3 Surprising Ways to Find New Clients

By Erika Napoletano

People tell me the weirdest stories. Some are tales of drunken escapades, brushes with law enforcement or photos inadvertently distributed on the internet. Others are more surprising: They star astonishingly sober folks hellbent on playing by their own business rules. One of my favorite themes of the second group: People who employ unconventional methods for connecting with new customers. Get ready to put their oddball antics to work for your business.

Make house calls.
Andy Dunn, founder and CEO of New York City-based Bonobos, wanted to sell a better brand of britches directly to men online, without stocking the product in stores. To build a customer base, he loaded up his car with samples and hosted private events in homes around New York. Gents could try the pants on and experience Bonobos' better fit and better service model, then have the product shipped directly to their homes. His customers became his evangelists, and Dunn's schedule filled up with in-home events. Bonobos reached its first $1 million in revenue without spending a dollar on customer acquisition (aside from the cost of gas). Today Bonobos boasts sales in the multimillions -- and it all started by going directly to the customer.

Offer unlimited service.
Domain registrar Name.com is known for its exceptional customer service -- and that's not business as usual in the domain-name game. But how many businesses do you know that actively provide service to non-customers? In early 2011 that's exactly what Name.com did. Via Twitter, the team caught wind of a software developer whose domain name had been hijacked. (This can occur when your domain registrar mistakenly allows your name to be transferred without the proper authorization.) Name.com reached out to the non-customer and subsequently tracked down the hijacker -- all the way to Ukraine. The company's outstanding efforts (and the good PR they generated) earned it a slew of domain transfers from other consumers.

Differentiate your direct mail.
Business consultant Ashley Ambirge is nothing if not unconventional. The mind behind The Middle Finger Project, which pushes people to "get your ass off the warm-up bench," Ambirge encourages clients to take unconventional and sometimes rocky paths to achieve hell, yeah status in their businesses. A copywriter by trade, Ambirge decided to create a very targeted direct-mail campaign aimed at companies she wanted as clients -- but she skipped out on traditional collateral materials. Instead, she went to a roofing supply company. Yes, a roofing supply company. She sent 30 companies (new home builders) a single roofing shingle inscribed with the words "My Company + Your Company = sales through the roof." The result? A 100 percent response rate, with nearly every one of the responders becoming a client over the following year.

The key to unconventional customer acquisition is to remember to keep it about the customers. Think about their needs. Go where they are. Make them laugh. Help them. And, once you have them, provide exceptional service so they stick around and help you bag new customers.
Don't worry if your competitors think you're all about using shenanigans to bring folks to your door. We know that it's all about your dedication to your current and future customers' needs.

Small Business (Time) Management

by Michael Barry

There is a theory glazed over in every freshman economics course on the way to supply side economics and demand side – I’ve already lost you. Economics might not be your cup of tea, but the theory is worth a listen. It goes a little something like this: Should Tiger Woods mow his own lawn? That’s it. The answer is an easy one. No. He has people for that. He should be golfing. The term for that is called opportunity cost. Why is there even a theory about that? Time management is why.

Investopedia defines opportunity cost as:

The cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action. Put another way, the benefits you could have received by taking an alternative action.

In terms of your small business, opportunity cost refers directly to the actions you perform every day that take away from what you do best – managing your business. Here are a couple quick tips to manage your time so you can get back to work.

How Do You Spend Your Time

Time is money. Wasting time is wasting money. Plain and simple. The killers of time are well known too. Whether it’s fantasy football, Facebook, or searching for that new diet, all the time you click off the clock is time you’ll wish you had later. Future you will work hard, but she’d rather it wasn’t because past you had no discipline.

Track Everything

Make a budget of the time you spend each day, each week. Keep a list, a spreadsheet, write it in the margins of last months expense report. I don’t care where you write it, but get it down on paper. The same way money disappears at Target when you go in to buy “just one thing”, time disappears when you take “just one minute” to check Twitter. By writing down what time you spend doing what tasks each day you’ll be able to see where time is going. Making the change in how you spend that time is the difficult task.

You Have a Staff – Let Them Earn Their Pay

Maybe you read that last paragraph and said “I don’t waste time on social media” but time still escapes you. I have one question for you. How much time do you spend answering phones and replying to email? These mundane tasks are productivity arsenic. Your receptionist is there for a reason. She knows the phones and your day-to-day business like the back of both hands. You are the boss man, the oracle. Be there for the big things and swing in for handshakes and phone calls when needed. You don’t see restaurant managers waiting tables. They check in and move on, confident their staff is top notch. You have more important tasks to be doing. When you consistently spend time doing mundane tasks it become second nature to start there. The same goes for the converse. Your opportunity costs are clear. Be an innovator. The big picture awaits you.

