Checklists

Short & Sweet today.

What was on your to-do list for 2011?

What list?

Uh, Oh.

It's not too late. Take some time as we enter the final 4 months to plan for the rest of 2011 and 2012.

And do some dreaming too!

The words of Scott Howard aka ScLoHo

Offense or Defense?

As a former employee of a group of radio stations, a few years ago I was asked to sign a non-compete agreement.

This was the second time I had to sign one of these and this time it was incredibly one sided, all in favor of my employer.

I was prohibited from working in my chosen profession for 365 days after leaving, no matter who terminated my employment.

I was not allowed to work for any broadcast or print medium within about 100 miles.

Why?

They were scared.

Scared that I would take my clients and get them to cancel their advertising and follow me to my new employer.

They were paranoid.

Paranoid that they would train salespeople only to have them take their new found knowledge and go to work for a competitor.

Scared and Paranoid are not good ways to run a business.

If these are part of your primary business culture, I suggest you stop playing defense and flip it around.

Start playing offense.

Instead of worrying about employees leaving, create an environment that they'll never want to walk away from.

Or partner with those that have good ideas and you may find your next new big "thing".

And if they really want to go, give them your blessing, you never know how building bridges instead of burning them may be beneficial.

The words of Scott Howard aka ScLoHo

Another Way to Downsize

{EAV_BLOG_VER:6e118cc325b3e13d}

Ignore the above little code and keep reading:


Face it. We have a stubborn cold that we can't seem to shake.

The economic conditions we are in have people around the world wondering not only about the future of the United States, but the ripple effect that is felt globally.

In the meantime, you and your business may have to make some tough choices.

This chapter is not about sales or marketing, or advertising.

It is about dealing with the people who work for you.

The ones who are worried about their jobs.

A common practice is to keep people on staff too long because you don't want to hurt them by laying them off.

As a result, you lose money, capital, and cripple the business.

It's time to take stock of what is going on now.

And have a conversation with your staff.

There are alternatives to an outright layoff.

Maybe there are ways to reduce hours for someone who would like to have more free time.

At the radio stations I worked for the past 8 years, our business manager worked 4 days a week, which left her with a day away from the office to take care of family stuff. And with 4 kids, including a 2 year old and 1 year old twins, she needed that time!

Another office that I'm familiar with changed their full time receptionist position into two part time positions.

The key is to ask your staff for ideas on how to weather the storm as we ride this one out.

Your employees are more likely to say good things about your company if you do this.

Let me know if you need some help.

The words of Scott Howard aka ScLoHo

No, Please No..

Almost 3 years ago I started subscribing to job alerts from Monster.com, even though I was not actively looking, 2008 was a year anything could happen.

Working in the sales world however, as long as I brought in more than it cost to keep me, I was fine.

Anyway, I still get regular job alerts from Monster since I:

• Haven't figured out how to make them stop...
• I have friends who are looking for jobs

This was from a recent email:



Please...please...please...please...Please...PLEASE

Don't hire Hot Shot's.

They give a bad name to all sales people, even the good ones who put their clients needs first.

The term Hot Shot makes me think of this guy: Click here.

Hire professionals, but beware of Hot Shots.

The words of Scott Howard aka ScLoHo

Not Clear on The Concept...

Before I tear into the marketing folks at Ruby Tuesday, I'll show you what I received in my email yesterday:


You can click on the pic to make it bigger, if you need to.

1st off: Thumbs up to Ruby Tuesday for the clickable links that surround the coupon. They all worked seamlessly.

Next: Read the legal mumbo jumbo.

Why is this offer not available in Hawaii, Manhattan or Airports?
and Why is a Credit Card Payment required to redeem?

But what really got me going was the whole Screen Shot This Coupon On Your Mobile Device And Use All Month Long concept.

Do they mean take a picture with my phone and then show it to my server?

Because there is a much better way to incorporate mobile couponing.

You can use QR codes that I scan and then you can track my visits and the details.

You can use LBS, (Location Based Services) to check in and see if I take advantage of the 15% offer.

You can do so much more, Ruby Tuesday.

(In the name of research, I'm going to have to try this and see what happens when I visit.)


The words of Scott Howard aka ScLoHo