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Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Hi there, welcome to the biz communication Show. I’m your host, Bill Lampton the biz communication guy, once again bringing you tips and strategies that will boost your business because my guest and I will bring you and ourselves, winning words and ways. Joining us today from Scottsdale Arizona, Dr. Doreen rivers, she’s known to her friends, acquaintances, business associates and clients as River. Dr. Rivers has demonstrated her powerful communication skills in many ways. Among them. She has a degree in creative writing a PhD in business management, experience and investment banking, has general contracting licenses and construction. Are you are you are you? Are you tired yet I would be. She has built, grown and sold many different businesses. Plus, she’s an award winning photographer, graphic designer and has been a screenwriter, and producer. And note too, that she is an author. In fact, I have her book before me here, brain to bank. It’s a wonderful book for entrepreneurs. I’ve given it a high, high five and an excellent review on Amazon. She’s also an venturous mountain climber recently returned from conquering Mount Kilimanjaro. She’s the mother of five successful children on a personal note, you can sum up reverse life experiences with this quote from Helen Keller. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. So, today, Doreen will bring us a mind expanding ideas many of which you can implement immediately get set for a daring adventure with Dr. Doreen rivers. Hello domaine. Welcome to the best communication show.
Dorine Rivers
Thank you, Bill. I had such a great time. Last time. I was excited to come back again today. So thank you for having me back.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Came back all the way from Kilimanjaro. I did just for you. Yes. Well, my first question for you is there are many people who have an idea about becoming an entrepreneur, they have a dream of becoming an entrepreneur, they want to do it. But the the key question and you have helped so many people start and maintain businesses. The key question is, how do you know during? If you’ve got a good idea, one that as you say, can go go from brain to bank, the title of your book, how do you how would an aspiring entrepreneur really know they’ve got a good idea?
Dorine Rivers
I think that is one of the first questions they ask themselves. And they second guess it even into production sometimes. But I can take that question back to when I was eight years old. And I formed my first company. And my brother and I were walking down the street and we saw all these lemonade stands and all the kids were all selling lemonade, all for one cent a cup. And we’re thinking, well, we don’t want to you want to be the same as everyone else. What else can we do? So we took these old fashioned ice cream trays, and we filled them with different flavors of KoolAid and then we put them in the freezer. And the trick is to remember about halfway through that freezing process is go in and stick little toothpicks in each one of those little sections. So when you’re done, you can pull them out, and you have what we call cute sickles. And we sold those for two cents apiece. And within a week, we had everyone’s laminate business because everyone wanted something new and something different and they were willing to pay twice as much money for it. So one of the questions to ask yourself is what is everyone else doing? How can I do it differently? One of the things that I do when I go to think about creating a new company is I will go to the competitors websites and I will read the comments and I will find out what the people who use their product wish that product did. Now you have a need for something. You know people need it because they’re telling you you need it. And you can do this one or two ways you can create a product that you want to create. And then you have something that you love. But you got to go out and create a market for it. And a lot of times that you have to educate people as to what that product does and why they need it. Or you can do the smarter thing. And you can find out what people need go in an event that and you have a built in market. So look at your idea as to what it is people need and say they want to have and gauge your progress against that. And if it matches up, you’re in great shape. If it’s not tweak it until it becomes something people are looking for. Now you have a built in market. And that’s the number one thing to find out first, who is your target market? And who and will they actually buy your product.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Your time talking about meeting people’s need as as a key point, and that certainly is central, no doubt about that. I think also, we might explore not only meeting the need, but doing it in the way that meeting that need in the way that that people can find it useful and beneficial to me. Something came to mind just instantly there. And that was the failure of Myspace, MySpace, as we remember, was about the first venture into social media. I remember being on MySpace. And I remember I think I had two followers. That was about it. And Facebook, then they met essentially the same name, but they had the know how that people needed, right?
Dorine Rivers
Well, I think that’s true. And I think the word that you use beneficial is the key when people explain their idea, their either product or service. They’re talking about the features this does that this does that people don’t care what the features are, they want to know how it’s going to benefit them. So you talk about how this is going to change their life, how it’s going to save them time, how it’s going to save them money, how their workday will be shorter when they implement this, let’s say it’s a platform that saves them time. So you have to talk about what it is they need, and how it’s going to change their life if they buy your product or service.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
So you use, I like to think of the fact that many people become an entrepreneur, when they’re in their 30s, or the 40s are nowadays even later, especially with corporate changes. Someone may not have planned to be an entrepreneur, but all of a sudden they are but you came became an entrepreneur at a very fledgling age. Let’s take that to the next level. What did you do as your first livelihood? I know that was income for you. And that was a successful venture with a popsicles. But what what was your first venture as an entrepreneur for your livelihood?
