THINK TUB BUSINESS BLOG
Creative Business Solutions
Free Business Courses, Money Saving Tips, and How To Thrive and Not Simply Survive Social Economic Woes
(Plus have some fun with promo!)
RE-SOURCE is collection of ideas, tools and news collected and sourced specifically for our readers,
SAVING MONEY IN YOUR BUSINESS IN TOUGH TIMES:
Watching the DOW resembles a ride on a "thriller" roller coaster; how many times can the wind be knocked out of us while being "jerked" every way but loose? Here are some ways to save money without much effort.
1. Consider switching from traditional telecommunication services to the phone services available on the Internet. VoIP can save a small business as much as 60%. Although the initial offerings of VoIP has their glitches, today the service is remarkably reliable.
2. Why pay for all that travel if you are trying to pay the month-end payroll? Try out some of the Internet interactive Web Conferencing tools. Take a look at gotomeeting.com, or Microsoft Office Live Meeting (and many others) for your next sales presentation.
3. Get to the Bank before morning coffee - get credited with today's deposits and make interest on the amount for an extra day.
You can find 75 more practical ideas at INSIDE CRM.
LEARN FROM THE BIG SHOTS @ HOT SHOT PRICES
You don't need to spend the 150K to get the business education you need to address your business issues. Why not take advantage of some of the business education available to you for FREE?
The following education resources are provided at no cost from MIT.
Entrepreneurial Finance (focused mainly on the technology industry)
Global Entrepreneurship Lab - Take your business to the world!
Competitive Decision-Making and Negotiation - Essential skills for business success.
Find many more courses available at: BSchool.com Business Schools Directory
HOW COMPANIES LITERALLY THRIVE ~ EVEN IN A DEPRESSION
"To begin, not all was doom and gloom during the Great Depression. It was a time when those who knew what they were doing made great economic strides, and the very nature of the Depression was an economic boon for them. It was a time when several companies benefited from aggressive marketing while their rivals cut back. A good example of that would be Kellogg besting C.W. Post during that time. Consumers didn't stop spending during the Depression; most just looked for better deals, and the companies providing those better deals came out stronger after the Depression ended. When spending picked up, consumer loyalty to those companies remained.
Generally speaking, those companies that not only survived but also thrived during the Great Depression were those that continued to act as though there were nothing wrong and that the public had money to spend. In other words, they advertised. These are industries that didn't wait for public demand for their products to rise. They created that demand even during the most difficult of times."
Read the whole story at: IMEDIA Written by Dave Chase
JUST FOR FUN
When taking your afternoon coffee break and in need of some creative flair, visit CafePress and design your companies promotional t-shirts, mugs etc. Maybe design something for some of your best customers and make it personal.
Harmony Thiessen is a THINK TUB strategist. Using her own creative intelligence and experience, combined with the expertise of a select group of experts, she offers her clients cutting edge ideas and the strategic implementation methods to help you succeed.
Are you ready to start your own business or know someone who is? Beginning a business is a creative and challenging exploration - you find out really quickly what you are really made of!
The right foundation to any structure is a key to it's success. Although I don't normally consult with people just starting off in business, I am encouraged and intrigued by their courage, determination and willingness to "try".
A great business model is built on some of these key characteristics, but the ability to grow your business, and have the business model fit your own values and lifestyle takes more than courage, it takes finesse!
My colleague TOM VOLKAR may be just the guy you are looking for.
At a price just about anyone can afford, with the wealth of knowledge that comes from 35 years in business, Tom has created a program unlike most anything you are likely to find.
What's it About?
A five-day, group coaching, phone course that will result in you identifying the business you were meant to have. Imagine, in just five short days, you could have solved the biggest challenge each of us face in our careers – what is it we really want to do. Knowing what you really want to do, and committing to it, is the most important part of the process of having what you want. How many of us are working in jobs that don’t inspire us, purely because we never really answered this question for ourselves?
Whether you are toying with the idea of self-employment or you’re already a budding entrepreneur deep in the trenches of building your business, I highly recommend Tom.
Ari Koinuma Read more here.
Isn’t it about time you discovered the business you were meant to run?
