Do You Have Any Sales?

Every friday I watch ABC's Shark Tank, a show where budding entrepreneurs try to convince five multi-millionaire investors (the Sharks) to invest in their ventures. Almost without exception, the question that comes up after the entrepreneurs have delivered their pitch is: do you have any sales? No matter how good or innovative the idea, or how creative or entertaining the pitch, if the business has no sales the next words you'll most likely hear from the Sharks are: "I'm out!". What the Sharks understand is that good, or even great ideas are worth very little without execution. In the course of our daily grind, we're confronted with hundreds of ideas. Lack of ideas is seldom the problem. The challenge is to know which ones we can execute successfully. To help us choose, we need to develop some simple metrics (emphasis in simple). For example, we could assign a numerical value to several different dimensions like: expected payback ($ and timeframe), degree of difficulty, and resources needed (time, people, money), and pick those ideas with the highest "figure of merit". The metrics you use in your business may vary, but the idea is the same. From then on, as Nike says, it's "just do it".
By Mario Sanchez Carrion

Meeting Zig Ziglar

By: Michael Levin The next-to-last time I saw Zig Ziglar, I was one of 17,000 in attendance at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, where he was speaking as part of a program of superstars, including Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Joe Montana. He was onstage accompanied by his daughter, Julie Ziglar Norman, because Zig had suffered a fall a couple of years before that and nobody wanted him to fall again, especially onstage, and especially in front of 17,000 people.

On April 15, 2011, I saw Zig again, this time for lunch, with his daughter Julie and his son Tom. From 17,000 down to four. If you love Zig Ziglar as I do, you can readily understand it was one of the greatest thrills of my life.
Zig Ziglar is one of the greatest motivators, authors, sales trainers, and inspiring figures the world has known. Millions have read his books and listened to his recordings, and they became, as a result, better salespeople, better spouses, better parents, better people. His mellifluous baritone echoes through the mind of anyone who has listened to him speak. His values harken back to a better world, where integrity was the watchword, where faith mattered, and where sales was a profession in search of a champion.

Zig was their champion. He grew up one of twelve children during the Depression, on a farm in Yazoo City, Mississippi, and his father passed away when he was five years old. By age six, Zig was earning his own money, and selling, mowing lawns. He used that money to buy his first suit, which he wore to church. By the time I met Zig face to face, he had been selling—lawn mowing services, pots and pans, sales training, personal development, and the ideas of his Holy Bible, for 79 years. “You must be married,” Zig said, as we were introduced. “I can tell by how nicely you’re dressed. Only a married man could dress that nicely.”
At lunch, Zig leaned over to me and said, quite seriously, “Never say anything negative about yourself.” It sounds so obvious, but we all do it all the time. If we don’t see ourselves as wondrously made, as Zig likes to quote from the Bible, who will?
I asked Zig what caused him to make the transition from sales training to motivational speaking. His son Tom explained that Zig studied the success of his students, and he realized that only 20 percent of it was due to technique. The other 80 percent was due to reputation and character. So that’s when Zig began to focus on those issues and not just talk about selling.

But don’t estimate old Zig on sales. He’s forgotten more about sales than most of us will ever know. One of his most enduring stories involves his son Tom, who at the time was contemplating a career as a professional golfer. Zig and Tom were playing a competitive round of golf and Tom needed a long putt to drop in order to win the hole. He made the putt, and then he asked his father, “Dad, were you rooting for me?”

As only Zig can say, in that honeyed Southern drawl, “Son, I’m always rooting for you.”
As massive as Zig’s audience was, the publishing industry didn’t think him worth a shot when he wrote the book I found many years later in that furniture store, See You At The Top. By then, Zig had been providing sales training to the Mary Kay Company. Mary Kay Ash was such a devotee of his, Tom told me at lunch, that she told Zig that if he were to self-publish the book, she would buy the first 10,000 copies. Those initial 10,000 sales mushroomed into millions upon millions of books, since Zig has now authored 26 books in all.
I had the extraordinary privilege of editing Zig’s last book Born To Win. I’ve edited or coached hundreds of writers, and it was an uncanny, almost out-of-body experience instead of quoting Zig to people, talking directly to Zig, and making suggestions—how dare I?—to improve his manuscript.

It means the world to me that I was able to meet him face to face at lunch with just him, his two grown children who work with him, and me, and tell him that he made me a better salesperson, a better husband, a better father, a better believer, and a better man.
As I headed out to drive to the airport, Zig took me by the hand and cautioned me to drive carefully.
“After all, most people are caused by accidents,” he warned, with mock solemnity.

Mean Social Media Customers

There's a growing army of unhappy, sometimes bitter and angry customers who take to social media to vent their frustrations about a brand's products or services. Sometimes they can get so mean that their feedback is more an attack than a request for customer service.
No matter the size of your company, angry customer tirades can damage your reputation online. In my experience, you can encounter at least two types of unsatisfied customers communicating with you over social media:
 

• A person who was genuinely hoping for a good experience with your product or service, had a bad experience and simply wants to vent and seek acknowledgment or a solution.
• Someone who actively uses social media to dissuade people from doing business with your company, and probably doesn't care about your reply to his or her claims. This person hopes you do reply so he or she can drag you into a public fight.

Either way, dealing with these types of angry customers should be an opportunity to show the world how your company cares about customer service and that you stand behind your brand. With the right strategy, you can turn foes into fans and win new customers at the same time.
Here are five tips for responding to angry customers over social media:
1. Respond quickly. The longer someone waits for a reply the more steamed that person can become. Let the individual know publicly that you have heard his or her frustration or problem and that you're on it.
2. Never show anger or engage in negative banter. Don't stoop to an angry commentor's level, as it can quickly escalate. Taking the high road and not replying with negativity sets you up for the win in the eyes of anyone who's following along.
3. Be personal. The employees who manage your social media should sign their tweets or posts with their names or at least their initials to make the engagement more personable and real. Also be sure to address the customer by his or her name.
4. Work toward a resolution. Let the customer know that you're going to do everything within your power to make the situation right. Don't simply attempt to calm someone down and walk away.
5. Talk offline when necessary. Use direct messages on Twitter or email if the discussion is detailed. At least the initial response should be public, though, to let everyone know that you're on the issue and that you care about.
When you do come to a resolution, be sure to post about it. If you don't share the results, no one will know how you resolved the situation. This is your opportunity to show that you deliver top-notch customer service over social media.
If the negative comments persist, the person is most likely pushing you in hopes of seeing you falter publicly. All you can do is be polite, offer assistance and let the person -- as well as everyone else watching -- know that you're doing everything you can. Try offering a free gift as a token of appreciation. Whatever you do, don't engage in a public argument.
By Scott Levy

Change Your Business Name?

