Faster Than A Speeding

Twitter Tweet . . .

First and foremost,  I hope that the “Twitter Tweeter” who is  responsible for the 9 words I plucked off of Twitter (to feature in my blog post tonight) steps forward. I’d like to put a gold-medal ribbon around her/his neck.

Staring blankly at the rampaging scroll  of recent Twitter trash, I was reading:

“Gosh” and “Golly” and Obama this and Rush that; how to get 14 zillion followers in 24 hours; who’s listening to Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog;what stale peanut butter tastes like; when did Jesus last appear in midtown Manhattan; what the weather is in Southwest Padula; the now infamous “I did not…” quote by Clinton; and how cool Ban-Ray sunglasses are; THEN 9 words rolled by that caught my eye . . .

WHY?

WHY NOT?

WHY NOT ME?

WHY NOT NOW? 

     Whoa!  I said to myself, “Self, these four questions, these nine words, could turn the business world around.” Then I scribbled them down quick before they fell off my screen into Twitter oblivion (Yes, some people do still write things on paper! And, yes, Virginia, there IS a Twitter Oblivion!).

     When I looked up,  sure enough; they were gone. Was it a mirage? NO, I had them on this little scrap that I stuck in my pocket. For days, I kept pulling it out to think about. Guess what I figured out? These 9 words could be the official Mantra for Entrepreneurs.

     These 9 words  are the reason that upstart business startups get started! I mean you’re not likely to see this grafittied on nursing home walls, or in the men’s room at your local bar. This is heady stuff here.

     WHY? WHY NOT? WHY NOT ME? WHY NOT NOW?  works big-time as a thought-provoking motivator for salespeople. And aren’t we ALL salespeople? Well? Aren’t we? When did the last day ever pass in your life that you were not trying to “sell” something to somebody?

     If you’re honest,  the answer may be “never.” Even babies and puppies try to get attention. The blessed difference is they don’t have hidden agendas! So, back to the question, and back to the four questions, and 9 words:

WHY?

WHY NOT?

WHY NOT ME?

WHY NOT NOW? 

     My humble suggestion:  Write them down, paste them up, and think about them everyday for 3 weeks. I’m betting that you will astound even your skeptical self!     

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Sometimes

Smaller Is Better!

Stop trying to jam  big-budget marketing into today’s low-budget economy! You’ll lose time, money, energy, and respect! (Maybe even your business!)

Having helped to start  hundreds of successful businesses, I’m rarely wrong when it comes to predicting business failure. And I’ll tell you right now that I can name a doctor, a manufacturer, a furniture retailer, a trucking business, a bank, a college, and two car dealerships that are positively headed South. The worst part is they don’t even know it. (Or perhaps they do and just don’t want to admit it!)

They’re all caught up  in trying to beat the economy by overwhelming it, like the poor schlemiel with a gambling addiction, throwing good money after bad. Each of these incipient failures have undertaken paths of reckless endangerment, thinking they are some kinds of hot-shot entrepreneurs. Sadly, they are not likely to survive long enough to see the economy turn.

     SOMETIMES  

(contrary to all the “enlargement” spam emails),

 SMALLER

(as the little Beetle automaker has proven time and again)

  IS BETTER!

     Marketing  doesn’t have to be exorbitantly expensive and splashy to be effective. There are some enormously successful direct mail campaigns out there that use postcards. Some of the world’s greatest print space advertisers have discovered they can be equally effective with great (tiny and infinitely less expensive) front page classified ads.

     Baseball managers  who lack big-time sluggers resort to winning games by playing “small ball” …focusing on the basics like not swinging at first pitches, drawing walks, bunting, base-stealing, catching with two hands (!) and playing “heads up” on each pitch. It works.

     Professionally-written  email campaigns can be hugely successful for no cost beyond a writer and a technician (and maybe a list rental). I am presently preparing a frugal campaign for one client that calls for strategically-placed highly-specialized business cards instead of the elaborate and expensive brochures he originally planned.

