Tag: small business owner success

Posted on in 5- Friday - Big Money, big money, marketing, Real world, Success tips

TribeologyBlog.com – Episode #680 – Cookies and a Blog Post!

Quote: “If you feel there is something missing in life, it is almost always a cookie.”-MarylandMusings

Friday: Big Money Small Change

 

What can you say to capture your customer’s interest?

Tell them a surprise!  It’s enticing but not a spoiler alert.  This was the preview for Subway I recently received… It actually stopped my scroll and I opened the email.

Now one thing I want to say about this preview… doesn’t it look like a classified ad?  I never really noticed how email previews resemble classifieds. And you know what…?

Treat them as such – look at the vital information, just enough to get you wanting more information!

Then I opened it.

YEA!

Free cookie!

And you all know how much  I love chocolate chip cookies.

I got a blog post and a cookie.

#doinginfinity

Tomorrow… come back for my episode on “Try This”!
PS:  Like my vibe? I want you to join my tribe! Begin with my quick and simple guide to understanding the 5C’s of the Infinity Marketing Machine.  I call it #doinginfinity.  Click Here and I’ll email you a FREE download.

Infinitypreneur.com

Infinity Marketing Machine Daily Topics:
Monday – Character (Subject Matter Expert)
Tuesday – Content & Consistency
Wednesday – Midweek Motivation
Thursday – Infinity Customers
Friday – Big Money
Saturday – Try This!
Sunday – Week in Review

Posted on in 6- Saturday - Try This!, Blog content, Business owner motivation, Content, DoingInfinity, marketing, Next big thing, Real world, Success tips

ProfitCenterCoach.com – Episode 500 – Help Someone Find You

“The moon is the first milestone on the road of the stars.” Arthur C Clarke

Saturday: Try This!

Which way are you coming from?

There used to be a time when people would call and ask for directions.  This relied on your staff having to give directions and your customer having to understand the directions.

NOW… “Hey Siri” or a Search gets you where you need to go.  I thought driving was the main source of automated directions, until I saw the new directories at the Mall of America.

Not only do you see where the store is… it has an animated arrow to guide you!

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It might be impossible to give your customers a guided arrow, however, what can you give them?  Bring someone with you, jump in your car, and film the journey from the main highway to your business.  Get out of the car and film the walk from car, to elevator, to front desk.

Prospective customers will appreciate this!

They are used to Google or Siri… but they can’t be everywhere (yet) – so help your customers find you!  Film the journey.  We did this at the boat yard… super helpful for first time visitors.

Try This!

#doinginfinity

NOTE FOR 500!   Thank you for encouraging me to continue this blog for small businesses, both with your messages AND with your likes!  It’s been a honor to share the stories (some crazy) from my background.  Normally on Satuday I don’t use an Inspiration — but today is a super special post… 

I love the inspiration because this “road of stars” is never ending BECAUSE the stars go on and on, LOOK… we have an “Infinity Goal!” We may be at the moon… but we’re gonna just keep going.  Exciting stuff coming soon… watch your email.  (if you haven’t signed up… make sure to join me!)  Thank you again!  #halfwayto1000

Tomorrow… come back for my episode “Week in Review”!
PS:  Like my vibe? I want you to join my tribe! start here! 

Infinitypreneur.com

Posted on in Blog content, Business owner motivation, Content, Customers, infinity marketing machine, marketing, Success tips

ProfitCenterCoach.com – Day 36 – Just 15 Hours a Week! haha

Occasionally ask, “What is the connection between what I want most in life and anything I plan to do today?” Robert Brault

Today was one of those days where I had a glimmer of inspiration.

I was having a conversation about why social marketing is important.  It was ironic because sometimes I get too far away from the source of my “why” and I need to be knocked back into perspective!

You might be like this person… he’s transformed a passion into a money generator. Now, he can see the potential and wants to replace his income from his job.  It’s not out of the question, but it’s that point where he’s running on empty but not at the point where he can cut the strings.

And that’s when he said the magic words… “Yeah, but how on earth can I take time to post this stuff when I’m working on going to my job and working on building this (business)”

Ta Da!  Enter the Infinity Marketing Machine.

