Archive for the 'Community Support' Category

May 26 2012

Thank you for your service to our country!

Published by under "Here & Now" Focus,Attitude,Best Practices,Choosing Behavior,Communication,Community Support,Empathy,Experience,Family,Feedback,Leadership,Observations,Personal Growth,Reality,Relationships,Reputation,Special People/Special Occasions,Trust

“Thank you for your

                                    

     service to our country.”

"BREEZY" The First State's Cutest Patriot on Memorial Day 2011

Like clicking on a seat belt, make it second nature to reach out to anyone you meet or see who is or has been in America’s military. Look for her or his hat, shirt, jacket, patch, car sticker, license plate. whatever quiet statement you see.

Then reach out to shake that person’s hand and simply say: “Thank you for your service to our country.” You won’t need to ask about it or explain yourself. You can be sure of a sincere, bright response.

If you’ve ever lived in or traveled to a dictatorship or third world nation, you positively know why you should be grateful.

“Thank you for

                         

your service

                                    

       to our country.”

This Holiday Weekend, let us each take a moment of silence out of our own lives and be thankful that we are even able to do that. Let us be thankful for the freedom we have—to walk down the street, to celebrate the holidays as we choose, and to express our opinions publicly without fear of reprisal . . . as long as we fight violence in our streets with calm, and terrorism when it emerges with every ounce of energy and dedication that our brave military thrives on.

. . .  to travel freely between States without fear or intimidation or threats of being attacked or murdered, to pursue our careers and religious feelings and family lives in the ways that we choose, and to be able to choose in the first place

. . .  to be able to vote and elect our representatives in government, to have so many dedicated young men and women serving so selflessly in our military, to have a flag and a nation we can be proud of.

“Thank you for

                        

your service

                                    

       to our country.”

 

There are so many more freedoms that we forget about most of the time, that even on special holidays when we should most value and appreciate them, let us not hide behind family and friend gatherings, gifts feelings of stress.

Yet these, the very things in life that count the most, come from the courageous veterans of our military who have given their very lives, their body parts, their hearts and souls for us that we might enjoy our precious rights and freedoms.

“Thank you for

                     

your service

                                    

       to our country.”

Next time –anytime– you meet or see someone who is or has been in America’s military.  Reach out to shake that person’s hand and simply say, “Thank you for your service to our country.”

# # #

hal@businessworks.US

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Go for your goals, thanks for your visit, God Bless You!

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!”

                                                                          [Thomas Jefferson]

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Jan 03 2012

2012’s “Top Six” Business Hurdles

Published by under "Here & Now" Focus,Attitude,Best Practices,BRANDING,Business Growth,Business Life,Change,Choosing Behavior,Communication,Community Support,Creative Thinking,Decision Making,Delegation,Economy,Entrepreneurship,Experience,Family,Family Business,Goals,Innovation,Leadership,Life Plans,Lifestyle,Management,Motivation,Observations,Overcoming Objections,People Management,Personal Growth,Politics/Gov't,Productivity,Professional Practices,Public Relations,Reality,Relationships,Reputation,Small Business,Teamwork,Trust

1) The Economy  

                 

2) The E c o n o m y

                                     

3) The Economy  

                         

4) The Economy

                                      
 5) The Economy  
                     
6) The Economy
                                    

     

Standing 30 million strong, America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners are a force to be reckoned with. But we who own, run, and manage small business enterprises are all independent-minded. Who is there to pull us together? The SBA? A joke. The White House? A bigger joke. Corporate giants? HA! Unions? Right!

There’s no rocket science here: A strong economy requires new jobs from small business. ONLY small business (especially new small business) creates real jobs (vs. artificial ones created by government and unions). Innovation is the trigger. There is –and has been since 2008– ZERO support for small businesses to be more innovative to create jobs. Voila! Economic Quagmire!  

