Running-Running-Running & Never Getting Anywhere

It has been my observation over the past two years that people are more aggressively running around looking for the newest, latest & greatest "thing" that will drive their business. Now, don't get me wrong, I encourage people to network, to explore new avenues to drive success, however, to do it, and expect it to be your "silver bullet", well, that is quite another thing.

Networking groups, networking events of all sizes and shapes, meet up groups, etc., there is now something for everyone. The key to the success of any of these events is tied to several factors.
1. Are you prepared to attend the event. Every event I have ever attended I come across people who not only don't know how to tell me who they are and what they do, but they don't have the very basic business item, their business cards, what's up with that, really now.
2. One out of a hundred ask for an appointment, and I have been prospect candidate for scores of people who I have met.
3. Be at the right venue, just because there are people there does not mean it is right for what you do.
4. Certain events, which some call a networking event is really a "brand building" opportunity, it is more social than business not a prospect hunting opportunity. When people ask what you do, tell them (with a smile) only if they keep asking probing questions is it OK to suggest that you get together at a later date to discuss further. Make sure you know the difference between your true networking events and the social ones, you do not want to destroy your credibility.
5. Have a plan of your objective before you get to the event. Be specific on what you want to achieve. If you want to leave with 2-4 prospects to call, determine that beforehand. If you want to set 2 appointments right at the event, know that and make sure you conversation allows for you to make the approach to set the appointment. Always have your calendar with you or in your phone/PDA.
6. Look for the buying signals, the interest signals that people give you about what you do. Too often this is missed and the opportunity is lost. Don't be afraid to ask "it seems that what I do/offer has an interest to you, can we set an appointment/meeting, now so I can get a deeper understanding just where and how my business can be a benefit to you?" you can vary the words but you get the idea.

I know I stand alone on this issue, but here it is. The big push for the past 5 years or so has been when you meet someone, show interest in them and what they do and forget about yourself. I say, no, that is not correct. Yes, have genuine interest in the other person but do not just shake hands and leave on the table an opportunity to get in front of them again to learn more, sure, but to also talk about what you can bring to their table for their benefit. Re-read number 6 above.

Imagine this. You meet someone at the event, you inquire about them and what they do, they ask you what you do and in 19 words you tell them and then you are back focused on them, building rapport. Now, they just came from training that said to focus on the person they meet, to forget about themselves and focus, and focus some more on the other person. Now the two of you are jockeying for position to see who can focus more on the other person. Guess what, both of you leave and move on to other people and neither of you got an appointment or permission to follow up. What a lost opportunity. Rapport is great but business is better.

Even the best sales people, business owners and others have a tendency to fall down at networking events. It takes practice, dedication, and a plan to make them work for you.

The newest thing to hit the business street is Strategic Alliances, Joint Ventures and a resurgence of Host Beneficiaries. Although all three have been around for a long time, especially in Europe, here in the U.S. they were mostly low key. Are these avenues of business development for everyone, no, but they are for most people. The key to success with any of them is the proper match up of the businesses, and the training, I repeat, the training of the participants as to the responsibility of each party and how to effectively promote the interests of each member. Without training, more often than not everything is done with good intentions only and no one benefits. There is another component, management of each group. With a manager (usually an outside person) the group has accountability, assistance with marketing, and record keeping of the individual success and the groups success. This data helps to be a laser focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the group, and for the development of future promotions.

Focus, have a plan of action, know what you want to achieve at every level, and stop running around and getting nowhere. Your most important assets are you and time. Watch over them carefully.

"It takes time to succeed because success is merely the natural reward of taking time to do anything well".
Joseph Ross

PS: Never forget to perform the fundamentals of your business. No networking, no group, no event will ever take the place of that.

PPS: Running a business is not like a race, it is more of a journey that never ends.

The HIRE Act

President Obama signed into law, The HIRE Act, which benefits employers to hire the unemployed.

This is a must read article if you have employees and are considering hiring additional personnel or if you are hesitating hiring new employees.

This short article is only an outline, but, it just may motivate you into researching it further and encourage you to take the plunge and hire one or more new people from the unemployment line.

in reference to:

"Hiring Incentives"
- AccountantsWorld – Extensive resources for accounting, tax and payroll. Accountant, CPA: Join the largest community of CPAs and accountants. (view on Google Sidewiki)

Are You A Champion-You Can Be

Vonn claimed “it wasn’t the perfect run by any means. It was a little ragged, but it was fast.”  These are the words of 25 year old, Lindsey Vonn, the woman's 2010 Olympic downhill ski champion.  What is important to every champion is to have a check mark in the win column.  Yes, it is nice to have that check with everything being done exactly right and with no glitches.  But a win is a win, no matter what.


