A to Z and Soup to Nuts

…Maybe. But maybe not.

Are you trying to have your business

be all things to all people?

It’s easy to see why any business owner would choose, or be tempted to choose, a path of omnipresence.

First in the line of reasons is the motivation to survive a continually worsening economy (spawned by the federal government’s continuing business incompetence, and aggravated by its dumb and dumber insistence that the recession ended last June!).

Reasons enough to drive any entrepreneur scrambling up the wall of desperation.

Second, we need look no further for examples of others making “Sales Offering Sprawl” work, than to tune in to the examples offered by many product-based companies.

Traditional product specialization offerings have been sidetracked, integrated, absorbed, and demolished.

In retail and online businesses alone, we can barely keep up as consumers with where’s the best place to buy what.  

We’ve watched drugstores evolve over the past generation from independent prescription pharmacies supplemented by inventories of OTC (over-the-counter) drugs and some limited HBA (health & beauty aids) products, plus maybe a 6-stool soda fountain and some penny candy, into today’s behemoth supermarket and electronic warehouse (even furniture) chains that seem to sell everything under the sun.

Most notable of course is the inclusion of complete in-store professionally staffed medical facilities — and the forerunner of that: tucking entire pharmacies under the same roofs, as a number of industry-leading retail giants have done.

So why wouldn’t it seem appropriate to aspire to include a little bit of everything under your own roof?

Maybe it is appropriate, but don’t just think so and then do it. Entrepreneurs take only reasonable risks. That “Best Guess” path is not a wise or reasonable risk. Take the time and trouble and energy and expense to define, set up and run focus group discussions with target clients/customers to determine what they really think instead of what you think they think.

Design a strategic plan. It need

 not be fancy, but it needs to exist.

The good news is that if the November elections can produce enough upstart representation by people who understand that new small businesses are the nation’s only source of job creation and that job creation is the only way to turn the economic tide, business can be more free-market and free-wheeling and more competitive again.

But the bad news is that until that point actually occurs (probably 2-3 years away at best), decision making about what your business is in business to sell needs to be more cautious and needs to be based on more than opinion.

Service businesses are not product businesses.

B to B businesses are not B to C businesses.

Avoid getting caught in that tangled tidal wave of confusion by sticking to what you specialize in, by developing strategic plans for how to proceed and by encouraging more than SBA lip-service and make-believe assistance to small businesses.

# # #

 Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals!

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Stop trying to cut

the wrong corners! 

If you’re like many others who run a business these days, you are being extremely careful with operating expenses and have turned a deaf ear to literally any kind of investments. With respect to that attitude, I’ve heard that if something can go without saying, don’t say it, but I’ll say it anyway:

It’s great to be careful with your money for however much longer it takes government to figure out that small businesses, not monster corporations, are the ones that create jobs, and the ones that will turn the economy around (a year or two or three?).

But it’s not great to turn yourself into Scrooge McSkinflint with every cost that comes your way, especially professional outsourcing fees!. 

When you turn outside your enterprise to hire an expert consultant or performer — writer, designer, accountant, lawyer, staff trainer, turn-around specialist, management coach, programmer, architect, engineer, marketing whiz all come to mind — it’s because you’ve come to realize you can’t do it all yourself, that nobody is really qualified “in house,” and that you need some proven experience.

So there should be little question of value here, unless you haven’t done your homework screening prospects. Remember these are people whose entire lives are devoted to practicing the specialty you need help with. Professionals.

Bringing professional help to bear on your business needs, or to accelerate performance faster than it’s possible to do on your own, is not a decision that should be made lightly, but — once it’s made:

1)  Don’t expect outside providers to tell you how they’ll meet your needs or solve your problems as part of your selection process in order to have their services considered for meeting your needs or solving your problem (unless you pay them for that time and effort).

Do you give away time, talent, products and services to someone who says she or he might be interested in dealing with you

Professionals who are treated

professionally respond professionally.

2)  Don’t try to cut corners on fees because you’ll only be cheating yourself. Outsource consultants and performers deliver what they’re paid to deliver.

The old adage is true that you get what you pay for. If you truly can’t afford the expertise, don’t pretend you can and then haggle on price…unless you want to haggle on the results!

Outside professionals will not be upset with you wanting to cut a deal, as long as it’s a reasonable win-win arrangement.

When instead of $1,000 fee for a task, you try to nickel-and-dime it down to $500, even if you win, you lose; you’ll get $100 worth of effort. 

