Bloodbanks thinking outside the box..bag?

I recently came across a website: http://www.matchingdonors.com where potential donors are matched up with people who need kidneys. I wonder what would happen if the Blood Bank began to think outside of the box as well, perhaps connecting donors and donees. I wonder if they would be open to a new way of marketing?

Do you celebrate?

Often times I set myself weekly goals and I reach the end of my week kicking myself for not getting A, B, C accomplished. Even when I accomplish my weekly goals, for example if I set myself a goal of generating 10 solid prospects, or close 2 new clients, or make X number of dollars by the end of the week… I still reach Friday night wondering why if I could get 10 prospects why it wasn’t 12, or I brought on 2 new clients but why not 3?

The problem with this way of thinking (I magically discovered… hey it’s only taken me years) is that you are constantly filling your head with negative reinforcement. This year, when I set and achieve my short and long term goals I am going to celebrate having reached those goals, stop and ‘smell the roses’ as it were.

Cheers,
Liam

Second Annual Taste Of Success

We are kicking off our second annual “Taste of Success” week (February 2 - 6th) to let entrepreneurs have a ‘nibble’ on business coaching for free. The last time I did this, I did 55 appointments in 4 days which was a bit crazy. This year I am opening up 30 sessions. Each person this year will get a complimentary 60 minute session to talk about their business and find out what business coaching is about without any financial investment.

This isn’t meant to be a client development drive and so we won’t have ongoing spaces for everyone that comes in. That being said, if there is a good fit, we’ll find a spot for you on the roster. 

If your interested, all they need to do is send an email to: info@ceoadvisor.ca (Subject line: ”Taste of Success” Week booking). Then I’ll give you a call and find you a space.

The kicker is I only have 30 spots (14 are already spoken for) and when they are gone there won’t be another one for a year. Outside of the campaign, I will try to schedule people in, but we all know how schedules work! 

Email me with any questions.

Cheers,
Liam

Impressed with Starbucks

I am actually sitting in one now. The reason why I am impressed with Starbucks is because they are seeing the problems that the economy is having and coming up with ideas that I honestly thought they wouldn’t look at doing. Some of their ideas have flopped of course ($1 coffee anyone?) but they continue to implement others.

When you purchase a Starbucks Card (of any amount) you can go online and register that card (I registered mine in about 30 seconds – www.starbucks.com/cardrewards) and then you get the following:

• Select syrup and milk options on the house
• Brewed coffee refills at No Charge during your visit (this one excites me)
• A complimentary tall beverage with your whole bean purchase (453g or more)
• Two hours of free Wi-Fi service

Okay, so not all of these are that exciting but it’s exciting to see a large company thinking like a small one and making adjustments to what the economy is dictating. Instead of making a plan to ‘ride out the storm’ Starbucks is looking for ways to work within it (I’ve already emailed some colleagues who spend alot of time in Starbucks about the refills).

Oh, but don’t feel to bad for them though. I’ve read that they still made a 19% annual profit.

Cheers,

L.

Setting Goals – if you write them they will come… Not.

For the last couple of years I have “Bought-In” to writing down my goals for the year. Over the last couple of years the way that I have set my goals for the year has changed and been updated into a format I think will work for me (noticed I said “think” will work for me, it’s still a work in progress). 

The first year that I decided to write down my goals I opened a Word document and wrote down 22 goals. Then I saved the document and never looked at until the end of the year. I think I accomplished 6 of them. Ouch, Brutal.

The next year I did the same thing, but expanded (in point form) on how I was going to accomplish each goal. I wrote my goals on a big piece of paper and stuck them on the wall so I would be reminded of them throughout the year. Being quite pleased with myself I thought “Now that I’ll be reminded I will surely accomplish all my goals”. I think I accomplished less than the first year. Where’s the noose?

Having felt as though I hadn’t bloodied the metaphoric “head against the wall” enough I am continuing (somewhat dizzy) into “Goal Setting” once again. This year I am expanding on how I set my goals, how I am going to keep on track with my goals, implementing action steps, timelines, and expanding into personal AND professional goals (knowing that I run my business it doesn’t run me, And that I want my business to continue to support my lifestyle, not my lifestyle supporting the business).

Just to get it really out there I will publicly declare a few of my goals:

• A book deal completed and in the works by December 15th, 2009
• Establish a client base of 15 clients in San Fransisco by June 20, 2009 (prep to open an office in 2010)
• Purchase the Tag Heuer Aqua Racer (blue) Watch by April 18, 2009

On the personal side, my wife and I have sat down and made a list of our personal goals and written them on the calendar at home. Now we are both clear on where we want to go and how we are going to get there and can help each other accomplish those goals.

The bottom line for this post. Setting goals is more than just writing them down. Just because you write them down doesn’t mean they will come true (although statistically speaking you have a 98.2% better chance of accomplishing your goals than people who don’t bother writing them down at all) If you set yourself goals, set yourself timelines, action steps, a time to review your progress and tweak as needed.

For anyone that wants a template copy of my goals document, drop me an email: Liam@ceoadvisor.ca and I will be happy to pass it along.

See you at the top of the mountain. Oh, and for those that don’t write down their goals remember to use your forehead and don’t put your legs into it.

Cheers,

Liam

Who is your 1%?

I have recently been reading the “Meatball Sundae” by Seth Godin where Seth touches on in any business there is the 1% rule.  1% of your clients in your business who are so thrilled, elated, and over-the-moon with your product/service that they shout it from the rooftops, tell everyone they see how great you are, and are your true “champions” for you and your business.