How does it work?
Via small-group telephone coaching, Coach Tom Volkar will take you through a proven exploration process of identifying what it is that most moves and inspires you, examining possible businesses that are potentially in alignment with your higher self and your financial goals, and working through them to resolve the one business to which you will be able to commit yourself for the long haul.
The intensity and structure of the course really pushed me to dig deep within to find not only my true values and strengths, but also the ways I may have been sabotaging and short-changing myself. Christine Gallagher Read more here.
Why should I do it?
Because a sweet spot exists between work that you love to do and a business solution that the world needs. That sweet spot is your authentic business and your fulfillment and prosperity will increase the closer you get to identifying and developing that business. The further away you are from it, the more you will struggle. You have one business, in one business model, which will meet the needs of, and solve a problem for, more people than any other business you could run. In mastermind fashion we’ll examine many possibilities. At the end of five days you will decide and move forward on one of them. Once in action, your perspective will change and you’ll be able to further adjust and refine to hit your sweet spot.
Go check it out at:
Five Days of Authentic Business Discovery
BUT, TIME IS RUNNING OUT - the next course starts Monday the 27th of October!
What To Do Next?
To find out if you might be a good candidate for the program, go to the CONTACT PAGE and send Tom a note. He will quickly organize a phone call with you to allow you both a chance to see if the 5 days of business coaching might be just the right tool you need at just the right time.
Raving Reviews
I read a brilliant review of the course on another site which you might find interesting.
Get Creative in Promoting Your Business
We cannot be certain from one day to the next what the DOW will do,
who will eventually become President, or what the effects of a
recession might be over the next 12-24 months.
We can be certain though, that if we allow ourselves to feel the malaise effect from so much uncertainty, and not focus on strategic thinking about our own business - we will suffer for it.
So while we can't change the most prominent issues in our respective
countries, we can take at least one of these three steps to help ourselves stay afloat, and even prosper.
You Can Do This
I am not suggesting complicated strategies that require people like myself
or my colleagues to assist you. You can do these quite simply on your own,
as long as you drop the lone ranger and adapt to the more inclusive and
collaborative attitude.
1. Don't spend so much money advertising for new customers.
Up sell the ones you have with more of your products or services.
If you treat your customers like gold (Check here for ideas) and
respect them for spending their hard earned money with you, you customers will
want to repay you with repeat business. They will become your best ambassadors and marketing agents.
There is ladies clothing store located in the retail section underneath my condo
building. I see her everyday. When it's time to buy gifts or look for a new sweater, I am not so inclined to go to the mall. I WANT to give Marcy business, and many of your customers WANT to do the same for you. Give them a reason. Offer them new products and services. Send emails to your database and tell them what else you have to offer. Make it easy for them to do business with you.
(Offering new products or services don't have to cost you much money, if any. )
2. Package up the benefits.
You might want to call this an up sell. If a customer comes into your retail store and says YES to one purchase, even if it's worth $5, they are much more inclined to say yes to the NEXT purchase. Package benefits with purchases. Buy one, get one free is common, but you can be more creative than that.
Show customers your savvy by putting together the Italian meal in your grocery
store. Don't just sell the sauce and noodles at the loss leader counter. Place the suggestion of bread, salad fixings, dessert and wine either on a table or with a photo. Offer the package for $30. An easy dinner for 4 would look quite amazing to the after-work shopper who is trying to feed a family on a budget.
What if your business is recycling plastics? How can you package your product
with either a service you offer OR a service offered somewhere else, and benefit your customer (and perhaps another business owner)? You may have just increased your profit dollars from $28 a sale to $38 a sale. That may not seem like much, but you apply it to 100 customers, and you have an extra $1000 in profit for the same amount of work.
3. Hold an TRIPLE WIN Event
Invest in the well-being of your customers. Instead of running another print ad in the urban paper - host an event that benefits the community or your customers in particular.
These are tough times. Consider your marketing initiatives as opportunities for
the TRIPLE WIN STRATEGY. How can you expose people to what you have to
offer, and at the same time make it beneficial to those who might never be your customer?
Let's say you are Rick and Sid.
