Stand FOR Something or Take a Seat

The past several weeks have been a busy time for Americans. We have provided aid and support to those affected by super storm Sandy, re-elected our President and Vice-President and honored our veterans this past Monday on Veterans Day.

Now with the holidays looming on the horizon, our schedules should get even crazier with holiday parties, shopping and family gatherings. It should be a time for celebration, a time for renewal, and a time for thanks giving, joy and hope. However, I just don’t sense the traditional holiday spirit this year.

Maybe it is the hangover from the presidential campaign, or the growing unrest with the direction of the country that may have taken the air out of the holiday balloon. Speaking of the election, there were more than 207 million U.S. citizens eligible to vote in the 2012 presidential election. However, only 150 million were registered to vote, and roughly 118 million people actually voted. Continue reading…

Do First Impressions Still Matter?

We have all heard the old adage many times over that, “You only get one chance to make a good first impression”. But does this really apply in business today?

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to speak to members of a national association at their annual conference on the topic of “How to Improve Your 30-Second Elevator Pitch”. One of the questions I asked the participants’ was “in a networking group setting today, do first impressions still matter?” Continue reading…

Play Your Square Yard

Some of my fondest memories are of my children playing sports. When my youngest son, Daniel, first began to play Select soccer, I remember how much we enjoyed watching the boys compete and grow together as teammates.

Several of the most competitive matches my son’s club faced in both league play and in tournaments were against a club from Mundelein, Illinois. The Mundelein soccer team was coached by a gentleman originally from Scotland. His players were very disciplined, particularly for their age group, and the transitions on the field and their overall teamwork were amazing to watch.

Recalling the memories of how well these U-9 and U-10 soccer players worked together made me think, “Why can’t business, education and government in the U.S function this cohesively?” If these 9- and 10-year-old boys can do it, why can’t we figure out how to come together to unify America? Continue reading…

Five “Bees” of Selling to Executives

One of the toughest challenges sales people face is penetrating the C-Suite and successfully selling to C-level executives. Why? According to comments directly from C-level executives, “sales people focus the conversation on their product or service, and not what is important to them.”

So, what are the five “bees” of selling to executives or to business owners you need to know?

There are five critical areas that you must address in order to “bee” successful in selling your product or service to C-level executives or business owners: Continue reading…

Business Survival Checklist

All business owners are looking for ways to improve top-line revenues, reduce expenses and increase profits in order to grow their respective businesses. However, the troubling economy and other factors have forced many of these same business owners to replace the word “grow” with the word “survive”.

The majority of business owner’s I have met with in the past all responded with the same answer when I have asked them, “what is the one thing that is critical to your business success”. The simple answer is “more customers”. More profitable customers are the life-blood for any viable business.

Every successful business has or should have a universal checklist of the things that are central to acquiring new customers, growth and yes, survival.

Here is the list of ten things that I believe should be included in your Business Survival Checklist:

  1. Business/Marketing/Financial Roadmap. What are your existing plans to deliver maximum ROI performance in the next 12-24 months, 3-5 years, 5-10 years and 10+ years? The roadmap for your business, at a minimum, should address the next two fiscal years. Don’t be too optimistic – it is much better to over-deliver on your projections than to fall short. Continue reading…

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