Amazon is busy delivering remarkable service…
and how do I say this gently…
CRUSHING the competition.

My favorite part is when Mark slurps his water and gets reprimanded. And when he refuses to buy a van is a close second.

That video may be hilarious…

but no one’s laughing when you’re unable to get results from your Facebook marketing.

Funny thing is…
getting results on Facebook isn’t hard.

Here’s how most people handle their Facebook marketing.

Look familiar?

You set up that fancy pants Facebook ad, and then PRAY people buy your stuff.

Lemme ask ya…

How’s that working for you?

Here’s what smart Facebook marketers are doing.
See the difference?

No, not the fancy sounding terms like retargeting or congruent content.

What I want you to see is that one approach is strategic, and the other is, well…

NOT STRATEGIC, and honestly, just plain LAZY!

If I may, let me take it a step further.

If you’re not getting results with your Facebook marketing, you simply aren’t using the right strategies.

Can I tell you about a strategy that’s working like crazy right now?

Great!

It’s called the Triple Threat.  And the best part is it’s simple and easy to implement.  (don’t let the simplicity fool you, this thing delivers crazy-good results)

Let’s get the bad news out of the way…
you can’t use this button:

Sorry! The Boost Post button won’t work with this strategy.

To run the Triple Threat you’ll need access to the dozen – or so – campaign objectives found in Ads Manager.

Here’s what your Triple Threat Campaign is going to look like:

Let me break this down into four simple steps for you:

1) Make your post.  Go to your Facebook page and make the post about the product or service you’re wanting to promote.

2) Set up Campaign #1 in Ads Manager. Choose your campaign objective, and set the audience you’d like to target for the post you made in step #1.

3) Set up Campaign #2 in Ads Manager. Choose your campaign objective, (make sure it’s a different campaign objective than you used in step #2) and set the audience you’d like to target for the post you made in step #1.

4) Set up Campaign #3 in Ads Manager. Choose your campaign objective, (make sure it’s a different campaign objective than you used in either step #2 or step #3) and set the audience you’d like to target for the post you made in step #1.

That’s it!

Once you’ve finished, you will have three separate campaigns running to the same post…

and it works CRAZY-GOOD!

If you came to me with your last $100 and asked what Facebook strategy you should use, I would tell you to run the Triple Threat strategy.

The secret power behind the Triple Threat lies in the VAST amount of information Facebook knows about each of their users. (Which is part of the reason Zuckerberg had to go to Capitol Hill.)

Each of the campaign objectives in Ads Manager is there as a result of Facebook users’ behaviors.

For example…

When you run a campaign using the Video View campaign objective, Facebook is going to show your ad (which contains a video) to people who are more likely to watch a video. Y

When you run a campaign using the Traffic campaign objective, Facebook is going to show your ad to people who are more likely to click on the link and visit your website.

So by using the Triple Threat you are putting Facebook’s power to work for you, allowing them to help your ad reach the specific people who are more likely to take action.

PPS – Want to learn more proven Facebook strategies?  If so, here are two great opportunities:

1) We’re hosting a live webinar next Thursday (May 10th). During the webinar we’ll share the six most common mistakes people make with their Facebook marketing, and give you specific steps to ensure you aren’t making these mistakes.  If you’re interested, you can register here.

2) If you’d like a more hands-on training, we’ll be hosting our last Facebook Master Class on Wednesday May 9th. This is a live, in-person, training.  Only a few seats are still available.  Learn more here.

This will be the last Facebook Master Class we are hosting until some time in late 2018. 

And the best part…they’re FREE!

But if you’ve been on Facebook for any length of time, then you know your Facebook posts now only reach a fraction of the people they use to reach.  WHY?

Here’s what Facebook has to say:

Rather than showing people all possible content, News Feed is designed to show each person on Facebook the content that’s most relevant to them. Of the 1,500+ stories a person might see whenever they log onto Facebook, News Feed displays approximately 300. To choose which stories to show, News Feed ranks each possible story (from more to less important) by looking at thousands of factors relative to each person.

So in effect, Facebook says they only want to show your posts to people who are likely to be both interested and engaged in what it is that you’re sharing.

Here’s why…

Your audience is very diverse.  Some are local. Some are national.  Some are even international.

And even though they all like your page…they have a very diverse interests.

What can you do to ensure that your posts are relevant to your audiences’ interests?

