Fail Your Way to Success!

Go for No Movie Update

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:03:00 +0000

The Go for No Tour is officially over! (Okay, yeah, for the last 2 weeks but we've been settling back in!) We also learned that driving almost 12,000 miles in 44 days to make a documentary video about "NO!" does not leave much time to blog.

We met and interviewed amazing people and are now reviewing these great clips. Over the next few weeks we plan on sharing a little bit about everyone we met. One of the people we sat down with was Laura Gross of no,no,no, yes! Inc.

You did read that correctly. Obviously we have similar philosophies! We were thrilled to have her on board and get her take on "no." Here is a tiny little snippet of Laura and to keep you looking forward to the next update!

Go for No Tour - Second Update

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:15:00 +0000

We have been having an amazing time on the Tour having now been on the road for 17 days. The last couple days were in NYC. Not even sure how many miles we've driven, it is at least over 4000. We have met great people along the way all with their unique and inspiring messages of persistence, as well as some great Go for No! stories.

One of the more interesting things that happened was literally almost running over two Missionaries in Portland Maine. As it turns out we ended up interviewing them to get their "Go for No!" story and they did have one. In fact, they told us that for every "yes" they get, they hear about 999 No's! No matter your religious beliefs, you must admit that is one high NO-Quotient!

We also met with Jon Friedman here in NYC, creator of The Rejection Show and author of Rejected! Tales of the Failed, Dumped, & Cancelled. If you have not read Jon's book, you must get it! Jon's mission is much like ours, to remove the stigma of rejections and actually celebrate them so they lose the power over you. In fact, on Jon's show, he has people read and perform their rejected material! We only wish we could have seen a show while here in New York! Off to our Nation's Capitol tomorrow...

Go for No Tour - First Update

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:58:00 +0000

Sitting here looking over the most amazing vista just outside Denver. We have driven about 1700 miles so far (okay Richard has) and have had a really great time!

What has been so wonderful, just as we thought, are meeting people along the way for the documentary video. It is turning into much less "travel log" as the information, stories and motivation we are getting from those we have talked to is overwhelming. We met so far with: Chris Widener (www.chriswidener.com) Michael Clouse (www.nexera.com) Margie Aliprandi (www.margiealiprandi.com) Kody Bateman (www.sendoutcards.com) and Dr. TC North (www.courageandconfidence.com) and they each blew us away with their passion and inspiration. It was also gratifying to see how they were all impressed with our little project. (shamless plug)

So, we plug on. We are missing Courage the Cat but he is really being well taken care of. And, we miss the "easy" cup of coffee; you know without worrying about leaving your hotel room, dressed. Other than that, this is a fabulous adventure, the video pieces are amazing and we are off through Kansas today. Somewhere in Topeka I think... Signing off!

Andrea explains Go for No!

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Sat, 02 May 2009 15:09:00 +0000

Go for No Tour Across America!

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:50:00 +0000

We are excited to announce that starting on May 13th we will climb into our vehicle and proceed to drive 10,000 miles across the country on a Go for No Tour Across America. (See below for the 10 reasons WHY we are doing this!)

Tour Dates: The Go for No!® Across America tour will officially begin in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 (our home town) and conclude with a tour "Wrap Party" on Saturday night, June 27, at the Nines Hotel in downtown Portland.

Speaking: We are speaking and appearing at private events and team meetings around the country.... check with us now to see if we can attend your event!

Reasons for the Tour: What reason could two people possibly have to climb in a vehicle and take a month and a half out of their lives to drive 10,000+ miles across America? Actually, we have TEN!

1) Celebrate the 100,000th copy of Go for No!® in print, including translation into French, Portuguese, Hindi and (coming soon) Spanish!

2) Introduce our new, Living Go for No!® online membership club

3) Launch of the Go for No!® Kids Foundation

4) Develop relationships with Key Influencers to help spread the Go for No!® message

5) Capture the Go for No!® Stories of highly successful people for a documentary-style video

6) To let meeting planners know we speak!

