Month: January 2010

Categories
Business Ideas

Are You Playing to Win or Playing Not to Lose?

winner-win.jpg

You may have heard the phrase “playing to win or playing not to lose.” And while it sounds good to say “you’re playing to win” in your business, what exactly does that really mean?

Okay, well first off, let’s define these phrases. To me, playing to win means playing all out. Going for broke. Leaving nothing on the table. You’re putting everything out there to win and holding nothing back.

Playing not to lose means holding something back. Being conservative. Taking some of your chips off the table. Making sure if you don’t win, you minimize your losses.

Now is there a time for each of these? Of course. Playing not to lose makes a lot of sense in certain situations. Vegas for instance. Betting your retirement on a spin of the roulette wheel isn’t real bright. (Even if by some miraculous chance it works, it’s still not too bright.)
And if that’s the way you want to approach your business and your life (playing not to lose) then there’s nothing wrong with it. You can still be successful playing not to lose.

But typically, if that’s your approach, you’re not going to play as big as you could be. And you’re probably not going to make the kind of money you’re capable of.

So how do you know if you’re playing to win or playing not to lose? Well, here are a few signs.

Playing to win in your business:

  • You take risks (and a lot of those risks other people just don’t “get”). Maybe you invest in a high end coaching program or mentorship. Maybe you decide to launch a product that looks on the outside to be a bad idea. Maybe you decide to expand and hire a team even though you really can’t afford it right now.
  • You take advantage of opportunities even if they don’t appear to be a good idea on the surface.
  • You turn down opportunities even if on the surface they look perfect. (Ah, didn’t think I’d say that, did you?)
  • You make decisions from the place you want to be, not necessarily the place you’re at now. (Even if that’s a really scary place to be.)

Playing not to lose in your business:

  • You make decisions based on what you can afford rather than what you need. Okay, a caveat here. I’m NOT saying you should spend your life savings or go into massive debt with no way of paying it off. What I AM saying is sometimes you have to take a risk. For instance, hiring team members. What happens a lot of time is you need the help desperately but you don’t quite have the cash flow. If you never take that first step and hire someone, even on a small basis, you’ll never free yourself up to start making more money.
  • You’re ultra careful about the risks you take (or you don’t take risks at all)
  • You probably aren’t marketing as much as you should be because deep down inside, you don’t want your business to grow very big (after all, you’d start to lose control of it if it did grow to big). Or you aren’t marketing as much because what if it doesn’t work? What if you make this big public splash with your marketing and it fails? It’s bad enough it doesn’t work but now everyone will know it.
  • You don’t try a lot of new things — speaking, marketing, etc.

Now, I want to be clear. There’s nothing wrong with playing not to lose, but chances are you WILL be playing small. You’re going to miss opportunities to get your message and vision out in a big way. You’re not going to take chances where you might fall on your face (especially if you fall on your face in a public way).

Categories
Online Business

Should the Print Newsletter Die – And Let Ezines Takeover?

