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Thursday, August 31, 2006

Strategy Wins Over Raw Effort

I promised to give you my notes after watching Rich Schefren's video.

One comment particularly hit home, and I've heard this said so many times in so many different ways. It was...

The problem is ...
That you are focusing on the Wrong Questions and therefore arriving at the Wrong Solutions

So what on earth does that mean?

Basically it's saying that you may have worked out the best way to get into an orchard. But if you're wanting apples and the orchard only has pears you've wasted your time. Because you asked,  "how do we get into that orchard?".  Rather than, "how do we get into an orchard with lots of apples?"

Why Do All The Work In Your Business?

It is so common for an entrepreneur to do all the work themselves thinking they're saving money.

At the start-up that may be true. As you get clients you must concentrate on providing your own value to them. Anything you do that is not for a specific client, or prospect, is potentially a waste of your time.

Rich asks, "Why do it yourself when you can hire someone to do it better than you can?"

After all that's an instant improvement in your business.

Think about web sites, blogs, brochures and other written marketing materials. How many business owners do it themselves in the happy, and mistaken, belief that it's good enough. 

When owners do everything their business is limited by their own imperfect knowledge or understanding of techniques, concepts and strategies outside their own expertise.

Think about it. As an owner doing everything you lose out twice. ..

Once by doing sub-standard work which may turn your clients off and that someone else could do better . Twice because you're not concentrating on what you do best for your clients.

Most online businesses don't work
their owners do!

The way to check your business is working right is to set goals and measure expected against actual. Then work to improve results.

(Remember that whatever you measure is what is concentrated on - there can be a grave danger of useless activity for the sake of better statistics. Unproductive monthly sales meetings are a very good example of this.)

 Strategic Business Metrics

Rich notes the following online stats that he uses:

  1. Total number of monthly visitors to all sites compared to goal
  2. Overall customer satisfaction from survey results compared to goal
  3. Overall conversion rate compared to goal
  4. Number of products and web sites compared to goal
  5. Total number of customers on lists and prospects on list
    compared to goal
  6. Overall employee satisfaction compared to goal
  7. Total revenue compared to goal
  8. Total profits compared to goal
  9. % of business functions systematised compared to goal
  10. Breakdown of how you are spending your time in the 4 roles
    compared to goal
  11. Total number of hours you are working compared to goal
  12. Your overall assessment of your own quality of life compared to goal

Steps You Can Take Alone

  1. Learn how to process map and begin mapping what you want your online business to do
  2. Learn project management
  3. Build leverage & scalability into your business
  4. Become fanatical about your business numbers
  5. Use an effective time management system and log your time for a week or two
  6. Analyse your log and identify routine tasks
  7. Automate as many things as possible - start with the easiest
  8. Outsource one item at a time starting with the most time
    consuming first 
  9. Hire an employee that will take over the largest number of
    your responsibilities

As an ex-business process analyst and projects director myself I know the power of documenting business processes and refining them until they're the best they can be.

Imagine doing that to each of your business processes?

If you've just 10 processes and improving each one improves sales by 1% you'd think you get 10% improvement.

You don't!

It can be exponential because almost every improvement impacts on all the others too. 


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Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Do You Matter In Business?

The 50 people who matter most as decided by Business 2.0. magazine contains only those who are affecting our lives now and continue to affect them in the future.

David Allen, famous for writing "" is at 49. I suppose as a projects director I've always looked for better and more effective ways of doing stuff - Allen's book fits the bill. Personally I own the Nightingale-Conant audio programme as well. So it's good to see him in the list.

At 45 we see Richard Branson. The one man that almost every UK entrepreneur would probably love to emulate.

Surprisingly Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Paul Otellini running ORACLE, Dell and Intel respectively are lower than you might expect and are joint 43rd.

Bill Gates and his charitable foundation are at 21 and the article notes that his Chief Technical Officer (Ray Ozzie) ranks higher at number 10.

Robert Iger is CEO of Walt Disney and has dragged Disney back to it's best since Michael Eisner went. In fact he's at number 12 in the list.

Of course Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple computers is right up there as Apple continue to innovate under his leadership. He deserves his ranking at number 5.

Rupert Murdoch, CEO at News Corp, is at number 4 as his empire continues to embrace all media and drive into as many countries as possible.

Of course Sergey Brin and Larry Page co-founders of the modern favourite tech company Google are at number 2.

You may ask who they've put at number 1?

The answer is strangely -- You and me!