Did you know Facebook gives you the ability to target your organic Facebook posts based on your audiences’ interest?

Introducing…

The Facebook Organic Posts Targeting Strategy

Let’s take a look at how to increase engagement on a Facebook page by targeting your organic posts.

Step 1 – Adjust Your Facebook Page Settings

You’ll want to click on the Facebook Settings tab in the top right of your page.

Next you’ll want to click on News Feed Audience and Visibility for Posts.

Then simply click the check box to allow news feed audience selection, and click Save Changes.

Now once you navigate back to your Facebook timeline you’ll see the audience targeting icon has appeared.

Step 2 – Target Your Facebook Organic Post

Now it’s time to write your Facebook post.  As you’re writing your post you’ll notice the Facebook Audience Targeting icon has appeared.

Once you have your post written, then click on the Targeting Icon.

Once you click on the Target Icon, you’ll notice your Potential post reach will appear on the right-hand side.  (Your potential audience will equal the total number of Facebook Page Likes you currently have.)

Now it’s time to start narrowing your potential audience.

Facebook currently gives you the ability to narrow your audience by:

Gender
Relationship Status
Educational Status
Age
Location
Language
Interests
Post End Date
As you select from these various options, you’ll notice your potential audience size continually decreases.
Since this particular Facebook post is about Social Media and Facebook strategy, I’m going to target based on “Interests.”

When you click on “Interests” you’ll notice another line appears.

Next, click on the “All Interests” link.

This will open popup a screen where you can start typing in the interests you’d like to target.

In this example, I’m going to target people interested in Facebook and social media marketing.

Once you’ve entered all the interests that you’d like to target, click on Target Interests.

You’ll notice that now our potential reach dropped from 4,733 to only 1,200.  This means that once we publish this post, only about 1,200 of the 4,733 people who like our page have the potential to see this post.

Seems terrible, right!?

Why would you want to reduce the number of potential people who see your post?

As we talked about a little earlier, Facebook is now rewarding people for posting content that is relevant – and by narrowing your audience you are able to drive up the relevancy of each post.

Based on their interest, I know these 1,200 people have expressed “interest” in social media and Facebook strategies.  And that’s exactly what this Facebook post, and the article it links to, is about.

What You’ll Discover

When you start using this organic post targeting strategy, you’ll know how to increase engagement on a Facebook page.

Over time you’ll see that your organic targeted posts out perform your un-targeted posts.

Although reducing the potential reach of your post seems counter intuitive (like not clicking the Boost Post button), you’ll find higher engagement with each post.

Need additional help? Here’s a video walking you through how to increase engagement to a Facebook page with organic post targeting:

Unlike paid advertisements, organic post are as easy as snapping a pic or typing a catchy phrase, then posting it to your business page.

Unfortunately, that’s about all the thought most business owners put into making a Facebook post. Which is fine … if an overall strategy and template has been developed for organic post. 

The strategy outlined in this post is a proven method to position your business as the go-to authority in your industry.

Most businesses have a shotgun approach. Making random post with no cohesiveness or thought of how the post fits an overall strategy.

Here is how most businesses post:

Monday: Get 10% off!

Tuesday: nothing

Wednesday: nothing

Thursday: nothing

Friday: Random picture with no text. 2 hours later, another random picture. 5 minutes later, another random picture. (Notice there have been no post all week then all of a sudden there are 3 post within 2 hours!)

Saturday: Get 10% off!

Sunday: Stop in Monday to get 10% off!

This maybe you. If so, that’s fine. But STOP IT!

Not only is it ineffective but it’s annoying!

Facebook actually has an algorithm to weed out these post. They want the best user experience possible for everyone on Facebook. We’ve found that Facebook shows those annoying post to about 5% (or less) of your potential reach. Instead of reaching 1,000 people, you reach 50.

Why Your Post Engagement and Views Have Been Declining

Facebook says,

Rather than showing people all possible content, News Feed is designed to show each person on Facebook the content that’s most relevant to them. Of the 1,500+ stories a person might see whenever they log onto Facebook, News Feed displays approximately 300. To choose which stories to show, News Feed ranks each possible story (from more to less important) by looking at thousands of factors relative to each person.

The First Step to Stopping the Decline

You’re at a party with friends. Within five minutes of meeting the new guy in the group, he’s trying to sell you his product or service. He’s given you a card and working on scheduling the appointment. You can’t get away fast enough.