For another client,  I am preparing an inexpensive customer attitude survey that will get the business significant sales simply by virtue of asking for opinions (and might even collect some valuable ideas and feedback as well!) Bumper stickers are making a comeback.

Bartering  website banners and, of course, the much-talked-about use of social media also represent free and often very effective marketing tools. And, done right, not enough can be said about the value of professionally-done (and again, free) public relations news release and BUZZ (word-of-mouth) programs.

Before you dig  into your pocket to bet on yet another roll of the dice, stop and think about other effective, less-expensive ways to get your message across. The ways are there waiting for you. When smaller is better, open minds open doors!

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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!

“Stick to your knitting!”

(and risk going down the tubes!)

All of history’s great management gurus  have traditionally advised business owners and managers to stick to their knitting, as in “do what you do best, put your head down, and charge forward!”

But these are radical times  that call for radical solutions. “Sticking to your knitting” can earn you bankruptcy. Look around you for the proof. Would you like a list of all the (big AND small) single-minded-pursuit businesses that closed in the last two years?

Except for those few businesses  that thrive on hard times… do-it-yourself stuff and debt consolidation and pawn shops and vulture lawyers… those who do best are adapting and expanding and re-inventing themselves!

You run a service business  but have more to offer than just your accounting skills. I’m not talking about your tuba-playing. Surely you have taught others something about your specialization at some point. Why not add that ability to the range of services you offer?  

VOILA!  Now you are also a consultant and trainer. Package these add-on services, price them, and include them on your business cards and letterheads. Hey, nothing ventured… 

You’re a painter or designer?  Add less-expensive, one-of-a-kind postcards and greeting cards to your lineup.

You sell furniture  and discover the new senior housing complex down the road provides a small alcove area next to every front door; nothing you carry fits there, but you (or someone you’re connected with) have (has) some carpentry skills. Measure twice; cut once. Skinny/tall/customized corner cabinets! Sell affordably and POOF! A new revenue stream and new prospective customer base.

Every problem is an opportunity.  

A lousy economy is an opportunity

to innovate and spin new business

directions out of your old knitting.

“A stitch in time…”     

Is Your Business Jogging In Place?

Accountants and lawyers  (UGH! What a combination!) will quickly tell you that your company is a legal entity that needs to be thought of as a separate and distinct individual.

So, okay,  why should a company be any different than a person when it comes to cultivating and maintaining good health? Like, what could possibly be better for your business than to feed it nutritious meals?

  And while you’re at it,  make sure it gets a good night’s sleep as often as possible… but minus the pills; just turn out the lights. You might also see to it that it does the prescribed number and reps of bench presses, and that it jogs a couple of miles and swims a few laps every day.

  Some good head-clearing  cross-country runs beat jogging in place, by the way, and the swimming? Hey, it’s the best total exercise there is, with no pressure on backs, knees… or computers, file cabinets, copy machines and elevators.

Of course you also know,  while we’re on this subject of general health—-the ubiquitous variety, not some empty-suit czar called “General” —-that certain bad habits can do in even the most fiercely determined health and fitness efforts. You do know this. Stuff like smoking and alcohol or drug dependency will knock the greatest Olympian out of competition.

Sooooo,  why would you allow your business to develop destructive dependencies? Just because you hear other business owners moan and groan about the econ0my doesn’t mean you should be tossing in the towel anymore than that you should take up heavy drinking and drugs because your business is a couple of blocks away from a rehab center.

     Your business needs exercise!

Take it for a walk,  play Frisbee with it (no computer games; those babies are already over-burdened), go bowling. Air the place out. Periodic housekeeping is a good thing. Overhauling policies and procedures is an invigorating experience. Changing hours, suppliers, responsibilities, terms, and hats are all events that represent a clearing of the decks.

When new business  isn’t in your face, you need to be getting ready for it. Your company needs a little tree -shaking to let the nuts fall out. Sure, tree-shaking is good exercise. Anything you can do to work up a little sweat…

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Hal@Businessworks.US or comment below.

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals!

HOW DISTRACTED

IS YOUR AUDIENCE?

