I’m amazed the the steady flow of new tools and applications that Google is providing.

We are in process towards developing a service set to help small business owners understand, engage and take action towards maximizing the opportunities that Google has brought forward.  If you have time to optimize your own website, this Google SEO Starter Guide is a great reference.   If you need professional support to optimize your website contact us and we’ll meet to explain what’s involved and how we can help you move up closer to page 1.

John

This Thursday I will be presenting a two hour sales seminar program for anyone in sales.

To register call the SCORE Madison office at 608-271-2820.

Date and Time

January 12,  2012   11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Location:  MGE Innovation Center

505 S. Rosa Road

Madison, WI  535711  (map available below)

Cost and Registration

The cost for one person is $30.  Two people can attend together for $50.

Sales are part art and part science.  Communicating to prospects why they should buy your product requires a systematic approach.  In this program we’ll cover three key aspects that affect sales.

Marketing – The process by which companies create customer interest in goods or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments. It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and creates value for their customers and for themselves.

Sales – Yesterday vs. today and into the future.  People do business with people they like.  At the heart of every good business opportunity is a strong relationship.

Building your brand- Specific tools are required to help you communicate the benefits and value of doing business with you.  What strategies can you develop to build your brand and help you generate more business?

Bonus Take Away

Every person that attends this program will receive John’s 20 point sales action plan they can use right away  and John’s 78 point sales training program.

This program is being presented by John Russell, owner of The Business Source LLC.  John is a lifetime resident of Madison, a SCORE counselor, graduate of the Entrepreneurial Training Program at the University of Wisconsin Small Business Development Center, and has over 25 years experience in helping small business owners as a consultant specializing in customer development.

1.     Play it safe
Listen to that inner voice. “Why should I stick my neck out?” “I’m not going to go out on a limb…” “Safer to let someone else champion that.”
2.     Know your limitations: Don’t be afraid to pigeonhole yourself.
“I’m not an artist.” “I’m not creative.” “I’m not an innovator.”
3.     Remind yourself: It’s just a job.
“I don’t get paid to come up with ideas.” “I’m keeping my mouth shut.” “There’s nothing in it for me.” “When’s lunch?”
4.     Show you’re the smartest guy in the room: make Skepticism your middle name.
“Here’s why that idea won’t work.” “You won’t be able to execute on that.” “Our organization’s not set up for that.”
5.     Be the tough guy: Demand to see the data.
“What does the market research say?” “There’s no evidence it’s going to work.” “That didn’t come out of the focus group.” “Show me the spreadsheet.”
6.     Respect history: Always give the past the benefit of the doubt.
“We’ve always done it this way.” “If it’s such a good idea, why hasn’t anyone thought of it yet?” “That wasn’t part of the original plan.”
7.     Stop the madness before it can get started: Crush early-stage ideas with your business savvy.
“You haven’t made the business case.” “I don’t buy your assumptions.” “There’s no immediate R.O.I.”
8.     Been there, done that: Use experience as a weapon.
“We tried that a few years ago and it didn’t work.” “You haven’t been around long enough to know how things work.” “Let’s not reinvent the wheel, guys.”
9.     Keep your eyes closed. Your mind, too.
“The world isn’t changing. The media just wants us to think it is.” “I refuse to get caught up in all these technology fads.” “Don’t tell me how to run my business.”
10.  Assume there is no problem.
“It was a tough year, but we can blame the economy.” “We think next quarter we’ll see a rebound.” “We’re doing okay.”
11.  Underestimate your customers.
“Our customers aren’t going anywhere.” “They’re not ready for that.” “That’s not what they’re asking for.”
12.  Be a mentor: Give sound advice to the people who work for you.
“Just keep your head down and do your job.” “I got where I am by not rocking the boat.” “Choose your battles, kid. This isn’t one of them.”
13.  Be suspicious of the “Creatives” in your organization: the liberal arts majors, the poets, the anthropologists and other wackos. “Those guys don’t understand business.” “I can’t believe we’re keeping them on the payroll.” “Who invited them to this meeting?”
14.  When all else fails, act like a grown-up.
“I really don’t have time for this.” “Do you have an appointment?” “Back to work, everyone.”

Promise Yourself-

To be strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.  To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.  To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.  To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.  To think only of the best.  To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.  To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.  To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.  To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.  To be too large for worry, to noble for anger, to strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg share a common trait.

They both focused their talent on one thing.  Jobs focused on a better way to compute.

