Point of fact: This doesn’t have to apply just to loving customers. Or business at all.

It applies to life.

I wondered what the fine print said, so I zoomed in and picked up bits and pieces of what I could. Turns out they are quotes from the Bible. I thought I would list them here for anyone who just HAD to know…

Hey. It’s Sunday. I’m cool with it.

1. “…but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” – Proverbs 18:24
2. “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…” – James 1:19
3. “…but the righteous give without sparing.” – Proverbs 21:26
4. “…we have not stopped praying for you…” – Colossians 1:9
5. “Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.” – Proverbs 17:1
6. “…we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” – Ephesians 4:15
7. “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure,…” – Philippians 2:14
8. “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” – I Corinthians 13:7
9. “Bear with each other and forgive one another…” – Colossians 3:13
10. “From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things…” – Proverbs 12:14

1. Smile. Even when you’re on the phone. Even when you’re tired. Even when you  don’t feel like it. It’s an immediate shift in your energy and it’s the easiest place to start.
2. Follow-up. This is where we can find our fortune. 96% of businesses that attend trade shows and networking events, go to the effort of collecting business cards only to do NOTHING with them. Opportunities missed. Customers alienated. Don’t do that.
3. Check your attitude. You just had Round 8 with your son about his report card, or had your head snapped off by an employee before they quit and stormed out. You’re in a funk now. Don’t take it out on the next customer that happens to call or walk in.
4. Breathe. Sounds like a silly one. But we really don’t breathe properly anymore, largely due to our hectic lifestyles and the stress it causes. Taking a slow deep cleansing breath is like refilling your tank so you can move forward with your conversation and focus on the task at hand.
5. Challenge yourself. There is always some new way to grow in your business, and it often feels uncomfortable at first. Do it anyway. Your customers will admire your moxie.
6. Dare to be remarkable. I have this on a plaque in my office. Being remarkable doesn’t have to mean being centre stage – it can be as simple as delivering some little ‘added value’ that’s meaningful to the customer and makes your service more memorable. The cherry on the sundae, so to speak.
7. Walk your talk. Your actions speak to the content of your character in volumes that drown out any words that part your lips. Don’t say one thing and do the opposite. No one trusts a hypocrite.
8. Stay educated. Keep up to date with the latest technologies and trends. Customers appreciate you keeping your skills and knowledge honed so you have better products and services to help them.
9. Forgive. Talk about challenge, this one is a biggy. Forgive yourself when you screw up. Forgive your staff when they miss a deadline. Forgive your customer for losing patience. Think about how blissful the world would be if we could practice this more…
10. Go the extra mile. I love the phrase “There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.” This ties to being remarkable. Do a few extras that make you stand out from the other cookie-cutter providers in the world.
11. Practice 100% Honesty. If you lie to cover up your shortcomings, you are fooling no one but yourself. The truth always comes to light eventually, and liars suffer the consequences of their actions. In this case, they lose business.
12. Make your business a No-Gossip Zone. I hate gossip and have no respect for gossipers. People who malign the character of others, make unfounded accusations and spread vicious hurtful rumors radiate with negative energy. That’s bad energy for your business and bad karma for your brand. Get rid of them.
13. No Excuses. Everyone knows shit happens. But it shouldn’t be happening on  regular, on-going basis. If you made a mistake, own it and apologize. Then practice point #6: Do something remarkable and make up for it.
14. Trust your gut. Your intuition is a great resource when it comes to figuring out what your customers desire from you. It will also tell you when a customer needs some extra attention. Listen to that inner voice and go for it.
15. Make it fun. Your customers will keep coming back if they enjoy the experience of working with you. That’s a no-brainer.
16. Keep in touch. It’s so easy to keep everyone up to speed and informed with direct mail systems and email marketing programs – both of which Grassroots can help you get going…
17. Take care of yourself. I am told this all the time, yet I rarely practice it. If you go down, who will look after your customers? Eat right, take breaks, get your rest… Caring for yourself is actually the first step to being able to care for your customers, with better quality and for a longer time.
18. Practice patience. You may be patient with customers (or maybe not!). Perhaps the impatience is with yourself or with your marketing for not manifesting instant results. In either case, refer back to point #4.
19. Be consistent. I love riding roller coasters, but not in my business. I don’t like being a rock star one minute and a screw-up the next. Not good for my bi-polar disorder. Plus it tends to piss off customers. So to get more consistency, we need to do the following step…
20. Get systems set up. This was my challenge coming into 2012 and every week, we get closer to having systems working just a bit better. With systems in place, you have a way to follow-up, generate new leads and keep the work moving forward.

