3 Ways Nonprofits make more profit than you

We all have purpose.  That is a universal truth.  The thing about it is that those purposes vary with a great degree.  It’s not a bad thing, just another universal. 

     With that being said, we all choose a purpose to generate “a living” (or that purpose often chooses us!).  When that happens you can almost measure how effective somebody is with that by how much of a force in their life it is.  If you’ve forgotten your reason or are going through a “slump” (I quote it because 9 out of 10 times it’s a self induced problem) watch a telethon or a charitable organization work.  You’ll see 3 clear reasons why they get people to give them money for free!

1. They believe with all of their being. The belief of a person newly involved with a “cause” is warming.  The belief of the person that began said cause is intoxicating.  You find yourself mesmerized by what they are saying and think to yourself “why don’t I do something like this” or “why am I not involved like he/she is?”  Do your customers/clients say that about you?  At the end of the day that is what we all want in business, but do we invest in ourselves enough for others to do so?
2. They are hopelessly optimistic.  Non-profit is an extremely noble thing to do.  At the same time, since it is not for profit, you have to have some thick skin or powerful optimism (I prefer the latter).  These charities and organizations go through a ton of ups and downs and you would never be able to tell when you’re talking to a president or PR person for one of these organizations.  That is because they know their “end game” and they know why the work they do is so important.  They start with $0 for something with hopes of reaching X by merely being passionate or fostering a lot of relationships.  Business is hard, undeniably, but if you know that there is an end in sight then the run isn’t so bad.
3. They have goals with deadlines.  Number 3 shoulda been number 1 to me (any Biggie fans?………………I digress) .  When you see celebrities just make up a bunch of charitable organizations for tax reasons you see them disappear quickly.  There is no goal.  There is no ETA.  Yet, if you watch a well put together telethon, you see goals at work in a rapid fire highly effective way.  Seeing that ticker go get closer and closer to the goal makes people push.  It makes people go beyond what they normally would do.  It’s like overtime in a great football game!  Do you have a ticker counting (up or down; your choice)?  Do you have a deadline and not just “I want to be successful?”

   
      I don’t mean to make this elementary, but the more I research for myself, build my business, and see others succeeding I thought it best to show the “easy” way.  I would have loved for my parents to have this “talk” with me when I was 9, but better late then never!

Read More

Which Ticket Do You Have?

     I was sitting on the couch at my grandmother-in-law’s house watching TV while she and my wife spoke. She was telling my wife about how she has on a small scale been buying lottery tickets for the last few years (or maybe decades......). With her being 75 years of age and having the notion of “making it big” one day made me wonder. Why does the lottery drive people more than goals?
    
      Here we are, fully functioning, intelligent, able bodied people, yet we would rather rely on chance solely to make our fortunes. The odds are so astronomical that you know you are wasting your money. Yet people still do it in droves! People still put all of their faith in it. People come up with systems to pick numbers that they KNOW will be a winner. Yet and still, people would rather do that and work as a cashier than to roll up their sleeves and make something out of nothing.  We have become a "microwave" society in more ways than the kitchen............

     Truth be told, running a business of some sort does rely on a bit of faith and chance, but it is of the tangible type. One that you can see come to reality day by day. You can’t see a lottery ticket making you millions until they don’t call your number.

     I am not wearing my preacher hat today, but merely saying cheers to those that are working towards a goal. A person with a goal is a person on fire. There is nothing more meaningful or honorable. Coming from a past of working for somebody else’s goals I will tell you that I feel invigorated knowing that my efforts are for my future.

     Working for somebody else is pretty much like hoping you win the lottery (and that's ok for many people). I just wish I would've stopped paying for their tickets and made my own sooner!

Read More

3 Reasons Why Wrestlers SMASH Marketing

Ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh  yyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!  (not the Kool-Aid one)….

Not everyone is a fan of wrestling, but everyone knows of it.  Everybody goes in knowing that it’s not real, but somehow they capture millions of viewers day in and day out. 
I just had to stop and think about how powerful that is for a business, because that’s all wrestling is.  How much would it impact your business if millions of people just saw you every day?! 
See although it is fake, every WWE superstar has mastered 3 powerful things when it comes to the business of them and this is something every entrepreneur needs:

1.  A Compelling Story -  Every wrestler is a character.  They are either a bad guy, good guy, or wild card.  They tell their story every week to the fans and draw them in to their world.  Are you drawing in your target audience?  What is your story and is it compelling? 

2.  Belief In Themselves – Every wrestler believes with all of their fiber that they are the best one there.  They often times can’t snap out of it!  The best example is The Miz.  He started out on MTV’s “The Real World” and parlayed that into a wrestling deal!  He told everyone he would do it and believed that with all of his heart.  How much do you believe in your success?  Have you affirmed your goals? 

3.  A Great Tagline / Catch Phrase -  Every memorable wrestler has some line they use every time you see them so you remember them.  Do you smell what ……………  What you gonna do when ……………..  And that’s the bottom line……………..  It might sound cheesy, but with all of the noise in the world you need to make a little so possible clients remember you.

