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.

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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!

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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. 

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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!

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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. 

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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???

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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!

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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.

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Your Clients Will Love When You Do This

Running a business is hard. Period.

So how can you make it easier is the prime question. A lot of people don’t realize a core element of “business”.

Old business was a better example of how it should be done.

Let’s talk about Jimmy’s Shake Shop. Jimmy made the best shakes anybody had tried so he decided to open a shop. Jimmy personally spoke to every customer that came in the shop. Jimmy really befriended a lot of them too.

That element is mostly gone these days. Now I’m not saying be fake, but make an effort. Business is really making a customer and keeping that customer for life. Sadly nowadays companies lose around 10% of their customers every year. This is really sad because a lot of people don’t gather that 80% of their business is often generated by 20% of their customers!

In this digital age there is a quick and painless way to “befriend” your customers.

Did you know that half of all local searches are done on smart phones and that 91% of mobile internet access is used to socialize!

What this means is, use this to your advantage. Empower your customers if anything. Too often I see small business owners set up some service to bombard their customers with Twitter ads or meaningless updates. That actually has an adverse effect.

Use it for advertising , but do so in such a manner that doesn’t cry desperation and that you can follow up on. I remember once I tweeted back on a deal I saw and never got a response.

Don’t do anything that overwhelms you. Once you find a platform that works for you, run with it.

I cannot stress the power of empowerment. That’s what Jimmy did. He would try to help his customers with anything he knew. People already respect you more because you had the stones to start a business. Send some educational info out pertaining to your business. Don’t give the secret recipe, but people love when someone in their network is a giver as well. No body wants someone to entirely take from them.

I hope these tips help your business grow!

PS – Tweet them if they do!! Ha ha, ……..see how I did that. I kid I kid!

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1 Little Tool That Makes A Huge Difference

Why aren’t customers beating your door down with handfuls of money?!

Face it. We all want more. The paradox in that is WE ALL want more.

Since there is inevitably a shrinking pie, you need a better knife to get a better piece. So where do you start?

Your competitive edge. This is a phrase that Warren Buffet has stood behind and so should you.

What REALLY makes you different from the other guys?

I’ll tell you an easy way to get a competitive edge for free.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

This can be really simple and cheap things:

1. Follow up every customer about a week or so after service is rendered (sooner is ok as well)

a. A real important thing to know about this step is that you have a manageable customer records management system. Paper will kill you, so make sure you have some digital system in place.

2. Email your customers on a no annoying frequent basis (people like to know you’re thinking about them. We’re all vain…….)

3. Ask customers for reviews (this gives you valuable feedback and free exposure on the web)

a. This can be done verbally, with a sign, or through email

4. Send reminders of coming back or checkups (this is a strong tool that Amazon uses. You should too!)

The economy is busted still, so we all need to get back to basics!

I hope these tips help your business grow!

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This Is Why You Should Go Paperless

You may have heard of paperless offices.
If you haven’t, you’ve lived under a tree!
So why should you make the plunge into paperless?

There are a plethora of reasons (bear in mind that a paperless office can still print things out. The point though is to avoid this as much as possible. A lot of owners get scared that “paperless” means there is no other option.)

1. Saving money: You can save upwards of $100,000 a year by going paperless because you avoid paper costs, receipt paper costs, printing toner, mailing costs, and storage! That amount can be the difference in a business still running for another month sometimes.
2. Protecting yourself: This is in the case of receipt paper. A lot of people don’t know this, but receipt paper contains high levels of BPA and BPS. These chemicals are bad for your health as they cause cancer, diabetes, obesity, etc. Imagine your staff being exposed to cancer causing chemicals every single day!
3. Marketing: If you go paperless you open up a new venue of marketing. Typically paperless systems integrate a lot more email into the routine. THIS IS FREE MARKETING GOLD! When you get a client’s email you have all kinds of opportunities to increase revenue.
4. Improve accounts receivables: Surveys find that businesses who accept payments electronically are normally paid within 10 days versus 27 days for all other forms. Every owner I’ve dealt with wanted their money ASAP. Obviously electronic is faster because who carries checks?...........................Plus,
5. Reduce the amount of bounced checks: Back in 2000 it was estimated that 731 million checks would bounce for various reasons. Don’t get caught in that statistic having to chase a customer down! With a credit/debit card payment you find out right away if it is good, not days later! Plus people nowadays like the convenience of it. I rarely carry my checkbook.
6. Store records on a hard drive not a hard cabinet: A computer can take up inches and hold billions of records while paper takes up cubic feet! Find your transactions in split seconds, not minutes or even hours. Plus, if you pay for bookkeeping, it will save you money being able to present your records via email or USB rather than a folder (accountants hate folder files)

I could go on longer, but you might run out of paper………………………

Seriously though, get with it. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Change is good!

I hope these tips help your business grow!
PS – They will.

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What Everybody Should Know About Receipts

Shopping. Sometimes mundane yet sometimes exciting. We do it habitually but also impulsively.
It is such a joy, but carries a serious threat.

