WEBLOG Houston, Texas: March 28th, 2010: A recent discussion led me to recommend the following book -- Customers For Life: How To Turn That One-Time Buyer Into a Lifetime Customer - by Carl Sewell.
Carl Sewell is regarded as a leader of the "Good to Great" movement in American business. Carl gives us three critical tips:
1. Listen very carefully to customers. Although intuitively obvious, most companies neglect to ask the buyer what he or she wants. As experts in their field, they assume that they know their customers' wants without asking. Such myopic neglect leads to isolation from customer expectations. Over time, it results in a disconnect between seller and buyer.
2. Determine what 'best' is. Enterprises are inward-looking. Mr. Sewell yearned to be the best, but having been in the same insulated dealership for 14 years, he didn't know what best meant. So he visited the leading out-of-state car dealership (i.e., out of his competition zone) for two days. He observed, he asked questions and he learned first-hand how the best behaved. But he didn't stop with his own industry – he also visited leaders such as Walt Disney Co., Electronic Data Systems Corp. and Neiman Marcus Group Inc. The lessons he learned were remarkable and indelible.
3. Engage seasoned consultants for objectivity and expertise. Yes, consultants cost money, and they're a luxury many small and medium-size businesses do without. But avoiding outside consultants only adds to an enterprise's isolation. If becoming the best is your goal, Mr. Sewell would tell you that a knowledgeable, experienced consultant is a necessity.
Notes from Dallas Morning News - Thursday, April 19, 2007

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: March 7th, 2010: Recently a painter asked a question that is basic to small businesses of all types. How could he increase his business?
The painter said he found that the decision-maker was invariably the wife and she was mostly over 35.
My suggestion was to team up with a local beauty salon, spa, or similar business owner and joint venture their direct mail – they send the painter's ad to their list of clients and the painter send the spa's ad to his list.
It works better, I believe, if each business actually recommends the other to their list of clients. Try to find some reason for the recommendation — "My wife just came back from a visit to XXX Beauty Shop and looked fabulous. I have arranged for all of my painting clients to get a special 15% discount if they visit XXX Beauty Shop before the end of March...."
Likewise, they write to their list something like, "We just had PainterBiz redo our shop entrance and he did a great job. Because we were so happy, we arranged for PainterBiz to offer our clients a 15% discount on their next paint job, as long as it is started before the end of March..."
Get the idea? Joint venturing doubles the reach of your direct mail!

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: February 19th, 2010: An experienced business owner was finding no joy in his business and almost zero growth. He was fed up with being broke!
He wanted suggestions for his business, and I told him — The answer isn't in your business, it rests with you. If you were the CEO of a large corporation and you needed more sales, you would hire more salespeople. As a small business owner, if you want more sales YOU must be a better salesperson. If you want your business to be more dynamic, YOU must be a more dynamic person. The fact is, for a small business to improve, the owner must improve.
If this were my assignment as your coach, I wouldn't want to know about the business. I would focus on what you think of the business, what you feel about running it and how you believe things should be. A coach can guide you through that process and draw out your special talents, then help you make them profitable.
Because, the truth is, you know how to correct the situation – the information is inside your brain. It may be mixed up with lots of other information that is not productive, but it is there. You know your business better than anyone, and you have the answers.
The first thing you should do, before even approaching a coach, is make yourself coachable. Make the committment that you will work with your coach and be ready to change yourself rather than change your business, your products or your market.
Actually, you can do this yourself, but it's easier and faster working with an experienced coach. You must be ready to be coached, though, and for an independent business person, this is sometimes difficult. Overcome that resistance and you will find yourself on the path to renewed prosperity in no time.
I'll be happy to answer any questions you have.