But how about the guy you meet, a financial planner, that after some small talk about your kids, he gives you a great tip on a new tax-free college fund for your kid. After that short exchange, the conversation continues onto something else that interest both of you.

The next morning while getting ready for work, you see his ad for financial services on the morning news.

Question: Who from the party are you more likely to do business with? I guarantee it’s not the annoying guy that gave you a cold sales pitch.

But what about the second guy. He was genuine. Gave you a free piece of valuable advice with nothing expected in return.

The later built trust. Trust is the single most important factor in any business relationship (or any type of relationship).

In Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, Gary Vaynerchuck writes,

“If you’re in business, first and foremost, you have to be nice. Show your customers that you care.”

“Your story needs to move people’s spirits and build their goodwill, so that when you finally do ask them to buy from you, they feel like you’ve given them so much it would be almost rude to refuse.”

Jabs are what Vaynerchuck says when referring to multiple pieces of valuable content . The sell is the right hook. A boxer throws lots of jabs before he ever goes for the knock out punch – a right hook!

Organic post are your jabs. Fill your page with valuable content, funny memes, behind the scenes videos and customer success stories, then throw the right hook with a Facebook Ad.

Introducing the Facebook Jab Strategy

The step-by-step strategy is the ultimate way to engage customers. It will create a community. A tribe of followers. It will attract new leads. And most important, build trust.

How often to post:

The typical user could see around 1500 post a day but Facebook’s algorithm cuts that down to about 300. Only the most engaging 300 are shown.

Post once per week and you’re not going to reach much of your audience. Post too much and your followers may miss some important post. We found one post per day is ideal.

With this template, you are going to make some powerful post. You want to give your followers enough time to see the post. Remember, there is a limited number of post that Facebook shows users. The more you post, the less room it leaves for your other post. Again, we found once a day is the optimal post volume.

Following are five different types of post to make as part of the Facebook Jab Strategy .

Educational Content: Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world.” It’s also a fairly powerful tool to create customer loyalty and engage new ones. People don’t care about our brand, store or product. They care about “What does it do for me?” Create valuable content that helps solve your customers’ issues. A video that entertains them. A blog post that teaches them how to create something. The more you teach and entertain, the more you can sell.

Engagement: In Seth Godins’s book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, he says “Leaders lead when they take positions, when they connect with their tribes, and when they help the tribe connect to itself.” People want to connect. Feel apart of something. The purpose of the engagement post is to prompt communication between the leader (you, the business) and customers and also customer to customer engagement.

This is done by posting an open ended question for the day.

Any business can post something like, “What is your favorite local restaurant?”

A running store may post, “What is Your Favorite Brand of Running Shoe and Why?”

A book store could ask, “Do you prefer fiction or nonfiction?”

Behind the Scenes: The purpose here is threefold.

1. Allow the customer to connect with a real person. A custom furniture store may post a video or pictures of them building a dining table. Retailers could could show the unboxing of the latest products. People don’t always realize there is an actual person behind the business. A person just like them. Brand connection is powerful. But nothing can match human connection.
2. Establish the “Why”. People don’t buy your product or service. They buy the result that it gives them. Show the building process of your physical product. How you test a product. The backend to the service you provide. A web design company could post a picture of their team huddled around the drafting table with mockups and sketches.
3. People want to be entertained. Some of you reading this are local celebrities in you community or industry. Look at the success of reality TV. Behind the scenes photos and stories is the top way to entertain your audience. Throw in some bloopers.

Celebrity Customer or Employee: Make your customers celebrities and they will love you. Create celebrities out of your employees and they will be loyal for a lifetime.

It doesn’t need to be “celebrity” in the terms we typically think. Not a movie star.

This is more about recognition. If your customer runs a 5k, post a congratulations. Even if your business has nothing to do with running. Let your employees write blog post or produce educational content. Establish them as the expert.

Meme: This is a humorous image usually with funny text. People love these.

The Template for the Facebook Jab Strategy

Following is a suggested template. This is not set in stone. We find certain post are more engaging for different types of businesses for different days. The one constant though is the frequency of Educational Content. Aim to post 2 – 3 pieces of Educational Content each week.

Monday – engagement, question

Tuesday – content, education

Wednesday – behind the scenes

Thursday – content, education

Friday – meme

Saturday – Celebrity customer or employee

Sunday – freestyle

Implement the Jab Strategy Now

The Facebook Jab Strategy increases customer loyalty, establishes your business as the authority and drives new leads. Best of all, it drives up revenue!

