A few months back, I had the fortunate opportunity to be invited to an all-inclusive resort in Cancun with one of my old college buddies. Not one to say no, I took him up on the offer. To summarize the experience in one word: amazing.
While it was nice to be there and partake in all the events, I couldn’t help but be entranced by their business model. Within 12 hours of my arrival I had already eaten many plates of sushi, drank countless blended drinks and pretty much cleaned out the pre-stocked fridge in our room. How can a business sustain this clear over indulgence of someone like me? I’m assuming amazing budgeting and math skills as well as a strong understanding of consumer psychology. But is that it?
Demand for Inclusivity
The most remarkable concept of the all-inclusive model is how effectively the value-add entices guests. Through conversing with fellow guests, people generally enjoyed not caring about what they did or what it cost. They loved that everything on the trip was included with that little wristband.
[click to continue…]
Buyers are a fickle bunch. Most consumers shop around. And nowadays the web has made every shopper, a savvy shopper. They can easily find coupons by checking out sites like Slickdeals. And they can compare prices of similar products and services relatively quickly.
As marketers, how do we convert these price conscious shoppers into happy purchasers?
Assuming you have a somewhat unique offering through a differentiation strategy, you must reshape their subconscious price bias.
There is an interesting concept in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) called anchoring. In short, people can become attached to a certain concept and retain that bias when making future decisions. This has huge implications for your offerings and pricing. And should be taken seriously when looking to successfully compete in your industry.
When a potential buyer becomes anchored to a price, breaking their preconceived price notions is difficult. Which is why you must create your own anchor. While this is easier said than done, it is possible.
[click to continue…]
Expos, chamber gatherings and other networking events will certainly leave you with pockets full of business cards. And I am assuming you cherish the business cards from the important contacts you met. But what about all of the cards from folks you may never intend on speaking to again? (i.e. an unrelated industry worker) What should a smart networker do with these contact cards?
Most people fail to do anything with seemingly undesirable business cards. Some may throw them away. While most others probably toss them in a drawer, only to throw them away five years later. And so it seems that most people never recognize the golden opportunity presented with all business cards: building a network. Shocking revelation, huh? Since this was your original intention of going to the networking event anyway, might as well do it correctly. Here’s my advice:
[click to continue…]
Job Seekers: Do you have a resume? If so, please do something for me: delete the file and burn any hard copies.
Done? Cool, welcome to the new decade.
Resumes are boring and filled with fluff. They’re unbiased and only highlight a few carefully crafted bullet-point details about a career. And it is absolutely impossible to learn about someone from a single piece of paper. Instead, employers will now perform a 2 second name search in Google, shedding extraordinary light on potential hires.
The Attraction of Expertise
Compare a typical resume toting 15-year veteran to an industry-specific, high-traffic blogger a year out of college. Who will look more desirable? I’d put my money on the blogger. The college kid has tangible proof of their knowledge. And both colleagues and clients will put increased trust into the new hire with obvious, proven expertise.
[click to continue…]
I love the snooze button. But I hate the person who invented it. If you’re like me, there is no better place to be than under the covers on cold mornings. However, sleeping in is not a strategy for success. With that said, I have tried many methods and have found some great strategies for getting up quickly and easily.
Go to Bed When You’re Tired
Sounds like common sense but there is a little more to this strategy. I’ve read articles on sleep that say you should go to bed at the exact same time every night. This is nonsense! Mostly because depending on your day’s activities, your energy usage will greatly vary from day to day. When heading to bed make sure you are tired enough to fall asleep within 5 minutes. If it takes longer than a few minutes to drift off, you are wasting your time. Conversely, if you rob yourself of sleep by postponing bedtime you may throw off your sleep cycle and wake up tired.
Wake Up At the Same Time Everyday
Standardizing your wake up routine is key for easy mornings. If you wake up at random times (which you probably do now) your circadian rhythm will be in constant disarray. By waking every day at the same time your brain will be subconsciously trained to prepare for waking at your desired time. Personally, I have found that I am so accustomed to waking at 6am that sometimes I wake up a few seconds or minutes before the alarm goes off. Which is slightly eerie but definitely a reinforcement that this strategy works for me.
Furthermore, if you had less sleep than desired during the previous night, you will simply become tired sooner that day. And, in turn, want to head to bed sooner. Therefore your circadian rhythm will begin to self-regulate more accurately and your sleep cycle will find an equilibrium on a daily basis. [click to continue…]
To an entrepreneur, cold calling is a daily task. It’s inevitable. Sometimes, one phone call can determine your continued success as a business. With so much riding on these cold calls, why are so many entrepreneurs fearful of picking up the phone and asking for sales? Two words: The Gatekeeper! And depending on the self-importance of the decision maker sought by the call, you most likely will be hung–up on quicker than a 3 am collect call to an ex-partner. Yikes, no fun!
So what is an entrepreneur to do about an unrelenting gatekeeper?