http://www.bizoffice.com/small-business-time-management/#more-1322

Ideas for Generating New Business

by Kate Smalley

One of the biggest challenges for small business owners is finding a fast, effective way to bring in new customers. That’s because most owners must wear several hats – bookkeeper, technical support representative, human resources manager and marketer. And, of course, owners must provide quality goods or services. Finding the time to market can be especially difficult if you are a one- or two-person operation.
The reality is that spending the time to market is essential to maintaining or growing a business. It helps you avoid one of the biggest pitfalls in small business: relying on a big client or two for the lion’s share of your company’s revenue.
Two things often happen in this scenario. First, business tend to provide preferential treatment to the older, bigger client rather than to smaller, new client, which may cost some business. Secondly, businesses find themselves in a tenuous position by putting most of their eggs in one basket. If the primary client leaves, the company could be economically devastated.
A healthy company always has new clients coming in the door as well as happy existing clients. You can rely on word of mouth to get those new clients on board, but usually it’s not enough. Here are three tips to help you stay on top of marketing efforts.
Get organized. Hire someone to create a database of that huge stack of business cards that you’ve been keeping in your top desk drawer. Make sure it’s a database you can easily use for emails or mailings – like your Microsoft Outlook contacts or ACT! Having all your potential customers at your fingertips is money well spent.
Once you have all your contacts input, you can send targeted e-mails or letters to your potential clients. Make the messages short and sweet, as well as informative. People look forward to getting valuable information, so give it to them. Follow up with a phone call to find out if the information was helpful and if your company can provide goods or services.
Even the busiest entrepreneur can send 20 e-mails each month and follow up with them. Schedule the time on your calendar to do it.
Create an “elevator pitch.” Try to pare down your company’s products and services to a sentence or two. Start by writing down what you do and then edit. This is a great exercise, especially if you offer a wide variety of goods and services, to help you clarify your top priorities.
Most people want to try to throw in everything they do. For example, if you’re a landscape designer, you may be tempted to talk about turf, bedding plants and terracing. Instead, tell people “I’m a landscape designer. I help people create their own backyard oasis.”
If at all possible, get specific. If you are a graphic designer, be sure to add your specialties. Don’t just say, “I’m a graphic designer.” Do say, “I’m a graphic designer specializing in e-newsletters and interactive web sites.”
Cultivate your current clients. It’s much easier and cost-effective to sell an existing customer additional services than to go out looking for new ones. That’s what makes the pitfall of having one big client so insidious – the smaller clients that you are tempted to shove to the side may actually bring in more business than your current big client if you give them the same stellar products and services.
Schedule monthly meetings with your clients to find out how you are doing and to learn what they see on the horizon for their own business. Show them how you can help fill their goals and dreams. You’ll be amazed at how much a couple of hours of your time will pay off.
Contact is the most important element of marketing. If you don’t have time to do anything else, make sure you contact at least 10-20 potential or current clients each month. Doing so will help keep that business coming in and your company healthy. 

http://www.infoservemedia.com/support/articles/generating_new_business.html

What Type of Entrepreneur Are You?

By Martin Zwilling |

Figuring out what kind of business to launch is hardly a science, but it should be considered logically.

Think about the basic entrepreneur make up. While naturally all entrepreneurs are unique under the sun, they do tend to conform with certain archetypes. Some entrepreneurs are really inventors, who view the challenges of building a business as a necessary evil. Others are really marketers who believe that they can entice customers to any offering. Some just want to change the world and make it a better place.

But why does this matter? It’s my view that if you know what your strengths are early, you’ll be better equipped to launch businesses that are more likely to survive and even thrive.

I’ve always wondered if there was some way that I could quickly deduce a new entrepreneur’s “sweet spot,” and optimize my mentoring to those strengths and weaknesses, maybe similar to the Myers-Briggs type indicator for business professionals. I just saw an interesting step in that direction via a new book “Entrepreneurial DNA,” by Joe Abraham.

His framework seems to be picking up some traction, and is already in use informally by several entrepreneurship platforms, including StartupAmerica, and CoFoundersLab. His methodology measures an entrepreneur’s fit or DNA in each of four quadrants -- Builder, Opportunist, Specialist, and Innovator (BOSI), defined at a high level as follows:

1. Builder. These entrepreneurs are the ultimate chess players in the game of business, always looking to be two or three moves ahead of the competition. They are often described as driven, focused, cold, ruthless, and calculating. Many might say Donald Trump epitomizes this category.

2. Opportunist. The Opportunist is the speculative part of the entrepreneur in all of us. It’s that part of our being that wants to be in the right place at the right time, leveraging timing to make as much money as possible. If you ever felt enticed to jump into a quick money deal, like a real-estate quick-flip, or an IPO, that was your ‘opportunist’ side talking.

3. Specialist. This entrepreneur will enter one industry and stick with it for 15 to 30 years. They build strong expertise, but often struggle to stand out in a crowded marketplace of competitors. Picture the graphic designer, the IT expert or the independent accountant or attorney.

4. Innovator. You will usually find the Innovator entrepreneur in the “lab” of the business working on their invention, recipe, concept, system or product that can be built into one or many businesses. The challenge with an Innovator is to focus as hard on the business realities as the product possibilities. Too many Innovators are like Dean Kamen, still struggling with the Segway Human Transporter, while holding 440 other device patents.

Of course, discovering your entrepreneur type is only the beginning. After that, it’s all about capitalizing on those strengths, shoring up your weaknesses and building a plan that works for you.

Overall, I see real value in using this methodology in conjunction with incubators, business accelerators and mentoring. I’m not yet convinced that anyone has a fully automated system that will nail your entrepreneurial DNA and help you succeed, despite the unpredictable business and personal realities.

But I see a real opportunity here for every entrepreneur to optimize his impact and his personal satisfaction with a minimum of effort. I challenge each of you to take a hard look at what makes you tick.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225652 

 

A Small Business Year-End Web Site Checklist

By Matt McGee

The time of year when we make resolutions is fast approaching. I’m not much of a resolution-maker myself, but I’m going to suggest that small business owners make one. Namely, it’s a suggestion that you resolve to fix up your web site and pay attention to things you might’ve ignored for too long. I know you’re busy and time is at a premium, so chances are good that you’ve missed a few minor issues that are making your web site look old and outdated.

