Cool Marketing Ideas From Ireland (Photos Inside)

In July, I was off on holiday, for half the month, in Ireland, visiting a boat-load of my relatives that live on the Emerald Isle. Both my parents are “off the boat” from Ireland and grew up on large farms. One has 8 siblings and the other has 9 siblings. So you can imagine how big the extended family is! Ireland is in a complete melt-down right now. The economy is so bad and so many people are laid off.

But, the security business is booming! I could not believe how many security installation vehicles I saw on the road. I was so eager to find out why that I met with a couple of my Smokin Security Newsletter members and interviewed them. While I was there, I saw a lot of great security installations, and some pretty nifty security marketing ideas.

Also, in Ireland, there’s no such thing as a FREE alarm system. Everybody pays for a system. The basic system is 800-900 Euros (that’s $1,040 – $1,170 U.S)

There are two options for monitoring the system. You can choose one or both. They are:

1. If the alarm trips, the system will send a text message to four different phone numbers. There’s no monitoring company involved with this option and no extra fee involved.
2. For 120 Euros ($156 US dollars) per year or 10 Euros ($13 US dollars) per month, the alarm system will send it’s signals to a national monitoring company.

As always, here at Security Marketing Guru, were traveling around the world to find the best ideas for security dealers and low voltage installers to make a maximum impact in your bottom line.

The more you learn about how other security dealers are successfully marketing their security business, the more successful your security business will become.

Here are some of the pictures from Ireland that you’ll see below

• In Ireland, believe it or not, folks there don’t like window stickers or yard signs (like the US), so all the Irish security dealers have these horn strobes mounted on the outside of homes and businesses. Each security company has their own strobe with their own company logo on it.
• This one is pretty cool: A teeny-wennie motion detector that Irish security dealers hide in the window sills so customers can put the motion detectors on while they are roaming around their home and still be protected. A great way to utilize motion detectors…there’s no need to bypass the motions.
• A little something that you should be putting on the side of all your outside CCTV cameras to generate more awareness about your company and more sales.
• Some pretty cool vehicle designs. By the way, all their vehicles run on clean diesel and they get around 60 miles to the gallon!
• Check out the color of the Irish fire alarm panels.
• Also check out some great pictures of the Ireland countryside.

Irish Security Dealer Window Sticker - They Don't Use Too Many of These Things...They Mainly Rely on The Exterior Sounder and Strobe Light

Pretty Cool Company Logo

Note all the Security Services they offer!

If You Look Closely by the Fuel Door, You Will See All the Alarm and Security Associations of Which They Belong.

I Like How The Europeans Label Security Products, Intruder Alarm System vs. (American) Burglar Alarm System

This Security Dealer, Shure Alarm, is located in the same small village where my Mom grew up, Kilflynn Ireland

Here's A Guy Who is Doing It All, In A Small Town.

This is What A Security Sales Rep Drives Over in Ireland. Renault

Notice everyone drives smaller cars, combination of small roads and gas prices. These all get 60+MPG and run on clean diesel.

Notice the electronic access gate. Protecting the entrance to the Muckross Castle

My daughter Bridget, observing the electronic keypad which controls the electronic access gate into Muckross castle.

Here is a very cool, digital CCTV sign. That an Irish security integrator uses to ward off vandals and promote his services.

Night @ the dogs, Kingdom Greyhound Stadium

Here is an awesome little motion detector. Irish security dealers mount inside the window sills, to protect windows. They only draw a beam on the window sill itself, making it pet and people friendly to keep the alarm on when people are home.

Me and My Girls at Muckross Castle, Killarney Ireland

Natasha and I on the Dingle Peninsula.

Brandon Point, This is a surreal vantage point, standing on the edge of a 300ft cliff!

World Famous - Traditional Irish Breakfast, Fried Egg, Irish Sausages, Black Pudding, Lambs Blood, White Pudding, Fried Tomatos and a Big Cup of Tea

Here is a "Wicked Awesome" display of a Security Company (ADA Security). This is the front of the store, they have an illuminated horn strobe and CCTV camera with their company logo.

