Plant Your Flag 1

Post 1 of 3 – Where You Have Been

I’d like to welcome you to the inaugural post of CJSJ marketing’s blog. We invite you to follow our marketing journey where we’ll share the pitfalls, successes, tips and tricks we learn along the way. In addition, we will be sharing valuable information from our highly successful guides and mentors that are helping us navigate through the treacherous waters of the marketing ocean of information.

As we begin this journey together, we MUST first plant our proverbial flag in the ground. Others may say you need to start where you are at. While others have defined it as starting where you are planted. No matter how you say it everyone MUST have a starting point.

Often individuals do not take the time needed to really understand where they are starting from. I know I’ve fallen into this trap on more than one occasion. You are focused on getting money flowing and setting future goals and are in a rush to achieve progress. Only to fall flat on your face and ask yourself, what did I do wrong. The crazy thing is I kept repeating it over and over expecting different results. Isn’t that the definition of insanity?

After starting several businesses from multilevel marketing to insurance and real estate and spending tens of thousands of dollars. I realized that I was in such a big hurry that I was skipping some of the most important parts of starting a business. One of the mistakes was not taking the time to truly understand where I’ve been, where I’m at and where I’m going. I’ve learned it is an impossible task to reach a level of significant success without answering those 3 questions.

In the remainder of this blog post we’ll be looking at the first part, “Understanding Where I’ve Been”, and why it’s important to success. The other parts will be covered in the next two blog posts. As SJ and I go through this process in the blog posts we HIGHLY encourage you to follow along, complete the exercises, plant your flag and get off the hamster wheel of insanity.

So, why is it important to understand where you’ve been? No individual is an oasis. From the day we are born we’re influenced by all those around us and those influences shape the person we’ve become. In addition to this our experiences, and our responses to obstacles and challenges encountered mold us into the person we are now. By doing an inventory of our past it helps us get a clear picture of our strengths, weaknesses and skill sets. These are what we bring to our business and our clients.

I don’t know about you but there have been many times where I felt I had nothing of value to contribute to my clients and felt inadequate to help them. This was because I didn’t take stock in the valuable influence and skills from my past that I bring to my business. We often undersell ourselves and what we have to offer.

WARNING: this exercise is not meant to provide you with excuses for not moving forward but to empower you with a clear picture of what you bring to the table that can be used to help you and your clients to succeed.

Now that we know the importance of understanding our past, let’s dive in and start taking inventory. Go ahead and grab paper and pencil and follow our lead and complete your own inventory. To make this simpler we have broken it down into 3 sections.

1. Influencers: Who are the people in your life that have influenced you the most, for good or bad, and how did that shape you into being who you are today? And how can you use those influences to help you and your clients reach their goals?
2. Pivotal Events: What events, good or bad, have had a pivotal effect on who you’ve become today? How did these events shape your life and how can you use what you’ve learned to help you and your clients reach their goals?
3. Skill Set: What skill sets have you acquired throughout your life that will cross over into the internet marketing world? In what way will these be helpful in allowing you and your clients to reach their goals?

SECTION 1 (Influencers)

It’s important to remember that we are not an oasis and there is no such thing as a self-made person. We are influenced by many individuals, some more than others, that shape and mold us into becoming who we are. In this section we will be identifying and looking at those individuals and how they impacted our life.

