Book Promotes Greatness Through Gratitude

By Nancy K. Crevier

Most people in business spend a great deal of time trying to create more business, but by simply taking care of the people already in their circle of business, more business can be easily generated, said best-selling author and network marketing expert Tommy Wyatt. Mr Wyatt and his business partner, Curtis Lewsey, have gathered their belief in the power of appreciation and building relationships in their book, Appreciation Marketing: How to Achieve Greatness Through Gratitude, available as of Thursday, August 6, at appreciationmarketing.com or amazon.com. The book was Amazon’s #1 selling business/marketing book on its launch date.

Mr Wyatt’s name may be familiar to longtime readers of the sports section of The Newtown Bee. For ten years, from 1988 to 1998, Mr Wyatt was the sports editor and sports writer for the paper, a position that he said he loved. But when a friend invited him to a network marketing recruiting meeting, he quickly realized that it would be a far more profitable way for him to make a living.

“I hated to, but I left sports writing and became very successful with the Excel Communications company, a long distance phone service, that I sold all over the world,” said Mr Wyatt.

Network marketing, explained Mr Wyatt, is a type of company, such as Amway or Shaklee, which allows people to start home-based businesses and build upon that business through recruiting others into the business as they sell the product.

Mr Wyatt has since built other network marketing companies, including SendOutCards, where Mr Wyatt and Mr Lewsey are now distributors and producers. Through their experiences in business, the two men have learned what they believe is the secret to business success: appreciation and gratitude.

“We’ve become too much of a fast-paced world and gotten away from keeping in touch with and building relationships with clients,” said Mr Wyatt, who is the sole author of the book, with Mr Lewsey acting as business manager and contributing ideas. “It’s a Google world. But why do we really do business with the people that we do? Because we have built a relationship with them.”

Being nice, being likeable, and telling business associates — as well as those in one’s personal life — how much they are appreciated has become a lost art, said Mr Wyatt. His book aims to remind people of the rules of etiquette once practiced regularly that contribute to what he calls the TOMATO effect: Top Of Mind Awareness Through Others. When those with whom you come in contact recall you first, said Mr Wyatt, those are the ones who come to you with their business and recommend you to others.

Creating Top of Mind Awareness Through Others starts with simple gestures, he said.

“How much do you appreciate a thank you note? I still have a folder stuffed full of thank you notes that were sent to me when I was writing for The Bee, and they mean so much to me,” he said. Send out a thank you note, he suggests in his book. Send a simple gift. Treat others with respect and create a likeability factor.

Be honest in business dealings; don’t try to disguise business as anything other than it is, suggests Mr Wyatt. Whether a believer or not, give thanks for the blessings in your life, and practice positive thinking. The ability to appreciate one’s self is also an important step in Appreciation Marketing, notes Mr Wyatt in his book.

The book also lists “7 Deadly Creatures” that can pull the plug on building relationships, in business and in the personal arena of life. Avoid those who are “energy suckers,” or becoming one, and avoid becoming what he calls the “pukers,” those who erupt with too much unnecessary information. Those who must always be “one-up” on another or who are self-focused do not generate good business, and while it may seem odd to have to be told, personal hygiene and good social skills must be practiced to promote business.

“In today’s economy, people in business are looking for ways to reinvent themselves, and we’re saying you can do that by appreciation and gratitude. We’re just reminding people of what they already know,” Mr Wyatt said.

Talking to others about Appreciation Marketing has been a positive experience, said Mr Wyatt, and he and Mr Lewsey have spoken to many organizations about the theory. “People are always coming up to us and saying, ‘Hey, I forgot about all this important stuff.’”

He is excited to return to writing with Appreciation Marketing, and pleased to have yet another avenue to promote the practice of gratitude.

“It is all common sense, but not always common practice today,” he said.