Canadian Imperial Business Network Archives - Canadian Small Business Women

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Jan 31 2014

Think Multiplication

Do you think in terms of just getting by or do you think multiplication?

We get into the grind of life and we often get caught up in terms of getting bogged down in what needs to be done. There are a thousand menial tasks that need to be done at home and in business, but keeping our eyes in the dirt before us produces nothing good. Getting busy with things that need to get done, will only keep us busy with things that need to be done. Next year we are still doing the same things. Five years from now we are tired and busy and we think that this is all there is, so we stop trying to get ahead. We accept our fate and try to find joy in it. If there is no joy, there is comfortable mediocrity at least and that is all there is…

That is NOT all there is! It takes the same amount of effort to excel that it does to just get by. The effort to do something great is the same as to do something meaningless. The difference is focusing on how we think. Think multiplication instead of thinking in linear terms.

Dollars for hours will suck your soul of all purpose and destroy your dreams. Slavery for an hourly wage will keep you in a home beside people who are just as miserable and discontent as you are. You are completely limited because there are only 24 hours a day. Even if you get your income up to $200 an hour, expenses rise with that and there you are limited by the hours of the day. A gerbil caught in a wheel running and running and never getting anywhere. You have a nice cage, and a nice wheel. Maybe your wheel is nicer than all of the other gerbils on the block but you are still in a cage. Maybe your wheel has the biggest television in front of you as you run to distract you from the fact that you are still in a cage and you are STILL a gerbil.

So you start a business and progress. You buy your widgets for $1 and you sell them for $1.50. You get some real estate and the market goes up some by percentage. You buy a few stocks and you look for a safe place to put your money because you don’t want to take risks with money that took you a long time to accumulate. You will take longer vacations from your cage now. You will sometimes feel on top of the world and make a decent living. As long as you own your business and it doesn’t own you, you will do well. What does that mean?

If you leave it unattended does it grow? Can you go away for a weekend without tending to it? If the person who runs the till does not show up, will you have to go run the till? How many hours a day are you working? How many weeks of the year are you working? Do you think multiplication? Or do you think about getting by now at a new level of getting by. Are you still living in a cage? Is it a nicer cage with a yard and a few freedoms, but still a cage? Do you own this business? Or is it that the business owns you?

Think multiplication.

Can you buy a widget for $1 and sell it for $3 and it is still a good value for the consumer? Can you produce it yourself for .67 cents and still sell it for $3? Can you sell them in bundles to wholesalers for $2.50 a widget and move them a thousand at a time?

Can you franchise your great idea and set up businesses like yours across the country? Can you get others to run them for you? Do you want 100% of your own effort, or would you rather have 1% of the efforts of 100 people? Think multiplication. Think bigger.

Blow up the cage!

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Jan 22 2014

Sales is Simple Mathematics

The thing to understand about sales is that it is simple mathematics. It is not rocket science. It is not voodoo. It is math. Everyone has a closing ratio and every product has unique selling properties. Once we know what those contingents are then it is simple math.

So what is your product? What demographic is it meant for? Is it something that 35 year old women with two children would love? Or is it meant for retired couples? Who is most likely to buy it?

Sometimes I will ask a marketing client who their target demographic is and they have no clue. They ramble on about how their product is good for everyone. The fact is however, it may be good for a lot of people, but who is it best for? What does your ideal client look like? What factors do they have? Who is most likely to buy the most, or buy it over and over? Who is likely to see the need for it right away without much convincing? That is your ideal target market.

The sales of your product will now boil down to how many times you get it in front of THAT person, because 100 appointments with the wrong people is futile and it will distort the final figures in your math. There is a number of quality people that you need to see in order to sell one. It may be that you need to be in front of four quality potential clients telling your full story to sell one item, it may be that you need your add in front of 10, 000 people to sell one. You may need that add in front of those 10,000 people to get 4 appointments where you get to sell one. You need to know the numbers, and there is only one way to know the numbers. That is by doing it.

We watch shows like “The Dragon’s Den” or “Shark Tank.” What impresses the dragons and the sharks? They want to know the numbers. How many people have you put your product in front of, and then how many did you sell? That shows what the real potential of an item is.