The only recourse we have for moving forward in a productive direction, that can make a difference is to grow our businesses to the point of stimulating increased innovation, comes in two assertive steps:

  • Take the time out of our business lives to do something about prompting a change in our favor. [Government has made sure that there is no other choice. If we don’t take the time, we will not have any business left to start with.]

  • Prod ourselves to become more active voices in our industries and professions and in every community that supports our business, to speak up for small business.

But I don’t like having to be political, says you? Well, sadly, it’s another no-choice situation. More here on that. The point is you must behave as if you were a candidate running on the PP&N (Preserve, Protect & Nurture) Small Business Party ticket. No, you need not become as despicable, overbearing or annoying as the role models.

It’s all about speaking up for what we believe in. If you simply feel you cannot live with that option, then find someone who can fill the role for you.

                                                                    

Recruit an advocate. Look around your business associates, family members, and those who live in your neighborhood. Find someone who can help advance your ideas and thinking about small business enterprises to be your spokesperson. Ignite your own crusade for meaningful incentives for innovation and job creation.

Make sure the person or group you select supports your position and agrees with the need to vocalize your interests to others. You provide the road map for this effort. Should it include, for example, giving talks or presentations to local organizations? Being available for news release follow-up contact? Ghost-writing a blog?

Oh, I’m sure it goes without saying, but reminders can be useful: You won’t find someone to help with this by not looking. Start now so we can breathe more life into small businesses to make a difference on November 6th.

                                                          

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Hal@Businessworks.US   302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Dec 08 2011

‘Tis The Season for this and this and th. . .

Published by under "Here & Now" Focus,Attitude,Best Practices,BRANDING,Business Growth,Business Life,Change,Choosing Behavior,Communication,Community Support,Contacts/Networking,Corporate Management,Customer Service (CRM),Decision Making,Delegation,Economy,Empathy,Entrepreneurship,Experience,Family,Family Business,Good Health,Leadership,Life Plans,Lifestyle,Listening,Management,Mental Health,Motivation,Observations,Overcoming Objections,People Management,Personal Growth,Problems=Opportunities,Professional Practices,Reality,Relationships,Self-Confidence,Self-Esteem,Small Business,Special People/Special Occasions,Strategies,Stress Management,Tactics,Teamwork,Trust

BAH! HUMBUG!

                                 

‘Tis the season to be spiteful, act angry, hide from creditors, put off paying bills, smile fake smiles, eat more sweets and fattening foods, drink more booze and soda and energy drinks, smoke more cigars, spit on the floor, sleep late, and curse the relatives who give you cheap gifts. 

 

Sound familiar? Remind you of someone you know? You might consider printing this or this or this out and mysteriously leaving an anonymous copy (or scissored excerpts) on that person’s desk, carseat, windshield, or stuffed into her or his coatpocket. 

Having come from poverty– I can genuinely appreciate the humbugness of truly destitute people at this time of year, as well as the humbugness of struggling business owners and managers who spend their days battling the threats and destruction of our nation’s economic quagmire, and their nights worrying about it. 

And I feel deeply saddened by anyone who continually chooses to not rise to the occasion of Christmas Season joyfulness — even non-Christians — because it is a season of great joy for all people of any faith, but as so many of us have learned about the leading horse to water proverb, none of us can make someone else’s choices.

Even with all good intention and wisdom, we really can’t reach into another human brain and push buttons and adjust frequencies and turn dials that will produce a happy, healthy, positive attitudes. All we can do is try our best to create positive supporting environments for those who choose misery, and keep the door open to them.

I say these things now, because I’ve been all over this issue of wasting life and opportunities through assorted career roles — from college teaching/counseling to management training/consulting/counseling to business and professional practice development consulting/counseling, to family and group counseling– and this period, now through February, has traditionally brought these dreaded negative behaviors for many to the surface.

Probably the single most useful tool for the vast majority of those I’ve worked with over the years is the one post that I keyword to most often on this blog, and recommend most to those I find in times of need is THIS. Literally thousands have raved to me about its value. It is highlighted in three of my books. It works. 