Should%20the%20Print%20Newsletter%20Die%20-%20And%20Let%20Ezines%20Takeover.png
“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” Mark Twain said that back in 1897.
Print newsletters have been saying it for the past ten years.
Why? Because many business owners feel…
1. With the internet, all they have to do is post content online; everyone will flock to their site to read it. Plus it’s FREE!
2. Email is king! Just send an ezine. It’s FREE!
3. Postage keeps going up along with printing costs… but email is FREE!
There’s no question about it. Print newsletters should have died a long time ago.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the funeral. The print newsletter suddenly became Lazarus and a resurrection took place.
5 Reasons Why Print Newsletters Are Still Around
1. Printed mail gets delivered – It’s never blocked or caught in spam filters.
2. It is proven that the majority of people prefer to hold, touch and feel what they are reading.
3. Studies show online readers retain much less of what they read compared to those reading printed material. So, if you have an offer with a call to action, wouldn’t it be nice if it was remembered for more than 30 seconds?
4. Print newsletters have more perceived value. Think about it. How many companies are willing to do this? Your customers realize you’re spending money to do it.
5. Print newsletters are sticky. They have great ‘hang-time’. People keep print newsletters for further or future reading. Not only are they likely to be read from start to finish, they usually get passed around.
Email Newsletter Marketing Has Major Downsides
(By the way – for the record – I love the internet and I love my email. I can’t imagine life without it or remember life before it)
With that being said, email is NOT the ‘be all and end all’ of modern marketing.
Yes…email is fast, easy and cheap. But who cares about that if it’s not effective?
Here’s the ugly truth: The vast majority of email lies unopened and untouched in the dark nothingness of cyberspace. Emails are routinely wiped out by the dozen in one fell swoop with the simple push of the delete key.
Even if your name is recognized, you still risk being deleted. Maybe your email got caught in a large chunk of junk mail. Or… maybe they’re just having a bad day.
See, today everyone is bombarded by email overload. Spam accounts for about 90% of it. That means 9 out of every 10 emails in your in box is junk. Do you REALLY think your ezine is being read?
And, if your newsletter gets read, how much attention do you think it gets? A Nielsen Norman Group Report revealed the typical email newsletter gets 51 seconds of your reader’s time. That was four years ago. Today, many say its less than 30 seconds.
So, Which One Should You Do: A Print Newsletter or an Ezine?
Now, I’m not suggesting that you stop your email marketing and newsletters.
You may want to do both. Send an email newsletter on a weekly basis. But, send a monthly print newsletter, too.
There is a gold standard to determine which one is best for you.
Simply ask your clients. Survey them to see which one THEY prefer. After all… isn’t it all about what our customer wants?
About the Author:
When Print Newsletter Expert David Gruttadaurio discovered the power of consistently writing and distributing print newsletters to attract and retain clients, he instantly tripled the sales of his business. Now he reveals his bullet-proof plan to thrive in the new, emerging economy at his Profit Exploding Newsletter Secrets Website: http://www.NewslettersMadeForYou.com. Go there to claim your 3 FREE Real Gifts NOW!

Categories
People & Relationships

Who Do You Think You Are? How Social Roles Can Determine Success in Life

Who%20Do%20You%20Think%20You%20Are%20How%20Social%20Roles%20Can%20Determine%20Success%20in%20Life.jpg
When people think of playing a role they usually imagine taking a part in a stage production or starring in a blockbuster movie. For most of us, though, those kind of roles are the stuff of fantasy.
But every day, you actually play all kinds of social roles in your relationships with others. A “social role” is the part played by a person in a given social context, including typical or expected patterns of behavior.
For example, as part of a family you’re a father or mother, sister or brother, son or daughter, cousin, etc. You’re a friend, mentor or role model to someone, or if you have a career you maybe an employee, or boss, or both.
Some social roles, like wife and husband or employee and boss, are determined by the relationship you have to others in your life.
But there are other social roles you play that are often not as obvious to you or even to those around you. These roles are usually ones you’ve chosen, based on your personality profile and they play an important part in determining how much you’re enjoying life. Simply put, while you can play many different social roles, you have a natural predisposition for some over others.
For example many people can learn to sell, but not all are naturally gifted at being a salesperson. Some people find that managing people comes easily and is very rewarding, while others have no idea how to oversee and direct other people’s work.
Success in any role requires a knack for the skills that support that role, and an understanding of the social expectations around it. Just because you’re attracted to a particular role doesn’t mean you automatically have the needed skills or possess that behavioral style.
It’s entirely possible to choose a social role for which you have little or no natural skills (think Joan Crawford in “Mommy Dearest”). When this is the case, it’s often because the role has been presented as something that’s expected, that you should do to please someone important to you or that you need to do to “get ahead.”
Personal growth always involves change. Sometimes it means changing the roles we play, other times it’s a change in how we play a role. But it always begins with a conscious understanding of who we are and the roles we play on a daily basis.
Discovering how well your natural skill sets support the roles you play is an important step to attaining Success For Life. This knowledge allows you to have the all important element of choice.
Carry a small notebook with you for the next 3-5 days and make a note of every role you play in your own and someone else’s life.
Once you have your list, catagorize the roles into ones you enjoy and do well, and ones you don’t take pleasure in. Decide what actions to take to either let go of the unpleasant roles or what behaviors you can adopt to increase your enjoyment of them.
About the Author:
Gary Jordan, Ph.D., has over 27 years of experience in clinical psychology, behavioral assessment, individual development, and coaching. He earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology – Berkeley. He’s the co-founder of Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd., a consulting firm that specializes in helping people discover their true skills and talents. www.vrft.com