Dorine Rivers
Well, that’s a complicated question. Because I have been so many things, as you know, as we know, and like livelihood might be a loaded word there. I think what you might be asking is, maybe what did I learn early on that I still implement? Now that’s helping me to move ahead in whatever I’m choosing to do. That’s, that might be a little more close, close to this there. And I think the key to it, is to go go with your passion, and figure out why you’re doing it. I talk about that. In the book, I talk about how you need to find out why you’re doing it. In Chapter One is a story about when I had five kids under the age of five years old, and with no money and no way to take care of them. And how did i What did I do to fix that? And I created a business that didn’t exist. And then I went and out and sold it. And then I went out and franchised it. And it turned out to be the beginning of knowing how to start a business to solve a specific problem. So you have to look at what the problem is you’re solving you have to decide why it is it’s so important for you to solve that. And a lot of times you have to go a couple levels down you say why why do you want to start this business? Well, I want to start it because I need money. Well, why do you need money? Well be because my husband was in a construction accident, and he hurt his back and he can’t work. Well, why does this have to be you when you’ve got five kids at home to take care of? Because there’s no one else to do it? Well, why do you have to do it? Because my kids need clothes for school? Why do they need clothes for school? Why does that matter to you, because all the kids are making fun of my kids, because they don’t have nice clothes, and they don’t have those brand new air Nikes that everyone’s wearing. And I want my kids to have self confidence and feel good about when they go to school. Oh, bingo, there’s your real answer. Why are you doing this because I want to build myself, my kids self esteem. And that’s at the end of everything else, of how I’m getting up every day to work on this project. So you have to figure that out, you might have to go five levels deep. But that’s what you hang on to when it’s really hard. And you have problems in the business and then going gets tough, and it always does. That keeps you going you hang on to why you’re doing this. All of a sudden, you get to that day you get to that week, you get to that problem. And you look back and you go, wow, I actually got through that. And I’m still succeeding. So that’s at the core of everything for me.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Hey, you remind me of a saying that I’ve I’ve admired for a long time, and that is that necessity is the mother of invention. You had the need to feed and clothe five children. And so you became very inventive and creative. One of the stories in your book is when you’re talking about your father, being a, your, your guide on your Mayan Adventure. You said in the book that that that introduced you to the importance of having a guide. And many entrepreneurs and printers have a mistaken notion that, hey, I’m going to be out there doing this all alone. But that that’s not the picture. Who if you could name one or two leaders who have been guides for you, and your adventure, and then your burgeoning businesses and all the variety of accomplishments that you’ve had, it’s not a solo act. So who would you identify to arraign as some of your guides.
Dorine Rivers
The first and foremost, I think of as my father, and it’s interesting, you mentioned that because every single day, several times on that Kilimanjaro trip I just took, I thought about my father, and I thought about how he was such an expert at deciding how to do things, and then organizing it. And then putting all the pieces together that make all those organizational steps work. And then taking that first step, and not quitting until you reach your goal. And I thought of my dad on that trip, because he taught me that he never sat down and told me in words, just like I’ve said to you, he showed me how to do it. He never told me how to do it. And I think those are some of the greatest mentors, and you might look back on your life, and realize that you have more of those than you thought you did. Because it was never a formal. This is how you do it introduction to something, you look back and you think, Gosh, I remember when this person did it this way. And they showed me how to do it by example, and never by lecturing to me. And those are really the stick two moments that I have clung to, as I continue to start new businesses, and go on new adventures, is looked back at the ones that did it and succeeded. And never bragged about it and never lectured to me about it. They just simply quietly did it and succeeded.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
I’d like to underscore what you said about the best guides are someone. They’re people who show you how to do something. I mean, it’s one thing. You’ve just come out with a book, and the book is great and we can read the book. That’s wonderful. And we’re going to talk more about that. At the same time. We could read about a lot of things but if we don’t see them in action, it just it just doesn’t click with us. And I know for example I was a I was a golfer for quite a few decades, college golfer and high school golfer and amateur golfer for a very long time. I’m watching videos about golf. i i Read a lot of books about golf. But the way I really learned Golf was to be with a professional who could show me how to do it. Fascinating. Doreen, we’ll be back in just a few seconds. And we’re going to talk then, about business stories. And what makes a good business story.