Not having systems in place was my greatest challenge in my customer service, because I never anticipated the sudden burst of growth in my business and I was SO not prepared for it. Balls got dropped everywhere last year and my team and I have spent the first six weeks of this year picking them up and putting things right. As we move forward things will improve to the point where everything clicks along effortlessly, and we’ll all be feelin’ the love again.

Out of 50 I managed to get to 20… c’mon even Paul didn’t ACTUALLY list off 50 ways to leave your lover in the song. Plus, I want you to jump into the conversation.

What are some other ways you know to show your customers you care? Leave your comments below.

I don’t like all the pink in the stores. I don’t like all the mushy crap and fakey-flakey romance bullsh*t. I don’t like having to face another onslaught of chocolate temptation when I walk into WalMart, luring me to reunite them with their predecessors who’ve made a permanent home on my ever-spreading ass.

Don’t judge me. I’m the girl who liked to play football, go fishing, climb trees and catch frogs. I had no interest in Barbie as a kid. To me she was a phony ditzy blonde who’s greatest ambition in life was to marry some rich old geezer and live like royalty off the life insurance payout. I had that one figured out by the ripe old age of 10.

(No offense to the many MANY amazing, brilliant blondes out there. Barbie’s just given you a bad rep.)

I mean, I know Valentine’s Day is a day to dedicate to your special someone, carve out some time for them, buy them something nice, go on a date… ya da ya da ya da…

What I don’t ‘get’ is why our North American culture makes it a big fuss ONLY ONE DAY out of the entire year.

I mean, if you really love someone, you should be showing them appreciation every day, even if it’s a simple, “Thanks for vacuuming the house this weekend for me, kids. You are so thoughtful to do that for your tired, hard-working mother.”

AHEM! I SAID… oh, forget it…

What have you done for me lately?

You don’t have to pile on lavish gifts, or buy expensive meals, or indulge in excess of something that will sooner or later kill you.

Every day acts of kindness. THAT I get. Just be kind and loving to the special people in your life. Every. Single. Day.

Then, of course, I thought of business. (It always comes back to business for me…)

I thought about Customer Appreciation Days. Same thing. Why only one day? What do you do the rest of the year? How are you treating your customers when they call or walk in just as you’re about to lock up for the weekend? If you’re lousy at the customer service end of things, all the beef-on-a-bun in the world won’t make up for bad experiences.

I’m not perfect at this either. SOOOO far from it. And that really bothers me.

I want to be a rock star. I have moments when I am… I impress and dazzle and clients fall in love… but I want to be like that consistently. I’m figuring things out, my team and I put new things in place every week, and sweat bullets and pull long days to make things right. We’re almost there. It’s a work in progress.

So with the intent that we should show some love to our clients and customers more than one set day of the year, I decided that – in the spirit of dropping my rebellious nature toward all-things-Valentine’s – February would be “Love Your Customer Month”. 

Over the course of the month, I want to look at various aspect of customer service, how it affects our brand and our reputation, how marketing factors in, what we can do easily and what requires more planning and effort. Most of all, I want to generate lots of discussion on how we can love our customers all year long.

Let’s share some ideas on ways we can all ‘share the love’. How do you show clients/customers that you appreciate them? What little things do you do to show you care? Are you like me and have stumbled and fallen? How did you get back up? What did you fix and how is it working for you?

Leave your comments for discussion… I’d love to chat with you about ideas for different things we can do to make our customers feel loved, without resorting to the obligatory and cliché candy and flowers.

It’s more of a ‘big deal’ for me because this is my industry and I’m expected to keep up with the buzz. However this year I can honestly say after catching a few of them at YouTube this morning – with only a couple of exceptions – I didn’t miss much. To call the creative on these big budget ads underwhelming would be moot. It was a snooze-fest.

