It seems that the only way to win these days is to move faster and faster.

I’m going to warn you right now, you’re either going to love or hate this blog post.  And you might outwardly hate me for writing it but inwardly envy my ideas.

This question of how do businesses keep up in a world that feels like it gets faster every day was brought to my attention by a post I saw on LinkedIn a few weeks ago.  I had to let it marinate a while to decide how I felt about it.  More importantly how I would respond to it.

The post listed out a few ways business owners could keep up and take great care of their clients.  One of the tips was this:

Return phone calls and emails in two hours or less.

I kept reading and then returned to this wonderful sounding sentence.  Give your clients immediate help, immediate attention, immediate answers.  But then it dawned on me that I don’t expect this from the people who I do business with.  I don’t expect them to be “on call” for me.  In fact it’s kind of repulsing to think that they might interrupt dinner to reply to my email that just buzz them on their smart phone.

Just because emails, voicemails, texts, faxes and social media alerts can be delivered into our hot little hand 24/7 doesn’t mean we have to be a slave to them.

Are you really more “professional” if you are texting during networking events….

Taking phone calls during appointments…

Or sending emails when someone is trying to talk to you?

The real test of what we believe is worked out in what we do.  Derek and I had to decide what our policy would be.  Would we sleep with our iphones and never miss a call?  Would we be sending emails over a nice dinner out?  Would we be on call for our clients?  We decided against it.  In fact we decided to not even take our phones with us when we take Charlie on a walk or go down to 5th for a frozen yogurt.

Nothing bugs me more than when I’m with someone (either in person or on the phone) and they aren’t really there with me.

We may take 24-48 hours to call a client back.  We might not be able to fit in an appointment for two weeks but I can tell you this…

When we are with our clients we are really with them.  We are listening, taking notes and actively participating.

We like to give our best to our clients.  Our clients aren’t a number to us.  They aren’t even a business to us.  They are human beings, individuals, people with families and school plays and pets.  They have plenty on their plate and the way we feel like we can best serve them is by being present every single time we interact.

So, no we won’t be going faster to keep up – we’ll be going slower.

This is a true story of how a bad attitude affects business…

About a month ago I was walking down 5th St. in Gaslamp when I spotted a brand new, sparkling nail spa.  The sign in the window showed that they offered shelac manicures, which is exactly what I wanted to hear.

I had been looking for a place that was close to home and reasonably priced so I was thrilled! I walked in and was quickly greeted by the friendly owner.  I was loving my experience until about half way through the treatment she desperately tells me, “Please tell your friends about me, we are very slow.”

As soon as I heard her say business was slow, I stopped enjoying myself and I didn’t want to be there anymore… [Read more...]

Social capital is the value behind your social contacts…

Relationships are currency and yet many business owners are still falling prey to “their cave”.

You know what I mean…  With so many things to take care of in the day to day operations of a business it’s easy to isolate yourself.  I attend at least 2 networking events every week and I have deep respect for the business owners I meet there.  Same goes for the business owners that have made the commitment to network online.

They see the value in connecting with others not only to share the services and products they offer but in knowing that many problems can be solved in such groups.  Business owners offer support and advice to each other in these circles.

Social capital is a resource you can tap into to build your business all year long… [Read more...]

I actually took a whole Sunday off to relax, read, and refresh the other day, and I read something about Walt Disney that really inspired me in a business sense…

The thing is, I’ve always been inspired by Walt Disney – but it’s usually been because of the same reasons everyone else is – his art and storytelling.

But this time, I read something that can help every small and micro business owner, if they take it to heart… [Read more...]

I know this title isn’t exactly uplifting, but stay with me…

This photo is of the Border’s across the street from our apartment.  We are bummed to know that this beautiful building will soon be empty.

Why is this important to you?

Borders didn’t get here overnight…

According to the L.A. Times, “Borders was once a rival to Barnes & Noble. The two brick-and-mortar chain bookstores were able to offer lower prices than independent bookstores and drove many out of business. But that was before the success of Amazon and other online retailers brought the phrase “brick and mortar” into regular use — and once that happened, everything changed.”

We want to be sure your business doesn’t go the way of Borders…

Here are what we see to be the Top 3 Silent Business Killers today: [Read more...]

Don’t get me wrong, Monique and I love entrepreneurs and would to like help everyone we can…

However, that being said… we ONLY like to work with established, brick and mortar business owners!

Why?

Because there’s a lot that goes into creating a successful business… and although marketing is a major piece, it isn’t the only piece.

Here’s how I see it… Every business needs these 6 things to be successful: [Read more...]

We’ve noticed it’s not what you do or what you sell that’s most important, but WHY you do what you do.

Part of our responsibility as marketers is to get to the heart of the a business.  It’s tempting for business owners to focus on services, products, features and benefits but the truth is that many companies offer the same things.

Why you do what what you do, is what separates you from the competition.  Even better, it’s what eliminates the competition.

So, we recommend you take a minute to think about what the core values of your business are… [Read more...]

With technology moving at the speed of light, you’re not alone.

According to a recent survey by Yahoo!, small business owners face a variety of challenges on a daily basis and how to attract more customers always surfaces as the number-one concern.

And while there are more ways to attract customers, for example… through blogging, social media and video marketing… many small business owners are overwhelmed with the thought of learning and implementing them.

Check out the full results of the Yahoo! survey: [Read more...]

Creativity reigns supreme in business today and it’s all possible.

This post was inspired by a couple of conversations on social media the last few weeks…  If you are familiar with Derek and I, you already know we believe in “switching it up” when it comes to marketing and beyond.

In fact when we first started talking about the dream of opening our own business we were having pizza on the east side of Tucson in 2006 and I was taking notes on what we wanted most.

It looked something like this: [Read more...]

Remember when growing was exciting?

I just got home from my yoga class and the first thing my teacher started the class with was this quote…

“Are you growing, or are you just pretending you are?”

As a business owner, let me ask you this, “Is your business growing or have you stopped measuring?”

This is a great time of year to determine what you will measure in your business.  As T. Harv Eker teaches, what we measure, (or track) grows!

Here are the TOP 10 things we would recommend you track over the next 12 months in your business: [Read more...]