I love this question/statement because my entire passion in this exact topic started when I read one sentence in a Social Media Marketing book.  The book was ginormous!  Remember an old phone book… yep… that big.

The reason I bought this awful book was because I’m writing a book.  In order to write mine, I wanted to get an idea of what others put into a great big book of social media nonsense.  And I found it on page 1.  It said something along the lines of… a small business should prepare to spend 15 hours a week on social media marketing.

I burst out laughing!  There’s absolutely no way, someone that has worked closely with a small business, would ever have the time to spend 15 hours a week!  It’s simply impossible. — that’s like 3 hours a day!  If you honestly have 3 hours a day to do social media marketing… you need to develop a new profit center and generate more cash!

hahahaha

AND That’s when I set out to find a better and more reliable way to USE social media platforms to your advantage!

That’s when I discovered the Infinity Marketing Machine.   It’s a great way to build a bond with your customers and specifically target this group to build your business.

PS:  I’ve written the book… well the first draft.  How cool is that??!?!?

Alrightie… back to my story.  I shared a little of my process in my conversation today… but then I started to notice a “glossed over” look in his eye.  So in case you’re in that same situation… stop by this week and we’ll explore this a little closer.  Starting tomorrow I’ll share what an Infinity Marketing Machine is and what it’s not…

Just know that it’s super important to create your Infinity Marketing Machine with intent… you must know have a goal in mind to achieve success.

Until then… join my group!  start here

Posted on in 6- Saturday - Try This!, Blog content, Content, Creative, marketing, Next big thing, Real world, Success tips, Two Minute Commute

Episode #355 – When a Selfie Isn’t Good Enough

I know from the back stage tours and seminars I’ve taken from Disney Institute that they do not designate a particular “spot” as a photo stop.  Their reasoning is that everyone would stop in that one area and it would get congested. The next time you walk down Main Street notice all of the people taking photos in front of Cinderella’s Castle, and you’ll see their point.

Tons of people area taking photos!

Well, if you’re experiencing the same foot traffic as Disney World you can ignore the rest of the post… and congrats!  That’s pretty amazing… but for the rest of us, why not create a spot.

Here’s a beautiful area at the Sheraton in San Diego!  Now I’m a little bias due to the background of Safe Harbor Marina… beautiful marina and nice office staff (thanks for the hat!) — anyway, this area is clearly for guests to stop and have their photo taken.

Here’s the nice part, it fits in to the area.  It’s right along side of the sidewalk, and the hedge prevents you from stepping back too far and falling down the hill into the water.  There’s no sign that says “watch out for drop off” and there’s no ugly fence.  You know exactly what the area is for!  It’s a neat little attractive place to stop for a photo.

With so many people taking photos, figure out a place you can create a photo stop.  Don’t think your business is a “photo taking” type of business… create a hashtag and encourage visitors to post.  This could be as simple as a photo stop at the main entrance with the sign in the background… BTW, this doesn’t have to be a major destination, but you never know… it just might become one.

PS: Offer to take a photo of your visitors… when is the last time you had someone offer to take a photo for you?  I mean, sometimes a selfie isn’t good enough.

Try This.

Big Money Small Change Success
Character + Content/Consistency + Goals/Motivation + Customers =
Infinity Marketing Machine

PS: thanks for reading!  I really appreciate you being here.  Make sure to “like” this post… and follow me! (and please do me a favor… if you want more great ideas like the one in this post, just fill out this form and I’ll send them to you…  start here

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Action Steps
1- Create an area where visitors can take photos!
2- Install my free app! (SmallBusinessClubApp.com)

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Infinity Marketing Machine Daily Topics:
Monday – Character (Subject Matter Expert)
Tuesday – Content & Consistency
Wednesday – Midweek Motivation
Thursday – Infinity Customers
Friday – Big Money
Saturday – Try This!

