Words of Wisdom When Starting Your Own Business

Starting your own business can be difficult and it can be even more challenging to run that business. For most people, running their own business is something brand new and because of that, you're learning new things all the time. When you're learning and succeeding with your business, your efforts will be rewarded. On the other hand, sometimes it may seem like your efforts are fruitless and you may be second-guessing your decision to start your own business. This is completely normal.

If you haven't taken the jump yet (or even if you've already started your own business), here are some things to consider:

• Make sure your family is supportive of your decision.
• Check yours and your family's finances to ensure your decision is financially feasible.
• Enlist a business mentor - someone you admire and can talk to about how they became business savvy.
• Know that this is your baby and that your family won't always have the same unconditional love for your business that you do.
• Know when to ask for help.
• Know when to hire help.
• Be flexible.
• Always have a back-up plan.
• Learn how to deal with the stresses of owning your own business in a healthy way that won't affect your family or clients negatively.

The last, and most important thing, is to remember why your started (or want to start) your company in the first place.

Book Review: Unleashing the Ideavirus by Seth Godin

Another book from the early 2000's that still has relevant topics to today's marketing principles is Unleashing the Ideavirus by Seth Godin. His whole premise is about marketing an experience and interacting with those involved with the experience. Those customers' information should be captured and then be asked for permission to interact them in the future. With the inundation and various types of communication channels today, permission marketing is an absolute necessity when continuing the conversation with your customers.

Another concept Godin introduces in this book is a "sneezer." A sneezer is someone more likely to tell their friends about a great new idea. These people are the crux of the ideavirus. You need credible people to spread the good news about your product, service or promotion and those people are your sneezers. Find those people, have a plan, ask for permission and unleash the ideavirus and watch the viral marketing do its magic to grow your brand awareness and sales.

Holiday Gifts for Your Clients

Can you believe it's already time for the holidays? It's time to start thinking about personalizing a gift for your clients that they will appreciate. When looking for a holiday gift, you'll want to consider these things:

• Is there a monetary limit on gifts that your clients can receive?
• Make sure your gift is related to something personal your client likes, golfing for example.
• Make sure that it's something that they will use and not give it to their child/grandchild.

By spending some time thinking about what your client likes and what they would value in a holiday gift will help strengthen your relationship. It shows that you pay attention to the little details.

The Hardest Part of Starting Something New

Sometimes it can be difficult to get something started once you have developed that great idea. You may be nervous that it's not ready to been seen by the world, or that you don't have it just perfect. Don't delay! Send in that updated resume or start that YouTube channel. It may not be perfect, or up to your perfection standards, but once you start that project or task, finishing or maintaining your project will get progressively easier. Get started today!

Considerations for Marketing with QR Codes

QR (quick response) Codes are used to direct people to a certain website, graphic, product, etc. in marketing campaigns or to direct them to more information. Using them can show that you're on the leading edge of technology, but consider the following things when using them in your next marketing piece or campaign.

• Know your demographics - Are the people that you want to scan your QR Code carrying mobile phones that support QR Code scanners? Does your audience know what these codes are for? Make sure to think about these things in relation to your target audience.
• Use the QR Code appropriately - Are you directing people to something that can't be displayed on the piece you've created? The QR Code should direct people to something that they're interested in. For example, if you're running a campaign directing people that visit your store to sign-up for your rewards program online, you can have a piece with a QR Code that directs them to sign-up on the spot with their mobile devices.
• Educate your staff - Make sure anyone from your company or department that interacts with people using a QR Code know what the code is and what it does. People won't use something they don't understand.
• Be creative! - Your imagination is the only limit in how you can use a QR Code to direct people to specs for your new product, a special coupon code, or a social media account, etc.
  

Book Review: The Buffettology Collection by Mark Buffett and David Clark

This book on CD includes both books: Buffettology and The New Buffettology. The New Buffettology Collection is read by Mary Buffett, former daughter-in-law of Mr. Warren Buffett himself. She goes through the very logical though process of one of the most highly-regarded investors in the world. Some of those logical ideas include: ensuring the company has identifiable consumer monopolies or brand name products, understanding how the company works, ensuring it's conservatively financed, the company earnings are strong and show an upward trend, the shareholders' value is increasing, the return on equity is above average, the company is free to adjust prices to inflation, and the operations of the company do not require large capital expenditures. The ideas identified in this book are rather simple and the though process is easy to follow. Do pick up the book version of Buffettology to go through the mathematics that Mary describes in the audio version of these books.