Michael Stewart
Do you wish you felt confident about giving speeches? Do you want to deal with difficult people constructively? And what about becoming more persuasive and sales, then keep listening now to Dr. Bill Lampton, he spent 20 years in management, so he knows the communication skills you need for success, I urge you to call the biz communication guide today for a no cost. But very valuable 30 minute discussion about your communication challenges. Call now. 678-316-4300. Again, that’s 678-316-4300.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
We’re back now with Dorian rivers, the rain in your book, you say that a powerful business story is important for success. So I believe you mentioned it in the book. So share with us here, what are the ingredients of a compelling business story?
Dorine Rivers
I think it begins with knowing the lesson that you want to teach, you have to start with that. And that’s going to be at the end. But you start with that. And then then you build your story with real people they can relate to as a story, an incident that is at least somewhat familiar to them. And then a lot of the things that I talk about in my book are things that people did wrong, that they should have done in the beginning in their business, and they didn’t do it and it cost them later down the road. So you’re going to you’re going to say either some something great they did, or you’re going to say they did it this way. And it didn’t turn out well for them had they done it this way, they would have had to suffer the time and the loss on the money that they did. But now that you know how to do it, because I just told you what not to do. Here’s how to do it the correct way. And then you set that out, and they have a formula for success.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
I liked that. And I think that every entrepreneur and I’ve been doing this myself for 25 years, I think the one of the key points that we have to focus on year after year, is the story that we’re telling. Is it one going back to the start of our conversation today isn’t one that meets people’s needs? And secondly, we said is it one that they can understand that they can apply? And then again is Is it a gripping story? I found to Doreen that we never can tell our story too frequently. In other words, sometimes an entrepreneur or even a seasoned business person will think Well, everybody knows what I do. But that’s that’s not necessarily the case. And when you become an entrepreneur who builds a team, you have to make sure that everybody on your team knows what you do. Right?
Dorine Rivers
Well, I think that’s exactly right. And I think the story, especially when you start building a team within a company, that that story becomes part of your branding, it becomes part of your culture, it becomes part of your values, and how you conduct yourself in your business. And so the story is at at the core of what your business is all about, people often have a story that leads to them forming a company and creating a company or a service. This happened to me therefore I’m creating this product or this happened to me therefore I have this nonprofit now that deals with this and helps millions of people with the same problem with stories are all over the place. And when people can connect to it, and different people will connect with your story at different times. So someone might need what you have now and they may not but down the road. Your story still says is the same and they’ll find a some something down the road that makes them need your your idea or your product. They didn’t need it last year but something happened this year now they need it. They will renew With a story fake, people remember the story, they won’t remember the product, they’ll remember the story. And then they can find you from there.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
I’ve said very, very frequently that there’s one phrase that when we were when we could first hear our parents or relatives or babysitters, or whoever, there’s one phrase that was so magical, and that was the phrase, once upon a time, and we’ve never given up our love for stories. That’s why That’s why television and movies and fiction or in romance stories, it’s, it’s all about the imagination, and, and stories. And that’s, that’s something that we need to pay a lot of attention to is creating, and reshaping. And repeating. As I said, that story. There’s something else that Autumn printers sometimes have a mistaken notion about, we’ve said that, as entrepreneurs, we, we need guides, we need examples, we need instructors, when he coaches winning consultants. And there’s something else you talk in the book, and you explain it very well, about many of us thinking that, you know, I’ve got to do every task myself that will make this work. Talk to us about outsourcing where you know, where we don’t have much money to start with. And we’re, we’re reluctant to Spence, for somebody else to do something when we think we can do it. But tell us the the advantages and even the necess necessity of outsourcing. Well,
Dorine Rivers
I didn’t do that question to ask me. But I’m glad that you did. Because I am just this week finishing a secondary book. It’s a smaller companion to brain to bank, and it’s called working together alone, the beauty and freedom of outsourcing. And it’s all about that. What happens is people think that they need to hire someone to do their books in house, and now they’re going to have that overhead. Or they need to hire someone to do social media, they don’t want to they don’t know how to do it. Now they have that overhead, they’re going to create a video. And they have to have someone write it. So now they have to hire a writer, you don’t have to hire anybody to be an employee. In this day and age. There’s this thing called outsourcing. Sometimes people we are referred to who use those outlets. They’re a give their services to you called virtual assistants. And people hire virtual assistants I currently have either 10 or 11. They’re all over the world. I hire them for specific projects. So for example, I’m getting ready to create the online course for brain to bank. And I need someone to go in and create some