There were the usual funny animal videos of dogs, and the E*Trade baby – he’s always good for a giggle… and typical celebrity appearances with their various schticks (Seinfeld and Leno were winners in that category, I think)… Always with the beer, bellies and boobs… ick…  And way way WAY too many auto makers with *yawn* feeble attempts to either be funny, dramatic, touting features of this that or the other… or just plain antagonistic (Ford is ready to pile drive Chevy this morning.)

This one is the hands-down winner. I’m talking MILES ahead of the others.

I’m not a fan of Chrysler, the fact they took bail-out money, etc. etc… however, this ad literally gave me the shivers. Makes me want to roll up my sleeves and give ‘er.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

On the lighter and more creative side, I have to place some Canadian content in a very close runner-up position. This one actually WAS funny, and very Canadian… and from another automobile company.

Just goes to show that not all great marketing ideas come from over-priced Madison-Avenue-type agencies.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

After attending about 35 hockey tournaments over the years, I have seen many levels of business participation, programs, raffles, and player ‘goodie bags’. For many tournaments, the business community steps up to sponsor these events. Some do it really well, and others…

I can look back on my daughter’s hockey tournament this past weekend and review the missed opportunities that happened OFF the ice, for some sponsoring businesses. Flipping through the program, perusing the door prize table, and checking out the kids’ gift bags provided some incentive for this post.

To help you get the most out of these kinds of promotional opportunities I thought I’d give you a few pointers…

1. Learn from the Boy Scouts and Be Prepared.

If you know that local teams, schools and cultural groups regularly solicit you for sponsorships or contributions, have a game plan in place. Aside from the warm fuzzy feeling you get for being a good community supporter, it’s essential that participating in these events fits into your overall strategy.

The fast food franchises practice this: they have little ‘freebie’ coupons they can throw in to player bags for a small treat or drink. To ensure they are used ONLY at the local franchise and not returned home and redeemed there, they often stamp an expiry date on it, or state that it is good only at the local restaurants. It’s a great concept and although they’ll never get 100% of them coming back in, bringing in one free drink coupon with a family of four that needs to eat lunch brings in business that might otherwise have gone else where.

2. Have a workable Call to Action

Like the fast food chains example above, ask yourself: What would YOU like to get back out of it? Foot traffic into the store? People signing up for a new program? For something like a hockey tournament, I can assure you that most of us don’t have a ton of time to go shopping, it’s game – eat – game – eat – sleep. So what else can a business do to support a local event and still get some ROI from it?

This is an opportunity to tie an online strategy into your offline activity. If you have a retail store with an online e-commerce store, drive traffic to your website. Even if your primary goal is to increase your brand awareness within your local community, find a way to get products or services into the prospective customers’ hands so they can ‘sample’ you and have reason to come in to your business at a later date. The key is to get as many prospects to take some kind of action as you can.

3. Use ad space wisely

This one can go way beyond “business card” ads for community event programs, because most small businesses are not creating effective business cards. But that’s another post for another day…

If you have ad space as part of your sponsorship package, USE IT WELL! Ask yourself once again… “What do I want people to DO when they see my ad?”

I’ll use my business as an example… I put in a QR Code on my ad with a flag that said “FREE GIFT” when you visit grassrootsmarketing.ca. Scanning the code sent the reader to a specific landing page where I gave them a free MP3 recording. Traffic to the site, new prospective customer, new contact on the list. Mission accomplished. If two visitors decided to buy the CD for the rest of the recordings, I got a 200% return on my investment. Plan implemented, target set, results measurable.

Too many ads in the program last weekend were ‘dead air’… a business name, a phone number, maybe an address. No URL. No call to action. No opportunity to ‘sample’ the business. I might be looking for a grad gift this spring… where should I go? Why should I shop in your store versus the other 28 listed here? Wayne Gretzky said, ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’ So take the shot. Use that space you paid for and score a result for your business.

4. Have the right stuff for printing your ads and posters

I know this one from past experience… business owners often toss a business card to the committee member asking for the donation and ad, and tell them, “Just scan what you need off the card.” UGH!

