GoHuman Blog

The dot.com meltdowns and unfortunate events that occurred in the early 2000’s created an amazing opportunity for businesses in Silicon Valley. It allowed them to regroup and build cultivating work environments. Given the complications our economy has endured over the past several years, people (most) are much more apt to be part of a team now more than ever. When people work collectively as teams rather than as individuals who are just there to collect a paycheck, productivity increases, morale is heightened and loyalty exists everywhere. All of which are among the top qualities necessary for boosting customer acquisition and retaining and growing the existing customer base.

People crave to be a part of something and want desperately to feel as though they’re contributing to the overall good of something; however, the fear factor is what permeates organizations, these days. That fear can be so overwhelming that it debilitates people’s willingness and ability to create and produce. Ironically, “people” are what keep a business, any business operating successfully. People are every organizations’ number one resource to achieving any goal, hitting a milestone or meeting any objective set. When companies provide ongoing opportunities for people to stretch their minds, enhance their skills towards their own aspirations, they’ll grow like a flower does with the sun and water. What’s more, they’ll end up creating huge competitive advantages for their company, every time.

Service minded individuals are always quick to recognize obstacles within an organization and are even quicker at wanting to remove those obstacles, to ensure they perform at the highest level of productivity as possible. Their intent is to make sure both internal and external customer satisfaction is met.

So exactly how do service oriented people identify and breakthrough the barriers that lie in the way of goal achievement? They build one-on-one relationships by connecting with others at a very basic level of communication and human interaction. They get to know people by asking a lot of questions and listening with intent. They ask others for their feedback on ideas. They ask for their involvement in identifying what’s working, what’s not working and most importantly, what they can do as a team, to improve matters that will allow them and the organization to continue moving forward. Through this type of ongoing communication; trust, respect and integrity are fostered.

Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have cross the mountain. The mind does not create what it perceives, anymore than the eye creates the rose.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

What would it would be like to try and build a house without a blueprint.

Put a few bricks over there.  And a window on that side.  No, maybe a door…

It would never work.  It’s certainly not a house you’d want to live in.  No proper structure.  No trustworthy foundation.

So, when it comes to your business’s foundation, why would you invest in marketing without a plan?  Without a marketing plan, you’re chances of realizing a strong ROI from your marketing investment decrease significantly while the likelihood of wasting valuable resources increases.  Here are 3 reasons why you’ll be more successful with a Marketing Plan.

Provides Focus
A Marketing Plan provides focus for your organization.   As a result, you are less likely to jump onto the latest trend just because “everyone’s doing it.”  If you develop a reasonable plan that aligns with your sales and budgetary objectives, you can keep your organization focused on the initiatives that will achieve these goals, as opposed to those that seem interesting, but don’t really relate to your business.

Provides a Checklist
A Marketing Plan provides a checklist you can use to ensure you’re executing all your planned initiatives.  Having that record allows you to plan and budget more effectively as well as ensures you have stayed the course per the Plan.

Saves Money
A Marketing Plan will save you money by ensuring you systematically try and evaluate your marketing initiatives.  Each investment in direct mail, email campaigns, public relations, etc., should come with an expected ROI.  Measuring that ROI will allow you to determine which campaigns are the most cost effective.   More importantly, an effective measurement structure (as part of your Plan) will allow you to eliminate those initiatives that do NOT meet your expectations.

The past few weeks I’ve been gearing up (myself and those interested in reading my posts) to begin a wellness program I recently enrolled in, through a local chiropractor. I know, who knew a chiropractic office offered wellness programs? I’ve chalked it up to a basic business philosophy that many entrepreneur’s/organizations tend to lose sight of which is that they clearly understand how important it is to the success of their business to continuously find ways to add value to those they serve.

Last week marked my first visit to the office, which was the initial consultation and program review. The Dr. was definitely on a fact-finding mission and asked a multitude of questions ranging from current fitness regimen and eating habits, to why I chose “now” to take action.

