I SEE YOU

There’s no doubt that the movie Avatar has captured the imagination of millions. So what does a Hollywood film have to do with business owners? Three words: I SEE YOU. In the movie, Neytiri of Pandora looks straight into Sully’s eyes and says to him, “I see you.” Three simple words, yet such profound meaning. Now think about that for a moment. Imagine taking the time to say that to our customers, our vendors, our employees, our subscribers, and our partners.  My observations and life experiences lead me to believe that people have a desire to be acknowledged and treated with dignity and respect. Once you understand that, then you are in a position to better SERVE the people around you whether it be employees or customers. I realize that sounds so obvious, but I am amazed at how oftentimes, businesses just don’t seem to care. By saying, I see you, Neytiri  acknowledged Sully, she validated him, and she showed him that she cared.

I see you means so much more than its literal connotation. It means:

• I am listening to you, Partners, Affiliates and Vendors
• I understand your needs and wants Mrs. Customer
• How can I empower you, Employees
• How can I help you Fans, Followers, Friends
• How can I support you, Subscribers to my blog
• What can I do to serve you, Database of Prospective Buyers
• How can I thank you, Donors

I See You is about the Platinum Rule

Ultimately, I see you means, I am here for you . I care about you. It’s about understanding the needs and wants of the people around you. I see you is more than the Golden Rule — Treat Others the way YOU want to be treated. I see you is about the Platinum Rule — Treat others the way THEY want to be treated. Now, you might say that giving everyone the customized attention and care of the Platinum Rule is not cost effective or realistic, but what I would encourage you to think about is how you can better understand the people around you that help make your business successful.  It’s a known fact that people do business with people who they know, like, and trust.  What are you doing to see the people around you so that they rave about your products and services and refer more business your way? How are you showing them that you care? If you are having a hard time answering these questions, then it’s time to ask them whether it be your employees or customers. I recommend using survey monkey, an online survey tool. By surveying your team, customers, etc., you will get the feedback you need to guide you in the right direction. Lastly, unfortunately, this lack of caring does not seem to discriminate, whether it be big business or small business. Here is a perfect example of someone who felt like his airline did not “See Him.”

Reminder: Just 9 more days left to win an HP iPAQ Glisten SmartPhone.

Are You Forgetting to Take a BREAK?

When We Are Healthy We Can Take on the World.

So How Do you Fit it in and Make it Work While Running a Business?

A few quick tips:

Crush It

I just finished reading two books and they are filled with powerful reminders that strong business relationships matter and harnessing the power of social media is critical to cultivating those relationships. The first one is called “Crush It” by Gary Vaynerchuck. For those of you who have not heard of Gary, he has internet rock star fame. He grew his family’s local wine shop into a national industry leader using the power of social media. I highly recommend it to every entrepreneur who wants to grow their online brand. It’s fresh, authentic and a very fun read. I believe we are seeing the emergence of a new kind of entrepreneur in America and Gary Vaynerchuck is our poster boy.

Trust Agents

The second book is “Trust Agents” by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Chris was just recently named one of Forbes Web Celeb 25. Trust Agents offers incredible perspective on how to harness the power of social media by understanding that transparency and authenticity is powerful behavior in building your online presence. They write about being a “Human Artist” – someone who understands how to communicate with people in a real and thoughtful way.

Using the Power of the Internet

These two books, “Crush It” and “Trust Agents” should be the foundation to growing your business online. They are a must read for anyone who is serious about building your business by using the power of social media.

Here’s How YOU Can Win the Glisten SmartPhone! A $380 value.

Hewlett Packard has teamed up with Hware! Their representative contacted me (Brenda Horton) a few weeks ago and asked me if I’d be interested in reviewing their new iPAQ Glisten Smart Phone. After my review, I am going to give one AWAY! All you have to do to be eligible to win is sign up for Hware’s Demo on Social Media. When you click on the link it will take you to a page that will ask you for your name and e-mail address. By entering your name and e-mail address you will have a chance to win! And as an EXTRA BONUS, YOU will have access to our “Getting Started with Social Media for Small Business” Online Training Demo, which I highly recommend you take advantage of  because it is filled with key strategies on how to use Twitter, Facebook and Blogging to grow your online presence. That’s it! It’s that simple!

