What if you knew exactly what was going to happen in 2009? Do you think those golden eggs might help you build trust today and throughout the next year?

Well, lookee here:

Nine Predictions for 2009

Author and branding expert Tom Asacker lets the cats out of the bag.  He tells you precisely what will happen in 2009. And as you read, you will no doubt have some realizations about certain trust-building opportunites that are ripe for your picking.

Hope you find this short, fascinating report useful. I know I sure did. Thanks so much to Tom Peters for mentioning this report in his blog.

Richard Dennis

… No, not Indians. Actually …

… newsletter publishers!

Well - “always” is probably too strong a word. But there was a time, back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when I was just blown away by people who could publish their own newsletter. I wished, I wished, I wished I could do it. But I couldn’t.

I was driving a bus back then. Writing and publishing and mailing out a newsletter cost a lot of money. It meant you had to have ideas - which I had. It also meant you needed some pretty expensive technology - which was way out of reach for me.

This was certainly all true as recently as 20 years ago. Today? Anybody can publish their own newsletter, and the cost is close to zero. The technology is readily available. The learning curve is so easy, anyone can master it.

So a wish that was financially impossible for me just two decades ago is now a standard in business. Anybody who wants to publish their own newsletter can do it, at very little cost.

And I believe they should.

“Getting better” is a crucial part of trust-building, especially in this age of rapidly-changing technology. Part of your gameplan to increase trust with your stakeholders MUST be a daily “training session”, designed to get you better at some aspect of life or business.

Not sure? Well, look at it from YOUR viewpoint. Let’s say you are making a choice between 2 possible mentors. You notice that one is a pretty good talker, decent & productive writer, and he also is serviceable with podcasts and can effectively create and present video.

The other is a good talker … but none of the rest is apparent.

Who do you choose? Barring other evaluation, it’s pretty obvious which one has done the work to get better. Don’t you trust them more because of this? Don’t you trust them more to be able to teach you what you need to know, for you to be successful?

I’ll bet you do.

Heck … there are people out there who are very good just at marketing by cell phone. They have spent time learning and doing, and they have found the resources to constantly update their skills. I’ll bet a LOT of people would love to get good at marketing by cell phone. And if they were looking to choose a mentor or vendor or connection, they would have much more faith and trust in a person who could teach them a skill they thought would be really valuable to them.

So the message is … get better. Learn technology. Set aside time every day to learn and get better at some of the most useful technologies around these days. Upgrading your skills will gain you the trust of a LOT of people.

Take care,

Richard Dennis

Amazing & astonishing? I usually avoid words like that. They are way overused these days. To be really amazed & astonished, you must have witnessed a VERY unusual event. For instance …

I was amazed & astonished in typing class in high school in Flossmoor, Illinois, when the Principal’s voice on the public address system announced that President Kennedy had been assassinated in a motorcade in Dallas. I was thinking, “It is 1963, not 1865! How on earth could such a thing ever happen today?”

I was amazed & astonished as I walked out of the Orange Bowl late on January 1st, 1983, after the Miami Hurricanes beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers and won their first football national championship. I came to South Florida in 1971. The Canes were dreadful for my first 8 years in town. Championship? Ridiculous. But they got better. They started January 1, 1983 ranked 5th in the country. The bettors pegged them an 18-point underdog against Nebraska. And yet by the end of the day, the other higher-ranked teams all lost and the Hurricanes won by a point. Bingo. National championship. How on earth could such an incredible series of games actually happen in one day?

I was amazed and astonished when I turned on the car radio the morning of September 11, 2001. How on earth could THAT happen in this country, in this day and age?

And I am amazed and astonished today. This event will probably only get local publicity, not national or international. It probably really shouldn’t surprise me that government could do something so stupid and trust-destroying. But yet … even so, it is truly incredible to me.

Cheryl & I took a trip to see the grandkids in South Florida the last few days. On Thursday, grandson Jeremy starred in a high school play. On Sunday, granddaughter Jazmyn competed in the Florida State Gymnastics championships. So we drove 500 miles to watch & celebrate.

It was terrific. They both did great. But this article is about what happened Friday … not Thursday or Sunday.