As a sales person who knows their math you now have confidence and confidence can be built upon and improved upon. For instance your industry may supply you with average stats. They may tell you that you need to get your house in front of five qualified buyers to get a sale. However, if you improve your technique and become a better people person with a better closing style you may be able to change those numbers over time to now become a salesperson who sells 1 in 4 or even better than that.

What we see in new businesses sometimes is an owner who does everything themselves but they do not realize that they are a salesperson. They think they make widgets and they don’t want to do the sales, but sales don’t happen unless someone sells something. If an owner doesn’t learn to sell and accept their fate as a salesperson they will end up a statistic of failure. Sales is the only thing that matters because cash flow is king to survival and success.

Even the business owner needs to know their numbers. How many people did they have to see to sell the widget? Now they can train a salesperson with confidence. They know that they themselves with a limited sales ability and in 2 hours work could produce x and that if a dedicated salesperson dedicated themselves for 8 hours a day to the endeavor they should be able to produce x times 4 in a day producing y. In one week multiplying y by 5 they would now know that the salesperson should be able to produce z every week, week after week. Now how many salespeople do you need to reach your ultimate goals?

Marketing is also key to this process. Even good salespeople need to be supported with some marketing tools. There needs to be sales materials in their hands and branded items to work with. There should be some kind of funnel that is bringing in warm leads through networking events and/or online marketing efforts. Somehow those leads need to be pre-qualified to be sure that they fall into the targeted demographics as much as possible. This makes sure that the sales people are getting in front of the right people and it affects the numbers of their success.

Sales is simple mathematics.

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Dec 30 2013

How Much Should You spend On Marketing?

The amount that you spend on marketing has many different factors to take into consideration. For instance if you are starting a new business and you are well funded or going for a grant you will want to spend a larger percentage on marketing. Nobody has ever heard of you. You need to break into the market place. You will want to define who you are with your branding and put together a website, social media platforms, printed brochures, business cards and more that matches. You will want to carefully select a few strategic partnerships that can work with you to put out your marketing pieces, such as taking a spot in an annual magazine or working with someone to take part in a larger tradeshow. You may want to gather email addresses and build a loyal following using email marketing. Some time and thought should go into this process along with some study to wisely select some of the best pieces to your marketing puzzle.

Sometimes we go online and we see what others are doing, but one needs to compare apples to apples. Your company may not be coming from the same place. A well-established company such as Coca-Cola may only spend 4% a year on marketing. That still equals millions of dollars and the percentage may be enough for them because they are maintaining a presence. They are not trying to create a presence out of thin air.

Your brand new under-funded start up may need to do a lot of online marketing using profiles and setting up free channels. That may work for a while but the reality is that your business is going to have ups and downs. While you are on an upward rise financially you get very busy and you stop doing the things that got you there. That is when you better have your automation in place or else you will need to hire someone to keep the posting consistent.

So what is the right amount to spend?

There is no set number but here is the deal: You can’t afford to not be marketing. Marketing cost money, but it also is the machine that brings in money. So you can’t afford to shut the machine off or even to let it idle. The cost to stop marketing is far greater in lost sales.

In 2013 I worked with a couple of partners and founded www.cibn.ca a business networking organization in Calgary, AB. This new company had a unique advantage. As the CEO I also owned an online marketing company called www.loyal2U.ca and therefore had access to a team of people who created marketing materials and already owned a platform that could promote the CIBN across the city. By using simple online marketing strategies over and over we grew the engaged following of the Canadian Imperial Business Network to over 330,000 people in less than 9 months. The phone rings on a regular basis now as people have found us. Our blogs are viewed by a vast number of people weekly. Our posts are re-posted by fans all across the region and beyond. Sometimes we get interest in attending our events from as far away as New York City. People recognize my face and the faces of the other partners when we are out in the community. I often hear them talk about how they have been following our progress for years. That is quite remarkable for a company that is less than one year old. Why do they think that? It is because of perception. In online marketing, perception is everything. We make a bold statement online. We are everywhere. Our LinkedIn profiles are pimped out. Our Facebook pages are regularly updated. We put out a lot of new content every month and we tweet about it regularly from multiple Twitter accounts. Perception has made us as huge as our market.

