You Don't Know What You're Missing

What is the risk involved in speaking with someone new? Not too much, unless you think they are going to try to sell you something. Suddenly the person appears as a  threat to your time, energy, and money.

How are people perceiving you? Are you missing out on a genuine opportunity because someone in the equation feels like they are about to be pitched to?
Take this quiz to find out how approachable you are.

• How many times are you willing to attend a networking event before you get business out of it?
• When you enter a networking event, do you immediately go toward the people you know, or toward strangers hoping they need your product or service?
• Do you spend most of the conversation time at networking events focusing on the other person, or do you tend to monopolize the conversation?
• Do you connect with people on Linked In and other social media sites and stay in touch with them over time?
• Do you ever bring guests with you to a networking event?
• Out of all the people you know from networking, what percentage of them would you say are friends?
• Do you ever get together with some of your networking friends outside of work hours?

The answers to these questions will be different for everyone but they should provide some insight into your motivation during networking events. Make that time about helping other people first, and you will find what you have been missing; valuable relationships with other business people. Earning trust, and new clients, takes time and patience.

Joanne Randall

724-603-LEAP

joanne@leapyearmarketing.com

Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Marketing Mojo Radio

Accept No Substitutes

You can read, listen, and watch all you want, but there is no substitute for experience. Too bad.

Experience can be very costly; money, time, relationships, and reputation.
We have all lived life's embarrassing moments. I have had my share as well. No one likes to play the fool and embarrassing situations are certainly some of the hardest lessons learned due to pride.  Most people can eventually laugh at themselves and their inexperience and move on. If I can't be an inspiration, I can at least be an example (of what NOT to do).
Loss of time spent on foolish endeavors is a toughie since you can't get that time back. But usually the lesson learned has enough intrinsic value that it doesn't seem like a complete loss. And there is usually a good story to tell afterwards. Long afterwards.
Loss of money certainly hurts, and is akin to loss of opportunity. The good news is that you can always make more money. These lessons are often repeated as they usually represent an underlying problem of self-control to some degree or another.  If you kick yourself regularly, just know you are in good company.
The cost of one's reputation can be tricky. If it is a public matter, all parties involved will never recover completely, but most can usually summon up enough support from their loyal fans to gather momentum and start fresh. How many comebacks have you witnessed? Music, business, financial, politics, you name it.  The bigger they are the harder they fall.
The last category is the most important. Relationships are crucial in life, and in business. No person in their death bed ever said, "I wish I had spent more time at work." Once damaged, a relationship has the potential to go in any direction.  It could end, possibly resulting in damage to reputation. There is no such thing in relationships as damage control. Once damaged, it is nearly impossible to restore, sometimes you can't even restore it to be in existence. Nothing is more important than relationships. Quality of life depends on them. We seek them out. Nurture them. Cherish them. Then take them for granted.

No amount of success in business is worth one iota of damage to a personal relationship. Always put them first and everything else falls into place.

Joanne Randall

724-603-LEAP

joanne@leapyearmarketing.com

Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Marketing Mojo Radio

Help! I Need Somebody! - John Lennon

When you need help ask for it.
Recently my back went out. And when I say my back went out I mean I couldn't walk or function. It was the week leading up to Memorial Day weekend. We had been planning on camping for a few weeks and my husband had been furiously working to get the camper ready for our first camping trip.
I had played softball on Monday evening and even though my back was sore I thought I was still okay and just needed to rest. On Tuesday morning I bent over to pick up my shoes and my back went out. Basically, my world stopped. I was in excruciating pain and I knew I would not be able to fulfill my business responsibilities for the remainder of the week.

