Invite, Invite Invite

This applies to the rookie salesperson and the seasoned vet.

This applies to the 100 year old family business and the business that you are running out of a corner of your basement.

This applies to the C.E.O. and the intern.

And everyone in between.

There is only one way for your business to Thrive and Grow, You have to invite people to do business with you.

There is only one way for your business to Survive and Stay Afloat, You have to invite people to do business with you.

There is an easy way to lose your job, your business, your livelihood. Stop inviting people to do business with you.

A good friend reminded me that any business that is coasting is going to stop. Because there is only one way you can coast. Downhill.

How do you invite people to do business with you?

Pick up the phone and set a meeting with them. Send out a postcard, Advertise in the paper, or the radio, or television. Do a billboard campaign, visit networking meetings, join a club, volunteer, develop a website, write a blog, comment on other peoples blogs. I could go on and on and on, but it all depends on what you do and who you want to do it with.

But you have to invite.

Observation Partnerships

Often as a business owner, you are so focused on the day to day operation of your business, that you don't have time for some objective brainstorming. Here's a simple solution:

Find a friend that will be honest with you, and that you can be honest with, and develop a simple observational partnership.

Keep an objective eye on each other and agree to be brutally honest with each other.

Take time and do a walk through of each others business, as a customer would, and make note of what can be done to improve the customers experience.

It could be as simple as replacing an old welcome mat, having the person that answers your phone speak slower, perhaps dusting the inventory on the top shelf. I'm sure there is something that you can do to improve and an outside set of eyes could be the first step to improving your image and your marketing.

All for one and One for all

When a business grows and adds people, the personality of the business changes. As I've observed the culture changes over the past 5 years at my group of radio stations, I watched and observed this happen first hand.

One thing we have now that we lost for awhile was a team effort.

A couple of years ago, we began an open book process that helped everyone to understand what the others were doing and how we could help each other.

I sat in a seminar recently that discussed aspects of these concepts and shared a table with some who worked for the company that was hosting the seminar. Even they had some walls that needed to be removed, so I think it's a safe assumption that nearly any business that has more than one employee has some room for improvement.

With the current economy, it is easy to start blaming each other. Instead, refocus on team building and you can be a survivor and thriver.

The People Connection

I see research reports, studies, stats, and some pretty mind boggling figures as I go about my work and research week after week.

These are just tools, though. Measuring sticks. Don't mistake them for marketing.

Someone trying to get you to buy the latest and greatest form of advertising? Keep in mind the following question before you sign up:

"How does this help my business connect with the people who I want as customers?"

Until the salesperson can show you the answer to that question, you might want to wait.*

Notice the asterisk*?

*That's because there is also a time not to wait, even if the salesperson cannot answer the question. And that is when you can answer the question yourself.

Because unfortunately, not all advertising sales people can answer that question, and that may be a reflection on the salesperson, not the form of advertising they are offering you.

Marketing is all about connecting with people.

Plotting your Direction

Do you have a plan for the direction that your business will go and grow in 2018?

That's not a typo.

Ten years from now, what do you imagine your business to look like?

Let's try looking in the rearview mirror.

In 1998, did you plan for what your business is today?

Remember the Y2K scare at the turn of the century? There was this fear that the Internet and all the world would shut down, because computers would think that it was the year 1900, instead of 2000, when we entered the new century.

Guess what, it didn't happen. There were some minor glitches but we as a nation, as a world handled it pretty smoothly.

You say to yourself, "A ten year plan, I don't even have a plan for the rest of April 2008!"

Do yourself a favor this weekend, and do some future planning and goal setting. Look at the rest of this year and see what opportunities are going to occur naturally, such as holidays, seasonal events, etc.

Look at what you missed out on this year, and jot those items down too.

Now you have the beginings on an outline to at least get you started on plotting your direction.

One of the worst mistakes I've seen and experienced too is not having any direction. You may have goals, but you need to develop a map to get there. And there will be both detours and dead ends. But there may also be some expressways in the future that you were unable to see today.

Plan, Drive a focus, and keep your eyes open for additional opportunities.