7) Speak at various events and team meetings.

8) Check a few new steakhouses off the list (if you've ever heard Rich & Andrea speak you know they're fanatics for GREAT steakhouse experiences!)*

9) In truth, Richard & Andrea love a good road trip… and this one is going to be a BLAST!

10) And, of course, to continue the mission of turning your greatest obstacle in to your greatest asset by reprogramming the way people think about failure, rejection, and hearing 'NO!'

Be sure to follow this blog as we post photos, video snipets, and stories about the tour!

GFN for Direct Selling Success

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:24:00 +0000

Being on twitter (follow me at www.twitter.com/goforno) has really led to meeting a lot of wonderful people especially in the world of direct selling where "Go for No!" had a fantastic impact.

I am really excited to be partner up with the Direct Sales Success Summit. Lisa, the event organizer, asked if Richard and I would be a part of her summit and of course we were thrilled to do it and be in such great company. The experts for this are amazing!

I was also stunned to discover that this summit is... Free! However, she only has enough space for 1000 lines and I have no doubt they'll be completely taken up. So, if you're interested in this amazing program, sign up now!

Happy Go for No! Day

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:04:00 +0000

It's March Fourth and that means it is the first annual Go for No! Day. So, how do you celebrate on Go for No! Day? And why would you want to?

It is our position that there is virtually nothing you can't achieve if you are willing to hear NO often enough. But most people have been taught and conditioned that "no" is bad. That if they hear "no" they have failed and they must be doing the wrong thing. And because of this, often they give up and quit.

Our goal is to create a mind-shift and teach people how to use "no" to their advantage. Because ironically, when you go out of your way to increase the number of No's you hear, the yeses will show up at your door in greater quantities than you could have imagined.

So, let's celebrate on Go for No! Day doing a few simple things...

1) Enhance your NO awareness by counting your no's. If you are not already, today is the day to count your No's! See how many you get. Make it for everything you do throughout the day. See what happens!

2) Set a NO GOAL! Set a goal for the number of NO's you are going to hear.

3) Reward yourself for the No's you've gotten all year. On March 4th get yourself a treat or do something you enjoy (Andrea's getting a pedicure!) and celebrate your courage and persistence.

4) Share and teach to others. Share the "go for no" philosophy with your friends, colleagues, team members, etc. Everyone can benefit from using this philosophy whether to grow their sales, build a team, get a job, raise money, and more!

5) If you have not read "Go for No!" the 80 page fable that teaches these lessons in a fun, easy read, get it today from www.goforno.com or on www.amazon.com.

Go for No in Brazil

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:30:00 +0000

Go for No is now being offered in Brazil! So, if anyone you know needs to learn to "Go for No!" and they only speak Portuguese, then you are in luck! Visit: http://www.bestlevel.com.br/

Go for No Day

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:27:00 +0000

We have just decided that March 4th will be the official Go for No! Day. We like it because "go for no" is about persistence and nothing says persistence like March Forth! Get it? March 4th!

To celebrate Go for No! Day you should be especially mindful of collecting and counting your No's. And even more important, celebrating all of the failure, rejection and No's that you collected throughout the year!

We will be holding a special call to help you celebrate Go for No! Day and tap into the Power of No! Stay tuned.

After the day passes we will be submitting our celebration details to the organization that officially tracks all of these "special days" so that every year March 4th will be officially recognized as "go for no" day.

Now, we are assuming we'll have no trouble getting approved. It would be ironic if they turned us down and said, "No."

Bliss & Slumdog Millionaire

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 15:56:00 +0000

Over the last 88 days, Richard has been maintaining a personal blog at Achieving Breakthrough Performance detailing his goal of losing 40 pounds in 100 days; his "100 Day Challenge."

His January 1 2009 blog says everything that either one of us could want to share with those following us here, so please go read his entry now!

New Year's Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:25:00 +0000

Our single most important resolution happened to be featured today in the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur's blog - a listing of the best of what entrepreneurs are doing for resolutions.