Oh! Be sure to follow me (Brenda Horton) on Twitter closely and become a FAN on Hware’s Facebook Page as I tweet about the HP Glisten over the next 2 weeks. The contest ends on March 17th midnight Pacific Time. The winner will be announced on March 19th!  The winner will be notified by e-mail and posted on Hware’s FAN page and Brenda’s Tweets! Applies to U.S. residents only.

Disclosure: Brenda Horton of Hware is not receiving any financial gain from Hewlett Packard and her review is strictly her own personal opinion of the SmartPhone.

I am a firm believer in selling through education. And, there is no better way to inform and educate your customers than through blogging.  That is why I have invited a few entrepreneurs over the course of the next few weeks to share with Hware’s readers how they are using their blog to expand their online reach to attract more customers. You will find that you don’t need to be a Chris Brogan or Seth Godin in the blogosphere to be a success. You just need to take the first step. We would love to hear what steps you are taking to start your blog if you have not started one already. What are some of your fears or concerns about blogging? If you are an experienced blogger, feel free to jump in and share your advice. We are all here to learn from one another. Please share your thoughts with us. ~ Brenda Horton, President of Hware

This is a guest blog post from Mary Anne Davis, a jewelry designer of  Madison Design Jewelry

The beauty of internet-driven marketing tools is they are very inexpensive (often free) to utilize in helping build our businesses. I am launching my jewelry business on a very tight budget. What started as a hobby quickly turned into a business — it still surprises me when people want to buy my handmade earrings or necklaces. So how do I use the internet and social media to market my jewelry? I have a Facebook “fan” page for Madison Designs Jewelry, where I post my blogs and an occasional message to my fans about a new design, or a “special sale for fans only”.  Because I’m trying to be careful not to over-sell,  I keep my blog postings to once or twice a week. I think a good rule of thumb (for me) is to market 25% of the time I post, blog, or tweet.

I spent some time thinking about what to write in my blog that wasn’t just a huge “buy my jewelry” message. I came up with what I think is the perfect balance — blogging about a different gem stone each time. I tell the folklore about a particular stone, and keep it strictly informational. Of course the photo I use depicting that particular stone is something I’ve made and is available on my website. But other than that, it’s not a big “buy me” message, and I have had people respond well to that.

I recently started using Twitter (www.twitter.com/maryannedavisnc) where I post my blogs with the gem stone stories, but I also comment on other tweets and other things I do. I purposely did not put the name of my jewelry company into the Twitter account title because I didn’t want it to limit what I could talk about. I am also a photographer and occasionally like to post about that as well. (To view some of my photos, www.maryanne.imagekind.com).  Having my name as the title keeps my options open.

You don’t have to have 25 years of marketing experience to use the social media to your advantage. There are some great experts out there who can help guide you through the sometimes confusing technology. None of us have to do everything ourselves — the best entrepreneurs are the ones who capitalize on their strengths and outsource everything else.

See Mary Anne’s blog at www.maryannedavisjewelry.blogspot.com

Getting Started with Social Media for Small Business

As a courtesy to Hware’s blog readers, we want to hip you to our popular online self-paced video training series called, Getting Started with Social Media for Small Business. Go ahead and try the Demo! It’s FREE!

Get Started Now with Free Demo!

No software to download. No Dvd to install.

5 Reasons You Should Check Out Hware’s FREE DEMO on Social Media:

1. You cannot afford to waste another moment while your competitors are using social media to grow their business.

2. You are frustrated and overwhelmed with understanding how to use social media to grow your business.

3. You want to learn specific key strategies and methods to using social media to sell more of your products and services online.

4. You want to harness the power of Twitter (fastest growing social networking site), Facebook (400 million users), and Blogging (powerful tool to communicate with your customers) to generate more sales and revenue.

5. Social media is the cheapest and fastest way to connect with your customers online and you want to learn the tools, tactics, and strategies to build a trusting long-term loyal customer base who refer more customers to you.