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: January 21st, 2010: There are many ways to start a business with minimal cash, but it is important to start with your own resources and not borrowed money.
    — By far the best resource is personal savings.
    — Raise cash by selling personal assets – motorhome, boat,
    — Invite family and friends to invest in your business,
    — Customer financing – where the customer pays a deposit,
    — Sell annual maintenance contracts.
    I think it unwise to start a business with borrowed money. A business starting in debt, and a going business taking on debt, are two very different things. When there is no income and the first thing one must do as a new business owner is write a repayment check to the bank, that is pure folly. At least go out and make a few sales. At least win a few customers or clients. At least get established as a business before burdening yourself with repayments.
    If you were a business owner and you are starting a new business, you must have some money built up from the previous business, or you were not a capable business owner. If that is the case, that is a problem you need to address before getting into debt.
    If you have never been a business owner before, you have no experience of business debt. Add that to the inexperience of being a business owner, and you are asking for trouble. Establish the business first, then take on debt, if necessary. Taking on debt before knowing what it is to be a business owner, is an indication of poor business decision-making.
    Lacking any resources of your own, I recommend getting an entry-level job in the industry of choice, learn the business from the inside, save like the blazes, then start your business with knowledge and money – two prime requisites for a successful business.

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: January 10th, 2010: Are we still in a recession? Overall, it has ended, but some places seem to be suffering, still. Might this be a good time to start your own business? If you are unemployed, it is a way to bring in some money. If you are employed, setting up your own business on the side might be good "insurance," just in case!
    It's possible to start a business without much money. The money you use can be someone else's – family, investors or the bank's. However, you do have to pay it back. Best to use your own.
    When I started my first business, my bank refused my request for a loan. I had to start with what I had, which was less than I thought I needed. But we managed. We went from success to success, with no debt burden to hold us back.
    Lesson #1 – Don't borrow money to start a business! If you do, you'll not be in control – the person who lent you the money will have control. (See Raising money for your business. )
    If you don't have enough money, pool resources. Some of the most successful companies started out as partnerships – Microsoft (Gates and Allen), Apple (Jobs and Wozniak), Cisco (Bosack and Lerner), HP (Hewlett and Packard). Sears (Sears and Roebuck), Disney (Roy and Walt Disney). Many of them started during a recession.
    Lesson #2 – People function better together than they do alone. Having a partner gives you someone to talk with, discuss ideas, and receive support and encouragement.
    We make choices every day, and our choices dictate how our lives will develop. Our choices, in fact, determine our destiny. If you want to own a business, you must decide! You must choose to play a bigger game. (More about playing a bigger game. )

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: January 1st, 2010: Someone said to me, "To pretend there is no recession is to prepare to fail!"
    I think to pretend there IS a recession is more likely to result in failure than pretending there is no recession.
    The term "recession" applies to the economy as a whole. It never happens that everybody's business is down at the same time and by the same amount. Some businesses will improve and some will decline, but that happens at the best of times as well. In a recession more businesses will decline than will expand, but some will still expand.
    So, make sure you are one of the businesses that expands. You cannot do that by going into survival mode and by setting up your business for the worst. That's how recessions happen - by more businesses preparing for the worst than prepare for the best.
    You see, a recession does not cause the economy to decline. It's the other way round - an economy that goes into decline causes a recession. And as you are part of the economy, your preparing for the worst is part of the cause of the recession.
    So, my thoughts on this New Year's Day is, for 2010, I will prepare for the future by doing exactly as I did last year and prepare for the best, maintain a positive attitude, see the good in everything around me, grab every opportunity that presents itself and go out and make my own opportunities in between times.
    And I will win in 2010 as I did in 2009. What will YOU do - prepare for the worst or prepare for the best?