What else works? Prayer and gratefulness.

God Bless You. Thank you for your visit.

Please return soon.

 

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Hal@Businessworks.US   302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Dec 07 2011

Lazy Learners

Published by under "Here & Now" Focus,Age & Aging,Attitude,Best Practices,BRANDING,Business Growth,Business Life,Change,Community Support,Creative Thinking,Customer Service (CRM),Decision Making,Entrepreneurship,Experience,Family Business,Lifestyle,Literary Pursuits,Management,Marketing,Motivation,Observations,Personal Growth,Politics/Gov't,Productivity,Professional Practices,Public Relations,Reality,Relationships,Reputation,Sales Process,Self-Confidence,Self-Esteem,Small Business,Strategies,Stress Management,Tactics,Time Management,Trust,Writing

Leaderless government has laid the trappings for America to become a nation of scholastic sloths. And John and Suzy Q. Public have bought into the time drift. What’s the impact on business?

                                                                  

Be honest: When did

                                 

you last read more

                          

than 18 pages of a

                            

 book… any book?

 

                                 

I guess this factoid is less astonishing to most people than it is to me and other authors who share head space in the sand: The highly reliable SPR (Self Publishing Resources) reports (bullet-point number 30) that their studies and research show “most readers do not get past page 18 in a book they have purchased.”!

You’re in business and wonder about impact and impressions that add up to a book purchase in the first place? Go back to that same list and check out bullet point number 22, which reports that average bookstore browsers will spend 8 seconds looking at a front cover and 15 seconds scanning the back cover.  

Now I find these little tidbits of news — the products no doubt of fastlane lifestyles and lazy learning attitudes– to be outright shell-shocking! Growing up, I remember book purchases as major events and what seemed like the threat of going straight to hell for not reading even a miserable book all the way to the end. Yes, ancient times.

Well, aside from the obvious conclusions to be drawn from these book reading and purchasing enlightenments, that books ARE judged by their covers (and the covers had better be as smashing as the first 18 pages), there is an underlying and discouraging sign of the times suggested that the faster society moves, the lazier it gets.

Is it no wonder that technology advances have rendered us into handheld-device-carrying vegetables with no greater regard for the flow of thought process brilliance than some instantaneous, impersonal, ungrammatical, third-grade reading level txtmsg? Still puzzled why agents and publishers only want to see a writer’s first 20 pages? 

How did we get here? Leaderless government that talks education but fails to deliver or understand that self-esteem, authenticity, stress and time management, communication, innovation and motivation skills are what will ultimately determine life and career success. And that these come from reading more than 18 pages of any book.

How do we change that?  1) Work within your business to cultivate these life and career success strengths with training and incentives and support. Nurture and promote take-home values and structures that enable and empower your people and associates to “pass it on” at home and in their communities. 2) Vote November 6, 2012

America’s small business owners make our nation go.

America’s military gives us the freedom to keep going.

                                         

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Hal@Businessworks.US  302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

No responses yet

Dec 05 2011

Mr. Obama: You’re Wrong!

Published by under "Here & Now" Focus,Anger/Conflict,Attitude,Best Practices,BRANDING,Business Growth,Business Life,Change,Choosing Behavior,Community Support,Contacts/Networking,Decision Making,Economy,Entrepreneurship,Experience,Family Business,Feedback,Leadership,Lifestyle,Management,Motivation,Observations,Overcoming Objections,People Management,Personal Growth,Politics/Gov't,Problems=Opportunities,Professional Practices,Reality,Relationships,Reputation,Self-Confidence,Self-Esteem,Small Business,Strategic Planning,Strategies,Tactics,Trust

Still stuck in your 4-week-old delusion? You said: “America has lost ambition and imagination.” Remember? You prodded businesses to “Do the things that built the Golden Gate Bridge and the Hoover Dam. Unleash all the potential in this country!”  

