Where’s the money flowing…

Seth Godin makes a real interesting point on his latest blog; where the money is there you’ll find the people working.

Interesting to me that it starts as an end still and then the means justifies it. (almost sounds like the torture debate going on right now)

Here’s a tag to Mr. Godin’s point; if there is money to be made you can well believe that someone is going to be searching for it.

He wrote that things change around once there’s money to be made in any particluar field. He related it to writers becoming publishers which is the reverse of what was. (When the Writer Becomes the Publisher / Seth Godin – 05/2009)

It would seem pretty logical that once the public wants something, they are willing to pay for it, so what is it that you have that they are willing to pay for? What message can you get across to them to tell them what you have is what they need? Many times I see “the best blah blah” or “Number 1 blah blah in the state” C’mon, do you really think that is going to attract attention? If it does, I’d be pretty surprised. Nowadays it’s just not enough. Mr. Godin back in 2003 made refernece to being remarkable(the purple cow). If you have a pizz,a shop fine, so does almost every other coner strip mall, what makes yours so different?

Here in Las Vegas, NV , a local pizza chain by the name of Metro pizza decided to become the “purple cow” of the valley by holding pizza making classes. Their pizza is great, but now they are the teachers of pizza making, and it’s doing very well. People are paying for classes and more are hearing by word of mouth how great their pizzas are. Do you think they can charge a bit more because of that?

Here’s the bottom line: You have to find the flow of money where it is moving and get in front of it. It’s the one time you want to get run over by the flood. Even if you can’t handle it you’ll have known what is was like and can most likey prepare for it better next time. Pizza makers to pizza making teachers,writers becoming publishers, what else can you think of that would set you apart and find you more income for your business through the right marketing message?

Keep it rolling!

Losing it’s lustre?

So, I was talking with my friend Jean in Chicago. Illinois of course.

She is excited about going back to school and getting back into the market place as a specialty Faux and Mural painter. Not to mention she does fine art too. (I’ve seen a lot of her work and she is extremely talented!)

She has a concern that came to her just recently regarding all the work that goes into a business and how she’s supposed to “do it all”. I told her, “you don’t.” She went silent for a moment… then of course the response came, “What?”

This is where I get to get up on my soap box and tell all you wonderful business owners the fun thing about being in business is…BEING IN BUSINESS! You started this as a means to “live the dream”. You figured that getting paid for something you love to do anyway was a means to an end. The end of having a boss! The start of financial freedom! After working with, or for your closest friends you relaized there’s more needed to find new customers or get more in to your store…so now what?

Once you’ve found out that there’s more to running a business, you begin to find out about MWAs. (What the?) Minimum Wage Activities. If you are doing that most of the time, you are not profitting and you’re certainly not feeling excited about your baby!(business) You have two types of activities and that one every business owner hates but has to do or get done. Well, those kinds of activities tend to take away from the joy of beinig a business owner. But why do it all yourself?

Here’s my point; there’s always a way to get things done by others who’s dream it is to do what you don’t want to. Find them, seek them out, and get them to work with you! Be it a budding book keeper, a college marketing student that can do your marketing research for you. Someone ini your town can run errands for you…whether cheap or free.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying use people for your own purposes. I know people like that too, and they never get anywhere in life or business. Point is plan it out and get to it! If you don’t have to do the MWAs, DON’T!

My friend and I talk a lot over the phone. She taps me for information on marketing planning, and business strategy simply because she doesn’t have the time or the desire to learn all the University Mush I learned. (wait til she gets my bill) Why should she go through all that when she has me to help? This is what I’m trying to share with you; STAY EXCITED! You have to. If you don’t you’ll do what no business owner should do…give up, get down, lose confidence in your business, and feel like,”Am I really doomed to do this for the rest of my life?” if you fall into that category, you’ll have nothing to offer in your product or service, and certainly nothing for your successor(s).

Stressed? Find a way to break away when absolutely necessary. Find a place to get back to the reason you started this whole thing in the first place. You were Excited!

Be the little kid with the new toy…don’t worry about how it works, just work it!

There are those that love to start businesses just to start businesses….ok they fall into a different category of human…”non”. Actually they are the ones that find joy in finding a need and filling it, then letting someone else buy it and run it. (franchises, and business starters, etc.)

You created your business because you believed you could fill a need, be excited about it!There’s a joy in growing a business and watching it grow its own feet and letting it roll!