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: December 14th, 2009: I was accused this past week of being a nut! Maybe I am a little nutty!
    Whatever it is, is. One can focus on the good of it or the bad of it. It seems to me, even if it is mostly bad, looking on the good side . . .
  a) feels better (which is reason enough on it's own)
  b) by feeling better, I am more able to deal with the problem (being bright and cheerful makes you more confident and that makes you more capable)
  c) being more capable, I am more likely to succeed at overcoming the problem (it's easier to solve problems when you are bright and cheerful than when you are sad and gloomy)
  d) and if I overcome problems better, I am likely to be more successful overall.
    I know they (the gloomsters) say that we have to accept what is – we have to see things as they really are. But I say, Why? Why must I look at things as they really are? What will I gain by looking at things as they really are?
    If we do that, as I show above, we will not be as successful as we can be by looking on the bright side.
    Wayne Dyer said: If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
    I find that to be true.
    So, Nutters Unite! Come and join us at Self Improvement | Facebook where we look on the bright side of things.

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: December 7th, 2009: I've been thinking a lot about goals. This is what I have come up with —
    1. Goals are important for giving our lives direction. If we don't have goals, we wake up every day and have to recalibrate — Why am I doing this? Why am I going to work? Why this job? Why this business? What am I trying to achieve? If we have goals, we don't have to ask those questions. Our goals give us the answers.
    2. The value of goals is not what we get from accomplishing them, it's what we become by making the effort. When all is said and done, the big house, fancy cars and diamond rings count for nothing – on our deathbed, all we have is the person we have become.
    3. Goals are not as motivating as we think. We need to have a good reason for achieving them, but even a strong "Why" isn't as motivating as we suppose. The process of achieving our goals must be enjoyable. If the work is not fun, we will lean towards not doing it. Procrastination only occurs when not doing something is more enjoyable than doing it.
    And, finally...
    4. Goals and Success are not the same thing. Goals are achieving something. Success is how you feel about it. Donald Trump said, "Success is being pleased with your efforts." He didn't say, "being pleased with your results" — he said, "being pleased with your efforts." These are the words of a very successful man who seems to be driven by results. Yet, results clearly have little to do with success, as far as Donald Trump is concerned.
    Success is about making an effort and being pleased with the effort you make. The effort leads to achieving goals you set but it is the pleasure in doing the work that motivates you to keep on making the effort. It's a great combination.

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: November 27th, 2009: I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving – and if you are not American, I hope you have plenty to be thankful for, anyway.
    Every so often, a small business owner's thoughts turn to advertising and promotion — How to get new customers and clients, and the inevitable, "What's the best method of advertising?"
    I think any advertising medium works – if you put the right message on it. To say this or that type of advertising doesn't work, doesn't make sense. Yellowpages, park benches, keytags, magnets, doorhangers, painted roofs, yard signs, billboards and everything else will work – with the right message.
    All too often, after a presentation by a media salesperson, we choose the medium first then decide what message to put on it. I suggest the better approach is to decide on the messsage that will attract your target market and then select which medium will best deliver that message. Horses and carts, don't you know?!
    I never did any advertising for my plumbing company but plenty of promotion (all costing nothing but time) and turned over millions of dollars per year. I never had a single call about unblocking drains and changing out a leaky faucet – because we didn't do that kind of work and people that wanted that kind of work didn't even know we existed!
    I think it is important to know the customers you want, determine the message that will attract them and then decide the advertising medium that will best carry that message to your prospects. And not do any other advertising and promotion that will come to the attention of people you don't want as customers.