Think about it for one minute. They're right because without you the Internet would not be what it is now. Our blogs, web sites, user groups, gurus, affiliates and everything else have formed the Internet into what we want.

Savvy companies have tied themselves to the Internet as a research medium for their own products. They want to know what you and I do. What keywords we use. How we complete questionnaires, the way we use the web.

The list builders have cheated a little by putting the "Emerging Global Middle Class CHINA, INDIA, RUSSIA, BRAZIL" in as number 7. Because you could argue they'll have the same impact as you or I.

As always, time will tell...



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Thursday, August 24, 2006

AOL Search Data

Yes we all know that AOL made data available that could be used to identify people -- if you were that sad and had that much time to browse through 2.27Gb of search data.

Ken McCarthy notes that Lee Gomes (from the Wall Street Journal) showed the top searches from this data.

And I quote from :  

"Of the 17.15 million searches in the database, here were the most searched words in order from the most to the least:

1. free
2. new
3. lyrics
4. county
5. school
6. city
7. home
8. state
9. pictures
10. music
11. sale
12 beach
13. high
14. map
15. center
16. sex
17. Google"

There's a lot more analysis that Ken notes and further analysis offered in the comments section of the post too.

He also says that really there is nothing we don't already know. But it's great to have confirmation of what we know still applies.

One particular point Ken draws and which I fully agree with is that "New" and "Free" are at the top of the searches. These are top keywords that long dead direct mail experts tell us are powerful appeal to us humans.

As I've said before, and will no doubt say again, human psychology doesn't change much, if at all. That means a direct response principle that worked in the 19th century is almost guaranteed to work in the 21st century. 
 


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Want To Be The First To Try It?

Then you're a small band of people classified as an "Innovator". Typically you're someone who really likes to have the latest gizmo, fashion item, decor or car.  They also realise there are likely to be teething problems.

They also realise they face a risk of being left in a fashion backwater. For example Betamax video owners versus VHS video owners.

If you'd prefer to be near to the leading edge of the new but not quite on the bleeding edge like the innovators you're an "Early Adopter".

People who buy after these two groups are classified by marketers as follows:

Early Majority

People who like to see the snags ironed out before they buy.  They tend to get feedback from many sources before making their decision.

Late Majority

They're tougher to convince as they prefer the status quo and tend to want what they already have, but better. 

Laggards

These people fear debt and hold-off buying until they decide it's a "must-have"  because "everyone they know has one."

These classifications are useful to know about your prospects or customers. Because knowing what sort of person they are helps you craft your marketing and sales campaign to target the aspects they're looking for.

The Internet Followed This Model

One great recent example of this was in the Internet take-up. It was slow to start and then snow-balled.

Other examples that are bubbling under on the Internet are blogs, podcasts and video. 

Blogs and podcasting have been around for quite some time now.

They're becoming more and more popular. Although it has to be said the majority of blogging, podcasting and video still occurs in the USA.  The innovators have been in and the early adopters are now using these tools.

The question is will other people follow these pioneers...

Hint: Check out where sponsorship and advertising goes because where business puts money is usually, but not always, where prospects are spending money, or time, or both.


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Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Branding Is The Emperor's New Clothes

I'm fed up of hearing everyone talk about branding as though it's the one essential item a company needs before it suddenly erupts into the big leagues.

It's not...

Branding is all about your company. What shape, size, colour your logo is, how you define your web site templates, the scripts you use (or not) when talking with your customers.

Brand consultants will tell you that branding is essential in your crowded market place.

It's not that either. The essential strategy is to provide great value, great service and innovate on those elements for your customers.

Because in the end it's all about providing a customer with a way that they can remember you and return to buy more from you.

Brand consultants and marketers will claim branding is what attracts customers.

Brands don't do that. Do they?

After all you're a customer.

Look at all the brands you come up against every day. Do you actually take that much notice? Unless you've had an unusually good experience with one of the company's and you're ready to buy what they selling.

No, you're interested in getting goods and services from whichever company delivers on their promise and provides a great service.

Microsoft wasn't branded before it started, yet IBM came to them and gave them enormous clout in the PC market.

Virgin wasn't a brand when it started in the music market, until they started to offer something their customers wanted.

What about Google? They weren't a brand. Yet now they're highly recognisable as probably the most used English language search engine.

That's what it comes down to. Giving the customer something they want.

If they like it they'll recommend you to their friends and  colleagues. If you were MacDonald's when they started they might have said something like "yes the burger joint has a sign is like a big yellow M". And that's how you get branding.