(By the way, if you do need marketing services, but cannot afford the services, there are other ways to learn how to market your business inexpensively. www.CorporateRainiMakers.com/powermarketing)

Look, whatever you do, just stay excited and motivated however you need to so your progress doesn’t slow down. Keep it rolling!

What’s next?

Hey gang,

Just thinking today about a client I’ve been working with and the thinking that seems to riddle small business owners and their thoughts on what they can do with what little they have.

Interestingly enough, when I sat and spoke with this budding entrepreneur, they seemed to believe everything rides on their productivity. In the beginning this is always true, unless you have a truly developed business plan that includes a comprehensive marketing plan and a hardcore operations SOP.(Standards of Operations) What they didn’t realize is that they are much better positioned in this current economy due to the effects of the recession that is in place right now.

After talking a bit with this Business Owner, they started to see that even with what little time and power they had, they actually had more freedom than a company that is having to ‘reinvent’ itself.

See, when a large company has to reinvent, they have to restructure, which usually means someone’s moving companies involuntarily, they have this huge undertaking to assess and begin the process. This takes quick planning which can overcompensate their intended result. Then once the ‘fat trimming’ has finished, the rest of the crew has to pick up the slack and reorganize so that operations become streamlined and more ‘cost effective’. This has its ramifications as the original plans of the company was to operate at full strength usually by the 5th year in business. This would then profit the company and award dividends to the share holders. Unfortunately as everyone is seeing this not to be the case for the next couple of years…at least not with the mainstream companies

With the recession in full swing, and I mean that with all prejudice towards the failing economy fostered by faulty administrations, and clueless economists, and now chicken $#!T investors, larger and even medium size businesses are suffering by their own SOPs, and policies which are holding them back form making the bold moves to get them ahead of everyone else. For them to have to restructure everything they got used to, everyone in the organization has to be retrained to take on more responsibility, and work harder to help the operation profit.

Meanwhile, the little guy who has no one but themselves to depend on, has no limitations of a ‘major plan’ to reinvent themselves. They are just beginning to invent, create, brand, and produce for their target market what it is they have to offer. Hopefully you guys are beginning to get the picture, because I hate having to say things twice.

The ‘big dogs’ are struggling to keep their values in the Stock Market, while the little guy is having to just worry about his next check paying the bills.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the big guys have to pay rent too unless they own the building, but, they still have much more to deal with to reach their goals, and have a LOT more to deal with in terms of labor relations, benefit packages, accounts payable and receivable, risk management, etc. The little guy? hmmm, can I make my house payment this month?

What I’m trying to get at is this. When you think as a small business that you are disadvantaged, you couldn’t be more out of touch. Especially in this time! You, as a small business owner, have so much to look forward to. You have a recession, giving you a better shot at getting your supplies cheaper, gas being less now makes it cheaper on having a mobile office, which is usually the norm for smaller service businesses. Rents for office spaces in some places are stupidly cheap. If you can’t afford one still, stay home! I mean really…What’s it take to show you, you’re in a really good spot right now?

I know small businesses that landed larger contracts just because they were smaller! Their proposals to their clients were much more cost effective even if they were value based on their pricing! The big guys can’t compete because they have to charge more to keep up wth their costs! Then they have to reasses their budgeting simply because they have to make good on their promises to their shareholders…the small guy? “Honey, I’m hooome…I got paid today…let’s go out to eat tonight!” Get the idea? Perhaps oversimplified but you get the point right?

So today, I give the ‘little guy’ a boost by saying, “Quit cryin! You don’t need a WAAAMbulance, you need to get your head into the game and play hard, it will get you there. Find your target market, get your name out there through Smaller Budget Marketing efforts. Now is the time to meet new potential clients, new networking connections, new supply lines for office or manufacturing…you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what you’ll find. Make this time work to your advantage!”

Now….Go get ‘em!

Just try something!

It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something. – Franklin D. Roosevelt

I had to take a moment to reflect on this particular quote from one of the great leaders in our past.

There’s so much information now in regards to how to; start a business, run a business, market a business, Get this going, get that situated, etc,etc,etc…

You know, if you look at what all of this leads up to, it comes down to generally the same thing…You want something better!