You can also grow a large following of people in a relatively short period of time. Use the simple steps of marketing over and over again and invest in yourself. We invested a lot into marketing. We pulled 16 hour days to get more onto the website after the day’s work was done or to get one more blog article written. We often went without other things and took smaller paychecks. We made careful choices, watched the results and then reinvested again when something worked. We partnered with others. We bartered when necessary. We spent and spent and spent to make it happen, but now it is happening.

Do not accept the reality that nobody knows who you are. Create a new reality. Use whatever is free. Use whatever you can trade. Use your connections. Use your head and be smart. Use boldness. Use a percentage if you need to but understand that nothing equals no return. The larger you pour out your marketing, the bigger the benefits later.

The Answer To The Question

The answer to how much should I spend is this: Spend whatever it takes. Keep spending and keep trying until you are making so much money you don’t have time to spend it all. Then spend some more, create an exit strategy and sell your business. When you successfully own your business and it no longer owns all of you and all of your time, you are good to go.

Happy Marketing!

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Dec 22 2013

Holiday Networking

Businesses have cycles. Some do extremely well during the holidays. That may be our biggest season if we are in a product industry that sells well around Christmas time. But what if you don’t handle something that is a good present? What if you are in a service industry? What if your product or service bottoms out in December? If that is the case we may feel that the holidays sabotage our regular routines and it seems futile to try and get any work done. We accept our fate and slink off home with our tail between our legs. Maybe we book our holidays, not out of sense of celebration but in a state of defeat because it is useless to try and get any work done. Maybe there is an opportunity that you are missing…

December Is A Great Networking Month

Christmas provides us with some networking opportunities that don’t happen at any other time of year. Some of your clients have Christmas parties. If you attend them with a gift there is a very good chance that you will gain valuable referrals right on site. There are other special networking events offered by your local Chamber Of Commerce and other networking organizations. You should find out about them and see if there may be a chance to have a table there or to offer a door prize. Do you have a seasonal special that you could offer? There are other opportunities to attend charity events and be featured as a sponsor. Sometimes the cost is small and you may be able to hand out some kind of branded paraphernalia that puts the word out about your company. Could you possibly put together some kind of package that could be drawn for? There are red hat parties. Check on LinkedIn and see who has been promoting a Christmas event. What causes can be promoted? Perhaps you could share their event on your Facebook page and they would see that as a great help.

Besides all of the obvious corporate events there are the private family functions and the friends and associates functions. Who is going to be there? Is there anything special that you can bring that would be seen as a blessing to the others who are attending without being too self-promoting? It is always good to be a giver. Giving is a great seed to sow into the life of your business.

Collect Cards

It may be that you can’t really do much business at these events but once you are there you are getting your face out there. Gather as many business cards as you can and when you are back in your office send them a quick Christmas card or an e-card. Add them to your LinkedIn connections or send them your specially crafted email Christmas newsletter. Once you have them on your follow up list there are many ways that you can connect with them over the coming year, but Christmas is a great time to grow your list. Get out into the community and see who you can meet.

Keep Gifts On Hand

Ideally the best gift for your business is not a calendar or a pen. Everyone who is in business offers those things, and they are rarely treasured. There are many creative items that can make your company stand out. The best kind of gift to offer would be a branded item that will be used over and over again. For instance, if you sell RVs get some blankets made with your name on them or your logo. Every time they camp that blanket will get used and remind them once again where they bought their RV. If you sell homes consider branded barbeque items. Every time they barbeque they will think of you. Chocolate is a great idea for a Christmas present. You can have that made with your logos imprinted right in the chocolate. It is a tasty treat that leaves an impression. What can you have made for a few hundred dollars that is going to give a lasting memory all year long?

If you have not had time to do anything special then at least invest in a nice box of Christmas cards and several good quality boxes of chocolates. They can be kept in your car and given out in a pinch so you always look like you were prepared.

Tis the season to be merry. Happy Networking!

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Nov 22 2013

The Mentor

Several years ago I needed a mentor to continue in my educational path, so I approached a woman that I knew to be very skilled with many years of experience in my chosen career. She looked me over very shrewdly as she drank a cup of tea and then asked a piercing question, “Do you know what you are asking for dear?” She asked me to describe to her what I thought mentoring was and then she told me what mentoring meant for her. She laid out the ground rules and they were a standard that I have since come to live by. I knew from her instruction what a mentor was and how to follow a chosen mentor. I also learned how to become a mentor that would make a difference in the life of many.