You own a mid-size building supply chain. Times are tough.
It's a recession and people don't build a lot of homes or structures when
the economy is suffering.
You host an appreciation night for your suppliers and your suppliers are
asked to bring 3 other business owners to the beer and burger event.
The big draw is the announcement that you guys offered to
supply the materials to build a small home for a single parent and her
three kids. They lost their home when her husband was killed in a
car accident.
(Yes, there is an expense to you. But you can leverage cooperative dollars, free advertising, increased exposure, and additional business into the cost and it will make you money!)
You ask all the attendees to do four things:
- a. Let you feed them
- b. Have them interviewed for articles that you would host, on behalf of these other businesses, on your online blog. Feature stories
about each business and owner. Encourage people to check them out.
(A newspaper may want in on the fun and offer to draw attention to the blog every week until every feature story had been covered.) Think of the free marketing you are offering your guests and traffic you will have on your site.
b. Sign up to donate any of the other materials needed for the new home.
c. Introduce their guests to you personally. (You then make sure you introduce those guests to at least 3 other business owners that may be good contacts for them.)
The List of potential outcomes:
- A home for a family.
- Community awareness.
- People wanting to drive across town to support the business that supported the community.
- Joint Ventures between business owners who met one another at the event.
- Media attention without paying for it.
- Renewed team spirit at work.
- Unusual business deals that arose from the new contacts you now have with the suppliers guests...
and much more.
I have used a hypothetical (sort of) story here to illustrate the point. I can tell you that I have seen clients employ the TWS over and over again to their success, and the success of others.
IT'S ALWAYS THE RIGHT TIME FOR YOU
Don't fold up your napkin and lay it down in defeat.
Don't get grouchy with your family and fall into despair.
There are always strategies you can employ to keep you afloat and even
to prosper when money seems tight and pressure is on.
Our grandparents survived the great depression.
We will survive ~ and then some!
If you have questions on how you can apply any of the three strategies mentioned above in your situation, myself or one of my team will be happy to help by answering your email question at no cost to you.
We are all in and moving through this together.
Harmony Thiessen is a THINK TUB strategist. Using her own creative intelligence and experience, combined with the expertise of a select group of experts, she offers her clients cutting edge ideas and the strategic implementation methods to help you succeed.
The news isn't good. The forecasts are dismal. And Suze Orman
says we are in the Emergency Economy Room. In fact, she predicts that
it will take years to get our feet on safe soil. How can small business square off with the tough economic times we face?
Recent headlines tell us that 1 in 6 homeowners have lost all equity in their homes and owe more than the property is worth.
We are compelled to watch favorite news broadcasts and catch up on the latest blogs and websites.. Many small business owners are living in chaos with no credit to be had and employees to pay. Suppliers are demanding COD for inventory you must have to stay in business, and the cash isn't available.
WHAT CAN A Small Business OWNER DO?
1. Feed the creative juice: Spend at least 15 minutes a day listening to your favorite inspirational speaker, educator or personal development mentor. Don't be
the "fallout" of a bad news crazed media. Take personal responsibility for seeing
the possibilities in any situation.
2. Feed your neighbor: Become aware of those around you who are also in a
struggle. When Wall Street burps, the wealthy feel nauseous, the middle class "throw up" and the poor are choking. Everything is relative. You are not alone, and you engage a powerful source when you become a channel to help those less fortunate than yourself.
Go into a business down the street and give them your business. Tell them how
much you appreciate them in your community.
3. Become part of the solution: Credit has become our way of life, but it wasn't always so. Turn on your ticker! Who do you know that you could joint venture with to assist you in your business bottleneck? How could you make it a win-win for them and you? What can businesses in your community do to help one another and the consumers who are also feeling the squeeze.
4. Embrace the idea of uncertainty: Uncertain outcomes can be scary and more than that, the fear of uncertainty can paralyze our present moment. We like to feel we have a say, some control, and that we can direct the future.
Truth is: We never do. We have only this moment. The future changes beyond our wildest dreams.
Uncertainly brings with it the promise of possibility. As quickly as things collapse, good ideas can begin to flow and implementation of those ideas can change or enhance desperate situations.