On the other hand, offering to pay $500 instead of $1000 with a measurable performance incentive of an additional $1000 is the kind of deal that will usually merit some good faith consideration. And isn’t it always worth paying one-X extra when someone’s efforts produce two-X extra? 

There are many places where it’s in your best interests to be a tightwad when reviewing your overhead and operations expenditures, but hiring proven, experienced, professional expertise is not one of them. I’ve been on both sides of the fence hundreds of times. People who reward performance well get exceptional performance.

www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

The Business That “Glows”

Together Grows Together

NO, power plant jokes aside, this is not just an empty little quick-fix message for entrepreneurial leaders, business owners, managers, and sales professionals.

First, it’s not “empty.” Second, it’s not “little.” Third, it will fix stuff quick, but it’s not a “quick-fix” remedy. And fourth, it’s not limited to  entrepreneurial leaders, business owners, managers, and sales professionals.

It’s something for everyone. In fact, please do share it with your family!

YES, like the classic stress management post take some deep breaths — this message works for families and friends as well as bosses and employees. No age limits, health restrictions, or strings attached. And, by the way, no charge.

Do some little thing that you usually

do every day in a different way…and

 see what you learn about your SELF. 

You typically start your daily shower, scrubbing under your left arm? Start under your right instead. Decide how it feels to be changing your routine. You usually travel the exact same route to work or school or a transit hub? Take a different route tomorrow. Note to yourself how it feels. What do you experience that’s different? New?

Perhaps you run straight to your emails or leave them until the evening? Try bunching them up a half hour before lunch and a half hour before quitting time. You’ll be more likely to make quick decisions and quick responses and not get tangled up with them for hours 

Why does any of this matter?

• Because the more you learn and can know about your SELF, and why you do and say the things you do, what feels right, what feels comfortable, and why, the more effective you will be at dealing with other people and interruptions and unplanned-for events (sounds like most of life?). Guess what the end-product is? Doesn’t self-discovery make you glow?                                                                  
• Because the more you can prompt yourself in small, seemingly insignificant ways to try new behaviors, new ideas, new directions, the more you are priming the pump in your brain to think and act more innovatively. Guess what the end-product is? Doesn’t being more innovative make you glow?                                                                             

In other words, changing your physical behavior — even just a tiny bit — can produce a tiny jolt in your brain that opens up some place where you have a crimped hose that is preventing free flow of information that can be holding back those great performances you are capable of, and those great smiles you have that you too often store in some closet.

You have the ability to make things happen for yourself every day, but are probably choosing to have other stuff get in your way. You might not be consciously making that kind of choice, but you can consciously choose to explore a new path or two. You can consciously choose to make more of the kind of difference in life you’ve always wanted to, instead of just talking or thinking about it.

When you choose to work at putting more glow inside yourself, you automatically transmit it to those you are responsible for leading —  and they will rise to the occasion more often and more productively. The business will glow. The business will grow.    

www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

A business wallowing

in its own culture is 

rapidly irrelevant, and  

moving toward extinction.

(Yet corporate giants need it to survive!) 

I just read somewhere (Twitter?) that “Company culture is the priority” for some business organization whose name I’ll withhold to spare them embarrassment. I never heard of the company, but no doubt it is either part of some corporate giant sprawl or, sadly, some idealistic young tech business that is tripping over its own inexperience.

Any company that devotes its priorities to promoting, maintaining, nurturing, and protecting its own culture is totally out of touch with the realities of doing business in 2010. Admittedly, “never forgetting where you came from” is a healthy, driving energy force for every business owner, but dwelling on it is exactly what is wrong with the ways corporate giants conduct business today.

If your business is not customer-centric in every application possible, it is headed toward the great business burial grounds up in the clouds. Developing pie-in-the-sky programs to attract and keep top industry performers is a waste of time and money unless you totally lack the leadership it takes to foster and cultivate top performance from within.

The short solution:

Stop wasting so much energy on trying to inbreed specific employee characteristics and allegiances at a time when the only ROI you’ll realize will be major deficits (you remember him?).

If you’re not running some incompetent government agency, heavily subsidized corporate entity, or dreamy-eyed inexperienced new venture, don’t think of a culture focus as your bailout.

Here’s the bottom line: You cannot focus on your company’s culture AND on serving your customers exceptionally enough to earn ongoing profits AT THE SAME TIME. There’s simply not enough hours in the day to devote your concerted efforts in both directions simultaneously. If you haven’t a treasure chest in the closet, stick to pleasing your customers.

