Richter10.2 Media Group

Introducing the Tier4 Video....

2011-12-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

Richter10.2 Media Group from Richter10.2 Media Group on Vimeo.

It's a fully animated video with aesthetic music, punchy copy that delivers your message and intricate animation that results in a very powerful video. Everything about this video style is meant to drive a "call to action" so the viewer wants to reach out to you once it's done.

http://r102video.com

Animated videos help drive sales...

2011-09-15T12:15:00.001-07:00

Order and Expansion

2011-06-23T06:04:00.001-07:00

Over the past few weeks I've been on a mission to put order into every single area of our company. Meaning, I am making it orderly, implementing systems etc. The magic of "order" is limitless. Each little area that we've put order into results in things magically getting better. In other words, we made our company more orderly in one area and found that it impacted our growth just that much for the week.

Look around your company and make a list. Find every single area that you can to put order in. Then, simply address them one by one.

Here are a few examples:

- Make all workspaces neat and tidy to improve production

- Make a revision to a contract to ensure it reads correctly

- Address some old "need to get done's" and do them

- Implement a new checklist to help make a process more efficient and swift

- Get rid of a redundant task or function that causes extra work

These are but a few areas. Just start listing out all of the areas that you want to make orderly and then do so. You will be completely blown away at how this will impact you sales, growth, expansion, morale and the list goes on. It's complete magic.

- Robert Cornish

CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group

Why We Hate Butterflies

2011-01-07T08:43:00.001-08:00

Sounds like a funny title but the truth is, butterflies are a serious problem in the business world. Chasing them that is. In today's busy and sometimes chaotic world it's easy to get distracted and end up dreaming or chasing butterflies rather than staying the course and focusing on your goals, mission and the immediate tasks at hand. My advice, learn to hate butterflies as well.

Focus on who you are, what you do, what the goal is and your next most immediate step toward it. Get focused in every aspect of your company from knowing what target audience or vertical market you want to go after, exactly what you sell and what your value proposition is making sure that you aren't trying to be all things to all people, getting your people focused on their mission and tasks to attain your focused goal and only promoting and selling to your focused market etc.

There are zillions of things that can take you off course. Distractions. Butterflies. Get rid of them and learn to simplify your company to get focused and then get tunnel vision about that focus to work toward goal attainment. It may sound more "fun" or sexy to chase the constant new adventure or idea but it's wasted time and effort. They prevent you from true victory and goal attainment.

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Focus

2010-12-16T12:53:00.001-08:00

The other day I was going through my Twitter feed and saw a tweet asking a question to Gurbaksh Chahal (a very successful entrepreneur who sold his last company for $300MM and the one before it for $40MM) about whether he get's tempted to work on other ideas while he is working on a company. His response... "never. Focus is everything."

To me one of the biggest elements of failure or simply lack of success lies in most people's lack of ability to stay focused. I'll admit, I love millions of ideas as well and have a tendency to daydream from time to time but being that I have owned four companies, I know the power of focused attention and the deadliness of distractions or dispersals. Focus is everything.

If you know what your company stands for, sells and delivers and have clearly named out or defined your product or service and then defined your goal or vision the only next step for you to take is to do everything that is focused toward executing the goals to attain the vision. Do not get distracted and do not let any other "bright ideas" enter the equation. Focus your time, energy and effort on your goal.

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Q1 Goals

2010-12-08T20:30:00.001-08:00

Being that we are approaching the end of the year, it's time to look at where you want to go. What goals are set or need to be set for the first quarter of 2011? It's time to write them down and then work them backwards to figure out the steps to actually attain them. That's the problem with most goals isn't it? The lack of attainment due to ineffective steps to attain the goal or more specifically, a mis-estimation of the actual amount of effort needed to attain the goals.

When setting sales, revenue and expansion goals for 2011, take a look at what needs to happen to pull them off and then juice up all areas to plan and predict for the short-fall. In other words, if you feel it will take 50 new accounts to attain $500k in new revenue for the year, double or triple that number. We all tend to mis-estimate what is actually needed to pull off a win so plan and predict for it.