Have A Plan, Not A Plea.

Shameless plug 

*The thoughts expressed here are not those of the WWE and are no way endorsed by Ric Flair, Wwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooooooo!

Read More

Do You Give A Duck?

You’ve just had a major car accident and we need to hospitalize you for a week.  How much is your recovery worth?  You gotta pay if you wanna stay!

This is what happens everyday in our country.  Unfortunately many of us are in denial about the possibility of major unexpected events happening to us.  See how this recent study shows how optimistic people are:



Not to be morbid or a pessimist, but here’s the reality:

• In 2012, around 2.36 million people were injured in car accidents and 33, 561 died.¹
• Every 34 seconds someone suffers a heart attack and in 2010 1.9 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed for people 20 and older (results are over 1,900 deaths a day).²
• 1 in 2 men as well as 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime (results are over 1,500 deaths a day).3
• Over 37 million Americans are classified as disabled; about 12% of the total population. More than 50% of those disabled Americans are in their working years, from 18-64.⁴
• The average length of a hospital stay is 4.8 days and it costs an about $10,000.⁵

Here’s the complimenting financial reality of this:



Now having the wool pulled off of you, what are you doing to prepare?

Unfortunately it is not a question of it things will happen, but when will they happen and how will you handle them.  It’s bad enough these events are physically, mentally, and emotionally straining, but adding the financial aspect is adding insult to injury (no pun intended). 

Quite simply, as I always say:

Have A Plan, Not A Plea.

Do something to help your employees prepare for this.  Undoubtedly if they work for you for some length of time, their families often expect owners to do something to help.  It’s the right thing to do, but do it the smart and fair way.

1. http://www.nhtsa.gov
2. http://www.heart.org , http://www.diabetes.org
3. http://www.cancer.org
4. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2011
5. The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Read More

The Worst Thing About Ambition

The worst thing about ambition is that we don’t all have it.

I come from humble beginnings……… I don’t say that to be dramatic, but to add context to this and to maybe see why I’m wired oddly!

My father is a U.S. Army helicopter technician and has done that for the past 40+ years proudly.  My mother works at the base commissary (grocery store) and has for 30+ years.  Both of my parents showed me, taught me, and instilled in me the value of hard constant work.  They also scared me with it because I didn't want to have to do the exact same job that long! 

While they did this, at the same time my mother has this “everything will be all right” air about her.  She has this hopeless optimism.  No matter what was going on she was always optimistic.  I mean no matter what.  She especially did this when it came to my future.  I didn't quite know the value of it then and quite frankly it could be annoying at times!  That’s one of the very same characteristics of ambition!

See, I had the typical go to college ambition because that’s all my parents knew and I thank them for that.  I never had the entrepreneur ambition or at least I didn't know I did.  I didn't realize it till I was on a full scholarship studying computer engineering and it hit me that I don’t want to build machines or work on software my whole life! 

Long story short, I switched majors to accounting and took a long break in school, but had full time jobs selling in the process.  Enter ambition.  Sales and accounting showed me I can do or be what I want to really.  Problem is, a lot of adults don’t really feel that way about any adults.

The worst thing about ambition is that people who don’t have it don’t understand it.  They even shame it.  It’s so bad that somebody who wants to work hard enough to get a raise at a “job” bashes someone who has a business they are trying to grow.  Why is it we tell children they can be anything they want to but once they cross over the 18 year old line we way you have to get a respectable job, work hard, and maybe retire if you've climbed the ladder enough?

I respect everyone who can and has the desire to do that, but why do I get looked at like an alien for wanting to challenge myself to increase my business to what I want?  America was built on this but it is so watered down now that 1% of our population is the “upper echelon.” 

The worst thing about ambition is you don’t necessarily choose when it shows up.  Sure kids all have it, but somewhere around middle school we forget.  I didn't recapture mine until my 30’s.  This is after drifting through my 20’s having short fizzles of it, but since it arrives now people think I need to spend at least 15 years trying to get comfy!  Why can’t I want to spend 5 years pushing myself so the next 10 are cake?

The worst thing about ambition is it is not an accepted characteristic in all avenues and ages. If you accept mine now, great, if not then you will later.

Read More

Chrome, An Essential Business Mineral

I LOVE GOOGLE CHROME!!!!

Did I come on a little strong…………………….?

I can’t talk enough about the productivity elements that Chrome offers to business people.  I've battled between Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome for a while, but now I’m a heavy metal head!

Why you ask?  Let me tell you:

1.  Synchronization – I drive a lot for my work and I have an Android phone so it is great to have all of my contacts and prospective addresses synced to my phone and other devices.  Even if I’m just thinking about going to a place, if I searched it on my notebook it quickly pops up on my phone (huge time saver).

2.  Speed – I know Chrome does use a lot of resources on your computer, but when it’s going it’s very fast (I’m all about time saving).