I’ve already mentioned how odds are that business card is not an effective sales tool anyway… but scanning it to reprint? This drives me up a wall, especially when it’s a red and navy logo on a gold textured paper… ohmygod by the time it gets reprinted it looks like something I pick up on my walks with the dog.

You should ALWAYS have a vector version of your logo ready to email at a moment’s notice. Vector files are those ending in .eps, .ai or .bmp. Even a high resolution JPG or PNG file would be better than scanning a printed image. Just ask where to email it and they’ll get it to the right person. It saves time and gives a better image for your business.

And again, have your call-to-action ready for them to put in place so they’re not guessing what you want on your ad and you end up with ‘dead air’.

5. Do Door Prizes Right

I have to say, Olds has the best damn raffle tables of all the hockey tournaments in Alberta, thanks in large part to the contributions of our local businesses and the go get ‘er work of the parents. We have teams that write back to us after our tournaments to compliment the committee on the fabulous tournament and great raffle. So having seen how well we do here, I’m going to share some successes…

Give products, not coupons. Like I said earlier, we don’t come to shop, we come to play in a tournament. I overheard one person from an away team comment on a $50 gift certificate prize that there was no point in entering that prize draw because they can’t come back to town to use it. Down a few more baskets, and there were actual products from other stores, each probably worth $50 a piece. Better to donate a $50 hoodie or purse than a gift certificate, because now the prospects SEE what you offer, and the winner gets to SAMPLE it for themselves (and of course, fall in love with it).

Here’s the second half of the equation though… with that donated prize, include an online gift certificate they can redeem at a later date when they shop your online store. Have it expire a few months after the event so it’s not floating around forever… but that accomplishes a second objective, to drive SHOPPING traffic to your website! You can have a pile of these discounts printed and have them available for everyone, or put it in your program ad.

One last and VERY important point:

6. Follow through on your sponsorship promise

This one comes from our trip to the Atom Provincials last March in Grande Prairie. We took a bus, and with each player there was at least one parent, and a few other relatives in the area came to watch the girls play. We had 15 girls if I recall, so an estimated head count every time the team wanted to go for dinner was about 45 – 50 people. The tournament ran from a Thursday to Sunday.

One of the MAJOR sponsors was a franchise restaurant. Each team manager was given a coupon from this restaurant, inviting the team to come and eat at one of their two locations. (If I recall it was good for a 20% discount on our tab, quite substantial.) So we picked one evening when we had a large enough time block to allow us to get to the restaurant, eat and get back for our next game. That worked out to be supper at 6 pm on Friday night. I phoned to make the reservation, and here is what I was told:

“I’m sorry, we can’t take reservations for groups that size Friday OR Saturday.”

Excuse me? You’re a major sponsor of a provincial tournament, this discount is ONLY available at these two restaurants, only for provincial tournament teams, and you won’t accept our reservation?

So we asked if we could place an order for take-out and we would eat back at the hotel. Still no… They were too busy to accommodate us.

It’s a nearly 7-hour drive from Olds to Grande Prairie. We were NOT coming back all that way on a week night when it was convenient for them just to eat pizza for 20% off the regular price.

Sponsorship FAIL.

If you are going to make an offer – whether as a sponsor or any other time – you’d better be prepared to follow through with it.

PS – On a personal note, my daughter’s team won their division this weekend after a thrilling final game that came down to a shoot-out… and my girl was the goalie. First year between the pipes and she’s really doing well… 3 tournament shut outs and now this. I think I have to start monitoring my blood pressure after games like that.

It got me thinking about how we entrepreneurs tend to market our businesses REactively versus PROactively. We develop a new product or service, start a bit of advertising and get “Facebooking” about it… and then when the sales don’t come rolling in, we pray for a miracle.

(Funny how so many of us only seem to resort to prayer when we want something…)

We’ve all done it at some point. We think we’ve done our homework. We know we have a great offer. And yet, no one is buying.

We find ourselves in those situations however, because we do not have an ACTION PLAN.