Another very cool CCTV camera with a company logo.

Another company labeling their CCTV system.

If you notice, in Ireland they don't use window stickers. Most home and business owners prefer not to have stuff stuck on their windows, they would much rather have the illuminated Horn Strobes on the exterior of their building or home.

If you don't swipe and deploy this idea you aren't serious about marketing your security business. BTW these cameras are protecting the entrance to Kingdom Greyhound Stadium

Where The Streets Have No Names (Literally and Figuratively). Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland

Brandon Point Ireland

Pretty cool town, great food and entertainment.

Here is another old, historic castle. Ross Castle

Notice how the farmers identify their best sheep. Do you know who your best clients are?

Do you have a fence around your herd of clients?

Here is Ballyseede Castle. My father grew up just down the street, I can tell you his humble abode looked nothing like this...

My cousin drives a concrete truck, every-time he drives by this pub he laughs.

I personally like "Intruder Alarm System" better than Burglar Alarm System.

Here is another alarm sounder that ADT uses over in Ireland.

Here is Chubb Security's outdoor siren, they are a HUGE international player in the security market.

Irish Fire Alarm panel, what stuck me was it is not a "red" panel like we commonly see here in the U.S. Most of the fire alarm panels I saw were either beige or white in color.

The more I saw these Alarm Strobes all over Ireland, I thought they would be a great idea for the U.S

Here is an Irish alarm keypad with all the security dealer's sticker, in the event the client needs service.

Here is the alarm system at my cousin's house. This was a retro fit, the alarm panel was hidden right above the door outside the kitchen because they don't have basements or attics.

Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse Cube Dice

I had a little time this weekend time to kick back and write up this security marketing blog post, as it pertains to one of my all time fav-O-rite quotes from Walt Disney himself “Do what you do so well and so uniquely that people can’t resist telling others about you”… make sure you write that quote down, it’s a keeper! – “Do what you do so well and so uniquely that people can’t resist telling others about you”

Evangelical Sales Force
So how can you BE that type of security company, where your company name and reputation spreads like gospel with WOM “word of mouth” advertising. Just think how many people you know that have gone to Disneyland and come back and can’t stop talking about the great time the whole family had; they show all the pictures of all the rides they went on. I think most people don’t even realize how much money ole Walt Disney sucked out of their pockets, until after the fact, because Disney does such a great job awing and entertaining its visitors.

By the way…Shawn’s (one of my office assistants) little brother just came back from Disney World and bought him some sweet Mickey Mouse fuzzy hanging dice for his car. They definitely set his ride apart in the parking lot!

Keeping in stride with the Disney theme, I came up with 20 ways that you can add Mickey Mouse ears to your security business that you guys and girls can incorporate into your security marketing arsenal. Walt Disney broke industry standards about what a theme park should be. In fact, there isn’t a theme park today that can be compared to the excellence of a Disney theme park created 50+ years ago.

In the coming years you’re gonna have to break industry norms if you want to be a successful security dealer. What got you to where you are today, won’t do you any good… cuz the rules and the dynamics have changed forever.

The question you have to ask yourself is, “How can I be more nimble, agile and creative with my current security client attractions and client retention efforts?”

The “WHY” you need to do this is that the last time I checked it wasn’t 2006 anymore. It’s 2010 and the economic landscape has changed for the worse.

You can’t keep wishing and hoping for the way things you used to be… and you can’t spend your life wishing for the good old days; living in the past is for people who are afraid of change; this new emerging economy will leave yah in the dust if you don’t get a move on!

I had a chance to catch a little news this weekend and a lot of “financial experts” say it will be at least 10-15 years before we see anything again like the 2006 economy. So why wait for what the so called experts say? By the way, weren’t these the same buffoons who got us into this mess anyway? What I’m telling y’all to do is “Go ahead and make your own good news” and snub your nose to all those so-called experts.