Categories
Business Trends

iPhone Based Businesses for Entrepreneurs

Technology is an entrepreneur’s best friend. Today’s gadgets make it easier to stay in touch and manage your business than ever before. As e-commerce reinterprets the brick-and-mortar business as a virtual storefront, Smart phones like iPhone and Blackberry reinterpret the office as a mobile communication center. Make your smart phone a virtual office, and run your business from wherever you are.
Your Smart Phone
Think of how much more business you could get done with a personal assistant. Smart Phones can do even more. Small business owners rely on their iPhone to:
• Stay in touch with customers, anytime and anywhere using business networking tools
• Connect and collaborate with business partners. Smart Phones let you find, communicate, and share data with business partners and service providers.
• Keep an appointment calendar. Automated alerts make sure you’re on time for appointments with potential customers and sales leads. Some smart phones offer more robust apps for prioritizing and managing your tasks and to-do lists.
• Manage customer contacts. Your handheld rolodex keeps client and business colleague contact information at hand at all times.
• Manage your money online. Access Web-based interfaces to pay your bills or transfer funds among accounts. Some iPhone apps also offer expense-tracking applications to “track money in real time”: record business purchases and update financial reports instantly. This is an especially useful feature if multiple users are drawing funds from the same account.
• Manage PPC campaigns. Pay-per-click advertising campaigns call for constant oversight. Make instant adjustments to your PPC campaign via your iPhone.
• Track time spent on different projects. If you bill by the hour, this feature helps you track the time you spend on each client’s project, and create invoices and reports.
With these features right at hand, it’s easier than ever to build a profitable business with little overhead and lots of flexibility.
iPhone-Friendly Business Plans
For a business you can manage from the palm of your hand, consider these ideas:
1. Wedding Planner. Staying in touch is ninety percent of any event planner’s job. Wedding planners coordinate an army of service providers: caterers, invitation and program printers, graphic design companies, florists, entertainers, venues, and so on. An iPhone helps wedding planners act as a liaison between these players and the client.
2. Massage Therapist. Your massage therapy skills and your iPhone adds up to a business as a massage therapist. Rely on your iPhone for managing appointments and marketing your business online.
Clients can reach you anytime to set up an appointment. An automated calendar makes sure you’re in the right place at the right time.
You can reach clients by managing your online marketing services from your palm. Work with Website design and SEO services to set up a Web site for your massage business. PPC management can help get the word out to local clients searching on terms such as “Portland Oregon Shiatsu” or “Hot Stone Massage Honolulu.” Adjust your campaign via your iPhone’s wireless access.
3. Electronic Components Broker. As an independent sales broker of used computer and electronics parts, you’re a liaison between buyer and seller. You need to be in touch to locate buyers and sellers and negotiate a deal between the two parties. iPhone-Based Business Idea: Take your electronics brokerage business an extra mile by establishing a virtual marketplace. Once you set up the infrastructure for trades, this business can easily be managed via your iPhone. A Web design service can help you build a robust marketplace where sellers and buyers can connect and trade components. Armed with point-of-sale (POS) and credit card processing capability, your online marketplace offers a forum for your clients to negotiate prices and complete transactions directly.
4. Personal Financial Advisor. The financial markets won’t pause and wait for you to reach the office and log in. To keep your eye on your client’s investments, rely on your smart phone. Today’s smart phones offer more than a continuous ticker-tape report with real-time data from Wall Street. Customized reporting on investments lets you manage multiple clients’ portfolios on the go. The ability to stay connected helps you:
Respond to opportunities instantly, reaching out to investors and completing the transaction on the go.
Respond to clients instantly, providing them with real-time account information or making adjustments to their portfolio.
Your iPhone also lets you take care of administrative functions on the go, such as recording billable hours per client.
Your iPhone may prove to be your most valuable business partner. In today’s virtual world, the three pillars of a successful business are “communication, communication, communication.” Stay connected with clients, with business leads, and with information, and you’ve got a winning foundation for any business plan.