 

Well, you’re wrong,

 

Mr.Obama. The only thing

 

America has lost is

 

leadership. And the only

 

thing lacking in America’s

 

30 million small businesses

 

is trust in YOU!

 

 

I hear every single day from clients, associates, business friends and neighbors that YOU, Mr. Obama, are what’s wrong with this country! You have continuously chosen to ignore small business in America, when even those who surround you admit that only small business can reverse your dying economy!

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that job creation is what will turn us around, and it shouldn’t take much more than the feeble skills of a community organizer to see that new job creation comes exclusively from small business. That means genuine (real and guaranteed) innovation and job creation tax incentives for small business.

It is YOU, Mr. Obama, who have seen fit to wipe out the financial and free choice futures of our children and grandchildren with your foolish and misguided healthcare plan. It is YOU who have single-handedly dismantled our peace through preparedness military, rendering us more vulnerable to terrorism than ever before in history.

Not only that, you have literally made America the laughing stock of other emerging nations on the planet. Your programs for social reform have created nothing but dependencies and joblessness. You have made our economic future a bleak one. Your political priorities have always taken a front seat to our nation’s well-being.

Oh, and if you’re wondering where “30 million” came from when your administration counts only 20 million? Talk with your statiticians who –obviously following your lead– chose to simply not legitimize sole work-at-home proprietors as “real” small businesses. I, for one, am one, and make a living at it, and pay taxes for the privilege.

You have misled this country and the small business universe that makes it go. You appear to all the world as a clown, “The Emperor With No Clothes,” who chooses self-indulgence and self-aggrandizement over the needs of those who elected him. You have done injustice to those who trusted and believed in your empty promises.

Small business owners are sickened by your failures, but we DO have a choice: November 6, 2012! 

                                                    

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Hal@Businessworks.US  302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

No responses yet

Dec 01 2011

BUSINESS STARTUP

Published by under "Here & Now" Focus,Anger/Conflict,Attitude,Best Practices,BRANDING,Business Growth,Business Life,Change,Choosing Behavior,Communication,Community Support,Contacts/Networking,Creative Thinking,Customer Service (CRM),Decision Making,Delegation,Entrepreneurship,Experience,Family Business,Goals,INTERNET Marketing,Leadership,Life Plans,Lifestyle,Management,Marketing,Motivation,Objectives,Observations,Overcoming Objections,People Management,Personal Growth,Problems=Opportunities,Productivity,Professional Practices,Public Relations,Reality,Relationships,Reputation,Retailing,Sales,Sales Process,Self-Confidence,Self-Esteem,Small Business,Strategic Planning,Stress Management,Tactics,Time Management,Trust,Writing

Startup Fever

 

Channeling startup energy wisely is certainly a paradox. In fact, channeling startup energy wisely is an almost impossible task because the heat of the moment tends to override the rationality of the brain. Emotions, in other words, pack more punch than objectivity and a measured approach. Hmmm, remind you of dating days?

Isn’t this also the reason successful marketers always direct their sales messages to trigger emotional buying motives instead of rational ones? Benefits, not features. I mean, do you really care what’s under the hood if it gets you where you want to go, doesn’t break down, is snazzy, and you think it makes you look good driving it?

If a car turns the neighbor’s head every time you pull into the driveway, and jumpstarts your brain into dreaming of being a big-name, cross-country race car driver just as a result of you buckling up and adjusting the mirrors, you buy it. You may offer 101 other more rational, logical reasons, but that’s just a justification cover!