Posted on in 4- Thursday - Infinity Customers, Customers, infinity marketing machine, marketing, Next big thing, Real world, Social marketing, Success tips, Two Minute Commute

Episode #299 -Talk to One… Even If It’s A Group

“Even when you are marketing to your entire audience or customer base, you are still simply speaking to a single human at any given time.” Ann Handley

Did you catch that?

The whole goal of marketing is to speak to one customer at a time but do it in an efficient manner! Remember this when you are creating a message.

Sure you’re placing the ad in the newspaper… so you might not be able write a customer’s name at the top, however, you can use imagery and words that evoke emotions that individual customers identify with.

This is the advantage of the Infinity Marketing Machine.  Your goal is to nurture the customer by maintaining regular contact via email. Then you provide products and services your customers desire!  This is a little different from finding people to buy your products… you already have an active group of people on your list so the goal is to “talk” to their desires.

Boom.

Speak to them as individuals!  Another way to help enhance this concept is to build your database by tagging, categorizing, or marking the record of each customer.  You need to know the difference in profit centers. This helps you to identify the next product or service they’ll desire. The more characteristics you can identify and associate with their record in your database, the better bond you can build with your customers!

 

Big Money Small Change Success
Character + Content/Consistency + Goals/Motivation + Customers =
Infinity Marketing Machine

PS: thanks for reading!  I really appreciate you being here.  Make sure to “like” this post… and follow me! (and please do me a favor… if you want more great ideas like the one in this post, just fill out this form and I’ll send them to you…  start here

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Action Steps
1- Think about the different ways you can categorize your customer database and implement this system!  Look to profit centers, demographic, and sociographic (interests)!
2- Install my free app! (SmallBusinessClubApp.com)

Podcast:
Listen to Episode #299 of the Two Minute Commute audio blog Podcast

Infinity Marketing Machine Daily Topics:
Monday – Character (Subject Matter Expert)
Tuesday – Content & Consistency
Wednesday – Midweek Motivation
Thursday – Infinity Customers
Friday – Big Money
Saturday – Try This!

Posted on in audio blog, Business owner motivation, goals, marketing, Planning, Real world, Social marketing, Success tips, Two Minute Commute

Episode #175 – You Don’t Have to Spend 3 Hours a Day on Social Media Marketing to Achieve Success

So yesterday’s inspiration was Idea+action = reality and today’s inspiration wants us to learn that the starting point to achievement is desire.

Let’s think about this.  I had oatmeal for breakfast.  It was fine.  If my goal for achievement was to have oatmeal… I’m a success.  I had oatmeal because it was what was in my cupboard.  I could have had the frozen turkey dinner in my freezer.   But I had oatmeal.  Would I rather have had pancakes and bacon.  Heck yeah, but I’m not going through the trouble of making pancakes.  Does this mean I’m a failure?

Well, it certainly doesn’t mean I’m a failure IF my desire was to eat breakfast.  Then either oatmeal or pancakes & bacon would result in achievement.  But if my desire was for pancakes & bacon, I did not achieve success.  I’m full and at the same time unfulfilled  (haha).

Spend time and effort defining your “problem”. There are many theories out there to find an “awesome life” and they result in going after what you really want.  I don’t always agree because while I’d really rather eat pancakes & bacon, the mess of clean up far outweighs any benefit of switching from oatmeal.  (well not bacon…bacon is always worth the mess)

When you look at your social marketing and social media plans you need to decide what your DESIRE is. Some businesses want a social media presence because they think they “need” one, some people have a social media presence because someone else thought it was a good idea, and still others have it because it is THE way to communicate with their customers (fans).

I’m noticing a strange amount of guilt around what otherwise are successful social marketing plans.  Small businesses think they are doing it wrong.  Well, I heard a stat that 90% of business are doing it wrong… and yet sales continue to happen. (wink) so it’s kind of a lame stat, eh?!?!  That makes me wonder, “Why is there so much guilt and feelings of dissatisfaction?”

Probably for the same reason I’m full and “unfulfilled” with oatmeal over pancakes & bacon.

I ate, but I did not eat what I truly wanted.

Business are “doing” social marketing but not with the results they THINK they should be getting.

And that’s the source of the problem.

Define what you really want as a goal for your social marketing plan and let’s figure out how to get there.