Surprising 2009 statistics from a notable professional association:

• Average work time since 1999 has increased 20%
• 75% of managers work more than 40 hours per week and must manage 600% more information than 20 years ago
• Professionals average at least 10 hours per week in meetings
• Employees spend 18 hours a week dealing with interruptions
• The US Postal Service processed 203 billion pieces of mail in 2008 (That’s 7,700 pieces each second!)

Sounds like a lot, right? Now contrast that with these two findings:

1.  The Radicati Group found that the number of emails sent PER DAY in 2008 was near 210 billion
2.  CTIA reports Americans sent more than 1 trillion text messages in 2008                                                                                                                                                       And research conducted by the ePolicy Institute found that employees spend as much as 20% of their workday reading and responding to email.

 THE BOTTOM LINE?  Today’s audience is starved for time and inundated with information. If you want your message to cut through the clutter, it must be relevant, timely and creative.

Reprinted from The Corporate Communicator, a free e-zine dedicated to helping professionals communicate more effectively with employees, customers and the media. To get the latest industry news, research and best practices at your fingertips, order a FREE subscription at http://www.thecorporatecommunicator.net

     So what does this mean for the “average” small business owner? Odds are you’ll need to go “outside” yourself and your organization to find a proven and experienced talent capable of understanding your business and your market and your customers and your message.

     It’s generally best to avoid formal “Ad Agencies” or “Marketing Agencies” because they are more likely to pursue industry recognition awards than sales for your company. Be especially hesitant of those that call themselves “full service” unless you have Fortune 500-level budgets to dispose of. 

     Second, ad agencies and marketing agencies (NOTE that many of these now call themselves “Groups” to escape the high-price stigma) are likely to charge excessive fees.

     Their norm is to charge you 15% of all media costs (broadcast time and print publication space and Internet banner fees) they book for you (which of course you can “book” for yourself to bypass that “agency commission.”

     …PLUS 17.65% of all production costs (which include costs of illustrations, photography, printing, studio production, editing, graphic design, list rentals…you name it!)

     …PLUS other fees that are rarely evident until the moment something is needed to be finalized. Don’t you love financial surprises?

     This translates to : SHOP AROUND! There are plenty of good, qualified, experienced freelance writers and small one-man-band and one-woman-band businesses that can provide far better quality creative sales writing and design services for far less money than the big city slicker organizations!

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Input aways welcome: Hal@TheWriterWorks.com (”Businessworks” in    subject line) or comment below. Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals, good night and God bless you! halalpiar  

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Get this blog FREE by list-protected email: click “Posts RSS Feed” (center column)…or pay $1.99/month on AMAZON Kindle. FEEL CREATIVE? Add your own 7 words to the 305-day “7-Word Story” (center col.). New Hal Alpiar short story Sept. release book from Nightengale Press: THE ART OF GRANDPARENTING…$19.95 ($24.95 CAD) @ Barnes & Noble, OR order special (signed by Hal) pre-publication @$18.95+s&h [$22.45 total check only), payable to: TheWriterWorks.com, LLC. @PO Box 1236, Millsboro, DE 19966. Include ship-to address (mainland US only).  SEPT. 13th IS GRANDPARENT’S DAY! [Details via Blogroll link @ right]

Economic Tsunami?

 Don’t fight it. Float on it!

     There’s no doubt about it, financial stress can overwhelm even the best of business leaders. It takes an unwavering, cock-sure, impenetrable. positive attitude to stand tall while the walls are crumbling.

     Every business owner has been there. Some are getting it for the first time thanks to the economic environment, and–for those–the experience is numbing. How can it be? I’ve worked so hard. We deserve better than this?

     Probably true, but reality dictates that it doesn’t matter. Reality can be awfully cruel and horribly harsh, but reality is where we have to live if we are ever to turn things around. Fantasy is where the losers go.

     First and foremost, when the economic tsunami strikes your business, stop worrying about arranging the beach chairs. Get on anything that floats and plan to ride it out. Focus every waking moment’s energy on where you are, not where you’re going, or even worse, if you’ll get there.