Think about this way: Your car needs a tune-up every 15,000 miles or so to keep it running at its best. Your teeth need a checkup at least once or twice a year. I bet your doctor would also like to see you regularly, too. Well, a regular checkup will also keep your web site running in peak condition.

With that in mind, here’s a small business web site checkup that you should tackle at least once a year.

1. Review your company information
If you have a staff listing or directory, is it up-to-date with correct names, titles, and other contact information? If you have an “About Us” page or something similar that discusses company history, make sure it’s updated—especially references such as “We’ve been in business for eight years.”

2. Review your contact information
Are the phone and fax numbers, mailing and email addresses listed on your site all current? You’re obviously losing customers if the phone number has changed.

3. Review your email routing
If you list help@yourdomain.com as the main contact address on your site, is it being routed to the correct person? If your shopping cart sends order information to orders@yourdomain.com, is that going where it needs to go? Make sure your email routing reflects any organizational changes you’ve had.

4. Review and test your contact forms
If you have contact forms on your site, review them to make sure they work, they’re easy to use, and to see if they need to be updated. You might want to start asking people how they found your site or something else that your contact form doesn’t ask now. Also, be sure to “break” the form—submit it without the required information and see how understandable the resulting error message is.

5. Review your automated outgoing messages
Do you send an automated confirmation message or receipt after someone orders a product or uses your contact form? If so, review that outgoing automated message to make sure it says what you want it to say, and that it has the right contact information, etc.

6. Update your copyright and/or privacy policy statements
If you have a copyright notice on your site, make sure it’s not outdated. If you have a privacy policy, review it to make sure it accurately describes your current policy toward handling your customers’ personal information.

7. Test all outgoing links on your web site
Outdated or broken links make your site look stale. It’s also a source of frustration for your customers who click on links that don’t work. Check all links on your site to make they’re accurate and up-to-date. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) offers an online link checker that makes this easy to do.

8. Review the hidden sections of your web site
If you have any password-protected areas, do the passwords need to be changed? If you had staff changes during the year, this might be a good idea. It might be a good idea even if you didn’t!

9. Review your domain record
Make sure your domain registrar has current contact information for you. If they don’t, you might miss renewal notices and other important announcements about your domain. You might also want to read How to Protect Your Domain, which has some additional things to look for on your domain record.

10. Do an overall review of your web site
This is something you should really be thinking about on a regular basis, but web sites often get ignored in the daily grind of running a small business. Ask yourself: How fresh is the content on my site? Do any pages need to be updated? How does my site look? Is it time for a more professional or modern design? Does my site offer the kind of features or tools that let my customers get what they want when they visit?

Some of these suggestions will only take minutes to complete, while others will be more time-consuming. But no matter how busy you are, checking your web site at least once a year is a resolution worth making … and keeping.

http://searchengineland.com/a-small-business-year-end-web-site-checklist-12915

Do More Faster: 10 Best Apps & Tools

Five-time entrepreneur Frank Addante lists the digital gems that help him be organized and save time.

1.  Organize your email: Sanebox
Sanebox uses algorithms to organize your email into what's important and what's not. I was skeptical and had trouble giving up control of my inbox, but now I'm hooked. 
Tips: Trust it. Check @SaneLater twice a day, @SaneBulk whenever you feel like reading newsletters or promotions, and @SaneBlackHole for all the junk you never want to see again.
2.  Keep track of all your notes: Evernote 
Evernote stores your notes in the cloud, so you can access them from any computer or mobile device.
Tips: Use Evernote for both business and personal reasons. I take all of my business meeting notes directly in Evernote and scan or fax documents to Evernote that I want to keep. On the personal side, I take photos of wine that I like and store them in a notebook called Favorite Wines and keep copies of all critical identification (like my driver's license, passport, and insurance papers) in a notebook called Wallet.
Download App: iPhone | Android
3.  Store your documents in the cloud: Dropbox
Securely file away your digital documents in the cloud, so you can find and work on them from any computer or mobile device later.
Tips: I created two Dropbox folders--~Working Drafts and ~To File--and put them on my Mac in my Finder Favorites and on my Dock. I set the default sort order to be by Date Modified. This way, my most recent documents show up at the top of the list, and I can quickly drag or find documents there. I use ~Working Drafts as if it's my desktop and never actually store anything on my computer desktop. When I'm finished with a document, I drag it to ~To File, and every once in a while, I go into the folder to organize folders that make more sense long term. Note: I include the tilde (~) in the filenames so that, when sorted alphabetically, these folders always show up at the top.
Download App: iPhone | Android
4.  Prioritize your to-do list: Action Method
It's an online app that helps you organize to-do lists and track and delegate tasks.
Tips: Use Action Method's three color codes to set your priorities. Use orange for tasks that must be done on the scheduled day, blue for tasks that should be done that day but can push a day if necessary, and grey for tasks that you'd like to get done that day but will push if there are other deadlines. I follow the same color code in my calendar. The website is great, but definitely download--and set to open at login--the desktop, iPad, and mobile apps. Start every "to-do" item with an "action" word. The only negative about the Web application is that it can't be used offline. I use either the iPad or iPhone app while on a plane and sometimes will print a PDF of my to-dos before I take off and leave it on my desktop.
Download App: iPhone | Android
5.  Assemble your travel plans: TripIt
TripIt files all your itineraries in one place. You can even have it automatically send your itineraries to your significant other, kids, or always-worried mom. The Pro version alerts you of flight delays and gate changes.
Tips: Download the mobile app and put it on your home screen. Create a contact for plans@tripit.com and forward all itineraries to that contact.
Download App: iPhone | Android
6.  Automatically transcribe your voice-mail messages: YouMail
This voice-mail service transcribes your voice-mail messages and sends them to you by email or text (or both). The mobile app makes it easy to view, listen, read, and forward your voice mails.
Download App: iPhone | Android
7.  Consolidate your social network accounts: HootSuite 
This website allows you to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yammer, and others all from one place.
Tips: I tend to have pockets of time when I can read and post on social media. Try HootSuite's new "auto schedule" feature, so you can spread out your posts and don't flood your networks with many in a row.
Download App: iPhone | Android
8.  Communicate in real time with your whole team: Yammer
Yammer is like a private Twitter stream just for your company.
Tips: Get everyone in your company to sign up, and then use it as your main means of communicating information. This way, everyone will adapt to Yammer, because no one wants to miss out. Allow employees to post things that are "business" material and "fun" material. The fun material makes it more entertaining, and, in turn, the business material is more likely to be read.
Download App: iPhone | Android
9.  Stay fit: miCoach
Exercise keeps your mind sharp. The miCoach iPhone app acts like your personal trainer. I lost 20 pounds using it at home and while on the road.
Tips: Set up your workouts in advance. I selected Get Lean for running and Get Fit for gym workouts. Buy the heart-rate monitor and stride sensor; it's worth it. What gets measured gets done.
Download App: iPhone | Android
10.  Sleep better: iSleep
It's important to get a good night's rest. If you're like me, your mind is constantly racing, and the day's work never ends. The iSleep meditation app helps you fall asleep and stay asleep. It's particularly helpful when you have jet lag or can't fall asleep. I use the Deep Sleep playlist at the end of a long, stressful day.
Download App: iPhone | Android
http://www.inc.com/frank-addante/personal-productivity-do-more-faster-apps-tools.html?nav=pop