When an entrepreneur starts a business, she 0r he is typically filled with emotions that seem to run at cross-purposes. Money. Where will it come from? Where will I get the money I need? Will it be enough? Workspace. How much do I need now? Later? Where? What’s the deal? Insurance? Yikes! Equipment? Furnishings? Accountant? Lawyer? Advisory board? Employees? Benefit plans? Strategic plans? Business Plans? Hours of operation? Website? Pricing? What? Huh? Packaging? Promotions? PR? Advertising? Sales? Phone System? Reception? Presentations? Partners? Investors? Lenders? Logo?Suppliers? Branding?Memberships? Networks? Jeeze! Maintenance? Distribution? Referrers? Community? Titles? Whoa! Signage? Name? Mission statement? Elevator speech? Professional or industry relations? Goals? Target markets? And on and on . . .

                                         

According to the most recent SBA studies I could muster (the WH doesn’t want to publicize new small business data), 9 out of every 11 new businesses reportedly fail within the first 10 years, and it takes an average of 6 years just to break even financially. Pretty miserable odds for all that emotional and financial expenditure.

But —considering that your idea and your support systems are great, and the alternative is a secure go-nowhere job with the braindead government or some big corporate shabang position with nothing but ladders to climb before you sleep– entrepreneuring at least gives you adventure, challenge, opportunity, freedom, and fun.

So the answer IS: Channel all that explosive chain-reaction energy. (Try increased attention to deep breathing, yoga, exercise, power walks, eating and sleeping right.) Channel the energy into filling the gaps of business needs that you lack, so you can concentrate on what you like and do best, which will maximize your performance.

You’re lousy at writing or marketing or managing others? Hire someone with a proven track-record to step in and free you up. Sometimes just one or two people can fill all three of these for-example roles. See where and how to consolidate tasks and functions that you can pass along. (But remember responsibility cannot be delegated.)      

The point is that startup entrepreneurs need to jet down and focus their total energy on the “here-and-now” of what they’re doing: find the needs, determine the costs, fill the needs. Shop around for services. Be a detective. Line up at least 10 times the amount of money you think you’ll need. 10? Yup! Guaranteed! 

 

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Hal@Businessworks.US

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

No responses yet

Nov 21 2011

BIZ ALPHABET SERIES…”Z”

Published by under "Here & Now" Focus,Attitude,Best Practices,BRANDING,Business Growth,Business Life,Choosing Behavior,Communication,Community Support,Contacts/Networking,Customer Service (CRM),Decision Making,Entrepreneurship,Experience,Family Business,Feedback,Leadership,Lifestyle,Listening,Management,Motivation,Observations,People Management,Personal Growth,Problems=Opportunities,Productivity,Professional Practices,Public Relations,Reality,Relationships,Reputation,Retailing,Sales,Sales Process,Self-Confidence,Self-Esteem,Small Business,Strategic Planning,Strategies,Tactics,Teamwork,Trust

The final subject of this, the world’s first BIZ ALPHABET Series of blog posts! (Check out “A” – “Y”)

                                            

“Z”…ZEST

                              

ZEST (not the soap) refers to you and your business . . . ardor, élan, gusto, joie de vivre, lust, oomph, passion, pep, pizzazz, tang, vitality, energy, zing,  zoom, zip,  zap . . . either you’ve got it or you don’t.