But instead of this week being a total loss, I called in the troops. My new employee, Amanda, is a very competent young woman. I called her to tell her not to come to the office but to work from her house all day Wednesday. We spoke on the phone in the morning and I gave her instructions on what I would like her to do. We touched base again after lunch and I gave her additional assignments for the day. I also contacted my group of business associates that I network with and asked them to help me find a sub for my BNI meeting that Friday morning. People jumped right in and helped me find someone quickly.
I also knew that if I really needed it I could ask my church to help provide meals for me for a couple days so that I could rest. I did not call them but knowing that I could make me feel a lot better.
The story has a happy ending. I got most of the work done that I had planned on that week and on Friday morning my back was able to be adjusted and I started feeling almost normal by lunchtime. I was able to go camping with my family and relax for three days knowing that my workload had not built up over the week and I would be able to return to work on Tuesday morning on schedule.
As entrepreneurs we are used to doing everything by ourselves. I must tell you however that that is not a good idea when you have an unexpected event happen to you. Don't be afraid to ask for help. People love to help other people because they know that their time will come when they need help as well. It can also be an opportunity for some people to pay it forward for something someone had done for them in the past.
Ask for help. Get the help. Stay on track. You will not regret it and you will really appreciate those people who stepped forward to help.

Get by with a little help from your friends.

Joanne Randall

724-603-LEAP

joanne@leapyearmarketing.com

Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Marketing Mojo Radio

What Do Santa Claus and Vacations Have In Common?

When my husband and I were planning our wedding we considered going on a cruise for our honeymoon. We also really wanted to buy a house so we saved our money and used it for a down payment on our first home. I don't regret that decision but 12 years later we still haven't gone on a cruise. We did talk about going on a cruise on our 10 year anniversary, but we had a two-year-old at the time so that wasn't happening.
A few months ago my two sisters in law went on a 14 day cruise to Hawaii.  When they returned saw all their pictures and heard the stories of their trip of a lifetime.
That was enough for my husband. Within a week's time we were booked on a cruise.

So what does this have to do with your business? It is important to relate to you the feeling I had once I knew that cruise was booked. Even though it is five months away I think about it every day and get excited about spending a whole week on a cruise ship with my husband. There are days in business when everything seems to go just right, clients are thrilled, and somehow you manage to catch up on your to do list. Then, there are those other days. You know the ones I'm talking about. It is extremely important during those days that you know you have a vacation scheduled.

What is it about a vacation? Is it the actual time we spend doing the activities we look forward to? Or is it the anticipation of the vacation? I submit to you that planning vacations is a lot like the anticipation that builds up before the holiday season.  The excitement, the shopping,  are all part of the experience of the holiday season. Christmas is only a 24 hour period. But look at all we do in anticipation of that one day! It's an experience in itself.
I think we all know that it is important to take vacations to rest and get a break from hard work. But I think knowing that a vacation is planned is just as important to the business owner during those days when things just aren't going right. Somehow you can get through a tough week knowing that you're about to get a break. Without that knowledge it is easy to get burned out.
Even if you don't make plans to go anywhere, once in a while schedule yourself a working vacation. One whole week when you concentrate on getting caught up, doing some research, and maybe a little planning and marketing. Don't set any appointments for that week, and set a vacation reminder on your email. Uninterrupted work time is extremely productive and reduces your stress level immensely.
So go ahead and Photoshop pictures of your bare feet on some Caribbean beach and post them on Facebook that whole week. No one will know the difference and you will come back just as refreshed as if you had been there for real.
Merry Christmas!

Joanne Randall

724-603-LEAP

joanne@leapyearmarketing.com

Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Marketing Mojo Radio

Boil Your Frog and Other Marketing Strategies

You may have heard this one before. There is a story about a pan of water on a stove top and inside sits a frog. The water starts out at room temperature. Someone enters the kitchen and slowly begins to increase the temperature of the water, but just 1° at a time over several hours. The frog notices nothing due to the length of time it takes for the water to heat up.  The water gets hotter and hotter until it reaches 211°. Still the frog sits there. But what happens when one more degree is added? It changes everything! Ribbit!

What temperature are you operating your business at? Room temperature? 211°?

Do you even have a pan on the stove?