Successful people make there own economies!

When the economy does pick up, it will look nothing like it did in 2006. We are in a new emerging economy that will look radically different than anything we’ve ever known.

New And Emerging Economy To-Do-List
So here’s my checklist for the new emerging economy, but it’s your “To-Do-List” to implement and put to use!

1. You need to make new rules for your security business. Don’t let industry thinking dictate how you will attract new clients into your marketing funnel.
2. How can you better connect with your clients so you can deliver a more “WOW” experience?
3. You have to charge a premium price on your security systems so that you have enough margin left over to provide an extraordinary service and follow up after the sale.
4. How can you leverage your entire client base to do 10-100X more referral based selling so that they will become your evangelical sales force selling for your company?
5. Do more than you get paid for! Follow up phone calls, make sure the home or office is cleaner than when you left it, send a Thank You card, send a Newsletter.
6. Focus all of your energy on the $500 an hour work (marketing) not on the $15 dollar an hour work (running to the supply house to pick up a box of quad cable).
7. Outsource all the little things that drain your energy and waste your time so that you have more time to focus on the big security picture.
8. Create PDSM (Personality Driven Security Marketing ™) and build the brand called “YOU”, cuz folks want to buy from other folks. This PDSM will stand out more in a crowded competitive marketplace.
9. Develop and build your business’s personality that stands out. People want to buy from people.
10. How can you turn your security business into a Pay, Stay and Refer cash generating machine?
11. Increase the bandwidth of communication with your existing security clients and keep it real – do it with a personal touch.
12. All your techs should be treated as mini-sales reps and armed with the proper security marketing material to sell or upgrade existing system.
13. Have a risk-free, 100% money back GUA-RAN-TEE; if they’re not happy with your security services, then you will kindly refund the money with a smile. (Cuz it’s the right thing to do!)
14. Always be on the lookout for new security marketing avenues to bring more prospects through the door to you.
15. When you’re constantly designing and implementing effective ‘Direct Response Marketing’ techniques in your security marketing, no competitor is safe from you.
16. Create your security business around your life instead of settling for your life around your security business.
17. Provide a BIG enough reason why prospects should do business with you and pay you a premium for your security services.
18. Generate more offline and online traffic and turn them into clients 4 life.
19. Create more irresistible offers for all of your security products.
20. Fire that pain in the ass client who is costing you time and money and focus on the clients who truly value your services.

Just Being Good
The days of just being good are over you have to be extraordinary if you want separation from the rest of the crowd, and the more top-notch your security system installation and service is the more obligated you are to shout it from the mountain tops how good!

Selling The Visible

From: Bob Maunsell
Worcester, Mass
87 degrees and isolated thunderstorms
Playlist: Rush – Working Man

I just got back from Ireland, and I’ll be posting some really cool pictures, in a few days, of what Irish security dealers are doing, across the pond, to market their security/low voltage businesses…so stay tuned. Without further ado…

Selling The Visible
I know one of the easiest ways to make an impact in your security marketing campaign is to SELL the visible aspect of your security company or low voltage installation company. This is what I call “onstage” selling – when you’re out in the eyes of the public and your techs are on display for the whole world to see. Here are 6 quick ways to sell the” visible” of your security business (a.k.a. your retirement assets!)

1- First and foremost, clean service vehicles and equipment. Make sure you wash your trucks frequently to make sure they always look their best when they’re rolling around town. Your service vehicles should have special offers on them and tout your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) to encourage folks to call your office. That’s what I call a DRSV…Direct Response Service Vehicle, instead of just a “plain Jane” name and phone number. Give’em a reason to call you instead of the other 50 security dealers in town!

2- If your vehicle signage is done correctly you should frequently receive telephone inquires from people who say they saw one of your service vehicles and it reminded them of how they have been wanting to install a security system or have a little preventive maintenance work done to their security system. A great benchmark to go by is if you are frequently receiving inquiries such as: “One of your vans is next door at my neighbor’s house. Can they come see me about a security system when they get done? Or, “I just saw your van on the highway, can one of your techs swing by?”