Champion athletes practice, train, use one or more coaches, in fact, I can not think of any sports figure that doesn't.  They work at perfecting their talent every day, hour upon hour, that is their job.  This allows them to display their ability in competition.  How many hours would you think that Lindsey Vonn trained for her 1min, 44.19 second ski run down that mountain that won her an Olympic Gold Medal, I can't imagine, but I am sure it is thousands.  Thousands of hours to culminate in a less than 2 minute ski run, but that is the price of success the price of being a champion.


We as business owners can take a lesson from this.  We too need to practice, train ourselves, be coached and be willing to work through the pain.  Winning does not come easy.  It may look easy from the outside, but once you are on the inside you know differently.


Practice, practice, practice.  What are you willing to sacrafice in order to win.  Time away from your family and friends, give up weekends, evenings, personal hobbies, what?  To come away a champion you have to give something up, perhaps more than one thing.  Hopefully, at some point you will be able to recapture what you gave up, but in the meantime, the sacrifice is required.


Focus on your business like your life depended on it, because it does.  Invest in yourself through books, seminars, coaching, consultants, and a variety of training programs that exist in almost every town in the U.S.
If you wont invest in yourself, why should anyone else invest in you.  Step up, grab the bull by the horns and ride it for all it is worth.  


There will always be disappointment & adversity, but miracles do happen, they come from a laser  focus on your business, your responsibilities, and implementation of a rational strategy.


You don't always have to be in first place to be a winner, or qualify to go on to the next round.  Just look at NASCAR, even golf, second place also has a payday.


Win or lose, it is up to you.  Are you in the game or on the sidelines.

The Recession Is Over!!! or Is It??

There are plenty of talking heads out here that are saying that the recession is over.  Sure, if there are indicators that show positive signs and they all add up to "it's over" then I guess it is over.  However, for most of us on Main St., over is not over.  We still have to deal with the reduction in business, the high unemployment rate and the limited resources to drive new business to our doors.

Look at what is happening on Main St, not Wall St. for an accurate understanding of what is happening.  Drive by auto repair shops and notice that there are fewer cars there to be serviced.  Pull into a Walmart parking lot and you will notice that even on the slow times of the day, finding a parking space is becoming more difficult.  Why, because people are changing their buying habits and looking for more value.  Also, notice the higher end cars being parked there.

Consumers don't necessarily stop buying, they are more apt to trade down than to stop. 

According to a PNC Economic Outlook Survey
the recovery will become more evident at the end of 2009 and continue throughout 2010.  There are two important findings that are note worthy for us on Main St.  First, 79% of those surveyed indicated that the stimulus programs have filtered down to them as yet.  Second, 96% of small business owners stated that the economy has not yet begun to recover.  Again, this is all about Main St, not Wall St.

The SBA, according to an article in the WSJ.com, has been having their trouble as well despite their continued efforts to assist and work with small business.  The SBA approved less than 45000 loans, 36% less than the previous year and 56% less than 2007.  There are programs that the SBA are pushing at this time and it would be in the best interest of all small business to get acquainted with these programs and the SBA people in their area.  The banks may not love you at this time, but from my experience and knowledge of the SBA, they do.

This is the time to be vigilant, thrifty and tenacious.  Look for opportunities everywhere, develop a plan of attack and take no prisoners.  Know that your competition, if they can is looking to eat your lunch, it is up to you to keep them from doing that.  Develop an individual marketing plan, do networking, there are always networking events taking place, get out from behind the desk/counter and pound the flesh, this is your business do what you have to in order to keep it.

I believe those who work hard, and I mean HARD now during this lousy economy will flourish as the turn around hits Main St.  Remember, if you do what you've always done, you always get what you always got.  What "you've always got" is not good enough anymore.
You can do it, you can win, you will win it just may take more effort than it did yesterday.  Keep these 10 two letter words in mind "If It Is To Be It Is Up To Me".

Michael Loewenthal
The Business Coach
www.thebusinesscoachabq.com
helping small business move forward one step at a time

The Last Lap ( I'll see you at the finish line )

We are in the last leg of the race, one more lap to go, then you kick it at the sound of the bell, then it is over. 2010 will be here, are you ready??? I hope everyone has been working diligently to close out the last 100 days, to run that last lap; remember, you can not make up in 2010 for what you did not do in 2009.

Have you developed a plan to kick off in 0'10, is there a track to run on, a marketing program to start with, a budget that you can live with, etc. etc.

Develop a plan, put it on paper, fine tune it and implement it, remember, business is no longer "as usual". If you are not FOCUSED and sincere about dedicating your energies this coming year to success, well, frankly you'll have to assess whether or not you will be around the entire year. Just to make my self clear, to answer those who complain that they don't have the funds, you DO NOT NEED MUCH MONEY to implement a plan and execute gone are the day's of the "shooting from the hip" operating style. We are in a recession, although some here say, not in ABQ, yeah right, look at the unemployment numbers, they have doubled in less than 3 years. Even if the recession is declared over, it still will take at least 2 years to get half way back to the way it was before the recession, this I base on previous recessions I have lived and worked through.