What Is A Mentor?

A mentor is someone who has gone before you and who is willing to share insights on how to overcome during your own personal journey. A mentor is a friend that you trust and one whose advice you value. They are someone who you would follow. They are in life where you want to be and you can see that a relationship with them would help you get closer to your goals and save you from many pitfalls that you would certainly fall into on your own.

Selecting A Mentor

When you select a mentor you should be careful to pick someone who has similar values, so when they ask you to do something you are not continually questioning them. Often the mentor does not have a lot of spare time, and the act of mentoring implies that the one being mentored is there of their own free will having already made the decision to follow. A good mentor realizes that you have free will but as busy, successful people they may not be able to continually over-explain and sometimes one just needs to trust that the mentor has a deeper understanding of the situation and take their advisement.

The mentor that you select should be someone that you respect and admire. It should be someone that you want to listen to and that you aspire to be like. They are not going to be perfect people. Nobody is perfect. In time, you may discover weaknesses in their humanity and you will need to ask yourself if those weaknesses matter to your end goal. Are they things that you can live with? Are they irrelevant to their area of expertise? Or are they something that your own morals won’t allow you to overlook? If a mentoring relationship needs to be severed or adjusted it should be done so with the upmost of care. This is someone who took the time to sow into your life so you want to be honoring to them even if one must eventually take a different road.

How To Receive Mentorship

Successful people may be willing to sow into your life but not if they have to chase you. They are successful because they already know how to value their time. So they will usually require you to go where they go, and to do what they do so you can get a few minutes at a time with them before and after events. Volunteering to be part of their team can gain you the entrance that you need to get their time. Don’t take advantage of your mentor’s time. Respect that they are a professional in their field and that they are therefore in high demand. Others may pay them a lot of money for their counsel so if you are getting any of their time for free or for a small fee realize that this is a privilege. Be on time when you meet them and try to fit your need for their time into their existing schedule as much as possible.

Don’t ask to borrow money or do anything that would affect the mutual trust that you have for each other. This is the last person you should ask to assist you in your drama. Your relationship should not be putting them into a position where they need to rescue you from your own bad management. A mentor is an advisor.

Value their advice and do what they tell you to do. In our democratic society many will take exception to this tidbit but here is the kicker, “Why do you want a mentor if you have no intention of listening to them?” Don’t waste their time with rebellion. If they are not worthy of being followed, then don’t ask them to mentor you in the first place. The whole idea is to accept the guidance of someone who can lead you to success faster than finding the way on your own. A mentor will save you time and money is mistakes that you will make. Learn from them and as you learn to follow you will also become a leader who is worthy of being followed. Someday you will be the mentor and you will be glad for the mentoring that you enjoyed along the way.

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Oct 23 2013

Speaking To Groups

Getting the word out about what you do is important. That is why it is necessary to learn to speak to groups of people about your unique offering and to get your message apart clearly.

First of all one needs to select the groups that you speak to with care. There are only so many hours in the day so we must spend our time wisely. I spent 12 years as a Pastor but when I entered into the realm of business I could no longer spend 20 hours a week in front of a church giving out spiritual messages. This was not the demographic that I needed to reach for my business. As a mother I had been part of several women’s groups and organizations over the years, but again these groups of people would not suit my needs. My business was about offering a service to professionals and to entrepreneurs. Where would I find that market?

What is your business? What is your service? What are your products? Who is your target market? Narrow that down. Be as specific as possible. Know your specific demographic. Then craft and create a message around that target market appealing to those individuals. Once you have a message you will want to look at every speaking opportunity asking yourself the question, “Will this group of people consist of the market that I am after?” There is no point in spending many hours at the wrong venues. It is not a worthwhile practice.

Once you are in the right location you must also consider how to bring your message across the most effectively. People have different languages that they communicate in and that effects how they receive information. The main three are kinetic, auditory, and visual. Whenever possible you want to engage all of these people during your presentation and as often as possible throughout your presentation. Here are some quick tips to get you started.