If you plan how, where and when you will market your products and services, to whom you will sell them, what your goals and objectives are, what results you want to gain (financial and other), and if you have a scheduled action agenda to make it all happen, then the miracles WILL come. No prayer required.

I see this so much with small businesses (and I confess, I’ve done it myself). They often call me in a sheer panic because their revenues are drying up. And of course, they needed everything to start selling out yesterday, so whatever hurry-up tactics we put in place have to be implemented NOW.

You can prevent the panic and the prayers completely with a plan. Your plan needs to include:

Situation Analysis: Starting from where you are, assess what your situation is. Be realistic, not dramatic. I doubt very much that you will be on the streets next week if you don’t make $48,000 by then. Write out what your challenges are, whether it’s a small budget or a tight schedule or staffing concerns.

Target Audience: Everyone thinks everyone else NEEDS their product or service. They don’t. You have to be very clear on the people with whom you want to work and how you can best communicate with them. If you can at all, go beyond demographics… describe the kind of food they eat for breakfast and what keeps them awake at night.

Set Goals: These need to be reasonable, trackable and measurable. As the saying goes, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. They can be statements like “grow my database by 30%”, “increase gross revenue by 15%”, or “sell 250 units per month by August”. (And in the case of selling units by August, don’t wait to start selling until July.)

Budget: You can do a lot with very little. Be reasonable and honest and know that whatever you choose to do in terms of the implementation will cost something – either time or money, or both. This is most often where people trip up though, and the prayers for miracles start pouring out to the heavens.

Strategies and Tactics: Notice this is Step 5. This makes me think of the lifeguard classes of my youth, warning me that if I dive in to save a drowning person, they’ll likely push me under in their panic and we’ll both go under. The best thing to do is to use a tool to reach out to them, let them take hold and help them out. (Even if it means poking them with a sharp stick to get them to stop flapping about and grab the damned thing.)

Jumping into a reactive marketing response by implementing tactics out of desperation, results in exhaustion, frustration and rising anxiety levels. It can actually be MORE costly than taking the time to plan it down to the minute details. Wasted time, energy and money can be redirected into more productive and profitable ventures.

Finally, once you have your plan, you have to EXECUTE it. You have to follow-through on all the things you said you were going to do. All the planning and preparation and prayers won’t accomplish much if you can’t make the plays when they count most. (That from a disappointed Broncos fan. And Texans fan. What a lousy weekend of football…)

It’s this reactionary behavior that gives marketing the reputation of ‘throwing crap at the wall until something sticks’. It’s the kind of approach to marketing that keeps entrepreneurs praying for miracles when they could be expecting miracles with a carefully planned and implemented Action Plan.

I have to congratulate some of my clients for heeding my call to action, planning their marketing activities and getting 2012 off to a great start.

How about you? Are YOU ready to stop praying and start expecting great things to happen? If so, I’m reaching out with some new tools to save you from drowning in a fit of panic. Check out my Marketing programs and services to get your Marketing Action Plans (MAPs) ready to roll out this year. It’s never too late to start.

Last week I read an article in my local newspaper: “More Olds businesses adopting web presence”.

Sure, that is good news. The number of local businesses with websites more than doubled in this last year.

But this article made my neck hairs stand on end for a couple reasons. First of all, it was politically driven – some self-proclaimed technology experts were taking credit for this spike in new websites believing their free workshops and media appearances were largely responsible.

Cow pies.

The fact is we are in the 21st Century and if you don’t have a website the perception is you are not serious about business. The fact is our community has many new businesses in town and some ‘changing of the guard’ in ownership of existing businesses. These are likely more of an environmental influence than a political subcommittee’s recommendations that we should all have websites.

But the next piece of information I read really started to grind my gears: Less than 10% of these websites could actually generate revenue. Only 21 websites of 253 were set up for e-commerce. And no mention was made as to what the strategies were for the other 232 sites.

My response in reading this article was: So what? If these sites have no purpose, they’re just more digital clutter littering the internet.

Here’s the bottom line:

It’s not whether or not you have a website that’s important. What the blazes are you doing with it? That’s the question that matters.

Your website should be making you money, not costing money. You have to monetize it, recoupe your investment in its development and make a profit. Whether you are doing so via e-commerce (shopping cart), or make it a prospect-gathering tool, you have to get some tangible results from it.

