Tag: Entrepreneurs

Why 90 Percent of Entrepreneurs’ Businesses Fail

Entrepreneurship has become the general dream work for both the employed and unemployable. Business opportunities are springing up everywhere, enticing and calling you to make the leap of destiny into the wealth and affluence you’ve often dreamt about. It is also notable that 9 out of every 10 businesses collapse within 2 years of starting. Even the best of well-read gurus collapse in the face of numerous tests that would have heralded the enthronement of a celebrated business idea.

Despite the numerous complaints about the challenges of building businesses in Nigeria, some are still transforming themselves into formidable forces of repute. It is therefore important to know the necessary factors that affect the entrepreneur, his idea, and his growing business.

Not considering pests!

Pests are crazy little creatures that cause immense damage to food and materials in a house, shop or office. Ok, I am not talking about local pests, but in business parlance means Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological environment; factors which are not necessarily within your control. Some other standard business books give their own academic variations.

PESTLE/PESTEL: Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal, and Environmental.

PESTLIED: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, International, Environmental and Demographic.

STEEPLE: Social/Demographic, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal, Ethical; and

SLEPT: Social, Legal, Economic, Political, and Technological.

This considers external factors, which if not well considered, can suck life out of any aspiring business. I remember Sokoa Chair Center (Nigeria)’s story for which they explained how the National Government’s ban on importation almost ran them out of business. Her ability to navigate her business out of the murky waters of challenges became the foundation for the world class enterprise she manages today.

Political: political stability, security, freedom of press, regulation and Tax policy, and trade and tariff controls

Economic: Stage of business cycle, economic growth, inflation and interest rates, unemployment and employee turn-over, impact of globalization (Global Financial Crises)

Socio-Cultural: education and social mobility, market demand, public opinion, social attitudes trends,

Technological Environment: Impact of emerging technologies, (automation, internet, e-commerce e.t.c.). Compaq recently launched a 24hr laptop battery, while DELL was busy putting finishing touches to launch their 16hr laptop battery, if DELL were a run off the mill company, they are grounded!

Eating your investment, and not profit

No sooner than a small business begins to level up in terms of income, our wonderful entrepreneur begins to think of changing levels and status. He buys a new car, wardrobe, changes office space, all from the proceeds of the business which is actually the capital and not profits. When spending, it pays to separate personal funds from the business. The business pays you your money, and you must learn to live within that means. Problems occur when initial deposit is given for business only for our aspiring business man goes to celebrate the huge success of his business.

An entrepreneur seeking to build a business must understand the separation and marriage between business and personal life.

Mismanaging reality

When entrepreneurs venture out, they are usually motivated by a deep passion-either for themselves, their idea, getting rich, an opportunity or some other object of enthusiasm. Armed with such passion, they take risks and set sail against unexpected signs of reality.

Yet passion tends to distort reality. The ability to succeed in business depends on the skill of adjusting the plans and dreams to the prevailing conditions. The idea that the challenges will bow to your plans and dreams will burn the drain the entrepreneur’s time, energy, and money pursuing an ill-defined endgame without a realistic path. And when the issues start pouring in… expenses not turning into expected results , potential customers are not that crazy about the product, missed deadlines, shortfalls in sales,- objectivity and reason become even further blurred by the mind-bending distractions of doubt, fear and disappointing replies to investors. Entrepreneurs are found to cave in under these kinds of pressures not knowing it is a bend towards the shining light of achievement.

When personal failures affect business

The personal faults, habits and failures of an entrepreneur are usually obvious especially when he has a lot of people under him. Inability to manage funds, not being detailed and bad people management skills are some indirect factors responsible for the high rate of business failures. Entrepreneurs, like any pioneer, have their own lapses, but must be able to manage them extensively. I know an entrepreneur who does not negotiate price but leaves it to his financial manager because he never succeeds in negotiating a beneficial deal. Many entrepreneurs are successful in spite of themselves. The key is in working well, and enjoying, full understanding of their weaknesses and mitigating the likely risks.

Good at starting business, bad at running them.

This is very true of many entrepreneurs, since most of them are powerful initiators, but terrible managers. Most are more interested in making money than it is to build a business. Most technicians think because they understand their product or skill, they will automatically transform those ideas into business. Most of them have this great obligation to run their businesses and become a great manager. Working on a business and working in a business are two different worlds. While the entrepreneur works on his business, the technician works in the business. He feels if he gave in more, worked harder, profit will come. How untrue!

These are some of the factors I have considered and will love if you ponder on them while thinking, planning, starting and managing your business. Don’t forget also, out of the first 20 richest men in America, only 4 are employees.

Why Business Entrepreneurs Prefer to Lease Vans on a Short-Term Basis

The recent studies have proved that most of the business entrepreneurs are opting for van leasing nowadays. As such, it’s quite evident that the driving force behind the increasing flow of revenue from van leasing is the businessmen who are either not in a position to spend huge chunk of cash in buying vans or is not willing to invest their money in it. The coming up of many vehicle leasing companies have proved to be a boon for them. When they are opting for it, they are getting the opportunity to lease the van of their choice even on a short-term basis.

