Category: Business

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Why Wait?

I had a conversation at the airport with someone about the big lottery a few weeks ago. He was reflecting on what he would do with the money, and then he said something that struck me.
“That’s really why we play the lottery. It lets us dream.”

Wait. Why do we need a piece of paper with numbers to dream?

I say keep buying your dream numbers if that’s what it takes to get your creative brain to think about what you truly want out of life.
But why wait? Do it now.
Challenge yourself. What would you buy? Why? What would you do if you were not required to be at a J.O.B. daily?

Get creative, have fun, and really put yourself there.

Now, what’s holding you back? If what you wake up to daily is not what you love, change it. If you would buy a big plot of land and have five buildings, bust your ass and find a way. Maybe you don’t do it all in one shot, but you could get the land first, pay it off, and build your dream place one building at a time.

If your heart, your passion, your love, and your values are not what you do for work, find a new one or do your own thing.

We get stuck in the rut of what society says is normal. Job, car, mortgage.

“I won’t be conforming to the working man’s monotony” From Rain by Ben Badger

Ben BadgerIf you’re into traveling but your job only lets you travel on vacations the one or two weeks a year that you have vacation days, get a job that requires you to travel. Save your points and go where the road and your heart lead on your days off or build in days while you are already there. Here’s an idea: skip the house, get an RV, and take off on a journey working as you go or create a way to earn your money while you travel.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that you walk into work tomorrow and tell your boss what you really think. I’m not gonna lie, this road is not an easy one. You’ll have people tell you that you are crazy and to get your head out of the sky. You may have to work that job you hate five days a week and another job at night and on the weekends. You may have to be a mom, balancing your time between work and family and friends while you go to school online or at night. *SIDE NOTE: This one section here is another whole blog on its own. I really feel the need to give more disclaimers about making sacrifices and going for it. In the entrepreneurial community, I think there is a lack of thought toward being okay with not making it before you try and make it.

You jump when you can afford to drown” Gary Vaynerchuck (look for that blog soon!)

When you’re in the “I’m doing this, digging in the trenches” mode, you are going to get tired. You are going to hit walls. You will face things that will make you question what the hell you’re doing.

Don’t quit. Don’t give in. Plant your feet. Ground your emotions. Pull out your dream paper. Remind yourself what you want, why you want it, and get back to work, busting your ass and making it happen.

Look at your bigger picture and look how far you have come. Don’t let a minor setback derail your whole dream.

One last thought. You can’t do this alone.

A single warrior doesn’t win a battle. Surround yourself with people. The kind of people who breathe life into your soul, not the kind the suck the life out of you. Diversify your personal circle. Find people who are smarter than you, people who are talented in different ways than you. People who will inspire, not tear down. People who will ask you the toughest questions and hold you accountable.

If you don’t know those people, find them. We live in a digitally connected world. Find inspiration and strength in the books you read, the podcasts you listen to, the people you follow on social media. (On that last one. Don’t just follow. Engage and connect. Reach out to the author you just read or the speaker you just heard and let them know they inspired you. Ask them questions, talk to the unreachable. They might surprise you.)

Feed your soul

Read books! In your field, about business, about social media, and throw in a nonfiction every now and then.

Listen!

Podcasts! Man, they are everywhere on every subject. Listen when you wait, listen when you drive, listen while you’re working that gotta do job until you get to your wanna do life.

Music! Music feeds your mood and your soul. Have a variety of playlists. Work, workout, dream, inspiration, have one for all your moods.

Write! Maybe you’re not a writer. Many people find journaling to be healing. Recording thoughts, ideas, feelings, emotions, and lessons learned. There are also people who have to physically write. Use a google doc, use evernote, heck just use your word processor. As digitally connected as I am, I still use a paper journal.

You be you. Dream big, reach high,
and go get what you want from life.

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5 Lessons from Reese’s Christmas Tree

Jenna WinslowToday I have a guest post from Jenna Winslow.

Jenna Winslow is a recent graduate from the University of Southern Indiana with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing.  Jenna interned at Signarama Evansville during her senior year and is currently the Digital Marketing Intern at Ten Adams Marketing.

5 Lessons from Reese’s Christmas Tree

Social media is not only a fun place to interact with friends, family, and businesses; but is also quickly becoming one of the leading marketing platforms. Social media offers the ability to reach consumers and to connect with them unlike ever before.  And in our rapidly evolving technological world, social media can either make or break a company.

Unhappy customers often go straight to social media to complain about a product or recent negative experience with a company.  And if they are able to express their rage in less than 140 characters, they typically tag the company’s social media account directly in the post.  All eyes then turn to see how, or if, the company responds.

There have been various cringe-worthy social media fails over the years: companies responding inappropriately to complaints – or just flat out ignoring them.  There are plenty of lessons that can be learned from these mistakes; however, just as many, if not more lessons, can be learned from social media wins – when a company nails their response to public customer complaints, settling the issue.