If you’ve got it, you can make it better. Start here now. If you don’t have it, you can get it ignited here, now. Free. No strings attached. No gimmicks! Just you and your business, and me.

~~~~~~~ 

Sounds good, you say, but who cares? Uh, your customers, your employees, your suppliers, your investors, your lenders, your community . . . and your family. Does that work for an answer? This is not just another lecture on motivation. It’s about operating your business with a competitive edge.

Let’s get to it: When did you last ask a few customers why they do business with you instead of with __________ (fill in the name of a leading competitor)? Oh, you did a survey? Well, that’s great, but there’s nothin’ like the real thing, Baby, goes the old song, and there’s nothing like straight eyeball-to-eyeball answers.

Whatever you hear back, by the way, accept and be appreciative. Do not criticize. Do not “Yes, But.” Do not argue or dismiss. There’s a reason for everything. Take it in. Write it down. Smile and say thank you. Go off and think. Odds are pretty good that the answers you’ll get will have something to do with your attitude and approach.

In other words, HOW you deal with customers, employees, and others around you is what determines more than anything else why your customers are your customers. And it’s that reputation that attracts other customers. So, if these assumption about how you deal with others is even just half right, you already have a competitive edge.

It may simply need –like the holiday carving knife– a little sharpening. Start by asking yourself if you and/or someone else who works with you have been partly or largely responsible for positive customer feedback. Do you appropriately reward that behavior when it comes from others. Rewarding positives breeds more positives.

If you get feedback that attributes your business strength to other factors –price, quality, convenience, etc.–you need to giddy-yap over to your customer service counter/person/policy/strategy/whatever, to fix it or make it better.

Why? Because in this lousy economy, it is frankly not a good sign that anything other than your outstanding service should be the #1 factor quoted by customers. You cannot any longer compete on price or packaging or quality or convenience or sustainability. Anyone with the know-how and gumption can beat you on those points. 

But no one else can be you!

                                                                       

No one else can treat people exactly the same as you, and therein lies your single greatest and unique competitive edge — it’s the differential that you, exclusively, can offer. Have you ever by-passed others and gone out of your way to deal with a particular business because you relate better to the source? Of course you have.

We all seek individuals and entities we feel offer more integrity, more authenticity, a better reputation, provide more extras. So your customers are different? What’s keeping you from adjusting, over-hauling, boosting or perking up your business approaches and attitude NOW? Aren’t roadblocks, after all, a matter of choice?

Choose more of what works. Put a little spice in your spirit! And remember what you put out and how you come across — your spirit — is yours alone. No one else has or can use your strengths. 

                                                       

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Hal@Businessworks.US  302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

No responses yet

Nov 20 2011

BIZ ALPHABET SERIES…”Y”

Published by under "Here & Now" Focus,Attitude,Best Practices,BRANDING,Business Growth,Business Life,Change,Choosing Behavior,Communication,Community Support,Corporate Management,Customer Service (CRM),Decision Making,Entrepreneurship,Experience,Family,Family Business,Leadership,Life Plans,Lifestyle,Management,Motivation,Observations,People Management,Personal Growth,Problems=Opportunities,Professional Practices,Reality,Relationships,Reputation,Sales Process,Self-Confidence,Self-Esteem,Small Business,Trust

Welcome to the world’s first SMALL BIZ Alphabet Series of blog posts!

“Y”…YES

 

   Have you done it?

 Can you do it?

 Will you do it?

   Are you doing it NOW?

 

 The only “YES!” that counts is your answer to the last question because the only time in your life and in the life of your business that’s real, and that counts, is NOW!

                                               

Getting to “YES!” may not always feel like an easy journey when other burdens are pulling at your shoulders, but it is –after all is said and done– a choice. And we are always free to make a choice be one that is easy or one that is hard.

 Choosing “YES!” certainly offers more promise and greater rewards than choosing “NO!” under almost any circumstances, except those of course that can have negative impact. (Choosing “NO!” to illegal, unhealthy, or harmful offers comes to mind as an example of times when “NO!” can be positive.)

But most of us struggle everyday with making “the right” choices… the ones that are right for us as individuals, as family and community members, as business leaders, as entrepreneurs. We “struggle” because –what’s the old saying? “The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence!”?