You should definitely check these out - this blog it is perfect for all entrepreneurs and the resolutions are really interesting. Also, FYI: Mike, of "TPE" has a TON of great resources.

Our resolution (#15 on the TPE list) was: "This year we are going to put every new idea through a 10 question filtering system to help decide whether or not we will/should do it."

You might be wondering what the questions are so we will share them here. Keep in mind that these are our own questions we came up with so if a business idea got an affirmative answer to at least 8 but preferably all 10 then it would fit with our mission, our desires, goals, and direction.

1. Is it something we like doing or want to do?
2. Will it make us healthier?
3. Will it move us closer to our 5 yr business vision?
4. Will it move us closer into industries and people we want to work with?
5. Will it result in greater financial freedom?
6. Will it provide ample ROI?
7. Could create passive income?
8. Will it allow us to spend time together?
9. Will it allow us to be creative?
10. Will it challenge our comfort zone/help us grow?

So hopefully we've spurred some of your own thinking about how you make decisions in your life and your business.

Oh, one other resolution that we saw on the blog that fit so perfectly in the Go for No world of thinking: "I resolve to hear every no with grace and every yes with humility." - Rain Fordyce, President of Authentic Times, Inc.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Greatest Shoe Salesman

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:44:00 +0000

Here is a guy who is a "Lion" and embodies the "go for no" philosophy. To him, "SELL" is not a four letter word; and he brings a wonderful passion to what he does. A model for anyone who sells!

Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed by Failing

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:58:00 +0000

The other day we were interviewed for a podcast at http://strugglingentrepreneur.com/
by Matrix Solutions Corp.

The Struggling Entrepreneur is a free podcast series that deals with the issues, challenges and problems of the individual who wants to be an entrepreneur, but who may face a difficult path and appears to be struggling. But the podcast series also looks at the opportunities that await an inspiring and dedicated individual who wants to be an entrepreneur, and provides recommended resources.

Truth be told, I think our interviewer was a bit skeptical about bringing us on. I think he might have felt that our approach was negative and that a lot of entrepreneurs would be turned off. After all, we were talking about "failing" and when you use the word entrepreneur and failure in the same sentence - well, all bets are off.

But, after we got into it and had a chance to explain the "go for no" concepts and ideas I think our interviewer was as big a fan as anyone. We certainly appreciated his having an open mind, and I give him a lot of credit for being willing to dig into a concept that, on it's surface, seems a little strange. Fail more?

The line I liked the best, said by Richard, was that people who start a business should make the decision to not start a business, they should make the decision to be in business. That way, even if one business does literally fail you bounce back and try something else. Business is all about risk, uncertainty, and failure. For us, those words equal: challenging, exciting, and daring!

Andrea on Idol Chat

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:01:00 +0000

A while ago, we sent out a press release that read; "Consultants say American Idol Rejects More Successful than Most Americans." The release was picked up by The TV Guide Channel's Show, IDOL CHAT, and within a few weeks, Andrea was being interviewed on the show!
Watch her guest appearance here!

Our point was that at least these people out there giving it a shot, talent or not, while most people are lying on their sofas simply watching from the sidelines. And what about the fact that these people can’t sing or dance? In our opinion, talent is highly overrated. In most cases it’s the willingness to face rejection and keep going that determines the level of success you’ll achieve.
Increasing your failure rate is the single greatest success strategy a person can employ. In short, if you can fail, you can succeed!

Idol contestant Thomas Daniels of Seattle is the perfect example of the premise. Daniels, auditioning for the third time after sleeping behind a row of dumpsters the night before, was finally sent through to the next round. What if Thomas had quit after getting the first or second no? He sure wouldn’t be on his way to Hollywood.

You can even look to the interchange between the judges during Daniels’ audition. When asked by Randy why he was back for a third time, Daniels said that maybe the third time would be a charm. When Randy responded, “Or three times and you’re out,” Paula chided him, saying: “Randy, if we’d quit after our third NO, we wouldn’t be sitting here!”

