None of us got to where we are without the help of others. One of the people who has contributed to the success we had at Selling Among Wolves in 2007 was David G. Johnson of Epiphany Marketing. His specific area of influence had to do with the growth of our business using the internet. Because his input was valuable to me, I thought his input might be valuable to you as well. With that in mind, I have asked him to contribute the content for the blogs this week. He is limited to just a few blogs this week, so I suggest you don’t miss a one of them.

In my work with clients over the years, one thing I’ve observed is that most marketing mistakes made by businesses both small and large come from a fundamentally poor understanding of the real identity of the business. If you don’t know who you are, how can you properly introduce yourself to your future customers? In truth, how can you have any real clear idea about who your future customers are if you aren’t crystal clear on who you are? It’s an extension of a personal identity crisis that gets carried over into the business world, and it’s much more common than I ever would have imagined had I not observed it first-hand again and again.

To illustrate this phenomenon, I’ll let you in on one of the processes that I take nearly every client through to help them better understand who they are. It’s actually a very simple process, but is typically overlooked. It begins by asking the very simple question: what is your true product or service?

Before you respond with the most obvious answer, let me ask it a different way. What business are you really in?

Most companies (and this is particularly true of small businesses) define themselves too specifically and do not think about the answer behind their answer.

To illustrate this, let’s use a well-known company as an example. Starbucks roasts coffee beans purchased from growers all over the world and sells them primarily by making drinks out of them in their local retail stores. What business is Starbucks in?

a. Coffee

b. Beverages

c. Legal Addictive Stimulants

d. Entertainment

Be sure to watch your inbox for details of an important marketing meeting David and I will be holding very soon!

“Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the armor of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of bronze, and cut asunder the bars of iron: And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.” (Isa 45:1-3)

Did you know that God has riches hidden in secret places? And these are riches He is eager for you to possess. Am I saying that God wants you rich? I don’t know what God wants for you with respect to tangible riches. I don’t know your character, your calling or your capabilities. What I do know is that there are great riches hidden in secret places and the kind of riches I am speaking of cannot be seen with the eye.

Take for example the rainforest. People with limited vision see only with their natural eye and cut it down to obtain temporal, tangible riches. They sell the timber and create pasture land for cows. But people with great vision who have spent time in the secret place of God know that God made the systems that make the rainforest the most productive and fruitful system on the planet producing tremendous abundance out of relative scarcity.

In spending time with the Father, they learn the systems. They discover the ways of God. They obtain great wealth of wisdom as they inherit His heart for the created order and in the process they can be trusted with the power that wisdom gives them. It is the unseen riches that produce the visible riches. Most folks chase the visible, corruptible, temporal riches. Wise ones chase the unseen eternal riches and in apprehending them, have everything else they need.

I don’t know about you, but I have gotten very serious about “son training.” It’s the process of growing in Christ from little children unto sonship. That place where the Father trusts you with the keys to the car… OK, not the car, but the keys to the kingdom so to speak. One of the things that has helped thousands of business leaders mature, take on greater responsibility and handle wealth wisely has been a conference I hosted three years ago this month. Today, I am going to give every one of you an invitation to receive either the DVDs or CDs from that all day event FREE if you order the download version.

We gathered 11 of the most successful Christian business leaders to convene in Ft. Lauderdale and pass on the inheritance of their heart. It was simply riveting. I asked them to speak to us all as if we were their only heir and this was their last time to pass on business wisdom in a Biblical context. What they shared amounted to nothing less than “son training” for the marketplace. I know from some of the blog comments this week, that there are folks who don’t believe “sons” are called to the marketplace, but for the rest of us, this will put you well on the path to being a “son” in the marketplace, regardless of your gender!

People all the time ask us to give our materials away for free… Well this is as close as it gets, but it’s LIMITED TO THE FIRST 200. I suggest you check this out now and get your Free DVD or CD series while the offer stands. Don’t know if we will do this again.

I have been discussing the seven strategies God built into the rainforest to deal with “pests” and how they relate so effectively to work. So far, we have discussed the following: (1) Eliminate the unnecessary (2) Automate the mundane (3) Delegate the routine (4) Designate your work and last week was number (5) Procrastinate the undefined.