1%??? What is happening with the other 99%?

If you take an honest look at your business and your client base what percentage would you say are over-the-moon happy with the product or service you provide? Another way of asking this is, how much of your client base is being insulated from your competition? If only 1% are shouting your name from the rooftops (saying good things, not bad) then the other 99% of your clients are potentially up for grabs from competitors.

As 2009 gets underway here’s what I would like you to ask yourself:

• What percentage of my client base is elated with the product/service I provide to them?
• Who is my 1%? Why are they?
• How often do I connect with clients for a coffee or a lunch as a thank you (not to talk shop or try and sell them) for being a client? (Insulatation and building rapport on a personal level)
• Do I know why my clients decided to buy from me rather than the competition? (This can be useful information for you to use to gain more clients and can also give you insights into your 1% > 99% ratio)
• Do my clients know “how” to refer business to me? Do they want to?
• If a client is not one of those who is apart of the ”1%”. Why not?  What can I do to move them to that elated group?   

Cheers,

L.

Navigating the “Partnership Sea”

I recently had a coaching client ask me about how I approach partnerships/joint ventures/strategic alliances and when it may be time to “cut the teather”. In this particular case my client had a partnership with another company, but he was doing all the work, the partner did not show up for a couple scheduled meetings and did not have the courtesy to let my client know, they never returned calls or emails (unless hounded) and generally showed a lack of respect for my client and their partnership and this was before they had even finished defining how they were going to work together!

My advice was to put an immediate stop to the partnership and to continue moving forward himself.

Partnerships are great when:

• There is a mututal benefit for all partners involved
• The partnership isn’t “one sided” (meaning one partner isn’t doing all the work)
• There is strong communication between all parties in the partnership
• You have defined everyones Roles and Responsibilities
• All parties in the partnership are clear on expectations (expectations of each other and the end results)
• There is a written agreement in place covering the points above

When partnerships/alliances/joint ventures begin to show signs of sinking, abandon ship and don’t look back.

Cheers,
Liam

December? Black Hole for Business?

I hear from coaching clients and prospects about how December is the “black hole” for business development, that no one is interested in buying or developing new business and the month is a total write off.

Anytime is a great time to develop business. 

Those that say that it’s a write off month are the same people that sit at home and complain that October is not a good month to develop business because “the pumpkins are too distracting”.  If you are stuck in a rut about developing new business, try:

• Looking through all your business cards and contacts for the last month and re-connect with the contacts or prospects that got away or you just couldn’t schedule a time with. Re-connect.
• During the holiday season there is a ton of social events and parties. Don’t write off social events as a chance to make new connections
• Make a plan for your first quarter of 2009, including your goals and how you will develop new business in the first quarter of 2009
• Think about 3 potential niche markets to target and look to begin connecting with the movers and shakers in those markets
• Re-connect with partners and champions to strengthen your relationships 
• Find a mentor or coach who can give you some fresh ideas or markets to target to reinvigorate yourself and your business
• Make a list of all your clients for 2008, prioritize them from “last contacted” and connect with each of them for a coffee or drinks (don’t specifically talk about business but look to find out more about them as people) you will be pleasantly surprised how often this can turn into “we have some of our budget left over and we need…” or “we are putting together our budget for 2009 and I wanted to talk to you about…”

Happy Hunting!

L.

 

• test

Jump off the cliff!

This was a previous posting from August but thought I would repost it.

I meet many different business owners and entrepreneurs from all different walks of life who are all at different stages in their company’s growth and size (from start-up phase to million dollar plus level). I have noticed that no matter what size of company you run at some point owners get stuck, frozen “on the cliff”. I define the “cliff” as something that all entrepreneurs need to conquer in order to be successful (no matter how you define success) the cliff is your fears, your doubts, that voice that tells you that it can’t be done, it is whatever stops you from continuing to move forward in a positive way in your business.

 

You may be wondering if you are standing on the cliff right now. Let me ask you a few questions so you can try and determine where you are at:

 

a)      Do you have to make sure that “everything” is completely ready to go before you go and sell your product or service? (i.e. My brochure isn’t done, my business cards aren’t ready, My website isn’t up or isn’t good enough yet, I don’t have a handle on the price etc.)

b)      Do you spend most of your day checking email and doing other tasks other than promoting/marketing/selling your product or service?

 

c)      Do you fill your 9am – 5pm (prime time to build business) with non-business related tasks?

d)      Do you spend weeks on-end creating an ‘action plan’ that never seems to be finished or implemented?

e)      Do you create excuses as to why you can’t do it right now? (it’s the summer which is a bad time to build business, the market is flat right now, no one is buying, I am a bad sales person)

I have been accused of being a Shoot, Ready, Aim type of business builder but one of my mentors told me two things that constantly pushes me forward:

”Winners do won’t losers won’t”

“Action is better than Inaction even if it’s the wrong Action”

 

 

The quote about action is one that rings true for me. There have been times that I haven’t felt ready but I have pushed forward anyways and I got way better results than other colleagues that insisted they have all the ducks in a row, facing the same way, the outdoor temperature was just right, and the sky was completely blue. This isn’t to say that I haven’t had failures, I know I have way more failures then most of my colleagues but I know that I have had alot more success simply because I Didn’t wait for the safety net to appear. I Jump off the cliff KNOWING the safety net WILL appear. 

Cheers,
Liam

New Blog Launch

Welcome everyone to the new blog. This is a much cleaner design than the last blog that we had. Unfortunately we did lose all of our previous Postings. Check back every few days as we will be posting alot of business development tips over the coming months.

Cheers,
Liam