Powerpoint – A powerpoint presentation can engage people who are auditory and visual. It helps you stay on focus with your message but also consider your movements during the event. Are you going to stand in one spot or can your move a bit to keep them focused on you as you talk? How much movement is the right amount? Movement just for the sake of movement can also be distracting. Practice before presenting.

Hand-Outs – Use hand-outs. This gives people a take-away so they feel that they got more value out of your talk and it also gives them a way to reconnect with you later.

An Activity – Stimulate people with some exercise that gets them moving, engaging, or interacting with others. Kinetic people love to use their hands, but you must keep the activity simple for everyone’s benefit. Be aware that not everyone likes to be touched. Think through what the responses may be and do some brainstorming with someone else in your industry to get the best benefit. Activities can cause brain stimulation and cause people to later think back to your presentation with great fondness.

Chocolate – If you are one of several speakers, consider using chocolates as an addition to your handouts. Chocolate stimulates memories that are usually endearing. People remember events and have associations of memory around certain flavors and for most people chocolate brings forth positive thoughts. If you want to be remembered with fondness, consider using chocolate.

One final thought on speaking to groups. Keep in mind your time. If you have 20 minutes then keep it tight to 20 minutes. If you have practiced you know your delivery time. If you have a 40 minute presentation or a day event you will want to break things up to keep people engaged. Remember that the brain can only absorb what the butt can endure!

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Oct 01 2013

Should Women Network At The Old Boy’s Club?

Business networking is important. It is important for everyone, but especially important for women. There is still a glass ceiling in some industries where breaking over the top is difficult and gender can occasionally be a part of that. Have you heard of the Old Boy’s Club? It still exists. There are the closed doors of the boardroom. It may not even be that men desire to do business that way, they have just done business with friends for years and their friends are typically other men. So why should they let any newcomer of any kind into their circle when they have a system that they feel is working?

Women need to earn their way into those closed rooms. One can’t assume that it is a different world now and that they will just throw open their arms and welcome in the unknown. Men want to know that there will be a positive result from the interaction of any new business. So women need to network and get out there into the marketplace and make more friends. People will do business with you if they know you and if they feel comfortable that you can deliver on your promises.

While more and more companies are hiring female CEOs, most big companies are being ran by men. They have the final decision on how money will be spent and who gets that great contract. Men like doing business with men. They are comfortable in that realm. They feel free to talk the way they talk. They usually like facts only and separate out emotional responses from decision making. They have been there for years and many see no need to change, so we need to bring something of value to the table to make them want to do business with us. So what does a woman entrepreneur bring to the table?

Perspective

While men may control the spending in the boardroom, women control the spending at home. Over 80% of daily household decisions are made by women. The companies that trying to get into the wallet share of the general population usually know that but this would be a great time to remind them. As a woman you know more about how to get a woman to buy their product or service. They need your perspective in the Boy’s Club.

Warmth

While some men complain that women show their emotions more than men do, one of the positive emotions that women share is joy. Women tend to feel more comfortable having a laugh in a group of people. They bring life to the party. At the CIBN.ca we put on business meetings for professionals every day of the week. The most enjoyable meetings are those with a good balance of men and women. Both sexes notice it and often comment on it. There is a warmth and a camaraderie in a group where there is female and male interaction.

New Business

Women have the hearts of other women. They are the mothers, the sisters, the friends of other women. Smart men realize that their company needs a female voice to be the advocate for their marketing to work. The bottom line for all business is the bottom line. If women are making purchasing decisions then every company on planet earth that is trying to sell to a woman, needs other women talking about their product. Doing business with female contractors and companies ran by women ensures a larger market share. The bottom line therefore is it is profitable to do business with women.

Women may like the comfortable networking that they are used to with the women’s organization but we are only half of the population. There is money being left on the table. Ladies there is a place for you in the Boy’s Club and many of the boys already know it. So make new friends. It is a new sandbox with it’s own set of rules. We may want to change the status quo but change takes time. The best course of action is to learn their existing unsaid rules and try to blend as much as principle will allow and enjoy the interaction and the new business that comes from it. For many men you will need to learn to present numbers and facts up front. It is almost as though you close them before you present to them. They are fact orientated. If you know that you can have a tremendous edge in that market, and even gain the full support of the Boy’s Club.