9 Daily Habit that will make you happier

by Geoffrey James

Happiness is the only true measure of personal success. Making other people happy is the highest expression of success, but it's almost impossible to make others happy if you're not happy yourself.

With that in mind, here are nine small changes that you can make to your daily routine that, if you're like most people, will immediately increase the amount of happiness in your life:

1. Start each day with expectation.

If there's any big truth about life, it's that it usually lives up to (or down to) your expectations. Therefore, when you rise from bed, make your first thought: "something wonderful is going to happen today." Guess what? You're probably right.

2. Take time to plan and prioritize.

The most common source of stress is the perception that you've got too much work to do.  Rather than obsess about it, pick one thing that, if you get it done today, will move you closer to your highest goal and purpose in life. Then do that first.

3. Give a gift to everyone you meet.

I'm not talking about a formal, wrapped-up present. Your gift can be your smile, a word of thanks or encouragement, a gesture of politeness, even a friendly nod. And never pass beggars without leaving them something. Peace of mind is worth the spare change.

4. Deflect partisan conversations.

Arguments about politics and religion never have a "right" answer but they definitely get people all riled up over things they can't control. When such topics surface, bow out by saying something like: "Thinking about that stuff makes my head hurt."

5. Assume people have good intentions.

Since you can't read minds, you don't really know the "why" behind the "what" that people do. Imputing evil motives to other people's weird behaviors adds extra misery to life, while assuming good intentions leaves you open to reconciliation.

6. Eat high quality food slowly.

Sometimes we can't avoid scarfing something quick to keep us up and running. Even so, at least once a day try to eat something really delicious, like a small chunk of fine cheese or an imported chocolate. Focus on it; taste it; savor it.

7. Let go of your results.

The big enemy of happiness is worry, which comes from focusing on events that are outside your control. Once you've taken action, there's usually nothing more you can do. Focus on the job at hand rather than some weird fantasy of what might happen.

8. Turn off "background" TV.

Many households leave their TVs on as "background noise" while they're doing other things. The entire point of broadcast TV is to make you dissatisfied with your life so that you'll buy more stuff. Why subliminally program yourself to be a mindless consumer?

9. End each day with gratitude.

Just before you go to bed, write down at least one wonderful thing that happened. It might be something as small as a making a child laugh or something as huge as a million dollar deal. Whatever it is, be grateful for that day because it will never come again.

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/9-daily-habits-that-will-make-you-happier.html?nav=pop

The Top-Ten List of What’s Keeping You From Your Goals

1. No planning, bad planning, or too much planning.
Oh, the power of the plan. “Plans are useless,” said Dwight D. Eisenhower, “but planning is indispensable.” The act of planning helps you to figure out where you want to go (the goal) and how you’re going to get there (the next action you need to take). The best plans cover just that much information and, really, not much more.

No planning can leave you wandering. You aren’t committed to one goal or course of action, so you waver and accomplish nothing.

Bad planning can leave you overwhelmed by details, a rigid schedule, or a totally unrealistic view of the daily distractions and obstacles you will encounter. A good plan allows you to be flexible, deal with the details as they arise, and keep moving forward even when things go wrong.

Too much planning is just you wallowing around in your planner and task list instead of taking that next action you need to take. Trust me, you won’t make much progress that way.