Some of you may be wondering what (if any) purpose does it serve others, for me to track such a journey, through weekly blogging. What’s more, how or does it even relate to coaching? The good news is that the two are very much in alignment with one another and “no,” I’m not self absorbedJ.

Coaching is about commitment, accountability, taking action for the results we want and doing whatever is necessary, in order to get those results. Coaching is a structured relationship designed to help the person being coached to move forward, to reach the goals that they have set, and to reach their potential.

Those who remain hesitant, may then be asking “Why would someone who’s built a career for themselves that’s designed to lead others to realizing the untapped potential they have within, seek their own assistance of an outside source to get more fit, become healthier by adapting new eating habits, to live a longer and healthier life?” My response is simple and nonetheless, truthful. I understand and know the value of having a support system who’s in my corner, rooting for me every step of the way. I know the value of having someone to help hold me accountable and offer a different perspective when it’s difficult to see the forest through the trees. I know the value of having someone on your side who isn’t there to criticize, but rather offer their encouragement to continue moving forward, after not having reached a weekly goal. I also know (all too well) that in order to change the things that aren’t working or are missing from my daily diet/fitness routine, means that “I” must make the commitment and “I” must take the action required, to affect the change “I” want.

When multiple award winning actress (and dubbed as America’s Sweetheart) Sandra Bullock landed the lead role in The Blind Side, in order to really get into her character as the headstrong football mom Leigh Ann Tuohy, one of the first moves Bullock made was to hire dialect coach, Francie Brown. Bullock hired Brown to help her refine her southern-style accent and incidentally, she won best actress for her role in the movie.

How about one of the best golfers of all time Tiger Woods who, regardless of the personal challenges he’s endured these past few years, also works with a coach. The coach may change from time to time but nonetheless, he always has one. Why does someone with his talent, his skills and his record have a coach? Because he takes constructive feedback from another golfer who he could undoubtedly beat with some regularity, if he were to compete against him. Just imagine what it’s like to not only be the very best in the world at what you do, but to be humble enough to admit than you can always get better and don’t know it all.

My commitment to all of you is to post weekly progress updates, as my journey continues.

Learn your fear of raising prices and stand up to it. Don’t allow the fear you have about money and prices to be the decision maker. Acknowledge the fear, set it aside, and then get creative and make a non-emotional decision, regarding your prices.

When you’re having a conversation with a customer, whether in person or via advertising, focus on “the value” of the product/service you offer. People love to hear stories about other happy customers who have experienced the joy of doing business with you. Talk more about value and less about the price. Being enthusiastic and passionate about what you do is viral. Customers want you to believe in yourself and your business. They want to buy from someone who is proud, passionate and confident about what they do.

When you raise your prices, you’ll have more money to gain more, and better customers. The additional income allows you to market, advertise and promote your business in ways you couldn’t afford to before.

Operating a small business is vastly different than running a corporate giant. Small businesses can be more creative and opportunities to succeed are greater. Very few principles can be taken from a corporate giant and applied to a small business with similar results. Your advantages in a small business are the complete opposite of theirs. They have mass volume, distribution and leveraging advantages.  You don’t. Don’t be misguided by the pricing war behavior they engage in because thankfully, it doesn’t apply to you!

One falsehood many people fall for is that by lowering their price, they’ll “make it up in volume.” Here’s a great example…..a guy buys a boat load of money change-making machines and someone says, “How will you make a profit? People put a dollar in and you give them four quarters. How in the world can you possibly make any money on that deal?” The guy responds by saying, “I’ll make it up in volume.” Really?

Much of the fear of raising prices comes from the whole small business self esteem factor that says, “I’m not worth it and would feel guilty raising prices because my customers trust me for this price and therefore, if I raise them, I’m taking advantage of them.” Really?