Generation Gap: Video Game Generation

A recent hot topic has been the generation gap and personality profiles between our different generations. The discussion has been one that compares and contrasts the various generations (Silent, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z). One of the generations, that I'll call the "Video Game" generation, includes the Gen Y and Gen Z members. This group is comfortable achieving things in steps and being rewarded once they complete a level - like in a video game.

In a video game you start off on easy levels, which progressively get harder, as you beat each level. In order to beat each level, you must build and demonstrate your skills. Once you've demonstrated those skills, you're able to move on to the next level.

Translating this to a business environment, expect those from the Video Game generation to have those same expectations about moving up in the company. Once they have demonstrated certain skills, they are ready to move on to the next level. They don't care about how long or little time it takes for them to complete the level satisfactorily, just that they are able to move to the next level.

Recent discussion about this has attributed these expectations to overconfidence, and maybe that does play into the Video Game generation's personality. But they have been raised that they can "do anything you set your mind to" and "be anything you want to be when you grow up." Couple that part of an upbringing with being trained to succeed by achieving levels at your own pace gives this generation a negative rap.

The question now is, how do you work with the Video Game generation? You must set expectations and a structure, in the form of "if you do X, Y will happen." For example, "if you complete this project, then we will give you this more challenging project." Monetary rewards aren't always necessary when working with the Video Game generation; many of them are just looking for challenges and/or ways to further and progress their careers.

80/20 Principle - Fire 20% of your clients!

The 80/20 Principle can apply to a lot of different things, especially on firing clients. This may seem counter intuitive, but hear me out. You spend your time and business development dollars to develop clients, but some may not be worth it financially and emotionally to you and your staff. Every year or so, list your clients by priority. Obviously the ones at the bottom of the list would be the clients that are difficult to work with, they take up extraneous amounts of your time, don't value you, etc. Look at the clients at the bottom of your list and cut the ones that drain more from you than you can receive back. If it's not a win-win situation, use your resources for bringing in better clients, or further developing the clients you have.

Book Review: Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson and Michael McLaughlin

Jay and Michael did a good job of introducing marketing (of the guerrilla sort) through this book. Although this is geared towards people working on their own as a consultant, many of the principles can be translated to your job even if you work for someone else. They have six principles that cover the majority of topics in this book:

• Insight-based marketing wins
• Guerrilla marketing is cohesive and coordinated
• Consulting is a contact sport
• High tech is high touch
• Focus on profits not fees
• One size fits none

This is a good addition to the Guerrilla array of books already provided by Jay Conrad Levinson.

Trade Shows: Carpet Choices

Choosing the color for your trade show booth carpet is a very important component of exhibiting. Why? Because if you choose the wrong color, it could prevent people from entering your booth. Now what I mean by wrong color, is a color different from the aisles. Choose your booth carpet to match the color the aisles carpet.

Color differences present a subconscious barrier to trade show attendees. Look at other booths and watch people look at the items in the booth without stepping into the booth. If they aren't engaged by booth staffers, they keep walking.

I've had trade show booths on the corners of an aisle with booth carpet matching the aisles carpet. Many people are walking by and end up walking right into our booth. This effect intensifies with island booths.

Book Review: Velocity: Combining Lean, Six Sigma and the Theory of Constraints to Achieve Breakthrough Performance

This is the first "business novel" I've encountered. I think overall that strategy helped make the LSS principles understandable, but I think there was too much romance added into the story line. Even though implementing LSS principles into this fictional company's processes, a large part of their issues seem to be communications-based. Obviously there is a reason for the challenges that this fictional company has, but in real life, each of the company's business units should have been communicating to one another and may have been able to implement LSS principles without a huge LSS investment. If you're looking for an introduction into LSS principles, learning about the Theory of Constraints and the benefits of an unbalanced system, then pick this book up or listen to the audio book.

