Give Back This Holiday Season

I think all of us as small business people are very grateful for all we have.

But there are people who, for one reason or the other, cannot afford to avail themselves to our services or products, even though they really want the help we can provide.

What I’m proposing is to give back to those who need you, in some way.

What can you do to give back this holiday season?

I did a special holiday coaching offer to assist those who need new ideas, new direction and new focus, but may not be able to afford it normally.

This is how it works:

People tell me their challenge.

I let them know if I can help them.

They name the price they would like to pay for that assistance.

I give them focused strategy and direction to resolve the challenge and move forward productively in 2012.

What can you do right now to impact the lives of people who need you most?

Giving back expands and the reward of happiness and appreciation is felt in your heart and throughout your personal Universe.

So, how will YOU use your talent, knowledge, passion and experience as a “give-back” gift for the holiday season?

Photo Courtesy of Enokson

Thorn

What a lovely thought. I will have to do it in the new year, but I do believe that ...

17 December 11 at 17:17

That Dude’s Trying to Pitch Me

The phone rings. Since the caller is unknown (from caller ID) and I’m busy doing something else the call goes into voice mail.

Later, I listen to the message. “Hey, I’m on your website and had a question. Give me a call back at XXX-XXX-XXXX.”

From the tone in his voice and his speech pacing I know this dude is trying to pitch me on something. When I call back, sure enough, it’s an SEO company.

The takeaway here is: your intention creates your energy when prospecting. 

If you’re intention is to sell me something, it will show.

When in a sales situation, before calling anyone, know the value you have to offer to your prospect.

Set your intention to be of service to the people you contact.

Then contact your prospect (or client).

Speak slowly, tell me the value of calling you back and project value vs. pitch.

You’ll get more call backs and better engagement.

Why?

Because you sound so much different than the “sales pitch” calls your buyer will receive today.

Passion is Everything in Business

I’m reading a great book by John Morgan called Brand Against the Machine: How to Build Your Brand, Cut Through the Marketing Noise, and Stand Out from the Competition.

There are many great ideas in it that I enjoy and agree with wholeheartedly.

On page 38 (in Kindle), I found this little quote to be really powerful.

“If you’re not dying to tell the world about what you do, then you need to reevaluate what it is you do.”

The Power of Passion in Business makes a real difference. 

Are you truly passionate about your business or are you another spoke in the small business wheel?

Morgan, John (2011-10-24). Brand Against the Machine: How to Build Your Brand, Cut Through the Marketing Noise, and Stand Out from the Competition (p. 38). John Wiley and Sons. Kindle Edition. 

The Symptoms of Learning Overload

Most small business owners and entrepreneurs follow a pattern of learn and learn some more. Why not. Learning is fun, after all, right?

Seldom do the majority of people follow the pattern of: learn, digest and do.

This is the path to greater achievement that I would venture to say 80% or more miss completely.

Here’s some symptoms that you’re learning without results:

You engage in every free Webinar you can find.

You listen intently to the free information.

You have pages of notes by the end.

But you don’t complete any of the action items suggested.

Maybe you buy the product but let it sit. 6 months later you have not even looked at it let alone learn, digest and do.

You missed the biggest secret of all.

That secret is: Only action creates results.

Look at your thoughts first. Your thinking creates energy that takes you into action.

If you’re not acting there’s a deeper reason so evaluate your feelings.

It’s how you feel about what you’re doing that allow you to know which thoughts to act upon.

Graphic Courtesy of Enokson

Observe Yourself at Work

Throughout each day you must handle a number of tasks in your small business.

If you were watching yourself at work you would probably notice the following types of general outcomes:

1. Productive

2. Not productive

3. A total waste of time

4. The best thing you could do in that moment.

The secret is to decide on what you want to accomplish first.

Then notice your action/activity and the result you achieve relevant to the goal you desire.

What works means you moved closer to reaching your goal(s).

What doesn’t work means you stayed where you are now or moved behind a bit.

If what you’re doing isn’t working, do you keep doing the same thing hoping for a different result?

Or are you so bored with what you’re doing you’re just reacting to whatever happens until you can get to the end of the day?

If either of the two scenarios above describe you at work, change the paradigm immediately. You’re stuck.

Should You Move to WordPress?

Click the infographic (image on left) to see it full size.
This infographic by Tom Treanor, the person who demystifies online marketing and makes it accessible and user-friendly for businesses of all sizes, may help you decide if WP is right for you.

Is a WordPress move in your future?

Learn more about Tom and his online marketing work at: Right Mix Marketing – Small Business Marketing Resources

jasonverdelli

Wordpress is definitely a great platform. The two plugins that are crucial to have in order to maximize SEO is ...

25 November 11 at 07:14

The 3 BIG Questions You Must Answer

Achieving success and fulfillment in any small business requires you to make decisions and improve your daily focus.

To start with, there are 3 BIG questions everyone in small business must answer.

If you have not answered these questions and subsequently made your decisions on these 3 areas yet, success will continue to allude you.

The 3 BIG questions you need to answer are:

1. Where do I want to go?

2. What do I want to do?

3 Why do I want to do it?

Question #1 provides you with a place, so you can map out your direction.

Question #2 tells you what you’ll do once you get there.

Question #3 gives you a VERY good reason to do it so when the going gets bumpy you’ll have the fortitude and good reason to stay in the game.

I know, I hear you. “I already know this. I’ve heard it a million times before.”

Then, as your small business guide and coach I have to ask, “Great, what are your answers?”

Those are the first questions we get clear on incoaching because you’ve probably been avoiding making those decisions.

But until you made these decisions, you’ll have a hard time reaching any small business goal you set.

But once you’ve made 3 simple decisions, you’ll be self-empowered, focused and able to take fulfilling action to reach your desired destination.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

I was working on an article for a client’s sales process campaign that talked about audio in legal settings.

In one part of the article, my client indicated that, “The major factor in obtaining a clear transcription of an interview, no matter what the source, is the simple adage: Garbage in, garbage out.”

That got me thinking about small business. The single greatest ‘garbage in’ thought that inhibits business success is fear.

The greatest fear many small business owners face, daily, is managing the fear of sales.

The reason for the fear is most businesses do not have a compelling story to tell that potential new prospects care about.

The majority of businesses talk about their products or services from the ME perspective. As a result, buyers block instead of embrace the marketing and sales message.

This makes creating new sales opportunities an uphill battle.

Instead, understand what your buyers care about and project that story in your sales process.

The buyer-centric concept is focused on the speaking to the buyer about what they want. They generally want solutions to challenges they face.

If you target your buyer list properly, you’ll get more people to raise their hand and say the magic words of marketing success, “Tell me more about that.”

Your prospects will engage with your offer better because you are communicating in a way that they can hear you. You are talking about their challenges instead of your services and adding value to the conversation up-front.

Garbage in turns into focused messages and garbage out transforms into new sales in your pipeline.

Here’s Why You Hate Sales

If you love revenue but hate sales, today’s podcast will show you exactly why.

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