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Sep 21 2013

What Will Linkedin Do For You?

There are a lot of places that a business owner should be found online but LinkedIn needs to be your highest priority. Why? Because it brings you new relationships, revenue, and referrals.

These days when someone finds your company online they quickly look over the website then they look to see who the owners and the leaders are within the organization. Next step for them is to google those people. Guess what comes up on page 1 of Google when they punch in your name? Nothing if you have not developed your social media profiles. Other people if your name is common. Bad reviews if you have not been monitoring the airwaves.Does that sound good to you?

There is a simple way of fixing those problems. Write content and start with your LinkedIn profile. It is an easy and free way to be sure they are really looking at you. Then the thing that comes up when they google your name is your phenomenal LinkedIn profile with your great story all about what you do.

Today business owners, entrepreneurs, salespeople, employees, and professionals of all kinds are getting on LinkedIn. The group interactions are stimulating and education for you in your field. You will make new connections that can lead to business and by putting a good photo of yourself on your profile you are giving yourself face recognition in public. When people meet you in person they feel that they already know you and they are more ready to do business right away.

The more you develop your profile and engage with others the more business you will get from LinkedIn. Patience is the key. Many people stop when they don’t get immediate business but they have not invested enough time into the process or they have been doing it wrong. If you are consistent in your posting and if you have put your contact information with your story in your summary you will eventually start making the connections that you need to make. They will call you or email you directly with offers and opportunities. Some of these offers may be their own sales pitches but others are questions about your service. Meet them for a coffee or have a Skype meeting. Keep your mind open and the benefits begin to grow.

Over time referrals also happen. Someone reads your profile and they never use your service. Yet, when a friend asks them if they know someone in your industry they feel like they know you. It is the strangest and most wonderful thing. You will get a call asking for your service because someone gave you a raving review and you have never even met that person!

Whether you have a business to business offering or if your market is primarily the end consumer you need to be on LinkedIn. More and more it is where the business is.

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Aug 30 2013

What Does A New Business Need?

When you get started in business you will typically be bombarded with a thousand good ideas from hundreds of people who may or may not know a thing about how to succeed in business. Taking their advice may do you great harm. One must always ask themselves, “why would this person give me this counsel?” If they make their living by selling advertising of course they will say their advertising is the best. If they offer a gadget or an app that is supposed to save you time, they will want to convince you that theirs is the best.

A good question to ask a salesperson is, “Have you ever owned a business?” And close behind that question should be another, “As a business owner what differences did this make for you?”

So what do you really need to succeed in a start-up venture?

While it varies industry by industry there are a few common things that everyone needs. Here are 5 essentials:

Good mentorship. Real mentorship can be had and it should be pursued. One mistake that new entrepreneurs make is that they believe they are the only one who ever had this kind of business so they do not seek advice. That is a mistake that could cost you everything. One poor decision can take you out. So find someone who has succeeded at anything at all and that is a better mentor than not having one because you can’t find a person in your industry. Entrepreneurs are busy people but they typically enjoy the stimulating conversation of someone who is earnestly looking to learn. Ask questions and listen more than you talk. Build the relationship and don’t ask for their business. That may come later after you have won trust but it is not the purpose of the friendship. You need their wisdom to survive.
Capital or cash flow. You either need a lot of up front capital or you need to produce a solid and consistent cash flow. If you are producing widgets part-time and working at a job, keep the job until you have enough consistent orders or you will die. Your family will suffer. You will hurt. Cash flow is king.
Marketing, marketing, marketing. Sales cannot be properly supported unless you have invested either time into marketing or money and in many cases both. Never wait to start marketing. Your sales staff needs to have brochures to explain your service and they should have business cards and whatever else it takes to support a sale. It also takes months to produce a legitimate following online with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. So don’t wait until your product launches to get started or you will shout about your new business to an empty room. Start building a small following online and take them with through the journey. By the time you launch you will have an active group of engaged cheerleaders who are excited about your new offering!
Website and online presence. Today is a different world than it was even 5 years ago. These are not just about marketing these are essential to your survival and your success. Your credibility will be judged by a prospects ability to find information about you online. While branding is important do not wait to have it all perfectly aligned in the heavens to get started. You can set up a website for anywhere from $100 to $10,000 and you need to either have it done for you or get to work on it late at night. Remember that after they look at your website they then go look at you the owner. So develop a personal profile on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Don’t delay if you want to succeed.
Accounting and tracking. Entrepreneurs often lack good bookkeeping skills. Get over it and get help. Use an online program or hire someone for a few hours a month to just keep you on track. An unpaid GST bill or a badly done tax return can destroy you. One also needs to know the numbers to improve the sales ratio later. If nothing is tracked success will be lacking. Find systems that work and implement them sooner rather than later.