Paula has got it right! Whether it’s competing on a variety show, selling a product or starting a business. What you see on American Idol is representative of what it takes to succeed in any area of life. Failure is simply a stepping stone on the path to success.

Go for No on The Master Mind Session

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:13:00 +0000

As everyone keeps telling us "Go for No!" is something for anyone who must face failure and rejection. Whether fundraising, selling a product or an idea you must do so knowing that you might hear "no."

No where does this happen more than in the world of direct sales and network marketing. That's why "go for no" has taken off in this industry.

We have had the opportunity to meet a wonderful person named John Milton Fogg who is, as we now know, a legend in the industry. Author of The Greatest Networker in the World and a master of helping people build their network marketing business.

We had the best time getting to talk with John about our "go for no" philosophies for over an hour for one of his amazing services called The Master Mind Sessions. AND we are excited to say that you can listen to the introduction and a preview of this terrific interview here: http://themastermindsessions.com/sessions/

Even if you are not in MLM or direct sales, it's still well worth checking out. John's site has a ton of amazing content from all types of fabulous experts like Carrie Wilkerson, The Barefoot Executive, Mark Victor Hansen, Denis Waitely, and many many more.

Sell is Not a Four Letter Word

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:08:00 +0000

There have been a few people lately talking about this idea of selling. Those in favor of it:

On Fast Company, Skip Anderson points out that selling skills are never out of fashion. Internet marketer genius Matt Bacak explains the need to "sell" in his recent report.

In our presentations, we talk about four different selling styles. One we call, the "Retriever." This is someone whose mission it is to make friends with prospects or customers but NOT to look like or come across as a "salesperson." (God forbid we actually sell something!!) Retrievers are good at building relationships but they hate to "sell." They believe that customer service and "sales" are mutually exclusive rather than one and the same.

The Retriever's biggest fear is looking a "Shark" - another one of our four styles. The Shark is rather aggressive - in your face. You tell a Shark, you are "just looking" and the shark will wrap his/her fin around you saying, "Great! Let's just look together!"

But you can have it all. You can be the best of the Retriever and the best of the Shark. Each has their good qualities. We call this style a "Lion." And Lions know that to sell is to serve and they also Go for No!

But the main point here is, we shouldn't feel bad, embarrassed or ashamed by selling ourselves, our product or our services. If it's right for the customer get out there and SELL!

Achieving Breakthroughs

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:05:00 +0000

With "Go for No" as our foundation, we're in process of creating another unique workshop called "Achieving Brekthrough Performance" scheduled for January in Portland for High Performers Intl.

Richard is also blogging on his personal breakthrough - A 100 Day Challenge. Check it out! http://yourbreakthroughperformance.blogspot.com/

Follow Me on Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:16:00 +0000

Andrea is now representing us on Twitter! Follow her: http://twitter.com/goforno

Yes is the New NO

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:43:00 +0000

One of our favorite actors is Jim Carrey and we just saw a preview of his new movie. The movie called "Yes Man" - check out the trailer at Yes is the "New" No

It is about a guy that says NO all the time. Now, he has made a life change which to say "yes" to everything. Not exactly how "go for no" works since we suggest that you need to hear "no" more often in order to hear "yes." But the two ideas are interesting when played off each other.

In this case, rather than being the ask-er, Jim is the askee and says "NO" to everything. So all of our "go for no" devotees would gather a lot of No's from his character! That is of course until he starts experiencing life by saying "yes!" This is a wildly cool premise, we wish we'd thought of it. Jim, if you're out there, have us to the premier!

Fear and Change

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:33:00 +0000

It's kind of interesting all this stuff in the media and around the election campaigns on "change." In general, it seems most people don't actually like change. Change, for most people is fearful. Right now, lots of people are nervous about the economy, the election, etc. There's a lot of fear and uncertainty. And then you layer in all the talk about change.