We operate off the philosophy of "more" as in:

- more marketing
- more sales
- more prospects in the pipeline
- more people to promote to
- more proposal out
- more... of everything. In other words, actions large enough to compensate for any short fall. (missing our Q1 goals is not an option so we focus on abundance)

Now, in terms of head time to attain the Q1 goals, it's time to start now. If you want to come flying out of the gate for 2011, let's discuss effective strategies to drive new sales and therefore revenue for Q1 2011.

Call us at 727-447-3600 or email our Business Development Director, Jake Sanders at jake@richter10point2.com to find out what we can do to attain your Q1 goals.

Richter10.2 Media Group
http://richter10point2.com

2010-11-23T06:21:00.001-08:00

Take charge of your web design and presence....

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The Best Deal

2010-11-11T13:08:00.001-08:00

There is a saying in business that goes like this.... "sometimes the best deal you made was the one you didn't". In other words, it's the deal you turned away or left on the table. It's always tempting to take on every single deal that comes your way in business due to the woo of possible profits related to it, but I would advise to you closely look at every deal to ensure the prospect fits your criteria and will truly be profitable for you.

This may mean that if something doesn't feel right about a deal or the prospect is being difficult upfront or it's outside of your core competency or or or... etc, well you may need to get up and walk away from it for the sake of your company. It most likely will be for the best saving you and your company huge amounts of wasted time and effort not to mention money.

One of the most profitable angles in business is knowing who your target public (audience) is and who is a desirable client to take on and who isn't. If you can peg who isn't you will avoid 90% of all headaches for your company. The ability to spot problem child's early is a vital tool toward a growing and profitable company. Sure, you may end up leaving a few perfectly good deals on the table but you don't need to worry about that. Focus on distilling the deals that don't fully align with your goals, purposes and policies and I assure you that you will be ultimately more profitable and happier.

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The Best Deal

2010-11-03T12:13:00.001-07:00

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The Makings of a Group

2010-10-28T12:16:00.001-07:00

The ultimate pursuit in business. To attain a group. A true team. Loyal, focused and driven to attain the goals of the group. It's fantastically difficult to attain but virtually indestructible once created.

Here are the makings of a group as I see it:

1) Everyone is focused on an agreed upon goal. In other words, there's a mountain and everyone see's it and is focused on climbing it without any deviation or distractions. The goal needs to be completely known throughout the group, intertwined into everyday actions, targets and programs. "What will we do today to take the mountain?" Get a goal, make it known and pursue it.

2) The group thinks in futures, meaning that everyone in the group is focused on their future within the group. Where will we be in 2 years, 5 years, 20 years..... This then breeds loyalty to the group and therefore strengthens the group as a whole. A great group is one that no one would ever want to leave.

3) The group works as a unit, synchronizing every action and coordinating efforts. No individuals are in the group, only one unit that operates as a unit knowing and acting with every area, division and department fully reliant and responsible for each other.

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Our Elevator Pitch To You

2010-10-22T16:41:00.001-07:00

Richter10.2 media group cost per reach

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Aim Small - Miss Small

2010-10-21T12:02:00.001-07:00

There was a line in the movie "The Patriot" where the character Mel Gibson plays is about to ambush a group of British soldiers to save his son. He tells his other two son's to remember what he has taught them.... "aim small miss small"

The other day I was in a meeting with our production team and while we were discussing strategies to attain client reaches, that exact phrase came out of my mouth... "aim small miss small" which lead to this blog.

It's a great concept and relates exactly to business and client growth. Focus your efforts. In other words, identify a segment you want to go after by profiling who you sell to now. Who buys from you? Then take aim at that small segment and go after them heavy. We are not aiming at the whole audience here, we are aiming at your audience. The people most likely to need, want and buy your products or services.

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Cost Per Reach Model

2010-10-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

Being a Martinet About Neatness...