3.  Extensions -  This is the number 1 reason why I love Chrome.  I've found some great extensions that make my work a lot more productive and insightful.  Here’s a section on those  (the bullet title links go to the Chrome Web Store):

1.  Stayfocused – do you ever find yourself just sitting in your email inbox or drifting around LinkedIn or Twitter because of one notification?  Stayfocused allows you to set a timer for websites you use and then when the time expires you cannot login to these sites until the next day.  I’ll tell you what, when you know you can’t get into your email until the next day you look at it with more focus, speed, and efficiency!

2.  PowerInbox – this one just allows you to see any social media emails more completely.  Follow people from your email and unsubscribe from a list right from the inbox without even opening the email!

3.  mxHero Toolbox - Best extension ever!  I send a lot of emails and the fact that this one sends the tracking response right to your email you can see if you have a response on your phone.  Even schedule emails for later and set the email to remind you if you don’t receive a reply by a certain time.  Huge email supercharger!!

There’s a few more, but I think these 3 will get you well on your way to web wizardry!

Read More

I Got 99 Problems And ……….

……. Healthcare is number 1 !!



The new year is here and for a lot of people improving their health is a resolution.  Now it’s a mandated law for all of us! 

With that being said, this creates a new budget for a lot of people.  This can either be something that has never been in a person’s budget, an increase in an existing budget, or a decrease.  Either way, a lot of health insurance deductibles are rising. 

This is similar to what happens in the automotive insurance world because people choose a low monthly payment with a high deductible.  I believe this is because most car damage wouldn't be a necessity to fix.  Quite frankly, it’s a little less important to fix your windshield than to fix your heart.  Therefore a lot of people will be financially exposed by going from an average deductible of $2,000 to $4,000.  This doubles the amount that you are responsible for towards your health carrier.  Health expenses planning should be as high on your list as getting your beach body because they both need to be handled by March!

The great thing about this new law is that it greatly improves citizens access to means of preventative care and reduces small emergency costs.  You have to realize though that these health insurance companies will get their money one way or another.  Either you will pay more monthly and less at the hospital or pay rock bottom monthly and take out a loan when you’re in the ER…….

Plan for the worst and hope for the best is what my wife has always said and now we all really should.  Don’t let a decision to get a cheap insurance bill now affect  your family later when you actually have to use that plan.  Cover your risk (the deductible) so bankruptcy doesn't cover you.

Have a plan not a plea.

Read More

This is really a problem….

In 2013 the United States personal savings rate was 4.20%.  That means that a little over 4% of a household’s income is saved over a period of time. 

4%

The median household income is about $51,017 ₁  with an average household size of 4.16 people ₂………………

That means that about $2,000 is saved a year (yeah right) and that is to be used for retirement, emergencies, hospital bills, and child expenses…………

With the new policies for the Healthcare Exchanges rolling out, it will not be odd to see a deductible of $4,000 for the Silver plans (the “benchmark” plan offering the federal savings subsidy).  In general, before Obamacare arose, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the average deductible was $2,086₃ for a single person.  That number is already outside of the bounds of the average American’s savings.  Now double that………….

Imagine one doctor visit eating up years of savings for you and you have health insurance………..

The funny thing is that the deductibles for most Silver plans is $4,000, but the maximum annual out of pocket is $6,350.  So the Affordable Care Act does greatly help with preventive care, which all human beings need to improve their quality of life, but for the emergencies it only pays out about $2,000 which is what “we” save on average! 

The creation of national healthcare is a novel idea, but we all now need to intelligently plan our income and expenses so that we protect our futures. 

It’s great to have fire and pet insurance, but now you should look into income insurance, because if something disables you will you have the ability to pay your bills?

Have a plan not a plea.

_{1. Median Income Falls For 5th Year, Inequality At Record High http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/median-income-falls-inequality_n_3941514.html2. The demographic evolution of U.S. households  http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2013/02/18/the-demographic-evolution-of-u-s-households/3 . High-deductible health plans are a growing trend for employers  http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/09/28/5200346/high-deductible-health-plans-are.html}

Read More

Disney Drive

Hello all! 



I normally don’t get on a soap box, but I was feeling especially dirty and in need of cleansing............

I was watching some Christmas Disney movies with my son the other day when something struck me.  The spirit of Disney is the entrepreneurial spirit. 

Every Disney movie has the you can do it drive.  The impossible is possible notion. 

The movie that brought me to this idea depicted Mickey Mouse as a poor Christmas tree laborer (yeah right!  Mickey poor!) trying to do whatever he had to in order to get Minnie a gold necklace for Christmas. 
He had a horrible job with low pay, but he had a goal and a dream.

How many of you say that something is a must like Nemo finding his way home or like Simba reclaiming his throne?

Whether your 4 or 40, every single Disney movie is the life of an entrepreneur.  The world against you.  Odds so high you can’t see over them.  People doubting your every step from rise to rest. 

It was in that moment that I really saw the genius and soul of Walt Disney.  Although he is long passed, he was just a man that wouldn't quit.  Decades after his passing his movies still show that tenacity.  Just when days seem their bleakest and darkest, the hero pushes through a breakthrough. 