animation for me, well, I’m not going to hire that in in house and I’m not going to go hire a great big firm, I’m going to find somebody who can I do that job for me just that one job, because that’s all I need them for. So I just need them for what they call a gig, and all interview several people online. And then I’ll choose the one I think fits the project the best. And here’s the key. You must be able to communicate what you need to your the people that you outsource, sometimes are called freelancers, freelancers need explicit instructions exactly what it is you want. What’s it supposed to look like? How long will it should it take them to do what you’re willing to pay? Here’s my branding colors, whatever it is, you have to give them otherwise, you’re gonna get something else it’s in their brain and not in your brain. So communication is the absolute key to outsourcing. Chapter Seven in brain to bank gives you an overview of it. The books that’s coming out next month, working together alone gives you more details as to how to manage them, where to find them and how to have a global team of freelancers. That way you get the best of the best for every project. And is just for that is just for a project, if you want to hire them later because you have something similar and they did a great job. Now you know who to hire, but at least you just have them per project. So that’s all you’re paying for. And it is a beautiful model. Whether you’re a brand new entrepreneur, whether you have an existing business, outsourcing is an incredible way to spend less time, less money and get In a better product.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
A very successful businessman said not too long ago, I was attending a seminar he presented and he said, either you hire virtual assistants, or you’re going to be one. And that’s the case. So it’s it. And with a virtual expert assistant, freelance, as you say there’s no benefit. And there’s, it’s a short term arrangement. But it can save so many hours, that you would be doing something that somebody else could do as well. And maybe even better. And you can take those hours and you can get into the creativity that you need to continue to get into the rain brain to bank, I have to say this, we’re about to close. But I have to say about this book, that on Amazon, I wish I could have given it 10 stars instead of five, I gave it the five. And one thing I said about it was, this isn’t a book. This is an encyclopedia, this, this is a library, there many business books that I would almost say are our pop reading, I’ll look at this this afternoon while I’m having a cup of coffee. But this book is one that people will not only they won’t browse it, they will dig into it. And it is a it is a marvelous guide. And I highly recommend it. I know that people who have been watching us in this conversation, and those who’ve been listening to the podcast, I know that they will want to give it get in touch with your terrain. So please give us your contact information.
Dorine Rivers
I think the best place is to go to www dot brain to bank. So that’s to not the number brain to bank.com. And you can email me from there. And the other thing I want to mention is there is a plethora of free resources. There’s a whole section on how to hire virtual assistants on the website. It’s free, it’s for anybody who needs that kind of information to get jump started in that particular area. So go to Bank A bank.com, go to free resources and use whatever it is it’s going to help you to get started. And to keep going.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Do contact Noreen, do buy her book, do go to her website. She is a wonderful resource. It’s a it’s a great privilege to host her again, on the best communication show. And now that Doreen has given her contact information, I’m happy to give mine certainly I encourage you to go to my YouTube channel. Go to YouTube and in the search bar type in my YouTube moniker Bill Lampton PhD. And not only will you find this interview there, but you will find probably 75 or 80, more from the best communication show and a total of about 450 instructional videos about business communication, many of which that that I’ve done as solo and structions. So be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, then next, certainly I want you to go to my website. And because I’m the biz communication guide, the website is quite logically biz BZ biz communication guy.com. And on the website, please note that there’s an opportunity for you to subscribe to the podcast, I hope that you will. And I hope that you will encourage your colleagues to do that. After you become familiar with my services for corporations and leaders, give me a phone call no obligation, just an exploratory phone call where we talk about your business and your communication needs and challenges and how I can assist you with them. Don’t Rain. Oh, and by the way, that phone number of minus 678-316-4300. The rain thank you so much again for being with us any closing thoughts to tie together what we’ve been talking about?
Dorine Rivers
I think we can book into it with what we started with, which is this. Everybody has at least one good idea for a product or service. So there’s no reason why you can’t be the one to get into the marketplace. And it’s just like when I hike Kilimanjaro, you’re going to get your plan together. You’re going to decide how you’re going to Do it, then you’re going to take that very first step. And as you take the first step, you promise yourself you don’t quit until you get there. And you will reach the summit of whatever your idea is, and people will be able to look at it or use it. And let you know I’m so glad that you created this.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Let’s climb that business mountain as Doreen has so well instructed us to do. Thanks to those of you who are with us on the video portion. Thanks to those of you who were with us on the podcasts and we know that you got business tips and strategies from our winning words and ways. Be with us for the next edition of the biz communication Show. I’m your host Bill Lampton the biz communication guy
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
