Did you think about this today?

Today's post is not going to contain any business building information today.

Today's post is going to be about more of what's behind the business building infomation. Namely, your thoughts...(you knew it was coming eventually, right?)

Seriously, how's your thought pattern? Not only today, but everyday. Do you constantly dream of success and earning millions? If you don't, why not?

If there's one thing I figured out today, there's only one thing stopping me from success - ME. In my daily rituals, the less I think about being successful and having the success I want, the less of a change there is I'll get it.

Your thoughts are powerful things - especially as black entrepreneurs.

Think about it - during the time when most blacks felt that fighting for their rights and causing a scene was the most important thing, a man who had a vision of a non-violent uprising changed the world forever.

Dr. King kept his vision in the forefront of his mind at all times - never swayed by anything external. And we celebrate and live his vision not only at the beginning of the year, but every single day.

His thoughts - became real.

Oprah Winfrey is another example. She didn't become the wealthy black woman in history because she thought about Stedman every day...she kept her vision in the forefront of her mind every, single day.

Same with Tyler Perry. 10 years ago, he was a broke, homeless man who at times had to live in his car. Today, he's on the cusp of a $500 million dollar entertainment empire that quite frankly, has grown faster than any other business I've ever seen...

...and it was because of where his mind was.

So again I ask you - where is your mind today and what are you thinking about today? Are you thinking about the bills you're behind on or are you thinking about the how wonderful it will feel when your business endeavor pays off all your bills?

Are you thinking about how bad your living conditions are or are you thinking about how wonderful it's going to be when you pay for your mansion in cash? For real - where is your mind?

When you think about the negative, I guarantee you'll attract something negative. Don't ask me why it works this way - it just does. I promise you.

If you need inspiration for success, get up and go find some. If you want to imagine your dream car, go to the car lot after they close, find it, and just stand next to it. It does something incredible for you...

If you want a mansion, then get up and drive to the wealthy section of your city and try to find model homes you can tour of expensive homes. Look in the papers for open houses of million dollar homes and go to them. Wear a suit if it makes you feel better.

To move away from a negative situation, you have to look at the positive and move towards it. Haven't you heard that "like attracts like?" It's true - especially with your thoughts.

As a black entrepreneur, you don't have time to think negatively. There's enough people in the world to do that for you. And I guarantee there are more around you that think this way than you may believe.

Stop complaining about your situation and start moving towards something positive.

If you need help, here are a few of the things I use to help motivate me towards success:

Visit these websites -
www.millionaire.com - luxury shopping
www.robbreport.com - luxury shopping
www.millionaireblueprints.com - hundreds of stories of people who kept their eye on success and became millionaires
www.thesecret.com - an incredible book on mindset
www.luxurylasvegas.com - one of the choices for my mansion
www.goredrock.com - one of the choices for my mansion
www.ebay.com - Look at the luxury rides, luxury clothes and jewelry
www.beckerautodesign.com - The company that will make my future mobile office
www.earlytorise.com - Michael Masterson, never graduated from business school or took any business classes, built a business worth over $250 million
www.trumpuniversity.com
www.psycho-cybernetics.com - Another great site for mindset and positive beliefs


In closing, you have to surround yourself with that which you want. If you have some deadbeat, lazy, friends that want nothing out of life, then you need to find some new friends. Seriously.

Make positive thoughts a daily thing and I truly believe you'll be amazed at what happens...

Can you be TOO professional?

If there's one thing I have to say about a lot of black businesses, it's that at times they try too hard to be, "too professional".

Although I agree
it's a good thing to be professional, you lose a sense of personality when you begin throwing lots of "professional-isms" out here.

- especially in their advertising.

Listen, being professional is all well and good, but too much is too much. You can be professional, but have a personality that attracts people.

Look at Sean "Puffy" (or whatever his middle name is now) Combs..

Although he's a driven, calculating business machine, he's got personality. He's got swagger, style, and people are attracted to his personality. Even if you look at his marketing materials for his clothing and fragrance line, they aren't all stuffy and corporate.

Listen, the most dangerous thing you can do in your marketing is to be BORING. People hate boring. It actually drives them away.


Be exciting, enticing, and most of all - BE SOMEONE!


In your marketing materials, don't talk like a robot. Don't say, "Hello, we are representing the firm of Marshall and Marshall Accouting. We are a firm that..."

"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ..........."

It's boring. It has no flair and it does nothing to attract someone to your business. All your marketing materials should start off with a headline that offers an immediate benefit to the customer.


