Business Mastermind Groups with BLITZ Business Success

I Have a Coupon?

Barb Stuhlemmer — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:33:48 +0000

If you have one product at one price then keeping track of offers is quite easy, but that is not likely for any of us.

For one of my products I had an introductory price when I was building the product, a held over price, the pre-release price, a coupon I offered to capture attention and I will have a just released price when the product finally launches. This is just for one product.

The challenge is keeping track of what you have offered. If you have hundreds of products or dozens of services and have offers and coupons you will need to have a system to keep track. Here are the categories you will want to monitor.

Product name
Product regular price
Offer name

Coupon, discount or price
Term of offer (how long)
Who did you offer it to

Marketing campaign offer was part of

You don’t want people coming back to you afterwards saying, you offered me $200 off but you charged me full price. Know who and where your offer applies and make sure you give it to everyone that is eligible. Remember, the offer is part of your marketing to build credibility and create a sales relationship. If they don’t have a great experience because of the pricing problems you may loose your next sale.

Sharing Your Information

Barb Stuhlemmer — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:01:11 +0000

If you, like me, are creating a lot of content, then the best outcome for you is that the content be viewed by as many people as possible. I have been asked by a number of people for the right to republish my articles, or to contribute to their online media. This is a great option for me because it helps raise my profile as a writer of valuable information.

Today I created information on my website that gives other people permission to use my content as long as they publish certain information about me with it. This helps add to my systems and allows me to easily say, ‘yes’ without having to invent my response each time.

http://blitzbusinesssuccess.com/index.php/about-blitz-business-success/#bio

Remember, if you have to do it more than once, then you need to create a procedure or document you can use over and over to ensure consistency in your business and allow you to continually improve your processes.

A Shift in Focus

Barb Stuhlemmer — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:27:50 +0000

I want to add something to my blog. Something uniquely different from what I write about in my e-zine blogs. I want to share more around what I experience in my business day-by-day, so I am changing the focus of this blog to talk about one great thing each day. What kind of things? Things that touch on the experiences I have in business each day. Topics such as:

Business evaluation
Client engagement
Marketing with no money
Professional Development and travel
Family buy-in
Administration support
Solopreneur challenges
Hiring and firing – Yikes!
Collecting late payments
Great Clients
Successes and Wins
Networking
Social Capital
Social Marketing
Or any other topic that affects my business and yours!

Is there something you have a challenge with or that has gone exceptionally well in your business? You should share with me and the other readers? Don’t forget to leave your website so we can all connect with you online.

Check out BLITZ Big Thinker Blog for my business articles.

On the Book Shelf – What’s Barb Reading Now? – Self, Sales and Great Business

Barb Stuhlemmer — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:06:34 +0000

Since I am so often asked, ‘what books do you recommend’, I thought I would start sharing what I am reading or have read. I am a life-long continual learner, which I feel is the key to being successful in this conceptual age. I have read so many really useful and impactful books I think you will find one or two a benefit for your business and personal growth. Let’s start with a few recommendations for these three categories: Self, Sales, Great Business, from my past readings.

Self

To be a better leader in your business, feel more successful, and really connect with people in the best way possible, here are three books I regularly recommend in this category.

The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be - Jack Canfield
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment – Eckhart Tolle
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking – Malcolm Gladwell

Sales

These are three books I often loan out and recommend to help people with their mindset around sales. One person I recommended the second book to became a $100k sales person in their second month at a new company.

Selling to Big Companies – Jill Konrath
High Trust Selling: Make More Money-In Less Time-With Less Stress – Todd Duncan
Bag the Elephant!: How to Win and Keep Big Customers – Steve Kaplan (prepare to do work)

Great Business

One of these books I send to my clients and assign homework. If you are a small business or you want to be something bigger, then finding out what it takes is imperative.

Good to Great Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t – Jim Collins
E-Myth Mastery: The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class Company- Michael E. Gerber (prepare to do work)
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? – Seth Godin

If you want to continue to grow your business or just maintain a successful business then you need to be continually learning what it takes to remain successful.

Don’t stop learning
Don’t stop reading
Don’t stop asking the good questions

Connecting People 101

Barb Stuhlemmer — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:38:43 +0000

{EAV:d6399c9efeb67e5e}

How to Help Someone by Giving a Referral

I am often told, “I’m new to networking, I don’t have enough connections to help anyone, I really don’t know how I can help”. It is how we all feel when we start networking, but I bet you do have some connection that will help someone.

Have you ever given a friend a recommendation for a great restaurant?
Have you ever been able to tell a person the difference between two competing stores?
Have you ever known where the best price to get a service was to be found?

If you answered yes to any of these then you have already given a referral. Business networking is the same. You are listening for people’s needs and if you know someone that can help them then offer that information. Don’t push yourself to try and give any information, you should be able to genuinely say, “I know this person or business and I think you should try them out”.

So my advice is; start by helping one person, be consistent and present and you will meet the people you ‘need to know’ to help more and more people.

Social Media Applications – What is the Real Benefit?

Barb Stuhlemmer — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:48:55 +0000

I have to admit I don’t play games on Facebook or have any additional programs except HootSuite to help me with my Social Media marketing. There are a lot of different things you can be doing to really connect with your ‘tribe’ online.

This week I was invited to try Empire Avenue (aka EAv). The women who invited me, Teresa de Grosboi, had joined just a week earlier and had already seen in increase in her activity online as well as likes, follows, and connections. She recommended I try it out.

