Being Point

Tag: influence

  • How Do You Feel About Selling By Huge Advertising Campaigns?

    Advertising is a mammoth selling machine to influence us to buy products and services.  Huge amounts of money are spent annually to convince us that we need to be improved: to smell better, to look younger, to be considered sexy based on the cars we drive and the clothes we wear.

    Selling by companies using mass media – and now the web – is virtually a science driven by psychology and often manipulation of our self images and identities.  Without realizing it, we can be influenced by advertising which sells us on particular world views.

    What is your relationship to advertising?  Do you tune it out or edit it out?  What kind of credibility does that kind of selling provide for you in making day-to-day buying decisions?  Is this kind of selling honorable and useful? How conscious can we keep our buying decisions based on the selling that takes place in national advertising campaigns?

  • Networking and Business Development

    No discussion of growing your business or income would be remotely complete without addressing the benefits of networking. Getting to know new people is an obvious way of expanding your spheres of influence. Networking can be gracious, professional and authentic.

    How committed are you to expanding your circle of friends and contacts? Do you enjoy meeting new people or have you shied away from interactions at networking events? You can be more comfortable if you are prepared with a 30-second description of what you do and why you are passionate about it.

    Where can you network – either offline or online? One of the best ways to network is using social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, and even Twitter. Making yourself available authentically to new people promotes your growth and expansion in the world.

  • The Influence of Others On Decision Making

    Among the most intriguing areas of decision making is how to ethically influence others to make the decisions that you want them to make. Sales is a classic example of intentionally influencing decision making. Most of us have experienced situations where we’ve felt pressured to buy something and, depending on the degree of pressure, we’ve felt some level of discomfort.

    How do you handle heavy-handed influence over your freedom to decide for yourself? Have you ever found yourself trying to sell someone on your desires?

    Where do you draw the line when influencing decision making? Can you be trusted to act with respect and integrity for the other person’s right to decide?