I am sorry that has been so long since the Business Update. Although we continue to get emails from our dedicated blog readers and visitors to our site, it’s been a few weeks since our last article. The reason for this is that we recently returned from a trip to the Bahamas (yes, even I take vacations). First let me say that we are darn lucky that Katrina missed us while we were there. In fact we spent the majority of our time on a boat cruising between islands and I can’t tell you how devastating it would have been if the hurricane decided to slam into the Abaco Cays where we were sailing.
While we rented our own boat for the week, I thought it might be a good idea to go out on our first day with a local guide so we could see the islands and learn about the best areas. So prior to leaving I did a little research. I scoured the Internet to find out who knew the islands well and who could take us out on a private trip to visit the best dive sites and reefs for snorkeling.
The name “Brendal” kept coming up. I made some calls to property owners in the area and still I was told that Brendal was really the only person that could help us. Now I know there is a market leader in every business, but this was ridiculous. There must be another option besides this “Brendal?” Apparently he had created such a high degree of attraction that in the Abaco islands he was not just another option he was the ONLY solution.
We contacted Brendal’s Dive Center (http://www.brendal.com/brendal/adventures.shtml) and found that this was quite an operation. Interestingly enough not only was Brendal just about the ONLY dive center among the islands, he was also a master chef and had been featured on the Discovery Channel, Emeril Live, the CNN Travel Show, Ming’s Quest and other shows for his adventure specialty trips.
The day of our trip with Brendal came and off we went to Green Turtle Island and met him for the first time. Now Brendal is an interesting guy. He is 55 years old but you would swear he was a 40 year-old bodybuilder and when he talks about his beloved islands his entire countenance changes. His face lights-up and he speaks with exuberance and enthusiasm. When we asked what he had in mind he told us it was going to be a long day filled with a lot of adventures. We thought to ourselves, “OK, whatever” but little did we know what we were in for. Now I have been on dive and snorkeling trips all over the world from Hawaii to Fiji to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia so I was going to be hard to impress.
The first thing Brendal did was take us to what looked like a dead coral reef and set the boat to slowly troll. Then he threw out two tethered live preservers and told us to grab our masks and watch him. With that he jumped off the boat and disappeared under the water. Now you’ve got to picture this. Here we are in the middle of the ocean and the dive master leaves the boat running and does a “man overboard!” What choice did we have? So we get in the water and watch Brendal dive down 40 feet with NO TANK and in no more than 5 minutes he had retrieved four huge conches and two lobsters. It was almost like he planted them there but that would be inconceivable.
Following this Brendal said we were going to visit with some sharks that he was friends with. When I asked how he would spot them? He said he would drive the boat with his foot and look carefully by standing on the roof! And he did just that!
We also visited some of the most beautiful coral reefs I’ve ever seen, explored a sunken pirate ship, swam with a family of Bottlenose Dolphin and ended the day with Brendal taking us to deserted island in the middle of ocean where he opened the conch and prepared a cheviche that was unbelievably delicious right on the back of the boat! As we sat in three feet of water eating the chiviche and drinking rum punch he said let me introduce you to my garbage disposal. He threw the conch scraps into the water and up swam a family of gigantic manta rays, each of which had a name. We fed them as they swam around us and then Brendal rough-housed with them like they were his pet German Shepherds!
Now the purpose of my story is not to brag about my vacation or even to pitch Brendal’s services. It is to demonstrate that Brendal, through his passion, has managed to use successfully several rules of attraction to build his business. First he has literally become the biggest fish in the smallest pond, he has positioned himself as an exclusive solution and he has learned that winning heart share is far more important than mind or market share.
Think about what you can do to create passion in your business. What are some ways that you can become an exclusive solution to your specific market? And finally how can you win greater share of heart from you prospects and customers? I believe that these principles can be applied to ANY type of business. This is why I am again, by popular demand, holding another Attract More Business Workshop. At this full-day workshop you will learn how to apply the rules of attraction specifically to your business. We will be working on branding, viral marketing, creating effective buzz, targeting, headline development, Internet strategies and secrets of producing double-digit direct mail response. For more information go to http://www.sbanetwork.org/classes/upcoming_classes.asp to sign-up and download our workshop brochure.