What was it Abe Lincoln said about not being able to please all of the people all of the time? Yes, some self-absorbed employees will jump ship who are not catered to, but do employees who come to work with a daily “what’s in it for me” attitude do your business any good to start with?

Did you go into business to cater to employees or to cater to customers? Sure, employee recognition and motivational performance incentives are nice, warm, fuzzy actions. But don’t let them get in the way. If you do a good enough job of pleasing customers, you will automatically please employees as well…at least those who matter to your business.

Those employees who are intrinsically challenged to be outstanding performers, who want to build their careers on achievement will rise to the opportunities you provide when you set the example.

Teach them how to embrace your customer base, instead of constantly pandering to their requests for more social activities.  

Is that a thin line? Perhaps. Yet, business owners who understand communications, and who practice leadership by example, and management by wandering around, can substantially reduce the need for many employee recruitment and reward devices because they create an environment all by themselves that make others gravitate to serve their pursuits. Voila! “Counter Culture”!

Put the spotlight on the customer and teach employees how to focus it, how to keep it shining and how to change the bulb when necessary, then reward them for how well they do what they do instead of for the promises of their smiles behind their resumes.

We need only look briefly at the complete financial losses attached to professional sports team owners who buy into promises of greatness vs. those who make the long term investments of cultivating from within. A great team culture doesn’t matter if you can’t perform in the clutch.

www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Write that book!

Sing that song!

Change that battery!

Txt that msg!

There is no such thing as the right or wrong

time to take a step on your own behalf.

You are after all, the only one who will take a step on your own behalf. Oh, you no doubt have others who will get up to bat for you, and fill in when you’re preoccupied or not around. But –in the end– you are the only one who understands you (or has the potential to) and the only one with a clear vision of your business pursuits.

That translates to you needing to cultivate, practice, and boost your Action Attitude daily. Having a bias toward action doesn’t mean you need to adhere to some maniacal schedule of rushing from one thing to another 25 hours a day (and the clue to whether you fit this madman-paced lifestyle is wishing that you had 25 hours in a day!).

Making an Action Attitude be as important an ingredient in your life and your business pursuits doesn’t mean always being on your toes; it means always thinking on your toes.

Except perhaps during a ceremony, a religious service, or on the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped, some action is always better than no action! 

Having a bias toward action means always thinking and deciding in favor of forward motion regardless of delays or disarming or frustrating circumstances. It means never being lazy, except maybe on vacation. Action combined with trust is the foundation for leadership that makes a difference. 

No one travels to happiness or success by standing still. Why? Well, besides the obvious, it’s worth remembering the basic tenet of Gestalt-based teachings, that happiness IS the journey and success IS the journey. It is not a place to end. It is the process of getting there. We make that process happy and successful by having an Action Attitude.

I recently read someone’s business mission which stated in part, “Success starts with education followed by motivation.”

Not in this lifetime. Not in this country. And certainly not in the business world.

Success starts with an Action Attitude.

And as we all know from stories of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs, that their accomplishments had very little –if anything– to do with education.

Now, don’t all you teacher-types go getting your bowels in an uproar. I consider myself an educator as well as a writer and business coach. I taught part and full time college for 13 years. I designed and delivered management training workshops for 20 years. Educational achievements have little to do with life or business success.

My happiest and most successful students were typically lousy test performers with great drive, ambition, and a burning desire to make their ideas succeed. Most dropped out of formal classes and worked their way into experience levels that they parlayed into building and growing their own enterprises. Most have made a real difference in business, and with charitable contributions.

Winners don’t dwell on either the starting line OR the finish line. They pay attention to concentrating on each step they take. So having an Action Attitude means first and foremost being tuned in to “the here and now” present moment, every passing moment, as much as possible, throughout as many waking hours as possible, each day.

It is an Action Attitude focus that produces meaningful

and satisfying lives and productive, rewarding businesses.

931.854.0474 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Daily Notes or Recordings

Work Wonders With

Business Pursuits 

They heal damaged ventures and egos. They explore new ideas and avenues of strategic planning. They reveal new awarenesses and cultivate creativity. They stimulate innovation and fuel productive relationships.

They save time, money and effort. They reduce stress and soothe neurological systems.They need never be shared with anyone. They don’t take more than 3-5 minutes a day.

No, “They” are not vitamin supplements or exercises or illusionist tricks. “They” are journals. When you keep a journal, you open yourself up to all of the above opportunities.  

Do they REALLY work? Yes. I have dozens of business (and personal) journals on my shelf. Referring to them and the notes I’ve made has accomplished everything noted in the opening paragraph, and more.