IN December 2008, Georgette Kaplan and her two daughters, Stephanie and Jamie, felt as if they were receiving a wonderful holiday gift.

The baseball star Albert Pujols spoke at the 2011 dedication of a statue of him outside the Pujols 5 restaurant near St. Louis. After he left the Cardinals for the Los Angeles Angels, the restaurant’s name was changed — twice.

Products from their personal-care company, Ms. & Mrs., were going to be showcased on “The View,” the ABC talk show, as part of its seasonal gift guide. Giddy with anticipation, the women huddled around a television in their Chicago office on the day of the broadcast as heavy snow fell outside.

Then it happened: their company, which makes cleverly packaged items like the Shemergency Kit, a brightly colored pouch containing breath freshener, earring backs, blotting tissues and other “emergency essentials” — was misidentified as Mr. & Mrs. on national television.

“It was kind of like, ‘Ugh,’ ” said Stephanie Kaplan, the company’s creative director. “It was one of those moments when you realize, ‘Wow, this is really a problem.’ ”

Indeed. The company’s name has been so serially mispronounced since mother and daughters came up with it in 2003 that they were recently able to assemble enough material for a blooper reel. So, last month, the Kaplans rebaptized Ms. & Mrs. as Pinch Provisions.

There are various reasons to rename a business. Beyond making the name easier to pronounce, they include new ownership or a desire to rejuvenate a brand or to do away with negative associations.

The private security contractor Blackwater Worldwide, for instance, has changed its name twice in the last three years. After five Blackwater guards were indicted in 2008 on manslaughter and weapons charges in connection with the killing and injuring of unarmed civilians in Iraq, the company changed its name to Xe Services. (The case was dismissed, but an appeals court reopened it against four of the guards, and the Justice Department is now seeking an indictment of them.) In 2010, Xe Services became Academi when it changed ownership.

Sports news spurred a name change at Pujols 5, a restaurant outside of St. Louis that was named after the baseball star Albert Pujols. The name was fine as long as he played for the St. Louis Cardinals, but last December he joined the Los Angeles Angels.

Immediately after the news was announced, “We started getting phone calls and cancellations,” said the restaurant’s owner, Patrick Hanon. Guards were stationed around a statue of Mr. Pujols outside the restaurant because “People were throwing stuff at it — it was crazy,” Mr. Hanon said. Sales dropped 75 percent.

In February, Mr. Hanon changed his restaurant’s name to the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame Bar and Grill, but that didn’t work, either. “People thought we were a museum,” he said.

Now, the restaurant is known as Patrick’s Restaurant & Sports Bar, which is what it was called before it became Pujols 5 in 2006. Business is back and customers are no longer confused, Mr. Hanon said.

More famous corporate name changes include Datsun to Nissan; the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company to the International Business Machines Corporation, or I.B.M.; and BackRub, the precursor to Google.

Big or small, companies always face the challenge of telegraphing a new name in a way that doesn’t alienate loyal customers. Ira Kalb, a marketing professor at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, said the change shouldn’t “destroy all the positive brand equity that has been built up over years.”

The new name was selected in a brainstorming session with the design and branding firm Beardwood&Co., which offered 16 possibilities. The name was catchy and appropriate — bringing to mind the phrase “in a pinch.” Oh, and it was easy to pronounce.

As a smaller company with limited resources, Pinch Provisions relied more on creativity than extravagance to announce its new identity. To explain the motivation for the change, the Kaplans worked with Delahoyde Projects, a media production company, to assemble footage for a video that was posted on YouTube and distributed via e-mail and social media.

“We actually had someone on our staff collect clips of people mispronouncing our name,” said Stephanie Kaplan. “It was funny, because once we decided to change the name, we started rooting people on, because we wanted more material. We’d say, ‘Oh, I hope they mispronounce it, because we want another clip.’ ”

In addition, a “Pinch Proof” video showed a stylish young woman brushing aside headaches, coffee stains and drooping hemlines — this time to announce the new brand. Behind-the-scenes photographs from the video appeared on Facebook and Instagram, and blog items on Tumblr completed the narrative.

Ms. Kaplan says that it’s too early to tell how the change will affect business, but that she has received a positive response so far.

Looking ahead, is she confident that a new faux pas on national TV can be avoided?

Ms. Kaplan laughed. “That actually wasn’t so bad,” she said. “Right after the mispronunciation, our Web site crashed” because of heavy traffic. Despite the spoken error, the company’s name was spelled correctly at the bottom of the screen, allowing viewers to find the Web site.

“It was back up shortly. Up until that day, it was the biggest day our company ever had.”

Source: NY Times Business Day

Confuse the Internet shopper

 They can't compare prices if they can't confirm who made it. One retailer with a store and online site said, "We got tired of customers walking into our store and asking us to match the Internet price. So now we make it harder to find the tags. Someone yesterday was talking about the same subject -- said he goes to great lengths to hide the manufacturers' names on the product descriptions." Once a potential customer is in your retail store make their customer experience so good that price becomes secondary. Remember that price only comes into play when everything  else is equal.

Barry is a speaker on maketing your business. www.idealetter.com

Getting a Reporter to Cover Your New Business

One way to ensure that my customers will be pleased with their appearance in the media is to find the perfectly fit reporters to cover their stories. And getting those reporters requires more than throwing as many pitches as possible against the wall and seeing what sticks. You'll want someone respected in their field for credibility purposes, and who covers the beat that your story falls under. This likely ensures that it will be read by the appropriate audience -- namely, those interested or involved in your industry.
How do you go about finding these journalists and writers? It involves lots of research, creating persuasive pitches and being responsive to their needs. Here are five tips for making sure your story ends up in the right hands.
1. Read, read, read.
You should be reading tons of different publications -- magazines, newspapers, trade journals, blogs, etc. Read all the publications that pertain to your industry and that people in your industry read. This will give you a good idea of what outlet would be most likely and best suited to carry your story. Plus, you'll start to recognize the reporters that cover your beat.

2. Keep a repository of similar stories.
If you're reading most of your articles online (and let's be honest: you probably are), create a spreadsheet. Keep the links to your favorite articles -- those that are most similar to the kind you'd like to see about your company -- along with the authors of the articles. This list should be updated, so you'll be able to keep things organized once you start pitching your story to various publications.
3. Find the contact information of your favorite reporters.
Once you settle on the reporters you want for your story, it's time to reach out to them. In most cases, some cursory research should be enough to find their email address or even telephone number on the publication website. For those who are more difficult to find, consider investing in a PR service like Cision or Vocus -- databases with extensive media contact info.