Zuckerberg focused on how to build a network of friends.

Focus on what you do best.  That’s what we do at The Business Source LLC.

We specialize in helping small business owners increase sales.

Happy Thanksgiving!

John

Here are some great tips from Jeffrey Gitomer.
Below is a list of actions for you to take right now. Not after the holidays. Not after the New Year. RIGHT NOW!

1. Train everyone in your company on positive attitude. This is not a promotional plug for my YES! Attitude book, rather it’s an undeniable fact of business that attitude is the biggest success driver – both internally and externally. REALITY: If sales pick up and customers begin to call and your internal service isn’t the best on the planet, you will lose. And worse, you’ll blame it on the economy.

2. Visit your top 10 customers. Talk to them about their situation. Talk to them about what they plan to do next year. Make an informal partnership offering. Make part of your relationship their success. And make a commitment of both time and people to help make their success your reality. IDEA: Bring your Flip video camera and capture the story of your relationship, the motive of why they buy from you, and some form of testimonial or endorsement that you might be able to use both online and in a sales presentation.

3. Huddle internally with your key people. (Especially your key financial people.) Make sure you’re safe going into next year and budget whatever you can to promote yourself. Invest in the Internet, invest in service training, invest in social media, and invest in your salespeople. Now is the time to put your business money where your business mouth is. Waiting will give your competition an extreme competitive advantage.

4. Get your salespeople mentally and physically ready to go on the offensive. If you’re like most companies, you’ve probably cut some of the lifeblood needed to make your business stand out from the others. You’ve slashed training, you’ve slashed marketing, you’ve slashed advertising – and you’ve cut your staff to where most employees are doing what two employees used to do. These cuts have had an adverse effect on sales and morale. IT’S TIME TO REINVEST IN SALES AND THE SALES EFFORT.

5. Visit your banker and find out if you qualify for money, just in case you need it. Banks have become loan resistant. This is not just a fact; it’s also a grim reality. It will be years before they get over the shell shock of not being bullet-proof, and it will be years before any type of business loan is relaxed beyond 100% collateral. If you think you’ll need money, make arrangements for it before you actually need it.

6. Exchange cold calling time for business social media time. Make certain that you’re ready to Link, Face, Tweet, and YouTube your way to value and engagement, connecting with existing customers and prospective customers. REALITY: Cold calling has become the ultimate, annoying waste of time. Your prospective customer is busy with his or her business and does not need to be interrupted with your pathetic sales pitch. Your value offering and value messaging, through all forms of social media, will ultimately create attraction to you from qualified people.

6.5 Employ manners that your parents taught you, and deploy gratitude internally and externally. Your parents taught you what to say, and I’m challenging you to be grateful for it and share your gratefulness with others. Make certain that your internal and external customers know the sincerity of your appreciation for their loyalty and their business.

What I’ve just given you is a list of actions that will help you succeed – especially in the coming year. Please pass this message on to everyone in your company – starting with your CEO and ending with every person who may not believe that they can make a difference.

Mikal highlights the important of demonstrating your knowledge by publishing quality content using new media.  Enjoy the article.

When it comes to marketing strategies, content marketing has just been crowned king, far surpassing search engine marketing, public relations and even print, television and radio advertising as the preferred marketing tool for today’s business-to-business entrepreneur.

Late this summer, HiveFire, a Cambridge, Mass.-based internet marketing software solutions company, surveyed nearly 400 marketing professionals about the state of the business-to-business, or B2B, market, and discovered that marketers are retreating from traditional marketing tactics such as search marketing and have made content marketing the most-used tactic in their brand-enhancing tool box. Fact is, according to HiveFire’s B2B Marketing Trends Survey Report, twice as many B2B marketers now employ content marketing as they do print, TV and radio advertising, according to the survey.

So what exactly is content marketing? It’s the creation and publication of original content — including blog posts, case studies, white papers, videos and photos — for the purpose of generating leads, enhancing a brand’s visibility, and putting the company’s subject matter expertise on display. HiveFire’s researchers found that an impressive 82 percent of B2B marketers now employ content marketing as a strategy in their marketing programs. Coming in at a distant second place is search engine marketing at 70 percent, followed by events at 68 percent, public relations at 64 percent and print/TV/radio advertising at 32 percent.