Take yourself back to the state of mind you had when you first started your business. Remember all that energy you had? You were so excited that you stayed up all night researching and writing down all the limitless possibilities you could create? Never lose that game element because it’s what keeps every business’s energy and creativity flowing.

There will never be a shortage of opportunity for you to raise your prices, when you are continually raising the value of the buying experience. You won’t lose customers, you’ll gain them.

Communication is key to creating, building and growing relationships, whether in our business or personal lives. We spend our days in various forms of communication to enhance relationships. Everything we say and the actions we take are a direct reflection of ourselves and our businesses.

In business, advertising; a website; making client calls and networking, are all forms of communicating your message to contacts, clients and prospective clients. Having a conversation about your business with someone is a direct opportunity to demonstrate the value and service you provide others, who will want to pay for your product/service and do business with you, or refer you to someone who will. People do business with people they know, they like and they trust.

Communicating the right message and in the right way can be the link to creating successful, life-long relationships with clients, associates or new acquaintances. Being genuine, trustworthy and in integrity to those you connect with shows how much you value the relationship as a solid foundation for you both to build upon and use for improving business.

Your work ethics and communication skills with others not only enhances the relationships you create in business, but also has a huge impact on the personal success you achieve in life.

The gift of “giving” inherently, means you must be open to receiving, as well. Being a good and effective communicator provides many opportunities for rewards, from gaining new clients and more financial stability to new friendships that are life transforming. By routinely communicating with clients and contacts, you’re building relationships that will support every aspect of your business and personal life.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Doing it now is more important than doing it right?” It doesn’t mean is don’t do something as well as you can, rather if you wait until the timing is perfect, it’ll never happen.  Just do it now.

Those are some pretty powerful words. Words that actually came from a book my friend, best-selling author and world renown coach Steve Chandler, who co-authored with Sam Beckford, called 100 Ways to Create Wealth. Ironically, both authors had formerly been bankrupt. Sam had many unsuccessful businesses under his belt. Then it happened. Circumstance lost all meaning.

So the story goes……everything took a dramatic and life changing turn for Sam one day while he and his wife were shopping at a grocery store. They were at the check-out counter and ready to pay for their groceries with his debit card and the card didn’t clear. He tried the card again and again and it still wouldn’t process. On the third attempt, the cashier commented to Sam how there must be a problem with the card. Sam said, “Yeah, I know the problem-there’s no money in the account.”

He and his wife had to leave the store without any groceries. There was something very painful about reaching a point where he couldn’t even feed his family.

“It was the most embarrassing, humiliating thing,” Sam said. “I said, ‘This is never going to happen again. I’m sick of being broke. I’m sick of being poor.’ I’d been playing the odds that there’d still be a little money left in the account. Walking out of that store that day was the turning point for all the business achievement that happened after that. It’s the moment I woke up.”

Sam tells this story to many people who are trying to make it as small business owners and professionals of all kinds. Sometimes they come up to him afterwards at a seminar and say, “You know, I can identify with that grocery store story because it happened to me two weeks ago.”

The entire country has experienced some sort of financial hit over the past couple of years. It’s affected all of us, some more than others. The pain is there, it’s real and will not be ignored. Don’t try to push that pain away. Allow yourself to really feel what you’re missing. Because that’s when you will be focused enough to say “no” to feeling that way ever again.  Find a place and take a stand.

This is the power of negative thinking! Be completely negative about what you no longer want! Refuse to let it consume you! Stand up to it and draw your line in the sand and dare it to ever cross that line again.

Use a moment like that to be your final resolve to say, “Never again!”  There’s a positive turning point hidden in everything; even in something that feels that bad. That turning point becomes reality when you acknowledge and live your life knowing that all the power to change what you no longer want, lies completely within YOUR control.

People, like Steve Chandler, who have recovered from addictions, eventually reach what they call a “bottom. They can’t go any lower without dying. Once they’ve hit bottom, they often find new strength to say, “That’s it. There’s just no way I’m going to live like this anymore. I don’t care what I have to do, I don’t care how uncomfortable it is, I don’t care what they tell me to do, I’ll even go through those 12 steps.  This is the end of this life.”