In a word: Temptation.

We struggle to decide what’s best for ourselves and our families because we’re so pushed and pulled by others. And having a business venture that’s teetering on the brink of bankruptcy or major financial loss, can put enormous undue stress and strain on us as owners and managers, even for a small solopreneur kitchen-based business.

This added stress is often to the detriment of important family choices and relationships, and almost always to the detriment of fun and relaxation. Fun and relaxation? Hmmm. What’s that about? Fortunately, or UNfortunately depending on your perspective, fun and relaxation are necessary for life balance.

Life balance is necessary for business success. But achieving it can be complicated. In other words, no one I have ever heard of has made a successful business from anger, or from over-indulging in any emotion or activity.

When we make a conscious effort to say “YES!” at every turn –a “YES ATTITUDE” if you will– we are cultivating and nurturing life balance ingredients: willingness, receptivity, responsiveness, reliability, integrity, uthenticity, constructive and transparent leadership.

 Others will follow, be influenced, motivated, and inspired.

Others will see their own potential in the actions (words and deeds) that we as positive-minded entrepreneurs teach by example. “YES!” carries responsibility in its backpack. To agree to do something means doing it!.

Actually delivering the goods

is far more important

than just promising to deliver the goods.

                                              

A “YES! ATTITUDE” (not just for a day or a week, but as a way of life) allows us to thrive and grow as human beings, as people, while we cultivate and nurture the attitudes of those we influence around us –employees, customers, suppliers, referrers, lenders, investors, partners, delivery and cleaning people, our neighbors, community organizations, and, above all– our families.

We have untold opportunities to make real change and to make that change stick. Day after day, it’s always a choice! (And YES, that includes November 6, 2012.)

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Hal@Businessworks.US

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

 Make today a GREAT day for someone!

No responses yet

Nov 07 2011

BIZ ALPHABET SERIES…”P”

Published by under "Here & Now" Focus,Advertising,Attitude,Best Practices,BRANDING,Business Growth,Business Life,Change,Communication,Community Support,Contacts/Networking,Creative Thinking,Customer Service (CRM),Entrepreneurship,Experience,Family Business,Feedback,INTERNET Marketing,Lifestyle,Listening,Management,Marketing,Media,Observations,People Management,Personal Growth,Problems=Opportunities,Professional Practices,Public Relations,Reality,Relationships,Reputation,Sales,Sales Process,Self-Confidence,Self-Esteem,Small Business,Social Media,Special People/Special Occasions,Strategic Planning,Tactics,Trust

Welcome to the world’s first SMALL BIZ Alphabet Series of blog posts!

 “P”…PUBLIC

 

First off, as an entrepreneur, small business or professional practice owner, operator, or manager, you have a public persona, or image —a brand, if you will– that communicates your reputation to others in your Private-Public and in your Public-Public. You do, indeed, have both! Ignore either at your peril.

Your Public-Public (or EXternal customers) is what most often comes to mind when we talk about sales and markets. But every business also has INternal customers (family, friends, partners, investors, referrers, lenders, employees, agents, consultants, and suppliers). These are your reliable supporters, your Private-Public.

Many successful businesses build their Public-Public customer / client / patient base as an offshoot of their Private-Public resources because –sorry, marketing, advertising, PR, SEO, and social media experts— NOTHING sells like personal recommendations.

Often overlooked in this mix of supportive and prospective recommenders are FORMER family, friends, partners, investors, referrers, employees, lenders, agents, consultants, and suppliers who you are still on good terms with. Some older mid-sized companies actually foster employee alumni associations and reunions.

Not only can your Private-Public become a loyal customer base and serve to refer Public-Public purchases, they can also often suggest new business approaches, technology, and revenue streams… IF they are properly motivated and encouraged AND (and here’s the biggy) IF they are carefully solicited and attentively listened to.

Lest there be any doubts , I am not suggesting abandonment of marketing functions (sales, PR, promotion, packaging, pricing, SEO and SM applications, etc.). I am simply pointing out that day-to-day, many of us have a tendancy to overlook the obvious, spend more than we need to,  and  not tap into our best resources.

Traditional Public Relations is rapidly becoming an ineffective tool for building brands and brand awareness. With increased use of Internet sites, webinars, digital marketing and social media, the odds for stimulating Public-Public purchasing and Private-Public referrals, only the flexible, cyberspace-savvy PR firms are surviving.

