiting on the next group of guests. I walked over and casually asked her how long she’d been a “principal character.” Her answer was not what I expected but was certainly the right answer. She said, “Oh, well I’ve been married to Prince Charming for a very long time.”

I said, “no what I’m curious is how you’ve worked for Disney?”

She looked at me a bit funny and said, “I’ve had my castle here since 1971.”

I then apologized and told her that I had been a principal character there way back in 1973 and was just curious. Fortunately, before she could answer, the next group of diners came in to have their picture taken.

Shortly after that, her Character Assistant came over and apologized for the character’s response. In the meantime I came to fully realize exactly what she had done – she had stayed “in character.” For that short time and in that one place she WAS for all intents and purposes, for the success of the show, Cinderella. And to answer any way that was out of character would have been inappropriate. She was a character playing a role and at the moment, she was on stage.

A lot of business people miss this very crucial point, and act differently than their customer or client expects them to act. If a prospect responds to your message from say your internet site the

internet, or in person after seeing you in front of a group, or even after you answer the question – “What do you do for a living?” they have a certain expectation that you will act in a certain attractive manner.

If you don't, they immediately pick up on the incongruence, and you're done. So, there are two things to keep in mind.

The first is this: don't build yourself up to be something you cannot possibly deliver on.

Secondly, act around your clients in a manner that meets (or better yet, exceeds) the expectations you've set for them.

Just like the cast member who was at that moment playing the role of Cinderella, she kept her role in tack and kept doing exactly what the part required.

Do this with your prospects and clients. Then the attraction will flourish instead of dying a miserable, sudden death.

Until next time, this is Doug – Dr Doug – Huggins reminding you…

“If you deliberately plan to be less than you are capable of being, the I must warn you that you’ll be unhappy for the rest of your lives.”

­- Abraham Maslow

One of the strongest impressions that has been made on me by the elite group of which I am now a part is that rich people are rich because they are willing and able to solve difficult problems. In fact, most actually thrive on problems. These top performers, people like Tony Robbins and Michael Gerber for instance, are paid huge amounts of money because they solve problems. CEO’s of corporations are paid huge salaries plus bonuses because they can solve problems for the company that nobody else can or will solve. Some are good at what they do and some are way over paid.

If you think about it, everybody who earns a big salary is ultimately a problem solver. And as much as I hate to admit it (because I believe athletes are way over paid for what they do for society) top performing athletes are paid what they are because the team owners need certain “problems” solved.

If you want to be in the top 2% you must become very, very good at finding creative solutions to what may appear to be impossible problems.

So, how do you do that? How does one pull a solution out of the air?

Well, education is a great place to start. I remember vividly being able to close a large number of mortgage loans for clients who had been turned down by other companies. And the reason I was able to do that is because I studied the business. I knew what programs were available and I knew the guidelines at least as well as most underwriters.

The second problem solving trait I see in all highly successful people is an unwillingness to give up.

When I was thinking about how to explain this trait, I remembered an article I had written a couple of years ago about my sons and lessons that could be learned from video games. I’ve dusted off that article and updated it a bit. This is not laziness on my part. I just remembered how appropriate the essence of that article is to our current discussion. Hey, Good Material is Good Material. So, I have added the revised version below…

Marketing Ideas I learned from Video Games…

Those of you who are new to The Prescription may not know that I have two sons, a 27 year-old and a 7 year-old. No, that’s not a typo. Yes, my sons were both born in January, 20 years apart; and Yes, they have the same Mom. Actually, my 27 year-old is technically my step-son. But, I’ve been in his life since he was 10 and I have always thought of him as my son.

Growing-up, Rob (the oldest) loved going to video arcades. I can’t tell you how may dollars were spent one quarter at a time; trying the same game over and over and over, feeding quarter after quarter after quarter until he got good enough at the game to move to the next level.