How close are you to getting your Princess Jasmine even though you’re a beggar?
How much more passion do you have to show to get a beauty if you’re a beast?
How many people have to tell you that you can’t be “real” before you change your wooden reality?

Whenever your situation gets you down you may not have to pop in an inspirational CD.  Just go through a child’s movie collection!  Think of it.  We teach children to dream from the moment they can see, but somewhere around puberty we forget to do that. 

Be a child.  Be foolish.  Be a dreamer.
Be that person who pulls the sword out of the stone when hundreds before you said it can’t be done.

Be Disney.

Read More

It won’t happen to me,……..right?

The world we live in today is riddled with ways to die…………With that being said, we have more technological advances in medicine now to survive these things.

Daily I deal with people and their future.  It’s amazing the things I hear from them though.
For some reason, all people think they are impervious to cancer or a heart attack won’t happen to them. 

Some will even say “if I die I die” or they will pray so it doesn't happen to them. 
Sadly enough, a lot of these people either have family members that have had major diseases or they themselves have the warning signs of them.

61% of people say they would rather die of a crippling disease than live with it because of the money…………..

1 in 2 men will develop cancer in their lifetime……….

1 in 3 women will develop cancer in their lifetime………..

Over 1,900 people a year die of heart related issues…………

These stats come from the American Cancer Society and CDC, not my logic.

With all of this evidence around, why are we in more denial than ever?

Quite simply, it’s the money.  People hope that nothing happens to them because they can’t afford it.  It therefore creates a culture of “I don’t want to jinx myself” or “if I don’t talk about it or think about it, it won’t happen to me.”  If only that were true.

This post is a cry for help.  Not for me, but for America.  It goes back to the old saying, prepare for the worst and hope for the best. 

People work too hard to get where they are and it’s a shame they can lose everything in an instant just because they weren't prepared for an event.

If saving money is extremely hard for your situation or your staff’s you really need to look at some new strategies to help deal with some of life’s inevitable tragedies.

 I don’t mean to be a downer, but it’s better to be a little uncomfortable thinking about this now than when something happens and you have no- way to deal with it…………..

Read More

Your Family or Your Staff???

Even if you’re of the best health you’ve probably had some kind of conversation or read something about healthcare reform this year.  If not, here’s some news for you!
Starting October 1st, 2013 the people of the United States will have the opportunity to  apply for medical benefits facilitated by the Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare as the media has coined it.
This is so significant to small business owners (which are the majority of businesses in the US) because a lot of them have been leaving their staff out when it comes to medical coverage. 
All too often I hear business owners say “I don’t offer my employees benefits, but I’m all taken care of.”  When did this divide happen?
It’s been gradual, but now according to the Kaiser Family Foundation about 56% of employees are covered by health plans offered by their employers.  At the same time though, most of these plans come with a deductible of $1,000 or more, but these same workers statistically have less than $1,000 in savings (about 51%) and 60% of people say they live paycheck to paycheck!₁
So what do we do for 44% with no coverage or the 40% living paycheck to paycheck?  That is what the ideal of ObamaCare is.  Yet, why do so many small business owners not care to educate their staff on what is going on?
69% of small business owners are either not prepared or don’t know that to do for the October 1st deadline set by the Department of Labor to simply educate their staff₂. 
So why is their family more important than their employee’s family?
Once their was a time when your employee was family.
Now I’m not asking every business owner to invite their employees over for brunch, but at least realize they are your most valuable asset.
Yes, you are the visionary, the drive, and the force, but they are the business. 
It’s like a great composer is nothing without an orchestra.  At least tell them where to get instruments……..
60% of employees look to their boss for information about benefits₃.  If you’re not going to offer any benefits then at least take this milestone as a chance to improve morale. 
If you just show an employee “hey, I can’t pay for your benefits, but I’m going to try to help you find the best thing for you and your family” it will speak volumes to them.  Heck, it may gain you an employee for life.
Do something different with this huge change.  Don’t follow the herd.  Mainly because the herd thinks that this whole thing only applies to companies with 50 employees or more.
WRONG!!!!!!
Read for yourself and be a real leader to your staff.
1.http://www.creditdonkey.com/increase-savings-2013.html
2.http://ifawebnews.com/2013/03/28/small-businesses-confused-about-aca-will-need-help-moving-into-2014/
3.https://sell.aflac.com/Training%20and%20Resources/Business%20Insights/HCR%20Page.aspx

Read More

3 Things The Zimmerman Trial Taught Me

This is a very controversial and emotional topic right now for many, but I need to weigh in the importance of some of the things I personally learned from this trial.

The stage was already set for a firestorm when a case of a young black teen is slain by a half Caucasian adult and the state wants to sweep it under the rug.

Interestingly, when the stage is set for trial finally, you can see some masterful marketing and psychology at hand.