     The more you pay attention to anticipating the other shoe drop, the more you are diverting productive energy and resources away from the places they are most required to ride out the storm, to innovate, to create new revenue streams, to smack yourself in the side of the head and start thinking in new ways.

     The more you worry about the other shoe, the less time, attention, effort, energy and positive forward motion you’ll have available to activate. This will result in the other shoe finding it’s way to thump on your ceiling lickity-split! 

      STOP draining your resources and energy with worry about future fantasy (It’s not here yet, and may never come). STOP draining your strength with dwelling on past screw-ups and who did what to whom (It’s over and past and there’s NOTHING you can do to change it).

START TUNING IN TO THE PRESENT HERE-AND-NOW MOMENT, EVERY PASSING MOMENT, AS MUCH AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN. IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE PRESENT. LEARN FROM BABIES AND PUPPIES. 

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Hal@TheWriterWorks.com or comment below.

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals, good night and God bless you!

SELF-EMPLOYED?

Defragment and

give your SELF a

stimulus package!

     There’s plenty of unused storage space in your mind, believe me. Even if it’s just a little teeny bit true that Einstein supposedly only used about 10% of his total brain capacity, where does that leave the rest of us? I mean, give that about 27 or 28 seconds of think time right now.

     Think about all that extra (empty?) space in your brain that’s available to put to work. Leave it plugged in tonight and just click on accessories> defragment. By the morning, VOILA! You’ll be ready for anything.

     Maybe we should sort out who’s working where first. That way, when you’re all freshly defragmented, you’ll be in a position to make more of what you’ve got, or jump into something different.

     If you work for a big company, raise your hand and leave the room. If you work for someone else in a small company or you work for an organization of some type, or you’re in school learning how to work for somebody else…or you don’t work (Wow! What’s thatlike?), you’re probably not reading any of this anyway because you’re too busy surfing FaceBook.

This now leaves us with the heart of the businessworld: YOU!

    You run and/or own and/or manage a business,

OR you are self-employed.

     Oh, there’s that nasty hyphenated word again: self-employed. This simply means that you run AND own AND manage a business. I love you for that…but don’t get yourself worked up over my affection because what do I know?

     Federal and state government leaders don’t think you count.

     Obviously they haven’t a clue about how Apple and Microsoft got started in garages by self-employed geniuses. Anyway, don’t hold your breath waiting for some kind of  stimulus package since “self-employed” doesn’t count as a small business in government circles.

     I saw a handful of governor-conference-attending governors on CSPAN last night, including I am sorry to say, Delaware Governor Jack Markell who clearly doesn’t get it…who thinks his small business job creation plan to help established small businesses get bigger is going to have big economic impact.

     Sorry Jack. You need to get real, and talk with (LISTEN TO) some of Delaware’s thousands of self-employed small businesses –the ones that are NOT established, that are struggling to get established to see what they need to get up to 3 or 4 or 11 or 25 employees…and TIP: it’s not more loans!

     Making stimulus package room for startups and struggling self-employed is like making disk space by defragmenting. Clear out the junk, the spam, the space-wasters.

     You see what I’m saying here about brain capacity?  Defragmenting cleans up your harddrive. The same concept will clean up your brain, and help you focus on how to be more productive with your time and energy.

     You can be sure of not getting government support, so what can you be sure of? Your SELF! And how do you make that start to work for you? The same ways that Messrs. Jobs and Gates made their one-man-band garage ventures start to work for them.

     They made the choice. They worked hard at their ideas. They didn’t give up when things looked bleak. They didn’t worry about stimulus packages. They put their heads down and charged. You can do that too! Start tomorrow morning…after you defragment tonight!     