So here are some questions to ask yourself about your website, and determine if you need changes made:

• What is the PURPOSE of your website?
• How do you want to communicate that purpose?
• How does your website fit with the rest of your marketing plan?
• How can you get a return on the investment for your website?
• What tactics can you use, and what resources do you need to make that happen?

Look through your site and answer those questions. If you can’t answer them easily, then we need to talk.

How would you conduct your business – and all your marketing – if the government shut down your website? Or if the American government banned your site from U.S. customers because they deemed your site to contain pirated information? How would you collect payments if the government told PayPal they could not have any further business dealings with you because you violated copyright?

I want to make it clear, I am all in support of protecting intellectual and creative property. But our friends to the south are looking more and more like the Chinese and Iranians with proposed laws like this…

There are two bills before Congress in the U.S., SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) that are raising a helluva ruckus south of the border. If you haven’t heard of it, you need to educate yourself – quickly. Even those of us outside of the US need to make our voices heard before the American government make a huge and drastic mistake.

Essentially, SOPA and PIPA would enable the Justice Department to arbitrarily shut down websites accused of piracy – including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter among others. That’s just for being accused of infringement… no due process, no ‘safe harbor’, no opportunity to respond. Share a link to a favorite music video from Vimeo on your Facebook channel and feed it into your blog – that is considered piracy and boom. You’re done.

Not just an American issue

Even if you reside outside the U.S., your domain can be blocked from U.S. customers if it is deemed to infringe these acts. For this reason it is being called “The Great Firewall”, more than a suggestion that this legislation falls into the same category as China’s “selected search” ability.

And wonder of wonders, who are some of the lobbyists leading the charge to put this legislation in place? The mainstream media. Time-Warner (Fox), NBC, CBS and ABC. The big record labels Universal, Sony… the major movie makers… they are the ones who benefit if this bill becomes law. Because they would be empowered to shut down or block a site for even LINKING to copyrighted material.

It would limit your ability to get news and information from anyone but them – all you would get is their crap programming and slanted reporting. In fact, as pointed out in the Young Turks video, main stream media isn’t covering SOPA at all. There’s the proof that they do NOT want the American people to know about it!

It is censorship. Plain and simple. In the 1930′s there were book burnings. I’m about to go to war with the high school principal here in Olds for censoring films and movies out of my son’s classroom. We have to turn back the telecoms from limiting our bandwidth so we can continue to have a choice in how we get our news and entertainment. And now complete domain blocking. The internet was created to share information. This would stab it in the heart.

This is how it starts. This is how, little by little, you have your rights taken away from you. There isn’t always a Blitzkrieg.

And yes, I am drawing a parallel.

We in Canada should pay particular attention. After all, we are constantly living under the control of the CRTC – the government-funded police force (dare I say, “Gestapo”?) for the Big Three Telecoms (Telus, Bell and Rogers). This little conspiracy keeps our cell phone bills the highest in the developed world. Almost annually they threaten to squeeze the snot out of our bandwidth so we can’t stream QUALITY television and movies of our choice over the internet – not without paying a fortune to the Telcoms for the privilege of doing so.

Be warned – The Big Three would LOVE to see a SOPA-like bill before Parliament. The Big Three are also woven in tightly to the major media in this country, owning or owned by Global and CTV. And we already know about how much international content is choked off on our televisions and radios to protect jobs at the Sacred Cash Cow, the CBC.

Internet Blackout?

Opponents of this bill are so vehement that this bill die on the floor of Congress this month, that there is a movement afoot to conduct an internet blackout on January 23, the day before the bill comes up for debate in Congress. We’re talking NO Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, PayPal, or Yahoo. A majority of tech giants are working to coordinate taking their services offline for one day (possibly longer!) in protest of this bill, to let the world know exactly what kind of impact this legislation can have on their businesses and their daily lives.

(This is the reason why we haven’t been able to pin down our teleseminar date… we are waiting to see if we’ll be able to do any business the week of January 23!)