Now, my younger son Cameron, has fallen in love playing games on the internet. He has a special computer here at the office that can only get onto Toon-Disney and Cartoon Network sites. He loves playing. What I’ve noticed is the same persistence his brother had when playing these games. Once in a while I’ll hear an, “OH MAN” coming from his “office.” But for the most part he keeps on playing the same game over and over until he gets good at it and can move to the next level.

What does all of this have to do with business and more importantly problem solving, and getting into the top 2%?

Actually, quite a lot.

I get calls periodically from members complaining that their marketing is not working as well as they had hoped and are on the verge of giving up.

My first question is always, “What all are you doing to solve the problem of lack of leads.”

Inevitably, they’ve done one thing, one time and are expecting some sort of miracle wave of bodies flooding into the door of their business. Now, while the proven marketing systems they are using will in fact generate a flood of new clients when used properly, what is usually happening is the member has no patience and no willingness to be persistent.

Just like problem solving, marketing is an ongoing activity, not a one-shot try it and forget it action.

My members who are consistently getting the best results, generating the numbers of leads they want, and making the kind of money that can provide them the lifestyle they desire, are members who follow the plan, examine the results, make a minor tweak or two and try it again, then repeat, then repeat until they get the results they want.

Solving difficult problems can be done the same way.

You see, what I learned from my sons, watching them play video games is that they never think in terms of “I lost that game.” They think in terms of, “What did I learn from that game that can make me better in the next game.” Put another quarter in the machine and try again.

The most successful people in the country think exactly the same way.

There are two key thoughts here:

1. Every effort you make, whether it is in marketing or problem solving, should be looked at as a test. If you think in those terms, you can learn from that effort and make the next one better. 
   
2. If you are not getting the results you desire, Stop, examine the variables, make adjustments and try again.

This is exactly what my boys do when playing video games. Every game is a test to see how far they can go. When they don’t “win” they reflect on what when wrong, what changes they need to make in their playing and then, try again.

I haven’t played golf in a number of years. I stopped playing after I fell off of a ladder and shattered my hip – I can no longer pivot and swing through the ball. However, I do follow golf - at least a little bit.

I remember hearing Tiger Woods in an interview. If you don’t know, there was a period in his career when things hadn’t been going all that well for Tiger. In the interview he stated that every time he goes onto the gold course, he considers it a test. No matter where he finishes the tournament, he considers it a test and he looks back and examines what he did correctly and what he did poorly. He goes back and tries to recreate the things he did correctly and make adjustment to improve the things he did poorly.

Tiger said, “That’s the only way I’ll ever get back on top. Try, adjust and try again.”

Now, it think we would all have to agree that Tiger Woods is definitely in the top 2% of successful people.

And that is exactly how you should approach solving difficult problems. Try something, examine the results, adjust and try again. The worst mistake and greatest waste of your time, money and effort is to try one thing one time and never try it again.

In my next posting I’ll be interpreting your dreams.

Until then, this is Doug Huggins reminding you…

“Big Shots are only little shots who keep on shooting”
- Christopher Morley

One of the most important things that has really hit me full force being around these over-achievers is that they all have particular traits that set them apart from the pack. Specifically, their attitudes, actions, persistence and passion, plus a great number of other qualities are what separates these winners for the losers.

I’ve also discovered that to be really and truly successful you will have to separate yourself from 98 percent of the rest of the world.

Most of you are familiar with the The Pareto Principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity ). The principle states that, for many events, 80% of the effects comes from 20% of the causes. Business management thinker Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of income in Italy went to 20% of the population. It is a common rule of thumb in business; e.g., "80% of your sales comes from 20% of your clients."

Most people in business reluctantly accept the concept. Sales managers almost universally see that the vast majority of sales are created by a very small percentage of their sales force. Unfortunately over time, most businesses, owner and managers have seen this rule go much farther to the small minority producing a significantly larger percentage of the income. Most of the top folks I’ve been hanging around with believe that the successful 2% actually generate well over 80 plus percent of the income.