It's your customers short-cut way of remembering you. So with Virgin we all know it's Red with the word Virgin in white and Microsoft is now forever tied to their Window logo.

Of course it's helpful if we can make it easier for customers to remember us when they talk about us. But in the end they choose what to them is a significant recognisable aspect of your company to help them recall you. And it may not be that highly expensive branded set of colours for your stationery.

So setting out on a long and expensive journey to create your brand is not recommended when you're a small company.

By all means if you're Coca-Cola, Virgin, British Airways or Ford you've got a vested interest in your brand for a different reason.

If you're that big you want to take what you now know customers recognise about your company and continually create Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) through advertising, PR and other marketing strategies. Just so that when customers think of a product or service you offer your TOMA strategy pays off and they immediately remember you.



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Monday, August 21, 2006

What One Thing Ensures You Stay In Business?

It's what Ted Nicholas terms the GF.

This strategy is vital to any business. Without it you're going to go plunging down the tubes straight to the Dead Business Graveyard.

...Probably within 18 months to 2 years.

Ted Nicholas writes about the GF in his excellent book "Magic Words That Bring You Riches" .

He tells the story of his Uncle Frank who was his first business hero.

Uncle Frank was the successful creator of 4 famous restaurants and on Ted's 17th Birthday gave him a Gillette razor.

Uncle Ted reckoned that Gillette was the most profitable company he knew and he had a large shareholding in it because he was so impressed.

In answer to Ted's question as to why Gillette was so special Uncle Frank said , "When you buy their razor, you'll undoubtedly love it. But to continue to enjoy it, you must buy their blades (no others fit) forever!"

When Ted started his own business (Ice-cream and candy) he built in what he calls the "Gillette Factor" (GF).

The Gillette Factor strategy Ted uses is that of repeat or back-end sales. Without it you can only do so many one-off sales until your market has enough of what you're selling - then what?


Beware --- Back-End Sales Are Not Enough

And it's not enough to have repeat sales because me-too imitators come in and attempt to take your market with cheaper products or improved products or slightly different products.

So you also need to do what Gillette does with it's own products: continuous innovation.

Go to any Gillette stockist and you'll see the wide variety of products they've produced. One blade, two blade, three blade, two blade with lubrication strip, battery powered...

The list goes on.

So like Gillette you need to constantly update and
improve your product at least once a year.

Otherwise your competitors will simply snatch your customers away from you.

Innovation applies to many parts of your business, not just the product itself. You need to look at all of the following, although you don't need to change it all the time.

  • Product packaging
  • Sales approaches
  • Marketing tactics, including:
    • Sales letters
    • Emails
    • Brochures
    • Catalogues
    • Using the Internet
    • PR
  • Handling complaints and rework
  • Other customer relationship handling processes

You should keep testing changes to individual elements, keep the ones that raise sales and ditch the ones that don't.



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Friday, August 18, 2006

Follow-up Is Vital, Or Is It?

When you've got that lead from a trade show, network meeting or other great source what do you do?

Do you follow-up with emails, letters and phone calls until you close that sale?

You don't know what your prospect is thinking so you may be exerting unwanted pressure on them.

What do you do?

It's Catch-22 isn't it?

If you don't follow-up you're unlikely to get a sale, yet if you do you run the risk of annoying your prospect and turning them off.

It's a matter of having a service mindset. That is you need to look at how you can help the prospect. And I don't mean asking a barrage of questions so you can "fit your solution to their problem".

I mean asking them what they're looking to achieve and then sitting back and listening to their reply.  Be honest in your wish to help them achieve their goal.

If you find they don't want you at the moment, accept it.

If they don't want to have every service or product you offer that's OK too. Trying to squeeze every last drop of "value" out of your customer/prospect is going to kill any on-going relationship.

I've been guilty of pushing people for a sale. I know they've not been in the situation where they want to buy either. So all that's happened is that they felt guilty for taking my time. And I'm sure they felt annoyed because I'd made them feel that way.

I've learnt from that.

You should too. Mindset of service with no pressure is difficult to maintain when you've sales targets. Using it gives you better sales and a better conscience too.



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Thursday, August 17, 2006

7 Blog Writing Clients

The hunt continues in my quest for a great blog writing client.

I've written about this sacred quest in a previous

I've now tried

  • Blogger
  • Zoundry
  • Rocketpost
  • Wordpress
  • Qumana
  • Elicit
  • Live Writer

You can see my thoughts on Blogger, Zoundry and Rocketpost at my previous post.

