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Selfishness and generosity two polar opposites. People who are selfish seek to take, take, take and people who are generous seek to give, give, give. However, I’ve seen that being selfish is counterproductive . What I’ve seen is that people who who try to take the most get the least and the people that give the most get the most.

I work in a very sales oriented role. Most of my day is spent networking with people and building relationships. The key to building powerful relationships is by being mutually beneficial. Simply put, nobody likes the guy who comes to a Christmas party without a gift, but they might tolerate that person. By being mutually beneficial, and by “bringing something to the table” it invokes a reaction in the other party involved. As Sir Isaac Newton put it, every action, has an equal and opposite reaction. By adding value to someone else’s life, they will seek to add value in yours.

My friend who is a commercial realtor put it best. When he’s working with young, start-up companies, he tries to help them grow their business in any way possible. Whether it’s introductions to investment sources or helping them with their sales strategy, he focuses on their growth in the hopes that when they do grow, and need additional office space, he’ll be the guy they call.

Networking, and helping people out, is key for building successful career. What I have found so far is that 90% of the battle in networking isn’t meeting somebody, it’s turning that person into a friend. Your network would be completelely useless if you didn’t have friends. That’s why you should treat every new person (or prospect) you meet like your best friend. This way, you will have a network of friends who want to help you out, rather than a network of acquaintances who only know you because your connected on LinkedIn.

The NFL off season this year has been pretty crazy. A lot of big names being shifted around (Let’s go Revis!!!) and a lot of unlikely, last minute deals happening. Technically speaking, the NFL off season has nothing to do with your life, however, if you take a look at how players go about finding their destination for the fall, it is actually really similar to what it’s like to find a job. As a matter of fact, we could even learn a thing or two from the NFL off season. Below is what I’ve learned.

1. Test the Waters: Case in point, DeSean Jackson. This is probably the biggest takeaway I’ve had. If you’re up for a promotion or if you’re in the final stages of interviewing, assess what the market values your skills at. Pretty much every single NFL free agent worth anything will receive multiple offers before they sign on with a team. However, if the company you’re in talks with offers you a deal you simply cannot refuse, then you have no choice. This is just like being franchise tagged in the NFL.

2. Negotiate: Case in point, Julian Edelman. If you didn’t get the “franchise tag” deal, but you’ve realized you’re being paid comparably well to other people in your position, then now is the time to negotiate to try and get more. Julian Edelman is a perfect example of this. He got a solid offer from the Patriots, but decided to test the waters and see what other teams would offer him. Once he got the insight into what the market values his skills at, he came back to the Patriots and actually got a better offer than the original one he received. What this means for you is once you receive your offer, ask for more. You’ve only get 1 shot to ask for more money, and a company will never pull the offer (unless you ask for an egregious amount of money).

3. People love a hometown hero: Case in point, Colin Kaepernick. Teams and fan-bases love the hometown hero. Athlete’s also love being the hero as well. You’re familiar with the area, and most importantly, familiar with the playbook. Knowledge of how to operate within a system is invaluable, and a lot of times, you will be heavily rewarded if you have a deeper understanding than most people within your organization.

4. The competition will likely pay you more but may stunt your growth: Case in point, Aqib Talib. Got a monster contract from the Broncos. The Bronco’s offered him that contract for 2 reasons. To get better and to hurt their biggest AFC rival, the Patriots. Double the value in 1 move. However, no one likes a journeyman. With performance based postions, like the NFL and sales, if you perform, you will always find a high paying job. However, if you continue to bounce around, the odds of you establishing a leadership type role is nearly impossible. Let’s think after football, do you think the Patriots would ever offer Talib a job as an assistant coach? No shot. Same with your job, a company will not promote you if they fear you’re going to bounce somewhere else in a couple months.

5. You might be a great talent, but you might not be the right fit to the puzzle: Case in point, Brandon Spikes. Arguable a top 3 linebacker in terms of run stopping and penetration capabilities but ask him to defend a pass and he looks like a fish out of water. The Patriots cut him because his skill set is simply not valued with the Patriots (along with some attitude issues). If you look at what the Patriots value in a linebacker, they seek hybrid linebackers who can defend the run and also cover the pass very well. What this means for you is even though you might be great at what you do, the company you’re working for or applying for might not value your skill set the way other companies will. Again, all the reason to test the waters and see what the market dictates your skill is worth.