A great many college and management training session students I’ve prescribed journaling to, have told me it was the single most valuable tool they ever learned about and used. It can be a combination savior and rocket booster for any entrepreneur or small business owner or manager. It can be a major career and personal/professional development tool for anyone, regardless of business attachments. 

The best part of keeping track of my daily thoughts in writing –besides teaching me more about myself and my life and business choices– is that once thoughts leave my brain and travel down my arm and into my fingers and through my pen and onto paper, I no longer need to carry them around in my brain.

Once my thoughts are sitting in a notebook that I can pick up and look at anytime I want; there’s more room in my brain for focusing on what’s important that’s going on here and now (instead of recreating and resurrecting past experiences or worrying about or planning for or fantasizing about stuff that’s in the future, and that may never happen or show up anyway).

I can tell you firsthand that there’s no better investment of time you can make, over time. And your potential ROI paybacks can be staggering. On top of all that, it’s free!

Getting started . . .

1) Make the commitment to yourself that you will try it faithfully for 21 days in a row.

2) On every left-hand page, put the date. Across the top write “WHAT HAPPENED” and proceed to jot down an objective, rational, report of some incident(s) that occurred or thoughts or ideas you had.

3) On every facing right-hand page, write across the top “HOW I FELT” and proceed to editorialize, offer opinions, be biased, express your “take” on whatever is represented on the left-hand page.

What kinds of entries work best . . .

An idea. A thought. An observation. A word. A sentence. A paragraph. A diagram. An example. A poem. A drawing. Scribble. Your goals. Goal progress. A doodle. Spit. A coffee stain. Whatever is taking up valuable think space that you don’t want to forget, but that’s getting in the way of immediacy.

Does it have to be in writing? Can’t a laptop serve the purpose? Historically, writing stuff down on paper has always worked best. Tape recordings are next best. Laptops do not offer the same impact value. I really recommend to put it in writing on paper in a (preferably) bound blank book or (second best) bound notebook. (“Bound” because removable pages encourage time-wasting second thoughts, and nurture perfectionism, which is not productive.)

Stop worrying about how pages will look and put stuff down. Something (literally any thing) every day is better that writing volumes once or twice a week.

Keeping track of your daily thoughts may feel awkward at first, but reviews over time will prove that you have created true value from nothing, and serve to demonstrate how really smart you always thought you were but never had a way to back up your convictions. And who knows? Maybe it will end up a best-seller or full-length movie! :<)

Serious: Do it. Start today.

www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Disagreements are

triggered by real or

perceived threats,

 injustices, and

unmet expectations.

If you’re not seeking a win-win result,

you lose. If, however, you are seeking for

both sides to walk away winners, check this…

Here’s a helpful checklist of steps to keep handy as you seek to negotiate your way through any disagreement with another person or group of people. Following these guidelines can help to disarm real or perceived threats, injustices, and unmet expectations by putting it all on the table and by facilitating (with pleasant assertiveness) forward movement…on the job, or off: 

1)   BOTH SIDES MUST ACCEPT

that the responsibility for striking up a successful relationship, or renegotiating a pre-existing one, is shared.

“Before we set out to produce a useful contract, we both (all) need to accept and act from a position of 50-50 ownership.”  

2)   A FREE, UNRESTRICTED ATTITUDE

must prevail. Agreements that are manipulated or coerced will not last. Those who do not freely choose to agree are not ready to contract with others at any level.

“Before we build this bridge over troubled waters, let us (all) agree to not exert any external stresses on the materials we use, the time we decide on, the people and equipment we choose to do the job, or the costs involved”

3)   BOTH SIDES MUST BE WILLING

 to give fair consideration to one another’s situations, circumstances, opinions, assertions, evidence, concerns, experience, skill, knowledge, and financial and physical and spiritual limitations. Even boss-employee relationships cannot produce something from nothing.

“I’m happy to give you the benefit of some extra hours (days) off if you are willing to put the extra effort in that we need right now, and can get the job done the right way on schedule.”

4)   ANYTHING ANYBODY WANTS

is legitimate. It may not be desirable, advisable, or affordable, but there’s nothing wrong with expressing desires (that are, of course, legal and nonviolent).

“You want a hundred million dollars for this land assessed at $900,000? Okay, you’re entitled to want that.”

5)   Remember the song: “YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT” ?

It’s true, and that’s okay too!

6)   YOU CAN CHOOSE TO REFUSE.

You may not want to deal with the consequences of refusing, but you can always simply say “No!”