2010-10-14T12:21:00.001-07:00

I was reading an old book by David Ogilvy today and he makes a comment about how he used to work in a professional kitchen in France and the head chef, Mr. Pitard, was a martinet (one who enforces strict discipline) about being neat. He had the chef's clean the kitchen twice per day to ensure the quarters were spotless. David Ogilvy carried many of these lessons over to his agency which grew to be one the best and biggest of his time.

David's comment for his agency was this, "Today I am a martinet in making my staff keep their offices ship-shape. A messy office creates an atmosphere of sloppiness, and leads to the disappearance of secret papers."

I tend to agree fully. I am a bit of a neat freak myself and always keep my quarters in ship-shape. I also tend to get a lot more done than the average person, I think partly because I operate in a neat orderly fashion. It's worth taking a look at yourself. Do you keep your office immaculate? Is everything where it should be? If not, I'm willing to bet that you are loosing valuable time and opportunities.

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Sales, Selling Your People and Getting People to Sell

2010-10-07T13:11:00.001-07:00

What role does sales play in your company? Have you recognized the fact that every person and every opportunity is another angle to sell? Let me clarify. Sales is intertwined into every aspect of your company.

You need to sell your products and services to your target market. You then need to sell and keep selling your people on the company, the task at hand and on your new clients that were just closed which motivates them to get the job done and carry forward what was sold. You then need to get people in your company to sell to your clients, your prospective public and the employees to constantly carry your company forward.

While there are many posts/titles in any company, everyone has a role in selling. A smile to a new client walking through the door sells. A welcome email to a new client sells. A follow up call to a client sells. Everyone in the company plays a role in selling to either cultivate new business, cater to and maintain current clients to ensure they are happy and are constantly sold on your company or to keep the team focused and motivated. The executive team, managers and CEO alike all sell the people of the company on the goals, future, mission at hand and on their specific tasks to motivate people to get the job done.

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Blockbuster Vs. Redbox

2010-09-30T13:19:00.001-07:00

Approximately 5 years ago Blockbuster came up with a campaign to start sending clients late fees to collections. This lead me to start looking at their business model to see how powerful or infallible they really were. After looking at the company model and recent campaigns I realized that they were on their way out. This was in 2005.

Lately I have rented all of my movies from Redbox because it's fast, simple and inexpensive. It just makes a heck of a lot of sense. When comparing the two, Blockbuster had every opportunity in the world to evolve and scoop the market share early for this strategy that Redbox has executed but failed to do so.

I'm not sure if it was arrogance on the part of Blockbuster or lack of insight but they have clearly lost the battle already. I saw recent news that Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy protection and have noticed a few stores closing. Here is where I feel they failed:

1) Instead of focusing on making their process more customer centric focused, they alienated their customers by sending late fees to collections and ultimately ticking off a lot of people

2) They became too focused with trying to make the mail in rentals work in order to compete with Netflix and must of somehow completely missed the entire concept that Redbox executed.

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Why I Would Pay for Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin

2010-09-24T09:37:00.001-07:00

I recently heard rumblings of news about Twitter potentially charging a fee. Some people have stated that if they did so, they would cancel the service. Silly.... in my opinion. Here's why:

Thus far, the public at large have exchanged (paid for) nothing from Twitter or most social media platforms yet are willing to pay monthly fees for silly expenses like TV to watch a constant inflow of advertisements that attempt to sell products which takes money from them. Twitter, is quite possibly one of the best promotional and sales vehicles that exists today. That statement may not be real for a lot of people but I assure you, it's correct. Let me qualify that statement further.

Twitter gives people the ability to reach out to any target public audience to establish communication with them and develop relationships that can and do result in sales and revenue. By survey, the number one and two sources of new business for any company is word of mouth and referrals. This is precisely what Twitter facilitates. You may not be familiar with Twitter or how it could be the very best promotional and business development tool for your company to employ but nevertheless, there are ways to use it strictly for business development that produces new relationships and sales. Our agency uses it for this very purpose for ourselves and our clients. To us, Twitter is no different than a cell phone. It's a tool to be able to communicate with who we want, when we want so we can develop new business.

