As a business owner, we all know business is ‘about’ people. Most entrepreneurs therefore, tend to be outgoing and social. Having fun while doing what you love is part of what gives it the juice. Experts agree that when you can have fun in your business you attract higher rates of success and satisfaction. When you can share that enthusiasm with employees, and customers alike, it catches on quickly and spreads.

Short term memory is our amazing friend. It is said that we can remember things  best in up to four chucks of information.  Here’s an example of what I mean. Take a phone  number, and break it down. Let’s use 866.700.5555

so you can remember the first part the middle part and the last part and perhaps a name associated with that number. That would be four parts. Do you trust it to stick though?

Best bet?   write it down. We have so much to remember, especially if we are in business, that we better not push the envelope.

Get in the habit of writing down your daily tasks or goals, and have that all recorded in one place. Namely a day timer of your choice. Most of us are visual, so writing things down in a place where we can see them is huge. However you may the ‘techy type’ and recoding your tasks in a Blackberry is fine for you. Not for most of us. We need to see the list, and be able to cross of our completions.

Still not writing down important ideas? Memory research tells us that a new idea only lasts 40 seconds! Imagine. Do you have a new project you are ready to embark on, a website for example?

Valuable TIP:  assemble a simple binder together and give it a name; like

Cathy’s Big Book of Website Ideas

record everything in one place. If you don’t, who will?

Ideas are nothing more than thin air if they get away on you!

believing – we do it at a conscious level

and we do it at a sub conscious level

Is one canceling out the other? Let me ask you this;

Do you believe you have what people are looking for?  Do you believe you solve their problem with your product or service?

If you answered yes at a conscious level and yet at a sub conscious level you don’t really believe it yourself, you are canceling out your thoughts. How can you attract new business?

To change all that, you must believe at all levels that you have what it takes.  To boost your own self confidence remember your successes. This  allows customers and prospects to pick up on your vibe.

Dr.Wayne Dyers words come to mind

“what you are seeking is seeking you”

I Need to be Cheaper Than My Competition

Not necessarily- please refer to Myth # 1

With all your relationship building you do, your customers are more likely to be so loyal to you, price doesn’t matter. They have an experience with you- that is something you can’t put a price on.

In a nutshell: it’s all about feelings, perceived value, and unique experiences you offer to make your customers happy enough to stay.

Take hairdressers for example- I’ll bet you know ladies who drive an hour and a half to still be with their favorite hairdresser- and if she or he puts the price up- they gladly pay it!! Nice! why? They perceive a value while doing business along with an unique experience  and want to keep that going by remaining loyal.

See all your customers or clients as life long. Go the extra mile- they’ll stay!

Reward them with cards of appreciation. You’ll see magic in simple acknowledgment. When you truly acknowledge a person  for who they are, (not trying to toot your own horn)  they feel good. For a simple effective on line card greeting card service, I use SendOutCards. This makes it a snap to always have a card ready  when you feel prompted to send a heart felt card.

Tip;

if you have a Birthday Club in your client data base, and you take the time to send a birthday card- please drop the urge to pop your business card in it- or worse yet make a remark something about ‘you love referrals’-!! come on- it’s THEIR birthday.

It’s all about them, so it’s ok to drop the branding for today.

Don’t Expect Results Overnight!

Gee, and how does that fall in line with Law of Attraction thinking? Not in the least actually.

Here’s what I know to be true:

Have the expectation   ‘the best is occurring right now’!

I also have learned that we need to test any forms of advertising we do. And yet, even in the testing we can expect the best!  Why set yourself up for something  so negative as Don’t Expect Results Overnight? Do your homework and put your name out there in the right places.  For instance the Yellow Pages are a thing of the past for many, not all,  businesses today. Yet they really work for others- so do your homework, it’s best not to assume.

… then expect the best and allow it to manifest

Today, a potential customer and even regular customers, choose where to spend their money. It’s not that they don’t have it- they are simple making a choice where to spend. What helps make that decision for people is how much value  they see in your product or service.

Sad but true- everyone silently asks the question: ‘what’s in it for me’? in other words, why should they spend their money with you?

Value is the key ingredient

Value:the quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable;

Time is valuable- don’t waste theirs -respond promptly

Energy is valuable- don’t make it hard for people to buy

Vision is valuable- help people find you

Knowledge is valuable- help people learn more

Messages are valuable- market clearly- help people know you are one to serve their needs best!

mastermind groups, networking groups, workshops; seminars…

what do all these have in common? A place to grow your business. And in Chilliwack, we have a new group just forming, called The Business Success Club. Headed up by Kevin Schroeder of Money Concepts, he wants a group to come together each month to learn how to grow their businesses. If you want to join us, please do! We are open to new businesses to create a vibrant community. This month we have as guest speaker, Reg Neufeld of Growing  into Success Training.

We meet at Decades Coffee Shop- for now- as we grow  we’ll need a larger meeting room. Wellington Rd at Mary Street, from 9:15 am to noon. Aprils meeting is Saturday April 25th

Email Kevin at kschroeder@moneyconcepts.ca  for a seat!

I have just been invited to be an exhibitor at an upcoming business trade show in the Valley!

I’ll be in booth  #109 at the Tradex building, April 16, from 3:30 to 10 pm.

This event is sponsored by Chamber of Commerce’s from  Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack, and the Board of Trade of Surrey.

That’s over 250 businesses, and we expect well over 9oo people.

Stop by and say hi.  I am giving away my expertice …enter to win!

Today, my Saturday morning began with meeting a group of like minded business folks. What a way to start the day. The Business Success Club was the brainchild of  Kevin Schroeder from  Money Concepts. We all took new business ideas away – and that’s what makes it special. For me, I learned even more about how the web can truly link us all together. Matthew Hawkins presented  a talk on social media- or as he referred to is as Web 2.0   Here’s a neat little trick from Goggle that he shared with us. Lots of folks have blogs- (you’re on  mine! ) and now you can have Google gather your favorites for you, in one place. When anyone  you like to follow updates their blog, just go to your GoogleReader.com account and you can read it all there. What a time saver. I just set mine up in about a minute.

We also heard from Steve Czeck Empyrion Technologies;  what success meant to him as a business owner and for his team. The morning ended with a colleague of mine speaking, Deborah Reynolds, who spoke about  attitudes, and alliances in business  while staying authentic at the same time. Of course if you go to Matthews blog, he outlined Deborah’s talk with excellent point forms. Thank you Matthew.

See how just in this space here I have connected you, the reader, to 4 people you probably didn’t know- and now you do- Plus one free time saving tip you can access on  the web. And  thanks to the Web…. it keeps us all connected.

One last thing- Deborah made a great point; she said that there is no such thing as “6 degrees of separation”  it’s more like only 2 or 3 these days!

Good point Deb!

Everyone can go through a slump time. Cheer them up with a tasty treat and a greeting card that will surely brighten their day.