The template allows you to know exactly what to post each day. Save time by scheduling your post at the start of each week. Send this article to your team member that handles social media. Send it to your marketing agency.

If you found this article useful, please consider sharing it to your Facebook or Twitter page.

Want to know how to put Facebook to work for your business?  Click here to get and we’ll share exactly what we’re doing for our clients.

If you’re using the Facebook Boost button you’re wasting money!

Sure, it’s easy to use. Facebook delivers plenty of Likes, Shares, and Comments – but very little in the way of actual ROI (return on investment).

Facebook is one of the most powerful marketing tools on the planet…when you know how to use it.

How would you like to a simple strategy that will deliver tremendous ROI? And the best part is it’s simple to do. You can even implement it today.

Before I reveal the strategy, first I want to share the seven reasons you should never hit the Facebook Boost Button.

1)    You Only Get One Campaign Objective (Engagement)

When you hit the Boost Post button, Facebook runs an Engagement Campaign for you. The purpose of an Engagement Campaign is to get more Likes, Shares, and Comments for your post. On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with getting more Likes, Shares, and Comments – but rest assured there are many other high ROI Facebook campaigns you could be running.

If you’ve only ever hit the Boost Post button, chances are good you’re not even aware Facebook currently offers ten different campaign objectives. Here are Facebook’s current ten campaign objectives.  Nine of them aren’t found when clicking the Boost Post button.

More on each of these ten campaign objectives later, but for now let’s talk about why the Facebook Boost Post button only gives you one option for your campaign objective.

When you run a Facebook Engagement campaign (aka – hit the Boost Post button), Facebook delivers your ad to people who are most apt to Like, Share, and/or Comment on your post. And when someone does any of those three things it creates a very visual measurement.

You and everyone who comes to your Facebook page see all the Likes, Shares, and Comments. This does two very subtle things: 1) it gets others to Like, Share, and Comment; 2) it creates social proof – the illusion that you’re getting great results from your Boost.

Likes, Shares, and Comments don’t put money in your bank account.

2)    The Demographic Options are Very Limited

Marketing guru, Dan Kennedy, teaches that the more clearly you define and understand your ideal client, the more effective your marketing becomes. When you click the Boost Post button, Facebook gives you three initial demographic/audience options.

Based on our surveys, over 70 percent of people who click the Boost Post button leave the audience target as “People who like your Page.” Over 20 percent of people occasionally select “People who like your Page and their friends.” This leaves less than 10 percent who select “People you choose through targeting.”

The truth is, even though it’s the last option (“people you choose through targeting”) – it has the power to deliver the highest ROI of all three. Sadly, the vast majority of people never click it.

Even if you’re one of the few who has given it a try, you’re only seeing a small fraction of the targeting capabilities that exist with Facebook ads. Here are the options offered to you when you click “edit your audience.”

Sure, these options look good. But when you compare these with demographic options available through Facebook’s Power Editor (more on this later), it looks a bit anemic.

3)    There are NO Behavior Options

Do you ever check-in at restaurants on Facebook? Do you ever make Facebook posts from other places – like while you’re on vacation? Do you make posts about purchases you’ve recently made?

Okay maybe you don’t, but a large portion of Facebook users do, and Facebook keeps track of all of this information, and builds extremely accurate profiles of their users. According to some recent research by Wu Youyou and Michal Kosinski, computers monitoring Facebook Likes can more accurately predict someone’s personality than co-workers, friends, family, and even spouses.

“With just 10 likes, the computer did a better job predicting someone’s personality than a co-worker did; with 70 likes, it beat friends’ and roommates’ judgments; with 150 likes, it superseded that of family members; and with 300 likes, it was even better than a spouse.”

Crazy! And a little scary, right?

Maybe so, but it is wonderful news for you as a marketer. The data Facebook gathers gives you an uncanny ability to laser target your perfect audience. Unfortunately, this laser-like targeting isn’t available when you click the Boost Post button.

Let’s say you own a men’s clothing store and you want to target men likely to purchase new clothes. Using Power Editor, Facebook allows you to target men, based on their actual purchase behavior, who have made and are likely to make new wardrobe purchases.

This alone should be reason enough to never hit the Boost Button again. But if you’re still not convinced…keep reading.