1. Know Your Audience
• 85% of court cases are won at jury selection according to Herald Price Fahringer in 1993.  Why is that?  This is simply due to the fact that either side of the court room can use demographics, education, gender, income, etc to pick a panel that can best understand “their side.”  Marketing needs to do the same process.  If you know who can best benefit from your products or services than you can present their needs in the best light.  This is where you start seeing what people say on your social media channels or even what your competitor’s customers are saying.  If you don’t know who needs what you have then you’re pretty much doomed…….
2. Fear Of Loss Is Greater Than Desire To Gain
• The jury had the task of basically deciding if Zimmerman sought out to kill Martin.  Not if he did it because that is evident, but if he planned or chose to do it maliciously.  With that task they can gain the joy of Martin’s family getting justice or have the Zimmerman family lose their son and the jury having to hold onto that loss of freedom.  Not to say one choice is better than the other, but the defense did an excellent job of instilling that point.  Approach your customers this way.  Nobody likes making a decision to go forward with a financial decision and then losing money on it.  MAKE SURE THEY WON’T LOSE ANYTHING!!  If they are, then tell them.  You may not earn any business then, but you will gain their respect and possible future business. 
3. Use Emotions To Your Advantage (Ethically)
• One interesting thing to note from Anderson Cooper’s interview with juror B37 is the fact how she kept referring to the defendant as George.  Not Mr. Zimmerman or Zimmerman as most of us know him.  The women felt sorry for Zimmerman or felt horrible about what they had to do.  Think about how your prospective clients feel about you or your product.  You have to know why or how they will feel good about a decision to accept what you offer.  Communicate with them with that in mind at all times.  Use it to help them come to a conclusion that will make them happy.  That’s how we gauge decisions.  We want to feel good about decisions.  If you have to bring up how sad someone will be when they don’t work with you (ie not having life insurance when your spouse dies……) then that is ok just as long as you turn it into a positive and you first and foremost know you will benefit them with your offering. 

This tragedy will go down in American history for many reasons.  I just choose to look at things from various angles.  Ultimately what I witnessed was great application of psychology from the jury selection phase to the verdict.  That is my way of taking something positive from such a long and drawn tragedy. 

Read More

4 Reasons Why You Need the AWESOME Google+

Ok, I have a Gmail (awesome), use Chrome as my browser (double awesome), and I use an Android phone (double dipped awesomeness).
You may say I'm a little biased in my loving the Google+ update, but here's why you will love it (if you don't already)

1.Currently, Google+ is bigger than Twitter with 359 million active users!

• I always talk to business owners who don't understand the point of Twitter.  For a lot of business types, Twitter doesn't help much.  On the contrary, everyone needs a Google+ account to link to their former Google Places entry.  At 2 billion searches a day you need to be as integrated with their platform as possible to be included in the searches.  In 2010 it was found that 94% of web traffic from Google comes from being ranked 1st on a page.  Plus with the +1 feature, if any of a person or their friends +1 your page then you are more likely to show up in their results (recommendations from a friend are more relevant than a stranger).

2.The Layout is the best combination of Pinterest and Facebook (I call it PinBook!)

• Pinterest is the fastest growing social network ever and Google noticed.  Only thing is it is not very "social".  The comments are pretty much buried in the stream.  The new layout is clean and engaging.  Any business owner can arrange their products in a very clean professional way without needing a fancy web designer!  Plus, your posts will directly link to your Google+ Local listing.

3.If You’re in Any Business With High Quality Imaging This Is A Must!!

• Google+ is now going to be your darkroom!   In an all cloud based system Google can automatically enhance the color and contrast tones in an image, remove read eye, make your plush greens really pop, soften skin, sharpen certain parts of an image remove noise, create an HDR from a set of images, and toggle back and forth any changes easily!  The greatest feature is called Awesome.  Basically, if you ever upload a series of images, Google+ will try to animate them in a GIF automatically………..If you take a bunch of family portraits it will stitch together the best possible one………If you panorama it will create the best from your batch………..This is all on autopilot people!!!!

4.Lastly, The Hashtag System is  A Marketing Dream

• Ok, everybody knows what a hashtag is.  It can be a great marketing tool to tie into a niche, but many don’t use it.  Honestly, before the update I only used them on Twitter and Pinterest.  Google has them beat! 
• Basically, you can set your own hashtags or Google will set one for you based on the context of the post!
• Behind the scenes Google will identify and rank any relevant conversations across the network.
• When you click the hashtag, it flips the post over and you can see related content within that card!!  That is live SEO and potentially far more successful if done correctly.   Gee wiz!!!
• This system gives you an extremely easy way to be found in someone’s interests as long as your posting relevant content that others find useful. 

 

In short,

 

Google+ has arrived!

 

There are a total of 41 improvements to Google+, but those are just my top 4.

Photo credit:  www.myviralweb.com

Read More

You’re Going To Lose A Lot Of Money

Did you know that since 2005, more than 80% of all credit card breaches have occurred at a small business?

Sounds like a horror movie doesn’t it?  Sadly, it is reality. 

Everyday I see more and more businesses being “sloppy” about PCI compliance (Payment Card Industry if you’re a little more than sloppy……).

