5 Words Potential Business Partners Want to Hear
This post was guest blogged by Alan Johnson, the author of The Online Business Handbook.
Now that I’ve referred to 5 of the words which can and will drive potential business partners away, let’s look into 5 of the words they like to hear:
1) Certainly
I have previously explained why the word “maybe” makes you seem uncertain and, as a result, it’s fairly clear what effects using the word “certainly” will have. By using it, you will basically let potential business partners know that you are determined to generate win-win situations for all parties involved and such an attitude can “certainly” get you far.
2) Now
While using the term “later” will make you seem like a person who always wants to delay things, using the word “now” will have quite the opposite effect and a potential business partner will understand that you are not afraid to take action.
And guess what: that’s exactly what they are looking for and a person who is perceived as always being willing to take action will always have an edge.
3) Best
If you have the habit of saying “average” too much, it should come as no surprised that people who are interested in quality above everything else will not exactly be thrilled to work with you. The same way, if you use the word “best” often enough (of course, that doesn’t mean that you should go overboard), others will understand that you believe in yourself and will definitely look into a potential partnership with you as a result.
4) Learned
Do you always use the word “excuse” when trying to justify something you’ve done wrong in the past? If so, then you will, without a doubt, be perceived as a person who is afraid to assume responsibility and that is simply not an option. If, on the other hand, you admit your mistakes and explain what you have “learned” from them, things will definitely stand quite a bit differently.
Business partners don’t expect you to be perfect because everyone with at the very least a small trace of common sense knows that something like that is simply impossible and, on the other hand, making it clear that you have had a lot to learn from your mistakes will indeed work in your favor.
5) Value
As I have explained in my previous article, if you use the word “cheap” too much, thinking that it represents something potential business partners want to hear, you will notice that the effect will be quite the opposite of what you had initially expected.
No, potential business partners aren’t exactly thrilled to work with someone who labels his or her offer as “cheap”, so that this attitude won’t get you far. Try to explain how you can provide “value” as often as possible, as it will help potential partners understand why working with you can and will prove to be a decision you will not regret. Using the word “value” will make it clear that you are interested in establishing a partnership where everyone will have something to gain and that is always the way to go.
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Two guest posts in two days? I’m begining to wonder who’s writing this blog.
I think John is running out of ideas.
Certainly we’ve now learned enough from Alan J and we would get more value out of John’s blog if other writers would submit their best material.
LMFAO nice use of the words.
witty one there!
Nice, real nice.
Yeah I agree with that … I think John is running out of ideas or he just don’t really care other than writing the ramblings
I think what John is doing is smart. He is leveraging the talents of others to keep his blog going. What is a newspaper publication if not a compilation of the talents of its writers. John is attracting writers and offering them exposure in return.
you mean all the guest blogging! Yeah! I think he’s been busy doing other things!
Wonder what?
Kenneth
That’s right Affiliate Confession. I don’t exactly buy that idea of Alan.
I like the positive spin of this better than the negative one of yesterday.
But both is still useful.
Definitely true. We may not like hearing the negative, but we need to pay attention. Often negative comments are much more insightful than positive. They show us our mistakes and we need to learn (hehe) from them.
This article is just as useful as the more negative one from the other day.
Absolutely, the negative post provides the right contrast.
There has been a lot of guest blogs. John is on vacation or something lol.
Maybe he is taking a break and preparing something to write.
maybe he is taking a healthy shit
I believe he already did that in one of his previous posts
lol at the last comment. Great post either way… all very true!
As it is about John Chow , it is better that osmebody else wrote this.
Agloco 2. 
. I just wrote what I’ve heard and saw.
Guys! I know it can be “1st of April” joke, but just in case check my blog about
I CERTAINLY want to post a comment NOW, and I’ll do my BEST to provide something useful, but hopefully you all LEARNED the VALUE of your time wasted reading my comment.
~Terry
a real useful article for newbie
That is really helpful for new bloggers.
yes, I very agree
thanks for the tips. this is really worked on my new business at http://krching.com/aribaba
never found such this great tips!
Whenever I write an email, I try to tweak the words so that the overall tone is positive and re-enforcing the ideas I want to get across. Using non-whiny, certain, beneficial words definitely helps. From the 5 words above, I personally like the word “learned” since it shows the initiative to gain more experience, the willingness to explorer and get better from your own mistakes.
In summary, the 5 words certainly work best once you spend the time to learn their value and apply them successfully.
Alex from alexle.net
Great tips for newbies. :]
Where be Mr. Chow?
I think he changed his name to Alan Johnson.
From Alex Shalman last week… we’ll see what his name next week is!
I want to do the same thing with my blog.
LMFAO at the name changes. So that’s what happened!
Yes…! where is the favorite chow…? by the way the post was useful as always and its very useful for the newbie
This post looks familiar but is the 5 words that business partners want to hear.
Welll sorry to sayJohn, If you don’t have anything to say, then please show the pictures of what you eat in the parties. Those posts are better than this.
since I’m reading JohnChow.com the single original post was The shitty Viral Video … and it wasn’t to great.
And seeing the comments he received I really believe he lost some subscribers.
Yep. I unsubscribed from his feed in protest… so what am I doing here?
Hello John
The word that sticks out on your list for me is CHEAP. I purchased a Cheap Stereo system from an internet company advertising cheap stereos, and boy now I know why they labeled it cheap, it was utter crap. That label (Cheap) has stuck with me for several years, anything I see labeled cheap brings back bad memories. I am sure there are many people who have purchased Items on the so called cheap to find out just how cheap they really are.
Good suggestions Alan, especially for those of us who are courting VC and Angel investors in order to finance new web ventures. With everyone’s portfolios taking a hit this year, every edge that we can gain in how we present ourselves helps.
Thanks!
Jcyreus ( http://jcyreus.com )
Same here, found some things I will surely need when starting my new web2.0 startup! thanks.
Very interesting topic, Alan!
Thank you for sharing.
Very useful post.
I was thinking, Yes! YES! Oh Yeah! OMG YES! MORE YES!
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