2. Too many goals.
You only have so much time, energy, and availability. If you spread yourself too thin by pursuing too many goals at the same time, you’ll make minimal or no progress in each. That’s just plain discouraging.

Instead, focus on one to three “big” goals, and keep the rest of your life in maintenance mode. Once you make significant progress, or reach a goal, you can tackle another. Success breeds success, so you’ll build on your momentum as you complete one goal and go for the next.

3. Goals you don’t care about.
Your mom, your spouse, your brother, and your ten best friends may all think it’s a great idea for you to start a business or lose weight. But if you don’t really care, there’s no point in setting that goal. You’re the one who has to work for the goal, so you’re the one who needs to want to get to it.

4. Organizing in lieu of doing.
Reaching goals requires that you take action, not spend time eternally preparing to take action. Orderliness is great, yes, and serves its purpose; but your ability to take action does not depend on how organized your stuff, space, or schedule is.

Give yourself a limit on organizing and prep work; when you reach the limit, it’s time to start moving forward, even if things aren’t as neat as you’d like them.

5. Too detailed or ritualistic.
Writers fall prey to this one all the time. You can read dozens of biographies of writers known for their various rituals and tics, from only writing while laying down in bed to using a particular type of pencil to having the right odor in the room.

While those rituals are interesting to read, in real life all they do is slow you down. When you commit yourself to a ritual, you handicap yourself psychologically. “I can’t work unless _____________.” But that’s not true, is it? You can work, as long as you possess the physical and mental ability to do the work itself. Even if that means you have to skip your ritual, or work in a space that doesn’t look, feel, or smell right.

6. Lack of supplies.
So simple, I hate to mention it, but if you’re going to do something requiring special supplies, go get your supplies. Now. Set them up. Now. Then you can actually do the work: whether that’s pen and paper, a laptop, running shoes and a water bottle, paints and brushes, or a piano.
If you set a goal but refuse to arm yourself with the supplies you need to reach it, you’re not really serious about the goal. Either switch to a goal you are serious about, or set yourself up for this one.

7. Tracking results instead of progress.
When you’re working toward a long-term or “big” goal, like, say, writing a novel, it’s easy to get discouraged. In my case, the result – a finished novel – was far-off in the distance when I first started writing. So instead of measuring my success by a result, which was still in the distance, I learned to measure by the progress I made.

For example, I would track word counts or minutes spent writing. Sometimes I would push myself to complete 1000 words a day, every day, for a week or a month. Other times, when life got busier, I would just focus on putting in 20 minutes a day.

Tracking progress allows you to see that you are moving forward, even if slowly, and that knowledge helps you to keep pushing through.


8. No milestones.
Larger or long-term goals need milestones along the way. Training for a marathon is a big undertaking, but if you break it down into certain training milestones, you can keep your focus.
Your first milestone could be running two consecutive miles; your next could be running three; and so on, until you reach your goal. Starting a business, another big, unwieldy goal, works well with milestones. First milestone: setting up an LLC. Second milestone: setting a budget for your business. Third milestone: launching your first product. And so on. Tweak as needed for your big goal.

9. No accountability.
I am, by nature, a private person. And writing is a private endeavor. Talking about my novel made me feel like it was silly to attempt it, so for a long time I avoided letting anyone but my husband know what I was up to, hunched over my keyboard in the corner.
That was my mistake, as it turns out: my husband is not a private person. Pretty soon he was casually mentioning to anyone within earshot that his wife was working on a novel, at which point I would stammer out some sort of acknowledgement while silently vowing to kill him as soon as we got home.

But a funny thing happened… First, I learned how to own what I was doing. Was I a real writer or not? Did it matter? I was writing, so I might as own it, and stick with it.

Second, I learned that people are intrigued when you set big goals. They want to know why, and how, and what motivates you. They start getting inspired. They start sharing their own big goals. Pretty soon, you’re checking up on and encouraging each other.

Before long, I was sharing daily word counts on my Facebook wall. The accountability and encouragement I got, first from my husband and then from many friends, helped me to stick with it on many days when punching out a few more paragraphs was the last thing I wanted to do.

10. No rewards/acknowledgement.
You know the great thing about having accountability? Once you reach a goal, accountability shifts to acknowledgement.

When I finished my novel, I got to brag about it, on Facebook and to anyone who would listen. Public acknowledgement is a powerful motivator, but that’s not the only kind of reward out there. For bigger goals, promise yourself a reward for every milestone. Make it something fitting with the goal so you stay focused.

The Path to Progress
The path to progress is not going to be an easy walk. You know that, right? When you set big goals, you set yourself up for an uphill climb. You’ll be working against a culture that encourages mediocrity as well as your own tendencies to procrastinate, be lazy, and question yourself.
But you can still reach your goals. Focus. Work on one or two big goals at time. Act instead of planning or organizing. Don’t over-complicate things. Get what you need to get the job done. Track your progress along the way, celebrate each milestone with rewards, and share what you’re doing along the way. The path to progress isn’t easy, but it’s fulfilling, invigorating, and the views are a heck of a lot better than anything on YouTube.

http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/blog/10-reasons-youre-not-reaching-your-goals-or-what-i-learned-from-writing-a-really-crappy-novel/

7 Deadly Sins of Business Meetings Pt. 2

By Lisa Girard 

 

4. Meetings that harp on setbacks instead of strategies. One of Bradt's clients spent 95 percent of each meeting having plant managers explain why their numbers weren't up to par and only 5 percent planning future strategies. Not surprisingly, Brandt says, everyone came out of the meeting with a long face.
Tip: Use the past as a platform for understanding and planning future actions, not "a battering ram to beat people up," Bradt says. The collective brainpower in the room should be used to avoid mistakes going forward.

