Try to imagine a world without Walt Disney. A world without his magic, whimsy, and optimism. Walt Disney transformed the entertainment industry, into what we know today. He pioneered the fields of animation, and found new ways to teach, and educate.
Teamwork
Walt partnered with his brother Roy. While Walt was mostly the creative mind of the team, Roy took care of most of the business and financial matters.
Perseverance
Mr. Disney did not take "no" for an answer. If he dreamed something, he would keep working at it and not stop until his dream had been achieved.
Hiring Talent
Disney knew his own limits. He was talented in many ways, but he delegated many tasks to people who specialized in certain areas.
Listening to the Public
Nothing Walt Disney did was for critics. Everything he made was for his audience, the public.
Optimism
Walt saw a ray of hope in even the bleakest of circumstances. He had faith in those who worked for him and they returned that faith and trust.
Think
To think is to drink from the very depths of your soul. To think is hard work and that is why so few do it. To think is to sink your dream-teeth into the depths of your imagination.
This is where plans are made. This is where dreams are laid. This is where visions are displayed.
Blueprints of your future are forged during these times of focused thinking.
To pinpoint that thinking I have always found it essential to thrust those thoughts into the page. For there they are captured and held prisoner for future reflection and initiation.
The recording of your thoughts forges a foundation for the creation of future edifices that will be formed by applying massive action.
2. Believe
My old friend Napoleon Hill summed up these first two concepts when he wrote ‘What the mind of man can conceive (think) and believe, he can achieve.’
Believe your thoughts. Be convinced by your ideas.
Before being a published author or a successful entrepreneur I had to believe in myself long before anyone else did.
Belief saves you from grief and gives you relief – protecting you from the thief of unbelief.
When you believe you can receive.
Belief beneath – to the depths of your inner man – will sustain you and carry you past all the naysayers and the dream stealers who say it can never be done and it will never happen.
Don’t believe what you hear. Believe what you have already buried deep within your heart.
3. Dream
While you’re dreaming, don’t dream miniscule dreams. Dream dreams that are of maxiscule proportions.
Go on dream the impossible and the improbably dream!
Don’t dream ordinary. Dream extraordinary Dream beyond. Dream above. Dream while you’re wide-awake. Write your dream. Speak your dream/ Do your dream. Align your dream with your passion and watch a love affair ignite.
Even though I have entered my fifth decade on planet earth I still ask myself the question, ‘what do I dream of doing when I grow up?’
Never lose the wonder of a child, nor the dynamo of a dream in your heart.
4. Dare
I dare you. I dare you to be magnificent, magnanimous and marvelous all wrapped up into one.
Go on. I dare you. I dare you to learn that foreign language. I dare you to run that marathon. I dare you to travel to every nation on the planet. I dare you to be a best-selling author. I dare you to create a musical played on Broadway. I dare you to write the most popular blog on the planet in your niche.
I dare you to be a leader and not just a follower. I dare you to do the unattainable, the unachievable, and the not yet done.
I dare you. I double dare you. I triple dare you to dream a HUMUNGOUS dream.
I dare you to surround yourself with a team of people much smarter than yourself and take notes furiously. I dare you to – in the words of Disney – ‘to wish upon a star’, and watch what wonderful things will come your way throughout the rest of your days.
While preparing for the presentation we studied the story of walt in great detail which lead us discover the 5 secrets to walt success which he applied thorughout his wok tenure.