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: November 3rd, 2009: "Pay off your credit cards and cancel them!" — Good advice, perhaps, for people who have let credit get the better of them. It is not good advice for people who know how to handle money. It's like saying no-one should drive an automobile because a few don't know how they work and won't learn to drive properly. Even 45,000 deaths a year from auto accidents won't make that argument valid!
    Here's what I see as benefits of using credit cards--
      1. The use of credit cards builds credit history - and a good credit history is essential for getting lower interest rates and better terms on loans such as home mortgages and business loans.
      2. A good credit history helps in getting better jobs, better insurance rates and better anything that involves money, because the providers (employers, insurance companies, banks, etc.) consider you a better risk if you have your personal finances in order.
      3. Purchasing on credit gives you more protection against faulty goods and bad service. You cannot take back cash you have already paid but you can refuse to pay the bill - and credit card companies generally favor the cardholder over the vendor in a dispute. But even that depends on yours (and the vendor's) credit history.
      4. Credit cards help people and businesses balance their income and expenditures, thus helping them manage their finances by evening out cash flow.
    Notice, I do not count "instant gratification" and "buying now instead of waiting until you have saved up" to be benefits of credit cards. In some respects, these are negatives and are the reasons many people get into trouble with credit.
    I look on credit cards in the same way I look on cars - they are a needed and beneficial part of modern life but they will destroy you if you don't handle them properly. So will dogs, electricity, fast food, barbed wire, and a zillion other things we live with every day.

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: October 27th, 2009: A contractor client was having difficulty establishing company procedures. I told him he needed to make up his mind what business he is in — either he is a small jobbing contractor working directly for homeowners, or he is a large subcontractor "in the making" taking sizeable contracts from large general contractors (even though he hasn't reached that stage, yet.) There are different procedures necessary depending on the size of job the company does or plans to do. There is a different mental attitude that goes along with that, too.
    We are told we cannot be all things to all people. If you want to be a small jobbing firm, don't approach large contractors for subcontract work – focus on homeowners. If you are – or want to become – a large subcontractor, focus on contractors who can give you large contracts and stop chasing homeowners for little jobs.
    My point is, if you are not going to pursue homeowners because you decide to become a large-project subcontractor, the procedures you adopt must be suited to large-projects. Only if you decide to be a small jobbing contractor will your procedures be small jobbing procedures.
    I'm not saying one is better than the other. There are good reasons for being a one- or two-man residential service company, and there are reasons for becoming a large-project-only subcontractor.
    You have to make the decision, plan for and work towards reaching your goal. But that decision comes before any decisions are made as to the procedures to be adopted. Once you have decided, you will be able to set up company policy and standard procedures to be applied across the board. That will allow you to grow your business to be the sort of company you want it to become.

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: October 18th, 2009: One of the long term goals that everyone must consider is saving for retirement. There are lots of questions to be asked when considering this subject and, unfortunately, not enough room here to answer them all. The one question that everybody wants to know is, "How much is enough to provide for the type of retirement I want?" Of course, that prompts the question, "What sort of retirement do you want?" Once you have decided that, how to get there usually calls for some guidance.
    Topics to be considered include present and future earnings, savings, investment vehicles, financial management, taxes, dealing with financial planners and so much more.
    There is an e-book that answers these questions, and many others on this complicated subject — How Much Is Enough? Balancing Today's Needs with Tomorrow's Retirement Goals.
    This e-book provides the information needed to build a personal plan. Author and financial planning expert Diane McCurdy clearly explains how to save on taxes and invest wisely. You will learn how to find the money you need to reach your retirement goals, and build a customized plan.
    You will also learn how to comfortably work with financial advisors and manage the investments needed for your retirement. Filled with in-depth insight and practical advice, How Much Is Enough? is a refreshing approach to defining retirement goals and building a personalized plan to reach them.
    This is one aspect of goalsetting. Other e-books on the subject can be found at my website on Self-Improvement — Self Improvement e-Books on Goalsetting.

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: October 4th, 2009: I hazard to suggest that the trick to online advertising is to not try to sell anything in the ad but just to make it sound interesting. Obviously, you need to make it sound interesting to the sort of person who would buy what you are selling - your target market, that is.
    I really believe a new era has dawned in marketing, sparked by the social media craze. We must no longer try to sell our product in the ad, expecting people to come and buy. Once they have decided to buy, they will have already decided where they are going to buy - and that will be (hopefully) where they got the most help when gathering information. To advertise to people who have already decided to buy is already too late!
    Thus, the "new" advertising must be to entice the likely prospect to come and seek information from us. By giving them the information they want, they will decide from that whether to buy, and if they decide to buy they will return to the person who was most helpful in the information-gathering stage.
    That's how my theory goes, anyway. We will have to wait and see if it works out like that!