I've started using Rocketpost again as I like the way it generates tags and related posts. Although the downside on the related posts is that you have to search to find the posts in shows and create links to them! A bug that I'm sure they'll sort out in due course.

Wordpress is an excellent tool although not nearly as good, or as powerful, as the desktop client tools.

Qumana is a strong, simple tool. It allows you to add tags (but only for Technorati) and doesn't allow you to use styles for headings.

 I loved Elicit it allowed you to see all your blogs in one window and used a drag and drop system allowing you to easily change planned posting dates and times. You can even change the blog you're posting to. This was definitely the best client software I've used. Unfortunately not free and I'm still deciding whether I want to buy it.

In the meantime...

And at last Microsoft has come out with it's own offering -Windows Live Writer. It looks to be a very nice client.

I've used it to write this post and I'll keep you updated as to whether I adopt it or go for Elicit or Rocketpost. 

 


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Do You Use This No Cost Lead Generating Technique Too?

Press releases are often only dusted down when SME businesses remember that they “should” do a press release.


I’m sure you’rè not like that.


However, it can be difficult knowing what to do or write about when constructing press releases.


If you use a free/paid for press release service like www.PRWeb.com they help you by giving you a template to fill in.


They also give you a few tips about what a press release should and shouldn’t be.


I’m a subscriber to a number of press releases experts ezines and blogs. One I’m particularly fond of is Joan Stewart’s Publicity Hound.


Joan is a freelance journalist and ex-news editor so she’s got some good information on press releases.


In particular you can sign up for her 89 day press release tutorial.


With that under your belt you’re going to be able to produce press releases that the media may actually use, rather than laughing then consigning them to the rubbish bin.


One of the tips that Joan gives that I agree wholeheartedly with is this:


“When I write a release and journalists never print it, or I get no calls for interviews, I chalk it up as a failure. Then I start all over again and find something better to write about so I can get the media coverage I need”.


Ringing and telling journalists that they should have printed your release is not going to work and will just put their backs up about your ability to produce newsworthy releases.


Related posts: These Gurus Can Boost Your Profits - But Beware Your Inbox,





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Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Are You Marketing Smart?

No not are you a smart marketer.

What I mean by marketing smart is are you using the most effective strategies to get your marketing objectives fulfilled?

If one of your strategies is to become known as an expert in your field I suggest you look very seriously at all the different video upload sites that are now available, including youtube.com, google.com and yahoo.com.

You can upload video as Seth Godin is doing, you check out his “All Marketers Are Liars” video on Google now.

In it Seth dispenses pithy advice.

And more importantly continues to build his reputation as an expert and guru.

How?

By showing himself talking to an audience, reacting to what he says and from him delivering thought-provoking content - IN PERSON.

Remember a study reported by Reuters shows the BBC is losing part of it’s audience to the web. Millions more than last year are accessing the BBC’s web site.

As the web increases its importance further I suspect we’ll see more and more individual viewing stations (like the Archos Digital Video Recorder or similar) and a further decline in TV.

That means if you want to position yourself as an expert you need to get some video uploaded so people can see what you do.

After all Seth Godin knows what he’s talking about. He's marketing smart and he's uploading lots of video. For instance here’s another video of him talking at GEL 2006.

Note: GEL is "Good Experience Live" and is a conference and a community looking for good experience in its many different forms across art, business, life, technology and society.


So think hard about whether your business can benefit from video. Remember currently internet video is great value compared to TV. But like TV it wont stay that way.

For a company that can make you a high definition video for the new TV format and also for the Internet try Cut N Copy Media. Based in Manchester they’re run by Adrian Leggett the producer behind the fantastically successful “Dr. Dolittle”, “42nd Street” and “Summer Holiday” and is credited with being the first producer to make a “Filmed Making of a Theatrical Show” for ITV in the UK.


Related posts: Get The Right Front Window For Your Business, What Are The Top 25 Marketing Bloggs?, Is Your Business Fun?, Will Video Marketing Sweep The Internet Like A New Broom?





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Thursday, August 10, 2006

Rich Dad Poor Dad - Poor Showing?

In my post reviewing “The Millionaire Maker” I mentioned “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” author Robert T Kiyosaki and suggested that if you’d read it (and so showed an interest in getting richer) The Millionaire Maker was going to be of interest for you.

After I pushed the button on that post I came across a riveting review of Robert T. Kiyosaki.where John Reed analyses what is said in “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. His conclusions are not very flattering.