My questions for you are:

Are you a part of that 2 percent at the top?

And if not, do you want to be? NO I mean do you REALLY want to be?

And if you say you really want to be, are you willing to do what it takes to get into that top 2%?

Because you CAN get into that special 2 percent, and its not just by how smart you are, or how hard you work, or how you invest your time and money. There actually is a formula, a specific recipe for success that the top 2% live by day in and day out. And it is something you too can follow to be successful.

The first and sometimes the hardest step is that you have to be brutally honest and completely realistic with yourself and about yourself. You have to get your mind out of the fantasy world crap that you see on most of the bull-shit television shows and in the crap filled magazine you see as you’re checking out at the grocery counter. The TV and “celebrity” magazines make it look like it is either completely easy to achieve success or you have to be a total crook and cheat to make it. It is nowhere near as easy as the Paris Hilton’s of the world would like to make it look; or shows like CSI-Miami where the famous and near famous spend their days hanging out at some resort pool or racing their million dollar speed boats, or by playing slap-and-tickle with a handful of other celebs. That ain’t real life. And I can tell you, the highly successful people I’m getting to associate with are not anywhere near like those pretend successes.

It is definitely NOT as easy to make it as they show you. Its tough and you have to be tough!

So my next question has to be – Are you really tough enough to be successful?

Are you truly willing to take the ton of pure BS necessary to really make it to the top?

When you try something and it does not work exactly like you thought it would, what do you do? Do you fall apart emotionally? Do you go home, crawl into bed, assume the fetal position and spend the night or day sucking your thumb and crying for “mama”? Do you blame everyone else on the planet except yourself?

OR – Do you examine what happened, make appropriate adjustments and try again.

There’s a really great quote that has been attributed to both Mohammed Ali and to George Foreman.

“It really doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down that matters. The only thing that counts is how many times you get back up.”

Based on a minimum amount of research I believe it was former heavy weight champ turned indoor grill salesman – George Foreman. I also base that belief on the fact that Ali didn’t get knocked down all that often.

Regardless, the point is – top performers – the people who are in that top 2% - have all gotten knocked down; and most have gotten knocked down more than once.

So, the next principle I want to share with you about getting yourself into the top 2% - after being brutally honest with yourself is –

You Have to Be Tough and Determined.

Over the next several blog postings, I will be sharing with you 14 Principles of Success. These are the exact principles that the very top authors, speakers and achivers I’m hanging out with have used to get to the pinnacle of success. They are the principles I am actively using to move myself upwards toward their level of success. And they are the same principles you can use to propel yourself upwards to more income and personal fulfillment.

Each Principle will be followed by a question or questions that will help you evaluate your attitude about the Success Principle. You may want to write down each question, record the number of your answer. At the end of this series I will show you how to evaluate yourself and your potential for success.

QUESTION 1:

What do you do when you are faced with a serious problem?

1. I ignore it because I’m confident it will go away all by itself

2. I gripe and complain about it to my family and friends.

3. I delegate it to an associate and let them worry about it.

4. I brainstorm, recalculate, rework the issue until I can create a workable solution.

REMEMBER – The first principle I mentioned was that you have to be brutally honest with yourself. Answering this and future questions is a great place to start that honest reevaluation of yourself.

In my next posting, I will continue sharing with you what to do when facing a difficult problem in your business... 

Until then this is Doug Huggins reminding you…

“Problems are the price of progress: don’t bring me anything but trouble – good news weakens me.” – Charles F. Kettering

I personally used the time off to recharge my batteries and to create an awesome plan for next year. Included in that plan will be a seriously kicked-up level of rock solid money-making information coming your way via this subscription email and blog.

So, what has gotten me so excited about the prospects for next year?

Well, just a couple of months ago I was invited to join a small group of authors and speakers who are willing to work with each other to help provide better information to our collective groups. Frankly, I was very flattered to be invited to join this most prestigious group which includes the very tip-top speakers and authors out there.