Look … I don’t know … maybe this thing isn’t so unusual. Maybe it’s routine someplace. Maybe it’s not as idiotic as I think it is. Maybe it won’t take citizen trust in government to an even lower level. Obviously, somebody somewhere thinks it’s a good idea.

You decide for yourself.

Me? I am amazed and astonished at the monumental stupidity of a local government that would put up a new tollbooth on an old Interstate freeway (I-95 through North Miami) with a toll that is never the same. Every time you go through, you will pay a different amount. Depending on the time of day and the traffic, according to the news, the toll may be as little as $0.25. Or … as high as $6.00 And you will NEVER know, until you pull up to the booth to pay.

OK. I realize this event certainly doesn’t touch the 9/11 terrorist attacks or Kennedy’s assassination or even the Hurricanes’ first national championship as a news item. But that doesn’t make it any less astonishing or amazing to me.

Do these people not think? Putting in a new tollbooth will tick off a lot of people … for a few weeks. Then they’ll be used to it, and eventually, they’ll forget the drive used to be free. They would throw in their 50 cents or 75 cents and forget about it.

Now? Drivers will never forget. Everytime they get to the booth, they’ll be reminded when they hear they owe a different amount. They’ll have to wait in line behind traffic searching for more money, drivers who didn’t have a clue their toll would be $4.50 at THIS time of day in THIS traffic.

Government aggravates all of us at one time or another … or even regularly. I’m amazed and astonished that those who bring you higher taxes have found a way to set up their system so it is a constant in-your-face reminder of the power they have over you, spotlighting your frustration about your inability to do anything to stop them.

That same type of frustration at the arrogance of the politicians resulted in the Boston Tea Party in 1773, which many believe was the first act of the American Revolution. It’s probably not very smart to flaunt the fact that you have the power and you don’t really care whether anyone trusts you or not.

I’m really curious about this - what do YOU think? Are you amazed & astonished, or do you just see this as business as usual?

Richard Dennis

Richard Dennis

There’s no doubt it’s valuable to consider the different ways that increasing trust can improve our relationships and our lives.

But maybe the “glass half-empty” approach is worth taking a look at, too. What happens when we totally ignore trust and create distrust?

Margarethe Zelle was born in the Netherlands in 1876. Her mother died when she was 15. Margarethe answered a newspaper ad, responding to an Indonesian-based Dutch army officer looking for a wife. This connection resulted in an abusive marriage and two children, who both died young.

At 27, Margarethe, divorced, settled in Paris and soon gained international fame as an exotic dancer. In the 10 years preceding WWI, she met and romanced powerful men from many countries. Her lovers included military officers, politicians, and the German crown prince. Margarethe adopted a stage name which in Maylay meant “eye of the dawn.” She was celebrated as a great entertainer. It all seemed to work fine for her … for awhile.

Then came the War. Still legally a Dutch subject, Margarethe could freely cross all borders, because the Netherlands stayed neutral. So she did. She visited her lovers, who included military officers from both France & Germany … who were now at war with each other.

In Germany, Margarethe - stage name Mata Hari - was rumored to be a French spy. In France, she was accused and tried for treason, for being a German spy. There was never strong evidence for either case. Mata Hari may well have looked at it all as her game.

But that game quickly spun out of her control. It ended on October 15, 1917, in front of a French firing squad.

Most of us will never face a firing squad, of course. But it’s a good reminder of the emotions that get stirred up when your actions give the appearance of a betrayal of trust. It may or may not have been fact, but emotions far outweigh facts when it comes to people - let alone entire countries - who feel betrayed.

Richard Dennis

Richard Dennis

If someone has proof that you have heard them, then they know you have actually listened to them. Their trust for you increases dramatically, because most individuals don’t listen to them. Businesses? Fuhgeddaboutit!

But today’s technology allows you to do some pretty incredible things that PROVE you have been listening.

Do you know you can get personalized M&Ms? You could throw a party for a friend and serve M&Ms personalized with their photo. Might that make an impression on your friend? It might. And if they saw it as proof that you searched to find a unique way to honor their friendship, might you be more favorably inclined towards M&Ms? You might be. More trust.