What is the one thing that you could do to raise the temperature of your business? It could be personal development. It could be writing a real marketing plan. It could be hiring an employee. If you are not sure what that one thing is, take a look around at some other business owners who are very successful and find out what they are doing to raise the bar for themselves.

Personal development always leads to business development. You cannot have business development without it. I always recommend a business coach to my clients. It increases their accountability and their chances of success. They will always see improvements in their personal life as well.

Writing a real marketing plan is one of the most effective ways to increase the laser focus of your business activities. Our company offers a marketing map which is a marketing plan that offers flexibility and control to the business owner and identifies many of the items that fall into a traditional marketing plan, without ending up on a shelf.

If you find yourself completely bogged down with work all the time, it may be time to consider hiring in employee. Talk about risk! Do it right and hire a payroll company like Paychex to facilitate the payroll process. Then train the person correctly and give them work. Now you have time to increase your sales to pay for that person. Being in employer is a huge responsibility and will instantly step up your game professionally.

Sometimes, like the frog, we do not know how close we are to reaching that one degree that makes all the difference. What can you do to bring your business to the next level? Call us at Leap Year Marketing to do some coaching and goal setting. THAT will get you boiling, I guarantee it!

Joanne Randall

724-603-LEAP

joanne@leapyearmarketing.com

Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Marketing Mojo Radio

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle is a Contradiction in Terms

Every day when my teenage daughter gets home from school, I ask her,  "How was school?" She always says, "Good". Then I ask "What did you do today?" And she says, "Nothing". So then I ask if she has any homework and she says, "No". Earlier today after the same series of questions and answers I said to her, "It makes me wonder if I should even be sending you to school. It's never exciting, you never do anything, and you never have any homework". Further confirming her belief that her mother is a complete nerd.
Now I am certain that not only is school more than good, it can be fun and eventful. I am also sure that she doesn't do nothing all day. And when she has homework she usually gets it done during school or right after school.
But it made me wonder, what actually does happen at school every day? I mean, if she doesn't tell me I can really only find out a little bit of information from her teachers. I am obviously interested in what my daughter does in school but unless she tells me what she does I really have no idea. Hmmm......
I think it is important that as business owners we share at least to some degree what we do all day long. It is important to business owners to be able to relate to each other, tell war stories so to speak. On another level I also think it is important we tell customers and potential clients as well. If they don't know what we do and are capable of doing for our current customers how will they know what we can do for them?
Social media, Facebook in particular, is a great place to share success stories of your business. If you are in the habit of collecting testimonials from your customers, possibly on Linked In, then you should be sharing those on your business Facebook page as well. These types of posts lend credibility to you and your business. It's okay to tell people what you have been doing all day. It isn't boasting, it is building your reputation through marketing. Big difference.

If you don't tell them what you are doing then you are  like the teenager who has a good day doing nothing with nothing to show for it.  And dude, that's lame.

Joanne Randall

www.LeapYearMarketing.com

joanne@leapyearmarketing.com

724-603-LEAP

What is the Big Deal About Social Media?

With all the items that fall under the umbrella of marketing I have found that people are most fascinated with social media. I think this is mainly because it is so popular in the mainstream and yet so simple it makes me wonder why no one came up with the idea sooner.

Jump on!

So why is social media so popular? My theory is that people crave relationships, friendships, and leadership. Deep down we all want to feel that we are needed and that we have value.

I believe that people spend time on social media to fill those gaps in their lives that are not being filled by people in their physical space. This is important because social media is the most effective way businesses can talk to people about solving their problems. If the business understands human nature and the psychology of purchasing habits, they can be extremely effective in growing their sales.

You may not care about someone posting that they are STILL waiting for their Maytag repair man to show up, but you should care that there are businesses out there not providing good customer service and customers react by posting it to the world.

How much time do you spend on Social Media each week for personal reasons? How about for your business? I would like to know.

Joanne Randall

Leap Year Marketing

joanne@leapyearmarketing.com

724-603-5327

www.leapyearmarketing.com