6. What have you done recently? Case in point, Julius Peppers. A one-time perennial pro-bowler and absolute nightmare for Quarterbacks, the bears wouldn’t give Peppers the contract he asked for because he was coming off of one of the worst seasons in his life. Doesn’t matter that Peppers is one of the best defensive ends of our generation, he simply didn’t perform and the Bears are not going to pay Peppers because of what he did 3,4 and 5 years ago. Same with you! Especially sales folks. Doesn’t matter if last you crushed it a couple quarters ago. What matters most is how you did last quarter.

7. Don’t settle once you get the payday: Case in point, Chris Johnson. He came off of an incredible 2010 season for the Titans, got his franchise contract (was then the highest paid RB in NFL history), and has yet to have a season as good as his contract season. Now, Chris Johnson plays for the Jets and is making a fraction as to what he used to. Maybe he just got old and he doesn’t have the skill anymore, but my guess is he took his foot off of the gas pedal and got complacent once he got the payday. Don’t become complacent unless you’re happy with just one nice commission check! Complacency is lazy’s ugly cousin.

Did I miss anything here? Let me know by tweeting at me @Aghanomics. Thanks for reading!

I read an article about a week ago titled “You Don’t Have To Be Rich In Your 20s: How Much Money You Should Actually Be Making”.

Since I started my career in sales about 7 months ago, a lot of my friends have asked me about what a sales job is like. Sales is one of those professions where most people think they know what the career entails, but in reality, their assumptions couldn’t be further from the truth. Before I started at Bullhorn, even I was bit confused as to what to actually expect with a career in sales. Below is the top 5 myths I have heard about sales careers and what the reality is actually like.

1. Sales is 100% commission based with no guaranteed salary.

• This couldn’t be further from the truth! Most sales jobs out there will give you a base salary, and a generous one at that. Our contracts work like NFL contracts. We have guaranteed money and incentive packages. The way I see it, if a company isn’t willing to invest into you with training/base salary, then they do not value you and you shouldn’t work there.

2. Sales is all about “selling ice to an eskimo”.

• Sales is NOT about screwing people over. Good salesmen (and women) take a consultative, empathetic approach to sales. It’s all about figuring out the customers “pain” and diagnosing a solution for them, not about selling them up a river with something they don’t need. You might be able to convince some uneducated shoppers to buy things they don’t need, however, you will not be successful if that is all you rely on.

3. Sales is just a place to start your career.

• While sales is a great place to start your career for a number of reasons, it is not just a jumping off point. There is SO much room for growth in sales. You can move on from “inside sales” (small market) to “outside sales” or “field sales” (mid market). From there, there is multiple areas your career can go. You can turn into a sales manager or continue on up into enterprise level sales. No company in the world doesn’t need sales people and sales is at the core of every successful company.

4. Sales is all about cold calling and just hammering the phone.

• While cold calling is certainly a part of sales, about 90% of what I do at Bullhorn is dealing with inbound leads generated by our marketing team. An inbound lead is someone who has expressed interest in our product and has asked to be contacted. If you do sales at a reputable company, odds are, you’ll be dealing with mostly inbound leads.

5. If you don’t hit quota, hit the bricks.

• While hitting quota is very important, you don’t get immediately fired if you miss quota once. It all boils down to the company you are working for. If you work at reputable company, they likely are not just churning and burning sales people. I’ve actually seen a person get promoted after a quarter where he missed quota!

Don’t just believe everything you hear out there about what a sales job is like. For all you know, sales could be perfect for you!

Wow, another year has gone by and we are on the brink of 2014. It’s unbelievable to think how much time has passed in what feels like such little time. A lot of us graduated college this year and are onto a different chapter in the story of our lives. I’d like to take a moment and reflect on all of the best moments of this year for me as we get near its close. During my reflection, I’m going to focus on how great the good times were and how I can improve from my mistakes. Here is my top 5 moments from 2013.

5. Moving Out

Moving out of my mother’s house was a really big step in the stairs of life. Granted, she still makes me food and I still do my laundry at her house, but it’s a step towards independence and a step that should not be overlooked.