Something like,

"Are You Sick and Tired Of Your Accounting Headaches? Give Us 15 Minutes And We'll Show You Precisely How To Eliminate Your 'Number Nightmare' and Make Your Accounting Troubles A Thing Of The Past! - Call us now for a FREE consultation."

See the difference? From that headline, you can immediately tell what the benefit to doing business with this accounting firm is. And can't you see how it pulls you in and makes you read the rest of the headline - which in turn will make you read the rest of the advertisement?

- which is exactly what you want your prospects to do.

Remember your number #1 job in business - to make money. Not to appear super-professional, not to have the best filing system, but to make money.

Trust me - being boring with your marketing materials pushes people away and that's not what you want. Pull people in with personality, an obvious benefit and watch your sales soar!

Best,

Lee Smith

HLS Marketing

Las Vegas, NV

P.S. - If you want to know how to pull people in with your advertising materials, check out Hypnotic Marketing by Joe Vitale. If there's a guy alive who can teach you how to write hypnotic ads and pull people in, it's Joe. Go here and check him out and see how he can help your marketing.

Marketing Campaign Ideas - Pt. 1

One of the keys to successfully marketing your business is to not only give your customers incredible offers, but to build a relationship with your customers so they'll constantly buy from you.

If you don't have a good relationship with your clients yet however, then you'll want to do everything you can to make buying from you an experience your customers can relate to.

An easy way to do this is to tie-in your marketing with events people are already familiar with.

Since April is just around the corner, I thought I'd share a few ideas you can tie your marketing campaigns into:

- April Fools' Day
- Easter

Those are the easy ones right? April Fool's is probably the easiest...

Your headline could read, "We'd Be FOOLISH to Not Invite You To Our April Fool's Sale - For 24 Hours Only Take An Additional 10%-15% off Anything In The Store. And If you Find An Item With A Joker Sticker On The Package, Take An Additional 15% Off At The Register."

Simple right? You can do this for any business. In fact, in the service business, you can run this promotion and have them take an additional 10% off any service. You can mail out playing cards with the Joker character on them and have those selected take an additional 15-20% off any service you want.

With Easter, you can play for a "business resurrection" sale if you choose. (I personally wouldn't hold it on Easter Sunday...)

You can start three days before Easter, just as Christ was buried three days before he was risen.

Again, these are just ideas. Here are some more events happening in April you can take advantage of:

-Alcohol Awareness Month (special deals to those who have been clean and sober)
-Counseling Awareness Month (special deals for high school, college, job and career counselors)
-Earth Month - (I'm sure you can tie in a way to promote a "green" sale, especially with all the environmentally aware people these days....that's a huge untapped market)
-IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome month) - Don't laugh, I'm sure there are doctors with patients who suffer from this who would be glad to do a joint venture with you
- National Donate Life Month
- National Occupational Awareness Month
- Sexual Assault Awareness month
- National Youth Sports Safety Month

To benefit from this, you've got to think outside of the box. Think of a way to communicate with the different niche audiences in the markets above and run the promotions!


Best,

Lee Smith

P.S. - If you want to run promotions but you're having a hard time coming up with powerful offers to offer your customers, check out this resource by Jay Conrad Levinson. If you don't know, Jay is the father of Guerilla Marketing. If you want to know precisely how Jay would run a profitable promotion and make it work like crazy, even in the hard times, then you'll want to check this out and follow his plan on how to make it profitable for your business.

See what I'm talking about by going here. See it for yourself.

How Does Your Customer Service Rate???

I've got to tell you about a situation that recently happened to me..

Last week, I ordered some flowers for my wife for Valentine's day. I went through a huge online floral shop (not 1-800Flowers.com - they're who I'm using from here on) and asked them to get delivered specifically on Valentine's day.

Mind you - this order wasn't just a couple of plain roses. It was a combination of the first flower I proposed to her with and several of her favorite flowers.

So, after I placed my order, they assured me that the order would be delivered on Feb 14th.

No problem.

The next day I talk to my wife, and to my surprise, she doesn't tell me 'thank you' for the flowers.

Well, I found out - THEY DIDN'T SHOW UP!!

I'd paid for delivery on a specific day and they didn't follow up.

No bueno.

1st mistake.

Next, I email the company and ask why they didn't deliver on time. The response I get is that the driver couldn't find my wife's place of business, so they just gave up and went home.

??????????

2nd mistake.

Ok, so I verify that delivery will be made the next day. They agree.

The next day as I'm talking to my wife, she tells me she called the company (I spoiled the surprise by telling her to expect flowers), and she tells me the company asks if she still wanted the flowers!!

At this point, I vow to never do business with them. But it gets worse...

My wife sends me a message and tells me that the flowers DID arrive, but they're wilted.

