We've all heard that when you get a business lead, or a referral, or a phone query, or…something along those lines, we should follow up. Of course we should. And we should do it in a timely manner. "Well," you ask, "what is a timely manner?" In my opinion, it is within 24 hours. Now this doesn't apply to a phone call from your mother, but I covered that in another post titled, Why Doesn't Anyone Return My Phone Calls? published back in February '09.

Most of us are following up with phone calls and emails. Now phone calls are an excellent way to follow up but it has some definite drawbacks: phone calls are VERY time consuming, and a large percentage of the time you get voice mail and have to play phone tag. In order to do that, you have to keep track of who called whom and when. You have enough to do without adding that stress to your business life. Emails. Ahhhhh, emails. Everyone does emails. They're quick, they're easy. But again, EVERYONE does emails. In fact emails are used for more than just follow up, and therein lies the rub. Most people don't open all their emails because they get so many of them and most of them are bullsh….t. I mean, spam. Emails have lost their meaning and impact. Oh woe is us! What to do?

I have a solution. Send a greeting card.

"Are you kidding," you ask? No, I'm dead serious.

What is your first thought when you get a greeting card? What are you feeling when you have it in your hand and you haven't opened it yet? Your first thought is, "Is it my birthday?" The answer is no. Your second thought is, "Gee, I wonder who this is from and why they're sending me a card?" You're checking the return address. You can't wait to open it and see what it says. Let me ask you something – do you feel and think this way about emails? Do you know someone who DOES feel that way about emails?

Now you are thinking of objections to using greeting cards aren't you?  "They're so expensive!" "They're so inconvenient to buy." "I have to write in each and every one, stuff and stamp and take them to the post office." "I can never find on that says exactly what I want to say." "What if I get a paper cut?"

Check this out - and remember, these are REAL PAPER GREETING CARDS that go through the U.S. Post Office. What if you could write one standard card and send it multiple times to people, or send it to many, many people at one time with just a click of a mouse? What if you could set it up so that it sent out cards to many people AUTOMATICALLY as many times as you want whenever you want? What if each card costs less than $1.00? What if you could upload pictures into them, or even make the card out of your photos? You may notice that in the above picture there are cards with our photos on them and some that we got from friends with their photos on them. What if you could insert your ACTUAL signature? What if you could use your actual personal handwriting? What if you could do all this on your computer from anywhere in the world and SOMEONE ELSE would print, stuff, stamp and mail the cards for you?

What if you could try this service out FOR FREE?

Would you take a few minutes to try it? Would you really, or are you just going to read this and then forget about it? Can you see how it could help your business and/or personal life? Do you see how this could be more effective than email, and actually save you money from whatever marketing you're already doing? If you're putting ads in phone books and on billboards, you are wasting your dollars! If you're creating enormously expensive magazine ads, how's that working out for you? If you're not creating relationships with your existing customers or prospects, they will likely never keep doing business with you because they perceive that you don't personally care about them.

Do this NOW! Go to SendOutNow and click on the banner. The founder and CEO will personally walk you through sending a card to someone you love and we'll pay for it. What have you got to lose? 15 minutes of your life? Give me a break! If you want to help your business bottom line, then this is the tool for you. And if you just want to send Christmas or birthday cards to friends and family cheaper and having more fun than you've ever done in the past, then you gotta try this out.

To your business success!

Bookmark & Share

Share on Facebook

–>

There is a book called “Blue Ocean Strategy” that talks about uncontested market space and making the competition irrelevant. Here is the main concept: if you market in a specific niche or market like the others do in that same market or niche, then you’re doing what’s called Red Ocean marketing. This means that you are all getting bloody trying to compete with each other for a finite market share. Each of you is trying to out-do each other in a market that has a limited number of customers, a limited price point, a limited profit margin, a limited everything! Let me give you an example. Let’s take pizza.

All the pizza places (Domino’s, CiCi’s, Pizza Hut, etc.) are using T.V. commercials, mailed flyers, magazine and newspaper ads, radio ads and more. Everyone is doing the same thing. How low can their prices go before they’re losing money? How many customers can they reasonably get? What can they possibly do that the other companies haven’t already done, but the bottom line is this – it’s still PIZZA!

Pepsi competes with Coke and all the other soft drink companies out there. All they can do is package differently or change the taste. That’s about it. And what can the other soft drink companies do? What can an insurance company offer a potential customer that the other insurance companies are not offering? What can a car manufacturer offer a potential customer that the other manufacturers are not offering? What can a retail store offer potential customers that other retail stores do not offer? You see what I’m getting at here?