Trade Shows: Fair Pricing

In the June 2011 issue of Inc. magazine, Seth Burstein of Trade Show Internet writes to Norm about the exclusivity of some in-house services at trade shows. Unfortunately, many exhibitors believe that they are forced to utilize the "preferred" or in-house services, but there are ways around that. There is no reason that you cannot search for what meets your company's needs and budget. The trade show and conference managers know this too, that's why they provide an Exhibitor Approved Contractor sheet in many exhibitor manuals that exhibitors fill out. This sheet tells the organizer of the trade show or conference that you've decided to use a vendor not listed in the exhibitor manual.

In the Inc. column, Norm does suggest some ways for Seth to keep momentum with his company stating, "Seth and his partner need to stay focused on their real goal, which is to build a viable business, not to change the way trade shows are managed."

There will always be road blocks and naysayers trying to prevent you from achieving your goals, but just make sure that you've vetted all possibilities and resources to continue on your path around them.

Check my Spelling!

With my background in strategic communications, and having worked for news publications before, accurate spelling has been ingrained in my brain. I have a hard time using products or services where packaging or marketing items are misspelled. For me, it takes away part of their credibility and screams, "I don't care enough about what I'm selling to make things right."

Yes, misspelled words will happen every once in awhile, nobody is perfect. However, when you receive an email blast from a local business and there's at least one misspelled word three months in a row, their credibility is dwindling.

Spell check is available on nearly every software program that allows text. It's fairly simple to use, simply click the button to go through your text and make the corrections. You'll be thankful that you used spell check when sending something out to your viewers/customers/clients!

Book Review: Permission Marketing by Seth Godin

Although this book was written in 1999, the ideas are still relevant to today's businesses, however, there is one huge hurdle. Seth gives many examples in the book on asking for permission through the internet, but now people are being more careful with their personal information and may be less likely to "raise their hands" to receive information based on their personal interests and preferences. There are some good examples in the book on how businesses have utilized permission marketing and how some marketing campaigns have driven their permission-based contacts away.

Tips for Public Speaking

Let's face it, public speaking can make a lot of people squirm, but people don't always realize that they speak in public more than they think. It turns out not to be so scary after all. Did you know that you're speaking in public when you're updating your team on a current project?

To be a good public speaker, you have to envision yourself as a good public speaker first. You may be thinking in the back of your mind that because the audience isn't smiling at you that they want you to fail, but that's simply just not true. Your audience is there to listen to what you have to say; to learn from you.

Second, assess how you currently present. The next time you're preparing for a presentation, give your presentation in the mirror to view yourself speaking. Do you like what you see?

Third, get some feedback. Have a co-worker or family member listen to your presentation. Ask them to count how many "ums" or other words that you frequently use. Have them ask clarifying questions about your presentation.

Fourth, eliminate distracting elements. When you actually give your presentation, put down the pens (if you click them), spit out the gum, wear clothes that you won't pull at, and remove the change from your pocket. Also, ladies, take off jewelry on your wrists that can clang together as you move.

Fifth, take a deep breath. Remember that people want to hear what you have to say, so take a deep breath before you start and present with confidence because you have prepared, practiced and envisioned yourself executing a fantastic presentation.

Those are some tips for the actual presentation. When thinking about your actual PowerPoint Presentation make sure that your slides are not too content heavy, make the text font easy to read and keep the text size large, and use appropriate transitions and animations.

Your presentations can be improved by just assessing what you're already doing and by making some adjustments. Now go out there and present with confidence!

E-tiquette - Emoticons in Your Email

In the latest issue of Shape Magazine (April 2011) there are some tips on what's called "E-tiquette." E-tiquette refers to etiquette online in the workplace. One of the suggestions from Peggy Duncan, author of Conquer E-mail overload with Better Habits, Etiquette, and Outlook, was that emoticons, smiley faces, winking faces, etc. shouldn't be used in business emails. Her guideline is that if you wouldn't write it on the company letterhead - then don't write it in an email.

However, we need to look at how we currently communicate in the workplace. People are communicating with various people they've never met or spoken with on the phone, so they communicate through email. We all know that people can get in the habit of reading something into emails that the sender didn't infer at all. Emoticons can help clear up that message.