Reese’s had a social media win of their own after releasing their annual Reese’s Christmas Tree last November.  Social media savvy customers headed to Twitter to express their thoughts regarding Reese’s Christmas Trees – or more like the lack of resemblance to a tree.

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Despite being put in a difficult situation for the entire world of social media to see, Reese’s was not fazed by the complaints and used them as an opportunity.  Their response is what I would call the biggest social media win of 2015.

Reese’s created a Twitter campaign exclusively focused on the ugly, misshapen trees, making it official with the hashtag #AllTreesAreBeautiful.

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Reese’s did not simply apologize to their customers, although they did apologize. Reese’s took their response one step further by admitting the Christmas Trees are not perfect, and fully embracing that fact.  “It’s not what it looks like, it’s what it tastes like.”

Here are 5 lessons we can take away from Reese’s Christmas Tree win:

  1. Your customers are on social media, and you should be, too; build connections and reach customers you otherwise may not have been able to.
  2. Monitor what people are saying; turn complaints or bad reviews into an opportunity to gain feedback and learn from your customers.
  3. Never ignore a complaint on social media; not only does this reflect poorly on you, it could also be a missed opportunity.
  4. Engage with your customers on social media; whether a comment or post is about a great experience or a complaint, it requires a prompt response.
  5. Use social media to improve customer service; this can be as simple as responding to a complaint, and shows customers you value them.

Connecting with customers is easy thanks to social media, creating the opportunity to provide exceptional customer service.  Your next response to customer feedback on social media doesn’t have to become an entire Twitter campaign – but it could!

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How Do You Treat Your Champions?

What is a Brand Champion?Cheer

Brand Champions are some of the most valuable assets a business can have. You know the people that love love love you, tell all their friends and family, maybe they write a blog post, tweet, or share photos of your brand or product on social channels.

And that – that is HUGE. A digital Brand Champion who is willing to stand on the digital rooftops and share about you are is more influential than all your paid advertising.  See, as consumers, when we are look at new things to buy, we trust the recommendations of our friends more than the paid advertising spots.

Do you even know who your Brand Champions are?

If you haven’t already, look at who is opening, sharing, and forwarding your email newsletters. Keep a list. Look at who is tweeting, @mentioning you, and sharing your posts. Keep a list. Look at who is sending you referrals on a regular basis. Keep a list.

How do you treat them?

Do you say thank you? Do you retweet, repost, or @mention them on occasion? Do you offer them specials or VIP access to things? Maybe send them some swag? You should. They are fan-freaking-tastic. The influence they have on your potential new customers is priceless.

Want more Brand Champions?

See above. The point is, if you cultivate relationships with the people that are your biggest brand advocates, they will keep doing it. Passion is contagious. Ever notice on Facebook the one thing that 16 people shared? One person was passionate about something enough to share it. That passion compelled another person, and so on and so forth. So, in the big picture of things, if you cultivate the relationship of a few Brand Champions, you can exponentially increase your reach to many.

What went wrong?

If you’re thinking – “People used to love my company. What went wrong?” I ask you,  how did you treat your Brand Champions?  What did you do when your biggest brand advocate had an issue or a problem? Did you go out of your way to make it right? Or, are your britches so big that you said – “Eh, so what? It’s one account, one sale. So what if you go to my competitor?”

I had this happen to me twice in one day! Two separate companies (that don’t pay me or give me anything, yet I regularly give them digital love) both said “Nope that’s the rule, I won’t budge.” I was shocked.
Here’s the thing – if a client is willing to give you a chance to make it right, take it. Most will just leave. If you do make it right, the love they have for you will increase. If you don’t work with them to make them happy, you’re not losing a just a customer. You’ve lost a Champion. Think about that. If they go to a competitor and your competitor is good to them, your competitor didn’t just get a new customer. They probably got your Champion to root for them now.

H Schultz quote

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Businesses: Overcome Your Personality Disorder

Guest Post today by Jeremy Secrest

“Wah, wah, wah.” – all the grownups in the Charlie Brown shows.

Is that what your potential customers are hearing when you talk? Are they not connecting with your message?

Maybe your personality (or lack of one) is getting in the way.

Personality can seem like a fluffy term for business. It can come across like a trust fall or some of the more odd team-building exercises.

Yet, your customer has a personality.

And so do you.

 

Your customer is a person. And so are you.

And unless you’re selling to robots, people connect with people.

People who need people.

 

People have personalities.

 

Discovering and defining your brand’s personality is key to understanding how to best connect with your customer.

Not in a smarmy, leisure suit kind of way.

In a people kind of way.

The way you communicate through your emails, sales messages, advertising and social media needs to match who you are. It needs to resonate.