1. Take a piece of paper or open a blank document on your computer and brainstorm a list of people that have had the greatest influence on you. Once you have your list, put them in order most influential to least influential.  These can be family, teachers, authors, friends etc. Below are some examples from my list.
   • SJ Ransom – wife and best friend
   • Mr. Boggs – family friend, school principal, and English teacher
   • John Maxwell – leadership author and trainer
   • Teresa Glenn – bible teacher, mother-in-law and, Christian
   • Mike Glenn – preacher, teacher, father-in-law and, Christian
   • Russell Brunson – Internet marketing guru
   • Dean Holland – affiliate marketing guru
2. Next write out how these individuals shaped your life. For example…
   • SJ is my wife and has had a profound impact on who I am. She loves me unconditionally and encourages and supports me every day while I’m pursuing my goals and dreams. She is my best friend, and we do everything together. Because of this I can strengthen and rejuvenate my mind, body and soul on a continuous basis.
   • Mr. Boggs was an English teacher and principle. Prior to meeting him I was pushed from one grade to the next even though I couldn’t read or write and dealt with learning disabilities. In the sixth grade, Mr. Boggs took time out of his schedule and taught me how to read and write. This opened opportunities for me to learn new things despite the learning challenges. I credit Mr. Boggs with all the knowledge I’ve gained because without his time and effort I would not be who I am today.
3. Finally, how can you take the lessons learned from the influencers on your list and use it to provide value to your business and clients. For example,
   • Mr. Boggs was an encourager, servant and did not judge others for their shortcomings. Instead, thru his deeds he showed me how to be a positive force in a person’s life. From his example I can encourage my clients set the example of serving others with no expectation of something in return. My business will grow stronger because of it.

Now, if you haven’t done so already, jump in and complete this exercise for yourself. Come back when you’re finished, and we’ll look at the next step. CONGRATULATIONS, you are one step closer to having the clarity you need to plant your proverbial flag in the ground and start moving forward. If you did not complete the first section, take time to stop and do it. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to stay on the never-ending hamster wheel of insanity. If you’re stuck, reply to this post and we’ll help you get through it.

SECTION 2 (Pivotal Events)

Let’s keep moving forward as we look at section two “identifying the pivotal events that have had an impact on your life and how they can be used to help you and your clients.”

Everyone, regardless of who you are, have experienced events that have changed, molded and influenced the person you are today. The lessons learned from these events can help you relate with clients that are going through the same or similar events. You can also share these lessons so others can take advantage without the hard knocks you went through. There is nothing more powerful than to learn something and then turn around and teach it to someone else. Ok. It’s time for our next exercise.

1. First identify pivotal events that have occurred in your life and put them in order by date. As before, I’ll be using examples from my own life. Go ahead and grab that pencil and paper and get started. Here are some examples.
   • Joined the United States Marine Corp (USMC)
   • Completed College 2 & 4 year degrees
   • Became a Christian
   • Married my wife, SJ
   • Spent close to 7 years in bed with back issues.
   • Battling chronic health issues
2. Now, take your list and write out what impact each event has had on your life. Here’s a couple examples to get you started thinking in that direction.
   • When I was 17, I joined the USMC. Prior to joining I lacked any self-confidence. I was bullied in school and made fun of for my learning disabilities. This drove any self-confidence I might have had into the ground. I can honestly say joining the Marines was one of the most impactful decisions I have made in my life. It taught me I could do anything no matter the obstacle. I learned to improvise, adapt and overcome. I acquired the ability to push through tough times no matter the circumstances. These lessons have powered me through every success I’ve achieved in life and continue to fuel my confidence and mindset that if I believe I can achieve.
   • In 1999, I became a Christian and it reshaped my whole perspective on life. Prior to that I lived life for myself and didn’t really take others into account. At that time, money was my driving factor. Becoming a Christian taught me to respect authority, money isn’t everything, appreciate life and the things around me. These are just a small portion of how it has impacted my life.
3. The last step in this section is determining how we can use the lessons learned from these events to empower our business and our clients. It is not enough just to look at the events and see how they’ve changed you. You MUST take that information and ask yourself how we can use it to help meet the needs of your business and clients. Let’s expand on our previous 2 examples.
   • How can I use the impact being in the Marines had on me for my clients?
     • Allows me to help my clients know how to attain the proper mindset.
     • Provide life coaching and encouragement.
     • Gave me knowledge I can use to aid my clients in personal growth.
     • Work with clients to power through the obstacles to reach the finish line.
     • Work as an accountability partner for my clients.
   • My life as a Christian has taught me to put others first and provide maximum value to others. Don’t worry about the money. It will come if you focus on putting others first. Zig Ziglar said, “If you will help enough people get where they want to go, you will get where you want to go”. This has helped fuel my passion to help others reach their dreams, provide maximum value for them and genuinely care about the lives of individuals and their businesses.

