Author Archives: Roy H. Williams
5.91 Million Reasons Why America Needs Wizard Academy
According to the U.S. Census, our nation is home to 5.91 million business owners whose businesses have fewer than 100 employees. If the American dream is to survive, these small businesses must thrive. The success of Wal-Mart and Google is not enough. Wizard Academy is a business school – not for big corporations – but &hellip Continue reading
The Emily Dickinson of Photography
I look at Vivian Maier and remember Jane Hathaway, Mr. Drysdale’s scholarly secretary on The Beverly Hillbillies. Vivian was born in France in 1926. We don’t know how or when Vivian came to America, but at age 11 she began working in a New York sweatshop. She learned English by sitting in movie theaters, alone &hellip Continue reading
Rivalry of Thought
Uptight vs. Anything Goes “Proverbs contradict each other. That is the wisdom of a people.” – Stanislaw Lec EXAMPLE 1. “Win the heart and the mind will follow. The intellect can always find logic to justify what the heart has already decided.” In other words, speak to the right brain – the heart – if &hellip Continue reading
A Flashbulb Lights the Moment, But the Sun Shows Us the Way.
“Success is a snowflake,” she said. I was talking to the princess of my world, doing my best to ignore the day that waited impatiently outside our door. I had shown her the photo of Jane DeDecker’s Old Man and the Sea and told her the back story of Teddy Roosevelt’s famous statement, “It is &hellip Continue reading
The Sparkling Secret of Success
Ray, I agree with what you said. Determination must be fed or it will fade. Commitment, on the other hand, is settled, secure, irrevocable. Costs are no longer counted. You’ve heard me say many times that one of our society’s most costly mistakes is this misbegotten belief that passion produces commitment. America’s high divorce rate &hellip Continue reading
Gold Laughs at Stocks and Bonds
A Look at Personification and Brandable Chunks Gold, for thousands of years, has been the world’s only truly secure investment. The economy ebbs and flows, like the tide. It always has. It always will. But gold is like the Rock of Gibraltar. Safe. Secure. Indestructible. If all the gold in the world were melted into &hellip Continue reading
Name the Number. Say It.
The single biggest mistake made in face-to-face selling is the seller’s reluctance to name the price. When your customer asks, “How much?” the next syllable to leave your lips should be the first digit of a number. “But you don’t understand. That’s just not possible in my business. We have to gather some information before &hellip Continue reading
High-Risk Writing
a peek, a glimpse, a conclusion It is dangerous to write sentences that require the reader to think. Frankly, you would be safer to blindfold yourself and walk in front of a Taliban firing squad wearing a Jesus Loves You T-shirt. Here’s an example of dangerous writing: “Amnesia is not knowing who one is and &hellip Continue reading
Never, Never, Never
1. Never promise everything you plan to deliver. Leave something to become the delight factor. That unexpected, extra bit you deliver “because we love you” will go a long way toward helping the customer forgive and forget any areas where you may have fallen short. Great ads are written in three steps: (1.) How to &hellip Continue reading
Business Model No. 4: Path Dominance
Inventory Management, Proprietary Product, and Custom are the first 3 business models. The last, number 4, is Path Dominance. Like water, Path Dominance silently follows the path of least resistance, going to where there is no competition and then winning by default. Path Dominance allows its proponents to sell inferior products at exorbitant prices. And &hellip Continue reading