4. Tell your prospective reporter how this story helps them.
When writing your email pitch (or preparing to speak with your target over the phone), keep in mind that this reporter likely knows that you are writing to them primarily to aid your own cause. Therefore, in your pitch, emphasize why a story about you is good for him or her. Tell them why their readers would appreciate this story, and why it's worth their time. This is a mutually-beneficial relationship -- make sure they know that.

5. Be responsive and timely in your correspondence.
Many reporters work on a deadline and once they commit to you will rely on a timely correspondence in order to get the story done. Get them whatever information they need or request as quickly as possible. Once you've done your part, be sure to follow up with the reporter, but don't spam them. Developing a good relationship with writers you trust is an integral part of getting continued coverage for your company going forward.
By Zach Cutler follow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@ZachonBiz

Where's the Marketing?

I see many business conferences around the country where they are promoting speakers and training on accounting, government regulations, human resources, office layout, product design, mediation, etc, etc. Where is the training and ideas on marketing and customer satisfaction? That's what's keeps a business IN BUSINESS and without it there is no need for any of that other stuff. Every conference should address the fact that many businesses need to grow and keep the customers/clients they now have to survive. That's the basic principle of being in business, isn't it (unless you're the government)?

I have always felt that if everything else goes wrong and you have sales you can make a comeback and handle the other problems. Without sales or a falling market share there are no resources to learn and use anything else, so who needs it. I have owned many businesses that went though tough times when others would have just walked away but I stopped everything else and concentrated on increasing sales. All rsouurces went into growing sales and customer satisfaction. As a result I saw a turn-aound in almost all situations back to a healthy company.

I feel every conference/convention should have at least one or more speakers or training class on marketing ideas, sales ideas and improving The Customer Experience. The market is always changing whether you like it or not and you must keep up with what the people who pay you want and anticipate their future needs. So ask your association or conference planners what you will learn to grow your business if you attend their event. If enough people make the request the will have to listen and add these valuable speakers.

Barry is a business coach and speaker on customer satisfaction, marketing ideas and better presentations. www.idealetter.com

Family Christmas Show - Free

Sunday December 2, 2012 at 3 PM Peoples United Methodist Church presents:

"Glory in the Highest" a Christmas Cantata in Music. It's a family Christmas experience and Admission is Free (donations appreciated). There will be 2 choirs participating and one is well renowned Celebration Multicultural Ensemble.

 

Event Location: The Central SDA Church

1305 N Union Blvd

Colorado Springs, CO 80909

 

Questions? 719-596-0368

 

Thank You, Barry Thomsen, PUMC Event Director

Winning Attitude for Service Business

If you create value for your customer primarily through service or support, you must be responsive and flexible. Corporate cruise pioneers Joyce Landry and Josephine Kling get that, do that, and live that belief. A big part of their success over the past 30 years has revolved around their service orientation, always driving to create "elegant solutions" to business challenges. They find them if they exist, and innovate to create them if they don't.
It's a great example of how a responsive posture and innovation can go together.
Landry and Kling's big, overriding innovations have been around positioning cruise ships as venues for corporate events. They've done incentive trips, meetings, and even used docked cruise ships as ways to create extra hotel rooms for big events like the Super Bowl. If you look at their attitude in the context of strategy, posture and culture as discussed in my article on the importance of defining your attitude, they look a lot like Ritz Carlton with 1) a strategy of support, 2) a responsive posture, and 3) a flexible culture.

Strategy of Support
Landry and Kling founded Landry & Kling, Inc. to provide a distribution channel between the cruise industry and corporate America. They are in a service business, helping their clients plan events. They don't design, build or deliver cruise ships. Rather, they match their clients' needs with cruise ships' service standards, cruise destination/length and price. On one hand, a computer could come very close to doing those very things, but what a computer can't do is to provide the superior knowledge, insight, and customer service to reinterpret client events at sea that Landry and Kling have imbedded into their organization.

Responsive Posture
While Landry and Kling stay in touch with their big clients over time and try to anticipate their needs, they can't do anything until the client surfaces a need. Unlike the Red Cross that pre-positions resources to be able to react quickly, Landry and Kling don't spring into action until their clients say "go."
Don't confuse having a responsive posture with being passive. For Landry and Kling, being responsive is a critical component of their service/support attitude. They are actively and purposefully responsive. And it works in conjunction with their strategy and culture.

Elegantly Flexible Culture
The only truly sustainable competitive advantage is culture. Landry and Kling have built a culture rooted in elegant flexibility. The difference between that and pure flexibility is in their passion, experience and confidence. Landry and Kling are passionate about cruising themselves and moved their business to Miami to make it easier to attract employees who share their passion.
Landry and Kling's long-term specialization in the cruise industry has given them a knowledge base and connections that allow them to customize solutions for their clients and "to anticipate and resolve problems and overcome obstacles" far better, far more creatively and far more elegantly than can people with less focus. That experience bred the confidence required to find elegant solutions to the short-term issues created by two gulf wars, 9/11 and a slew of hurricanes.
Landry and Kling told me they pride themselves on their resiliency, crediting their ability to turn on a dime in adjusting to business issues, and the strength of their personal partnership in dealing with the inevitable personal stress points from weddings to sudden illnesses and beyond.

Get Your Attitude Right
This is not touchy-feely theoretical gibberish. Attitude is the "how win" component of BRAVE leadership. Of course it's important to pick the right place to play. Of course your vision and values must make what matters clear. But attitude is the core of your imperative, bridging between the environment and values, and relationships and behaviors. Get your strategy, posture and culture right. And make sure they are in sync.

Embed a Strong Burning Imperative
The burning imperative is a sharply defined, intensely shared, and purposefully urgent understanding from each of the team members of what they are "supposed to do, now." Get this created and bought into early on -- even if it's only 90 percent right. You, and the team, will adjust and improve along the way.
Source: Huff Post

 

Small Business Holiday Sales ideas

Don't make the mistake of not being prepared to deal with a high volume of shoppers this holiday. It doesn't matter if you've got a brick and mortar business or run a virtual store, if you want to rake in a large chunk of important profits attributed to Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, you need a holiday sales plan. Even if this time of year isn't a high sales cycle for your business, you should still offer some specials leading up to the holidays. Here are some holiday sales tips for small businesses.

It's time to be thinking about how you will stock up to fill your holiday orders. Preparation is key. You also want to place your orders early for Google Adwords and Facebook ad campaigns, or decide if you plan to do any local radio ads or an open house.

Line up sour seasonal help. Organize who you will hire for seasonal help and your interns in advance. Develop step-by-step guides with pictures so that your brand is not damaged by a temporary worker.

You can also enlist your family, neighbor kids, church members and friends to help get you through the holidays.