Now I'm not saying that emoticons should be used in every email or is appropriate to use when crafting an email to your CEO, but it could be useful to help clarify the tone of your email.

Sending a message by email is the most frequent way we communicate nowadays. Most people send more emails in a day than they talk to people in real life. Why? Because it's efficient. Some people are hard to reach by phone, but the majority of business folks have some sort of email capable device. And most people are glued to those devices.

Back to the advice of Ms. Peggy Duncan - emoticons can be useful, just make sure that you're using them appropriately. Happy emailing :)

Book Review: Viral Marketing by Russell Goldsmith

Although this book is nine years old, it still gives a good introduction to what viral marketing is and examples of how it's been used. Goldsmith is a UK native and therefore the statistics and survey results that he analyzes in his book are specific to the UK. That said, it's still interesting to read how many people (out of the 800 surveyed) said they would pass along an email to a colleague and what type of information they would be most likely to pass along.

I would bet that most people today would think that they've never been part of a viral marketing campaign or even viral marketing itself, but most likely they have. What do you do when your friend forwards you an email with a joke about the workplace? You send it to colleagues that you think would find it funny. That's viral marketing!

One good point that Goldsmith pointed out during this quick read, is that marketers need to keep in mind the saturation point of a viral marketing campaign. How many times will someone receive the same message from multiple friends before they start to perceive the brand, product or service negatively?

Read this book if you're new to marketing, viral marketing or just want to hear about some clever viral marketing ideas.

Picking the Right Trade Shows for Your Company

It's a new year with a new set of trade shows to plan for this year. If you're like me and want to make sure that every show is effective and beneficial for your company, then you probably assess whether you're going to attend or exhibit at a show year after year. Here are some tips for picking the best trade shows to attend and/or exhibit:
-Make sure that your current clients/prospects will be in attendance (If you can't get in touch with your clients/prospects beforehand, try contacting the show organizer and asking for a list of attendees. If they won't give you a current list, ask for the previous year's list. If they still won't give it to you, ask for last names with company names or simply company names.)
-Also when you're speaking with the show organizer, ask them how many people have attended the show in the past few years. If the trend is negative, be weary of how it will continue to be successful for you in the short-term.
-To get the most bang for your buck, you want to exhibit at a show that has the highest number of current and potential clients that need (or can refer) your product or service.
-Make sure you can reasonably achieve your measurable objectives if you exhibit at a particular show.
-Think about the learning opportunity as much as the prospecting and selling. Learning happens at trade shows all the time. From learning about a new trend in your industry to what your competitors are pushing to what joint venture opportunities you may be able to partake in are all examples.
-Look at all of the opportunities the show offers companies to promote their brand. Speaking, exhibiting, advertising, hospitality suites, and promotional material distribution are just a few examples of what most shows offer to help you promote your company.
-Most importantly think about how the show went last year compared to other shows. Is it still providing value to your company?

In the past two years, companies have slashed their trade show budgets and trade show managers are being asked to do more, or the same, with less funds. If you are in the same situation, the items above, coupled with your budget and the geographical proximity of the show will help decide which shows you should attend and/or exhibit at this year.

Giving First

I've read a couple of books in the past few months (books on CDs actually) that deal with giving to someone first without expecting anything in return. This can relate to many situations, but the over-arching theme is to provide and show value to others. Whether that's forwarding an article of interest to a contact or introducing two of your connections to each other, think about the last time you were a "giver." Try being a giver once a week for the next three months - without expecting anything in return.

2011 New Year's Resolution

Another year, another resolution. This year, my New Year's Resolution is to listen to at least one book on CD in my car per month. I'm almost half way done with my resolution for January!

If you haven't made yours yet, here are some other suggestions for New Year's Resolutions:
-Read one book per month in your area of work
-Watch one hour less of tv per day
-Get involved in an industry organization
-Volunteer some time to a cause close to your heart
-Let other people help you when they offer to help
-Say "thank you" and leave it at that when people compliment you
-Put the Blackberry/iPhone/PDA etc down during meals and when you're spending time with family

Now those are just a few, but New Year's is the time to assess what's going on in your life and focusing on making it better for yourself.

Have a happy and prosperous new year.