Uncertainty is just that...we don't know the outcome! So stop acting like you do!
You don't know what the outcome of your loss might provide. You can't predict how you would live if you didn't have a house or a mortgage. You may move next door to a human being who would change your life for the good in a remarkable way. You have no idea of what is possible.
You need to dream your own dream. Don't let the lowest common denominator of thought determine your emotional outlook.
HOW DO WE EMBRACE UNCERTAINTY?
Allow things to be. This idea that we want to fight against everything we don't like simply won't materialize the outcome you desire. Fighting is resisting, and what you resist persists.
By allowing I don't suggest passivity, but rather the understanding that life is what it is at this moment.
It's not just WALL ST. that is at fault. A great majority of us wanted to live beyond our means. WALL ST. took advantage of our ignorance and greed and capitalized on the profits. Now we are all in the same mess manifest to different degrees. What is IS. No more blaming. Instead ...ask yourself : What can I do for my own benefit and the benefit of my community at large?
Welcome the energy of fresh ideas. Talk to younger people and listen. They are stained with with a history of struggles and competition. Their ideas are simpler, cleaner, and often profound. Even young children become the voice of wisdom when our adult fears and need to control monopolize our senses.
Talk to older folks who have been there and back. Listen to the magic of how life took turns they never expected, and the outcomes were blessings they could never predict.
Make peace with letting go. Some things in our lives are going to change and we will need to adjust. But the moment change happens, the S.H.I.F.T. happens and you begin a new path towards opportunities that didn't exist in your former state.
Harmony Thiessen is a THINK TUB strategist. Using her own creative intelligence and experience, combined with the expertise of a select group of experts, she offers her clients cutting edge ideas and the strategic implementation methods to help you succeed.
It's easy.
All you do is choose a few key customers; people who have stood out for their
- loyalty,
- consistency,
- personality,
- community involvement,
- international flair,
- humble beginnings,
- tragic endings,
- stable families,
- survival instincts
- or personal history,
and share them with your market base.
This is not a strategy for every week, but employing this technique every few months can be effective.
HIGHLIGHT THE CHAMPS
Rather that run another TV ad about your great prices, or print ads in the local paper about your anniversary sale - talk about the people who make your business possible = your customers.
If you have a B2B business, profiling your customer in a side bar and linking to their website or recommending a product or service they offer can do more for you than a week of ads.
People are attracted to abundance and to those who know the principles of continued success. Einstein said his success was built on the shoulders of great people, Zig Ziglar said you climb your way to the top by helping other people succeed. Talk about your product or service, but highlight how your customer makes use of it. Let the public see your logo, but focus on the other person.
If you are working with customers directly, ask if you can mention their unique story, or show their photo. In return, offer to hold a BBQ or reception for all the family and friends of those who participated in your customer friendly ad campaign. Let them meet one another, take a tour, meet the President of the company or receive a free sample.
THE CONSUMER HATES TO BE USED
Make sure you conduct your campaign with respect for your customer. Get permission to use photos, or tell their stories. Respect their privacy, honor their preferences.
No one wants to feel they are a pawn in your marketing budget, but most people do enjoy the feeling of appreciation or importance. Fierce competitors won't think of this idea, Triple Win folks do it all the time.
HOW TO APPLY THE "MARKET YOUR CUSTOMER" STRATEGY
Here are 5 key formats you can use:
1. Print notepads as promotional gifts and have a THANK YOU to _______ for being loyal customers to your business (state your business name) for the past 5 (?) years.
2. Have a customer appreciation reception and invite the press to interview your customers about their unique business story. If the press isn't interested, hire a writer to perform interviews during the event and take out a large add with paragraphs written about your customers.
3. Include customer photos and what you appreciate about them in your direct mail or display ads.
4. Create a calendar as a give away where each month features a major customer business with photos and good promo for their business. You keep your logo at the bottom and take one month of the year to feature yours.
5. Use social networking (internet) to talk up your customers online. (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Ning, Intent)
Giving something away with good intentions will never hurt your business. Your personna changes from the person who will do anything to get a sale, to a community leader that people want to rally around.