So, there’s your start…SO NOW WHAT? A lot of posts I’ve been seeing lately around the different forums have been to the tune of, “What can I do for this amount of money, how can I get a better idea of what to do, do I do this for a business….blah blah blah…you get the picture.

If you sincerely want something better, there are two easy ways to get going…one, Rob a bank. OR, you can begin to take a look at what it is you do well, or like to do, or can do, whatever, and start to see where it can be used or perhaps needed.

This is meant for the budding entrepreneur that is overwhelmed with information on the “how to”s of starting a business. Look simply put, if you like to knit socks, you’re going to have a hard time selling them unless your particular socks have some kind of need or serious appeal. This doesn’t mean don’t knit socks if this is what you enjoy…GO KNIT! But think on what, who, or where will these “knit socks” be most useful. In Winter? In summer? In the mountains? As filler for snow shoes that just don’t quite fit right? (simply because there’s that annoying little extra space in there that allows your feet to slide enough that you could lose your balance? WHATEVER!

Just be sure of what your little specialty will fulfill before you go off half cocked in thinking you’ve got the next best thing since sliced sausage…(that was on purpose)and then get totally downed because you get laughed out the door of some bank that can’t see the true potential of your great knitting!

This is more of a rant than anything else, but I get annoyed when I start seeing what I like to call “the clueess” start pokin around lookin or SOMETHING to do, and then going back later and telling everyone, “oh that entrepreneur stuff ain’t for mee…I just couldn’t get anyone to buy my stuff..” Sheesh! Be real people.

I have the pleasure of meeting someone that is a total “NO WHINER ZONE” Advocate like myself. If you can’t be positive, hit the road!

His name is Matt La Clear, and I am betting I am going to learn a few great things from this Marketing Guru.

For those truly looking to make something happen in a business, take heed and go find out what is needed in your area, then go fill the need. Once you’ve gotten that far, then go find the specialists that can help you deal with the daily business issues that arise out of being a business owner.

OK nuff said, as the King of Copy would say, “now go sell something.” – Craig Garber

Business Etiquette…do you really need to get that?

SUp.biz CEO Corner Natalie Regoli is the CEO of The Online Small Business Social Network, Sta.rtUp.biz. The network has been featured in the Wall Street Journal twice, and it receives over 1.5 million page views a month. The url is: http://SUp.biz Posts: 31 | Created on October 31, 2008 by supdotbiz |

Phone Etiquette Business Busters

By supdotbiz in SUp.biz CEO Corner on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 3:50 PM

Is talking on the phone as natural to you as walking? Think your biggest issue is how to find free internet phone calls? Well, free internet phone calls or not, you could be killing your business without even knowing it. Here are some important tips adapted from John Edwards’ article “Phone Call Mistakes – Ten Ways Not the Answer the Phone”.

Tip #1: Don’t Answer in Meetings

The best practice is to turn off your phone completely in meetings, so you’re not distracted by looking at who called, and so you don’t appear rude to meeting participants. Even if your phone is on vibrate, it is still considered unprofessional not be entirely “present” in the meeting. When talking to a customer, don’t pick up the phone. Your customer will feel slighted and unappreciated.

Tip #2: Return Calls within 4 Hours

Return missed calls and voicemails promptly, even if to say that you’re working on getting an answer and will revert as soon as you have the information. Every four hours, call the customer and leave a voicemail updating them that you are still waiting on certain information. Keep it short and sweet but make sure they know you haven’t forgotten.

Tip #3: Empty Your Voicemail Box

Make sure to empty your voicemail box regularly. If a customers or potential customers can’t reach you, and then can’t even leave a voicemail, they may decide not to call back. Their lives are busy too, and you have to be accessible to them. If you’re this hard to get ahold of, what would happen if they have a problem?

Tip #4: Beware of Automated Phone Systems

Automated phone systems are impersonal and frustrating. If you need to use one, make it very simple for a customer to speak to a live person without having to listen to a lot of options.

Tip #5: Tailor Your Greeting

Make sure your voicemail greeting is clear, professional, and appropriate for your industry. Stay away from music and jokes, even if “relevant” to your industry, as you want to convey the message that you are the ultimate professional and 100% dedicated.

Tip #6: Keep Your Composure

Everyone gets nasty calls from time to time. But when you lose your calm and appear even slightly annoyed, your customer will notice and it is a business killer. Try to mentally focus on an image of a very nice person who had something really bad happen to them today. Tell yourself that it is not you, and that you need to deliver the best possible customer service to help their day improve.

