Archive for January, 2012

Twitter – Weekly Updates for 2012-01-27

Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 8:15 pm  
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How Many Pillars Have You Got?

Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 3:06 pm  
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When I say ‘pillars’ what I mean is, the number of different ways you have in your business of either bringing in new customers or getting previous customers to come back and buy from you again.

When you have lots of pillars, the roof (i.e. your revenue) is very, very secure. Even if one pillar falls down or crumbles, the roof doesn’t move – that’s why the Parthenon has remained standing for thousands of years – it had a lot of pillars.

However, if your roof is supported by only one or two or even three pillars then if anything happens to one of them, your revenue can tumble and your business will face dire issues. That’s why you need lots of pillars.

The most common theme when I do my 1:1′s with members of the Entrepreneur’s Circle is none of them have anything like enough pillars. As business owners they’re currently dependent on just a couple of ways of getting customers.

The good news is – it’s an easy fix. Building new pillars requires work and effort and thought but there’s nothing inherently difficult or complex about it.

Having plenty of pillars to support your marketing is especially smart when times are changing fast – like now. Things that worked historically start to wane, new opportunities emerge. The businesses with lots of pillars are the ones best equipped to thrive in situations like that…which is why this is so important.

I think it’s quite funny when people tell me that they’re just getting into email marketing, for instance. Now don’t get me wrong, email marketing can be hugely effective in most businesses and I absolutely recommend it as one of your pillars – preferably at least weekly and with every email part of a bigger campaign. But my wry chuckle is because email marketing is past its peak. It’s dying as a marketing medium.

The youth of today don’t have email accounts (other than to verify their logins for their social media profiles). they communicate via social media. It’s my prediction that by 2022 email marketing will be a niche medium used only to communicate with the over 50′s. See what I mean? (Yes it’s still an important pillar today – but you’d better have other pillars in place as well to provide ‘support’ when that one starts to crumble.

Broadly speaking, what I’m saying here, is that to be super-successful, you need to be well into double figures on your pillar count.

Anything less and you’re almost certainly leaving money on the table and placing your revenue in a less than stable position. Get building!

Twitter – Weekly Updates for 2012-01-20

Friday, January 20th, 2012 at 8:15 pm  
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Twitter – Weekly Updates for 2012-01-20

Friday, January 20th, 2012 at 8:15 pm  
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How to say ‘thank you’ in business

Friday, January 20th, 2012 at 2:53 pm  
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Knowing that everything has changed gives you such an advantage. It impacts how you do business and the decisions you make. You know that since everything’s changed, or perhaps because everything has changed, the human touch is more important than ever before.

In the days of the ubiquity of communications like email, Facebook messages, texts and LinkedIn and Twitter direct messages, there are so many “new” ways of reaching people. Because of this, traditional methods of communication stand out. And what’s one of the most traditional and memorable ways to reach someone? A hand-written thank you card.

I know, I know, it’s a bit old fashioned. But that’s not always a bad thing. There are so many reasons to send hand-written cards to customers. For one thing, you’ll make a lasting impression.

You’ll stand out from competitors because you take the time and show the level of care. You’ll show them you’re committed to earning their business. I can’t state how important these things are today! They’ll make you stand out so much from your competition because – be honest – nobody else is doing this. I mean, when did you last get a hand-written thank you card from a business?

And besides, when did we advance so far as a culture that it no longer became necessary to say “thank you?”

An unexpected advantage

Thank you cards have all but gone the way of the dinosaurs in professional communications. And therein is their advantage. If no one is using these, this is your opportunity!

Use them properly. Make the thanks genuine and show your appreciation for their time, their business, their referral (this is IMPORTANT!), or whatever it may be.

Use the cards as an opportunity to create more loyalty. You can provide a coupon or discount. You can remind them of a special promotion –but don’t make it salesy. The impact is in its authenticity. So keep the thanks sincere.

If you plan to send out many thank you cards, consider having some custom printed with your logo and corporate colours. This is a nice touch, further builds your brand, and helps you to stand out all the more. BUT DON’T PRE-PRINT THE MESSAGE. You can’t automate this.

If you’re smart and you understand the value of thanking customers personally, consider giving a thank you gifts to new customers. For small purchases from new buyers, you can send them a small gift like a box of chocolates, or an arrangement of balloons or flowers. The gift can be personal for one person or something that can be enjoyed throughout the office. For larger purchases, you can send them a more expensive item. Along with the thank you note, of course.

If used properly, thank you cards can be a real game changer for your business. Now admit it. That one’s surprised you, hasn’t it?!