• Some have all of their clients credit card numbers on an Excel spreadsheet anyone can get to……………
• Some have a binder with all of the customer’s credit info so they can charge them on a recurring basis without having to call…………….
• Some even have to get a customer’s credit card number written on a basic invoice with one of their technicians who later brings it to the shop to be charged………..

All of these are a big no no that can result in fines anywhere from $90 to $500,000 and possible civil litigation from the consumer on top of that!!


In 2006, 40% of businesses that reported breaches had them come from contractors, employees, and business partners……………..

So how do you protect yourself?

1. Protect stored card holder data
1. If you have to keep customer’s credit info, do it the smart way.  This means no paper records or folder full of the info.  Use the computer.  It's kind of a useful tool............
2. Encrypt the data
1. The easiest way to do this is to have a payment processing system that has encryption with it already.  Preferably one that has a web based system of storing the data.  That way it is never physically in your possession. 
3. Assign a unique user ID to each person that may have access to the data
1. This does 2 things.  One is that not just anybody can access the data.  Two is that if something does happen, you can more readily find the culprit.

In short, if you’re keeping your customers’ credit info do an assessment of your security.  If it’s still “old school” you definitely need to upgrade to a safer and more modern system for your customers and your protection. 

Read More

3 Things All Small Businesses Should Do

So you've been in business for a while.  Things are going pretty good.  You're paying your bills.  Your doors are still open,............but you're they're all the time!!  

Are you running your business or is your business running you?  And when I say "run" it I mean being the most efficient with the least amount of your most valuable resource, ………..time.  

Owning your own business is supposed to provide you the greatest luxury of owning your time.  A poll in 2009 poll concluded that out 39% of small business owners work more than 10 hours per day.  Struggling businesses are probably closer to 70% working more than 12 hours a day! 

So how can you stop this conundrum? 

By being more efficient. 

There are a lot of missed opportunities for marketing and sales in small businesses  that some know about and some never thought of.

1.  Social Media

I can't stress this enough.  For some reasons businesses think they don't need social media.  Take Twitter for instance.  Stephanie Wagner says "Twitter not only facilitates real-time businesses-to-consumer communication, but it also facilitates business-to-business and consumer-to-consumer communication. Twitter has transformed the platform of business communication. " That is marketing gold.  Plus,
ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS ARE FREE!!!!!

2.  Get customers’ emails (if you’re not already)

Email is one of the biggest revolutions in marketing today.  Even if you’re not a great marketer, it provides great opportunity.  Jay Baer concluded from a study that 44% of email recipients made at least one purchase last year based on a promotional email.  In 2012, 85% of the world uses email…………So basically, if you get all of your customer’s email addresses you may be able to get 1 extra sale from 44% of them!  That’s potentially huge!!  Don’t miss the chance.  The easiest way to get their emails is to use it for their receipt or invoice.  If you’re not paperless, then hurry up!

3.  Watch your competition

This may seem like common sense, but I don’t mean just watch the competition and hate them.  If they appear to be doing more than you, see why.  Are they using more social media?  Is their page better placed on search engine results?  Are their online listings more complete than yours?  There’s nothing wrong with learning from your competition.  There is something wrong with being obliterated by them for simple reasons though!

Read More

Don’t Tweet Like A Twit

Hi guys!  So let’s start off with a few updates on social media’s impact.  Namely Twitter. 
Last year, Twitter was the number 2 tool for social media branding at 53% of businesses using it.  Facebook was number one at 83%, but that is a different strategy.  I want to talk about a few quick tips for Twitter, because I see a lot of businesses make these mistakes. 
Top 5 tips:

1. Know that you’re tweeting!
1. You’d be amazed about how many companies don’t know what or when they’re tweeting and then have the gall to say, “I don’t think Twitter helps my business”…………  You definitely need some automizing to help your tweeting, but if you don’t know when or what it’s helping you with then you’re kind of wasting the web’s time….
2. Stop talking about yourself all the time!
1. You know that friend you hate to talk to because the entire conversation is about them?  Don’t be that guy on Twitter.  So many people get surprised that they don’t have followers when all they talk about is specials and promos.  There’s only so many times someone will want to see you say thing are half off before they’re all the way gone…………
3. Be helpful!
1. Try to provide your audience with some knowledge you’ve gained from your industry or life experiences.  Sure you want to gain sales from these people, but social media is like a Hanzel and Gretel situation.  Give people a few crumbs to lead them to the real meal!
4. Get to the point!
1. Yes twitter allows 140 characters, but don’t do the long sentence … thing.  People don’t respond to those that often unless you have a very compelling 137 characters.  Try to leave something hard hitting and a quick take away with a link attached.  If you expect everyone to read all of your “extended” tweets you’ll have a lot of extended alone time.
5. Be fun!
1. Last year 91% of mobile internet access was spent socializing.  Not self promoting!  Talk about fun things sometimes.  Provide cool news articles related to your field or how you help people.  People will read this a lot sooner and you develop a subliminal link with them.  Then you’re able to slip in  very small marketing things here and there. 

