Instructing you to “Have Fun” as our final networking tip isn’t just something we’re tacking onto the end to make it to #12. Attending networking events and socials can and should be an enjoyable part of your business growth activities. If the thought of attending one still makes you roll your eyes and sigh heavily, then something isn’t right. Perhaps you should re-read the other 11 tips.

Following the tips we suggest in #1 – #11 should automatically give you a feeling of excitement towards attending because you see networking events, not as a necessary evil, but as full of potential!

1. The pressure is off – Once the pressure is off of you to have to “sell, sell, sell” you will find your shoulders more relaxed as  you arrive with a different goal: meeting new people and simply listening to what they have to say.

2. Instead of thinking of yourself as an attendee, think of yourself as a host. What does a host do at a party? Mingle, talk to new people, introduce connections that have a good fit.

3. One of the best things we can do for our own personal growth is to put the needs of others ahead of our own. By becoming others-centered in the way you approach your business (including networking) you will find great satisfaction.

If you haven’t been following our 12 tips to transforming your networking activities, here are the other 11.

1. Redefine Your Concept of Networking

2. Do Your Homework

3. Have A Goal

4. Lose Your Peeps

5. 3-2-1 Contact!

6. Come With Questions

7. The Ultimate Question

8. Know When To Stop

9. Connect A Connection

10. The Follow-Up

11. Be A Resource

Happy selling!

I attended a networking breakfast last year with a friend (as his guest). In this particular group, the members pay close to $1,000 each year to participate. I sat at a table with 6 other people. We chatted, exchanged business cards, listened to the morning speaker. During the event, the speaker talked about the importance of passing leads and gave networking tips.

The following day, I emailed each of the people I met. I suggested it was nice to meet them and I made a reference back to something I had talked about with each of them. I also indicated that I looked forward to learning more about their business in the future.

Are you ready for this?

Not a single person responded.

How’s that for an ego killer? Fortunately my ego isn’t tied to other people’s bad networking moves.

Here are 5 things to do to follow-up with a new connection:

1. The next day, send a follow-up email to the people you meet and speak with. Tell them it was nice to meet them and refer back to something that you spoke about with them.
2. Look them up on LinkedIn. If they have a profile, make a connection. Include a personalized invitation to connect that refers back to having met at the networking event the day before.
3. Record any notes in your database as to what you learned about them and their business.
4. If during your conversation at the networking event you promised to provide the new connection with something — make sure and do it!
5. Schedule a follow-up phone call with the connection for 4-6 weeks into the future.

It still surprises me that the simple act of follow-up after a networking event is something that will set you apart from the pack.

Happy selling!

Many people don’t consider the impact that a holiday celebration or a company party at any time of year can have on your business and on the individuals who work for you.

Although few promotions happen at an office party, many a career has been lost following what was supposed to be a time of celebration.

It seems good in theory… a nice dinner, drinks, dancing, entertainment… all in effort to show your employees how appreciative you are for their service to your vision.

As a business owner, deciding whether to party or not to party can keep you up at night. Here are some considerations in deciding whether or not a holiday or office party is a good business decision.

1. Poll your employees and ask them how they feel about a company party. Offer three options:

• a party after work hours
• a party during work hours
• an extra day off in lieu of a gathering

Go with the majority.

2. If alcohol is served at your company function, offer all employees a safe ride home. You do not want to lose your business in a lawsuit from someone else’s poor decision to drink and drive after consuming alcohol that you served.

3. There are 364 other days during the year in which you can have a few drinks if you choose. The company party that you are throwing for your employees should not be one of them. The more alcohol you consume, the more your judgment is impaired. Keep your wits about you and not only will you have no regrets the next day, you’ll be better equipped to help others who might not exercise restraint in their consumption.

4. If you ever serve alcohol, serve food. We recommend tasty things wrapped in bacon. And lots of them!

5. If your party is after work hours, make sure that spouses / significant others are welcome. This is not only good form, the presence of a spouse discourages employees to act badly or engage in flirting or other behavior they normally would not do.

6. If anyone on your staff has a drinking problem that you are aware of, don’t serve alcohol. Do something else. Give staff a day off, take them all to lunch, cater in a lunch, give movie or dinner gift certificates… there are many options. Should everyone have to miss out on drinking for the sake of one employee? Yes. (Of course, you don’t announce this – you simply do it.)