In the meantime, Grassroots is preparing a contingency plan should the big internet companies go offline for a day or six in a couple weeks. We may not be able to send or receive emails or conduct payment transactions during the blackout. If the blackout continues for more than 24 hours, we will have alternative solutions ready to put into action. I suggest you prepare yourself as well.

To our friends in the U.S., please… contact your Congressman TODAY and stop SOPA and PIPA.

Anyone up for Occupy Round 2?

This time, park your tents at Universal Studios, Sony parking lots, and all the major media outlets around the country. (At least we’d all know what you are protesting this time, and there would be a point to it…)

I’ve ranted enough… for some VERY informative videos, check these out:

http://bit.ly/yX037f  - Main Stream Media not reporting on SOPA
http://act.ly/5cz (Some language) – Media outlets paid to get SOPA to Congress, TechCos have to pay to make it go away. Democracy or Payola?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhwuXNv8fJM  - A British lawyer tears SOPA apart. Brilliant.

To find out about SOPA supporting companies:

http://bit.ly/wu78Wo
http://bit.ly/zPq4Rm
http://bit.ly/ABGKcF - along with notes on levels of punishment for violation of the New Order.

First, yes, the website. Have a peek around… there’s a lot of new additions, and a few things you won’t find. Bottom line, it was time. One of those moments reflected in the quote from Anais Nin:
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom.”

“I still don’t know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets
Every time I thought I’d got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I’ve never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I’m much too fast to take that test…”

– “Changes”, David Bowie

I quoted the first verse of David Bowie’s song because it really reflects where I am right now in my life and my business.

I don’t know why I waited so long to make these course corrections. My time was running wild… working 18 hours a day or more, exhausted all the time, completely spent keeping on top of all the demands. Many days felt like all I did was wander down are dead-end streets… constantly doubling back, frustrated at another empty promise unfulfilled, back to where I was before and sucking up the courage to try another avenue to get where I want to go.

And although there have been a lot of wins along the way, it’s not always been fun. Relationships come into play, and not always in a good light. Doubt and worry and anxious moments sneak in at the weak spots like water seeping into the hull of a ship. Money always appears to be ‘coming’ but never ‘here’. I have become nauseous by the perpetual feast-or-famine roller coaster of revenue.

(I think one or two people reading this can relate at some level.)

So this holiday season (and a couple weeks prior) I turned to face some of these things. Some were easy answers. In some situations, I do not like what I see. At all. It may be business or it may be personal, but in either respect, changes are required. Changes only I can make.

What’s missing?

One of the things you won’t find is a big flag waving over my site proclaiming the fact that I design websites. Yes, I still design websites, and I have a technician to build them. However, after some soul-searching over the holidays, I decided to ‘downplay’ that aspect of the business. With good reason.

A website is not a cure-all. It is not a one-off project. It is not something you launch and leave alone. It’s a really big, really important aspect of an overall marketing and branding strategy. I know because not having my website active for several months caused me to ask myself many questions on this matter…  How do I manage to stay so busy even with my website ‘under construction’? What do I want to do with my website? What goals do I have for it? How will it add to my business? How will I monetize it?

To me, the one-off website is a waste of time and money. Not mine. Yours. If all you do is get the site done without a strategy on how to leverage this magnificent, international broadcast medium, then we’re all just spinning our wheels. The rubber never really meets the road and all that’s accomplished is a bunch of muck gets hurled into the air.

So, rather than looking like yet another “me too” business and saying “I provide branding and marketing services… oh and websites…”, I’m going to do my best to walk the talk and focus on what my business is about: marketing and branding and design. ALL design. Print, web, social media… it’s all design.

If you need a website, talk to us… but be prepared. We’re going to discuss more than ‘just’ a website. We’re going to look at the bigger picture to make sure you know just what you’re going to do with it when we’re done.

What’s new?

You asked for it. Really. You did.

I’m providing some marketing support services, offers that fit every budget. From a Marketing Mastermind group to a year-long action-oriented marketing implementation program, it’s all here. Like I said, I intend to live my brand.

I’ve also got different levels of branding programs available now. These are more than logos. Logo is Greek for word. Your word(s) have to mean something. That’s what we discuss. If you have a business and wonder why things aren’t ‘buzzing’ like they should, get a Brand Audit – it’s a good starting point to assess what’s going on.