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Aug 21 2013

The Story Of A Networker

In only three years I went from knowing nobody to becoming one of the most connected people in my region. I went from abject poverty to owning three successful companies. I couldn’t have given advice on how to effectively get one client and now I am sought after by professionals and start-ups from across Alberta. Would you like to know how I did it?

I got involved in business networking. That is the pure, simple, reality of it.

For 12 years I was a Pastor and as a Pastor I was in a bubble. My whole life was the church and the people in the church. My congregations were almost completely employees and the very poor. I did not know or understand business. I knew nobody who was a successful business person and I did not know even one entrepreneur. In 2011 I decided to make a change and start a business of my own. My company was an online marketing company and one of my first clients was Jim Messner who owned the Calgary Business Network. Jim impressed upon me the importance of building good relationships, exchanging business, working with people and not being aggressively competitive but being a person who always looked to add value. Jim is still an excellent mentor and a great friend.

I really tied into networking. I got involved and went to meetings and then one day when Jim couldn’t make it, I ran the meeting and discovered something powerful. Those who ran the event were seen as leaders and they got more business than those who just came as a participant! That day I wrote one deal on the spot and had two successful sales later in the week. As a result, I decided that I wanted to take part in running one of the ongoing groups.

After a year I had made a lot of new friends. My social media skills were helping me to also grow an online network and often when people would see me in person they would exclaim that they already knew me online. My reputation was growing and my life was changing.

In January of 2012 Jim decided to retire and spend more time in the US so he offered to sell me the network. I jumped at the opportunity and began improving the offering of the network. Within 12 months we had grown it by 300% and it was turning a profit and my influence was expanding. In November of 2012 I was approached by my largest competitor in the region to take their weekly networking clubs and add them to our business so in January of 2013 we acquired the Progressive Group of Independent Business lunch chapters. This year has been a whirlwind of successes as the entire network has taken off.

Today people will ask me why I believe our company is the best or why we believe we have such a great unique proposition and I tell them that it is because I was a business owner just like them when I got started. I did not inherit this network. I was a small business who needed new warm leads and referrals. I had a service to sell and I was struggling to survive just like most people who get started on their own. My biggest advantage was that I had good mentors like Jim Messner who helped me make wise decisions and showed me how to network properly. Today we train on many of those skills and offer them to others and that is why our network is making an impact. This is all about helping others succeed. When we help enough people increase their profit then we also enjoy the benefits of those relationships.

Networking works. When one invests time into themselves and into others it is a win/win for everyone!

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Jul 30 2013

Developing Social Media Real Estate Online

Developing social media platforms is just like developing real estate along the supernet highway. Like real estate these properties require purchasing, upgrading, maintenance and a plan for long term occupation. When real estate is left unattended vagrants, bugs, rodents and other undesirables move in. Social media also can have people making undesirable posts on your page or have others talking about you in platforms that you did not even know existed. Imagine if you went to Las Vegas and saw your name in lights advertising you doing something embarrassing or worse.

You have a name, a reputation, and a business to develop and to protect. Not participating does not mean that developments are not going on without your knowledge. The best protection is to be engaged and aware. Just like owning real estate, absent renters may be surprised by developments they are unaware of.

When potential clients check out your website their next step is often to check out you. Have you googled your own name? What is found there? That is a whole page that should be all about you. That is a page of real estate that you can easily own. The pieces of content should reflect your story. The pictures should be photos of you. Your LinkedIn profile should be top and center. Your Twitter handle should come up next. Your Facebook profile should be there and your blog should have several places on page 1, 2 and 3.

All you need to do to make this happen is simply make it happen. If you do not have the time, then hire someone to make it happen. It is too important to ignore for your long term success. It is like leaving property without occupants if you do not.