So, you're telling me I paid good money to have some wilted, unattractive flowers delivered to my wife a day late??

3rd strike. You're OUT - completely.

Now, there are a lot of marketing lessons you can learn from this. The most important being maximizing total customer value.

Think about this - as a military member, being deployed make you miss home and makes you want to let your loved ones at home know you're thinking about them. An easy way is to send flowers, gifts, cards, etc., back home to them.

Now, the company knows I'm deployed. And I'm sure they fail to realize that military members rarely deploy by themselves. Now, if I tell a couple of my buddies here that I sent my wife flowers and they want to follow suit, doesn't that mean they'll more than likely take my recommendation on who to use for this service?

Let's put some numbers with this:

If I spend $100 to send flowers home, and I do this every month, that's $1,200 a year that this company will get from me. Not only that, but if I like their service, the average lifetime of a customer is about 3 to 5 years.

So on the low end, they would have added an additional $3,600 to their bottom line without any advertising expense.

Now, if I told two of my buddies and they followed suit, that's another $1,200 a year, $3,600 total for three years.

In all, the company would have earned an extra $10,800 by doing nothing but fulfilling their end of the deal.

And now, it's all gone because do you really think I'm going to recommend them to anyone? In fact, I've already told my buddies NOT to do business with this place. And after hearing my story, they've probably told a lot of their friends the same.

Now think about it if it were YOUR business. Are you letting a potential $10,800 in profits walk out of your door by failing to meet customer expectations?

Don't you DARE shrug this off as being un-important. Learning to maximize TCV (total customer value) is an important factor all businesses need to learn to master.

Tomorrow, I'll show you several ways they could have fixed it and kept me as a customer - and how you can do the same in case it happens to you.

This Year - Smack Yourself If You Do This...

I mean it.

Smack yourself like Ike smacked Tina in "What's Love Got To Do With It".

No! Better yet, slap yourself like Angela Bassett slapped that caucasian woman in "Waiting To Exhale" when she came to talk to her cheating, filthy husband about her money.

Yes...MUCH better...

So what is it I'm talking about??

(drum roll please...)

I'm talking about sitting on your arse and not planning your marketing for this year.

Far too many business owners I know and don't know are sitting around failing to write out a marketing plan that's going to bring them money this year.

Listen - if you're not planning your marketing scheme for this year, how in the he** do you suppose you're going to make any money this year?

Do this - think about the money you made last year. Done that? Good.

If you didn't have a marketing plan in place, I guarantee you would have TRIPLED it if you had one. A GOOD one.

Look, don't let those college MBAs fool you about marketing. Marketing is not advertising and it never will be.

Marketing is about bringing money into the business every single day you wake up. If you're not, you're playing games with yourself.

Listen, the years I didn't plan my marketing I was broke. I hated it.

So guess what I'm gonna do from this point on?

(and if you say anything other than 'plan your marketing', smack yourself again - HARD.)

What's that? Don't know where to start?

Check my next post and I'll show you where I start and how to do it.


Time to get paid,

Lee Smith

Does Your Marketing Look Like This??

Today I received a mailing from a manufacturing vendor I use.

At first glance, I thought it was a bill. (glad it wasn't...)

I open the letter and inside there's a notice telling me that someone has been promoted to Inside Media Sales Representative....

Hmmm......and???

I'm thinking, "So what's this all about?"

But before I finished my thought, I crumpled it up and threw it away. It was the worst marketing piece I've ever seen...and I've seen a lot.

Here it is, reprinted...(the company name and individual names have been changed for privacy reasons...)


******************Start here**************

Good morning,

****** is pleased to announce the promotion of Jane Doe to inside Materials Sales Representative. Jane will assume account responsibility for the territories covered by Janet Doe. Janet will be on maternity leave until the end of the year.

Jane joined *******Sign Division team in November 2006 as a customer service rep, with several years prior experience in a business office. Planning for this transition, Jane has worked closely with Janet, becoming familiar with customers and various sales procedures.

Mrs. Doe is also very familiar with the sign materials product line and order processing. Please rely on her to place orders, request material quotations, receive product recommendations, and answer related issues or questions. At *****, providing you with knowledgeable and dedicated personnel is extremely important to us.

The ******* Team!

******************End here**************


Now, there are a few VERY IMPORTANT marketing lessons to be learned here...

1. DON'T BE BORING.

Quite honestly, I could have done without the notice of "who got promoted". It was a waste of time and paper. Who cares who got promoted?

I could care less.

Think about it - instead of sending me an offer, an irresistable one at that, they sent me something that was so boring that I simply threw the piece away.