I’ve been at it for 1.5 days. Success is quite a motivator to engage in your social media, but what is the real outcome? Am I connecting with the people that really want to hear from me? Am I connecting with people I want to learn from? Am I building strong, stable, online relationships? Will this increase my business or my online profile outside of EAv? I don’t know yet, but I’ll let you know as I take in all the nuances of the game.

If you want to check it out take this link.

http://empireavenue.com/?t=v7rj1ne6

If you are on it and have some thoughts around the real benefit to relationship building please add your comment below.

The Tanacity of Entrepreneurship

Barb Stuhlemmer — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:13:47 +0000

The penguin, moose, and polar bear are icons of winter representing the tenacity required to endure the wilderness during times when food is scarce and the environment is uncomfortable.

This is true of the entrepreneur as well. Business is like winter in the sense that money can be scarce and the environment uncomfortable, especially for anyone who was once an employee. The true entrepreneur does not migrate but digs in, works hard through the scarce times with full faith that spring will come again.

Long after my grandfather had passed away my father passed on a statement of wisdom that his father had given to him.

“Don’t worry about the money, worry about the business and the money will come.”

My father explains that Grandpa always strove to provide the best service for his customers and that is why everyone liked “The Timbrell Boys” and patronized their store. They where part of their community and hence part of the environment that made the winters of business more than bearable.

Timbrell's Meat Market circa 1900's Thomas G. Timbrell on left

The Entrepreneur

Jack Timbrell was a special man to me. He was fun and funny, intelligent and intellectual with business smarts to spare. Jack had a first year university education (almost unheard of in his day) and he was an entrepreneur. He was my grandfather.
Jack owned the family business, a butcher shop, with his brother Tom. The butcher shop, inherited from their father and his father before him (seen above in the shop), was known as Timbrell’s Meat Market, and was located at 255 Dundas Street in London Ontario. They were well liked and respected in the community. Growing up I could go almost anywhere in London and toss out my name and someone would know my grandfather or his brother and welcome me. It was a comfortable shadow to grow up under and it explains my tendency towards entrepreneurship as well.

Who is your inspiration to endure, your drive to become successful, the founder of your tenacity?

Does Networking Mean Selling?

Barb Stuhlemmer — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 01:23:19 +0000

Last night I was at a Chamber Christmas event. It was a festive atmosphere with 2 hours of open networking, lots of fantastic food was being served, some games were creating loud laughter, exciting draws, and everyone was having a great time connecting.

I was approached by someone that was confused by the focus of the meeting. He had come with business cards but he didn’t expect to use them? When he was talking with someone they interrupted him to get his card.

“Should I have started by giving him my card? Why was he asking me for my card, this isn’t business time? What was the purpose of being here anyway, this isn’t a normal networking event, this is a Christmas party?” were his questions.

I explained that even in “normal networking” events your goal is not to see how many cards you can hand out, so you should never be giving out your card unless someone asks for it, with the exception when you want to follow up with the person, but only after you get their card first.

Networking can happen at any event and it is always about the relationships. You goal is to create a relationship for the future when that person recognizes they need what you are offering and see you as the person they would call to get that support or purchase from. To create this type of response they have to know what you do in a way that will fulfill their needs and wants; the benefit – not your features.

So, always be connecting with people, talk about your benefits and be thankful that someone is asking for your business card, no matter what the event. If they need to connect with you outside the festivities then you have done something right to create the relationship that may lead to business.

What places have you done business that would been seen as non-traditional networking.

Using Blogging to Create More Client Interest

Barb Stuhlemmer — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:17:28 +0000

When I started blogging almost 1 year ago I was overwhelmed by the amount of content I felt I had to create. How was I going to come up with new topics, what was I able to share, what would people find interesting. It has been a long journey but I truly enjoy my blogging and article writing time. In fact, when I get started an entire afternoon can pass as I create post after post. That said, I guarantee if you think you cannot blog for your business because it is too hard or takes too much time you would be wrong. This post took less than 10 minutes and showed you that something you may have thought out of reach has value and is possible.

You are an expert at what you do and if you can tell people things that makes their lives or their business better you can blog it as well.

My guest for the Entrepreneur Club Expert call this month is Linda Dessau of Content Mastery Guide and we are going to be discussing how Blogging can help generate more clients for your business. Come listen in for free.

More info here about the EClub Expert call.

“Omnipresence” vs. “Omni-availability”

Barb Stuhlemmer — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:06:00 +0000

Are you always available for your client? Do you take calls in the middle of dinner, during your birthday party, and on your vacation? Do you feel your business needs to be open all the time to ensure that people do not go other places? Your marketing can have omnipresent – you cannot.

It’s important to know that people respect boundaries. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be available for your customers, some industries specifically require people to be available at hours that most of us would not want to work, for example the real estate industry. What is important to the financial health of your business is that the hours you work make sense to the bottom line.

Let’s say you are open Monday’s from 8am to 9 pm. Your overall income for the day pays for you to be open for those hours. If you analyze the income hour by hour and find that only 5 % of your sales come from the first 3 hours you are open you may want to re-evaluate your hours. This is true if that 5% income does not pay to have the store open for those three hours especially since those three hours require ~28% of the cost of running the business for that day.

Now, if you make your business available from 8am all the other morning but close for the 3 hours on Monday’s, you may save up to 5% of your overall operating costs. The neat thing is, your clients that love you and want to purchase from you will come when you are open. If you lose a client because of that hour change, it wasn’t because they were great clients that truly loved what you had to offer.

Remember you are running a business and it should be viable from every perspective.