WE USE 4.3 MILLION TREES A YEAR FOR RECEIPTS!

We found that in the United States 80% of the population receives 1 to 3 receipts a day!  That is a ton of paper.  On top of that, 70% said they have no organized way of storing their receipts (think about the size of them.....You're either stapling or using envelopes....) plus 30% agree that paper receipts are a growing environmental concern. 

So basically,

MAJORITY OF PEOPLE HATE RECEIPTS!!!

ON TOP OF THAT, THERE IS THE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CHEMICAL BPA FOUND ALL OVER THE RECEIPTS.

Oh yeah, if you didn't know, BPA can cause Cancer, Diabetes,  obesity, infertility, and more.
Business owners have an opportunity now to make a difference. There is up to 19 times more BPA on a receipt than a plastic bottle. The only solution is to go paperless. Protect the earth and yourself!

Plus, paperless offices run far more efficiently.

I hope this tip helps your business grow!

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While You Are Drooling Over the iPhone 5 Launch, Don’t Forget These 3 Things

The new iPhone has been unveiled!!!!!!!!!
Stop everything! This is a code red!!!!!
………………………..
Ok, now on to serious matters. The world has been captivated with the iPhone since its inception. Why is that? Apple was a niche computer manufacturer with a decent share hold and the company had no experience in smartphones. So how did they poise themselves for success and hold onto it?
1. Exposure.
a. Apple is great for their showmanship. I can’t say that I really recalled electronic product launches as flashy and attractive like theirs at any given day. In CES you see a lot of these things and it’s kind of a captive audience. Apple will say, “let’s do it next Tuesday” and the entire world is there. They did this by having their hand in a little bit of everything. TV, magazines, and social media I think benefited them the most. It’s a whole culture of iPhone people and Apple does a good job of reinforcing why they should stay that way. Do that with your clients. This is a crucial building block . A lot of business owners don’t “house keep” their customer book and then they wonder why they lose them. Often times people will stay with a given business purely because of the customer service and interaction.
2. Developing a competitive edge.
a. I won’t say Apple is the best at making phones, but they are the best at creating small changes to software that people love. Siri is their biggest hit. Yes Android has Iris (I use androids myself), but it isn’t the same. Siri is a personality, a person in some households. People just like feeling like they have a little servant in their hand. You need to development a similar competitive edge. If you’re an auto repair shop amongst 100 try doing things like having follow up emails after service is rendered or offering coupons to your best customers from a database you create. Do that extra step and people will respond. I’m always befuddled when a fast food attendant smiles extra big, says please and thank you a lot, plus extra careful of my food. Develop that edge quickly!
3. Customer service
a. Apple is definitely top notch in this department. They bend over backwards for their customers most times. People like that. People like knowing they can get a phone and have a massive network of help using it. Let your customers feel the same way about you. Follow up with them in an appropriate time for your sales cycle. Ask them for reviews. Ask if they have any friends you can help . TELL THEM THANK YOU (should be automatic, but I thought I’d toss it in!).
Doing things like this can set you on a path to be the iPhone of whatever you do!
And customers will come back even if you just change your product/service a little bit……….
I hope these tips help your business grow!

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3 Things You Should Do Like The Kardashians

The Kardashian family. One of the most known, talked about, and followed families on the planet. And this is all for absolutely no reason! There’s not really any clear “talent” in this family, but America eats them up.

Why though?

What can you learn from them?

I’ll tell you 3 things they are talented at that you should apply to your business strategy

1. They are all over you like a spider monkey!

a. Every outlet of the media has Kardashian. They are on every single platform (as new as Pinterest is they already have 381 followers…). Try to get on all social media platforms that pertain to you (I don’t really think a Physician can use a Facebook or Pinterest that much without another marketing team). If you can fit it in your budget and time, then do it. There are a lot of them though. If need be, get some kind of software or add-on to your browser so you can make the spreading of one news update across all platforms very seamless.

2. They play to their strengths.

a. Pretty much the Kardashians are good at being outrageous and looking stylish. Yes they have an empire, but it’s built upon others intelligence and musk. They never talk about their intellectual capital unless it’s about a style they like. You do the same. Highlight your strengths to your clients and don’t be afraid to tell them you need to look for an answer. They’ll appreciate your honesty that way better than you making up something and they find out………

3. They form great strategic alliances.

a. People have long but forgotten the friendship of Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian. Then people thought “ooh, who’s the Armenian girl” and “awwww, aren’t they cute besties!” WRONG!!!! Kim was working on her first strategic alliance. After she received her notoriety and fame, they split. The family later learned to not just disappear after connecting with someone and I’m telling you now to not do that ever. No need to learn the hard way that this act can tarnish your name. Look for people in your community that you can help and who can help you, but be for real about it. Don’t be a leech.

So go out there and get your Kardashian on!!!

I hope these tips help your business grow! ………………………………….like Kim’s rear!