To give you an example of the level of this group, just a week or so ago, I was on a conference call with some of the members; including:

• Jay Conrad Levinson – author of the Guerilla Marketing Books,
  
• Chet Holmes who has been called “America’s greatest business growth expert.” An author of the book – The Ulitmate Sales Machine;
  
• Michael Gerber – legendary author of E-Myth along with several other top business books and founder of E-Myth International;
  
• Yanik Silver – internationally known internet marketing expert;
  
• Ken Varga – incredibly successful marketing genius; Jay Abraham – certainly one of the best known marketing gurus on the planet;
  
• Alex Mandossian – one of the most successful on-line marketing specialist there is; Dean Graziosi – infomercial expert – a man who has been on television every single day since 1999;
  
• Susan Solinic – best selling author of Girls Guide to Building a Million Dollar Business
  
• Matt Millen – a man who you've never hear of, but I’ll bet you know his boss – Matt runs the Anthony (Tony) Robbins organization.
  
• Christine Homaford – best selling author - Rules for Renegades
  

And these were only the ones who spoke on the call! The actual list of member reads like a literal who’s who of the top business and marketing experts in world. And here I am, your humble, yet out-spoken, politically incorrect purveyor of make-money-now marketing ideas, a part of this stellar group.

So, what’s my point? Am I just bragging?

No – not at all.

My point is because of my ongoing association with and immediate access to these top marketing and business super-stars, I will be able to share with all of you the brilliant insights I learn from these incredibly successful people. I will also be able to bring you more “inside” and share with you some the most closely guarded marketing and business building secrets these incredible people have to offer.

Why is this important?

NOW is the time to begin building your game plan for next year!

NO MORE “SURVIVAL TACTICS”

Starting immediately - We are going to be concentrating on nothing but

SUCCESS TACTICS!

And to that end, I’m working on an incredible option for a handful of you to be brought way inside this group and to get an on-going super-dose of Success Tactics on a regular basis. Plus, a huge opportunity for a select group of you to add several thousands of dollars to your monthly bottom line.

So, keep your eyes on your in-box, because starting tomorrow, I will begin opening up the vaults of knowledge now available to me and delivering it to you.

I look forward to sharing with you!

Until next time this is Doug Huggins reminding you...

"You are going to have to think anyway, so you might as well think big!"
- Donald Trump

Plus, what I find really disturbing is that all of the time and effort Mike F threatened to expend trying to ruin me is time and energy he could be using to build his business and make money for himself and his family. Maybe he should get his priorities straight!

Until next time this is your “erroneous” Doug “Dr Doug” Huggins reminding you…

With that as a backdrop, I find it incredibly amazing that George Carlin - comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent...and so very appropriate.

Much of the language that was on that old album shouldn’t be repeated…but you might want to share the following with your family as we move into this holiday season…

A Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

If you don't send this to at least 8 people....Who cares?

George Carlin

What else could I possibly add?

Until next time this is Doug "Dr Doug" Huggins wishing you success!

Watch out for a very, very special announcement coming later this week, just in time for Thanksgiving!

Over the years I’ve tried to train myself to look for money making ideas in just about everything I do. So, when I travel I try to observe my new surrounds to see if there are any telltale marketing ideas to be gleaned.

As I mentioned in a recent does of "The Prescription", I had to fly unexpectedly and at the last minute to Spokane, WA to visit with the family of one of my closest friends following his untimely passing. Since the flight had to be book last minute, I was very lucky to be able to obtain the last seats on timely flights out and back, and was able to book myself into the additional space, comfort and the slightly improved service of the first class cabin.

Unfortunately, I was stuck with a window seat.

I hate the window seat!

I’m borderline claustrophobic and being stuck between a stranger and the side wall of the aircraft is uncomfortable for me -  But, I had to be there and the window seats were the only option so I flew.