Seventy-eight percent of respondents said driving sales and leads was the top marketing goal of their organization, followed by boosting brand awareness and establishing or maintaining thought leadership (both at 35 percent). Another 28 percent said their primary goal was to increase web traffic and 24 percent said it was to improve search results.

Part of the popularity of content marketing is its ability to generate qualified leads while engaging prospects in a branded environment without busting the budget. Nearly half of the content marketers interviewed said they dedicate less than a third of their budgets to such marketing expenditures. In addition to frugality, B2B marketers also believe most of their customers and prospects are online, which is why they’re focusing their marketing efforts on the Internet.

Finally, the survey shows that “content curation” — which is defined as the process of finding, organizing and sharing content — continues to gain strength as a top marketing strategy, up 17 percent from six months ago. Seen as a way for marketers to fuel their marketing programs, content curation does have its problems. Nearly 70 percent of content curators say lack of time hinders their efforts, with 66 percent saying a lack of original and quality content is a major drawback. Another 38 percent say difficulty in measuring results is the stumbling block and 37 percent say lack of staff to do the work is the hindrance.

Despite these issues, the survey makes clear that content marketing is only going to become more important going forward, whether you market to other businesses or to the public at large.

How have you used content marketing to enhance your brand? Leave a comment and let us know.

Many years ago I was gifted with the opportunity to participate in the Dale Carnegie Leadership Training Program.  One thing I kept is a short piece on leadership titled, “Let’s Get Rid of Management.”  It still applies.  Enjoy.

People don’t want to be managed.  They want to be led.  Whoever heard of a world manager?  World leader, yes.  Educational leader.  Political leader.  Scout leader.  Community leader.  Business leader.  They lead.  They don’t manage.  The carrot always wins over the stick.  Ask your horse.  You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t manage him to drink.  If you want to manage somebody, manage yourself.  Do that well and you’ll be ready to stop managing.  And start leading.  Lead the way!

An excerpt from Ken Brand’s book, “Less Blah Blah and More Ah Ha.”

Trust is earned when we:
• Treat others with respect and courtesy.
• Communicate with calm confidence.
• Listen more than talk.
• Include facts, details, names, dates, statistics, testimonials, references, and sources. Strive to show, not tell.
• Employ professional-grade tools, systems, techniques, and people.
• Act energetic, enthusiastic, and in the present.
• Take pride in our work, demonstrate commitment, respond promptly, and act professionally.
• Ask lots of questions about what, how and when they want it, so we can deliver it their way.
• Collaborate, accept responsibility, keep our commitments, and correct our mistakes with a positive attitude.
• Provide a detailed, written marketing plan, including examples, samples, and track record results.
• Keep our clients informed in ways that respect what, how, and when they want their information.
• Lead with a positive attitude, candid conversations, and crisp execution.
• Are consistent in word and deed.
• Admit when we don’t know something and are prepared to find the correct answer, pronto.
• Allow our clients to fire us on the spot if we break a promise, slack, or suck. No questions asked. No fees. No hassles.
Facing the Trust Challenge Together
I’ve been in this business for over thirty-two years. During that time, civilian perceptions of our profession haven’t budged out of the cellar. If anything, advances in technology and gains in societal savvy have made it easier than ever for all of us to spot and avoid lame sales people. The advent and adoption of Internet ratings systems like Yelp.com, Zillow.com, and social media networks like Facebook mean that wary citizens can now identify, choose, and recommend trustworthy service providers, as well as instantly warn their friends and followers whom to avoid.
For you and me, this is fantastic news. By infusing your business approaches with the trustworthy actions outlined in this book, combined with your excellent personality traits and life experiences, it’s easy for you to rise above the vast pack of mediocre real estate agents. Instead of your clients hearing Blah-Blah when you engage with them, they’ll think Ah-Ha, this real estate agent is unique, behaves in trustworthy ways, and is choosable. The future for you is bright.

Ken’s book is available at Amazon.com.

1. Lead
2. Manage less
3. Articulate your vision
4. Simplify
5. Get less formal
6. Energize others
7. Face reality
8. See change as an opportunity
9. Get good ideas from everywhere
10. Follow up
11. Get rid of bureaucracy
12. Eliminate boundaries
13. Put values first
14. Cultivate leaders
15. Create learning culture
16. Involve everyone
17. Make everybody a team player
18. Stretch
19. Instill confidence
20. Make business fun
21. Be number 1 or number 2
22. Live quality
23. Constantly focus on innovation
24. Live speed
25. Behave like a small company