Of course I still provide design – print, web and social media design. To streamline these offers, they are all listed under “Design Services”. Brochures, posters, business cards, display units, point-of-purchase, clothing,… whatever you need to promote your business can be procured here.

Something else that is new is our client intake process. All new prospective clients receive one 30-minute consultation call (you can book your time online here) and we interview each other. You ask me questions and I do the same. If we’re a match, we get busy. If not, I do my best to refer you to someone better suited to your needs and we move on.

My Business Manager Amie and I set up several new processes for client intake, welcome, production, project management, follow-ups, invoicing… but you don’t need to know all that. Suffice it to say, we’re getting on top of things more than ever.

One more thing!

After running the Seeds of Ideas Telesummit this fall, I fell in love with teleconferencing. So I am also offering FREE monthly teleseminars on a variety of topics, all designed to address subjects critical to your business success. Check the link above for our schedule of calls. Notice and information for these calls are ONLY available to my newsletter subscribers, so if you’re not receiving my newsletter now, sign up! Our very first call is with one of my team, Aaron Simpson and we’re talking about Online Security. Don’t miss out!

These aren’t “things” to buy so much as they are ways to be, experiences to enjoy, moments to create. Sure, there may be a few moments of retail therapy involved, but not so much as one might expect.

• I want to get my files in order and a smooth-as-silk workflow happening in my business.
• I want to clean my office. Again. And I want it to stay that way for more than 48 hours.
• I want my basement finished so my girl and I can have our craft area so the beads and papers and fabric aren’t spread out over the living room – and said office. A bathroom down there would save some steps while I’m working in that office too.
• I want time to do fun stuff. I miss my stitching and scrapbooking and quilting and drawing. I don’t play any more.
• I want all my photos organized and sorted and archived so the scrapbooking would be a helluva lot easier to do if I do manage to carve out the time.
• I want my garage cleared out and organized – with shelves and cupboards and no crap spreading out all over the floor, so I can actually park my friggin car in there next winter.
• Actually, come to think of it, I want a NEW vehicle to park in there next winter. Make it two. Both our vehicles have to travel with defibrillators because they could drop any second and not get back up.
• I want the kids to pick up after themselves and not expect me to keep track of their various papers and knick-knacks. My god, they’re teens now. I shouldn’t have to do that. If they made this small change, they’d fall in the category “damn-near-perfect”.
• I want my husband to take me out on dates. I’m not talking about the $10 Chinese buffet lunch on payday. I mean get dressed up nice, have dinner at a ‘fancy’ restaurant, take in a movie, maybe go dancing… It’s been over 20 years since I’ve been on a dance floor, and my butt would confirm that fact.
• I want my bills paid. Every month. On time.
• I want money left over after the bills are paid so I’m not starving before my husband’s next paycheck hits the bank.
• I want a steady flow of money coming in instead of the roller coaster income I have now. Enough to pay the bills, support my business and be comfortable enough to use the debit card between hubby’s paydays without holding my breath.
• I want to know what needs to get done in a day – and then actually get it all done.
• I want those days to involve no more than 8 hours of work so I can get some rest. I’m tired of being tired.
• I want a holiday. A real holiday, one that involves getting on a friggin airplane and going someplace that is fun, or warm, or both. Spousal accompaniment: optional. (I’ve waited 20 years for a date, for crying out loud. I’m not waiting that long again for a decent vacation.)

Yes I acknowledge that I already have a lot more than many people. I’m blessed with good health, smart-healthy-all-around-great kids, a loving spouse, supportive friends, a rock-star team. I live in a beautiful home and we somehow manage to find enough to eat.

I’m just weary of the struggle. Even if it’s not related to the business, I look around and there’s always massive undertakings still to be done. The house, the yard, the kids, the UFO’s (UnFinished Objects, as in craft projects). Even though I have all these wonderful blessings, there are days when I find it a challenge to even appreciate and enjoy them.

I want 2012 to be different. I want the struggling to end. I want life to be peaceful, abundant, easy.

I want to just BE.