Your inventory. Look at what your sales were last year to determine what you need to have in place. Order your packaging, shipping and raw materials in advance. Be sure to order extra too.

Talk to your vendors. Start communicating with your manufacturer and distributor partners about your holiday plan. Make sure you have a back-up for your main supplier in case they are backed up with other orders. Manufacturers may hire temporary help too for the holidays, so if you have a product that requires a high-level of detail, you may want to order product early.

Prep your packaging in advance. If you are a business that really gives your customers a great presentation with the packaging, get it ready before the orders start coming. You want to protect your brand so your quality does not suffer in the holiday rush.

Research your shipping options. Know when you need to have your items ready to ship so they arrive before Christmas. Figure out your best shipping options. If you belong to a trade organization or association, you may qualify for a discount with express shippers. You can also set up a USPS click-and-ship account so that they will pick up orders from your home or office.

Contact your merchant account provider. If you are going to focus on sales over the holidays, you need to make sure that your credit card processor provides a daily limit high enough to process all of the transactions. You might just be fortunate enough to have your product featured in the media which will generate huge sales, and could shut down your shopping cart.

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday marketing strategy. These are the days when your customers will most likely be out or online, looking for only the best deals. Know in advance what inventory you want to move. Then, offer amazing bundles or exciting new products just for those shoppers.

Get the Most From Network Meetings

Chamber of Commerce or other business meetings are where people meet people with business in mind. Maybe your competitors are too busy to join or attend meetings and you can be there with no adversaries present. Maybe they even think it’s a waste of time and won’t help their business. But you can be there to listen and contribute. And you never know when you’ll find the golden goose at a chamber meeting or event. Most of the networking is done during the cocktail or social hour so make sure you’re there in the beginning. And if there’s a meal, sit at a table where you don’t know many people so that you can meet the new ones before the formal meeting begins.

Here are some ideas to make the most of your networking time at a chamber meeting:

* Arrive early enough to use the entire networking time.

* Walk around the area with a smile and assess who is there, and who you want to meet.

* Eat conservatively; it’s hard to talk with your mouth full.

* Keep drinks to a minimum – you’re there to network and meet people, not party.

* Have a short introduction ready to introduce yourself.

* Exchange or hand out business cards with all people who can benefit you directly or indirectly.

* Have a pen to jot notes on the back of business cards for future reference.

It’s best not to conduct business while networking—set a future appointment and call to confirm. Keep an open ear and mind for things you may be interested in talking about. Talk to as many people as you can without cutting anyone short. If you don’t find enough people who can benefit you, make friends with others who may send referrals. If there is really someone special that you meet and want to spend more time with, set up a golf game and you’ll have 5 hours with them.

* Don’t leave immediately when the function is over, meet the speakers and other meeting VIPs.

* The next day, send an "it was nice to meet you" note to everyone you have a business card from.

* Follow-up with all the people you said you would call.

Driving back from the meeting, you need to decide if this is the type of function that you want to attend regularly and consider joining the group. If not, look in your local paper for a list of other meetings, there should be many of them. Most newspapers publish the list once a week, usually on Monday. Another source of meetings is a business journal in your city or a city nearby. If you have the time to attend and network, you should see positive results. You are representing your company in an environment where business people meet to benefit each other.

Drive Sales Through Social Media

Converting customers through social channels is not as cut-and-dried as most business owners think it should be. Put yourself in your customer's shoes and ask, "Why would I engage with this brand on Facebook?" Often, the answer is not, "So I can buy stuff from them."
Perhaps a better question to ask is, "Where would I buy things from a brand?" Chances are, Facebook is not going to be the first answer for many.
Consumers see the social layer around a brand as one that supports their buying decision in providing engagement and information pre-purchase, then supports them after the purchase when they have questions.
There's a disconnect when brands say, "We want to use Facebook to engage our audience," but then expect the result to be purchases. It's also misleading to think that your Facebook fans are the same type of captive, opt-in audience that you might find in, say, your email marketing list. They clicked a like button. It's a virtual high-five. The barrier to entry there isn't much of an obstacle.

This doesn't mean you can't drive conversions or build a customer base using social media, but that you have to first understand that's not what customers are turning to many social networks for. Secondly, approach your social channel with a strategic plan and purpose to drive business.
My guess is, for a business that says its Facebook fans don't convert, it isn't providing content that attracts likely customers or asking them to convert. Sometimes you have to present a call-to-action and give them a compelling reason to click, download or buy.

One social network that seems to get the most nods when I ask, "Are you driving business there?" is LinkedIn. This makes sense because it's mostly used by business people for business purposes. Networking with sales in mind is more natural on LinkedIn. On Facebook? Not so much. But if you've approached your Facebook strategy with the conversion in mind, you'll see much greater traction than if you just "engage" and cross your fingers.

Still, it's not the channel that is often to blame, but the strategy at play. If you want to convert fans on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest or any other social channel, you have to drive likely prospects and customers there with promotions or compelling content. Then you have to give them the opportunity and reason to convert. If you've attracted the right audience with the right messages in the right place and the right time, they will.
Source: entrepreneur.com