Again, always trying to turn every situation into a learning opportunity, I pulled out my CD Player and listened to a couple of audio training CD’s. Between that and eating the semi-adequate meal Delta serves on longer flights (hey, at least Delta still serves something other than chips and trail mix) I was able to occupy most of my time by the window.

Now, I’ve flown over a lot of the US and have seen farmland from the sky. Usually, the ground looks like a giant chess board with some squares the light brown of dirt, some almost a sand color (river sand not beach sand) and others shades of green going from almost a moss gray to a brilliant emerald green.

As we got closer to Seattle, I began noticing something interesting on the ground. There was the familiar chess board effect of almost perfect squares being lined off but in the middle of many of the dirt colored squares were bright, emerald green crop circles.

Now these crop circles were certainly not created by some alien being or prankster. They were, in fact, created by the farmers who work the land.

I thought I knew what was going on, but just to be certain, I asked one of the Seattle based flight attendants if that green circle in the middle of the brown dirt –square was a result of the irrigation system being used. I was correct. The irrigation system they use in the area is like a long line of sprinklers on wheels all connected to an auto-drive mechanism. The system sweeps around a central point in the middle or the field. This generates the green crop-circle one can see from above.

Two things struck me about this…

First, I’ll bet that the farmers working this field have no really good idea of what their field looks like from the sky. They are right there, on the ground they don’t have the prospective view I did at that moment.

Plus, I can easily imagine that my view point really wouldn’t matter to the farmer anyway.

I see an almost perfectly round green dot in the middle of a square. They see a ragged edged field of hopefully profitable crop.

Second, it occurred to me how very much that farmer was exactly like most business people, especially those in the mortgage and real estate field (no pun intended).

Consider the similarities…

Over the last few decades most of American Farming has been taken over by the big corporations and conglomerates. The mom and pop farms of a century ago are almost a thing of the past. Plus, with the absurd inheritance tax (more accurately termed, “death tax”) we have in this country, many of the sons and daughters of those early farmers can’t keep the property that had been in the family for over a century.

I was reading an article a few days ago about how the smaller farms, the family owned farms, were able to survive. Not surprisingly, many of the most successful, meaning profitable, family owned farms have started growing a more specialized type of crop. Items like “heirloom tomatoes” and other specialty crops that cannot be grown by the mass – farm corporations. In other words, they’ve found a niche!

And just like agriculture, a lot of the mortgage origination and real estate sales has been taken over by the big named, national firms. And while there are still a large number of mom and pop broker shops (mortgage broker and real estate broker) their numbers are diminishing daily.

Those mortgage and real estate companies and individuals who want to not only survive but thrive now and after the current set of problems in the marketplace are going to have to narrow their focus and find a profitable niche market that the big guys either can’t work effectively or don’t understand enough to get into.

A wonderful niche market for both mortgage and real estate people right now is to go after those home owners who have been their homes for a couple of years, and have built up some descent equity. Most mortgage companies, especially the big ones and the small guys who mistakenly try to emulate the big guys would go after this market to offer them some sort of refinance – rate & term or cash out.

What I recommend is to go after that market with an offer to move up to a larger, nicer home – the home of their dreams, and be able to pocket all or most of their current equity. This is a great opportunity for the mortgage professional, and is a market almost no one is going after. All you need is a quality real estate sales professional who is willing to listen to your marketing plan and help you.

And this is a huge opportunity for real estate sales professionals.

Think about it! You get a chance for a listing on the current home and a sale of a more expensive home. All you agents need is a knowledgeable mortgage professional who understands the dynamics of that market niche.

This Move-up Buyers Market is just one of the more focused niche markets I discuss, dissect and give you information on exactly how to go after in my newly revised for 2008 – Courting the First Time Home Buyer and Purchase Money Market System.

To get all of the details, just call my office toll free - 1-866-950-3696 and ask Teri to send you a complete information package.