Put it this way if you believe everything that Robert T. Kiyosaki says you owe it to your self to read this site.

The page analysing the book is long but I read every single bit of it. Including links where John Reed explained the issues, including the jealousy angle that he was accused of for creating the site in the first place.



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Get Rich, Make A Million, Is It Possible...

“Get rich or die trying” and “who wants to be a miilionaire” are opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to peoples attitude to money.

Luckily according to Loral Langemeier there is another way.

Loral has written The Millionaire Maker which she says is intended to help you “Act, think and make money the way the wealthy do”.

If you’ve read Robert T. Kiyosaki’s book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" you’ll definitely enjoy and appreciate The Millionaire Maker.


In fact Loral’s book is easier to understand that Robert’s book. It’s written in two parts. The first part explains Loral’s methods and introduces the 12 building blocks of the Wealth cycle and the 8 questions that lead to life long wealth.


The 12 building blocks in The Millionaire Maker include the intriguing “Cash Machine”. The building blocks are as follows:



  • Gap Analysis

  • Financial Baseline

  • Freedom Day

  • Debt Management

  • Entities

  • Cash Machine

  • Wealth Accounts

  • Forecasting

  • Assets

  • Leadership

  • Teamwork

  • Conditioning

Rest assured that Lorel explains each building block in detail and shows how it applies too. I particularly liked the cocept of “Freedom Day”. That one building block is something that anyone who aspires to get out of debt or to start making passive income needs to know about!


As part of the process of defining an individual’s wealth plan The Millionaire Maker provides 8 questions. They start with “what is your monthly income”, “what is your monthly expenditure”, what assets do you have” throught to the killer question: “Are you willing to create and execute the wealth cycle process”. Because without the willingness to take action on the plan nothing changes.


In the second part of The Millionaire Maker Loral explains her process through case studies with people like Mike and Mary Leonard where Mary has lost her job and the family desperately need money. Or Rick and his wife who have plenty of assets for the good life but feel that with a 2 hour commute each way no quality of life.


She also shows one case where the person doesn’t actually achieve anything that’s planned. Finally Loral realises that this person is really proving her wrong by saying that she can’t do it because Loral’s not doing enough for her. So Loral tells her directly that she needs to commit to the wealth plan and tells her, “Don’t get stuck; get it done” and of course she does.


These cases studies are where Loral’s methods really show anyone how they can restructure themselves to make money.


For non-USA readers Loral does talk about how to structure companies for most efficient tax in the USA. However, this same approach should still apply to the different tax structures in any other country.


Reading this book was an eye-opener for me as I’ve read Robert T. Kiyosaki’s book and even then hadn’t realised the different ways of making money there could be.


In fact after reading this book I can see that anyone can become a millionaire. What it takes is a proper plan, a desire to succeed and commitment to follow the plan despite sometimes being uncomfortable with changes. And The Millionaire Maker is there to help, motivate and excite you to take those planned steps - good luck.






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Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Do You Want FREE Access To Dunn & Bradstreet Lists?

Dunn & Bradstreet own a list selling company called Hoovers.


For today only you can access the information they hold on their lists as a normal Pro subscriber would.


Go to Hoovers web site and sign up. You need to put your own email address in “receipients email” and “your email” because the forms needs a referrer’s email.


Once in there you can play around with lots of different criteria for building lists, including:



  • Number of employees

  • Turnover

  • Market cap

  • Country

  • State or UK County too

  • Type of people (CEO, Director, Sales, Marketing...)

  • People Age, Pay

  • And many more ...

The result is that you can create your own list and access a lot of information from it.


Have a go it’s at Hoovers web site and remember it’s only available today until 7 p.m. CDT.


Related posts: Jay Abrahams - Stealth Marketing Now a Free eBook, Is Your Business Fun?, Let My Case Be A Warning To You





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Monday, August 07, 2006

Mr X - The Missing Links And Robin Hood

Hi there

I hope you're taking as much advantage of our fabulous summer as we're trying to do.

We took a long weekend and went to the Robin Hood Festival in Sherwood Forest. We watched Robin Hood defeat all-comers, including the villain - The Sheriff of Nottingham.

Most satisfactory.

There was some news prior that someone had suggested that Robin Hood actually lived in Clacton On Sea, hundreds of miles from Sherwood and Nottigham.

I think I'd prefer to think of that as purely his holiday home.

Anyway, Thanks to Caroline who'd read my Mr X post for pointing out that my links to other postings simply returned you to the Mr X posting.

The links now go to the right place! So you can check them out...

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