3- Professional, clean uniforms are very important if you want to sell at prices higher then your competition. Your tech’s need to look their best… If you go to the Ritz Carlton, do you see the staff dressed like the Beverly Hill Billies. No Sir Ree..… they’re dressed to the 9’s! If you want to sell high-end security systems, then you can’t look like a low end dealer. It may cost you a little bit more to get your tech’s outfitted with khaki pants and polo shirts with a company logo, but it far outweighs the risk of the jobs you are potentially losing because your image is lacking professionalism.

4- Also, your service techs should be silently conveying expertise when out in the public eye or when at the front door of a potential client’s home or business. Just think how many conversations have been started and business cards given out at coffee shops, gas stations or restaurants because the service tech LOOKED liked a knowledgeable guy and acted like a skilled professional in his trade. Your techs can be your most effective salesforce. Have them act accordingly.

5- Have security marketing material that is education-based with free reports on home/business security and attention grabbing headlines that draw people to read your soft-selling sales copy. All your vehicles should have Van Pockets on them that carry your business card. If you don’t you’re loosing much more business than you think…and there’s no excuse for not having them on every van in your fleet cuz they’re so cheap. Click here and order one today!

6- Make sure that you invest time in making sure that your market– to-message-media is congruent with the security markets you are selling in. Whether it be on your website, in the Yellow Pages, direct mail, business cards or brochures, accurately project your expertise, workmanship and upscale clientele in look as well as words.

Also check out this post about the 10 Security Business Owners Commandments, and see how you can apply these babies to your own business. I wrote these 10 commandments way back when…in 1996 when the “Smashing Pumpkins” came out with that amazing alternative rock album, “1979″!

Don’t Tell Bob

As many of you probably know, Bob is on vacation in Ireland this week. The staff and myself here are in the middle of packing up the shop to move into our new building in West Boylston and we just stumbled upon a massive pile of overprint back issues of the Smokin’ Security Newsletter stowed away in Bob’s office.

Instead of having to pack all these away and find space on the moving truck, we decided to do a special offer to everyone on our contacts lists.

From today (7/13/10) until Friday (7/16/10), we will be including 4 FOUR back issues of the Smokin’ Security Newsletter to any new subscriber. Yes, we know we are DOUBLING the amount of back issues typically given out to a new subscriber. It is a $194.00 value, on top of the 2 (Two) Back Issues, Current Issue and 4 (Four) Audio Success CD’s usually given out.

All together that is an $873.00 value!

• One Current Issue of the Smokin Security Newsletter (July 2010)
• 4 (Four) Back Issues of the Smokin Security Newsletter (March-June 2010 Check out the content below!)
• 4 (Four) Audio Success CD’s

***Some of the extra Newsletters even have that particular month’s audio success CD inside them! So you very well may end up with 5 or 6 audio success CDs!***

All we ask is you help with shipping this stuffed to the max USPS Priority Mail envelope for five dollars and ninety five cents ($5.95).

Click or copy + paste the link below to order. (scroll down to bottom of page, you can either order online or download + fax in the the order form)

http://securitymarketingguru.com/security-marketing-products-and-services/the-smokin-security-newsletter/

Don’t wait, this offer only lasts until Friday and this email just went out to over 6000 security professionals, maybe even the guy across town from you!

Sincerely,
Shawn, Jodi and the rest of the SecurityMarketingGuru.com Staff

P.S Check out all the awesome stuff in the March -June 2010 Smokin’ Security Newsletter’s listed below!

June 2010
Emotionally Driven Direct Response Copy
Betty’s story and how Dayton Security solved her security nightmares is included in a full-page ad that I wrote and designed for Norm Dayton in this month’s issue of my Smokin’ Security Newsletter. I’ve included most of the ad’s text above because it’s imperative that you learn that selling security systems has nothing to do with your company logo or the products you install and everything to do with identifying with your markets’ emotional security wants and needs. This can be done successfully by using emotionally compelling stories  like Betty’s. Facts tell, stories sell, my friend!