Change can be a funny thing though when you consider this great quote from John A Simone Sr: "If you're in a bad situation, don't worry it'll change. If you're in a good situation, don't worry it'll change."

So, relax - cause wherever you are now - it'll probably change.

Our Cookie Lee Proposal Re-Inactment

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 17:30:00 +0000

No, Richard was not asking me (Andrea)
to marry him on stage at a recent Cookie Lee Convention. We were merely re-telling and acting out the story of how he did ask me to marry him over and over and over until I finally said yes. A story of persistence. He did, in fact, ask so often that when I finally said yes, Rich was so shocked he barely heard me. We were browsing in a Robinsons-May (now Macy*s) department store. So after it registered, he ran off to the jewelry department, bought a ring, and brought it into the shoe department where I, of course, was trying on a black heel. I still have the husband. No longer have the shoes. A great story yet again, of failing your way to success. And we had a wonderful time with the 2000+ consultants and leaders of Cookie Lee in Anaheim! Those people know how to have fun! And they are so passionate about the product - and they should be - it really is fabulous!

Go for No part of the Summer Success Summit

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:48:00 +0000

We can't beleive it is mid July already... is summer actually this far along?? We're involved in so many fabulous events lately it's been pretty crazy!

One amazing event we are a part of coming up very quickly is the Summer Success Summit, a virtual seminar event. The coordinator (owner of The Third River) hand picked 10 speakers, coaches, authors, and trainers (including us!) to share their proven strategies with you so you can turn around and immediately put them into action in your own business. And, there is no plane fare, no gas, no hotel stay... and you can even give your kids a hug each night immediately after each session is over. So if you have a burning desire to be more successful in your current business or have a new business you're thinking of starting ... You do NOT want to miss this event. Today is the day that registration opens and the summit starts really soon so don't delay! Go ahead and claim your FREE Summer Success Summit event pass right now by clicking on this link: Take your business to a higher level

Harry Potter Author's "Benefits of Failure"

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:55:00 +0000

Our good friend Patrick Galvin of Galvin Communications is always sharing cool stuff with us. Today he sent us a link to JK Rowling's Harvard commencement in which she talks about the benefits of failure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pucdJHjZaqs.

Our favorite line... paraphrased... "If you do not fail then you're living so timid a life that then, in itself, is a failure."

CD Give-A-Way Project

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:45:00 +0000

In our quest to help people oercome fear of failure, rejection and hearing no, we created this new CD called Reprogram How You Think About NO. It has 10 different tracks including 'Responding to NO', Attitudes about Failure, Comfort Zone, Persistence & Tenacity, Building Your Courage and others...

We spent weeks taking all our best quotes and affirmations and listing them - we had a ton! Then we poured through them, editing and re-crafting if neccessary, and slowly working, ranking each one, carefully selecting and and deleting the ones we decided weren't perfect until we had the top statements for each track.

Then we searched for the perfect music that would go with each track, listening to hundreds of clips, finally selecting the most perfect music that best matched the message and that would allow the statements to easily be absorbed and remembered.

Finally we went into the studio, recorded, edited, re-edited and finally emerged with our new CD! So the deal is, this is a CD we'd like to sell for $35. Instead we're giving it away for just a shipping&processing fee of $4.95.

Why? 3 reasons. One, the selfish reason: we would like to build a following of people interested in learning what we teach - we need to get to know them and that's why we hope this offer drives people to the site to take advantage of it. Next, we really do want to help people in business; sales including direct selling, networking marketing, entreprenuers, (anyone who must hear "no" over and over again!) get this information, and finally we just thought it was a cool idea.

Sales Rep Radio

noreply@blogger.com (The Courage Crafters) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:22:00 +0000

Listen to us talk a little about Go for No! at Sales Rep Radio. This is a great service and you can sign up for free! If you are looking for sales training, sales tips, sales techniques, advice on selling, sales training experts and ideas for success this has it all. We were honored to be selected as guests, check it out: http://www.audionewsletter.com/salesrepradio/021708.htm