8 Things Successful People Do

1. They don't create back-up plans.
Back-up plans can help you sleep easier at night. Back-up plans can also create an easy out when times get tough.
You'll work a lot harder and a lot longer if your primary plan simply has to work because there is no other option. Total commitment--without a safety net--will spur you to work harder than you ever imagined possible.
If somehow the worst does happen (and the "worst" is never as bad as you think) trust that you will find a way to rebound. As long as you keep working hard and keep learning from your mistakes, you always will.
2. They do the work...
You can be good with a little effort. You can be really good with a little more effort.
But you can't be great--at anything--unless you put in an incredible amount of focused effort.
Scratch the surface of any person with rare skills and you'll find a person who has put thousands of hours of effort into developing those skills.
There are no shortcuts. There are no overnight successes. Everyone has heard about the 10,000 hours principle but no one follows it... except remarkably successful people.
So start doing the work now. Time is wasting.
3. ...and they work a lot more.
Forget the Sheryl Sandberg "I leave every day at 5:30" stories. I'm sure she does. But she's not you.
Every extremely successful entrepreneur I know (personally) works more hours than the average person--a lot more. They have long lists of things they want to get done. So they have to put in lots of time.
Better yet, they want to put in lots of time.
If you don't embrace a workload others would consider crazy then your goal doesn't mean that much to you--or it's not particularly difficult to achieve. Either way you won't be remarkably successful.
4. They avoid the crowds.
Conventional wisdom yields conventional results. Joining the crowd--no matter how trendy the crowd or "hot" the opportunity--is a recipe for mediocrity.
Remarkably successful people habitually do what other people won't do. They go where others won't go because there's a lot less competition and a much greater chance for success.
5. They start at the end...
Average success is often based on setting average goals.
Decide what you really want: to be the best, the fastest, the cheapest, the biggest, whatever. Aim for the ultimate. Decide where you want to end up. That is your goal.
Then you can work backwards and lay out every step along the way.
Never start small where goals are concerned. You'll make better decisions--and find it much easier to work a lot harder--when your ultimate goal is ultimate success.
6. ... and they don't stop there.
Achieving a goal--no matter how huge--isn't the finish line for highly successful people. Achieving one huge goal just creates a launching pad for achieving another huge goal.
Maybe you want to create a $100 million business; once you do you can leverage your contacts and influence to create a charitable foundation for a cause you believe in. Then your business and humanitarian success can create a platform for speaking, writing, and thought leadership. Then...
The process of becoming remarkably successful in one field will give you the skills and network to be remarkably successful in many other fields.
Remarkably successful people don't try to win just one race. They expect and plan to win a number of subsequent races.
7. They sell.
I once asked a number of business owners and CEOs to name the one skill they felt contributed the most to their success. Each said the ability to sell.
Keep in mind selling isn't manipulating, pressuring, or cajoling. Selling is explaining the logic and benefits of a decision or position. Selling is convincing other people to work with you. Selling is overcoming objections and roadblocks.
Selling is the foundation of business and personal success: knowing how to negotiate, to deal with "no," to maintain confidence and self-esteem in the face of rejection, to communicate effectively with a wide range of people, to build long-term relationships...
When you truly believe in your idea, or your company, or yourself then you don't need to have a huge ego or a huge personality. You don't need to "sell."
You just need to communicate.
8. They are never too proud.
To admit they made a mistake. To say they are sorry. To have big dreams. To admit they owe their success to others. To poke fun at themselves. To ask for help.
To fail.And to try again.
Source inc.com

Great Press Release Tips

Press releases are an essential element of any public relations strategy. These short, compelling documents detail product releases, event announcements and other newsworthy items a company produces. As CEO of the tech PR firm Cutler Group, it's my job to help take the business dealings of innovative tech startups and turn them into press coverage -- and one of the first steps my team and I take is writing good press releases on our clients' behalf.

Indeed, great press releases do more than keep the media and the industry-at-large informed of your company's recent developments. They are meant to pique the interest of journalists, who may seek to cover the topic further. Crafting a great press release is often the first step in securing a magazine feature or television interview -- and thus, more visibility and new customers.

Considering that journalists are flooded with potential stories and pitches on a daily basis, making yours stand out from the pack is crucial. While the format for a press release is basic, the content of the release should be anything but. Follow these eight tips to write a great press release that will make your company look professional, accessible and attractive to writers looking for stories.

1. Grab attention with a good headline.The beginning of a press release -- just as with a magazine article, book or promotional pamphlet -- is the most important. A strong headline (and, for that matter, email subject line when you send out the pitch) will pull in journalists seeking good stories. Your headline should be as engaging as it is accurate.

2. Get right to the point in the first paragraph. Because reporters are busy people, you must assume that they will only read the first sentence and then scan the rest -- and even that's a generous assumption. Get the message of your press release out quickly. Every important point should be addressed in the first few sentences. The subsequent paragraphs should be for supporting information.

3. Include hard numbers. It's easy to fill up a page with a creative, colorful narrative. Leave the artistry to the writers -- pack your press release with hard numbers that support the significance of your product or announcement. If you're claiming a trend, you need proof to back it up. Quantify your argument and it will become much more compelling.

4. Make it grammatically flawless.Proofread your press release -- and let a few other people proofread it as well -- before sending it out. Even a single mistake can dissuade a reporter from taking you seriously.

5. Include quotes whenever possible. There is a source of natural color that cannot be replicated: quotes. Including a good quote from someone in the company or close to the product/event can give a human element to the press release, as well as being a source of information in its own right.

6. Include your contact information.A common oversight that can render a press release ineffectual is a lack of contact information for reporters to follow up with. Whether you or someone else at the company is the point of contact, don't forget to include an email address and phone number on the release (preferably at the top of the page).

7. One page is best -- and two is the maximum. As with most good writing, shorter is usually better. Limit yourself to one page, though two pages is acceptable. This will also force you to condense your most salient information into a more readable document -- something journalists are always looking for.

8. Provide access to more information. You must limit your press release to one page (or two, if you must), but that doesn't mean you can't show people how to learn more. Providing relevant links to your company's website, where prospective writers can learn more about your mission and what you've already accomplished, is a crucial element to the release. Don't make writers search on their own for more information -- guide them as quickly as possible to your website, and keep their interest piqued

 

By Zach Cutler

Your Ideas Are Worthless

In a recent post, I wrote about my belief that ideas had no value and that it wasn’t worth anyone’s time to protect a business idea. It’s a notion I have been talking about for some time, but it is a controversial concept that often provokes strong disagreement. That disagreement, I think, stems from a misunderstanding of what an idea really is — or at least what I deem an idea to be.

Let me try to clarify. I received a comment asking that if I really thought ideas were worthless, why did I bother to copyright my book, “The Entrepreneur Equation“? The answer is simple. I didn’t protect the idea of the book; I protected the final work product — postexecution.

I didn’t try to copyright my original idea for writing a book around the framework of evaluating the risks and rewards of entrepreneurship. The reality is that I wouldn’t have been able to do so — that idea cannot be protected. Furthermore, I didn’t keep the idea a secret for fear that someone else would write the same book. I shared with many people what I was doing to get feedback and to create accountability for me to finish it. I had individuals, some paid, some just helping, review early drafts to make the book stronger. Only after writing the 80,000-plus words and then revising, editing and packaging it into a final product did I seek protection. But I wasn’t protecting my idea; I was protecting my execution, my work product.

If you create something of value that can be protected and it makes sense to protect it (i.e. the cost of protecting it makes sense in relation to the amount of money you believe that you can generate from that work product), then do it. But there’s a big difference between protecting a concept for a new business and protecting a highly differentiated methodology that you have perfected over a period of years.
In my article, I wrote that Google wasn’t the first search engine and that the idea for its search engine didn’t need to be protected. One response was, well, what about Google’s algorithm? So, here’s the nuance:

• Google comes up with the idea for a faster, more focused search engine with better results — that is an idea, and it’s not worth protecting.
• Google has an idea to create an algorithm to perform that more focused search — that is an idea and it’s still not worth protecting.
  
• Google spends time and capital resources writing and producing an algorithm that changes the way search is done. This is no longer an idea; this is work product that IS worth protecting.