4)    You Can’t Customize The Delivery Schedule

When you click the Boost Post button, the only delivery schedule option you have is when you would like for your ad to end. That’s a good feature. It keeps you from boosting a post and then forgetting about the boost as your credit card bill keeps going up. Scheduling the end date really doesn’t provide much other value.

To help me convince you to never hit the Boost Post button again, let’s assume you own a pizza restaurant. Your restaurant is a wood-fire oven restaurant open only for lunch and dinner.

As the great restaurateur that you are, you decide you’re going to start using Facebook to boost your lunch time traffic. Hmmm…how will you do this?

Well if you don’t use the Boost Post button and instead use Facebook’s Power Editor, you can easily have your ads appear during the “lunch decision” window (10 a.m. – noon). Look at how simple it is to set up.

As a smart restaurateur you know most people don’t decide where they’re going for lunch until some time in the few hours before lunch. Fortunately with the Facebook Scheduling tool you’re able to select the exact time(s) you want your ad to appear – gaining tremendous targeting power – which can’t be utilized by clicking the Boost Post button.  Learn more here.

5)    You Can’t Add a Headline

Have you noticed that some ads in your News Feed look different than the posts you boost? Some have headlines – a bold text section directly under the image. Here’s an example.

On the surface having the ability to add a headline may not seem like a big deal. However, when the primary goal of your campaign is to drive revenue, a headline is one great tool to help your ad stand out from the crowd.

The headline font size is substantially larger than all the other “competing” text in and around your ad. Winners often only win by a slight edge. Your headline, when crafted with skill, gives you that slight edge.

6)    You Can’t Create Carousel Images

What are carousel image ads? Glad you asked. Carousel image ads are those ads that include up to five photos which people can scroll through, each containing a short headline and description. Here’s an example.

To be honest, for the longest time  I thought carousel image ads were just another shiny object designed to entice people to spend money on Facebook. However, after significant split- testing, these carousel image ads almost always outperform regular image ads.

Caveat – don’t take my word for it, do your own split-testing. Every audience is unique and as a result may respond differently.

7)    Run Invisible Posts

Invisible posts are probably one the best hidden tools available within Facebook. But you’re not going to find them by clicking the Boost Post button.

So, what is an invisible post? An invisible post is a post that appears in others’ News Feeds, but does not appear on your Facebook page. This gives you the ability to run ads and promotions that people who like your Facebook page will never see. There is tremendous power in this approach.

This approach is great if you want to run a campaign to entice new people to your business. Maybe you have a special offer to get people in the door for the first time – and you don’t want your existing customers (people who already Like your Facebook page) to take advantage of this offer.

As a general rule of thumb, you want to keep your Facebook page 85 percent+ non-promotional. Meaning at least 8 out of every 10 posts you make to your Page should be informative and serve your audience. The few other posts can be promotional in nature.

Using an invisible post gives you the ability to continually sell and promote without driving your customers crazy. But again, creating an invisible post isn’t possible by clicking the Boost Post button.

Conclusion

If you want MORE than Likes, Shares, and Comments, then you need to avoid the Boost Post button.

By delivering Likes, Shares, and Comments, Facebook gives you social proof, causing you to believe you’re getting results. In reality, they’re using social proof to convince you to keep spending money by clicking the Boost Post button.

As a smart marketer, it’s your job to get the highest ROI out of each and every campaign. And unfortunately you won’t get this by clicking the Boost Post button.

If you want to get the MOST from your Facebook campaigns, you’ve got to learn how to use Facebook’s Power Editor. I’ve put together a detailed video walk-through of how you can begin quickly and easily experiencing the phenomenal results Power Editor can provide. You can get the entire series here.

Once every few years a theory comes along with an insight so penetrating, so powerful – and so simply, demonstrably true – that it instantly changes the way we think and do business…

Broken Windows Broken Business is that book.

Businesses get in trouble when they neglect small problems. If a window in a building is broken and left unrepaired, soon all the windows will be shattered, creating a perception of chaos. The same principle applies to business.

Attention to detail demonstrates corporate competence – and that the company cares about the consumer.  Broken windows – and peeling paint, worn carpets, and dirty restrooms – signal that the business doesn’t care.

I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with the author, Michael Levine, talking about how the smallest remedies reap the biggest rewards.

