Be Blessed!

Nicki Lynch

As a Christian and a family focused entrepreneur, I believe that faith is a key ingredient in small business success.  In this current economy, the people of God must remember that if you honor God through your business he will direct your path.

Each year, I pick a bible verse as my theme for the New Year.  As I considered which bible verse would guide me in 2010, I thought it would be helpful to share some of my favorites. Use these bible verses in the good and tough times in your small business.

1. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) Learn something every day.  If you only lean on your own knowledge in your business, you will not be able to grow.  You must grow yourself to grow your business

2. “Behold, I am doing something new! It’s already happening; don’t you recognize it? I will clear a way in the desert. I will make rivers on dry land.”  Isaiah 43:19 (GOD’S WORD® Translation) Sometimes your business will need to move as the market pulls you in a different direction. You might need to reinvent your business, and you should not be afraid. God’s always got your back.

3.”Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6 (NIV) One of the most important things you can do for your business is to pray every day.

4. “Faith without works is dead.” James 2:26 (KJV) You can’t just pray for success. Develop a plan and work your plan. If you can do something about your situation, then do it. Stop making excuses, stop procrastinating, and do it!

5. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NIV) There will be contracts that you really need that you will not win. There will be days when you drop the ball on your customer service, but you can not let that define you or your business. You will get another opportunity and even if you don’t, God is with you always.

6. “As I think in my heart, so am I.” Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV) Your thoughts can be your number #1 asset or your biggest liability. When you are alone in your office or back bedroom, your thoughts can easily turn on you. Your ability to stay positive, learn from all experiences and shake off mistakes quickly will be a big asset to you and your business.

7. “God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV) Making decisions in your small business based on fear is never helpful. For that matter making decisions in anger is not good either. Try hard not to be reactionary with clients, vendors or employees. Use factual information and up-to date financials to make sound business decisions.

8. “But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day.” Habakkuk 2:3 (TLB) You need to understand that God’s time is not your time. There may come a time in your business when you just know you have a contract, one that you really need and things fall through. Those are the times when you need to trust in the Lord the most. When we accept God’s timing, we can learn to live in hope and enjoy our lives while God is working on our problems.

9. “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding;” Proverbs 3:13 (NIV) You need to be a life long learner in order to be successful in business.  You should constantly seek to improve yourself and increase your knowledge about the business of running a business.

10. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NIV) This is my new bible verse for 2010. It came to me watching a college football game. I believe I was only watching the game to see it.

Remember, whether you are religious or not you can always pray about your business.

Melinda Emerson “SmallBizLady“, is a Veteran Entrepreneur, Small Business Expert and Social Media Coach who hosts #Smallbizchat on Twitter. #Smallbizchat is the trusted resource on Twitter to discuss everything entrepreneurs need to know about launching and running a profitable small business. Melinda’s first book, Become Your Own Boss in 12 months. A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business that Works will be released by Adams Media in March 2010.

For more tips on how to start or grow your small business visit http://succeedasyourowboss.com and subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog.

1. Price your product or service properly
2. Monitor your costs to achieve desired gross margin
3. Measure results against your Business Plan
4. Maintain high product (or service) quality … it sells!
5. Listen to your customers and respond to their needs
6. Know your competition and why you are better
7. Treasure your people . . . They make the difference!
8. Innovate . . . For better quality and better service!

#1 Leave Comments on as Many Profiles as You Can

Leave a Welcome Comment for all New Members daily

-100+ new business owners sign up every day looking to network
-Offer advice
-Leave a signature block with a link to your profile page
-Personalize your greeting to their name, website, or industry

3 Sentence Introduction Comment to Existing Members

-Create a simple introduction and ask a question
-Use a signature block with a link to your profile page
-Try and make at least 20 new comments a day
-Personalize your greeting to their name, website, or industry
-Make a friend request while leaving each comment

#2 Invite Your Friends and Become a Featured Member

#3 Start a Group and Join Groups
-Choose a good image and name for your group
-Add a RSS feed that will supply news and information daily
-Join 3 to 5 groups that you are interested in

#4 Reply to Discussions in the Forum
-Reply to all of the new introductions
-Start your own discussion by introducing yourself

#5 Build a Great Profile Page
-Make it a direct representation of yourself and your business
-Personalize it, add blog posts, 10+ pictures, and YouTube videos

One Final Note:
Social Networking sites are no different from any other business networking event that you attend in person. The rules of success are the same.
1) You need to be well dressed – A nice profile and profile picture
2) You have to work the room – 100 comments a day
3) You engage before selling – Thoughtful comments
4) You ask for a business card – Make a friend request

You would never show up to an event in a tank top and start shouting out loud, “I sell insurance!” over and over again. It is rude, people will ignore you, and you will probably be escorted outside by security and told never to come back.