Are you already using social media to grow your online presence? Feel free to share with us how you are using it to grow your business online.

So Fast and Simple a Five Year Old Can Make This Guacamole Dip

Ingredients (Use fresh organic produce for higher quality taste.)

Gourmet Food and Wine Tasting

A little over two years ago, I organized a charity fundraiser in my community for children in the foster care system. It was a gourmet food and wine tasting event along with a live and silent auction. The goal was to raise over $100,000.00. Anyone who has ever spearheaded a fundraiser, knows how labor-intensive they are even with hundreds of volunteers. One day, I called on a local French restaurant, Le Bilig and asked the chef if  he would be willing to donate a cooking demonstration class that would be auctioned off during the live auction. He graciously agreed and then signed off on all the paper work that committed him to the cause. The terms stated that the donation was valid for one year. Most donation packages have an expiration date.

Goodwill

Fast forward two years and three months later; I get an e-mail from the high bidder of the French cooking demonstration. She told me that she had never “gotten around” to scheduling the cooking class, which was for twelve people and was hoping she could redeem it now. I then offered to contact the restaurant on her behalf. I spoke to the co-owner, Monica (wife of the chef) and explained to her that I realized the donation had long expired and understood if they said no due to the current state of the economy.  She then shared a short story with me about how she herself had once been the winner of a live auction travel package to Mexico and it too had expired. (She had been pregnant and could not fly.) The donors had denied her request to extend it. She said she remembered having ill feelings about the incident and the way it was handled and therefore, did not want the person making the request of her to feel the same. She then agreed to honor the request being made of her on behalf of her chef husband and restaurant.  Now that is what I call over-delivering! It is no wonder that this little family-owned French Bistro is still in business while many restaurants and businesses are closing shop.  Bottom line? Le Bilig Kitchen CARES! Isn’t that what everyone wants from someone they do business with? They want them to care. Period. That small gesture, which was just a ripple, is going to turn into a tidal wave because of all the goodwill she has now created. That’s a lot of goodwill going around during a time when it is very easy to have a scarcity mentality. Another word that comes to mind is ABUNDANCE. I dislike the overuse of a word and abundance seems to be one of those words that is over used a lot lately, but Monica was definitely coming from a place of abundance.

How Do Your Customers Know You Care?

How are you over-delivering with your customers?  Are you coming from a place of abundance or scarcity?  Are you doing things in your business that will make others talk about your business and create buzz in a positive way? What kind of goodwill are you creating for your customers so that they can go out and refer more business your way? I believe there is a time when small business owners should definitely NOT over-deliver, but I will save that for another blog post soon.

By the way, we exceeded our goal of raising $100,000.00 and were able to place over 20 children in permanent family homes on behalf of Sierra Forever Families.

As an online business training and software company, we often get a lot of  small business owners who come to us asking to help them grow their business online.

So I have put together 7 tips on creating an online presence for entrepreneurs:

1. Have a long term perspective about your brand. Word travels fast on the internet so be intentional about your activities online.

2. Do some market research. Find out where your customers are hanging out online and start contributing to the conversation using social media. If the majority of them are on Facebook, then start networking with them on Facebook. The point is to be highly targeted when connecting with your prospective customers online. Otherwise, you can easily waste a lot of time.

3. Put a simple marketing plan together. Putting your intentions to the written word is a powerful exercise that will help you achieve your goals. Be sure to include an action plan. Keep it simple by writing out who is responsible for what by when.

4. Play to your strengths. The point here is to keep it simple by doing what you are good at. Don’t make it so hard on yourself. If you are great at writing, then start a blog. If you are great at speaking, then start vlogging (video blog). Start with one thing that you are good at and then incorporate another thing once you’ve got the first one down.

5. Join industry groups online. There are a gazillion like-minded groups and industry associations on the internet. Check out what your industry is doing online and be sure to connect and network with your colleagues. You never know when a collaboration can turn into something that is mutually benefitting.

6. Track your results. By measuring the outcome of your actions you will see where you need to make improvements to get the results you are looking for. There are a ton of measurement tools on the internet to track your web traffic. Google analytics is a good place to start.