5. Meetings that disrupt the most productive hours. Many companies hold meetings in the morning, interrupting employees' most productive hours, says Jackie Freiberg, co-author of Nanovation: How a Little Car Can Teach the World to Think Big and Act Bold (Thomas Nelson, 2011).

Tip: Schedule meetings in the afternoon, when escaping the cubicle can be a welcome relief.

6. Meetings that are held in a bland environment. At the vast majority of meetings, employees gather around a conference table and keep their gaze focused on the leader at the head of the table. Freiberg believes this format does little to stimulate discussion and creative ideas.

Tip: Take your employees on a "walking" meeting in the park or just around the building and parking lot. "When you're not eye to eye, you have the guts to say certain things," Freiberg says. "And when walking, you look at the world differently, which stimulates fresh ideas."

7. Meetings that are too formal and rigid. Few meeting leaders have a sense of humor. The result is a room full of bored, restless employees, says Eric Chester, author of Reviving Work Ethic (Greenleaf Books, 2012).

Tip: Break up the meeting with music, a video, jokes or an engaging story, Chester says. "In the age of YouTube and iTunes, there's simply no reason to not inject a bit of levity in a meeting to gain attention, disarm negativity and generate enthusiasm

 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224151?cam=Dev&ctp=PopRightMod&cdt=2&cdn=224151

7 Deadly Sins of Business Meetings Pt. 1

By Lisa Girard 

  

Skype meetings used to be a weekly ritual for InQuicker, a health-care IT company with offices in Nashville, Tenn., and Vancouver, B.C. "It had always felt a bit contrived to meet weekly," says company co-founder and CEO, Michael Brody-Waite. "I think it hurt morale to place what is essentially a giant productivity speed bump in the middle of every work week. When we really thought about it, there weren't too many issues coming up in our weekly meetings that needed everyone's attention."

InQuicker finally changed the meeting schedule to once a month and began using Google Hangouts so that 10 people can share the screen in a less formal setting. That made everyone happier—and more productive.
InQuicker is not alone when it comes to dysfunctional meetings. For many businesses, routine meetings can lack focus and a clear agenda and end up wasting time and boring people.

"The last thing a meeting organizer wants is their attendees to be sitting in a conference room or on the phone wondering what the meeting is for, why they were asked to join, or what the output will be," says Kathryn Hammond, owner of BlueSpire Strategic Marketing, a Minneapolis-based marketing company. "If a meeting doesn't have a defined agenda and concrete next steps, I can almost guarantee you will see people playing with their phones or hear people typing in the background."

Here, seven deadly sins to watch for in business meetings -- and tips on how to redeem yourself.

1. Meetings that become useless rituals. Companies frequently meet simply because it's time for their weekly, monthly or annual sales meeting. "Meetings that are ritualistic instead of necessary are often boring, and attendees eventually flip an 'off switch' in their brains," says Joe Calloway, business strategy consultant and author of Becoming A Category of One (John Wiley, 2003).

Tip: First, reexamine your routine. "Do not have a meeting unless you can very specifically define why it's necessary and how it will advance the strategy of the organization," he says. Also, create a specific agenda and send it out early enough for people to prepare.

2. Meetings that are a one-way conversation. People often tune out monotone lecturers and mind-numbing PowerPoint presentations. "A one-way speech is generally one of the least effective ways of teaching, informing or motivating people to action," Calloway says.

Tip: Encourage your team to speak up, exchange ideas and comment on what they've heard. If you show PowerPoint slides, make them visually interesting and keep words and numbers to a minimum.

3. Meetings with lax leadership. In today's "virtual" conference rooms, time is often wasted waiting for people to join the call and then getting stragglers up to speed on what they missed. "This punishes the people who joined the meeting on time with the likelihood you'll run over, leaving employees stressed out playing catch-up on the rest of their day," says Gary Bradt, business strategy expert and author of The Ring in the Rubble (McGraw Hill, 2007).

Tip: Choose a leader who is organized and forceful, leaving latecomers to catch up on their own. "Use tact, of course – you don't have to be Attila the Hun – but if you're too nice, it allows too much nonsense to go on," Bradt says.

Stay tuned for more tips. 


 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224151?cam=Dev&ctp=PopRightMod&cdt=2&cdn=224151

Out of Sight is Out of Mind

By Kelli C. Holmes

I REALY want to share this message with you. I have been involved in, and/or working in the “Referral Group/Network Group” industry for over 25 years. I have been a member of a referral organization, spent 10 years as an executive with this large referral organization, and my company, TEAM Referral Network, has been around for 10 years. I have also networked across the country and with people in the international market as well. I am recognized as an expert in the industry and many companies and groups have paid me to speak on this topic.

So…have I qualified myself as a person who knows what she’s talking about yet? Because I could go on…ok, I’ll stop. But the bold statement I am about to make will be questioned by many of you reading this, but here goes anyway… out of sight is out of mind. Yes, it is.