Would I be willing to pay for it? Yes! of course. $50 per month? Sure! It helps me produce new business which is a vital aspect to any company. I pay for my office phones, my staff mobile phones, internet connections etc so why wouldn't I pay for Twitter? I can't wrap my wits around why anyone wouldn't pay for it. It's a tiny price to pay for something that could help me produce thousands of dollars per year for our agency.

Now, I actually don't think Twitter will end up charging for their service but will rather take the advertisement supported model but regardless I support it and will absolutely pay for it if they charge a fee, it's worth it.

Consider the intrinsic benefits of these tools before making a rash decision like John Mayer to close his account on Twitter recently. He just locked out 3 million fans from being involved in the conversation. The value of staying in front of your audience is priceless. John made a silly move to close his account and if I was his agent I'd be having a fit right now. The fans are his customers and his obligation to keep happy. No fans means no money. No celebrity is above bottom line numbers being affected by silly moves like that.

If you're thinking Twitter is simply a site to say "your getting a coffee right now...." then let me clarify that you have completely missed the strategy and opportunity with it. It's more than discussing random thoughts and the people who only use it for those purposes think they get and really don't. It's blows the doors off of most promotional outreach strategies if used correctly and will continue to do so. If there was a monthly fee, it would be insignificant compared to the value of it.

- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group - Follow us @richter102media

We Really "Digg" The New Look!

2010-09-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

Recently, we saw Digg reinvent itself and become more streamlined and user-friendly with a major facelift. The changes are really great and it is excellent news for the social community to have this feature back in our bag of tricks.

So, if you're not Diggin' yet, we recommend that you get out there are add yourself into this growing online community!

Spencer Barnes
Creative Director
Richter10.2 Media Group

Speed

2010-09-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

Have you ever truly looked over the value of speed as it relates to your companies growth, strategies, sales, delivery and expansion? I personally rate this as one of the highest valued items in our agency and in any company.

Speed. How fast you can take an idea into execution to make that idea a reality. Speed is your friend and time is your enemy. Speed of delivery. How fast can you deliver your product or service with the highest level of quality. Speed of sales. How fast can you find your audience, prospect, sell and close them to create hoards of new business.

Speed is something you should measure, if you don't already. People talk frequently about competition, what the other companies are doing etc. If you master speed, the truth is, there isn't any real competition out there. Most companies are slow. Most people are slow. Competition is a highly overrated concept. Focus on speed and the "competition" becomes something that you view from a distance scratching your head wondering how and why they don't get it.

Even looking at today's economy, if people and companies operated faster, new companies started fasted, decisions were made faster, speed became a central and crucial element of the marketplace, we wouldn't have a problem. The economy would recover swiftly and new fresh funds would be produced and circulated quickly.

Sometimes simple answers are the hardest to figure out but are ultimately the best solution.

Make a point this week and next to execute tasks faster. Speed up your cycles. Look at how you can take the time out of the equation on situations and your production will increase. Look at all the applications of speed and figure out how to put them into action.

- Speed of sales
- Speed of promotional ideas to get them into action
- Speed of quality delivery
- Speed of internal communications
- Speed of external communications
- Speed of news to the market
- Speed of promotional updates or changes such as websites etc
- Speed of hiring, training and executing actions
- Speed of meetings and phone calls

While this may sound a little overboard - it's not, I assure you. There are slownesses all throughout your personal actions day to day as well as throughout your company and I promise, it's costing you the game. Take speed seriously. Get disciplined about it and your "competition" will become a silly concept. Companies are slow, people are slow ..... take advantage of it.

- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group

Get Organized

2010-08-31T13:54:00.000-07:00

Just a brief comment on the importance of being organized and having clear systems and administration for your company.

I personally feel that a huge amount of profit is lost in this area. A lot of companies are strong in sales or delivery or customer service but not many are truly strong in administration. In other words, your process, operations, systems etc. Really think it through and make a checklist of the areas that need to be addressed.

