Monthly Archives

May 2018

May 30
0

Let’s Go Fly a Kite

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

Let’s go fly a kite….Up to the highest heights….

It’s time to soar above your business and take a look at the big picture. Zoom out on your business and layout the schematics for your master plan.  Allow yourself to dream – big!

Building a business can be like a puzzle but if you’re not careful it can feel like – and look like – you are building it blindfolded.  Imagine if you were trying to put a puzzle together without the picture? The pieces wouldn’t make sense. They wouldn’t get put into the right places – and ultimately you would take it apart and put it back together over and over again.

You need to compile all the ‘what ifs’ and all the possibilities and create a mind map of your incredible journey.

Sometimes we get so busy with the day to day details of running our business that we forget to dream. We have a set pattern we follow, fires to put out and when it gets right down to it, a business to run. This is what business is about.  And if you are a business owner you are continually in the heart of it.

Yet having that big picture – the ultimate dream, is something you need to visit from time to time. Regardless of what type of business you have there are always different avenues you could be adding to your business.  You could become an author, you could create an online course, you could become a speaker, you could give seminars, you could develop a complimentary line of products to go with your services, you could have retreats, and the list goes on.

Have a big dream – and visit it from time to time. Soar up into the clouds and look down on the dream.  Give it the 50 ft view. And when you look close you will see the red pin: “You are here”

May 16
0

Marco? Polo!

By | Business Building | No Comments

Have you every played the Marco Polo game? This can be the same game you play in locating your customers.

The truth of marketing lies in the ability to find your ideal customers. Sometimes it’s the biggest game of hide and seek, but research and due diligence will pay off.

How to find your customers.

Finding your customers actually starts before you have a service or a product and was probably partially started without you even thinking about it. For example, if you have a chiropractic business you know that your service is better health, pain relief and adjustments. But the depth of your service and clientele can go much deeper if you have a specialty or a need in your area. Maybe you deal with elderly or children. Maybe you deal in sports injuries or car related injuries. Maybe you are developing a health management around better overall health. Whatever it is you are offering finding the audience who will benefit from that offer is key. You need to start asking the questions as if you were in a consultation speaking directly to your future patients or customers. Be inside their mind as they go through dreams and ambitions, pain and suffering. You need to become the answer they seek – before they are even seeking.

How to reach your customers.

There is not one answer that blankets all services and all customers. This comes back to meeting your customer where they live. If you have an active group who is always on the go you need to find out where they are going. Business owners can get so fixated on one option that they forget there are so many others ways to reach customers. Many people have been fixated on Facebook advertising. But this is not always the best avenue for your customer. Remember to think as the customer. And never fail to think out of the box. Developing marketing campaigns around your customer. If you are that chiropractor and you are looking to reach the active set, maybe you consider billboards that are along the route to popular hiking or biking destinations. You may also consider sponsoring a 5k run. If you are targeting an active customer who is always on the go, consider reaching them via direct mail.

You need to spend time thinking about who your customer is and where to find them, allow someone to help you think like a business owner can be a crucial step. Find a strategist or consultant who will help you drill down and define who your customer is and ingenious ways to get in front of them.

May 08
0

Tour Guide for Your Business

By | Business Building | No Comments

Congratulations! – You’re a business owner.  

You’ve put thought, sweat, tears and many late nights into your business and here you sit. … thinking about the future. At least I hope you have looked to the future.

All business needs to be prepared for growth and by preparing for growth your business needs to be scalable. This means processes need to have the ability to be automated and systems have to be formidable.

Once you have customers into your fold you need to be able to lead them by the hand and they need to follow you through the growing of your business without too much turbulence. As long as you have set forth a solid guide ( read up on brand manuals here) (link to post) – you will be able to make changes to your business in a way that allows your customers to grow with you.

Think of Starbucks.  A huge chain that has grown massively over the years. When looking at the evolution of their logo – it’s a perfect example of guiding the customer.

 

In over 40 years just their logo evolved to what it is today.  Throughout it all they kept their branding consistent yet managed to now have a representation of their company which is recognizable by only an image. If you notice, the business name doesn’t appear anywhere on their logo any more. They are image only.  The power in the following that allows their brand to be equated to just an image is immense. They took their customers by the proverbial coffee cup- in baby steps – and didn’t miss a beat.

No one knows if Starbucks has reached their full growth potential or if there will be more changes on the horizon, but you can rest assured their tribe will have no trouble following the aroma… and logo, wherever it may lead.