Social media is very much a cat and mouse game.  You  cannot expect quick techniques to work or not spend any time planning.  You have to be likeable especially when you consider how short the shelf life of a tweet is. 
Definitely get familiar with sites like Hootsuite, Tweetcaster, and Buffer.  They’re 3 of my favorite social media tools and greatly help. 

Read More

3 Reasons Why Pinterest is Important to Your Business

     So what is Pinterest you may ask (if you are really asking……….watch some TV)?  Pinterest is one of the fastest growing social media platforms ever.  Why?  Because it’s so simple. 

     All it is is an assortment of photos in a timeline-like arrangement.  There’s very little chatter, but a lot of eye candy.  The reason this platform is taking off is because of it’s simplicity and it’s focus on photos (if you didn’t know, photos are especially important to your ranking with search engines). 

     Here’s the great part (for some businesses).  The community is 80% female and a lot of them are buyers!

1.     According to a survey done by Bizrate 69% of users of Pinterest either purchased an item they found on Pinterest or an item they want to buy. *

69%!!!!!!!

     I don’t know about you, but having a source of customers that possibly 69% of them buy is HUGE!!!  It’s like pins on a bulletin board! …………..nobody like that……..really……….anyway. 

2.      Images play a key part in your ranking ranking online.  Images are typically ranked in searches now whether organically or not.  Therefore, you can take advantage of the organic aspect by having people pin your images or by being followed.  These follows and repins are a great source of backlinks (make sure your images point back to something of yours.  Hopefully a product page which is why I say this helps certain platforms more than others). 

3.      Lastly, Pinterest is another source of social influence.  Yes Facebook is still important, but you can integrate the two together and tap another market (your Facebook account can directly link to your Pinterest to help save you some time).  The way I see it, the more way you have for your message to be heard, the better. 

Take advantage of this opportunity.  I am.  With somewhere between 10 and 20 million users, somebody will want to hear what your saying…………..right???

Read More

4 Top Reasons Why SEO May Be A Waste of Money

So a lot of small business owners, in fact 99% of them have a web page.  Of these owners many of them pay a clearing house or some agency for SEO (search engine optimization) to ensure that their page ends up on page 1 of a Google search.  Often though when I ask owners about this they have no idea of what is being done for this.

My opinion is that this can be a frivolous expense because most of these owners are not utilizing the the power of social media.  In fact, most of these owners either:

• don’t have a social media page
• only have 1 type of page
• don’t know anything about their page
• only posted < 10 things to it.

The image above depicts how Google ranks you in a search.  You obviously want to be the yellow or red face.  Getting their requires many links though.  The problem with a lot of SEO is it is based on random or even blind keyword entries and it is expensive.  With social media you open up the infinite possibilities of back links (connecting your content to someone else’s page for visibility). 

ALL OF THIS IS FREE!!!

Regularly posting to social media establishes you as an expert and can get you an audience you never thought you had.

91% of data usage on smart phones is used on social media

That’s huge! Take a business like a pet store.  Whenever someone comes in to play with a dog or to purchase one you should snap a picture (have releases ready if they are ify about it).  Upload the picture to Facebook or Pinterest.  If they are on FaceBook they will be tagged in the photo and notified.  This gives you a link to their page, a possible friend request, and maybe a Like (more likes mean more rotation in someone’s news feed which also results in a higher search rank).  That is a potential gold mine of free marketing!

Don’t forget about Google +.  Since Google has the largest market share of searches they also give preference to their profile pages.  If you don’t have one then make one.  It will be a great way for people to find more about you after they discover you on Google Places.

In short,

WAKE UP!!!!!

I used to only deal with people face to face and didn’t use social media for myself, but I have had success with helping others implement it.  It’s a necessity in business and much less of a financial strain than a lot of SEO promises.

 

I hope these tips help your business grow!

Read More

3 Major Revenue Generators Businesses Overlook

Business is slow. Business is slow. Business is slow………………………..

I constantly hear this from business owners.

Next I ask, “what are you doing about it?” Typical response is, “I’m online”, but that is very vague. These businesses I talk to say having a website is being online….

WRONG!

Having a website can actually be a waste of money at times. You can have the most glorious website ever and be paying at upwards of $2000 a month for it, but have no traffic. You need to be proactive about marketing . I myself used to solely use my in person interactions with people for my consulting, but I have since been on line as I would always help them grow their presence. I figured I might as well put my knowledge to work for me (it’s hot in Las Vegas and being in 110 degree heat kind of sucks……)

The internet is very organic now. Social media populates the internet a lot in various platforms. There are typically 3 main things I recommend to businesses that are not “hip” as to what to do

1. Facebook religiously. If you have a store or office of some sort, put a lot of pictures of it online. Promotions, items you carry, silly pictures, whatever. These are the things that generate the most Likes online. If you didn’t know, the Likes serve almost as an imbedded ad in someone’s page and moves you up on the list of searches compared to a similar business with no Likes. Every one that Likes you will see your page show up in their news feed. FREE SUBLIMINAL MARKETING!!! Don’t forget to be a friend to people though. Respond to their comments and give helpful tips to people. Don’t just be a salesman all the time.