Tip #7: Don’t Eat or Chew Gum

Let your voicemail pick up instead. Munching sounds completely unprofessional.

Tip #8: Don’t Answer without the Proper Greeting

Have too many phones? Make sure to give each a distinct ring so you don’t accidentally answer your business phone with a simple “hello.”

Tip #9: Don’t Ignore Calls

If a customer has taken the time to call you, she wants you to pick up quickly.

Tip #10: Don’t Speak Loudly in Noisy Places

Get to a quiet place before picking up. Let it go to your voicemail if you have to, then get to a quiet place and promptly call back.

Mr. Edwards’ full article can be found at http://www.voip-news.com/blog/20080507/phone-call-mistakes-ten-ways-not-to-answer-the-phone/.

New beginnings….

Normally anyone would expect to see a plethera of yao yao which would basically say nothing. I will do my best to be sure that when something is posted that it has some kind of substance that anyone can use.

This beginning is a start of a new company venture. The partners involved asked me to come aboard to help with strategies and ideas to help with a new version of Appointment setting for Financial planners and Insurance agents with series 6 licenses. This in itself is a great opportunity, so why did they need me?

Well, apparently when the idea came about there was a pre-test done to see what the response would be to marketing this kind of service seeing that there was already a few out there doing it. Unfortunately as a lot of online deals go, there are a few companies not doing business honestly. So, credibility had become an issue. Of course those things can be easily remedied, but what about fulfillment? What do the customers actually get? Where is there value perceived or realized? what will be the companies Return on Customer? short term and long term?

Coming from a mixed background of Marketing and Operations(what a conflict of interest wouldn’t you say?) I now had the opportunity to address true marketing strategies after setting down an actual footprint for the operations and cost analysis, and what funds would need to be appropriated to ensure a sufficient budget would be in place to cover unforeseen costs of marketing and acquisition. (which there were many)

When all was said and done, actual profit of the “test” run came out just under even. (actually they lost a bit of profit on the first deal)

After sitting with the partners and explaining what the challenges were, one partner decided it was not a profitable idea to continue pursuing this venture and returned to a former client contract to continue producing revenue for the company. I had suggested against this but was not really allowed to explain what remedies they had that would turn this seemingly unprofitable venture into one that could become a self running branch of their company.

Speaking further with the second partner revealed, that it was always an intention to research further before running the test. They wanted to see if there was any feasibility in pursuing this venture as it was already making a different similar size company quite a healthy profit. They were doing so well with fulfillment there was no reason to think it was not a good venture to pursue.

I looked a bit further into what the company was doing with the second partner and found out that the fee structure was a bit different and that if costs were to be controlled more, that this company would have to restructure its fee schedule to cover initial costs. Then a fee for residual income and actual long term profit would be needed.

Return on Customer was being reviewed now and seeing that a long term commitment to a per schedule appointment for continual revenue generation allowed for greater returns on existing clientèle.

Once the partners began to see the actual response rates of the first test run, it became clear that this was still a viable venture to continue with, which allowed for new suggestions on how to attract new business through both conventional and Innovative methods in marketing. This now includes online optimization of their website and future PPC advertising, along with networking referrals which started to come in even before appointments were being set for the first test run client. This was a large indicator that because pricing had been set higher than normal and even though process and unforseen procedures and licensing issues arose, that honesty and integrity held the test client in place and kept them confident that we could produce what was guaranteed.

Closing ratio is up to the agent or planner of course, but as far as client acquisition and appointment setting goes, the process now has an actual path, and the marketing methods that are now in place are already producing a flow that is both manageable and profitable.

Statistically, increases should be noted within the next month or two, to a point that outward conventional marketing methods may not be needed, and only online optimization may need to be employed. Even with a conventional 33% fallout rate, with a base of 300-400 clients per salesman and two appointment setters per agent, profit margins for the company should still hit anywhere between 25%-45% depending on operational costs.

SO, what does this have to do with anything? I value professional opinions. It’s how I learned a lot about marketing and operations outside of school…I like hearing real world experience talking rather than theory. I’d like anyone’s opinion on how they think this pans out for the partnership. I’ve left a lot of details out so that everyone else can throw down and give their professional opinion. I value perspective, and honesty. Have at it!