You do not have to be on 6 platforms and spend 15 hours a week doing this if you don’t want to.  You “need” to make the reality of what is going on in your head what is actually happening.  That’s why yesterday’s inspiration and today’s are linked.

Your reality is already occurring… because it’s… well… reality.  Your “disconnect” is happening because today you ate oatmeal and wanted pancakes and bacon.  Your reality is that you are not hungry, but your reality does not match your brain saying “bacon bacon bacon”.

Today, really decide what you want out of your social marketing “thing”.  Social Media Marketing is not a one size fits all cookie cutter system.  It’s SOCIAL.  You can have it help your business in an unlimited (dare I say infinity) ways.  So you want social media to:  A- generate sales and become the driving force for your business or B- to have something online so search engines find you, or C- is it to build community among current customers… there’s no wrong answer!  However, even with just these three ideas (and there are many more) you have three different time/money/talent constraints.

So today, decide what YOUR desire is and let the achievement follow!

Question of the Post:
What are your two “stopping points” to creating a great social marketing plan? answer here

PS: Make sure to “like” this post… and follow me!  (and Join me… click here)

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Action Steps
1- Define what your true outcome for Social Marketing is for your business.  What do you really want to achieve?  Write it down!  (tell me in the comments)
2- Install my free app! (SmallBusinessClubApp.com)

Podcast:
Listen to Episode #175 of the Two Minute Commute audio blog Podcast

Love this inspirational quote?  View it on a 12″ x 12″ Canvas “Social Square” wall hanging!

Two ways to get more Small Business Tips …
A- Install our Free App (SmallBusinessClubApp.com –Apple or Android )
B- Subscribe to my blog at BigFishIdeas.com

Posted on in audio blog, Blog content, goals, marketing, Planning, Success tips, Two Minute Commute

Episode #165 – Goal Achievement Brings More Goal Achievement

My favorite inspirational quote is “what you believe you achieve” which is nearly the same as the quote I chose for today which is “what we focus on we attract”.

There is a little difference between focus and believe along with attract and achieve.  “Attract” implies it comes to you while “achieve” is going and getting it.  The same with focus and believe, although you can focus on something, you can focus without believing.

So while you can focus your thoughts to attract something, it is much more powerful when you throw in the belief that you can make it happen.

How do you make it happen?

Start with a power goal session.  Imagine (focus) on what you really want.  Brainstorm that ideal situation. Then develop the plan with baby steps to make it happen.  Look to others who have the success you desire and follow what they did well.  Remember, they took a learning curve with errors along the way, don’t follow the errors (haha).

This all starts with goal achievement.  Check out the article on my website.  The success you achieve will depend on the path to your goal.  To help you along the way, practice solid goal setting techniques.  Use the SMART method, (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Rewards Orientated, Time bound) goal setting.  The more specific (focused) your goal, the better your success rate.  The reason is because when it’s specific, you know exactly how far away you are from achieving it because it is combine with the  “T” of time bound. This allows you to adjust as needed.   Don’t be afraid to readjust your goal mid-path, readjusting is not failure… it is simply readjusting!

Readjusting will bring successful goal achievement.  Now here’s the funny thing the goal achievement will bring another, and another, and another!  It’s almost like it attracts more!  When you focus on goal achievement you attract goal achievement!

Question of the Post:
What is your most recent goal that you set and achieved?

PS: If you love this post “Like it”… I can also send you the week in review newsletter… join here

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Action Steps
1- Today… Set a goal.  Lay the plan to achieve it by tomorrow night.  (it doesn’t have to be a big goal, just something you’ve wanted to get done, this is your chance to do it!)
2- Install my free app! (SmallBusinessClubApp.com)

Podcast:
Listen to Episode #165 of the Two Minute Commute audio blog Podcast

 

Love this inspirational quote?  View it on a 12″ x 12″ Canvas “Social Square” wall hanging!

Two ways to get more Small Business Tips …
A- Install our Free App (SmallBusinessClubApp.com –Apple or Android )
B- Subscribe to my blog at BigFishIdeas.com