You can custom design a lot more than T-shirts these days. Sneakers, for instance. Jewelry (BlueNile.com). Perfume (MyDNAFragrance.com). Postage stamps (Stamps.com). Everyone takes pride in being unique in certain ways. The more you can help them express that individuality, the stronger the relationship they’ll build with you … the more they will trust you.

You can go to crushpadwine.com and create your own wine. You won’t stomp the grapes, but you will select them, along with a choice of production processes, and, of course, the packaging.

There was a time when the cost of personalized products was prohibitive for most people. Not today. The technology has brought the cost way down. And you can create an effect worth way more than the expense.

Today, you can mix styles & colors to create your own Reeboks. Within the next few months, you’ll be able to put your own photo into the design. Sure, they will cost more. But what is the effect worth? To many people, that expression of individuality is worth many times the cost.

And if you can help others really send that message of indivuality that means so much to them, how will that translate in their trust for you, their loyalty for you?

Good questions to ponder, considering December 25th is only 4 weeks away.

I appreciate you!

Richard Dennis

Richard Dennis

Do you remember back in the day - maybe 15 years ago - when the coupon in a magazine ad would end with the following words:

Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Can you imagine the threats of violence and - maybe - actual bloodshed, if you tried to take that long to deliver a product today? Technology has changed. Expectations have totally changed. Consumers expect delivery in seconds, or at worse, a day or two. Weeks or months is totally unacceptable. You’d lose all trust & goodwill with your market.

Stephen M.R. Covey titles his outstanding book, The Speed of Trust. Speed is in that title for a reason. For instance, the faster you produce a result, the more trust you’ll generate with your stakeholders. But that is only half the equation. The other half is your stakeholders.

Customers, vendors, prospects … they have technology now, too. They can move or change in a hurry.

Great recent example: Motrin ran an online ad that amazingly insulted mothers. In minutes, some mothers had shot & uploaded videos to Youtube, ridiculing the makers of Motrin and the product itself. The Motrin website was offline for a day while they changed their ad.

Remember when Clark Kent whirled his body and presto! Superman! That is what today’s technology allows anybody to do. We can react immediately and we expect immediate reaction from others, too.

In the Motrin example, a link to the first video got copied & pasted into blogs all over the internet. Can you say, “wildfire”?

To create & enhance trust, you need to react quickly, because that is the expectation these days. The faster you are, the more you grow the trust level. The slower you are … well … that’s obvious, isn’t it?

Take care,

Richard Dennis

Richard Dennis

In my opinion, your best strategy in becoming wildly successful at whatever it is you want to be successful at is … evaluate every facet of your dream in terms of “trust.”

For example:

“Does Step 5 create greater trust with my prospects? Can I tweak Step 5 to create MORE trust?”

Trust. Trust. Trust. Trust. Trust. If that is how you think about everything, you will never go wrong.

Steph Grenier recently wrote the book, “Blog Blazers: 40 Top Bloggers Share Their Secrets”. One of the bloggers she interviewed is David Armano, who does the blog “Logic + Emotion”.

Before you read the interview, consider these questions and how they relate to trust.

• * What are 3 great tips for how to develop your ability to influence when you write?
• * How do you consistently reach out to more and more people?
• * What part do your opinions play in building trust?
• * What marketing creates the highest trust?
• * What is the #1 trust-killer for a blogger?

Now, read the whole interview through the prism of trust and note down the ideas you can use NOW in developing more trust in your business or personal life:

David Armano Interview

Hope you find this interview REALLY useful?

Richard Dennis

PS - Help me focus on what really makes a difference to YOU. Please click the “comments” link and tell us which idea in the interview you can use right now to make a big difference in your life.

Richard Dennis

I first ran into Guy Kawasaki probably 20 years ago. I rode a motorcycle, and Guy wrote a column for one of the motorcycle magazines … back before anybody had ever heard of the internet. Guy was a motorcycle techie, but he was also a writer who could create terrific word pictures. I really looked forward to his column every month.

Then one month he disappeared to go write about Apple computers. I missed him. And he’s morphed a few times since then. I run into him every now and then.