The same is true here.
SUp.biz, COO
-Inviting your contacts will indirectly promote your business to them
-Networking sites get over 1,000,000 page views monthly
-Having a large group of friends gives you instant credibility

Consider adding photos of the following to your website, profile, ads, brochures and other marketing tools you may use to attract new customers:

* Before and after shots of jobs on which you have worked
* Any special equipment you may have
* You!
* Your family, especially if your business is a family-run enterprise
* Your company truck, especially if it features your logo
* Your employees, especially if they are wearing company attire and performing a job
* Your office, especially if that is where you will be seeing customers or patients

Keep in mind that in order to look professional, your photos must look professional, too. Today’s photography equipment makes getting good quality photos easier than ever, but you may still want to hire a professional or at least someone who is well-versed with the technology. Remember that you can use one set of quality photos in numerous ways, so it may be worth it to invest a little to have it done right.

By Pattie Baker, kudzu.com

Instead of stating, “I need to get more customers,” consider adding a specific quantity, timeframe and tactic to your goal. These goals, for instance, give more focus to your efforts and allow you to measure the success or failure of your efforts, thereby enabling you to adapt them until they work more effectively. Here are some examples of measurable goals:

* By the end of next week, I will put targeted flyers with a new-customer special offer in mailboxes in 10 neighborhoods in which I already have at least one customer.

* I will upload a new photo to my social network profiles each month that shows a recently completed job.

* I will make a video to showcase my business by the end of this quarter.

* I will launch a new branding campaign in conjunction with our annual anniversary sale and will send out a press release to 10 local media outlets about it.

* To coincide with “back-to-school” time, I will start a ‘frequent visit” program that gives a tenth visit free and will then measure customer retention rates in six months as compared to the six previous months.

Take a moment to think about your business objectives and what measureable marketing action you can take to help achieve them.

By Pattie Baker,
kudzu.com

You can apply this concept of following up with clients no matter what your industry. Did you just install a new carpet? Call and ask your new customer how he or she is enjoying it. How about a new client at your hair salon? Call a week later and ask if he or she is finding the style easy to maintain. Sure, you may get some negative feedback – one edge of the carpet keeps coming up – but it’s far better for you to hear this than for new customers to either tell others about his or her dissatisfaction or never come back without telling you why.

Remember, it costs less to keep a client than to gain a new one. In addition to touching base right after a service is performed, build regular “customer touch-points” into your marketing strategy so that you can reinforce the positive impression customers have of you and encourage repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.

To nurture new business:

- Have a marketing strategy specifically geared to your customer lifecycle. For example, if customers typically need repeat service in three months or three years, be sure to touch base with them before that time is up so that you are top-of-mind when they are choosing a service provider. Never forget that they will be needing the service you provide again, and never assume they will automatically choose you.

- Build customer nurturing into your sales training efforts, or designate a particular person or function at your company for this strategic initiative. A sales assistant could conduct the “just checking” calls right after a service is performed or a marketing person could send out emails offering “customer-only” specials or reminders.

- Remember to go to your existing customers first to encourage positive word-of-mouth (such as endorsements for your website) and to offer additional services. That homeowner whose wood rot you fixed may now be ready to finish his or her basement. Plus, he or she may have some neighbors thinking about doing the same thing.

Using these tactics just might leverage your current and new customers into even more business for
you!

By Pattie Baker,
kudzu.com

Use less paper.

Plan your trips.
With gas costs going through the roof, take time to plan your routes carefully. Make as many stops along the way as possible, rather than traveling the same route more than once for different customers. Some businesses designate a certain day of each week for the different parts of the city that they service. It may even be time to invest in one of those cool scooters for sales calls! That could even help you claim some green credentials, and many customers are looking for companies that are making noticeable steps in that direction.