Whatever your product or service is, chances are you’re just killing yourself by trying to out-do the other companies in your market. You’re all beating yourselves bloody in the name of competition.

But you ask, “What else can I do?”

Well, let’s look at Cirque du Soleil. There were two major circus giants who were known as the best in the industry. Other smaller circuses tried to compete in the same market and got nowhere. They all tried to use animals, tents, performers doing the same tricks and what happened? The small ones stayed “small potatoes” or went out of business entirely, and the two circus giants, due to the declining economy, had to raise prices, cut back performances and/or quality, down-size, etc. And the more they did this, the fewer customers they had. That becomes a vicious cycle to nowhere.

So, did Cirque du Soleil follow this formula? No! They created a completely different market and a totally different business model, and even did this with their prices doubled and tripled what the normal circus prices used to be. And they dominate that market! They don’t use animals. They use use artists/performers and use story themes in their shows. Wow!

What about Apple? As the electronics market evolves, companies who create new technologies are the ones who prosper. What about green energy? Same thing there.

Blue Ocean Strategy is about creating NEW markets by creating new products, technologies or new services, not competing in the same old, same old.

Even the MLM industry falls victim to the red ocean strategy. It never fails to amaze me that people who want to quit the corporate world and go into business for themselves choose an MLM business that IS COMPETING WITH EVERYONE ELSE in the same industry. Health products. Electricity. Insurance, for crying out loud. Kitchen ware. Why would you do that? How in the world do you think you will become successful?

Now this is interesting – a totally new product/service comes along that NO ONE ELSE is doing, that the entry fee is ridiculously low, that is cutting edge, like Cirque du Soleil, and do people want to get involved? No! They instead join a company that is one of 20 others just like it. And yet they have high expectations of success. They work hard for a short or long period of time, they invest lots of money and effort and time, and then they quit. Or they just marginally get by. Then they go tell everyone they know that MLMs don’t work. Or they jump to a different MLM company that is, again, one of many doing the same product/service. And these are NOT stupid people!

So tell me, if you had an urge to begin your own business and you are drawn to the MLM business model, which, seriously, is the only way to set your own work schedule and salary limit, wouldn’t you want to put the odds in your favor? Wouldn’t you consider a company that had a low entry fee, that was super easy to do, that was growing like crazy and that had NO COMPETITION?

If this makes sense to you, go to www.sendoutnow.com and click on the banner to try it out yourself FOR FREE!!!!!! Or simply email me at steveblu1@gmail.com and ask me to show you how to get started. What have you got to lose? You’re probably just trading your time for money anyway. Why not do it smarter? And if you want to read more stuff about business networking, go to http://wwwnetworkingfun.com.

Bookmark & Share

Share on Facebook

Okay, I read in a book by Noah St. John that the reason I haven't reached any of my goals is because something that I'm totally unaware of is holding me back. He said that I have to figure out what it is that is preventing me from moving forward and then deal with it. Is it some deeply held belief? Is it something I "learned" in my life experiences? Is it something I just made up in my head with no basis whatsoever? Is it something I read on a bathroom wall? (that reminds me of a phone call I need to make)

What is my problem?

I stayed awake for several hours last nite trying to come up with the "Great Aha!" Man, it was tough, let me tell you! And I could only think of two things that made an impact on me: 1) it would require lots of work (heck, we're working hard already!) and 2) it would mean long periods without my wife Sara nearby (I don't like that! Maybe I'm co-dependent?) Another possibility is that I have too many expectations of others and don't want to be disappointed (like I'm not already!)

So, what is my problem?

What am I afraid of here? Do I not want to lose friends by outgrowing them? Am I afraid of rubbing shoulders with rich and famous people? Would my responsibilities increase somehow? Would people I don't even know be suspicious of me or think poorly of me out of jealousy or their own prejudices? Should I even care? Would I have to dress better? (God, I hope not!)

What is my problem?

I suspect that this blog will be have a sequel, since I haven't come up with any answers yet. I do know that I need to figure this out and soon.

So…until then…uh, whatever.

P.S. You may think that this has nothing to do with business, but you would be wrong. This has to do with EVERY aspect of our lives and perhaps you could be thinking about what's holding YOU back! Just a suggestion.

Bookmark & Share

Share on Facebook

–>

What is the most important thing, in my opinion, you can do in sales and marketing?

Follow up!!

I’ll say it again, Follow Up!