The Day I was rendered speechless…

Monday, January 16th, 2012 at 5:30 pm  
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Last week I celebrated my birthday with 500 members of my Entrepreneur’s Circle at our national monthly event in Birmingham. The theme was ‘Nige’s Big Birthday Bash’ and I was the one bringing the presents, or so I thought anyway!

Check out what happened just before lunch. I was seriously gobsmacked…

Twitter – Weekly Updates for 2012-01-13

Friday, January 13th, 2012 at 8:15 pm  
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The Importance of Setting Bite-sized Goals

Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 12:30 pm  
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You know you have to think very big to really get anywhere. But thinking big won’t hack it. You’ve got to take action.

And action requires purpose and focus. Otherwise, it’s just scattered activity. Every single highly-successful business owner shares something in common in how they’ve won big. They’re disciplined in setting and reaching goals. If you want to achieve big, you need to set small, bite-sized goals along the way. This is where the action is!

Setting ambitious goals requires discipline, commitment and follow through. These small goals are crucial because they’re what you accomplish as you head toward huge achievement. By ploughing through them on your way to massive success, you’ll prove to yourself that your incredibly big thinking is obtainable. You’ll maintain your positive attitude and keep believing in yourself.

You’ll tick things off along the way. Yes, small goals are important for small business owners!

Types of goals

Bite-sized goals should apply to your short-term revenue objectives. Set goals for sales and profit over the coming weeks and months. But understand, too, what your challenges are on your way to achieving those goals. What do you need to implement to get there? Some of these activities may also be important bite-sized goals.

Maybe you need to update your Facebook Fan Page so it’s current and persuasive. Maybe you need to gather some more testimonials or develop a process for writing your thank you notes. Maybe it’s about putting in place some more marketing pillars. Be sure to understand what you need to accomplish as you work toward your bite-sized goals.

There’s another example of a bite-sized goal that many business owners don’t like. It hits very close to home for them. This involves changing work habits so you can be productive. The more you’re willing to change, the more likely you are to be exceptionally productive! Lots of business owners have bad habits that waste time or otherwise keep them from achieving goals.

I’ll bet you have some too.

Evaluate what’s holding you back. Is it not making the most of your time first thing in the morning? Is it making excuses for yourself and problems you’re facing? How else are you unwittingly sabotaging your business?

Set small goals each day and change your damaging behaviours.

Reward yourself

The upside to making sacrifices and working incredibly hard to achieve goals is that you need to reward yourself. Be sure to give yourself credit when you make small achievements in whatever way is fitting for you.

Be flexible

One of the chief advantages of small businesses is flexibility. Remember that conditions change. Your small, bite-sized goals will have to change to reflect the dynamism of business. That’s fine. Just be ready to adjust them and fold them into new goals so you can keep achieving on your way to thinking and winning BIG!

Twitter – Weekly Updates for 2012-01-06

Friday, January 6th, 2012 at 8:15 pm  
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Things don’t always go according to plan

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 at 5:36 pm  
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All this talk about positivity and seizing opportunities is great. But even the best of us have setbacks.

Sometimes we lose momentum, and we lose customers. It’s a simple truth. No matter how hard you work or how disciplined you are. Things don’t always go according to plan.

You control your destiny

If you can’t cope with setbacks, you’ll be in no position to confront them, fix problems and move on. Companies that can’t adapt and can’t cope with the setbacks go out of business. Every day.

If you dwell in the despair of defeat you’ll never be able to leverage would-be opportunities.

After all, you’re the owner. You’re the problem solver. You’re charged with the decisions that will make or break your business. You’re the last line of defence when things don’t go according to plan.

Shifts create opportunities

Flexibility will make or break a small business. You must recognize this as a decided advantage! Plans are important, but they aren’t everything. Understand that shifts, even ones that represent major challenges, are very often actually opportunities. They’re just masquerading as limitations.

But the absolute best-of-the-best business superstars have people to support them when things go wrong. They have a support network. People who know them, whom they trust and who can get them, metaphorically at least, back on the horse when bad things happen.

I do think that ‘ability to withstand sh*t’ (and I apologise for swearing but I feel it’s important to make my point here) is actually a criterion to achieve super success. Whoever you are, others at some point, will start throwing smelly stuff at you. So you have to handle it.

And in my experience the best way to handle it is to have a small group of the right people around you. Your support network.

Without them you’ll be very very vulnerable – at a time when you’re weakest. Not good. So nurture them now and keep them close.