5 Renegade Strategies for Building The Business of Your Dreams

Well, it's a crazy world.

Sheesh.

It's tough to figure out what's going on.  Although you can't control the massive global political forces you can control the way you make money.

You can buy some property, work hard to pay off the debt on it, live off the cash flow.

You can build a business, and work hard to make it pay dividends to you.

We like that type of stuff, a lot.

We actually enjoy living in our own little reality where we block out the media, negativity, the accepted "norms" and just live as we please ... in our own reality if you will.

And if you're anything like us you're probably interested in controlling your own finances as well.  So today we're going to share 5 Renegade Strategies for Building The Business of Your Dreams.

5 Renegade Strategies for Building The Business of Your Dreams

These points were recently shared by a personal business mentor of ours, Bill Glazer, in a talk he gave in Arizona.  We're going to share our notes...

Renegade Strategy #1: Turn your "ordinary" business into an "extraordinary" business.

Think Starbucks.  They changed how much people will pay for coffee by changing the delivery.  Starbucks created a "coffee experience" like no other.  How else can you explain paying $4 for some water, coffee beans and a paper cup with a bit of foam on top?  Hats off to them.

Think Dominos Pizza.  They revolutionized the world with their unique message of, "Fresh, Hot Pizza at Your Door in 30 Minutes or its FREE".  That caused many car accidents but also built a franchise empire.

And don't think that your small business can't do this.  We know Bill Glazer's own menswear stores used to sell 67% of its clothing via personal appointments.  Now, when is the last time you've heard of making personal appointments to visit a retailer?

We also know of a pizza store in Winnipeg that sells "memberships" to clients who get a monthly allotment of Award-Winning, Gourmet Pizza.  When's the last time your pizza store asked you to sign up for a membership?

There's a painter in the U.S. who turned around every objection customers had about hiring painters into positive points in his marketing: no late arrivals for painting or the job is free, no paint in your toilets or on your floors at the end of the day, no loud music playing in your house unless you're playing it and you'll never see a painter's butt crack.  LOL, seriously.  His business?  On fire.

Renegade Strategy #2:  Defy Industry Norms & Positioning for Power

What territory in the marketplace can you own?

Carnival Cruise Lines made the entire message around, "This is not your grandfather's cruise ship".  They broke the mold and others have followed.

Victoria's Secret took the once classless lingerie store and made it a perfectly acceptable place for the entire family to shop in, made them "mall-friendly" and have been rewarded handsomely for it.

Disney took the old "travelling fairgrounds" and created an international travel destination in the middle of the humid Florida swamplands.

Guthy Renker took acne cream from the shelves of the local pharmacy and sold their Pro Activ product via "monthly subscription" using celebrity endorsements and infomercials.

Renegade Strategy #3: Immunity to Criticism

Whose opinion counts to you?

Zig Ziglar, one of the most famous sales trainers of all time, included Christian Religious Stories in all his talks.  He often took a lot of heat for it ... he didn't care.

Wal Mart gets attacked regularly for using "slave labour" in third world countries to create their products.  We're not endorsing the practice but have you noticed that they never even respond to the claims?

Dan Kennedy, a top marketing consultant, carries no cell phone and can only be contacted via fax.  He's constantly criticized for it but doesn't care.  If you want to work with him you have to fax him, no exceptions.

We were told in no uncertain terms that we would fail if we decided to focus on working with investors in our brokerage.  We ignored the advice ... we just didn't care.

Living life on your terms is very liberating.

Renegade Strategy #4: Being Able To Spend More To Get & Keep A Customer

Three questions...

How much are you spending today to get a customer?

How much is that customer worth to you over the period of your relationship with them?

What are you spending now?

Guthy Renker loses money to acquire every new Pro Activ acne cream customer.  But they know their numbers and will be profitable several months into the relationship.

Because they know their business they can lose money to acquire customers ... that knowledge is a very very big competitive advantage to them.

The result?  They are dominating the space.

Renegade Strategy #5:  Raise Your Prices

This is the easiest of them all.  With proper delivery of your product or service, you can charge much higher than you are today.

Don't believe us?  Have you purchased a Starbucks coffee recently?  Would you pay the same for that coffee from a dirty old coffee shop?

Have you ever purchased anything from Tiffany's?  That little blue box has a lot of value, doesn't it?  The jewelry inside is the exact same stuff at the local jeweler around the corner.

We were scared of this advice ourselves until we started doing it.  The easiest method?  Just go ahead and raise your prices ... it's very "renegade" of you.

There are actually 3 more strategies but we'll save those for another time!

Until next time ... Your Life. Your Terms!