I asked myself this question every time I was transferred to some generic voicemail or asked to leave a memo. And I have crafted the following helpful tips that have allowed me to successfully speak with whomever I choose. So without further ado, five tips to successfully get past gatekeepers:
1. Confidence is Key
Do you think a fellow CEO & golfing buddy uses the formal name of the intended call recipient when speaking with the gatekeeper? Or worse yet would they have a shaky, insecure voice? Absolutely not! So buckle up your confidence and ask for the decision maker like you are old college chums… it works!
2. Have a Solid Reason
Sorry to break it to you but no gatekeeper cares what you have to sell. But they do care about a benefit that may help the company. So have a good reason for your call. And it may be as simple as “The reason for my call is that I was hoping to introduce myself to X as I’m the founder of Y as we offer product Z, which has resulted in an average return on investment of 200% for our current client’s manufacturing operation.” Or something similar.
3. Avoid the “I’ll take a message for you” Trap
Message taking is a great trick gatekeepers use for keeping unwanted sales people out. And unless it’s a message about a sick family member, there is a slim to none chance the decision maker will ever receive your memo. To combat this trap [click to continue…]
I thoroughly enjoy the rise of the Walmart-style businesses in the world. Low-cost leaders have all but destroyed those location-based businesses that live in the past, hate change and failed to evolve. (You know… the stores that usually emit a mysterious scent of mothballs) And while I do feel for the employees of these failed businesses who lost their jobs, the owners and managers are to blame.
With the rise of these super companies we have become accustomed to sub-standard customer service and the slue of other complaints I constantly ramble on about… Where are you now Circuit City? Lucky for us, the lack of niche, value-added storefronts has created a hole in the market. And savvy business owners can jump in and rapidly take market share from the big guys. In general, though, most businesses are failing to innovate and are falling back on only low-priced claims.
To illustrate this growing trend of competing on price, simply open your local newspaper. Special sales, coupons and price cuts galore! “Mom and pops” are not buying in mass enough quantities to afford these cost cuts. So where does the cash flow balancing act come from? The essentials, that’s where. Important expenses such as training and retaining employees as well as constant storefront innovations are going by the wayside. These stores feel their price slashing is necessary to compete… not so! Over the years I have worked with numerous brick and mortars on their rebranding efforts. And I have found a common theme for storefront success. Here’s how to eliminate low cost considerations:
Create a Destination
By creating an experience for the shopper, a destination of sorts, any business will find its customer base expand greatly – usually from word-of-mouth. Cabelas is a great example of perfectly implementing this strategy. There is so much extra stuff to do and see at Cabelas than a regular big-box outdoor supply store. From huge fish tanks and animal displays to carnival-style hunting games. Even corrals for “parking” your horse (if equine is your preferred method of travel), the store is a sight to be seen.
[click to continue…]
Are you looking to create the ultimate green workplace? Not only is this a solid strategy for differentiating yourself in the market as an environmental advocate, you will also be ensuring your organization has a much smaller carbon footprint. These 10 ideas will help produce an eco-friendly office:
1. Paperless Operations
This is the single best strategy for saving both the environment and your supplies budget. By creating PDF’s and using email instead of printouts and physical mailings, your office’s taxation on the planet’s resources will drop. An added bonus is your overall operation will become more streamlined and secure by using digital documents in the office.
2. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Create a recycling plan for your office supplies. First, be sure to put out recycling bins next to the garbage cans. Consider reusing single sided paper for scratch paper. In addition, don’t forget to bring old ink cartridges to a supply-recycling collector such as Staples.
Also, old office equipment pose serious risks to the environment if not recycled correctly. In fact, CRT monitors are the worst culprits as they contain at least 5 pounds of lead. With technology changing at such a rapid pace, be sure to recycle or donate unneeded equipment at authorized facilities.
3. Use Surge Protectors
If coworkers shut their entire desk down at night, your office would save an amazing amount of energy. With a surge protector everything can be plugged into one central unit and shut off with a single switch. [click to continue…]
Have you started a business that failed? Invested in a system that fell flat? Invented something that didn’t sell? However, did you follow that failure with a huge success? And if so, what kept you going?
When venturing into the world of entrepreneurship, everyone will face obstacles along the way. It’s pretty much a guarantee. The defining characteristic of successful entrepreneurs, though, is their enormous level of positive thought. With the power of optimism, these downfalls turn into positives. For example:
Imagine an all too familiar event for a budding entrepreneur… The company just lost a big account to a competitor.
The pessimist would look at the scenario and say, “this is why I will never succeed, I can’t compete and I must not be that great.”
The optimist, on the other hand, would look at the situation and say, “well I lost that account but I had the account for 2 years. What did I do right? How can I repeat what I did and replace that account with 5 more?”
See the difference? It’s all in your frame of view and how you spin outcomes.
Positivity and Productivity
Optimistic people work harder. It’s true. In fact, research studies have proven that pessimism severely hinders a person’s ability to engage in life-improving acts. To a successful entrepreneur, this should be obvious. [click to continue…]