And don't think that your customer's won't do the same if you do something like this...

2. MAKE SURE YOUR MESSAGE IS RELEVANT TO YOUR CUSTOMER

As I said, when I opened the letter I expected something good (or a bill). Instead, I got hit with the best thing the break room bulletin board had to offer.

In your marketing, it's all about your customer. Send your customers information that is relevant to what THEY want, not insigificant news that will find its way to the bottom of a wastebasket.

3. NEVER, EVER SEND "GEE-WHIZ" INFORMATION OR ANYTHING WITHOUT AN OFFER!!

Master salesman Zig Ziglar says, "Timid salespeople have skinny kids." What he means is, if you don't ask for the offer or give people something to respond to, you won't get paid.

Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING goes out of your door without an offer. Not an email, not a letter, not a friggin' postcard. If you send it out, it better have an offer on it.

HERE'S HOW THEY COULD HAVE IMPROVED IT....

First, if you want to deliver news, make it relevant to your customer. Don't be boring. Finally, add an offer that makes people want to buy.

Here's my revision and how I would have done it...

*************Start Here***********

How A Promotion And A New Bundle of Joy Translates Into A HUGE Opportunity For Current And New Customers Of XYZ Corporation!!

Dear XYZ Corporation Customer,

I have some exciting news to share with you!

Your current sales representative, Janet Doe is expecting!

She's the wonderful voice that's handled your orders in the past, made sure you have everything you need and taken care of you as a mother takes care of her young. She truly enjoyed helping you with your purchase of the siding material you requested on 12/11/07 and hopes everything is fine.

What Does This Have To Do With You??

Actually, everything. You see, my name is Jane Doe and I'll be taking care of your accounts while Janet is on maternity leave. Since she has taken such good care of you in the past, I realized this is a perfect opportunity for me to be better acquainted with you, your needs for your business, and how I can best serve you.

Here's what I'd like to do for you:

To celebrate Janet's new baby, my promotion, and you being such a great customer to us, I'd like to personally offer you a immediate savings of 20% on your next order with us.

Since the end of the year is upon us, I want to make sure you take advantage of this special offer immediately. So, please call me before December 31st to ensure you are able to get these great savings!

I also noticed your past purchases were (list past purchases here), and we're running an incredible end-of-the-year special on those items. So make sure you call me immediately to get the savings on those items PLUS an additional 20% off (my holiday gift to you..)

Here's how you to get your extra 20% off..

1. Call me directly at (702)555-5555 and I'll be happy to assist you in any way.

or...

2. FAX the attached order form (you'll see it's already pre-filled out for you) to (702)-555-1234 and we'll have your order processed and shipped for you within the next 24 hours.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and I sincerely hope to hear from you before December 31st.

If you have any questions, call me directly at (702)555-5555 and I'll be happy to help you in any way I can.

Have a wonderful holiday season and I look forward to working with you and helping you in any way I can!

Sincerely,

Jane Doe

(702)555-5555 (office)

(702)555-1234 (FAX)

jane@XYZcorporation.com

P.S. - Be sure to ask about our special New Year's promotion we'll be running immediately after December 31st! If you think 20% is good, you won't want to miss this!

***************End Here***************

See the difference?

To your marketing!

Lee Smith

http://blackbusinessmarketing.blogspot.com/

Dare To Be Different...From Your Competitors

I've always loved that tag line...

Today's tip is going to be quick and to the point...

In your industry, you want to eliminate as much competition as you can. You want the advantage.

Since it's illegal (and down right wrong) to literally "eliminate" your competition, you want to gain a competitive advantage over them as quickly as you can.

What I see in many industries is so many competitors doing the same thing. It makes no sense.

The definition of "insanity" is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If all the businesses in your industry are doing the same thing and you copy them, do you really think you have an advantage?

You don't.

You must be different than your competition. You must be so uniquely different that you practically invent an entirely new business in your industry.

Look at Subway, the sandwich makers. Have you seen the new Subway commercials where they advertise the people who have lost weight eating their sandwiches?

Although Subway still sells sandwiches, they've positioned themselves as a weight loss program. By doing this, they've gained an incredible advantage over any other business in their industry.

What can you do for your business??

What do you do differently than your competitors?

What are some strengths you can use to build your business faster??

Whenyoiu distinguish these differences and use them as strengths to build your business, you'll have the advantage over your competition - and and much healthy bottom line.

Hold Your Head High - Regardless Of Circumstance

One of the hardest things you'll ever have to do in being an entrepreneur is dealing with things outside of your business...

Yesterday, I received two separate emails from two of my marketing mentors that I sincerely look up to.