Whether you are interested in the specific niche markets I know and understand or something different, let me strongly advise you – no let me give you a prescription for a specific form of treatment - If you want to not only survive but thrive after the market recovers – and it will recover – and recover with far less competition – you need to find a profitable niche market and get out of attempting to be all things to all people.

Like the corporate farmers who try to grow one crop this season and a completely different one next season, the big mortgage and real estate companies will continue to try to please as many in the market as they can.

You need to be more like the farmers on the modern, small family owned farm who have discovered larger profits and an easier operating environment by going after specialty crops. And, find a focused niche market.

By “niche-ing” you will discover larger profits per transaction, much better response to your less expensive, narrowly focused marketing, and an overall easier company to run. Even if the company you own is just “you.”

Until it time to refill your prescription, this is Doug (Dr Doug) Huggins reminding you…

“Just as a farmer must prepare his field, plant the seeds, water and nurture his crop before he can go to harvest and profit; you too must tend your own crop – prospects to leads, leads to applications or contracts, and contracts to closings.

The process is the same, only the crop changes.”

(More on this soon…)

Between two to three events each month, four members only meetings this year and the extended vacations with family, I’m in the air and on the road a lot. Far too many airports, hotels and even worse, hotel restaurants.

A little while back I had to make an unfortunate journey from Atlanta to Spokane, WA to attend the funeral services of one of my very best friends in the world, Kris Wales. Kris passed away totally unexpectedly and I felt the need to join his wife, Julie and their family in the celebration of Kris’ life.

When I travel, I have a problem. No matter what I do, I end up functioning on Eastern Time. Doesn’t seem to matter how long I end up staying in a different time zone, I wake-up on Eastern Time. Now, in Spokane I did sleep late until 9:00 AM – Eastern Time. That was 6:00 AM Pacific. Got up, showered, shaved, dressed, and went to breakfast.

The restaurant food was surprisingly descent; and the restaurant overlooked the river walk. Spokane is really a nice medium size city – clean, neat and the area along the river is beautiful. The services for Kris were not until 2:00 so I have several hours to occupy and decided to take my laptop and sit out on the patio. Weather was wonderful – about 76 or so with a nice dry breeze – definitely a welcome break to Atlanta’s 98+ with 90% humidity. The only distraction was the passing by of an ongoing stream of nice looking, shall we say “summer clad” young ladies running or speed walking on the river walk path; and the occasional visit by the waitress.

Now, when I decided to occupy a four-top table on the restaurant’s patio I made sure of two things;
First, the restaurant was not crowded and that by occupying a table for a long period of time I would not be hindering the restaurant’s ability to take care of their guests and so not cost them money – hey, they are in business and I do respect that. Second, I informed the young waitress that I would be there for several hours and that I would compensate her well for taking one of her tables. She just needed to keep my diet Coke (or in this case diet Pepsi) refilled.

It is amazing how much work I was able to get done sitting there in that beautiful environment. No employees or telephones to interrupt me. Wonderful! (And that is a subject of future dose of "The Prescription")

Yes! This is actually going somewhere useful.

As it came near time for me to go get appropriately dressed for the services, I decided I’d better order something for lunch. My departure flight from Seattle was not until 11:30 Pacific (2:30 AM Eastern). I forgot exactly what I ordered but it came with some really good multigrain toast so I asked the very young waitress for some Orange Marmalade. I love the stuff.

Her reaction was shall we say “interesting.”

She said, “What in the world are you talking about? Orange what? I’ve never even heard of such a thing. I’m sure we don’t have that. Are you sure you’re right?”

Amazingly, I kept my cool.

I replied, “Yes, I do know exactly what I am talking about. And, by the way, how old are you?”

She looked funny and slowly answered, “Nineteen”

I said, “Let me guess, you’ve never been outside of the Spokane area have you?”

She said, “No. Why?”

I said, “Sweetie, I’m two and a-half times your age and I travel extensively. So, YES I do know what I am talking about and the fact that you, in your nineteen years, haven’t heard of something means absolutely nothing. You have no education, no experience and apparently very little knowledge. Now, go ask your manager if you have Orange Marmalade, please.”