Wealth has steps, too. Just like addiction recovery. And the steps work. And the first step is to draw a line in the sand.

The second step is to team up.

One excellent principle to be applied in business is the element of surprise aka “doing the unexpected.” In sales and marketing, this means to continuously seek out ways to out-do, or upset your competition. Always look for ways you can add more value to the product or service you offer and adjust your prices accordingly. Staying a step ahead of the other service provides within your industry, allows you to have a competitive advantage.

Often, “doing the exact opposite” of what you have been doing can be the perfect solution that will give you the results you want. The natural tendency for a person who finds themselves in a hole, is to continue digging or doing the same things that clearly haven’t been working, thus far. The key is if you’re not getting the outcome you want, why continue doing the things that aren’t working? Change things up a bit. Continuing to tweak your system or process, allows you to discover what’s working, what’s not working and what’s missing, that if present, would make all the difference in the end result. Remember, the definition of insanity is often referred to as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

How important is follow-up and follow-through in business? Both can and will make or break a business. When opportunity strikes you take full advantage of it. If you offer a great product or service, you sell as much as you can to your target market. Use every opportunity imaginable to capitalize on it.

The ability to work effectively with others and lead responsibly are an organization’s greatest attributes and best path to travel, to achieve success.

One favorite question many people love to ask or at least are always thinking, is “what’s in it for me? A good and effective leader is always looking for ways to help others. Leaders understand that assisting others is a sure way to create within them, a desire of wanting to help you achieve your goals.

Implementing these success principles into your daily routine, will allow you to accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than you ever imagined.

Twitter is a micro blogging website that allows users to post  very short (up to 140 character) updates, comments, thoughts and links  to other websites.

Once you have an account with Twitter you can find other Twitter  users who could be anyone from your sister to companies, or to  celebrities such as Larry King . Once you follow these other users their Twitter updates will become visible in your Twitter “feed”.

How To Create Your Twitter Identity

1. Go to www.twitter.com click on the “Sign Up
2. Create your personal or company account, you only have 15 characters so you may need to get creative with your name.
3. There is not a limit to how many accounts you can sign up.
4. If you have unique or special products or services it is worth registering an account for these also.
5. Personalize your profile by adding a photo, brand your background  add your location, link to your website, and write a short bio.
6. Start using Twitter. Use the “Find people” option to find someone you know on twitter and follow them.
7. Use the reply function to talk to a friend.
8. Send a direct message to someone.
9. Re-tweet a message you found useful that someone posted.

So if you would like more info feel free to email me at jon@redspotmarketing.com

When GoHuman decided to launch its Beta Phase on Labor Day we knew we had the right idea.  Political events in recent months have led to elected officials attacking the core ideas behind Unionism.  Highlighting the roots of, and what went wrong with the Union Movement, is critical to enabling U.S. Citizens to make better informed decisions.

Reflecting on this is also a good time to announce GoHuman’s interest in Yes! Magazine.  A headline article will help our members and readers understand why.  Not only do I personally live in Madison, an epicenter of the resistance against newly elected Governor Scott Walker, and not only does Yes! Magazine, in another recent article, highlight the connection to the Packers, of whom I just declared myself a fan, but our understanding of the causes of the problem, and the types of solutions we propose, seem to be in complete alignment.

This is why I recently gave a gift subscription to Yes! Magazine to several GoHuman Co-founders and other supporters, and why I’m reaching out to explore other areas of support and alignment with the Yes organization.  The problems we face are immense.  We’ve all got to sacrifice, even the teachers, policemen and other government employees.  But we need to do so with an attitude of positive cooperation, not with what amounts to a war-like attitude.  Solidarity with a magazine called Yes! seems timely and right.