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I am wrapping up my four part series on personal productivity as modeled by the rainforest. In the previous three sessions, we discussed the importance of Eliminating the Unnecessary, Automating the Mundane and Delegating the Tactical. Now I want to get to your core competency as the CEO of your life. What are you the very best at? What gives you remarkable fulfillment? This is what you really want to do, free from the time wasters and time consumers that have plagued your life. It’s where you soar at the stratospheric level like an eagle overseeing the fields and forests, planning the next move from a place of strategic advantage.

In the rainforest, plants have certain designated responsibilities that only they can fulfill. They are wired or created to fulfill those roles and everything about their DNA beckons them to fulfill their primary purpose. The fourth law, therefore, is to Designate. By that I mean, designate your time, your resources, your heart, your mind, your strength to that thing you have burning in your heart, but as much as possible, do it at a strategic level.

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The Tabernacle of Moses reveals three distinct levels of Christian living and those three levels are easily relatable to business. Cooperating with them and knowing how to flow with each level will dramatically impact your business.

The Outer Court is Level 1 and is about practices. It is the place where character and competence are formed. It is the place of preparation. It’s about functioning based on what you see, what you observe, what you can grasp based on your own acquired skills. I call it the place of the 30-fold increase. We have spoken a lot lately about outer court concepts. They include processes, systems, common sense practices and they are essential. Most people never progress past this level.

The Inner Court is Level 2 and is about principles. It is the place of strategy, where God opens His Word and by His Spirit reveals His Way of doing things. These are not natural strategies deduced with natural wisdom, but rather God inspired strategies derived from Godly wisdom. (See James 3:17 for details). Think 60-fold increase.

The Holy of Holies is the third level. It is about the POWER of God working on your behalf to accomplish what you could never do on your own, with any amount of wisdom. Accessing this power is possible, but it is not a game, nor is it something to be taken lightly. Think 100-fold increase. We need to operate on all three levels. Stay tuned as we develop this a little further during the week.

By the way, in case you missed it, we have offered the CDs of our seven-hour teaching with PowerPoint on this subject for FREE to the first 500 folks who download the series called, The RainCatcher’s Secret: 7 Ancient Paths to Wealth, Wisdom and the Wonder of God. Beat the rush. On Friday that offer goes out to hundreds of thousands of folks. Click here for details.

 Last week, we pointed out that rainforests have a job. They are the lungs of the planet, exchanging Oxygen for Carbon Dioxide and sustaining life on this planet. We can’t afford for the rainforest to be inefficient, to fall down on the job or to be ineffective. Fortunately, we do not have to worry about the rainforest defaulting (as long as we don’t cut it all down), because it operates by a series of laws or processes that make it very efficient.

When we understand what makes the rainforest efficient, we can apply those same principles to our lives and garner similar results. Last week, we talked about the first law of productivity… Eliminate the Unnecessary. Today, I want to talk about the second law… Automate the Mundane. In short, systemize those things that must be done routinely and in a precise way.

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Let there be light: God said it - Light happened. We are still trying to figure out what it is and what it means to mankind. It causes photosynthesis, which in itself is a miracle of God. It makes life possible. Jesus said He was the light of the world. Why did God choose to start the creation process on day one with light? Why not the land and sea? Could He not see in the dark?

I don’t pretend to know the depths of God’s wisdom on that or any matter, but I do believe we can study this model of creation and glean life-changing truths that can be easily applied to business. To me, light enables vision and thus the first thing God built was the capacity for vision. Vision must therefore be important. I am not speaking of sight. Helen Keller said, “What a tragedy to have sight, but lack vision.”

Do you have a strategic vision for your life? For your business? Do you know what that looks like? I am not speaking of some snazzy poster you put up in the lobby of your business. I am speaking about a document that describes for you and then for your employees what the experience of being part of your company (or family) really means. It’s detailed, descriptive and moving. If it doesn’t move you, it won’t move anyone. If it doesn’t stimulate a reaction within you that makes you want to take action, then you still don’t have a clear vision.

Just like light causes a physical reaction in plants, so vision must inspire people to action. If it doesn’t, you probably have a trail of words leading nowhere important and no one will find their destiny following that!