Somewhere, somehow, sometime, you will get a lead for your business. It may be through the many different advertisements you put out or through your networking. It may be through a referral from an existing customer. It may be through your email campaigns or your Facebook ads or Google ads. It may be through Twitter or some other social network. It may be through your direct mail campaigns. No matter how you get them, leads have to be followed up on. Or with. So I don’t use perfect English here, so sue me.

Statistics show that most businesses follow up only once or twice. Maybe 3 times. And of course, people being as lazy or busy or distracted as they are, they don’t respond to those follow ups. It has been found that the company willing to follow up 6 or more times usually gets the response and the sale. And that’s the truth! Some may call it legalized stalking. Well, don’t forget you want to follow up, not bird dog, harass, harangue or smother. Nor do you want to lurk, ambush, slink, or skulk. Trench coats are not the uniform of the day. Business is hard work and follow up is one of the methods used to get sales. Follow up can be done in many different ways, just as advertising and marketing can be. One of the best methods besides phone calls is to send a greeting card or two. They can be set up to be sent automatically and someone else will do the printing, stuffing and mailing. You can send one for less than $1.00. If you would like to find out more, go to http://www.sendoutnow.com to try it out for FREE. Follow up is the most boring and frustrating part of the sales process and it’s very difficult not to take the non-responses as personal rejection and become discouraged and of course, give up. But once again, the one who perseveres gets the rewards.

You’ve got to be willing to do what most others won’t, and that’s follow up. Do it wisely. Do it consistently. And do it legally. But you gotta do it!

Bookmark & Share

Share on Facebook

We had to put our dog down this morning. His name is Duke and he was a Pembrook Welsh Corgi. He was an older dog that was rescued when he was about 5 years old. He was having many health issues, including seizures. As many of you can identify, we loved him very much! Here he is enjoying the Texas bluebonnets.

And now he's gone.

Life can be short, can't it? You never know what is in store for you, even though you may have other plans. Since we all know people (ourselves included) who end up at the end of their days wondering what went wrong and how come they never got to do the things they dreamed of as kids, or how did the time pass so quickly, or God, I hate this job and I don't know why I'm still doing it, or how did I get stuck with this spouse and these kids, or why am I still driving a damned Volkswagen, or….you get the point.

Are you living your dreams? Most of us are not. Many of us are in the autumn of our years, experiencing health issues and wondering where the time went. Most of us have given up on ever living our dreams! Most of us can't even dream anymore, period! Is that you? I know, you have responsibilities. You have families. You're doing what you do for your kids, right? So they can have the life you don't? Funny thing is, we're teaching them to do the exact same things we did – be responsible, go to school, get a GOOD JOB, get a REAL JOB, not something frivolous like acting, writing, painting, gardening, food, something weird like that. Oh, no, not for our kids! We want them to be lawyers, doctors, engineers. We want them to make the big bucks. We want them to turn out just like us, going for the almighty dollar to live a "comfortable"  life. What a load of crap!

You know, there's still time to do something. Maybe not live all your dreams or even any one of them, but at least you can learn to dream again. You can talk it over with your family about how life is about relationships and pursuing your passions. Make a Bucket List. Have your kids make a Bucket List. Post it on the refrigerator and check off each item when someone experiences it.

"Oh, that is silly," you say. Damn right it is. But that's what makes life the fun it's supposed to be. It's not supposed to be about the mind-numbing, plodding along, trying to make ends meet and criticizing everyone else kind of experience most of us have. What's that phrase? "Life sucks, and then you die." Gee, I wonder what the state of mind was of the guy who coined that phrase. I wonder what his life was like.

I don't want to live like that. I've seen that for most of my life and I want to change it before it's too late. I'm sure Duke didn't want to lay around in his own urine because he couldn't walk. He wanted to chase his tennis ball. He wanted to chase cats and squirrels. He wanted to eat 5 times a day. Scrambled eggs with cheese on them were his favorite. (we only gave him that maybe once a month, Maybe). We mostly fed him healthy foods like raw meat and vegetables. He particularly liked peas. We don't know why. I'm sure even Duke had dreams.

Don't wait 'til it's too late! Don't wait 'til some family member has to put you down! No, life is for living, not for surviving!

Get your Bucket List started today and you'll feel a change in your life! And don't worry about the ridicule you'll get from your spouse and kids. Eventually they will see that you are happier and more relaxed and then they'll be on board. If they don't, you can divorce them and move on (just kidding here). If none of this makes any sense to you, then just keep on keepin' on and criticize me. You won't hurt my feelings. If some of this does resonate with you, then think about making some changes.

Until you do, nothing will change.

Share on Facebook