Here is a starting point:

- Flow charts for all key areas and functions like sales, delivery, finance posted on the wall so they are viewable for training and drilling

- Progress boards to monitor and track key actions so you can manage and push progress week to week

- Clearly defined positions and actions for each person in written format so your people can study them and become competent for their position

- A form of measurement for all key company indicators that can be tracked weekly to compare from week to week and to set targets for improvement

- Checklists or procedures for handling specific actions like collecting income, closing sales, delivering to new clients in order to have exact sequences that are followed every time without fail

These are just a few basic fundamental points to look into. The basic message here is that time and time again I see companies losing opportunities and income simply by lack of planning, lack of systems and lack of organization which results in chaos and confusion in the company making people look busy when in actual fact it's unproductive business.

Make all systems and functions clearly defined and ensure you have procedures that are organized and orderly in all areas and your production level will go through the roof. It's not time you lack, it's a lack of administration that organizes processes to create more time for you. Inefficiencies are expensive.

Our agency tends to get about a months work done in a week simply because we are organized and can execute and have systems for everything. Don't run around and say your busy and have no time... get organized, be ruthless about your systems and create time in order to focus on doing more to expand your company. Dissect your processes and jam in orderly operations and you'll see what I mean.

- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group

Title Vs. Task

2010-08-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

What is a title to you? The title of where you work whether it is CEO, VP Sales, Creative Director, CFO etc, what does it mean to you? If your thinking it has anything to do with power or importance then you have completely missed the mark and have lost the true purpose of your job and position within your company.

A title is not for power or importance or making anyone feel under you.... it's a description of where you are in your company and what your responsibilities are. It's a function. Now I realize this sounds a little self explanatory but many people seem to mis-use and mis-apply their titles which I find to be a shame to the company in general.

When you are a CEO or any position for that matter, that title simply is a label for your function. It means that the day to day tasks related to that title are your responsibility and your team relies on you to get it done. That's it. If you thought it was anything more than that, you've lost the focus and true spirit of business.

Think about the tasks and functions that go under your position or title. This is the only importance associated with your title. It dictates your job and reveals your tasks so everyone knows who is who in the company and who will handle what functions. Think of your company and position like a sport.... the goalie is supposed to stop attempts on goal, period. The goalie is not so he can be respected or act important (even though he is) or to be used for power.... it's simply a duty.

Take a look at your post, position or title and ask yourself whether you are exclusively handling the functions for your team to get the job done and whether you are making a valuable contribution to your team for the responsibilities that fall under your position. If you do this, your company will do better and if you can get others to do the same, the company will boom.

Focus on the task at hand, the functions that need to be done for the title and execute, execute, execute and forget the importance of it all.

The Red Bull Way

2010-07-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

When it comes to promo and getting the word out.... there is a standard and a bar which you can measure yourself by.... it's called Red Bull. Now there is a company that thinks BIG. They have plastered their brand, PR, Marketing and advertising absolutely everywhere.

I guarantee you that if it were not for their unbelievably HUGE promo efforts, the company would not be what they are today (which happens to be a billion dollar annual revenue producing machine) The drink is not exactly tasty. That factor has no role in their success though.

I admire this company for their sheer volume of promo and in their creative ways to get the word out.

So, what can we learn? Well, when looking at your promo efforts I would recommend that you address the volume and angles. In other words, what are you doing right now? How much promo, outflow, avenues are you using daily, weekly and monthly to make your companies products and/or services known. I tend to think that most companies grossly underestimate what they need to do. Companies get so focused on other things that are important but not nearly as important as driving in new business so heavily that your only major problem will be... how do you manage the inflow and deliver and service it?

Revenue should never be your concern. New clients should never be your concern. These things will come in floods if your promotion and sales efforts are actually sufficient and not sufficient per your normal standard.... I mean Red Bull type thinking.