Categories
Networking

Social Media Rejection

Rejection always hurts, no doubt. In fact, when I worked as a psychologist, rejection (fear of it, or getting over it) was, perhaps, at the root of many of the issues which brought my patients to my therapy practice. I heard so much conversation about this topic that I actually wrote a book on strategies for overcoming rejection.
Now, working as a social marketer and online business consultant, I see that rejection continues to be an issue- but not in quite the same way as I’ve seen before. Now, people are experiencing social media rejection, and wondering what to do about it.
Social media rejection can occur in several ways:
One way is that your request to connect is either denied (harsh!) or ignored (vague.). You might reach out to someone that you know, or would like to know, and get a strong negative reaction or response back. In most cases, you’ll be wondering what happened- what you did to set this person off. Similarly, you might reach out to someone, and they just never seem to get back to you on your connection request.
A second way social media rejection occurs is when you find that you’ve been culled from a list- whether it be taken out of Top Friends on Facebook, or unfollowed on Twitter, or similar. The thing about this is that it might not always be clear what happened. I know, for instance, that sometimes my Twitter account behaves strangely, and my account unfollows people I actually still want to be connected to. I believe, sometimes, that this might be due to some kind of technical glitch, or just a ‘drop’ by the Twitter servers. Anyway, the point is that sometimes people get unfollowed- and then contact me, wondering what happened. Likewise, I know there are times where I’ve been unfollowed, and I’m not sure why.
The third way (more subtle) that social media rejection occurs is when you try to take part in a conversation or make a connection and it is directly rebuffed or ignored, in real time. Again, the challenge with this is you can’t always know if the rebuff or ignore was intentional or accidental.
As with any technologically based method of communication, glitches do happen.
That being said, what about when you are sure that you’ve been rejected? When there is no doubt that you’ve been unfriended or unfollowed on purpose?
Even though it’s virtual, rejection still hurts. Research says that social rejection can actually cause physical pain– a holdover, anthropologists believe, from evolutionary times, where we needed to be part of the ‘tribe’ in order to survive.
Today, while rejection may not impact our survival, it doesn’t make it easier to deal with.
So how to deal with social media rejection? Here are some ideas:
1) If you were unfriended or unfollowed by someone and you’re very surprised, why not reach out and ask what happened? If appropriate, call the person. It might be a technical glitch (as outlined above), or it might be an indication of something that needs to be discussed. While it can seem a bit awkward, at first, to call and say, “Hey, I noticed you stopped following me on Twitter.”- (I mean, who wants to be a social media narcissist, right?), you have to consider whether the relationship is worth the awkwardness. If it’s an important connection, I think the little bit of awkwardness is worth it.
2) If you aren’t close enough to the person to contact them offline, but you are still wondering what happened, try to reach out to them directly. @ message them on Twitter or leave a comment on their Wall- something nonconfrontational, like “hey, just wanted to connect/reach out/get in touch.” This may show them that you do care about them and want to connect or communicate.
3) You can ignore it or just move on. Not all situations are going to warrant follow up or follow through. It’s also wise not to spend a lot of time brooding over people who step out of your social stream. In the same way you can’t focus too much when people unsubscribe from your email list, you can’t focus too much when people unsubscribe from your networks. You never know how or why people make the choices they do, and so it’s not worth being too upset over. You’ve heard this before, but don’t take it personally.
Of course, though, the goal here is moderation and balance. If you find that significant people are unfollowing you or unfriending you, there may be something in your approach that needs adjustment (or maybe your account got hacked.)
But like any other kind of relationship in real life, your online social connections will evolve- with people moving out, and, hopefully, new people moving in.
RachnaJainPhoto.jpgDr. Rachna Jain is Chief Social Marketer at The Mindshare Corporation. Rachna works with speakers, consultants, authors, and small business owners to develop and execute effective social media marketing strategies. Her proprietary persuasive social media process (sm) focuses on building influence, credibility and visibility online. This translates into greater recognition, increased website traffic, faster lead generation, a shorter sales cycle, and more opportunity for her expert clientele. She blogs regularly at The Mindshare Blog