Free Standing Insert Ads – An Under-Utilized Marketing Strategy By Security Dealers
This piece is perfect for a free-standing ad in your local newspapers or magazines. Free-standing insert ads are a very under-used marketing strategy by security dealers and are a dirt-cheap way to advertise. It’s a great way to build-up visibility in your marketplace (and become omni-present.) It’s also a great piece to use as hand-out when you meet-and-greet new prospects….heck, you could even use it as a full-page ad in the yellow pages!

But I’m not done with you yet!

Inside this month’s issue of the Smokin’, you’ll get:

• Discover how the most successful security dealers will have 5-10 targeted website…all spewing black gold!
• Uncover a little-know secret for turning your clients testimonials into full page ads.
• How to position yourself as a problem solver, not a service provider.
• This strategy, called “Delayed Selling”, takes balls and confidence and why you should use it in your sales strategy!
• One teenie-weenie trick that will teach you how to quote more jobs than you though was humanly possible!
• A highly-unusual trick for getting more facebook fans.

What is the first thing to look for if your’re selling home alarms in low-rent neighborhoods?

May 2010
Last month during my quarterly open call in day for subscribers to my Smokin’ Security Newsletter(TM), one caller, a security dealer named Charlie Cleary from Always Alert Security in Oklahoma, told me he couldn’t believe the impact and responses he got from the bonus quarterly client newsletter that the Smokin’ subscribers get. Charlie sent out the bonus client newsletter to his herd of customers and told me that one of the “emotional direct reponse” triggers that I embedded in the client newsletter generated 30 responses from his customer base! He now has 30 people to follow up with…way to go Charlie!

Charlie also said having a client newsletter is the best tool, in his tool belt, for generating business and referrals. He cannot believe the difference that a customer newsletter has made for his business. He echoed back to me what I’ve been telling you all along…a properly written and executed client newsletter trains your clients to Pay, Stay and Refer!

If you’d like to start sending out a client newsletter and start reaping some of the results that Charlie has…then order the Smokin Security Newsletter this month, my monthly marketing and business building newsletter written specifically for you folks – security dealers and low-voltage installers. May’s Smokin’ comes with a template for my quarterly client newsletter [called Service That Soars (TM)] that you can print and send to your herd of clients. Sit back and watch the responses come in!

April 2010
Discover The Secret “Lure” To Being The Big Fish In A Small Pond

There are literally hundreds of small fishing holes, within 5-10 miles of your office, that you can go fishing in for new clients…anytime you’d like.

Do you want to learn how to zone in on specific target neighborhoods…prime fishing waters… where you can dominate the market with your targeted security marketing messages…you’ll realize the greatest selling potential with these strategy – learning how to catch “fish” at will!

So what are you waiting for! I’m giving you the fishing pole and the bait and leading you to waters teaming with fish, all YOU need to do is get on board the Security Marketing Guru’s fishing boat!

BONUS HANDOUT: In This Month’s Issue Of The Smokin Security Newsletter: Get A Client Handout, Used For Pre-Selling Your Services, That Offers The Best Customer Guarantee Ever Written….It is so Powerful That I GUARANTEE You’ll Get the Job on This GUARANTEE Alone!

This incredible handout is one of the first pieces I ever created for a private security client of mine, and it closed over $30K, in an access control project, on it’s first use. It’s designed for pre-selling security and low voltage services…mail it out prior to conducting your security audit and watch the doubt and skepticism go away and a new level of trust, faith and confidence, in you and your services, develop in your prospect! Believe me, you get more service if you guarantee something up front.

BTW: This handout, with it’ s stellar guarantee, can be tweaked for locksmiths, CCTV installers, Electrical Contractors, Home Automation Experts, Fire Alarm Installers, Satellite Yahoos, GPS Installers, and so on.

