Know how to bargain confidently

I learned a long time ago that you can’t give anything away in negotiations without receiving something in return. I also know that the most important term in any contract isn’t the contract. It’s dealing with people who are honest.

Before you start any negotiation, look beyond the title and make sure that the person you’re dealing with is in a position of authority to sign off on the agreement.

Know what you want. Don’t go to the table without a clear, realistic idea of what you want to achieve.

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Mackay: Embrace mistakes as chances to grow

I’ve often said the greatest mistake a person can make is to be afraid to make one.
To be successful, you must come to terms with the notion that you will make mistakes. In fact, you often need to increase your failures to become more successful. Mistakes don’t make you a failure. I always say, if you want to triple your success ratio, you might have to triple your failure rate.
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Shark Bites | SUCCESS Magazine | Seven Success Tips From Entrepreneur Sharks

The stars from ABC's Shark Tank give their best tips

On Selling Yourself

"It's all about sales. I've never seen an entrepreneur who wasn't a salesman. I always feel like, with an entrepreneur, it's not just about convincing someone to come in but it's really about getting them to see life the way you see it through your eyes." —Barbara Corcoran

"You've got to have that humble arrogance. Nobody wants to invest in someone so arrogant they piss you off and nobody wants to invest in a wallflower who is not going to stand up for themselves." —Robert Herjavec

On Hard Work

"We romanticize entrepreneurship so much that people don't do the work…. It's not just a dream, not just a goal; it's a lot of hard work. A lot of people are wantrepreneurs, not entrepreneurs. I use that line a lot." —Mark Cuban

On Money

"Make sure you're doing something that you love, that you're willing to do for the rest of your life. If you're doing it for money, that's the only thing you won't make." —Daymond John

"Money is not always a blessing. Sometimes it's a curse because it gives you the opportunity to try a multitude of things. Great businesses are built on a singular laser-like focus." —Robert Herjavic

"You've got to prove the concept, prove the price point. Proof. Proof. Proof…. If you can prove those things, the money will come. If you haven't proven those things, then you're going to have to grovel." —Robert Herjavec

On When to Give Up

"As soon as I figure out it's not working, I take it behind the barn and shoot it." —Kevin O'Leary

http://www.success.com/articles/1679-shark-bites

Business Insider: 9 Traits Of The Best Leaders

Good bosses look good on paper. Great bosses look great in person; their actions show their value.

Yet some bosses go even farther. They're remarkable—not because of what you see them do but what you don't see them do.  Read more... http://www.businessinsider.com/9-traits-of-the-best-leaders-2013-2

Turn your sphere of influence into your sales force | Inman News

If you want to double your sphere of influence, you should read this.

At Agent Reboot in New York City, The Corcoran Group's Matthew Shadbolt and Virtual Results' Jim Marks outlined the online and offline challenges real estate agents face today as they attempt to market their listings and their businesses.

Jim Marks opened his session at Agent Reboot with an interesting proposition: "Technology makes marketing more difficult." While it may be true that technology has made marketing less expensive, cutting through the noise on so many different advertising channels makes it increasingly more difficult to be heard above the ever-increasing clamor.

Read more: Turn your sphere of influence into your sales force | Inman News

Happy Chinese New Year Of The Snake 2013!!

happy chinese new year pictures

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!

The Lunar New Year dates from 2600 BC, when the Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the Chinese zodiac. Because of cyclical lunar dating, the first day of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the mid-February. On the Western calendar, the start of Chinese New Year this year falls on Sunday, February 10, 2013 — The Year of the Water Snake.

San Francisco has the oldest and largest Chinatown in the United States and is home to the largest population of Chinese outside of China. The New Year’s celebration is a continuation of a tradition in Chinatown that had been part of the neighborhood since the 1860s, the Gold Rush days. (VIDEO: How to celebrate Chinese New Year)

If you were born in 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, you were born under the sign of the Snake.

Like the houses of the zodiac in Western astrology, the animals of Chinese astrology are thought by many to dictate personality traits or even to impact world events in any year they rule.Snake and those born under compatible signs benefit from good fortune during a Snake year.

Chinese New Year, 10 February 2013: Year of the Water Snake

2013 Prediction for Snake

Snake can expect good fortune in relationships and look forward to a time when they personally or professionally shine. It will be a year when Snake can easily overcome recent setbacks or obstacles experienced in 2012. Even though Snake may not have the income desired in the first half year, financial fortune comes in the second half year.

Snake Characteristics

Self-reliant Snake's characteristics are complex. Snakes don't like to ask others for advice and some see them as cold and calculating – not so, they are just being careful.They need to plan every detail before embarking on an objective. Snake has excellent communications skills, but they are creatures of few words. Quiet and unassuming, they prefer to work alone and are more often in the spotlight for real and lasting accomplishments than for attempts at garnering attention. Actually, they can be a lot of fun when they want to be and they exude a charismatic confidence that is quite sexy.They have the ability to shed adversity like a second skin, and their recuperative powers are legendary.

The list of famous Snakes includes: Oprah Winfrey, John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Pablo Picasso, Bob Dylan, James Joyce, Martha Stewart, Kanye West, Pierce Brosnan, Charlie Sheen, Courtney Love, Howard Stern, and Edgar Allan Poe.

The Chinese New Year Parade, held about two weeks following the first day of Chinese New Year, includes a display of colorful traditional Chinese costumes and floats, fireworks and firecrackers. In San Francisco, the parade takes place on Saturday, February 23, 2013, at 5:15 p.m. If you cannot make the parade, watch it on KTVU Fox 2 or KTSF Channel 26 starting at 6 p.m.

Gung Hay Fat Choy! "Best wishes and congratulations. Have a prosperous and good year."

Finishing the race is important

One of the best decisions I've ever made in my life was to start running. I remember this like it was yesterday.

I was attending an executive program at Stanford University's graduate school of business back in the 1960s. Several foreign businesspeople who were also attending went out for a run every day. They asked me if I would like to join them, and I thought it sounded like fun. From that simple invitation grew a habit that has lasted a lifetime.

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Be smart, create a network

Napoleon Hill, one of my favorite authors, devoted 20 years of his life to studying what made people successful. His mentor, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, helped Hill by introducing him to some of the most successful people in business, including Henry Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, Charles Schwab, John D. Rockefeller, Thomas Edison, Clarence Darrow and many others.

Read more: Be smart, create a network