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I Bet You're Not Doing This 1 Simple Thing To Nurture Your Business

With so many tips out there for small business owners, what is the most powerful? ( When I speak of business owners on this topic I am mainly referring to those with a physical business). Some people think it is to invest in a commercial on TV (which is still pretty powerful). Others will say online directory marketing (also powerful).

Although both of these are great things to do, they also can be very expensive………some of these online advertisers charge $200 a month and you may not have a great return on that investment all of the time. So what is the solution?

GET EVERY CUSTOMER’S EMAIL ADDRESS!!!!!

A survey conducted in December 2009 by ExactTarget indicates that more than 50% of consumers make purchases as a direct outcome of email. It also drives more ROI than any other channel including social media and PPC advertising.

This little thing is one of the things that helped Amazon become the giant they are today. With your email submitted to them you get recommendations on products to buy, deals, and links to review what you bought. All are marketing gold!!

So here’s all you have to do in your brick and mortar business:

1. When you are completing a sale with a customer, get their email so you can send them a paperless receipt . Tell them you’re doing it for their safety and for the better of the environment (if you’re not paperless now, catch up!!).

2. Within 1-2 weeks (depending on your sales cycle) send another email with 3 parts:

a. Telling them thank you for choosing your company/product

b. A request for them to leave you a review (preferably on Google, but otherwise on SuperPages, YellowPages, Yelp, Bing, Yahoo, or HealthGrades if you’re a physician

c. A direct link to your social media pages (FaceBook, Twitter, Google+, Yelp, FourSquare, MySpace, or whatever you have!!)

This simple 2 email process does 2 things:

1. A little old fashioned courtesy in saying thank you again. This practice has all but died out unless in this fashion. I wouldn’t really expect you to send thank you notes, but at least you can do this……… People appreciate it.

2. Increases your chances of getting reviews. We all know that people will post negative reviews easily. The positive reviews sometimes need a push. If you contain a link right there in their email for where to go, then there is little to no excuse for them to not review you!

I hope these tips help your business grow!!

Paperless Joy: Paperless Business & Lifestyle Design (Google Affiliate Ad)

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2 Reasons Why You Must Use Social Media

Social media is a major entity in today’s world. It is estimated that there are about 58 million social media “users” to date. That’s a lot! Considering also now that 62% of adults worldwide use social media and 47% of people say that Facebook has the greatest impact on their purchase behaviors. With that said, you need to be in position for this.

In my opinion, the 2 strongest pieces of social media are:

1. Reviews: sorry folks, the days of anonymous reviews are gone! People want to know a real person reviewed a service or business, so pretty much all review locations require an account. Google especially!

These reviews are the most powerful obviously because in 2011 Google accounted for 1.722 quadrillion (that’s right,……quadrillion) searches!! You can have a lot of reviews from other sources, but the Google search algorithm gives extreme preference to their own reviews. YOU NEED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS NOW!

If you don’t have a Google+ account, ……….get one ASAP!!! After that, start contacting customers of yours that have Gmail accounts and ask them for reviews first. The others will possibly need to get your help to start leaving reviews, but help them.

2. Being a helpful source: People of all walks of life need help. The internet has helped place that needed assistance right at your fingertips. So commonly though, I see people simply abuse social media to send out constant posts about what they’re selling or producing. This typically becomes a turn off to people.

We are bombarded with marketing all day. Don’t fill up my wall with it!! I typically block or mute somebody that does this. Instead, try to teach someone.

If someone connects with you on social media and is not a friend then they are in need of your assistance in some facet. Teach them something you know that they may not. Show them why they should be connected with you. This practice takes more time in communication, but it provides quality communication and not just white noise.

I hope these tips help your business grow!

Send me any questions you have! If I don’t have the answer, I will find it!

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3 Things Businesses Can Learn From Political Ads

My name is Daryl Perry and I approve this message..........

Ok, so you're seeing possibly hundreds of political ads now.  Question is, are they effective?  Some would say yes.  Many would say no.  I've noticed a few things about these political ads that could be extremely effective in small business.

1.     Great Attention Grabbers

§  Most of these ads begin by focusing on some hot button topic.  What are your customer’s saying?  Do you know?  If you do you can print mail or email them something that solves their problem in exchange for your services.  People want help, no matter how much they scream they don’t.  They just want to be able to initiate it, so if you show you’ve listened then they are ok.

2.     Asking For A Clear Action

§  Every political ad ends in either telling you to raise funds for your candidate or to vote.  Always make your contacts with existing or potential clients include the same thing.  If you just send a message with no requested action, you’ll have no idea if it was received or effective.

3.     Use of Multiple Ways To Reach Us

§  My wife loves to tell me that Barrack Obama emailed her……. Dorky, but effective.  We see them on the TV, in our inbox, even on YouTube!  Be just as resilient with your business.  There are so many avenues of free marketing, but you have to go use them.  Yes it will take some work, but what business doesn’t!  The more places you are online, the better.

Hope these tips help you and your business!

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