Hear the Answers in the Quietness

It seems that the world of Business Coaching is exploding just like Social Media Experts so I’ve put together 6 Key Questions to ask your Business Coach before you hire him/her:

1. How long have you been a coach/consultant full-time? You want to know how long this person has made a living for himself/herself as a business consultant or coach. While the old business paradigm is melting and new innovative ways of doing business online are emerging, the fundamentals of business, i.e., PROFIT are still relevant. Understanding how well someone has made a living for themselves as a coach will tell you volumes about how successful they have been in their profession. What industries have they coached in? What level? Executive/CEO or managerial? Small businesses, entrepreneurs, start-up and non-profits? What size of businesses have they coached? A $30,000 dollar a year company is a lot different than a 3 million dollar a year company.

2. Will you please provide me with your past and current references? I know this seems obvious, but you’d be surprise how many people don’t call on references. Testimonials are good, but you really should talk to someone who has been coached by this person bestowing their expertise. You also want to know how long the person being coached has been in business. In addition, you want to gauge how profitable they are. Now, this information will be a little hard to extract since most companies are private and won’t release that data. What they are more likely to tell you is how much revenue or sales they generated in one year. The problem with that is revenue only tells you one side of the story. An entrepreneur may have generated 2 million dollars in sales last year. However, if their expenses and overhead were 2.1 million, then they lost money. So, you need to do your due diligence and get creative in extracting that information. You may ask, “What’s your industry’s average profit margin and how profitable has your business been in relation to industry standards since you hired your Business Coach?”

3. How well do you understand technology and systems? There is no way getting around having a successful business today without the advice of an expert on key technologies and systems. Technology and systems are essential to business in today’s digital world. So, when hiring a business coach, make sure they know what they are talking about when it comes to advising you on what technologies and systems are best for your type of business. They don’t necessarily need to be the person implementing the systems and technologies, but they should at least be able to point you in the right direction to experts who can. Miss this question and you will certainly go down a deep rabbit hole of frustration and wasted time and money.

4. Will I be working with you or one of your “Trainers?” With the hyper-growth of the coaching business, many consultants are hiring trainers to help them with their clients. There is nothing wrong with that at all. You just need to be clear on who you will be working with. If it is one of their “trainers” then you will want to do your due diligence on that person as well. In addition, some coaching companies offer membership sites and group coaching. You will want to know how available and accessible the coach will be in those programs.

5. Are you in alignment with my values? Here is an example: Let’s say you are a “Green” business and you value the triple bottom line model, also known as the 3 P’s. Planet, People, Profit. So, would you hire a coach who has an over-excessive lavish lifestyle when you are clearly aware that mass consumption is bad for the environment?   Surround yourself with mentors, teachers, trainers, and coaches who are in alignment with your values.

6. Am I clear on the expectations between us? Having unclear and vague expectations is a recipe for the dreaded two D’s: DISASTER and DRAMA! Don’t ever assume anything. If you are not clear on the contractual agreement or offering, then be sure to ask before you buy. Please don’t buy into a coaching program only to find out that you can’t get out as smoothly as you got in.  Any business coach worth their salt will not make it difficult for you to leave the program. It should be an easy-in, easy-out model. You definitely will want to read the fine print. In addition, some coaching companies make an offer where you have access to a lot of coaching material for a nominal fee and 30 or so days later that fee increases substantially. It is a marketing tactic that is used to get you to try before you fully commit. They charge your credit card a low fee to get you started with the hope that you will find value and stick around. The fee then increases after 30 or so days and your credit card gets automatically charged every month. I am not knocking these campaigns, I just want you to understand the marketing strategy behind these tactics.

Here is a bonus tip on hiring a business coach/consultant. It is one that is unfortunately oftentimes overlooked: Listen to your intuition and instincts. Your inner voice is your guidance, your compass. It’s there for a reason, so get quiet and listen to it. If the coach resonates with you, then go for it!

This is not an exhaustive list of Questions and Tips, so if you have some insight on hiring a business coach/consultant, please feel free to add more on the comments below!

Brenda Tello-Horton is co-owner of Hware, an online business training and software company. She can be reached at info@hware.com