7)   THE ONLY DEAL ITEMS 

you can put on the table are behavior, results, time and money. Attitudes and emotions cannot be contracted for.

8)   IF YOU OR THE OTHER PARTY

doesn’t have or is unable to provide something, don’t waste time and energy seeking it.

9)   PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT PRESENT

cannot be contracted with.

10)  PUT IT IN WRITING. PUT IT IN WRITING. PUT IT IN WRITING.

11)  BUILD IN  “What Happens If” CONTINGENCY ARRANGEMENTS.

Always take the time to consider “worst case scenario” possibilities. 

12)  MAKE SURE TO SET UP A WAY TO MEASURE PROGRESS.

It’s hard to know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been.   

This adaptation was inspired by a 1985 guideline “When You’re Negotiating” published by Designed Learning, Inc.

302.933.0116    Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

When tug-of-wars threaten 

family business . . .

call TIME OUT!

Not to act is to act… Not to stop the roller coaster long enough to raise the issues (and question yourself), puts you out of control!

Conflict is inevitable in any business. But eliminating conflict can destroy a business overnight because it pulls away the blanket of trust and blocks the path to innovation all in one fell swoop.

The goal needs to be to manage conflict productively, not chase it away. Properly managed conflict can breed creative thinking, mutual respect, and boost business growth.

If you want to get technical, some organizational development experts and behavioral scientists would insist that the inability to manage agreement is a far more critical issue to address than the inability to manage conflict.

Experience with hundreds of family businesses though seems to dictate that where conflict is present, manage that first. It’s hard to agree to much of anything once fists are flying.

__________________________________________________

Start by questioning yourself >>> What do I need to do when a conflict issue is critically important to me but not to others? >>>Am I inflating or accelerating an issue and making it worse than it really is? >>> How important is it for me (and for me to help others) to speak up, and not “hint”? >>> For issues that are critical to others but not me, can I mediate better with active listening and questioning?

_____________________________________________

Here are some quick-fix rules of thumb that can lead you out of the dark tangles and into the sunlight:

1) Be willing to listen more. Ask the presenter(s) to slow down so you can write down a bullet list of items he/she/they want to deal with (When you do this, you slow down the attack potential and reduce the odds of getting overwhelmed with a bombardment of unrelated issues. When it’s agreed that the list is complete, ask for help prioritizing it, then focus on #1 only until it’s resolved, before moving to #2, etc. Divide and conquer the issues.

2) Stay 100% focused on the issues and on behaviors, not on the individuals themselves or their personality defects or character traits.

3) Resist being defensive or attacking back. Rebuttals only stimulate more rebuttals. Even if you’re right and win the battle, you can lose the war.

4) Be pleasantly direct about expressing what you want and feel. Use assertive language that respects others and their rights, that is objective and clear. More use of words like “I” instead of “you.” If things get heated, call TIME OUT! and follow with statements like “I came here to discuss, not argue” and “I want to know your feelings about this” and “I want to hear your position on this.”

5) Practice substituting the word “and” for the word “but” when trying to work through differences [“I agree with your thinking that we need to increase sales, but I think how that happens should be the responsibility of the sales department” is NOT as effective as “I agree with your thinking that we need to increase sales, and I think how that happens should be the responsibility of the sales department.”] Words like “but” (and “though” and “however” which are simply polite “buts”) serve to discredit…whereas “and” suggests a process of building on a mutually agreeable idea.

To deal effectively with another person’s anger, you must –above all– not get hooked by it.

Second, accept it as belonging to the other person.

Third, affirm the other person’s angry feelings as real, and that you hear and understand them.

Fourth, acknowledge that you may or do feel defensive, and state clearly how you feel about having any anger directed at you.

Fifth, ASK for clarification, for examples, for diagrams; diagnose the cause — take it apart piece at a time.

Sixth, renegotiate the relationship.

And remember what grandma used to say: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

(or call or email Hal -see below- for some free pointers)

Resolving conflicts? It’s always worth doing. It’s your business.

302.933.0911 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Your business has just been 

beaten up. NOW what?????

The Small Business ER. Paperwork. Name? Date of birth? sole proprietorship, Sub-S or LLC? Address? History of ailments? Next of kin? Organ donor? 

The Business Doctor. A diagnostic work-up. What seems to be the problem? Take a deep breath! http://bit.ly/bo3ZJy Where does it hurt? Let’s see – does this hurt? 

What did you do, get mugged on the way to a sales presentation?