7. If thinking about the costs of a company party stresses you out – perhaps you should consider a less extravagant way to express your appreciation. This is where the day off idea might fit well.

You’ll notice that many of our suggestions are things to consider related to alcohol consumption. Alcohol has ruined more lives following office festivities than any thing else. The last thing you want to do is set your employees up for failure.

Remember, whether it happens during work or not, your company party is a business function representative of your business. The restaurant you visit will know who you are, potential clients may be around, other people can be impacted by the activities of your staff during your party. What image do you want to show?

This can all be summed up in three words that apply to any company celebration, whether it is around Christmastime, a summer company picnic or any other time of year: make good choices.

Happy selling!

“Haven’t the good people of Detroit suffered enough?”

This isn’t a quote lamenting an increase in crime rate or a change in governmental policy that affects Detroit’s citizens. It is one of many woeful expressions over the scheduling of Canadian band Nickelback to play during the Detroit Lions’ halftime show on Thanksgiving Day.

The Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys are a Turkey Day football tradition. They usually rock out the halftime shows more than normal because of the holiday. The selection of Nickelback to perform this year in Detroit has caused quite a stir. Despite an internet petition that gathered 50,000 electronic signatures, the Detroit Lions are standing firm. Why? Because people buy Nickelback music. Currently, Nickelback is the most commercially successful Canadian band. They have sold nearly 50 million albums. In the span of the 2000s, they rank 11th as the best-selling musical acts AND are the 2nd best-selling foreign group in the US – just behind the Beatles.

Critics, like Rolling Stone, have called them unimaginative, predictable, unoriginal, boring, lacking in taste, depressingly cliche. These are interesting reviews for a group so highly regarded by music purchasers. They are completely contradictory to what you would think, if you just looked at the cash music buyers drop on Nickelback music. Haters take note: someone is buying Nickelback’s music.

The group was started by lead singer Chad Kroeger. Chad’s brother Mike (bass player) used to work at Starbucks. At the time, the way coffee was priced left him giving many nickels for change. “Here’s your nickel back,” was something he said many times a shift. Did they call the group Nickelback to remind them of from where they came? Perhaps.  But here’s the thing: Before starting the group, Chad Kroeger did his homework. And in that homework is a business lesson we can learn from.

Chad studied which records people were buying in his genre. He became a student of not just how to play music, but what sold in music. He picked apart chords and lyrics in a scientific, observational way to find commonalities between popular songs. He scrutinized each song that sold well and those that didn’t and came up with a formula. Most importantly, they developed a very clear picture of their audience and they understand at great depth what sells well with them. They stick to their formula as they write new songs.

It is this formula for which they are criticized. They are mocked for repetition and banal themes.

Business owners take notice: It is Nickelback’s depth of understanding of what their audience wants that has driven them to musical success, in spite of cranking out chords and lyrics that respected reviewers can’t stand. It is their target audience, not the critics, who have made this band successful.

How well do you know your target audience? Have you gotten inside their heads? Do you know what makes their world go ’round? Do you know the great need that your service or products fill for them? You should. Otherwise you could be putting out product that may sound great on paper, but no one will buy. If you don’t know your buyer, you’ll end up listening to the wrong opinions when determining your strategy.

Your buyers’ opinion matters. You can’t know their opinion unless you know your buyer. Nickelback knows their buyer. When all is said and done, that is what they want to do – sell their music. And they are selling. A lot of it.

I’ll be watching Detroit play the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving Day. During halftime, I may not admit to watching the halftime show, but I’ll be humming Rockstar from the kitchen as I grab another plate of turkey.

Happy selling!

My wife went to Penn State. She was a student-athlete and we have several friends who live in Happy Valley and work for PSU.  In the wake of the events over the last week – our hearts have been heavy for the school, for the students, and most importantly, for the victims of the crimes.

All that to say, I have kept a keen eye out for relevant news and articles related to Penn State. On Twitter and elsewhere, when I see something with a catchy title or blurb that references PSU or Penn State, I’ve been reading.

I noticed that one woman had several tweets using the #PSU hashtag. I clicked on one and was taken to a blog post that was an advertisement for her latest book. It had absolutely nothing – I repeat nothing – to do with Penn State and it did not give any insight or relevance to what is happening there. She is using the #PSU hashtag to drive people to her website to promote her book. I went through some of her other tweets. Same thing.