Here’s some of what we talk about in this interview:

• What is the Broken Windows Theory – and why does it matter?
• What are some of the most common Broken Windows in business?
• What two traits that are required in order to find and repair broken windows?
• When you identified a broken window, but it’s not something that can be immediately repaired…what should be done?
• What’s the Magical Piano at Nordstroms? What can others learn from it?
• Why is it important they don’t have a tip jar?
• Plus much more.

WARNING:  Michael doesn’t hold back! His honesty is a breath of fresh air in this over-hyped, over-dramatized, world of business strategy.  If you’re ready to hear the truth – and okay with being offended by what you hear – then click the play button below.

Click here to download this episode.  (Right click and then click Save This Link)

Want more from Mr. Levine?

Get updates each month from Mr. Levine by visiting: www.theexcelreport.com

You can contact him at: mlevine@timewire.net

It was a fascinating conversation.

Here’s some of what we discuss:

Where did the idea for Louder Than Words come from?

You say in the introduction, “this is a book for doers”, what do you mean by that statement?

Why developing your authentic voice is the most important work you’ll ever do.

What’s a through-line, why is it important, and how can I identify it?

What do Jimi Hendrix and the Monkeys have to do with this process?

What are dailies?

Todd shares some the dailies from his life?

What’s missing from Louder Than Words?

 Listen in to our conversation:

Grab your copy of Louder Than Words.

About Louder Than Words:

There has never been a better time to build an audience around your idea or product. But with so many people and companies clamoring for attention, it’s also more challenging than ever to do work that deeply resonates with the marketplace and creates true and lasting impact.

According to Todd Henry, the key to standing apart from the noise is to find your unique voice. Those who identify and develop their voices will gain more attention and wield more influence. But first they have to identify what they truly stand for, develop a compelling vision, and become masters of expressing their ideas in whatever media they choose.

Henry offers strategies, exercises, and true stories that illustrate the five attributes of resonant work:
• Authenticity: Uncover the narratives that are at the core of your personal and professional identity.

• Uniqueness: Identify what makes your work distinct from that of others, and learn to creatively package and present your message.

• Consonance: Cultivate internal consistency and harmony in your work.

• Empathy: Listen to your audience’s aspirations and struggles to make your message more compelling.

• Timing: Learn how to coordinate your work with ideas that already have cultural momentum.
Making your work speak is a life-long process of trial, error, and realignment. Henry’s book will help readers build a body of work that resonates deeply and achieves lasting impact.

As an entrepreneur, particularly when you’re just starting out, you often spend your days working tirelessly … Alone. Regardless of your goal – you must plan successfully and that success is defined by the management mix also affectionately referred to as the 4 Ps of business. The problem is most entrepreneurs spend all their time focused on only 3 of these Ps, virtually ignoring the final P until it’s really late in the game.

In case a reminder is needed in business – 4 Ps exist:

People – the assets that keep your business going and growing toward success

Product – the item being sold, the service being provided or the idea being presented

Process – from conception to expansion and everything in between

Profit – the money you make on the process and product with the help your team (people)

The issue at hand is most entrepreneurs spend the majority of their time focused on the last three Ps, giving little effort to the first P – People, until way too late.

If you’re going to grow your business to a significant size, you’re going to need people. Most entrepreneurs place people management at the bottom of the list and wait until the last possible moment to “deal with people.”

When people start to become the problem, you’ve waited too long to begin focusing on the people component of your business. People are an integral part of your success; they are the human asset that makes your business profitable.

Not too long ago I was at the first meeting of a new Master Mind group with other tech entrepreneurs and the topic of our conversation was employees.

As we were going around the table introducing ourselves – one of the questions we had to answer was -how many employees work for you. After a brief introduction of himself and his company, the man (a very seasoned entrepreneur running a large software company) sitting next to me said, “with regard to the number of people I have working for me…it’s about half of them.”

Everyone sitting around the table laughed…and then each echoed the same sentiment.

He then proceeded to share how even after 25 years in business and numerous long-time employees; they were still constantly dealing with employee issues.

Dealing with people can be difficult, whether in a working relationship, church congregation relationship or a family relationship. There are constantly stories of feuds at work, churches that split and divorce rates hovering above the 50 percent mark.

We’re all human – so why such difficulty when it comes to dealing with people? Why do so many of the entrepreneurs I talk to constantly complain and bemoan problems with regard to getting employees to perform at their peak potential?

