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Business Success: You’re Either Improving or Getting Worse
July 1, 2010
I heard a quote once that I fell in love with: “If you aren’t improving you’re getting worse”. 
It just really struck a chord and has stuck with me over the years. Maybe because I could relate: there have been times in my life and my career when I’ve gotten too comfortable and stopped looking for opportunities to improve my skills. I stopped learning. I stopped challenging myself. I stopped growing. Some call it a rut but it really is more than that- it’s a regression.
In my small business marketing workshops and seminars I tell business owners that they must become students of their industries for their businesses to thrive. That means constantly looking for new opportunities to learn and grow. We need to be on top of changing trends in our industry, what our competitors are doing, the actions and behaviors of our target market if we want to stand out from the crowd.
Think about your hair stylist- would you rather go to someone who attends all the latest industry shows and events, reads the current beauty magazines, and continues to take classes or the one who has had her shop for 30 years and hasn’t so much as picked up a copy of “Hairstylist” magazine in 20? The same is true with your CPA, attorney, auto mechanic, plumber, and remodeler. Aren’t you more confident in a professional who stays current and continues to improve her skills? So think about that, with trends and technology forever changing- if we aren’t improving – we really are getting worse!
When so many small business owners out there are content with the status quo , you can rise to the top by continuing to learn, improve your skills and find new ways to grow your business. How are you a student of your industry? What do you do to continue to improve?
5 Ways to Fit Marketing into Your Schedule.
June 22, 2010
Oh I’m guilty of it too. We get caught up in the day-to-day of our work; answering phone calls, putting out fires, payroll, inventory, life…. But the fact is, the long-term success of any business is dependent upon finding
the time to invest in the future. And one of the surest ways to insure your business will be around for the long-haul and continue to grow and flourish is to implement and use a marketing plan (and a system).
Here are 5 tips to help you manage your time and fit marketing into your regular routine
- Tackle one thing at a time. You don’t have to accomplish everything in one day. Choose monthly themes: make June website optimization month and July list building month and focus on that one task for the entire month. This makes marketing less overwhelming and gets you started in the right direction.
- Set marketing appointments with yourself. I can’t stress how important this is. I do this and every successful business owner I know does this. Write it down, put it on your calendar, block it out and don’t book anything during those times. If it’s not on your calendar, it’s too easy to forget about it and become so overbooked you never get to it. This is your time to work on your business – take it and use it.
- Hire someone. It doesn’t have to be a full time person and it doesn’t even have to be a marketing expert. Hire an intern or a student to make follow up calls to customers or write introductory letters to prospects or potential strategic partners. You can even hire someone on a commission basis to make outbound sales and appointment setting calls, or a writer to write your blogs. With so many un- and under- employed people out there, it’s not hard to find people who are willing to do some hourly or commission based work for you and this will free up hours of your time that you can devote to more productive endeavors.
- Plan your activities out for a year. Yup, a whole year. Create a marketing calendar for an entire year and plan your weekly and monthly marketing activities. For example: every Monday, blog, update Facebook; Wednesdays, call 5 customers and 10 prospects; once per month, review website, do a postcard mailing. Once you have everything laid out in front of you it makes it so much easier to manage and actually get it done. I like a printed calendar and I hang it in my office right in front of me so I can visualize it. I also set reminders in outlook as a double-reminder that my business must not be neglected!
- Take baby steps. This kind of goes with #1- but in addition to taking things one at a time, baby steps is about finding what it takes to get over a hurdle and take that first step. Does a task seem overwhelming and insurmountable? Then don’t think about the big ole scary task – break it into smaller parts and tackle the little parts instead. Don’t think “Oh my god, I need 20 sales this month. How am I going to do that?” Instead think, “Ok, to get 20 sales, I need to get 5 this week – or one per day. What can I do to make 1 sale today?” Isn’t one sale a whole lot easier and manageable than 20? I love to think of things in terms of baby steps. I’ve never accomplished anything in life by tackling the entire task all at once. That just leaves me overwhelmed and paralyzed in fear. Instead, I tell myself, “take baby-steps, one small step at a time…”. I know that soon I’ll be taking bigger and bigger steps and before you know it I’ll be off and running. It works every time.
Managing your time and fitting marketing into your schedule are critical to the future success and sustainability of your business. Marketing is a vital component to building a business, getting and converting leads, satisfying customers, making sales, increasing profits and achieving your goals. With the proper marketing strategy and time investment the possibilities are endless!
Is Your Website Like a Bad Date?
June 15, 2010
I’ve seen a lot of articles lately about website design. One of the best was by Jonathan Kranz on MarketingProfs entitled “5 Things to Think About Before You Launch Your Next Website”. I really liked this one because it addresses what I believe are the 5 main things everyone should consider before building a website. 
I especially love his 5th point, “It’s Not All About You”. One of my biggest pet peeves about websites is that so many are all about the company and so little about the customer. When I land on a website and it’s “I this” and “we that” I’m left feeling like I’m on a bad date listening to another self-involved bore.
Would you walk into a meeting with a new prospect and immediately start rattling off how long you’ve been in business, where you’re located, your education, experience and how great you are? Of course you wouldn’t. So why are you doing that on your website?
A website should first and foremost tell me – immediately – that you understand my problem. Then it should demonstrate how you are going to solve my problem and make my life better. The first rule of engagement – it’s all about me (the customer) – not you. FIRST demonstrate that you get me by addressing my problem, then how you can help me, and last- give me a way to find out more about you if I choose to even get that far (“About Us” are a great way to do that without the entire website being about you).
Jonathan’s article does a great job of addressing this issue and 4 others. So if you’re thinking about a new website – or even if you aren’t – you should definitely check it out – “Five Things to Think About Before You Launch Your Next Website”.
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