Many (and I do mean many) people operate on the assumption that once they have established a business relationships with people that little to no “continuing nurturing” is needed. I cannot tell you how many people have told me directly or indicated to me that they do not need TEAM anymore because they have already established their relationships with the members. Their thought process is…I’m not going to get anything NEW and I will continue to get their referrals anyway.  (Never mind the fact that chapters have new members and visitors on a regular basis that they could meet.) But, what they also forget about is… out of sight is out of mind. 

Once you are no longer part of a group, your networking partners can (and will) forget about you. Yes, occasionally former members will continue to get referrals but not nearly as much as when they were a part of the group. And if (or should I say when) another person joins who does what you do, and they are at the meeting each week sharing their commercials, listening to everybody else's commercials, bringing referrals….guess who they are going to give their referrals to? Yup! The new person! Out of sight really is out of mind!!!

Kelli C. Holmes, author of “Effective Networking”,  shows you a better, smarter way to grow your business through powerful business relationships.  Kelli is the Founder of TEAM Referral Network, a professional referral organization that turns success-oriented business people into a strong team of networking professionals who work together to build their business by referral.  TEAM’s motto is Together Everyone Achieves More.  For more information visit their website www.teamreferralnetwork.com or call (866)311-TEAM.     

3 Critical Questions to Ask Yourself Before Posting to Facebook

By Brian Patrick Eha 

  

The Holy Grail of social media outreach on Facebook is "engagement" -- going beyond broadcasting to interact with your fans. While some businesses might use Facebook to drive traffic to their own websites, the more that people are "Liking" and commenting on your posts and sharing your content with their own networks, the more brand loyalty you can build.

Facebook uses its "Edgerank" algorithm to measure fan engagement and to determine which of your updates appear in the News Feeds of your fans. Your Edgerank score goes up when fans "Like" and comment more on your updates which, in turn, means your posts will be seen by more people.

While there's no tried-and-true formula for everyone to maximize engagement all the time, outreach on Facebook doesn't have to be like blindly throwing darts at a board. Here are three questions to ask yourself to make sure your Facebook posts are prompting maximum engagement:

1. Will this add value to the people I'm trying to connect with?
Social media is a "soft-sell medium," says Mark Evans, a social media consultant. That means you should be trying provide your fans with some kind of value instead of hitting them over the head with a sales pitch.

Nevertheless, one of the goals of social media outreach, as with other types of marketing, is to spark conversion. The way to achieve this on Facebook is to come up with "educational and entertaining wall posts and promotions," says Todd Newman, founder of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based online social media agency SummaSocial. For example, one of Newman's clients raffled off an iPad 2 to fans of his Facebook page -- and gained nearly 1,200 fans as a result.

2. Will this update seem fresh to my fans?
If all your updates sound the same, your outreach can grow stale and your audience might stop engaging. "You can post links to interesting articles, photographs and videos," Evans suggests. "You can create contests and polls."

To help keep your updates fresh, and fans coming back to your page, Newman recommends this weekly posting schedule, or something similar: 

Mentor Monday: Share videos and posts that educate your audience.
Trivia Tuesday: Encourage fans to engage and share their opinions.
Watch Us Wednesday: Publicize in-office events and community involvement.
Thankful Thursday: Offer an incentive and play up your strengths.
Fan Friday: Feature and reward your star fans.

The goal, Evans says, is to create "a content potpourri that keeps people coming back, because they don't know what to expect."

3. Is this post in line with my metrics?
To understand what types of updates resonate with your audience, use the administrator panel on your Facebook page to monitor your metrics. Page Insights can be especially crucial, providing a weekly breakdown -- by age, gender and geographic location -- of who likes your content and who's talking about it.

For instance, if you've been posting U.S.-related content but discover that nearly half of your fans live in India, you might consider rethinking your approach. You could post special updates and promotions on major Indian holidays such as Diwali in addition to Labor Day and other U.S. holidays.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/224062

3 Ways to Get More Love from Your Referral Partners

by Laura Lee Sparks

If your referrals from local professionals are running dry, it might be time implement new strategies to nurture those professional relationships and keep business flowing again. Rather than just asking for their recommendation, here are three creative ways to add value to your referral partner’s business and make it irresistible to work with you:

1. Ask to promote their services, no strings attached- Let your referrals sources know that you have a blog or newsletter reaching thousands of families in the local area and that you’d love to tell your clients more about them. Offer to post a guest blog on their behalf or feature their upcoming events in your email newsletter. Besides creating good will with your referral partners, they’ll be more receptive to promote your events and services when approached in the future.
2. Make Promoting YOU Beneficial For THEM- One strategy we use for our private clients is to craft a beautiful letter and custom certificates that the referral source can send to THEIR clients saying “…because you are so important to us, I wanted to personally send you a valuable gift to say thank you for your business.” The gift, of course, is a free session with the attorney, which we note has a value of $500. The referral partner’s clients feel great about receiving such a valuable gift (increasing business for THEM), while you benefit from all the new appointments!
3. Share Without Selling- Don’t overlook the importance of sending along helpful articles or resources to your referral partners from time to time. It’s a great way to keep the relationship going without a huge time investment. We always like to include a note along the lines of, “Hey–I thought this information would be helpful to you and wanted to pass it along…hope you are doing well” at the top of the email for that extra personal touch. It’s almost always appreciated and keeps you at the top of your referral partner’s mind.

10 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Coaching Sessions

by Jen Smith, Workawesome.com

Coaching is an ongoing professional relationship that helps people to produce extraordinary results in their lives, careers or businesses.