Now it’s your turn. I don’t know about you but focusing on these events has helped me see how much value I have to offer my clients. For example, this blog post is a result of hard knocks that I’ve had to endure before I realized how truly important it is to understand my past and how it can provide value to my clients. Don’t get me wrong, there are still days I feel like I’m on the hamster wheel. On those days I just look at all the value I bring to the table for my clients and then improvise, adapt and overcome the struggles I am having.

SECTION 3 (Skill sets)

AWESOME! You’ve made it this far. My hope and prayers are that you are starting to see through these exercises a clearer picture of the value you bring to your clients and their business. At the same time, I hope these exercises make you more confident as you plant your flag and start on your marketing journey.

Now let’s jump into the last section of this post, “What skill sets have you acquired throughout your life and how can you use then to provide value to your clients and their businesses?”.

A word of caution before we get started, this section will only be of value if you are honest with yourself on what your true skills are. Don’t over inflate them, this isn’t a resume. At the same time don’t sell yourself short.

Once again get the pencil and paper and let’s work through this last section together. So, if you were to list all your skills both personal and work related what would they be? Here are some from my list.

1. Communication skills
2. Troubleshooting skills
3. Project manager
4. Enterprise software developer
5. Trainer
6. Mentor

These are just a few of the skill sets I developed over the last 25+ years of my life. You can see that marketing is not one of them. However, each of these skills can be transferred and used to help my marketing clients and their business. Now stop and take a few minutes and create your skills list.

Did you stop and complete your list? If not, what’s stopping you? I know you don’t want to stay on the hamster wheel. Come on, you can do it! I believe in you.

If you have completed it, CONGRATULATIONS!

Let’s move on. In this last step we will be taking our skills and defining how we can transfer them into our marketing business. I will take a couple of the one’s I’ve listed and expound on how they will transfer over.

1. The ability to troubleshoot problems is a valuable skill no matter the industry you are in. The marketing world needs people who can help them solve their problems. In marketing, like other industries, people seek out problem solvers to solve their problems whether they lack knowledge or just do not have time to solve them their selves.
2. How can enterprise development skills transfer over into marketing? Like in the world of software development, online marketing is a technical field. As a software developer you learn to manage projects, organize tasks, work with teams, train others on new applications and many other things. Each of these things I’ve listed are needed in a marketing business as well. In marketing you must be organized, able to manage your projects, work with others and train others etc. These are valuable skill sets you bring to the marketing world and your clients.

It’s your turn now! Take the list you created of your skills and write out how you can transfer them to your new marketing venture and how you can use them to provide value to your clients.

For many years SJ and I never took the time to do these exercises. Instead, we remained frustrated and wondering what we could possibly have of value to provide to someone. Like I stated at the beginning of this post, we were on the hamster wheel going in circles and didn’t know how to get off the wheel. After reading books, listening to trainings and spending time meditating on what I was learning from various sources, I came up with these exercises, and they have helped us get off the hamster wheel of insanity.

I cannot express how important it is to understand how your past can help fuel your business. Nor can I put in words how valuable these exercises have been to SJ and me.

I am excited to be able to share this knowledge with you. In the next post we’ll be looking at part 2, “Where are you at now”.

This will walk you through exercises that will save you thousands of dollars and days, hours and years of agony and frustration. Not doing these exercises has cost me several thousand dollars and years of my life. I am going to share it with you FREE in the next post.

In the meantime, complete the above exercises if you haven’t yet and leave a comment. We want to hear from you.

CJ Ransom