To see them dealing with adversity, further inspires me to continue marketing by businesses, stepping out where I'm afraid to step out to, and kick adversity right in the teeth and move on.

Let's be straight about something right now - when you have a goal in life that seems lofty, unattainable and unrealistic - you're on the right track.

It's going to be hard to get there, it'll be very uncomfortable, you'll feel like giving up day after day after day.

Just don't.

There will be times your significant other/spouse will not understand why you're so frustrated at your response percentages, why your phone isn't ringing, and why you have to stay up until 2am writing emails responses...

Just don't give up.

EVER. For anyone.

(now, if your mate threatens to leave you if you don't get in bed right this instant, I'll let you decide what to do) :)

Being an entrepreneur is the loneliest occupation in the world. People will call you crazy, call you insane, stop calling you, stop supporting you, taking other pepole out of your life, leaving you for other people...

--- let it go. Move on and conquer your life.

You have the guts to do so - don't allow life to live you..LIVE YOUR LIFE.

What's Your Follow-Up Sequence?

There's something all black business owners should know...

If you have a client call you/come into your place of business - they aren't obligated to come back. In fact, they aren't obligated to come in at all!

Most businesses get business by pure coincidence. Plain and simple. I know when my wife and I are walking by stores in the mall, we usually go into a store just because she saw something she liked in the window. Not because of advertising, not because of specials, just coincidence.
(if the spelling is a little off, get over it..) :)

When you have a customer call you/come into your place of business, they probably aren't looking to buy anything right then and there. So it's your responsibility as a business owner to ensure these clients come back in and spend their money with your business.

How do you do this you ask? FOLLOW-UP.

When you create an follow-up sequence in your business to contact customers that havne't bought from you yet, you do two things:

1. You create a "fence" around your prospects keeping you in the forefront of their mind.

2. You ensure a huge-back end profit by making a way for customers to spend money with you in the future.

Here's how this works:

Let's say you're an owner of a furniture store and you have a young couple coming in to look at your merchandise. You ask, "if you have any questions, feel free to ask."

(**sidenote - stop asking, "Can I help you?" Customers can say no to that question and when it comes to selling, you don't ever want a customer to say no - to anything.)

You can then start small talk with the prospects by asking, "Do you like more modern or more antique furniture?" And the conversation ensues..

Before they leave, you ask if they'd like some free coupons to your store. They say yes.

What you can do at that point is give them some coupons, but get their name, address, email and phone number (or just name and email) and offer to send them some special offers that your store only gives to people on their mailing list.

FOLLOW-UP SEQUENCE:

You can start by giving them a call 3-4 days later and thanking them for coming into your store. Very few businesses do this and make it personal, so you have an advantage over your competition in that aspect.

Next, you can email them some tips on buying new furniture for a good price via email. By doing this, you're educating your clients/prospect and giving them a sense of power and fulfillment by empowering them with the information you know. Trust me, whether you think it's a waste of time or not, you're positioning yourself ahead of your competition and making an impact on your client's buying decision.

Next, you can mail them a direct mail letter about a week later telling them they have been selected to receive a special one-time 20% discount on any piece of furniture in the store. However, they must use the discount within the next 5 days.

Once they receive that letter, call them the day before the 5th day making an even BETTER offer. Now, will I promise you that they will come in the store? No. But you've got a much better chance of getting them in the store and spending money than before.

Now, when they come in the store, make sure they use the 20% off special. Doing this does two things:

1. It puts money in your pocket that wouldn't have been there before if you didn't use the follow-up sequence.

2. It puts you in the mind of these customers for future purposes...

Not only that, but by making them a paying customers, you know have the knowledge that they will spend money with you. Not only that, but you can also make a record of what they purchase and continue to make them offers on what they want to buy instead of what you think they will buy.

And it's all because of the follow-up sequence...

Get one - ASAP.

Which Counts More - Awards or Profits??

Lots of small business owners love the accolades that come along with being an entrepreneur.

The awards, plaques, degrees, and certificates plastered on office walls from one end to the other looks very impressive to say the least.

Unfortunately, awards don't usually translate into profits.

Ok, let's be real - awards DON'T translate into profits.

Awards for advertising are usually given for the most creative and most innovative ad campaign of the year/month etc.

Rarely are they given for the amount of profits generated...

You have to realize that as a small business owner, you don't have time to win awards. Your focus should be on selling something and making a profit - NOW.

Think about it - what good does having a nice, glittery award do if you don't make enough money to pay the light bill that will display your nice little award??

Profits matter - awards and accolades are nice.

Focus on generating profits. Without profits, you don't have a business...you just have a hobby.