All is not lost however, the future is bright, just plan-focus-implement, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable, just do it and push, push, push. You will be glad you did, and remember to run the last lap with full steam and I'll see you at the finish line.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter for Tools-Tips & Updates for business. None of the junk stuff like I just took a shower, or the sun is shining.
http://twitter.com/coachmichaelabq or thecoachnm in the twitter search

The Business Coach
Michael Loewenthal
Albuquerque, NM
http://tinyurl.com/kum9rl

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Goals-To Write or Not To Write-them down, that is the question

For 30+ years I've heard from all corners, write your goals down, some say share your goal with others. In perhaps the past 5 or 8 years I have been hearing a contrary opinion. They say don't write your goals down, don't tell others what your goals are to avoid embarrassment should you not succeed.

To "write" or not to "write", that seems to be the questions; what's a person to do??? From my perspective I don't think it matters. If you don't write your goals down, just be sure to have it or them committed to memory so well that you can rattle them off in a moments notice. Just be sure to have a goal(s), don't loose sight of it, and remind yourself of it regularly.

Clearly, not writing down your goals can make it difficult to segment them for your business, career, personal life and so on. Achievements (or failures) in one area can have an impact on another since goals are results driven, and the result, positive or negative will impact the result of another goal.

As an example, let's say that you want to earn more money as a business goal, and on the personal side you want to buy a new car. The new car however, is predicated on you earning more money. Don't succeed at making more money, then guess what, no car for you. The lack of success in one goal negatively impacts another goal.

It seems to me that the question that needs to be asked of anyone who has a goal or goals, is, what are you willing to sacrifice, and willing to do to achieve your goals, and if you are not successful at first do you have what it takes to persevere. Focus on this question and answer it truthfully to yourself.

Are you a doer or a don't doer, are you a player or an observer, are you proactive or reactive. Know the answer to these questions and you are on your way to accomplishing one or more of your goals.

Where are you on the field of life. It is the 4th quarter, 4th down, 5 yard line and 9 seconds left on the clock and the score is tied. Do you pass or punt?

Tools, Tips & Techniques Part 1

Michael Loewenthal
Tools, Tips & Techniques-Part 1

* Posted by Michael Loewenthal on April 8, 2009


I recently gave a presentation to a group small business owners on Tools, Tips & Techniques for running their business. I thought I would share some of that here. I hope you find it helpful, and may it bring you new or renewed inspiration about your business.

If you own your own business, then you are in sales. You may disagree, but if you are not selling your business product or service, then you have no sales, no revenue, that means you have a hobby.

The primary responsibility of any business owner is to generate revenue for the business. This can be accomplished in many ways but it all boils down to selling. In order to sell, one must understand the core elements of prospecting, starting with who is your prospect. Define who your prospect is, understand you prospect and be sure that they are able to afford your product. If they truly can not afford your produce, change your prospect group.

A prospect must be a group that, wants, needs & is willing to pay for your product or service. Sell what people want at a price point they are willing to pay for it, don't sell them what you want to sell them just because you like it. You may like it, love it and your friends love it too, but if the market dosen't like it or love it, you have nothing to sell.

It is VERY important to define your prospect down to the smallest particle possible, Business owners can not afford to be general in terms as to who the prospect is. The more narrowly you define who it is the more likely you will develop a marketing strategy and sales presentation geared to them. Remember, make sales makes you happy, not making sales makes you sad; sad or happy, you decide.

Surprisingly, many people use very general terms as to who their prospect is. As an example, an insurance salesperson that sells life insurance. They may consider all the names in the telephone book as prospects.
I say that in order to find the prospect you have to define who you want to sell to. Granted, everyone may need life insurance but everyone is not a prospect Let's for a moment look at the "everyone" belief against a determined group of people that will become the prospects. A good agent will determine what characteristics they want in their prospect, such as, what age group of people, marital status, do they have kids, are they homeowners, are they recent homeowners, how much money do they make, what is their net worth, what motivators are there for them to spend money on life insurance. Knowing this makes it a lot easier to convert them from prospect to client.

As you can see, being able to develop your criterion for a prospect gives you a more focused group and a focused approach to marketing to them This leads to developing your Target Market (TM). Yes, you can have any number of target markets, but most likely you will market to each differently.

Learn to be specific, as specific as you can. You can be a retailer or service provider, it really doesn't matter. To make more sales, develop more clients/customers focus directly on the people you want. It is only the very large companies that can afford to market with a broad brush.

I hope this piece of my presentation was helpful. I hope so, I hope you now bring in more sales since you may have more clarity about who to sell to.

Remember, focus, be specific, very specific.

This document is copywrited. It may be used in its entirety or in part providing the complete signature is used

The Business Coach
Michael Loewenthal
www.TheBusinessCoachABQ.com
coach_michael@comcast.net