The way in which your approach coaching sessions will make a difference to what you get out of them and how much you achieve. Here are some tips that will help you to get the most out of coaching sessions:

1. Choose Wisely

Choose coaching wisely. Coaching is not counseling or therapy and it is important to be clear about the distinctions. There are many resources on the internet that will help you learn more about coaching.

2. Get Clear

If you can, write a list of the areas you want to work on before you start your coaching sessions. If you are not sure about what you want to work on you can let your referral partner know when you initiate coaching and work on this together. The clearer you are, the easier it will be to achieve your goals.

3. Be Ready

Coaching takes commitment. Be prepared to work hard and be challenged. Coaching is about making changes and achieving different results to what you are achieving now. You will need to be in it for the long haul and be prepared to try new things. Your coach’s job is to help you to go beyond what you normally do and achieve. The purpose of coaching is to see where you can improve in the area of life you are working on.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — Albert Einstein

4. Be Prepared

Be prepared for each session. You will work with your coach during each session to create actions to complete for the next session. These actions will help you to move towards your goal. Make sure you do what you promise and turn up prepared each time. Completing these actions may be challenging at times, but the real work happens between sessions: in your own life.

5. Be Punctual

Treat your coaching sessions and coach with respect and be punctual for coaching sessions. If you are always late for appointments and you are doing the same with your coaching sessions, this could be an area that you could use your sessions to work on.

6. Be Open To Change

Know that by undertaking the coaching process, you are saying that it is time to move your life forward with absolute commitment and confidence. Be prepared for change. Coaching will have positive impacts on many areas of your life, not just the area you are working on. Be open and willing to change. Don’t hire a coach because someone has told you that you should or because it sounds good. Do it because you are ready to change and take full responsibility for engaging in the process.

7. Be Coachable

Being coachable is fundamental to the coaching relationship. Being coachable doesn’t mean you cannot voice your opinion or that you should blindly follow what your coach says. It does, however, mean that you are open and willing to be coached and trust your coach’s recommendations and ideas. This is why it is so important to spend some time choosing a coach. You need to feel comfortable with them and trust their judgement before you get into the coaching process with them. If a coach identifies that you are not fully committed to your goals and agreed actions, they will raise this with you so you can both determine the most appropriate course of action.

8. Be Responsible

Be responsible for your own actions and initiate the coaching process on this basis. This also means raising with your coach — without delay — anything that you are unhappy about within your coaching relationship. Don’t relinquish power to your coach. Coaching is a partnership and you need to be responsible for your own actions.

9. Be Committed

The coaching process takes absolute commitment. To achieve anything extraordinary in life, you need to be willing to engage, work hard and move past obstacles and your own fears. Make sure you are ready to take on the commitment when you start your coaching sessions. Being clear about your commitment will help you get through the challenges you will face along the way.

10. Have Fun

Finally, have fun with the coaching process. Coaching is an incredibly powerful and rewarding way to make changes in your life and /or business. Make sure you enjoy the ride!

8 Rules to Good Customer Service, Pt. 2

by Susan Ward About.com Guide

1) Answer your phone.

Get call forwarding. Or an answering service. Hire staff if you need to. But make sure that someone is picking up the phone when someone calls your business. (Notice I say "someone". People who call want to talk to a live person, not a fake "recorded robot".) 

2) Don't make promises unless you will keep them.

Not plan to keep them. Will keep them. Reliability is one of the keys to any good relationship, and good customer service is no exception. If you say, “Your new bedroom furniture will be delivered on Tuesday”, make sure it is delivered on Tuesday. Otherwise, don't say it. The same rule applies to client appointments, deadlines, etc.. Think before you give any promise - because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one.

3) Listen to your customers.

Is there anything more exasperating than telling someone what you want or what your problem is and then discovering that that person hasn't been paying attention and needs to have it explained again? From a customer's point of view, I doubt it. Can the sales pitches and the product babble. Let your customer talk and show him that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem.

 4) Deal with complaints.

No one likes hearing complaints, and many of us have developed a reflex shrug, saying, "You can't please all the people all the time". Maybe not, but if you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time - and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service.

5) Be helpful - even if there's no immediate profit in it.

The other day I popped into a local watch shop because I had lost the small piece that clips the pieces of my watch band together. When I explained the problem, the proprietor said that he thought he might have one lying around. He found it, attached it to my watch band – and charged me nothing! Where do you think I'll go when I need a new watch band or even a new watch? And how many people do you think I've told this story to?

6) Train your staff (if you have any) to be always helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable.

Do it yourself or hire someone to train them. Talk to them about good customer service and what it is (and isn't) regularly. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so he never has to say, "I don't know, but so-and-so will be back at..."

7) Take the extra step.

For instance, if someone walks into your store and asks you to help them find something, don't just say, "It's in Aisle 3". Lead the customer to the item. Better yet, wait and see if he has questions about it, or further needs. Whatever the extra step may be, if you want to provide good customer service, take it. They may not say so to you, but people notice when people make an extra effort and will tell other people.

8) Throw in something extra.

Whether it's a coupon for a future discount, additional information on how to use the product, or a genuine smile, people love to get more than they thought they were getting. And don’t think that a gesture has to be large to be effective. The local art framer that we use attaches a package of picture hangers to every picture he frames. A small thing, but so appreciated.

If you apply these eight simple rules consistently, your business will become known for its good customer service. And the best part? The irony of good customer service is that over time it will bring in more new customers than promotions and price slashing ever did!