Develop profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter first. If your market is on Pinterest and Google+ then do those as well, but definitely get the main three done. Fill in all of the blanks and make the profiles interesting.
Use your photos on everything. Brand you to your business. Name your photos your name when you save them on your computer and add the alt tags or keyword tags to your photos whenever you can. Some branding experts say to use the same photo but we have found that using different photos causes people to recognize you better in public and makes them more familiar with you and that produces more business.
Start a blog. A blog that is attached to your WordPress website will help you get more traffic to your site but it also features you as an industry leader. Then you start showing up on page 1 of Google as an expert when your name is searched and sometimes for other subjects as well.
Consistency is key. Start a Hootsuite account and automate Twitter and LinkedIn to post interesting statements, good questions, and great tips 4 times a day. Facebook should change a post about twice a week to keep people interested. Consistency is like property management. You need to be sure the plumbing is running right and that the grass got mowed so everything is spiffy when guests pop by to have a look at your property. Automating can help you be consistent when you are busy. In an hour you can put together the main posts for the next month. Then you can be spontaneous when there is something special going on as well.

Buy your property, own your property and care for your property. Be an engaged property owner for better results and create more interest from those rushing by on the internet highway!

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@createloyalty2U

@CIBNtweets

@yycbiznetwork

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http://loyal2u.ca/category/social-media-2/linkedin/

Jul 22 2013

Basic Business Networking 101

There are a variety of business networking experiences out there. There are the free groups on MeetUp, the weekly breakfast or lunch referral clubs, the evening mixers, and even events based around themes or trade-shows. The fact is there is no “right way” to network. All of these work some of the time and all of these will have events that are duds as well.

One of the biggest mistakes that we see business owners making is that they don’t put a full effort into the networking process and then don’t get the full benefits out of their experience. The reality is that many businesses increase their bottom line by thousands of dollars a year by participating in networking. When it is done well it can be a simple and enjoyable way to bring new, vibrant leads and excellent clients into your business.

Here are a few basic tips to get you started:

Go to different kinds of networking events regularly. Make networking a part of your marketing plan. There is magic in seeing people face-to-face and having the experience of connection.
Talk about them more than you talk about you.Dale Carnegie said, “people don’t care about what you know until they know how much you care.” While it is natural for participants to ask you about what you do, they really want to talk about what they do. So let them talk. If they ask you about your business say something quick in 30 seconds and then ask them another question about what they do. Keep them talking for a few minutes and then when you exchange business cards let them know that you found them interesting and that you would like to continue the conversation at a later date. Book the appointment on the spot or call them next week.
Smile. Enjoy yourself. This is not supposed to be a painful exercise. It is visiting enjoyable people and talking about things that you love to talk about. Let your face know that you are happy inside and that will let others know that you are approachable and interested in them.
Move around the room if you are able. Some networking events only allow you to sit in one spot, so sit in a different spot when you can. Get their early to meet others who are early and serious about their business. Sometimes you will be able to book two sales appointments before the meeting even gets started. If it is a standing event like a beer and wings night at a lounge, move around. Talk briefly with one person while staying fully engaged in what they are saying. Thank them for what they share. Exchange cards and then move around the room to meet others. Be careful not to interrupt conversations in process but stand by waiting for an opportunity to ask a question about one of the others speaking.
Follow up.There is no point in networking or in even having a business if you are not going to be an avid follow up artist. Most sales do not transpire until after the 7^th touch. That means if you quit talking to them after they said “no” or after they did not look interested, you are working against your own success. After one meeting with you they still don’t even really understand who you are or what you do. So develop follow up strategies that work for all of your levels of engagement. After a networking event give them a phone call and book a coffee. Send them a card. Then add them to your social media channels. Connect with them on LinkedIn. If you “like” their Facebook page and make a positive comment they will usually then say “yes” to a friendship request as well. Follow them on Twitter and they usually follow back. These are ways that they will continue to see your ongoing content and be touched by you over and over until eventually they call you for business. These things all create a funnel of activity that potential clients will fall into and your bottom line goes up as a result.

Twitter: @createloyalty2U, @CIBNtweets, @yycbiznetwork

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