The List!

I hope you really internalized the previous seven list making tips. If you are working your business with the right approach, this list perspective can make a huge difference in your future income. Now I'll take you through what the actual list is made up. This will takle some effort to do properly, but it is an activity that rewards much greater than the investment of energy. Remember, as you develop the list, you must do so without any editing. Your goal when building a list is simply to see HOW BIG YOU CAN MAKE IT!

Think of your list as an archery target. There is a bullseye in the middle and then increasingly larger circles that extend out from the middle. This is very analagous as to the relationships you have with the people in your circle of influence. The closer to the bullseye, the better the relationship and the farther away, the weaker the relational tie.

The bullseye represents your closest relationships. These are your closest friends and your family.For some people this portion of the list is 30-50 and for people with a big family it can be in the hundreds. This is the portion of the list that also knows YOU the best. They will be the toughest and most critical as a result.

The next circle represents people you know and are friendly with and have some measure of consistent contact with. Think about your church, organizations you are part of, parents of children you know in some way through your children, your gym, businesses that you frequent, etc. This is a big section of your list.

The next circle is even bigger and represents everyone you have spent time around in your life in some way. People from your past, like school, places you lived, worked, went to church, etc. This is a huge amount of people if you do this without editing. (remember, don't worry what you would say to this group...I'll teach you what to say later to each group)

The last portion of the list is comprised of anyone you have some connection with at all. Anyone who knows you or OF you, and anyone you know or knew or know OF. This can be people in your field of endeavor, hobbies, schools, etc. Believe it or not, by the time you get to this group they are easy to talk to.

So when you make the list be sure to use memory joggers. On a piece of paper, write down any place you ever lived, worked, went to school, organization you were part of, church you attended, teams you were part of, etc. Anything you can think of. Obviously, your social networking vehicles come into play as well. Then you can look at the listings of vocations (after you write down the obvious) as another memory jogger (yellow pages).

Your brain stores information in patterns. You have tons of stuff in your head that you don't readily remember, but as soon as your mind sees or hears an association to something that is stored in your head...your brain can go down a path that can have you remembering stuff that you haven't thought of in years. For example, if I said kickball, you will go to a place you probably haven't been for a long time...or Prom...that takes you somewhere else.

I have had many people say to me over the years "I burned my list because I talked to them about such and such already.' To this I say two things...1)The approach I teach erases that issue quite easily and 2)GROW UP! Pride and fear are two things that will hold you back in every corner of your life. Talk to ya Monday (no blogging for this guy on Sundays).