2. Twitter a little more than Facebooking (funny verb). Twitter provides a great short commercial. The shelf life of a tweet can be very short, but if you tailor it properly and set up some sort of automatic posting of it (Buffer, HootSuite, etc) then you’re likely to generate some sales. Remember, 91% of the internet used on smartphones is used socializing. Grab some of that market, FOR FREE!!

3. The new guy Google+ is very important. If you hadn’t noticed, you can’t leave anonymous reviews on Google anymore. You have to have a Google account. On the flip side, businesses need to have a Google account to give people a place to effectively see who they are. You’d be surprised how many people have an unclaimed business on Google. CLAIM IT!! It’s a representation of you. If someone wants to leave you a positive review, they might not do it if your page has no photos or info about you. Have some pride and own your page. Again, IT’S FREE MARKETING! Put up pictures here as well and products you carry.

Since the web is organic, don’t forget to link all of these platforms together. All of these things grant you exposure. The more exposure you have, the more customers you have. It’s been that way since men sold furs in village squares! There are still other places to go (YouTube, Pinterest, FourSquare, etc), but I deem these ones the most important for any consumer based business.

Don’t kill yourself doing all of this manually. Get some kind of software to help you automate this for God’s sake.

PS – I hope these tips help you to not be slow!

Read More

4 Insights To Improve Your Business Now

So I was talking to a business owner about their current situation. They ran a furniture store. Pretty good inventory and a decent location because it was near some new housing and not too far from a military base. They were drowning. As I spoke to them more they said “we don’t understand the new way of business.” That resounded with me because a lot of small business owners are thinking this, but won’t say anything. They were used to the old school ways of people having extra cash and buying the most expensive things or referrals being their life blood

THE GLORY DAYS ARE OVER!

(at least for now)

As I spoke to them they also though the newspaper was still a viable form of marketing………..

Therefore, I wrote this blog to let you know the simple, inexpensive tips I bestowed upon them to get them going now. These are sales and marketing tips that can be applied to any business format.

1. Business is getting a customer and keeping them for life. This needs to be a way of life. Unfortunately businesses lose an average 10% of their customers each year for various reasons. A way to curtail this is to realize that you began a relationship when they spent their money on you. Target will never know me. Though they try withemail marketing. Why don’t you? Send thank you emails. Ask them a bit about their lives. Yourself is your favorite topic. Your clients feel the same way about themselves. Indulge them. Who knows, you may develop some genuine relationships like people did in the good old days.

2. Don’t throw a lot of money at advertising if you can’t or unless you’ve exhausted other means. The place I dealt with instantly thought about the newspaper. That costs money. Do you have a Google page? No. Do you have a Twitter? No. Do you have any web presence? No. So how will the Sunday paper help you?! Unless your audience is only seniors, forget about the paper. About 90% of people say that online reviews impact their purchases somehow. If you’re not involved online then you’re missing 90% of the people shopping! That’s huge, isn’t it? Try the free means of advertising before you blow money you’re losing. IT’S FREE FOR GOD’S SAKE!!!

3. Do not every begin the relationship with your customers based on budget. I know that is hard to hear for some people, but it is a proven no no that great sales people live by. A lot of small businesses can’t hire a sales force or the one they have isn’t stellar. In this furniture store they developed a habit of asking “what is your budget?” This cripples you. You should approach with as many open questions as possible. What are you looking for in particular? Where will you be using it? Tell me about that area. How long did you have your last __? Budget becomes a last piece because if they give you all of the emotional reasons of why they are even looking for something then the logic will come into place. It reminds me of a time when me and my wife were in a hotel and needed to just get some lotion. We stopped at one of the seemingly unattended cosmetic booths and used some lotion. A young lady approaches and starts to ask if we need any facial products. We say no, but then she asks what are you using now? This opens up a whole conversation of what we tried, what did or did not work, what success she had with her product versus others. Needless to say, our innocent stop for lotion led to a cosmetic purchase because she appealed to our emotions. We rationalized the price afterwards. Most of your clients behave in the same manner so live by emotions not logic.

4. Look at things from your client’s eyes. All of us forget that there are 2 sides to business some times. We get so hung up on what we want and how great our business is that we forget that our customers often have limited resources. This doesn’t mean treat them like scum, but instead show empathy and figure out how you can genuinely help them. If you sell any physical product, really figure out what your product will mean to them and convey that back. If you sell a service, try to really understand how your service will improve THEIR LIFE. We often times know we have a great product that we know everybody needs, but people need it for different reasons. A lot of purchases happen because people feel comfortable with the salesperson. You, as a small business owner need to develop that skill until you can hire somebody that comes with that.

In short, your customers are people too and the internet is one of businesses greatest tools. Few things we do are done with total logic. A large majority of our decisions are emotional. Print and television advertising is dying. Print is losing about 39% of advertising, television is losing about 7% per year, and internet advertising is growing at least 10% each year. Catch the wave!

PS – I hope these tips help your business grow.

Read More