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Input aways welcome: Hal@TheWriterWorks.com (”Businessworks” in    subject line) or comment below. Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals, good night and God bless you! halalpiar  

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Get this blog FREE by list-protected email: click “Posts RSS Feed” (center column)…or pay $1.99/month on AMAZON Kindle. FEELING CREATIVE? Add your own 7 words to the 297-day “7-Word Story” (center column). A new Hal Alpiar short story is coming in September in a new book from Nightengale Press: THE ART OF GRANDPARENTING…soon at Barnes & Noble @ $19.95 ($24.95 CAD), OR order special (signed by Hal) pre-publication @ $18.95 plus $3.50 s&h [$22.45 total check only), payable to: TheWriterWorks.com. LLC. and mail to POBox 1236, Millsboro, DE 19966. Include ship-to (U.S. only) address.  REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 13th IS GRANDPARENT’S DAY! 

Do you have a Wimp Complex?

More businesses these days seem to be functioning like wussies!

     A (farmland) truck dealer is giving away a free tractor with every truck purchase. What a great idea, especially given an uncertain overloaded inventory of vehicles manufactured by what has become an uncertain source. But the dealer has stopped short of making the tractor deal a slam-bam promotion, and will no doubt write it off as a loss. (Lots of examples of how to make trucks fly off the lot with this idea : call me!)

     A small handmade product retailer says she’s closing (to become an Internet business and work from home) because the mortgage payments are too high, and there’s not enough store traffic. There was no mention made of the sparse high-priced inventory or the two large dogs that came bounding from behind the counter, jumping on (literally) six panicked customers in four minutes.

     The owner of a new Chinese restaurant (with better quality food and lower prices than any of the dozens of others within 20-30 minutes) reports he cannot attract enough business because two of his customers who run their own companies told him that business everywhere is suffering and that it might take him a couple of years to break even. (Y’think he’s heard about The Emperor’s New Clothes?)  

     The Post Office cuts services and raises prices. (Now there’s a great solution vs. maybe being more competitive with UPS and Fed Ex?)

     One state government is talking about financial crisis tactics that would close down the government one day a week along with their (greatest natural resource) parks operations which are the primary tourism industry attraction and income source… while approving a gazillion-dollar casino and racetrack complex (no doubt to cater to the gambling unemployed). 

     Financially-strapped ferry operations aren’t far behind. They’ve lowered foodservice quality and raised their vehicle and foot passenger rates through the roof, and can’t figure out why they’re continuing to lose money. (Must be products of the same graduate school that cranked out the Postal Service and government muckity-mucks!)

     This list could go on for thousands of pages, but the point of it all is that entrepreneurs–true entrepreneurs–have more gumption than these examples. They have more spunk. They rise to the occasion, and make things happen by sinking their teeth into the situations that are throwing knockout punches to people in the business examples noted.

     Entrepreneurs are the catalysts of change. They represent both the past and the future of this country. They don’t get discouraged over news from other business owners, or economy woes… and certainly not from government “leaders” who have no business sense or experience whatsoever. 

     Entrepreneurs take promotional ideas all the way through to completion and, in the face of hard times: work harder, stay open more hours, increase services and market competition, and lower prices as necessary.  When times are tough, it’s time to go the extra mile! 

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Input welcome anytime: Hal@TheWriterWorks.com (”Businessworks” in the subject line) or comment below. Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals, good night and God bless you! halalpiar  # # # 

FREE BLOG SUBSCRIPTION? Click on ”Posts RSS Feed” (Center Column), or now on your AMAZON Kindle for just $1.99 a month after a free trial. FEELING CREATIVE? Add your own 7 words to the end of the daily 279 days old growing tale! Click under “7-Word Story” (center column)

Sign up now for

“The Dirt Floor Visit”!

Well, I promised exciting news for tonight, and I’ve got it.

     BUT–

• if you’re not a grandparent,
• or don’t know a grandparent,
• or haven’t yet told a parent that she or he is about to become a grandparent,
• or haven’t told a parent the he or she is already a grandparent,
• or don’t have friends who are already grandparents, or about to become grandparents,
• or for some bizarre reason just don’t care about grandparents (is that possible?)

     — then it’s okay to leave this post tonight and go about your site-surfing because you definitely won’t be interested! Come back again soon though. I love you anyway.