Business people and shameless self-promotors… beware! This practice will do nothing to build credibility in your products or earn you any readership. Quite the opposite – it could tarnish your reputation. If I so chose, I could name her here. I could put a link to her website with some negative commentary. I won’t. I do hope she finds this post or that someone educates her on smart marketing.

What do I suggest? I think using what is current or topical in the media or in society is not a bad thing – but you have to be able to tie the event in with something that your readers will be interested in.

So, I could write a post on the responsibilities of a leader, making my points based on what I’ve observed happening at Penn State. Or I could write a post on how to recover your marketing when you’ve gotten bad press. My clients and readers have an interest in leadership and marketing, so these might be interesting to them.

Don’t be a hashtag hooligan – driving people to your website with a promise of relevance to something they might care about and then do nothing to support your promise. Bad strategy.

This summer, we packed our minivan and headed out on a cross-country road trip to Texas. We have family there and summers offer the kids a chance for a nice long visit with their Grandma and cousins. I knew we were in for a long haul when we didn’t even get off of our street before my 5-year-old had to use the washroom. But we forged on and eventually crossed the Texas state line.

Just outside of Amarillo, Texas, my wife and I did a double take as we passed a roadside truck stop. I turned the car around at the next highway exit and we went back for a closer look. This is what we saw:

The name of this truck stop is The Jesus Christ is Lord Travel Center. Along the windows are verses from the book of Psalms. A digital sign alternated bible verses with the local time and weather. No matter which side of the building you faced, you were met with declarations of Christ’s Lordship over that travel center.

The Jesus Christ is Lord Travel Center is owner by Sam Kohli. Sam is an entrepreneurial-minded business man. He owns a trucking company that transports goods across North America. Disgusted with the way Jesus’ name is used as a swear-word by media, TV and movie productions, he decided to use his trucks as traveling billboards to share the gospel and proclaim the message of Christ.  He especially likes when he has deliveries in Southern California and the message drives through Hollywood.
Sam wasn’t worried that he might lose business by doing what he knew to be right. In an article on Sam’s website he states: “Some customers said they didn’t want their goods transported in trailers with this message. So, they’re not customers anymore.”

Sam is 100% all-in to the cause of the gospel and the purpose of his business. No one can look at Sam’s website, his building or even his trucks and come away wondering what he is all about. He puts it out there – front and center – for the world to see.

In your business – if an outsider were to look at your website, read your brochures, or listen to an employee talk about the company would they know what you are all about? I’m not just talking about your faith; is your business message so crystal-clear that no one could wonder what you do or why you do it?

Too often I encounter companies who are trying to blend in with others in their industry. “Everyone else does this, so I think I should do it too…” Unfortunately, there is nothing to differentiate you from the rest of the world. Nothing to show why someone should do business with you, above all other options.

As Christians, we are told we are to be in the world, but not of the world. I seek that in my life and in my business. If I am just like the people in the world around me, I am going to be ineffective in my discipleship. If I am just like the others in my industry, I am going to be ineffective in my work.

God cares about our work. He cares how we do it, He cares about our motives behind our work and He cares about the people we come in contact with as we work. Are you all in?

I have been asked by a number of people, “What is Google+ and do I need to get my business on it?”

Google+ is new and only available on a limited trial basis. Google does not let allow businesses to be on Google+ yet but they will, and we should be getting more information on that shortly.

In the meantime, here is a video on Google+ and look for another blog post shortly on the opportunities we see on Google+ for sales and marketing.

In the pacific northwest, the number of food trucks in cities like Seattle and Vancouver are causing a lot of controversy. One local news report interviewed a restaurant owner who was working at a feverish rate to drum up support for the campaign to outlaw food trucks. The news crew interviewed him in the dining room of his downtown restaurant and just by looking at the surroundings, I can tell you right now… his problem isn’t the increase in food trucks. The restaurant revealed a run down interior with a variety of hand-written paper signs advertising old daily specials and a cartoon with a character rolling on the floor in laughter saying “You want what?” The problem is not competition – the problem appears to be that he has become lazy. If he invested half the energy he had in fighting change into creating great food and a great environment, a taco truck moving in would not be a problem.

Photo By Ricardo Diaz

You can’t control how many competitors you have, you can’t control what they do or say about themselves. The only thing you can control is your own business. I ran into the new owner of a small coffee house an the elevator. He carried two trays full of fancy coffees. As the doors closed, he turned and offered me a choice of any coffee I wanted. I then watched him walk from office to office offering free coffee. I asked him was this an effective strategy for getting more customers? His answer of “more effective then hoping they find me” was perfect. You can sit and complain that Starbucks has moved into the neighborhood – or you can take matters into your own hands and do something about it.