Just like a bookish introvert looks awkward trying to be the life of the party (so I’ve heard), you’ll look awkward if your messaging doesn’t fit who you are. Or sounds like a robot.

You’re not talking with robots.

You’re talking with people who have a desire that you’re working to help them achieve.

To connect with them, the way you communicate needs to be really clear. Which helps them understand how you can help them find what they’re looking for.

Personality helps clarify your message and connect the dots to connecting with your customers.BrandTellShare_Square

How do you discover your brand’s personality?

Check out #brandtellshare, a workshop on messaging, media and marketing April 12 with Dana Nelson, Damon Hancock, and Erin Bemis at Fat Head Media. One day. $99. Learn more and register at brandtellshare.com

Not ready for that, but still want to learn more? Get a free branding starter guide at mybrandstory.co.

Jeremy Secrest is Director of Marketing & Development at the Evansville Christian Life Center and founder of Mybrandstory.co.

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Let the Journey Begin

I got a text on Wednesday morning offering me a ticket to the WIllow Creek Global Leadership Summit. (I love this conference. I just failed to get my early bird ticket and to ask off work. I really didn’t think it was in the cards for me to go.)PhotoGrid_1438959979580

“SURE!!” I replied.  “What do I need to do to “earn it??”

“Just post on your social platforms your experiences.”

“Sold!”

(DUH. I would do that even without asking!) I thought.

 

So I went out on a limb, asked my boss Casey Valiant at Signarama if I can ditch two important events and basically take two days off.

He didn’t even hesitate. “Sounds good,” he said. Part of me thinks he might be doing the happy dance for two days of quiet, but I really know that he cares. They all do – the Valiants are just those kind of people. They care about our personal growth as much as our professional growth.

The first thing I took note of was the companies who bought tickets and paid to send their leaders to a 2 day Christian-influenced conference.  Companies like Springleaf and FC Tucker, who sent over 20 people each. Others like Berry Plastics, Bethel Manor, Bob’s Gym, The Dream Center, Flanders Electric, GAF Roofing, Heritage Petroleum, Jacobsville Join-In, Old National Bank, Victoria National, and Walther’s Golf n Fun all sent leaders to this event.

The second was people like Sally and Dan who took vacation time to make sure that they could be here.

I had PAGES of notes and tweeted EVERYTHING.  Had to earn my ticket right? If you want my notes, go back and look at my twitter feed for those two days. If you want condensed notes, check out Trey McClain’s blog. He is the pastor of One Life West and my ticket sponsor.

During the last session.  Craig Groeschel, of LifeChurch.tv, killed it. He gave an example of how and why as your organization grows, your mindset has to change. He then offered 5 areas for us to improve.

1) Build your confidence.

2) Expand your connections.

3) Improve your competence.

4) Strengthen your character.

5) Increase your commitment.

He was very clear, we could only expand one area. Not 3, not 4 – ONE. He asked us to write all 5 down and be thinking on which one we would choose. He then went on to explain each.

As I listened, I thought “These are all really good. It’s hard to choose. Let me see. I think I am a good networker and have some strong connections. That’s my tag line after all. “Making connections to build community.” I can knock that one off the list.” I then listened to all the others as he explained.

 

Now came the time of truth. What to pick? As he called them off, we were supposed to stand. As he called off # 2 “Expand your connections,” I jumped up out of my seat like a kindergartner who had the answers. Wait What? That was at the bottom of the list?? Well, OK.

Expand your connections, it is.  So to make it stick, I tweeted:

I choose to expand my Connection. @craiggroeschel @lifechurchtv #GLS15 @onelifewest @treymcclain @DaleBeaver #HoldMeAccountable please

As soon as it was over, I rushed over to Trey. I thanked him for his part in what felt like something BIG brewing. I saw people waiting to talk to him, so I asked him to pray for me and moved back to start packing up. That’s when I realized Dan Sully was waiting to talk to me, not Trey.

He came up and pointed out a young gentleman, and told me we needed to meet. I then asked him if he had seen my last tweet.

“No, was it about international issues?” By then, the young man had made his way over and told me that it was nice to meet me. Dan had told him about me, and felt we had to meet. I shared with him what I just experienced. I told him that it’s not often you can be so sure that God wants you to meet someone.

“It’s VERY nice to meet you.” We continued our conversation as I packed up to leave.

Later that afternoon, I called Dale Beaver, my pastor, at Christian Fellowship Church.  I shard the story and asked for prayer.

As I was on the phone with him, I remembered the first time he really counseled and prayed with me about my business.  It was on a Monday. He preached on the Sunday before. (He wasn’t Senior Pastor at the time, so he didn’t preach every Sunday.) I still have his sermon notes.

“God made you to walk among those you love

and those you don’t yet know.”