Copyrights, patents, trademarks and other forms of intellectual property protection are important. As I said when Apple went to court to sue Samsung, intellectual property protection gives entrepreneurs the confidence to invest in innovation. Again, however, it comes down to execution, not ideas. Your idea for a television show isn’t something to protect; your script for the pilot episode might be. Your idea for shoes that can fly can be bantered about, but if you create those shoes, you definitely want to patent them.

Intellectual property protection can be valuable and worthwhile, but protecting your business ideas is not. It can even be counterproductive.
By Carol Roth a business strategist

Get Expert Help Starting Your Business

 Increase your chances of success with help starting a new business (or second business) from Barry Thomsen. He has started 20 businesses of his own and helped many others grow their business or franchise. He can assist in selecting your business structure (Corp, LLC, Sole Prop, etc) and the pros and cons of each. Help with your business plan, capital sources, finding your target market, 

mission statement, location selection (or home based), Grand Opening, and marketing ideas to help you grow. He can provide expert help with problem solving, hiring first employees, being competitive, pricing and refer you to competent accountants, lawyers, website designers and printers.

 

 Coaching and consulting is offered by-the-hour with NO contracts to sign. Your pay for only the time you decide you need only for the projects that you want help with. Barry is available weekdays, weekends and evenings for $95.00 per hour (much less than other coaches, advisors or consultants). You can contact Barry at 719-268-9081.  More info at www.idealetter.com

What Will You Do If....?

Most small business owners do not have contingency plans written down or even considered. But unpleasant things always seem to happen when you don't expect them or are prepared for them. Having a first line plan of defense and offense for you and employees will save you time, money, customers and maybe even the entire business when the unexpected occurs. Maybe it's time to consider what you would do if:

.Your business building burned down
.Sales suddenly dropped 50%
.A key employees left or died
.A main supplier closed down
.You got sick & could not work
.The electric was off for 3 days
.All your employees walked out
.Technology suddenly made your products obsolete
.A big competitor cut prices 50%
.Weather unexpectedly closed your business
.Bank called your loan/credit line canceled
.All your computers crashed
.Another 911 occured
.You got windfall business

Be prepared before it happens and you will recover much faster. Share your plans with another key person in case you can't get started right away. Don't panic and follow the procedure you planned in advance.

Barry is a business and franchise coach www.idealetter.com

Seeing is Believing

Samples Make Sales

 

When you put your product or a sample of it in your customers hands it will sell itself. Would you even consider buying an expensive car without driving it first? Or an expensive HD television without turning it on first? When your customer experiences a product first hand the are no longer taking your word for the quality, they can now make their own decision. This also eliminates buyer's remorse and less returns & exchanges.

 

If you're selling a service or on the web show a video of someone using it and giving a testimonial or two. Let people build confidence in you and your products or services by being involved in the selling process and touching samples of the product. Always stress your iron-clad guarantee and back it up with a smile. Make samples a part of your marketing mix and watch sales increase. 

 

Barry will assist you with marketing ideas that will that will grow your business and create customer/client loyalty. www.idealetter.com

Veterans - Time to Start a Business

With Veterans Day fast approaching, many Americans are reminded of the need to honor and support our service men and women. It is an important consideration, not only because we owe a debt to those who have risked their lives on our behalf, but also because their need is so great. There are nearly 2.5 million new veterans who served in the post-9/11 era, a majority of whom are transitioning or will soon transition from service to civilian careers. Historically, many veterans taking off the uniform have chosen a bold path to start and grow new businesses; for the past few decades, veterans have engaged in self-employment and entrepreneurship at higher rates than the general U.S. population.

Yet, as a new report from the Kauffman Foundation indicates, that is not currently true. For the first time since 1996, in 2009 the veteran entrepreneurship rate dropped below the non-veteran rate. In 1996, veterans represented 12.3 percent of all new entrepreneurs; by last year, this share had dropped to 6 percent.

Now, it is important to note that this does not indicate that fewer transitioning veterans are starting businesses or that interest within the veteran community in entrepreneurship is waning (indeed, that kind of data does not exist -- but more on that later). The total number of working-age veterans has decreased by similar magnitude -- from 11.2 percent to 6.4 percent -- so it is reasonable to suggest that the decline in entrepreneurial activity is due mainly to the Korean and Vietnam War veteran population aging out of the workforce.

There is some cause for concern, however. After having hundreds of conversations with entrepreneurs, veterans and those working to support them, we believe that veteran business owners are more likely to hire other vets, more likely to serve as mentors to veteran entrepreneurs, and possibly more likely to fund veteran-run startups. Moreover, these experienced veteran entrepreneurs play an important signaling role: Fewer veteran entrepreneurs means fewer role models and success cases to which the aspiring veteran entrepreneur can look for guidance and inspiration. The visibility and accessibility of successful entrepreneurs from their own community is tremendously important in expanding the transitioning veteran's perception of his or her career opportunities, and in increasing the likelihood that more new veterans will take on the challenge of founding a company.

Some may ask why we need or want more veteran entrepreneurs. One incontrovertible answer is that we need more and better jobs for veterans. The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that for October the unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans was an alarmingly high 10 percent. That number is volatile, but it remains true that last year 12 percent of Gulf War-era II veterans were unemployed, much higher than the national average. As with other employment data, this figure does not include the under-employed.

This data also cannot address those transitioning veterans who have jobs but might best be described as underperforming. This nation's transitioning veterans bring to the civilian world a set of skills and experiences that can only be acquired through military service and that prime them for positions as civic, business and economic leaders. Too often, due to inadequate transition support structures, these veterans do not become the great assets they could be. Inadequacies in federal and state programs bear some of the blame, but a successful transition for a veteran requires a whole-of-society approach, and a commitment that goes beyond expressions of gratitude.
Of course, entrepreneurship is not the only means by which transitioning veterans can achieve their potential, but we believe that military service endows many veterans with intangible attributes that also make them poised for high-growth entrepreneurship: drive and self-sufficiency; comfort with dynamic and uncertain conditions; effective management of and trust in teams; and a combat-proven talent for continual assessment, adaptation and innovation. What we do not know, though, is how these attributes translate into entrepreneurial performance because there has been very little research done on this population. We do not know about their ventures' success, growth and failure rates, in what sectors they thrive, and, most importantly, how we can best help current and future veteran entrepreneurs be more successful. Through data and research efforts, we need to start to answer some of these questions in order to find more and better ways to support the veteran entrepreneur.

We do know, however, that with fewer veterans engaged in entrepreneurial ventures each year, we all must step up our efforts to encourage, teach, fund, mentor, connect and celebrate the next greatest generation of veteran entrepreneurs.