March 2010
Inside the March Issue, also known as The Spank Issue, you’ll…

• Find out the how to wipe out price-resistance, once and for all.
• Learn how to create future “Pay Days” in your business for the rest of your life – that has nothing to do with RMR.
• Find out what ISFL it’s quite lucrative!
• Get a form, that if used, I guarantee will make you at least $50,000 in sales in the first year of use!
• Learn my 79-word retort to counter anyone looking for a “cheapo security system.”
• How to use the my Stalemate philosophy to win over prospects
• Learn the importance of SPANK and having lots of ammo when you meet your prospects.
• When to use the “stick strategy” on new clients.
• Discover how to create a wall of fame inside your office.
• Have you ever seen a $120,000 testimonial from a very, very, satisfied client? Well, I’ll show you one!
• Get a really cool way to find out the three biggest concerns prospects have before they hired you and how to use that info in your marketing messages.

Security Niches That Will Make You Riches

Question from Jeff

Hi Bob,

My question is that in most business you find riches in niches, does this hold true in the security industry? Should you focus your marketing and your business on one aspect such as cctv or home security or is better to offer it all?

Thanks,

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

That’s a Gr8 question!

First off, I’m not sure if you’re in the security industry or if you’re thinking about going into business for yourself. Yes there are “riches in niches” especially in the security industry. Some examples of niches would be to offer a range of security services to high-end residential clients, nuclear power plants, safe rooms, car dealerships, campus security, day care centers, emergency medical response to the aging baby boomer market. These are all examples of niche markets that have different security needs.

If I was just starting out, with a limited budget, I would go after one market – say, for example, car dealerships, and position myself, in my marketing campaigns, as the go-to security guy for the car dealership industry. I would get to know the market and research it and interview key people and learn what their needs are for security. I would then offer and install CCTV, Intrusion, Access Control, Perimeter Detection, Mesh Networks, Intrusion Monitoring, Video Monitoring to that marketplace. This way, I’d be able to concentrate all of my marketing dollars strategically on one targeted market.

Once I became successful in one niche market, I would expand my efforts into another niche market. It’s easy to cut-and-paste all the strategies you used attracting one niche market into another…they just have different security needs that you need to address and pitch in your marketing. Or, if you are happy with the one target market, then that’s great, too. It’s all in what you’re striving for in your business.

Now, go get ‘em!

-Bob

Acres of Diamonds

By the time you read this I’ll be in Killarney, Ireland, riding on a horse through the Gap of Dunloe, with my wife and kids. We’ll be in Ireland for a couple of weeks visiting the many relatives and taking in the vistas.

I don’t like the term, “the grass is always greener on the other side,” but in Ireland, the grass is definitely greener! It’s that way because of the rain. That part of the world is considered a rain forest. Ireland used to have more forests, however the Brits cut most of it done to build ship to go out and conquer the world. Ireland gets quite a bit of rain each year and it’s winters are mild so there is green grass all year long….hence, the reason why it’s called the Emerald Isle.

If you’ve been following me for a while now, you’ll have heard me talk about the book, “Acres of Diamonds” by Russell H. Conwell. If you’ve yet to read this book, I suggest you go out and get it today. If you have read the book, make sure you pass it along to your wife, kids, friends, techs…it’s so profound. One of my mentors told me about “Acres of Diamonds” and, the very next day, I went out and bought it….I didn’t need to be told twice.

It’s up to us – the entrepreneurs – to pull this country out of the rut we’re in. “Acres of Diamonds” will give you the mind-set you need to do so. If you can’t change your way of thinking, then stop here. If you can, read on. Here’s a thumbnail version of the book’s contents:

In 1843, a man was born who was to have profound effect upon the lives of millions of people, including yours truly. His name was Russell H. Conwell. This dude was a lawyer, then a newspaper editor and, finally, a clergyman. During his church career, an incident occurred that was to change his life and the lives of a whole a lot of other people.

One day, a group of young people came to Dr. Conwell asking him to teach them college courses. They all wanted a college education, but lacked the finances to pay for it. He told the group to let him think about it and he would get back to them.