No insurance? Hmmmm. Ah, Helen, let’s see if we can slide this business in under some kind of federal coverage — maybe one of those stimulus plans?

Sooooo, the good news is you’re not gonna die from this. Take your business home, ice it, give it aspirin and lots of rest; keep the bank loans floating, drink prune juice and call me in the morning.

In the meantime, I’m giving you a rehab prescription — you’ll need physical and mental therapy both, but it may only be for six months to a year.

If by then, things haven’t straightened out, we’ll need to do some MRIs and consider a frontal lobotomy, or we may decide it’s just best for you to simply fold your venture and go to work for the government or a large corporation …which would be something like a lobotomy anyway.

Someone here to drive you? Good. You should feel better in a year or two. Have a great day! 

Yuh! Well, things could be worse, said the bloated cow that hadn’t been milked for three days.

The point is that very little compares with the mental anguish, and painful feelings associated with your business taking a beating at the hands of incompetent government agencies, overly-aggressive industry or professional competition, the two-faced-forked-tongue media, the IRS, or your cousin Vinny.

But YOU are an ENTREPRENEUR! Everybody calls you that. You have a reputation to uphold. You’re a free spirit. Nothing gets you down (well, almost nothing).

So the bottom line is that it’s time to get up off the floor (or examination room gurney) and pick up the pieces and set some new goals that are realistic, specific, flexible, and have a due date. http://bit.ly/95XCJN

Yes, it’s true that entrepreneurs typically do not like to plan anything, but the point here is that when your business and/or business ideas have been assaulted, and you’re thinking about chucking it all and heading for the islands, you need to PLAN.

Most recoveries of any type do not generally occur miraculously. They take planning. http://bit.ly/c4puBz Just as you set goals for yourself when you started your business, set them anew for making a recovery.

You CAN do this.

You know why? Because it’s a choice! http://bit.ly/9GydiP 

www.TWWsells.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

How you see

your business

is not how

others see it!

We see what we want to see. We hear what we want to hear. We feel what we want to feel.

How others experience your business and your business message has almost nothing to do with you. It’s all about selective perception.

Pretend your business

is sponsoring a special event . . . a charity fundraising reception, for example. Your biggest customer has donated a pile of merchandise for the feature event drawing. Your assistant has done all the decorations. Your major suppliers have donated hor’ devours and beverages, the local newspaper and TV news reporters are covering the reception. The Mayor is there.

Selective perception

dictates that your biggest customer heads directly to check out the donated prizes when she comes through the door (and to make sure the reporters get the charitable company’s name and address right), your assistant will be fussing with the ribbons and streamers and balloons, your major suppliers will head straight for the bar and foodservice trays (along with the media people who are only there for the freebies), and the Mayor is working the room for votes.

Most attendees are there to be seen.

Getting people to attend an event that they’ve contributed to in some way is easy. Getting them to pay attention to your message and the reason YOU wanted them to be there is not. And the people representing the charity think every one’s there to spotlight and assist their needs. But reality is that everyone who attends, attends for their own reasons, and searches out their own payoffs.

No, it’s not being cynical; it’s being honest. Most people will never admit that they go to or participate in a charity event for any reason other than to help the charity, but the truth is there’s something more in it for them. Nothing wrong with that because –in the end– the charity benefits, but don’t kid yourself into believing that others see things the same ways you do.

The charitable event is merely an example. Others fail to see your perspective in the ways you represent your products and services. Probably 100% of customers and prospects could care less about all the great product and service features you embrace. The “What’s in it for me” benefits are all that really matter.

Are you triggering their emotional

buying motives…or yours?

In fact, NO ONE sees things the same ways you do. No ones sees and hears and processes things in exactly the same ways as anyone else. The perceptual filters in every brain vary with age, health, environment, experience, and circumstances among other factors…and they can change at the drop of a hat.

Some people still walk around blaming a bad upbringing or poor potty training as reasons for certain shortcomings or personality defects. They don’t see the world (or your business) the same way you do.

Well, that may all strike you as fairly depressing news, but there’s nothing depressing about having a heightened awareness of the fact that you need to reach customers and prospects with the sets of words that appeal most to THEM, not you. That’s important stuff!

You might want to consider having a professional experienced, sales-focused  marketing writer with strong psychology training handle the creation and production of the words that represent your business. Your business messages need to feel solid to your target market. Having that happen is not a matter of luck.

Look for someone who knows how to capture and excite a broad spectrum of selective perception filters, who can help direct attention your way, and who can create messages that will trigger emotional buying motives for you.   

Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!