4. First Job Out of College

Landing my first job upon college graduation was a big milestone for me. I wasn’t sure where I was going to wind up or what I wanted to do, but I’m really happy with my decision to become an Account Executive at Bullhorn. In these past 6 months at Bullhorn, I have learned so much about the art of selling and a lot of it ties back to Simon Sinek’s TED talk about how great leaders inspire action. Never sell anything material, only sell solutions. I’m proud to say that as the year is closing out, I’m at 115% of my annual quota.

3. Graduation from UMass Amherst

College came and went by in what felt like just a couple of months. I’m so proud of everyone who graduated with me and it makes me really happy to see people going out and doing great things. People are starting companies that will change the world and others are excelling within established companies by crushing their quotas or by bringing innovative ideas to the table. There certainly isn’t a lack of ambition among the class of 2013 and I am so excited to see what the future has to hold for this class.

2. TEDxUMassAmherst

Co-founding TEDxUMassAmherst with Nate Tepper was the best learning experience I’ve had to date. Getting to work with 25 students and raise $25,000 (without UMass giving us any monetary donations) provided an avenue for me to meet a lot of unbelievable people who changed my life. Getting to speak to an audience of my peers is honestly my proudest moment of college and I thank everyone who helped make it happen (you can see my speech below). Watch out for even bigger things from TEDxUMassAmherst this year on May 3rd.

1. Becoming an Uncle

Being an Uncle has been an experience like no other. Growing up, I wasn’t very close with any of my extended family so getting the opportunity to be there for my niece has been really special. Additionally, becoming an uncle also means my brother became a father! It’s crazy to think how the same person I used to play Super Nintendo with growing up is now raising a beautiful little girl.

All in all, 2013 was a great year. There were some downs, but there were certainly a lot more ups than downs. To be honest, before I wrote everything out, I didn’t really how much was actually accomplished this year. Taking a moment to reflect on your year before 2014 rolls around can be beneficial to remind you of all of the great things you did in 2013. Additionally, it will help you set realistic goals for 2014 as well.

Best of luck to everyone in 2014 and happy New Year’s! Be happy, be healthy, but most importantly, make a difference.

Every year, people create their list resolutions of things they hope to achieve in the coming year. The most common resolutions are to quit smoking, save money, lose weight and volunteer to help others. These are all great resolutions, however, 99% of people are not going to follow through with them.

New years resolutions are bogus because you are setting a goal for yourself and plan on taking 0 action on that goal between now and the new years. Rather than waiting for the ever distant future to come around, take action NOW. You can begin your journey to quitting smoking, losing weight, saving money and community service right now if you really wanted to. The problem is, most people don’t want to actually quit any of those things, they just like the idea of thinking they will quit them.

Another flaw with new years resolutions is how lofty and unplanned the goals are. There is
a reason why so many people sign up for the gym on January 1st but quit by January 15th. They don’t see the immediate results they were hoping for and quit on their resolution before the even gave it a real chance. If you plan on losing 30 pounds in 2014, set out your goals for each month and plan exactly how you’re going to get there. Additionally, don’t wait until 2014 to create a workout, sign up for a gym and implement a diet. Get all of the prep work done in 2013 so you can hit the ground running in 2014.

For anyone with new years resolutions, I challenge you to take action on them before the new years. I guarantee you you will be way more successful if you took the leap to start today vs January first.

As I have expanded my network within Boston, I’ve quickly learned that accruing a massive rolodex of business cards doesn’t mean much if no one remembers you. It means even less if people remember you for the wrong reasons. What this means is that when you meet someone that you want to network with, don’t just hand out a business card; make an impression. (Unless the person your speaking with is Christian Bale from American Psycho and he obsesses over business cards).

At the end of the day, people don’t help people they know; people help people they like. Knowing someone means close to nothing but having a friend can take you anywhere. Rather than going to a conference and handing your business card out to 100 people, identify 5 people who you want to meet and strategize on how you can befriend them. Look them up on LinkedIn, search for them on Google, identify some interests and figure out a way to have a meaningful conversation with them.