You have decided to start a blog for your business and in a fit of enthusiasm you created three or four blog posts. Now it has been a few weeks and you have not published anything more. You know you should be creating weekly content, but you just can’t think of anything to write about. Sound familiar?

The way to get over your writer’s block is to make a publishing schedule for your blog. A publishing schedule allows you to think long-term about your blog and pick topics that fit strategically around times of the year or around business cycles. Calendar out the topics you want to cover each week / month. Include when you want to publish them, and also when you plan to write them. For example, an accountant might want to blog on tax tips right before tax season. She might write the blogs for her busy time during the slower summer months. Then, come tax time, she already has blog posts written and doesn’t lose momentum.

A blogging schedule not only helps your blogs get written, it is a great reference tool after the fact. If you need to find content that you previously created, you can go to your schedule and find it quickly.

Begin by breaking your blogs into a number of different categories. You might decide you want to offer:

1. Tutorials – teach your readers how to do something
2. Points of view on a current topic or trend (or alternate point of view on another authors blog post)
3. Answers to readers/customers questions
4. Industry news
5. Book or product reviews
6. Lists –Top 5 reasons…
7. Create a series – Ninety days to a better…

Another example: If you are a Financial Planner, you might blog about spending habits, top 5 tips for saving money, investment strategies, education on financial terms for non-financial people, new retirement savings guidelines and what they mean, and a series on understanding the stock market.

You can determine to write 10 blog posts in each of these categories. Nearly all of the blogging tools allow you to create categories to assign to your posts. Using categories helps your reader find information quickly. Breaking the writing work into smaller categories actually makes it easier to write the material.

More Blogging Resources:
Blog Publishing Schedule Worksheet -Download here
Free Webinar: Building Your Business With A Blog -August 3, 2011

Ever see the TV commercial in which a guy grabbing some beer from a store cooler mistakenly thinks he is being invited to a party by a girl who is also shopping? He doesn’t realize she is talking on her bluetooth and isn’t even aware of his existence. He makes the same mistake again in the checkout line – thinking she’s talking to him. Embarrassing!

I’ve visited many a website in which I’ve felt like the stumped beer dude. At first glance, it appears the company has products or services I’m interested in, but as I start to read the content I’m left wondering, “Are they talking to me?”

Do your website a favor this week. Spend some time considering the following points:

1. First, write down the answer to this question: Who do you want to read your website?
Is your site for prospects? Committed clients? Vendors? Colleagues and industry professionals? You may have different parts of your site for people in more than one of these groups. That’s ok if the language used on each page is relevant to the person you’d like to have read it.

Do you mix pronouns on a page? In some cases do you refer to the reader as “you…” and then switch perspective to “they” or “our clients”? If so, this could be a sign that you are confused as to who is your reader.

2. Do you use industry jargon that is familiar to colleagues or professionals on a page that is intended to be read by a prospect? Lose the jargon. Jargon, initialisms, words that fall outside everyday language should always (say it with me, “ALWAYS”) be avoided.

3. Is your text a-buzz with buzz words and short on example? Don’t litter your text with the ten-dollar words. There is a reason so many of us are familiar with the “Keep It Simple Stupid” principle. The problem is not enough businesses apply it to their copy. Some popular buzz words that will fast lose your reader might include: leverage, synergy, win-win, paradigm-shift, value-added… Instead of using these words, simply explain to the reader what the paradigm-shift is. What is the value you will add? Don’t promise it, give an example of it. Bring it to life for the reader.

4. Can a visitor to your site quickly identify what on your site is relevant to him or her? You might know who you want reading the site, but if navigation is too complex, people will bail. The term ‘bounce-rate’ refers to the number of people that land on a webpage then quickly leave the site, rather than stay and visit other pages. If your analytics express high bounce rate numbers, you may want to consider if the reason is confusing navigation.

5. TMI? If your website is little more than a regurgitation of every other marketing piece your company has produced, it is likely an ineffective tool. Can you clearly articulate the purpose of your website in a sentence? Here’s a hint – the purpose is related to the answer to the first question in this post – who do you want reading the text?

Do a little Al Pacino bit on your website this week. Pretend you are the person you want reading your site and go through each page asking, “You talkin’ to me?”