A similar assessment surfaces for traditionally-invested advertising, sales, and marketing firms. This doesn’t mean “always and everywhere.” It does mean that small businesses can no longer rely on successful past media, creative, financial and market development  strategies to survive today’s onslaught of instant communications.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Remember too that YOU, personally, are always on stage. Someone is always watching and listening. You are always being sized up by someone, even when you least suspect it. The bottom line is that in addition to your business having public concerns, awareness’s, and opportunities, so do you!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Making the most of what you have means being, as Thoreau once urged, forever on the alert! 

                                 

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Hal@Businessworks.US

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

 Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Oct 10 2011

“Business As Usual” Spells Failure

Published by under "Here & Now" Focus,Advertising,Attitude,Best Practices,BRANDING,Business Growth,Business Life,Change,Communication,Community Support,Contacts/Networking,Creative Thinking,Decision Making,Delegation,Economy,Entrepreneurship,Experience,Family Business,Feedback,Innovation,INTERNET Marketing,Leadership,Life Plans,Lifestyle,Listening,Management,Marketing,Media,Motivation,Observations,People Management,Personal Growth,Problems=Opportunities,Professional Practices,Public Relations,Reality,Relationships,Retailing,Sales Process,Self-Confidence,Self-Esteem,Small Business,Social Media,Tactics

If you’re not rattling cages,

                              

reserve your business

                        

headstone now!

                          

                 ~ ~ ~                  

                                          

C’mon, Hal, the Halloween season gettin’ to you?

Waiting with tricks instead of treats?

Not me. I rattle cages.

 

But what about you? Are you depending on others to scare up some new business? Maybe you’ve seen too many stun-gunned tongues (say that five times fast!) and zombie axe murderers on late night TV? Too many ghoulish retail displays? Maybe you almost died?

If every chainsaw you see reminds you of a massacre, maybe you’re running on (or from?) fear? No? Well if you’re not shaking up your business every week, it may be that you’re running on ambivalence and, in turn, leading the county coroner to your business doorstep.

Investing in the status quo with your business is a no-action action that –depending on how secure your finances are– will either provoke a knife plunge into the heart of your enterprise or cause business death by potato peeler. If 2015 means continued business life, it must also mean continuing dramatic action at every level.

If it ain’t broke, fix it anyway.

                                                              

Stop being afraid of stirring up the competition. The most successful retail businesses are those located in the same geographical areas as their competitors. Competition stimulates consume traffic. Your website’s not up to snuff? Bite the bullet; get some cash out from under the mattress, and pay a professional to polish up your act!

Can’t afford the advertising you want? Stop advertising. Go to (free) Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn instead. Start doing (free) public relations instead — newsworthy news releases, captioned newsworthy photos, special events (e.g., charity-based, combined with other businesses, educational programs).

Are your employees, suppliers, referrers, investors, community supporters challenged enough? Are you putting out strong motivational incentives to get the (free) word-of-mouth going? Are you running contests that provoke fun and prompt action? (Hint: No need for elaborate or expensive prizes if enough imagination is exercised).

Shake it up!

                                                           

Have you given presentations at local colleges, high schools, community centers, and then promoted them and followed up with news releases and unusual photos? Have you compiled a media “hit list” of appropriate editors and writers and publishers who would have a natural interest in your business and business pursuits?

Do you have an “elevator speech”? Do you carry business cards and a notepad with you at all times? Do you ask questions 20% of the time and listen to answers (and jot them in your notebook) 80% of the time? Have you collected email addresses everyplace you go? Are you using them to send worthwhile info out?

“Business As Usual” means inactivity, nothing changing, no excitement, no hustle. It will take you straight to the business burial grounds up in the sky (or somewhere?) and you might want to stop off at your lawyer and accountants’ offices on the way to fill out bankruptcy papers. This economy has no mercy.

If you’ve got guts and gumption, nurture them. Stimulate them. Ignite them. Explode them. Make them work for you.

# # #

Hal@Businessworks.US   931.854.0474

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

 Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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