Words he spoke in February of 2010 have been playing on endless loop like a bad 80’s song you can’t get out of your head.

I don’t have a clue where this mission/quest/challenge to expand my connections is going to take me. I don’t know how this story ends. But let the journey begin as I publicly commit to connect to more people on a deeper level, and open my heart to possibilities.

 

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It Started With a Pen

This week I Begin a New Journey

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This is my first week as an employee of Signarama Evansville. I have accepted a part time Marketing Coordinator position with them. My position is one that will grow and change as time goes on. That’s really how today’s successful businesses work; ever-changing.  The few people I have told have all asked: “What will you be doing?” Then after answering with the simple answer, “web, social, digital, marketing and special projects,” I got almost the same response, “Duh.”

It’s What I do

What I do isn’t changing. I will still be teaching at the University of Southern Indiana, Northwest Kentucky Training Consortium, and my not yet really announced teaching partnership with Western Kentucky University.  For my existing corporate clients, I will still be here, don’t worry. I will be very selective on any new corporate clients, but I like it that way.

Nothing New/Making Things New

I have been working with Signarama Evansville for years, teaching, training, consulting, reviewing, and strategizing. They have always been a good client. In this regard, not really a new thing. But coming into this position there are some areas of blank canvas. I will be doing some special projects and working on some really exciting things.  I can’t wait to start making some of this canvas come to life and share it with you!

It Started With a Pen

I love the people at Signarama. I first met Debbie Valiant at an event I saw advertised on Facebook. I looked at who was attending and saw that she would be there. I didn’t know her, I just knew I was in the market for a pen. (I owned a computer consulting company at the time.) I sought her out and was quickly impressed not only with her, but the whole company. I love the people that work there already and I know a lot about the sign industry. Don’t get me wrong, I know I have a lot to learn going into a new field, but being with such remarkable people will make it an exciting and fun adventure! I consider myself lucky to work for this company, owned by the Valiants. They are a strong, caring company with values. (I’ve blogged about them before: Valiant Defined)

Let the adventure begin….

 

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General Business Training Part 2

Diving into the first topic of discussion from the book

General Business Training: Chapter 10 Mail

 

In the introduction to this series,  I was unable to date this book. Based on the postage rate of three cents, I am going to place this book somewhere between 1917 and 1952, the date ranges when US postage was three cents.

 The first few sections address the various types of mail classes, insurance, COD, and special delivery / handling. But section 3, Addressing Envelopes and Packages, caught my eye.  We live in a digital age. Many of us remember our mothers forcing us to handwrite thank you letters to family and friends for various occasions. I suspect that many parents are not carrying on with this tradition. Personally, I know the number of thank you cards I received has dwindled.

I did however, receive this thank you card in the mail, written and addressed by hand.

Some people still get it.

 

So, for those of you afraid of snail mail, like your granny is afraid of the computer, here is what the book says:

 

The Address:

“The name of the person to whom the letter is sent, the street address, the city, and the state should be written or typed on separate lines as in figure 72. The ordinary address on a letter should have at least four lines. If the name of a company or business is given in addition to the name of the individual, the address may have five or more lines. “

 

The Return Address:

The address of the sender should be placed in the upper left -hand corner so that the post office can return the letter to him if the one to whom it is addresses cannot be located. This addres is usually printed on the stationary used by the business, but if it’s not printed, it should be written. “

 

Now you try it. Think about a person or business that has made you grateful this week. Pick up a pen and some paper, and write them a thank you note! You don’t need special paper, or expensive stationary. Trust me. They will just be grateful for the time you took to write it.

When did you last get a thank you note? How did it make you feel?

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General Business Training Part 1

I love old books. When I was given this one it really intrigued me. The date page is gone so it is obviously quite dated. But I wondered as I thumbed through it , how many of those skills are still needed and not taught ? How has business changed since this was written? And what insights can we learn from the past that we could apply to business today?

Summer Book Review

So just for fun this summer, I’d like to do a mini review of this book in the form of a series focusing on how things have changed, how they stay the same, and some things, perhaps, that we may have forgotten, that maybe we shouldn’t have. So let’s get started.

This book was designed to be a textbook and looks as though quite a few students have had their hands on it before me. In the preface it states:

“General Business Training in its first edition pioneered in emphasizing the general non-technical values in junior business education. These values are now commonly recognized as being of greatest importance. The recognition of their worth has been accelerated in recent years through observations of teachers and businessmen, and as a result of several surveys which have been made by those interested in business education.”

Values lost

It seems to me that some of these values have been lost, not that they’re any less important. They are simply not taught, and not understood.

I’ve been involved in several areas of teaching and training. And recently was asked to participate in designing a training program to teach soft skills to new hires. It seems to me there is a gap between expectations of knowledge and what’s being generally taught as important.

Hope you join me over the next few days as we learn together from the past.