I then turned back to my work.

She stomped off and in a few minutes came back with the manager that I had met earlier. The manager was obviously in a difficult situation. I was a hotel guest and needed to be accommodated, but she had an employee that felt like she had been talked to badly and insulted.

I calmly explained to the manager the nature of the conversation. The manager began to glare at her employee. I then stated that I was the father of a 27 year old and a 7 year old. And that my chiding of the young lady was not meant to be mean but something of a father speaking to a disrespectful child.

Bottom line, I got my Orange Marmalade, they had tons of it. The young lady got a lesson in manners and the errors of assuming her knowledge and expereience was vast. And, because she had done a good job keeping my drink filled all morning, I did tip her well.

Here’s my point…

This young waitress was far from the exception. All of us, me included - although I work at not being this way, assume that because we don’t know something or have no experience with something that it must be foreign and therefore won’t work.

I get this all the time from mortgage and real estate professionals I trai; as well as from other professionals in other markets with whom I consult. Their initial reaction is that since they have never heard of the concept or it is foreign to their normal way of thinking; it must be wrong or I must be crazy. And while the possibility of me being less than sane often occurs to my partners, staff and family, that is not the case when it comes to knowing how to market and make the phone ring with a boat load of potential clients.

And while we are on the subject, the exact opposite holds true as well…

Far too often I hear from one of our coaching members or students expressing the idea that they don’t feel they have anything compelling to offer their clients.

For example, in the mortgage and real estate sales arenas, we teach our members and students how to set themselves up as the only logical choice in their community. This is done using several different simple systems, but one of the ideas is to state that they are an expert in a particular area that we teach. Some of our students and members come back to us stating that their knowledge is not all that special and that “everybody” in the business knows “that”.

And perhaps that is partially true. But, and here’s the big but (not butt) – your potential client does not know what you know. And that potential client is the only one you should care about.

Many years ago, a beer brewer wanted to gain a larger share of their market so they hired one of the top marketing experts of the era. After taking a tour of the brewery and listening to the company’s representatives; the marketing guru came up with a campaign explaining exactly how THIS brewer cleaned their bottles, how they worked so very hard to insure an absolute sanitary container for their beer and how that effort insured that a true beer taste would be delivered, consistently to their customers.

Upon delivering his marketing plan, the beer makers stated that what they did was actually no different, at all, to what all of the other brewers did as far as cleaning their bottles. In their mind, that was just a normal process and nothing special.

The marketing guru patiently explained that within the industry what they did was common. To the beer buying public, it was special.

You see, the beer makers assumed that because it was common practice in their industry everyone knew about the practice.

And that is the same exact mistake most other marketers make.

Example – one of my students created a wonderful marketing piece that assured his mortgage clients that they would get a precise, detailed statement on exactly what their costs would be to own their new home, based on the information the client had given them; and that the client would have that statement in their hands in no less than three days.

Now I know you are probably laughing at that. And you are probably thinking, “Of course, we all have to get a Good Faith Estimate out within three days. Big Deal – Everyone knows that!”

What my student did was understand that not “everyone” knows about a GFE.

And because he understood that his clients were essentially scared and didn’t know about a GFE, his guarantee was extremely well received by his clients. And amazingly, when one of his First Time Home Buyer Clients were approached by another company and promised a GFE, the client assumed they were copying my student.

So, today’s lesson boys and girls is…

Assume NOTHING!

Don’t assume that just because you, in your limited experience (and we all have limited experience in some area of our life) you do not know of something that that something is foreign or will not work.

And, at the same time, do NOT undervalue what you do know.

Your experience and expertise DO have value to your potential clients.

DO NOT SELL YOUR KNOWLEDGE OR EXPERIENCE SHORT!

Always look for lessons to be learned from those who have more knowledge and experience in a field than you…And look for ways of making what you do know more valuable (and therefore more marketable) to your client base.