Make a list and focus on how you can create a Red Bull size strategy to get the word out. Get absolutely crazy about promotion and driving in new business. Then focus on executing the strategy in an obsessive fashion to drive new customers/clients in the door. From there, you can then figure out how to deliver, how to service, quality etc but all of those items come after you have promoted, made your company known, gotten new sales, clients, customers etc. Your first priority should be on your front lines.... promotion!

When your scratching your head wondering why sales are down, why revenue is down etc. - look no further than your efforts to get the word out about your company to actively get in front of your audience and therefore cultivate new opportunities. That is the WHY.

So this week, think like Red Bull. They are a company that has gone completely berserk when it comes to promo.... and it's working like crazy. Make a list of new angles to drive in new business and execute, execute, execute....

- Robert Cornish
Richter10.2 Media Group
http://richter10point2.com

Be a ball hog - for your clients sake...

2010-07-10T12:47:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard someone say "the ball is in their court" when explaining where a certain situation stands?

If your a true professional and want to bend over backwards to serve your client then you will adopt the philosophy that the ball is never in your clients court. You want to control the ball to control the outcome.

To fully service your client, it requires total control of each situation and task which allows you to get the desired results you are focused in order to create happy clients.

If you have ever been to an incredible hotel or a company that truly has their delivery, service and overall operations completely under their control - the outcome is that as a client, you are very happy and feel well served.

Do your clients a favor and never let the ball be in their court, they don't want it.

- Robert Cornish
Richter10.2 Media Group

Find me at http://whywebpr.com/robertcornish

Email

2010-06-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

In a few recent emails I have received I have noticed a couple of items that in my opinion hurts the communication. Here they are:

1) The font of the email was small making it difficult to read. I had to actually zoom in to make it larger.

2) The email had no signature with the bare essentials of a phone number, email address and any other key form of communication

These two items can have a serious impact on your bottom-line. When the font of the email is small, you are either inconveniencing your reader or the email is being deleted altogether by busy people who can't be bothered which means your message never arrived at all. When you don't have a phone and email address and basic contact details in your email signature, you are simply cutting your own throat by reducing the chances that anyone will communicate with you.

Many times I have referred back to emails for contact details only to find out the person has not included their very basic forms of communication in their email signature and therefor I have to figure out how to contact them which again, is an inconvenience.

Be smart. Make it easy for people to reach you and make it easy for people to read your message. By simply handling these two items, it will increase your communication flows and ensure more business is coming your way.

I hear a lot of people talk about "so and so never returned my email..." or "I sent an email and never heard back..." if this describes you.... I would strongly advise you review the above two items and ensure that:

1) Your emails are simple and clear with larger font

2) You have your essential forms of communication in your email signature

Our agency has developed something called a Social Media Press Kit which you may want to use for your email signature as well, here's a link - http://whywebpr.com

Happy emailing....

- Robert Cornish

What your client needs not wants

2010-05-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

Recently we had a situation at our agency that reminded me of the importance of delivering what the client needs rather than what they may think they want.

While clients play a major role in decisions and influence in your companies actions mostly because every company is trying to please their clients and keep them happy in order to create long term relationships, the truth is that many times in order to actually please the client and deliver the results you must focus on what the client really needs rather than what they are saying they want.

Let me clarify, a client requests you change your strategy because they have a few ideas that they want to include and really focus on. You then deviate off of the path that you absolutely know works and know gets results in a effort to serve the client and address their wants. The results then reflect the deviation off course from what you know you should have done, further, the client is not happy which is bad for business altogether.

Had you held your position and only sold and delivered the client on what you knew was successful, what gets results and what was really what the client needed, you would ultimately end up with a happy client and a great long term relationship.

Focus on what you do as a company that you know works and gets results and then identify what the client really needs in order to address a problem and sell and deliver only that. By sticking to your guns sort to speak and delivering a product or service that handles your clients actual needs (as long as you have correctly identified them) will guarantee you positive results and happy clients. Handle your clients needs only and don't be persuaded to deviate to focus on wants that you know will take the strategy off course with results that will not be the desired outcome.

As the saying goes.... "Find a need.... fill a need"

- Robert Cornish