Four Keys to Going Up

Like many of you, I have had my share of horror stories over the years when it comes to working with contractors. The past two weeks in particular, have been challenging for me in attempting to schedule routine maintenance and repairs around our home.

I won’t belabor you with all the gory details. Suffice it to say that if you are a contractor or business owner and are serious about growing your business, then I hope you will find the content of this article from a customer’s perspective to be beneficial.

For businesses of all sizes, I believe there are four keys to “going up” and achieving success that are integral to sustainable business growth and will generate higher customer satisfaction ratings, referrals and more repeat business: Continue reading…

Creating a Winning Story

by Dale R. Schmeltzle, CPA

We are witnessing an amazing explosion of communication options. Countless telecommunication and Internet-based vehicles that did not exist a few years ago are now the norm. Who, save a small group of billionaire visionaries, foresaw the impact of Facebook, eBay and smart phones on today’s business community?

One thing has not changed. Marketing is still about communicating your message. Businesses must explain their value proposition to ever-widening and geographically dispersed audiences. It logically follows that whether you are drafting a newsletter, placing a newspaper ad or writing a short article, the message itself is the primary determinant of your success.
Continue reading…

Social Media – What Is It?

Matt Krautstrunk wrote an article on social media recently titled “Where Is The ROI In Social Media?”. In the article he makes a great point that tracking ROI depends on your goals, and this certainly can apply  to almost anything in business. However, before you can establish clear-cut goals and track the ROI of social media, you first need to define it.

Social Media – what is it? It’s hard to talk about tracking the ROI of social media until you know what “it” is.

To help you define what social media is so it does not end up being “Golden Vaporware” where your business is concerned, start out with some limited trials and experimentation first, before launching any large-scale projects. From the initial trial results, you can make a determination on how to proceed and then develop specific goals and plans, before committing a lot of additional time, resources and budget.

Below are several questions to consider. The answers should help you define social media in the context of your business. Is “it” a (an) … Continue reading…

Are You Speaking To Me?

There are three important elements that lead to success in a typical networking setting when positioning yourself, your business and your value proposition to group members:

  1. Preparation and planning,
  2. Tailoring the message to your audience.
  3. Follow-up.

This article will address #2 “Tailoring the message to your audience”, and I will provide you with some ideas and an example that should help you raise your profile, obtain more quality referrals and effectively promote your business through networking.

Far too often, I see people just going through the motions when it comes to networking activities. You know what I’m talking about. When it’s time for 30-second introductions they start with their name and business name, and then offer little additional information to enable them to connect with the audience. What a waste of time! Continue reading…

What Differentiated Value Is Really About

Recently, I had the privilege to moderate a Focus Small Business Roundtable: Strategies to Achieve Business Success. The Focus Expert Roundtable members included Mirna Bard, Jill Konrath and John Spence who all offered their insights on a variety of relevant subjects that I have summarized into a single topic for the purposes of this 5+ minute video.

 

 

 

I sincerely hope that you find this video to be informative and useful in addressing some of the daily challenges you encounter in successfully growing your business or practice. If so, please feel free to share this information with others.

Enjoy the journey!

John

 

COPYRIGHT © 2011 John Carroll

Networking: Building Intentional Relationships

Networking is an integral part of growing a profitable business for solo entrepreneurs and small business owners alike, particularly in the early stages. However, most small business owners put far too little forethought and planning into determining what is required to build ‘intentional’ relationships that can deliver positive returns to their businesses.

Now what is meant by building intentional relationships?

As its definition depicts, intentional is something that is done by conscious design or purpose, something planned. Likewise in networking, building intentional relationships should by design have an intended purpose that produces positive results. How should you develop intentional relationships that can help you achieve your business goals? Continue reading…

The Global Business Challenges

In the previous segment of the Globalization: The Leadership Challenge Ahead article series we addressed the ongoing debate of whether globalization is good or bad for the economy. Now, let’s turn our attention to the global business challenges.

Some 20+ years ago, I first addressed the topic of global business challenges as a part of my speech at a graduate school symposium at the University of Oklahoma. One of the charts in my presentation listed the major challenges of competing in a global marketplace; similar to what is shown below. Continue reading…

New 4Ps of Marketing: Part 4 of 4

Part 4 and the last of the new 4Ps of Marketing is Performance. Ultimately, performance is the most important of the New 4Ps of Marketing. Why? Because all marketing related activities are investments and as such, they need to be measured, tracked and compared to other investments to ensure that they yield the highest rate of return to the business.

 

So, how do you measure and track marketing performance to ensure that you are receiving the anticipated return on your marketing investments? Continue reading…