Until the next refill of The Prescription,

This is Doug (Dr Doug) Huggins reminding you…

As 60’s comedian Brother Dave Gardner said – “Even if you live in a wilderness, if you build a better mouse trap the world will beat a path to your door – Of course Advertising Helps!”

The nice thing about this system is that you have a large number of listening options; and that’s nice. One of the draw backs of XM Radio is its overuse in other commercial environments. It is pretty much impossible to go into any store in any mall and not be hit by XM Radio. What I particularly do not like is the station choices most stores and more and more restaurants are selecting; especially those catering to a younger audience. What I constantly hear is not upbeat, positive music, but whiney "alternative" music.

This crap caught on in the early 90's, not coincidentally at the exact same moment of the dawning of the age of the wuss. Instead of music being about having fun and being successful , it is all about how horrible it was to be born into prosperity - how bad my life is-and this garbage caught on like wildfire.

The slogan of one of the XM radio station they play at a local restuarant is "lowering expectations since 2004" and that pretty much defines most business people who came of age in the 90's.

Suddenly moping, whining, mumbling and pouting about how bad you feel , how bad the world is and how horrible it is to actually want to make money was in; and doing the things that actually attract and create success were out.

Now business professionals in all categories, and especially mortgage and real estate sales professionals are confused about why they can't attract more clients. Ironically, even in the current market, clients, especially those first time purchasers are getting increasingly frustrated they can't find a mortgage or real estate professional who will actually act like a professional . That is, some one who will step up, take charge and not bitch and moan about “market conditions.” Market Conditions are always going to be bad for some segment of the marketplace. That’s just the economic facts. Get over it and get on with making money.

Listen up: if you want to attract clients , you need to set high expectations for yourself and then attempt to exceed them. That's what PROFESSIONALS do, and that's the attitude Clients are attracted to.

Leave the lower expectations and the angst to the wusses and wimps. Expect to succeed; and those high expectations and success with quality clients will invariably follow.

Until Next Time, this is Doug "Dr Doug" Huggins reminding you...

"Those who say 'Money Can't Make You Happy' simply don't know where to shop!"

Because of the recent changes in the mortgage market, Dr Doug wanted to respond to the urgent needs of mortgage professional like you.

Due to both popular demand and to better meet the immediate needs of mortgage professionals like you, we are converting five of our remaining two-day Extreme Makeover Events into One Day – Back to Basic Events we are calling

SURVIVAL TACTICS

“A Day With Dr. Doug.”

Although there was absolutely no fluff built into the original two day program, we’ve gotten even leaner and meaner with this very intense, high impact one day training events featuring nationally known mortgage marketing expert - Doug Huggins aka (your buddy) Dr. Doug.

As you probably know, Doug is a 34 year veteran of the mortgage and real estate business. He’s also the guy who generated over 280 inbound lead calls every week for 107 consecutive weeks. That’s 30,000 inbound lead calls in just over two years. And he did it all on a shoestring budget.

In this new One Day Event, Doug will not only reveal many of the simple techniques he used to generate all of those leads; he will also give you a simple system for converting a significantly higher percentage of your lead calls and converting them from prospect to application.

Our goal with this one day event is to let you walk out at the end of the day with tools you can use immediately to increase the number of leads you are getting and give you up-to-the-minute information on how and where you can get more of your deals closed.

We have these Special – “A Day with Dr Doug” Events scheduled for:

Baltimore, MD - October 18

Houston, TX - October 26

San Jose, CA - November 15

Can we look forward to seeing you at one of these important events?

To register, all you need to do is call our office Toll Free –

1-866-950-3696

And ask for Teri.

Dr Doug wanted me to make sure I told you that...

"Our national sponsors are taking care of the costs so you can attend absolutely FREE!"

Invest a day to dramatically increase your chances to not only survive but thrive the current market situations - Call our office NOW - 1-866-950-3696.