Encourage repeat and referral business.
It costs more to gain a new customer than to get new business from an existing customer who is already sold on you. Go through your database and see what customers might be interested in repeat or additional services. Also, consider offering a referral incentive to your existing customer base. There is no easier way to get more business than through word-of-mouth referrals from happy customers to their friends, coworkers, neighbors and family.

By Pattie Baker,
kudzu.com

What are some ideas you may have?
Print on both sides of the paper, switch to electronic billing, send e-newsletters instead of printed and mailed ones and you’ll be shocked how the savings add up.

Nicki Lynch

Today I am going to discuss a very important topic in the world of business. If you do not believe you are in the world of business just because you may not own your own business, you may want to re-analyze your thinking. Nearly everything in this world is currently based upon business. Even if you dont own your own business, you can take these aspects I am going to talk about, and implement them into your daily life, or into your work life. They are all around good principles and ideas that can help us in all areas of our lives. Furthermore, if one day you are ever interested in becoming an entrepreneur and adventuring into the world of business on your own terms, than this will give you a huge head start. And if you currently own your own business, and you are just starting, have 1 year under your belt, or are a million dollar giant, these are always good principles to go over from time to time. “The 5 Critical Elements that Every Successful Business Owner Needs to Know.”

1. Be honest.
This is a highly debatable topic for sales people and business owners around the world…(why it is even debatable should be a huge question for people.) But the truth is, many people may intend to be honest and truthful with their clients and customers, but because of the many techniques that they have learned, and the various habits that they have developed, this is actually much harder for most people than it seems. When you are totally and completely honest in all aspects of your transaction and dealings, your results are always going to be tremendously more fulfilling.

2. Create a Plan
 I remember when I opened my 1st company with 6 other successful business owners, and the very first thing we did for 4 months straight, was come up with a plan. We sat night after night around a large table, covering every aspect of how we thought the business should be structured from the ground up. Additionally, what I learned from that, is that you dont need to cover every little aspect of how you are going to do business… but yes, you do need a solid outline and game plan to guide you in the right direction, and from there, you can fill in the details as you go along. (Make sure to continuously fill in the details!)

3. Cover Your Needs
If you are depending solely on your new business to cover all of your expenses, you may have a surprise coming for you, (Unless of course you have investors, or you are already generating enough consistent income to not have this worry.) This is so important, but many people forget to absorb the importance of this principle. As long as all of your basic needs are covered, and you can continue to invest additional money that you have into your business, you can always keep going and growing, no matter how little, or how big you are.

4. Keep Advancing Your Goals
When you start your business, you have goals. When you move through your first months, and your first years, and of course into your later years, you will always need to continue analyzing, re-analyzing and resetting your goals, hopefully higher than they were the last time you set them. Set a realistic goal, but out of reach, so when you reach it, you will know that you worked extremely hard to do so, and you will benefit tremendously from the outcome. When you come close to reaching that goal, again, reset your goals and always continue moving forward, and upward.

5. Never Give Up
I have read quite a few different forums lately that have mentioned something I think is pretty outlandish, they say “fail quickly, so you can move onto the next one faster.” Personally, I have never found that to be a helpful mindset in becoming personally and professionally successful. Yes, I have failed many times before, and failure can be a very good thing. But if you go into a project, business or life mission to own and create a very successful business, and you have the mindset that you could possibly be failing, so you should do it quickly…. what exactly do you think is going to happen? Of course you are going to fail quickly. You need to have a perseverant mindset, especially if you have a burning desire inside you to make this company happen! Dont plan for failure, plan for success. If you encounter failure, that’s no problem… I have decided that failure is just a confirmation that success is possible. And in my experience, that is absolute truth.

I invite you to take these 5 critical elements, and implement them into your business, and into your life. They have really helped me to not only make things happen in my personal and professional life, but to become more fulfilled within myself.

I guess I should have named this the 6 critical elements, because I just remembered the most important of all. HAVE FUN! Enjoy what you are doing, this is your life, and your business. It is always going to be challenging, but you can make those challenges become enjoyable by seeing them as missions, tasks and lessons that need to be completed for you to move onto the next level. And always remember to Smile, it’s a great day to be alive!
“Make it a great day with good work and planned increase.” ~Nate Crane