1) Sell More to Existing CustomersWhile at the Walt Disney World theme parks you are continuously offered other products / services to purchase.* Upon exiting attractions, you enter a store themed to that attraction with gifts.* During travel on trams, monorails, trains, boats, etc. there are always marketing announcements. These recordings inform you of ways to upgrade your ticket, to stay longer, to visit other parks, to dine at restaurants, to stay at resorts or to go to other attractions.* Booths in the parks have representatives selling Disney vacation packages for future visits.* Stores with gifts and restaurants with food are on every corner for your convenience.Disney knows that current customers are the easiest customers to upsell. As a result, they take every opportunity to sell you more.Your Internet business can follow this same principle. When a customer buys have a back-end sale you offer. Be it an upsell on your existing offer, an add on to your offer or another product. Immediate back-end sales will make your business money. So follow Disney’s success strategy # 1 and sell more to your current customers!2) Expand Your MarketplaceWalt Disney World in Orlando, FL attracts visitors from all over the world, as does Disneyland in California. However, Disney realized they could grow their business if they offered their product to other marketplaces outside of the USA. As a result, Disney developed country specific theme parks and delivered them to these marketplaces.Disney built a Disneyland Paris, a Tokyo Disney and most recently a Hong Kong Disneyland. These parks bring in many visitors, as well as many repeat visitors who would not have traveled to the USA. Disney has increased their marketplace and expanded their brand worldwide by building these country specific theme parks.Your Internet business can again follow this business principle and do it with less of an investment. It’s as easy as developing your site in other languages and then submitting your site to search engines in those languages.If you’re hesitant to develop your site in other languages, you could expand your marketplace by creating landing pages specific to niche groups. For example, you might create a landing page just for Moms or a landing page for golfers or a landing page for dog enthusiasts. Depending upon what you sell, creating niche specific landing pages can expand your business into that marketplace.3) Continuous PromotionWalt Disney World is always advertising. They do not start, stop and then start again. They have a marketing budget and plan that’s designed to keep their message in front of audiences.You regularly see their ads on TV, in print publications, on the Internet and I’ve even gotten their ads on grocery store coupon print-outs! Disney also continually sends direct mail pieces to past customers with varying offers.Disney’s promotions are designed to keep them in your mind. So when it’s time for vacationing, you think of going to Disney World or perhaps another (undefined) destination. But as Disney has kept itself in your awareness it is always a consideration. Other vacation destination have not established themselves nearly as well!Your Internet business should consider the advantage of continuous promotion. Placing an ad here and there does not establish your business in the mind of potential prospects. Evaluate your marketing and determine how you can regular promote. What can you do to ensure every week you’re sending out a marketing message?Plan out how you’ll place ads, submit articles, run press releases, improve search engine rank or offer incentives and then follow through. When you start to continuously promote you’ll find it will build your business. 4) Always Improve and Add to your OfferingsDisney is never complacent. They are always growing, building, expanding and improving. With their existing theme parks they continuously work to add in new attractions and shows. They update old outdated rides, as well as refurbish and modernize long standing favorites. These regular improvements draw back repeat visitors, like myself, as well as impress new visitors – so they’re sure to come back.In addition to improving their existing theme parks and building new theme parks in new marketplaces, as noted above, Disney is constantly creating new products to sell. The most well known of their products are their movies. Disney studios is always working to create new motion pictures. Constantly making and releasing movies to the marketplace brings in consistent profits for Disney. In addition, Disney further leverages their movies by creating products – dolls, toys, games, etc -. as well as incorporating them into their theme park attractions. The synergy Disney has developed between their theme parks and their movies, helps drive movie sales in theaters as well as on dvds, leads to increased sales of their dolls, toys, games, etc, and continues to bring visitors to the parks. If Disney failed to continuously add and improve their profits would suffer.Your Internet business should recognize the importance of bettering your offerings. If you’re not always working on expanding and improving what you sell you’re falling behind. If you write just one ebook and think you’ll be rich, think again. Or if you have a single product to sell and believe you’re set, you’re not. Business is about constantly improving what you offer and developing new products / services to offer. If you don’t keep working to offer the best product / service possible, your competitors will. And soon you’ll be out of business.5) Tracking BusinessDisney knows the times of year which are busy and those that are slow. They track attendance at their parks and resorts and plan accordingly.Rather than simply accepting the slow times, Disney runs promotions to improve sales. If you look at Disney resort prices, each time of the year has a different rate. During summer time and Holiday weeks, when students are out of school, the price of a room is significantly higher than say in September.When times are slow, as they are in September, Disney offers free meals with your lower priced room. They also target their advertising to people who do not have children in school, such as empty nesters and parents with toddler children.Disney entices school age children during the year by offering school bands, cheerleading squads and other student groups opportunities to come to the parks and perform. These packages work to boost attendance as well as improve Disney’s reputation. Disney’s determination to bring in customers year round has worked. If you examine crowd attendance levels over the years, their theme parks attendance overall has increased and slower times are not nearly as slow as they once were.
Teamwork
Walt partnered with his brother Roy. While Walt was mostly the creative mind of the team, Roy took care of most of the business and financial matters.
Perseverance
Mr. Disney did not take "no" for an answer. If he dreamed something, he would keep working at it and not stop until his dream had been achieved.
Hiring Talent
Disney knew his own limits. He was talented in many ways, but he delegated many tasks to people who specialized in certain areas.
Listening to the Public
Nothing Walt Disney did was for critics. Everything he made was for his audience, the public.
Optimism
Walt saw a ray of hope in even the bleakest of circumstances. He had faith in those who worked for him and they returned that faith and trust.
