As of today, Camp Connelly has moved to a new web address. Camp Connelly has a new look, new pricing, a new address, we’ve added coaching courses and made several other changes. We are excited and we hope you will be, too. Please go to www.donconnelly247.com and let us know what you think.

Of all the tasks you perform during the day, prospecting has the biggest payoff. You may never love prospecting. Most people don’t. But you do love opening new accounts and gathering new assets. Don’t procrastinate when it comes to prospecting. You have to do it sooner or later. Get through it and reap the rewards.

During the 1912 Presidential campaign, a publisher was just about to print three million copies of Theodore Roosevelt’s convention speech when it was pointed out that he had not obtained permission to use the photographs of Roosevelt and Hiram Johnson, his running mate, which appeared on the flyer. The penalty was $1.00 per copy. Roosevelt’s campaign committee head sent a telegram to the Chicago studio who had taken the photos. The telegram said, “Planning to issue three million copies of Roosevelt speech with pictures of Roosevelt and Johnson on cover. What will you pay us to use your photographs?” The return telegram said, “Appreciate opportunity, but can pay only $250.” Cool.

A lot of accomplished golfers visualize a shot before they actually hit the ball. Decide where you want the ball to end up, visualize it landing there and then hit it to that spot. I urge you to do the same before you sit down with clients or prospective clients. Visualize where you want the session to end up and guide it there. Have a great self-image, be the professional you are and dictate the outcome. Imagine the meeting a success and make it so.

Failure and rejection hurt and bouncing back is never easy. Yet the career you have chosen necessitates failure the majority of the time. Why would you do that to yourself? Obviously you do it because the rewards outweigh the risks. It never gets easy, but it does get easier. The longer you are in this business, the better you get. The better your get, the more frequent the victories. But even the best Advisors in the world deal with failure on a daily basis. Take pride in your ability to recover. Wear that badge proudly. Your friends and acquaintances go out of their way to avoid decisions that feature failure as an option. You stare failure down, because it can’t stop you. Have no fear.