Last year, I went to a conference called the UnConference and I had the personal mission of recruiting people to speak at my conference, TEDxUMassAmherst. There were 3 people I had identified as great speakers: David Meerman Scott, Sean Dalton and Scott Kirsner. I created 3 separate notes on my iPhone with some info on their past, what they currently do and what their interests are. Long story short, I was able to recruit David and Scott to speak at my conference and I am still close with them to this day (I never had the chance to meet Sean at the UnConference).

Focus on your reputation. Focus on building a network of friends vs building a network of acquaintances. A lot of times, a friendship won’t be built the first time you meet someone. Make sure you follow up with the people you meet and ask to grab a coffee or lunch. They may be busy and may decline your invitation, but just the fact that you went the extra step in asking will go a long way with whomever you’re talking to. A network of 100 friends will always be more powerful than a network with 1000 acquaintances, so build strategically and nurture your relationships.

As a 20 something year old now, I have been approached by a lot of people (mostly friends) with the opportunity of a lifetime. The chance to get into a breakthrough nutritional company of sorts while it’s in hyper growth and the chance to make a ton of money while helping everyone around me. Unfortunatly, what they were actually pitching me on was the opportunity to get involved in a pyramid scheme. For those of you who don’t know what a pyramid scheme is, it’s a non-sustainable business model that involves promising participants payment or services, primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme. Essentially, a portion of all the money you make goes to the person above you and you claim portions of everyone whom you recruit to sell below you. Luckily for me, I was smart enough to be able to see through the claims of quick riches and fast cars.. I’m not going to name names but these companies almost always consist of some type of nutritional product(s) and always requires you to do “network marketing” AKA bug the hell out of your friends to buy.

Below is a talk track I made up that pretty much covers their pitch. Does this sound familiar to you at all? (Energy-Flex is a company I made up)

I have this new, INCREDIBLE, product I want to tell you about. You’re going to lose weight, gain lean muscle and have boundless energy. Don’t take my word for it though, Dr. Sanjay Gupta backs up all of these claims. On top of that, Kurt Warner used our product during his Super Bowl regime on the Cardinals and told us that he never had more energy going to the 4th quarter than when he took Energy-Flex.

So here’s the deal, all you have to do is put down $1,100 for your first shipment of Energy-Flex and you will be an independent business owner. However, you really see the value if you sign up for automatic montly shipments as you’ll save $100 per shipment which will increase your return on investment . You’re earnings are boundless and will multiply for each person your recruit to be a part of your team selling Energy-Flex as you get a portion of their sales. At 5 people, you’re breaking even and at 20 people, oh man, you’re making like $52,000 a year. A friend of mine makes close to $200,000 a year off of this! You’re an independent business owner (IBO) and I’ll even give you all of these nifty marketing and powerpoint materials so you can better present to your friends. I suggest you start reaching out to your friends IMMEDIATELY as network marketing is the fastest growing industry in the states and Energy-Flex is the fastest growing company. 

Don’t believe me that you can make boatloads of money? We’re having a conference in 2 weeks in DC. You should come. Our top rain maker is going to  be there and he’s going to talk about his successes. Last time he showed up in his Lamborghini. As a matter of fact, my good friend just got a Mercedes Benz paid for by Energy-Flex for his sales. Here’s a pic! So what do you say we get you signed up?

So lets say you ask them “Isn’t this a pyramid scheme”?  This is their general response. “Aren’t all companies pyramid schemes? I mean look, you work for your CEO and he is at the top. That’s pyramid shaped right?” WRONG! First off, I don’t work on straight commission. Second, I don’t put money directly into the CEO’s wallet, even if I work in sales!

Generally speaking, these people prey on high school students, college students and
people without a college education. The reason why they do that is because they know they can persuade people in those audiences with promises of a lavish lifestyle and a lot of money in a short period of time. Be wary when you hear something that is too good to be true because odds are it is exactly that. Get rich quick schemes are never actually real.

Here’s a tip. If you’re considering joining something that may seem too good to be true, try “googling” the company name. If one of the first things that pops up is “company name scam” then it is definitely a scam. You’ll never see “scam” pop up when googling a company like Microsoft or State street.

Don’t get me wrong. You DO have the opportunity to make money selling the product. However, in my opinion, you can be doing something much more constructive with your time. The odds of you making it big off of a network marketing company is slim, whereas the odds of you landing a high paying job from working multiple internships is much higher.