Happy Online Customers

Online Shopping Experience One way to have profitable sales without having customer dissatisfaction is having an exciting online shopping experience. Companies can have exciting videos and a robust interface that interacts with customers, instead of just peddling goods. With lower overhead, companies can limit the problems customers face in-store. They can go one step beyond: replicate an exciting in-store shopping and putting that online.
Zappos Zeta store does so by:

• Stocking nearly every article of apparel customers would want
• An extremely easy-to-use browsing process and return policy
• A fun-brand name, important to many cost-conscious and disgruntled shoppers

Benefits

• Disgruntled shoppers and other receptive segments buy the same products in another channel
• Brand improvements, as customers receive a better experience online
• Boosts in profitable sales online

Source: greenbook.org

Slow Response? Free Ice Cream

The right incentives can work wonders. That was the experience of a technical support team that offered callers total satisfaction or a free ice cream sundae. Their ideas was to offer a free sundae to anyone who called for support that month, left a detailed voicemail message explaining the problem, and didn’t feel the call was returned quickly enough.

(Actually, to avoid a mushy melted mess, what they offered to give out was a coupon for a sundae, rather than the real thing.)The team’s objective was to encourage callers to leave more complete and relevant information in their voice mail messages. Detailed, informative explanations would improve the odds that team members would be able to call back with answers rather than requests for more information ("Your what is blank???").

Callers were also asked to indicate a priority, such as "rush" or "within 2 hours." This would enable the team to respond to calls in a priority sequence. Contrary to what you might predict, this request for a priority didn’t lead callers to claim all problems were top priority. In fact, many callers said the problem could wait to the end of the day or the next day for help. As a result, the team knew what was genuinely high priority and could take timely action.

The notice to customers about the sundae offer stated that the tech support team would respond to all voice mail messages quickly. But (and this is key) it didn’t say how quickly. The team debated the pros and cons of attaching a time to the offer, such as, "A free sundae if we don’t get back to you within 10 minutes." But they decided that it’s the customer who must decide whether the turnaround time is good enough; customers have different ideas about what’s good service, depending on their needs and priorities.

Was this offer successful in getting callers to leave detailed messages? Absolutely! Even better, many callers actually hoped their calls would not be returned quickly so they could collect a $1 coupon for ice cream! In fact, some callers complained, "On, no, you called back too quickly . . . I wanted a free sundae!"

And what about those free sundaes? How many hundreds of coupons did they end up giving out to callers who felt their calls weren’t returned fast enough? None at all. Not even one!

This lighthearted way of encouraging callers to leave detailed messages significantly improved the quality of their messages. And the offer of a free sundae gave callers the freedom to categorize the service level as unacceptable — without appearing to be a complainer as a result. Just ask for a free sundae coupon, and the point would be made. Yet, the only complaints the team heard were that calls were returned too quickly.

Clearly, incentives don’t have to be budget-breakers to be effective. Tootsie rolls, anyone?

Source: Karten Associates in MA

Ready to Start a Business?

Get Expert Help Starting a Business

Increase your chances of success with help starting a new business (or second business) from Barry Thomsen. He has started 20 businesses of his own and helped many others grow their business or franchise. He can assist in selecting your business structure (Corp, LLC, Sole Prop, etc) and the pros and cons of each. Help with your business plan, capital sources, mission statement, location selection (or home based), Grand Opening, and marketing ideas to help you grow. He can provide expert help with problem solving, hiring first employees, being competitive, pricing and refer you to competent accountants, lawyers, website designers and printers.

 

Coaching and assistance is offered by-the-hour with NO contracts to sign. Your pay for only the time you decide you need for the projects that you want help with. You can work together in person, on the phone or by email. Barry is available weekdays, weekends and evenings for $95.00 per hour (much less than other coaches or consultants). You can contact Barry at 719-268-9081. More info at www.idealetter.com

Small Retailer Holiday Ideas

As we approach the holiday season again all the big box stores and corporate chains are trying to undersell their competition and have the earliest sales. They entice customers with low prices and limited availability. The profit margin is low so they have to sell more to come out ahead. They spend mega-dollars on advertising to lure shoppers into their stores and to their websites. The same old thing year after year and for some it doesn't even pay off. They think ONLY the lowest price will get the sale.

But why should a small business retailer or online seller join this madness and try to compete for super low profits or any at all. The big stores aren't going to let you win anyway, they will just lower prices again, maybe below your cost. Why not fight back with something value-added that others are not offering instead of just low prices. Find something your customers want (ask them!) and offer if along with a fair price. There is an old saying that if everything else is equal, people just buy the lowest price. Add value so it won't be equal.

Don't let your businees be "just equal", make it offer more with a smile and provide the added service that can't be found elsewhere. You won't need to spend big bucks on advertising because you will receive more valuable Word-of-Mouth publicity. Be involved in your target market community and the word will spread quickly. And remember these happy and satisfied customers will be repeat business after the holidays!
Barry is a business and franchise coach who ha 6 published books on business. www.idealetter.com

Your Shopping Habits - Pricing

Offering consumers coupons based on their online shopping habits is something that Dibsie began offering back in 2011 and now this concept has now been given a real-world twist. Using data amassed from loyalty card usage, Kroger is now offering personalized discounts in-store to give shoppers money off their favorite brands in real time.

The store has begun to offer the service to its Kroger Rewards scheme customers, providing a price for certain products depending on each member’s individual shopping history. Working with  a consumer research firm  the supermarket analyzes data and sends coupons via email to those who are likely to take up the offer.

 For example, if a brand brings out a new soft drink and a user has a history of buying the company’s existing products, they may receive money off the new drink, whereas someone who has never expressed an interest through their purchases would pay full price. Similarly, a customer whose loyalty card data suggests they shop for a family might get offered a discount on a larger version of a product they already regularly buy. There is no need to print off and scan and the coupons in-store as the prices are automatically added to each users’ Rewards card and applied to the final bill at checkout.

Ultimately, such a scheme is designed to encourage consumers to try new products or add some extra items to their weekly shop. With development of the technology, it is possible that traditional pricing systems could be replaced with personalized costs for every product. With supermarket chain Safeway also rolling out a similar scheme this summer, is this an idea for retailers to get in on early?

Deliberately Late Pizza Delivery

We’ve already seen food outlets in the US doing their bit to tackle global hunger with the Halfsies initiative, which donates to charity when customers order half-sized meals. Now a risky advertising campaign cooked up by agency ONIRIA/TBWA has seen two pizzerias in Paraguay provide a deliberately slow service to raise awareness of hunger.