After they left, an idea began to form in Dr. Conwell’s mind. He asked himself, “Why couldn’t there be a fine college for poor but really deserving young people?” It was a project worthy of 100% of his dedication-complete commitment.

Almost single-handily, Dr. Conwell raised several million dollars with which he founded Temple University. Today it’s one of the nation’s leading universities. He raised the money by traveling around the country – giving over 6,000 lectures. At each lecture, he told the crowd a parable called “Acres of Diamonds”. It was an ancient parable told to him by a middle-eastern travel guide. The story deeply affected him and deeply affected his audiences. The money he needed to build the college came pouring in.

The parable is about a Persian farmer who had heard tales about other men who had made millions by discovering diamond fields. These tales really got this farmer going; he could hardly wait to sell his farm and go prospecting for diamonds himself. So he sold his farm and spent the rest of his life traveling around the Eurasian Continent, searching high, low and unsuccessfully for those beautiful, shiny diamonds that would make him rich. The story goes he got depressed, worn out and, in a fit of self-pity, threw himself into the Strait of Gibraltar and ended his miserable life.

Meanwhile, back at the Persian farmer’s homestead, the man who purchased his farm happened to be crossing the small stream on the property. He suddenly saw a bright shining object from the stream’s bottom. He bent down, picked up the stone – it was a good size stone-and admiring it, later put it up on his mantle as an interesting object.
Several weeks later, a visitor came to his home picked up the stone, and looking very closely at it, he almost fainted. He asked the farmer if he knew what he’d found. When the farmer said no, that he’d thought it was a piece of crystal, the visitor told him he’d found one of the largest diamonds he had ever seen. The farmer had trouble believing that. He told the visitor that the river was jack full of such stones- not as large as the one on his mantle but they were sprinkled throughout the stream.

Needless to say, the farm the first farmer had sold so that he might find a diamond mine turned out to be one of the most productive diamond fields in ancient Persia. The first farmer had owned, free and clear, acres of diamonds, but he sold them for practically nothing in order to look for them elsewhere.

The moral of the story is clear: If the first farmer had taken the time to study and prepare himself, to learn what diamonds looked like in the rough state and – since he already owned a piece of the African continent – to thoroughly explore the property he had before looking elsewhere, all of his wildest dreams would have come true.

The thing about this story that so profoundly affected me was the idea that, essentially, everyone at this moment is standing in the midst of his or her own acres of diamonds.

If only we have the wisdom and patience to intelligently and effectively ‘mine’ our fields (security/low-voltage businesses), we will find the riches we seek, whether they be financial or intangible or even both.

Before we go running off to what we think are greener pastures, let’s see if our own is not just as green or, perhaps, even greener. I’ve often said that if the other security dealers’ pasture appears to be greener than ours, it’s quite possible that it’s getting better care (client newsletters, customer appreciation days, thank you cards, referral systems, client drawings.) Besides, while we’re looking at other pastures…the other dealers are checking ours out, too. The loot is in your own back yard!

In my mind, there is nothing more pathetic then the person who wastes his life running from one thing to another, forever looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and never staying with one thing long enough to find it.

Acres of Diamonds 2010 and Beyond
Today, in the security industry, is what I would call the proverbial “Acres of Diamonds.” This industry is loaded with opportunities lurking within: be it residential security, commercial or industrial security, home theater system, interactive video monitoring, intercom system, locksmith, access control, biometrics, private guard services, etc. All of these niches are loaded with huge diamonds waiting to be uncovered.

The opportunities are there, now, clamoring to be noticed, but they cannot speak or print signs for us to read. Our part of the bargain is to look at our work with new eyes, with the eyes of creation. That’s right! Put on a pair of 3D glasses and start looking at all the opportunities in your own back yard. There’s just as much opportunity in one business as there is in the next. If only we stop playing copycat with each other and begin thinking creatively –begin thinking in new directions.