And today, management consultant Tom Peters has created a real treat for you … an interview with Guy Kawasaki about Guy’s new book, “Reality Check”. Guy doesn’t mention trust much … but his entire being gosh-darn-for-sure defines trust. I highly recommend this interview.

As always, read it from a “trust” viewpoint. From every sentence Guy speaks, what can you learn about creating trust with your personal or business stakeholders? I guarantee you will find a lot of lessons here:

Tom Peters Interviews Guy Kawasaki

Hope you enjoy it.

Richard Dennis

Richard

Some things, you just have to wonder about … Example:

The Federal Aviation Administration licenses pilots and approves new airplane design. When there is a crash, it’s investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. Obviously, to have the FAA investigate the planes & pilots they tested & licensed would be a conflict of interest, because they would have to investigate their own people & their own procedures. That’s why you have a completely separate group do the crash investigation.

However … the Food & Drug administration approves new drugs. In fact, by the Prescription Drug & User Fee Act of 1992, the FDA is actually legally paid by the drug companies to get faster approval of specific drugs. When there are serious adverse reactions to a drug, the FDA is also in charge of deciding whether or not to remove the drug from the market - a drug it originally claimed to have thoroughly tested, and which it approved. And the FDA handles the entire investigation of the case & the drug company involved … a company which is paying them for faster approval of its drugs.

Now … I don’t believe we need more government. But you know this is an example of a conflict of interest. I know it’s a conflict of interest. To have any confidence that life-threatening drug mistakes will be corrected, this system should have a “National Drug Safety Board”, totally unrelated to the FDA, which investigates adverse drug reactions … just as in the air transportation industry.

When you are talking to your spouse, or your kids, or a prospect or a customer … what conflicts of interest do you have?

• What is it you feel you have to hide from them?
• What topics do you steer away from?
• Which of your actions have you justified in your mind?
• Which “hot” questions have you really prepared for, so you can send the discussion in a safe direction?

Answering these questions will help you pinpoint your own conflicts of interest which could ultimately destroy the trust you may now have with your own “stakeholders.” Once you’ve spotted the conflicts, you’re in position to create tranparency. Revealing your own conflicts of interest is a great trust-builder, because you’re telling people that you believe they have the right to know the exact truth, and you’ll leave it up to their judgment whether or not to continue in a trust relationship with you.

That is a position of confidence which is very attractive.

Plus … since you’ve revealed the truth, you don’t have to try to remember what told them.

Take care,

Richard Dennis
Work With Me

Richard

Keep a notebook of your daily activities.

It’s not just what you do or what happens in your life. What’s important is that your visitors can see that you are actively working at building your dream … and you’re sharing the results with them. Keep notes of what worked and what didn’t work. Talk about it in your blog.

The more examples you give and the more stories you can tell, the more credibility you will have with your visitors. And the more they will trust you.

Example: yesterday, I went to visit one of my neighbors. Mike was an Air Force pilot in Vietnam, and he worked for the county government for many years before retiring not too long ago. He knows a LOT of people.

I need a meeting room for an evening business get-together in a few weeks. I could have just picked up the Yellow Pages and started dialing. Instead, I told Mike about it and asked who he would call. He gave me names & phone numbers of 4 people who he’s known for a long time, each of whom has a meeting room that might suit my needs. Believe me, when I drove over to Mike’s house, I never figured I’d get so much good information.

And then we talked for an hour, sharing a lot of thoughts & experiences. We discovered some strong connections between us. I gave him a copy of my book, “Evil Medicine.” (Mike is very interested in alternative health solutions.) I’ll keep Mike in the loop on my meeting, too, and which of his contacts I end up working with. Good chance Mike & I will eventually work together on something.

Points:

1. This story might inspire you to make a connection you would never have made otherwise.
2. People like to help out, if you ask them.
3. Mike and I seldom see each other, but today I have a lot more credibility with him than I did 24 hours ago. Who knows where that might lead?

So you can see several examples of increased trust from what I did yesterday. And if you set your goal each day to somehow create increased trust in one or more people, then over time, you will make contacts that help you achieve your dreams.

I appreciate you!

Richard Dennis