7 Success and Business Lessons from Barrack Obama!

Illinois Senator,Barrack Obama has made history by becoming the first black American to rule the US.While I am happy about the feat,I just want to point out some success and business lessons we can learn from him in this post.

Here are seven success and business lessons I have learnt about Obama’s rise to Presidency

1.You don't need everybody's vote to win an election

A very successful man once said, “I don’t know what the secret to success is, but I do know the secret to failure: trying to please everyone.” You do NOT need everyone to vote for you, you need the majority (and in the case of entrepreneurs, a small minority is enough to make you a million bucks).
Stop trying to cater to everyone. Don’t try to please old and young, rich and poor, Republicans and Democrats… focus instead on those who will vote for you in life. Take care of them, and they’ll take care of you.What I mean by this is,as a business owner or success seeker,have a target market.Don't say the whole world is my market,it's wrong.Cater to a small group of willing buyers and you will be made for life.Your market may be teenagers,kids,elderly people,just think about which market you want to serve and face them squarely.

2.Determine the single greatest desire of your target market, and then center your marketing approach around that desire. Identify yourself with that desire. In this election, there were many different urgent issues at stake. There is the lagging economy, the war in Iraq, and the disastrous housing market, among other things. Overall, the American people are unhappy. What do people want when they are unhappy in general? Change.

If you are unhappy, you want your situation to change, period. Change is the simplified answer to the nations’ problems, and Obama and his campaign took advantage of that desire for change to entrench himself as the President America needs at this moment. ‘Change you can believe in’ and ‘Obama for Change’ are incredibly smart campaign slogans, and it is no wonder that the candidate who is using them is the candidate that is ahead in the polls.

By identifying himself and making himself synonymous with the American publics’ main desire,Obama has marketed himself to success.So,as a success seeker or business owner,you need to identify your target market's most hungry desire and give it to them just as they need it.What I am saying in essence is,don't sit in your house and assume this is what will sell,let the market tell you what it wants and give it to them just as Obama did.

3.Marketing is key.

One thing that kept Obama clearly in the lead throughout the campaigns and polls was his innate ability to market himself and his ideas to high heavens.Not only did he market his ideologies and policies,he also marketed himself.He built himself as a brand.All I would just say is this guy marketed himself,his campaign organisation well and it paid off at the end.So,if you are looking for success,marketing your product,service or ideas has to occupy a pride of place in your heart,otherwise,nothing will happen.Master the art and science of marketing and you will be the better for it.Don't just market but have a marketing plan in place.Build a marketing plan around the desires of the market you are serving and you will be happy you did.

4:Because no one has done it in the past, doesn’t mean it cannot be done

When setting out on your goals, you may not find anyone who has done what you are planning to do. You may incorrectly come to the conclusion that it cannot be done because of the past history. But remember: every creation of God has a beginning.And once it has been done once, it will be easy to duplicate.

5:Don’t listen to negative people

I was listening, last year, to “experts” commenting on the presidential election, and I distinctly remember the “expert” explicitly point out how America would never ever elect an African American to be their President.

I wonder what that “expert” is saying now.

Take intelligent counsel but always put your heart into what you are doing. In the end, if you open your mind and listen to your heart… you can’t go wrong.While seeking expert advice for whatever you want to do,allow your gut instincts to guide you.Everybody said it couldn't be done but that did not deter Obama,he went for his goal and today,he has made history.

6.You need courage,lots of courage.

Obama had lots of courage and confidence in himself and it paid off at the end.In the success equation,you also need courage and confidence in yourself to be able to push on to achieve your goals even though the whole says it's unachievable.

7.Strategic Partnering will go a long way to assist you achieve your dreams.You will agree with me that Obama enjoyed a lot of support from the Media and that made them downplay a lot of issues they would have raised against him.He had strategic partnerships while Mcain's choice of Sarah Palin,no doubt,worked against him.So,in your quest for success,look for people who will complement you so you can achieve success faster.

That's it.7 success and business lessons I learnt from Obama.One last thing though,Obama's feat has showed that you can be anything you want to become in this life.I repeat:you can be anything you want to become in this life.All you need is to have a goal,draw up a plan to achieve that goal and go after the execution of that plan ruthlessly (yes,I mean ruthlessly because success is a warfare).

See you at the top!