From my personal experience, I have discovered four important questions that all employees (or even subcontractors) need answer in order to excel on the job.

1 – Where are we going?

People don’t like uncertainty. They like to know what to expect. What would happen if you hired an employee but didn’t tell them when and how much they’d get paid? They would probably never start working for you, right?

And yet, this is the same mistake we often make with regard to explaining where we’re heading as a company.

What do Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Steve Winn, Thomas Edison and Elon Musk have in common? They all are/were brilliant at helping others see their vision of what is possible. They can see the future and get others to buy into the possibility. Without this buy in from their teams, not one would have had the impact they did on the world.

It’s your role as the leader to…

1 – Create a vision for the future of your organization

2 – Effectively communicate that vision to your team

Once you’ve created the vision and effectively communicated it to your team; now is the time to ensure they understand the why.

2 – Why does it matter?

Sadly, the vast majority of employees today don’t understand why their role is important and how it connects with the big picture within the company. Without guiding each person on your team to make this connection – it is difficult for them understand how the sometimes seemingly meaningless tasks they do each day makes strides toward the company goals.

In Daniel Pink’s best-selling book, Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us, he explains why and how to use purpose (or the why) as a motivator.

Define the Purpose – Take steps to fulfill employees’ natural desire to contribute to a cause greater and more enduring than themselves.

Communicate the Purpose – Make sure employees know and understand the organization’s purpose goals not just its profit goals. Employees, who understand the purpose and vision of their organization and how their individual roles contribute to this purpose, are more likely to be satisfied in their work.

Place Equal Emphasis on Purpose Maximization and Profit Maximization – Research shows the attainment of profit goals has no impact on a person’s well-being and actually contributes to their ill-being. Organizational and individual goals should focus on purpose as well as profit. Many successful companies are now using profit as the catalyst to pursuing purpose, rather than the objective.

Use Purpose-Oriented Words – Talk about the organization as a united team by using words such as “us” and “we”, inspiring employees to talk about the organization in the same way and feel a part of the greater cause.

3 – What is expected of them?

Most entrepreneurs assume new hires are being properly trained. However, according to a recent study, only 66 percent of companies train their new employees, almost half (42 percent) of companies don’t identify clear job titles/expectations, and only 39 percent of companies set milestones and goals for career advancement.

You need to ensure that each person on your team has a clearly defined role statement – one they buy into. One of the simplest ways to get employee buy in is to allow them to provide feedback and help write/re-write their role statement. (Find a sample of one of our role statements at uglymugmarketing.com/careers.)

When clear expectations are set, employees can:

–Understand the specific tasks and results they should be delivering

-Understand why their work matter, and how it connects with the big picture

-Understand how well they are performing

-Know where to go when they need help or support

-See the gap between their current and desired performance

4 – How/when you will measure?

Without systems and processes in place for measuring results, you have no way of knowing if progress is made.

As Peter Drucker used to say, “What’s measured improves.”

For employees to thrive, they must have a clear understanding of how their performance will be measured. Over the years we’ve experimented with numerous ways to measure employee performance, from daily reports to weekly goal review sessions to monthly performance reviews. We discovered a combination of all of these methods of measurement seem to work best.

Here’s how we do it:

Monthly Performance Review: We conduct our monthly employee performance reviews based on each individual’s role statement. We begin by having the employee rate themselves in each of the core areas they are responsible for (as outlined on their performance review) and then we meet to discuss and review their performance based in each of the core areas. This process of a monthly performance review keeps them in tune with exactly what is expected of them.

Weekly Goal Review: On Friday each member of our team submits their goals for the upcoming week, as well as a status update on their goals for the current week. These weekly goals directly correlate with how they’ll be rated during their monthly performance review.

Daily Update: At the end of each day, each team member submits a daily update. The information submitted in these daily updates varies from role to role, but the primary objective is to answer these questions:

-What did I get done today?

-What are my main objectives for tomorrow?

-Where am I stuck?

-What questions do I have?

Answering these questions each day not only helps ensure each team member is maintaining the proper focus, but also provides outside accountability.

Conclusion

These four simple steps will not only help your business thrive…but also, the people on your team. When everyone is moving in the same direction, pushing for the same objective and they understand why it matters, you’ll be surprised by how natural business growth occurs.

Ignore these four steps however and each day will be a struggle and sheer drudgery. Invest the time today to focus everyone in the same direction and you’ll enjoy the dividends for years to come.