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: September 28th, 2009: Several coach and speaker friends of mine will be posting daily on a new Facebook fan page called Self Improvement. I will be posting short video clips of an encouraging, positive and educational nature. I am anticipating an active discussion section on the various subjects that fall under the heading of Self Improvement. Won't you join us?
    All friends are welcome to participate and encouraged to visit. Your comments, here or there, are most welcome, and your suggestions, as usual, greatly appreciated.
    Personal development / self improvement in business is a strange animal. It's very easy to think of it as education about business topics, like accounting, sales, customer relations. While these are definitely important, I see PD/SI as being more about the person – things like self-confidence, self-esteem, gratitude, purpose.
    Improving small business is really all about improving the small business owner. If you want more sales, you have to be a better salesperson. If you want a more vibrant business, you have to be a more vibrant person. Thus, self improvement is - I think - a major part of improving a small business.
    Personal goals are usually quite different from business goals, and achieving them needs a different approach. And, if employees are involved, the congruency of your business goals and your employees' personal goals can get quite complex.
    It's an interesting subject, indeed. And of more consequence to the success of a busines than is generally thought.

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: September 14th, 2009: It has been said that you should keep your professional life separate from your personal life. Which raises the question of marketing on social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and even LinkedIn.
    I find the idea of separating business and personal life a very interesting idea in this day and age. I always felt the same, but I'm an old guy and most of my business career was B.I. (before internet.)
    I now realize that keeping business and personal lives separate never was a great idea and is detrimental to your financial wellbeing today. To have a set of business associates and a different set of personal friends is very limiting, both to your business progress and your social progress.
    Why not increase your personal friendships by including business associates, and why not increase your business potential by including your social contacts? Seems like a no-brainer to me. Which is why the likes of Facebook are so popular.
    However, that doesn't leave social media open for all sorts of marketing, especially the sort of "in-your-face" marketing that seems to be quite prevalent.
    The old-style marketing doesn't cut it in the modern world of social interaction. Trying to sell your products and services on Facebook, etc, is about as welcoming as cornering someone's friend at a house party with a "fantastic" MLM "Opportunity!" There's a time and place for everything — or, perhaps one might say, there is a style for every occasion.
    Just letting your contacts know what you do and letting them decide when they would like to be approached, is the better way, I think. It's a delicate balance, and I hope I have got it right!

WEBLOG Houston, Texas: August 30th, 2009: This week, I turn my blog over to Brian Tracy. . . . . The Definition of Wealth
    If you want to be wealthy, you must understand what wealth is. Here is the best definition of wealth you will ever find. Wealth is "Cash flow from other sources."
 Make Your Money Work For You — This means you are not wealthy just because you earn a lot of money. You are only wealthy when your money works for you. To become wealthy, your main job is to acquire money and then put it to work making more money for you.
 Add Value Continually — The key to creating wealth is simple. It is called "adding value." Successful people are those who are always looking for ways to add value in some way to a person, a company, a product or a service.
 Do It Faster — Here is an example of adding value: Domino's Pizza. The founders of Domino's Pizza took a common food, offered by thousands of little restaurants and added value by delivering it faster than anyone else. The added value of speed enabled Domino's to create a billion dollar empire and made the founder of Domino's, Tom Monahan, one of the richest men in the world.
 Action Exercises — Here are two actions you can take immediately to add more value to your time and activities:
    First, take time to be absolutely clear about what people want and need to improve their lives and work. The more clear you are about their real needs, the easier it is for you to satisfy them at a higher level.
    Second, look for ways to add value to what you are doing every day in every way. Never be satisfied with the status quo. One small idea to add value can be the starting point of a great fortune.

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