Teaming up with the Food Bank Foundation, the agency persuaded the “two most important pizzerias in Asuncion” to accept delivery requests from customers, advising them that the food would arrive within 45 minutes. Feigning bad service, all the pizzas were delivered much later than this specified time frame, prompting angry calls from those who had placed an order. However, when the food finally arrived, each box came with a note explaining: “When you’re hungry, you understand hunger.” Couriers then told each customer that the pizza was free of charge, but any money they did give would be donated to the Food Bank Foundation to help those for whom hunger is a genuine fear, rather than an irritation.

The idea behind the concept was to help those who can afford takeaway food to put their complaint into perspective, in return offering them a pizza for free as a thank you for taking part in the experience. The following video was created by ONIRIA/TBWA to demonstrate the campaign:

Where traditional campaigns may appeal to rational thought or emotion to convince viewers to help, the ONIRIA/TBWA campaign gave pizza customers an unusual experience they are not likely to forget. According to a Fast Company report, the campaign helped collect 50 tons of food for the Food Bank Foundation, but would you be prepared to risk permanently dissatisfying your customers for a single campaign?
Source: springwise.com

Singapore's Dis-Loyalty Card

Coffee shops around the world have employed loyalty card schemes for many years, but now we’ve come across an interesting twist on the idea. In Singapore, a collaborate scheme aims to benefit eight of the city’s best independent cafés with the Be Disloyal disloyalty card.

The Be Disloyal disloyalty card — created by digital creative agency Antics, blogger Cortadito.sg and eight of Singapore’s independent coffee shops — was designed to encourage consumers to discover different coffee venues while bringing businesses together to grow as a vertical. From September until the end of this month customers can pick up a disloyalty card from one of the eight participating cafés. The card is stamped each time they purchase a coffee from one of the other seven cafés and, once the card is full, they return to the original café to receive their free coffee.

Competing with large chain brands can be difficult for small businesses, but teaming up with similar smaller companies can create stronger competition. Inspiration here for independent businesses in any industry!
Source: Springwise.com

Business Loan Credit History

When a small business requests a loan, one of the first things a lender looks at is personal and business credit history. So before you even start the process of preparing a loan request, you want to make sure you have good credit.

Get your personal credit report from one of the credit bureaus, such as TransUnion, Equifax or Experian. You should initiate this step well in advance of seeking a loan. Personal credit reports may contain errors or be out of date, and it can take three to four weeks for errors to be corrected. It is up to you to see that corrections are made, so make sure you check regularly on progress. You want to make sure that when a lender pulls your credit report, all the errors have been corrected and your history is up to date.

Once you obtain your credit report, check to make sure that all personal information, including your name, Social Security number and address is correct. Then carefully examine the rest of the report, which contains a list of all the credit you obtained in the past such as credit cards, mortgages, student loans and information on how you paid that credit. Any item indicating that you have had a problem in paying will be toward the top of the list. These are the credits that may affect your ability to obtain a loan.

If you have been late by a month on an occasional payment, this probably will not adversely affect your credit. But it is likely that you will have difficulty in obtaining a loan if you are continuously late in paying your credit, have a credit that was never paid, have a judgment against you, or have declared bankruptcy in the last seven years.

A person may have a period of bad credit as a result of divorce, medical crisis, or some other significant event. If you can show that your credit was good before and after this event and that you have tried to pay back those debts, you should be able to obtain a loan. It is best if you write an explanation of your credit problems and how you have rectified them, and attach this to your credit report in your loan package.

Each credit bureau has a slightly different way of presenting your credit information. Contact the bureau you used for more specific information how to read your credit report. If you need additional help in interpreting or evaluating your credit report, ask your accountant or a local banker.
Source: sba.gov

Debt Financing

 

Debt financing means borrowing money that must be repaid over a period of time, usually with interest. Debt financing can be either short-term, with full repayment due in less than one year, or long-term, with repayment due over a period greater than one year. The lender does not gain an ownership interest in the business, and debt obligations are typically limited to repaying the loan with interest. Loans are often secured by some or all of the assets of the company. In addition, lenders commonly require the borrower's personal guarantee in case of default. This ensures that the borrower has a sufficient personal interest at stake in the business.

Loans can be obtained from many different sources, including banks, savings and loans, credit unions, commercial finance companies, and SBA-guaranteed loans. State and local governments have many programs that encourage the growth of small businesses. Family members, friends, and former associates are all potential sources, especially when capital requirements are smaller.

Traditionally, banks have been the major source of small business funding. The principal role of banks includes short-term loans, seasonal lines of credit, and single-purpose loans for machinery and equipment. Banks generally have been reluctant to offer long-term loans to small firms. SBA’s guaranteed lending programs encourage banks and non-bank lenders to make long-term loans to small firms by reducing their risk and leveraging the funds they have available.
Source: sba.gov

Starting a New Busines?

Get expert help when starting a new business (or second business) from Barry Thomsen. He has started 20 businesses of his own and helped many other grow their business or franchise. He can assist in selecting your business structure (Corp, LLC, Sole Prop, etc) and the pros and cons of each. Help with your business plan, capital sources, mission statement, location selection (or home based), Grand Opening, and marketing ideas to help you grow.

He can also help with problem solving, hiring first employees and refer you to competent accountants, lawyers, website designers and printers. Coaching is offered by-the-hour with NO contracts to sign. Your pay for only the time you decide you need for the projects that you want help with. Barry is available weekdays, weekends and evenings for $95.00 per hour (much less than other coaches or consultants). You can contact Barry at 719-268-9081 or idealetter@aol.com. More info at www.idealetter.com

Make Some Retail Changes

Relocate/renovate. Understandably, we're seeing a lot of retailers take advantage of real estate vacancies with moves into higher-traffic areas, smaller or larger showrooms, and better physical structures. Some are using the economically-induced downtime to tighten up operations while others are renovating to add more space or personality. A new look can make consumers take another look.

Harlan Van Vark, owner of Boat's Home Furnishings in Pella, Iowa, was inspired to renovate following a trip to the High Point Market a few years ago. "We were admiring the old Market Square building and realized that our old building could look just like it. When we returned to Pella, we did just that. We added on a two-story section to our existing store, knocked down plaster to expose brick walls and sanded the old wood floors. Our store is now uniquely different than any other store around."

New Business Help as a Gift

Do you know someone in Colorado who wants to start a real business or frnachise? You can give them one or two hours of my professional coaching as a gift. I can help them with selecting a business structure, business plan, mission statement, location selection (or home) and marketing ideas to get a great start. I have 6 published books on business and started over 20 businesses. I will give you a letter certificate to present as a gift which will be valid until the end of 2013. Cost is $95/hour and could save them $1000s. www.idealetter.com, idealetter@aol.com