     Now, those of you who are left: Hunker down, and give a listen!

     Mark your calendar for September to go to Barnes & Noble or your nearest bookseller (online or in-person) and sally on up to the counter (or just plunk out your PayPal or charge card numbers) and plop down $20 US, or $25 in Canada (you get a nickle change in either country), and go home with a copy of the wonderful new book edited by writer/ publisher/painter and Internet talk show host Valerie Connelly, to be published by Nightengale Press, entitled:

THE ART OF GRANDPARENTING

     As a thrilled, privileged, and happy contributor (of a reality-based story called “The Dirt Floor Visit” about grandpa and 12 year-old granddaughter!), I have just had the good fortune to read the first draft proofs, and I must tell you that:

Absolutely no grandparent in the world should be without a copy!

     You will not believe the great advice, the messages of love and understanding, the dynamics of grandparent and grandchild that never make it to the TV screen!

     Get a dose of the real grandparent/grandchild world of diapers and gurgles and thumb-grabbing and eyeglass-pulling and hugs and kisses and confidences and interactions you probably never imagined were part of this special relationship that spans the planet and the centuries. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry. You’ll grab the arm of your chair.

     You’ll hear more about it here (Stay Tuned!) as well as at www.TheArtOfGrandparenting.com once school starts again, and the leaves begin to turn. Reserve a copy now for yourself, or your favorite grandparents or your favorite grandparents-to-be.

     What a great gift! It’s all about being able to share in the special relationships that make (and will make) any new or growing grandparent experiences special! 

Tomorrow: Back-to-Business Basics 

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Input welcome anytime: Hal@TheWriterWorks.com (”Businessworks” in the subject line) or comment below. Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals, good night and God bless you! halalpiar  # # # 

FREE BLOG SUBSCRIPTION? Click on ”Posts RSS Feed” (Center Column), or now on your AMAZON Kindle for just $1.99 a month after a free trial. FEELING CREATIVE? Add your own 7 words to the end of the daily 278 days old growing tale! Click under “7-Word Story” (center column)

THE FUSE AND THE FUEL

Igniting business and professional development with authenticity

Living in a monastery…you have more opportunities than you might have elsewhere to see the world as it is, instead of through the shadow that you cast upon it.”    

(From BROTHER ODD by one of my favorite authors, Dean Koontz)

     Being in the driver’s seat of your own business, you have more opportunities than you could ever have elsewhere to see your company, your organization, and the products and services you offer as they truly exist, instead of through your own biased eyes.

     How? By asking! Ask everyone you speak with every day—staff, customers, vendors, sales reps, your landlord, competitors, your mother-in-law. Well, okay, maybe you can skip your mother-in-law.

     Ask each person what she or he thinks of your company, your products and services, your people, your reputation, your community involvement, your pricing. Stop being afraid of what you think you might hear. Respect and appreciate honest answers. Every answer can help you be more successful! 

     Carry and use a pocket notebook. You remember notebooks? Those covered pads you write in with a pen (or heaven forbid, a pencil)? Make it your mission to collect feedback, suggestions, ideas, opinions, comments (WITHOUT reacting, rebutting, arguing, yes-butting, or defending; simply absorb them), and then DO SOMETHING WITH THEM!

     Separate and categorize what you collect. Consolidate the ones that are similar or that somehow tie together. Ask yourself what you’re learning in the process: “What I’m learning right now about myself and my business is__________”  is the statement to complete and bombard yourself with as many times a  day as possible.

     This is an especially good exercise to do when you’re wading knee-deep through boring conference calls and meetings, during commutes (unless you’re driving!) and while waiting for appointments or transportation.

     Process the information you write down. Honestly consider what you are in fact actually learning about yourself and your business. When you do, you will be taking a giant step toward rocket-boosting your creative mind, accelerating your own professional growth and development, and igniting the business initiatives you’ve always wished you could set fire to… but never had the fuse or the fuel to work with. Now you do.

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 Hal@Businessworks.US  or comment below.

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals, good night and God bless you!