Leasing the vans for a short-term is one of the greatest advantages that a person can avail by turning his head towards this option. When they are taking the vans for a short-period, they are getting the opportunity to change it after the expiry of the contract period. Many a times, it happens that the businessman who is not sure which van to pick takes a wrong decision and lease one that is not efficient enough to perform the activities properly. As a result, he gets irritated with the performance of the van and wants to change it soon. To avoid such a situation, it is recommended to lease the vans for a short-term and before you make the choice, you should know its features so that you won’t have to regret your decision.

When the businessmen opt for leasing vans, they want to get a van which is spacious enough to haul the heavy goods to long distances. Additionally, it must be robust too so that it won’t easily get damaged due to the constant use. As the business entrepreneurs need to lease a fleet of vans, they prefer to take them on a short-term basis. Though the leasing company provide the maintenance service of the leased van, yet maintaining a number of vans may prove tough even to the leasing companies. But, when you are taking the van for a short-term, there is very less chance of getting the van damaged. Apart from it, as you have taken the van for a short-period, you will get the opportunity to try another model of vehicle after the expiry of the contract.

The financial situation of most of the businesses is not sound initially. Hence, the business owner has to struggle a lot to make it successful. He may require to invest more money in it. Consequently, he may not be ready to spend money in buying vans though he knows very well that without it, the job couldn’t be performed. In such a situation, they inclined towards leasing to save their hard-earned money. The money they have, thus saved, can be used for other commercial purposes.

How the History of eCommerce Has Cleared the Way For Entrepreneurs

The history of eCommerce is not only interesting but has proven to be one of the greatest developments of humankind over time. eCommerce also known to as electronic commerce, can be used to refer to the act of conducting business transactions and communication over electronic device such as computers. It involves the buying and selling of goods and services over digital communication networks and encompasses electronic transactions such as smart cards and electronic money transfers.

There has been a lot of confusion regarding the difference between eCommerce and e business. To explain the difference between the two, one will need to look at the manner and location in which the business is conducted. E business involves the conducting of business over internet networks. It is purely an internet affair and encourages buying, selling and collaboration with partners online so that unlike eCommerce where the business is conducted at a specified location, e business is conducted online anywhere and anytime. This difference as we will see later has its bearing on the history of eCommerce.

The first form of eCommerce was conceived in the late 20th century when electronic technology was used for the transfer of information and for conducting business transaction between different business entities. The enabling technologies at the time were the electronic funds transfer and the electronic data interchange. Drawing from this part of the history of eCommerce, many businesses came up with ways through which they could expand their influence within the market and these efforts and innovation gave birth to what are now used as automatic teller machines (atm’s), credit cards and telephone banking systems.

A time went by and with the introduction of high-speed internet connections and relevant security mechanisms; the history of eCommerce was fast tracked for the business idea to become what is it is today. More businesses and especially those within the banking industry saw a lot of growth over short periods of time. However, the eCommerce businesses experienced their lowest points during the ‘dot-com’ collapse that saw a great number of internet businesses crumble to their knees.

Calm was restored a few years later when most of the businesses and especially those in europe began to embrace eCommerce. History was written once again when business transactions, driven by the desire to serve the increasing worldwide customer service demands and regardless of size and nature were conducted over the internet. The most remarkable companies during this time were amazon, eBay and dell that despite conducting small internet transactions have grown to become the most formidable electronic business entities in the history of eCommerce.

eCommerce has made life much easier than it was two centuries ago. It has taken into account how busy life has become so that not many people enjoy the luxury of shopping from one store to another without any time constraints. Buyers are now able to shop for whatever they want just by a click of a button. You are also able to compare prices of goods and services from stores worldwide but from the comfort of your home. Like all things good, eCommerce has enlightened most people on the importance of technology. It has also made it possible for businesses to appreciate just how much a simple invention can change the face of your business. Such is the history of eCommerce.

Entrepreneurs – The Qualities of an Entrepreneur

Successful entrepreneurs are distinctly different from individuals who just want a job. There are critical differences that you need to be aware of before you decide to quit your job and start your own business. Many times people think a business is a solution being unemployed. The truth is, 90% of businesses fail in the first five years and 90% of the 10% fail in ten years.

The reason for this failure is that we are not taught the qualities and given the knowledge needed to be successful entrepreneurs. We are trained to be employees so we can earn money for someone else. That makes you think doesn’t it? Every hour you put in a job is putting more money than you make in someone else’s pocket. Whose pocket, you ask? The successful entrepreneur.

So, why are successful entrepreneurs successful business owners? The answer is they have a totally different mindset toward security and money. They really don’t worry about themselves or their families. I know that sounds bad, but it is the truth. They are fixated on the idea that will become a business. I know this to be true because I am the same way. My poor husband is an orphan most of the time because I can’t think of anything else but how to grow my business, or start a business, etc. I was not aware of this until I read a description of a typical entrepreneur and the impact their activities have on their families and friends. It takes a conscious effort to make sure their is a balance in my life because I would rather be playing with my creation and learning new things.

Okay, now if that did not scare you let’s look at typical qualities of an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs are:

1. Driven and Not Afraid to Take a Risk

A true entrepreneur sees an opportunity to create something and has the perception that the opportunity is going to be very successful. They do not necessarily think of things in terms of being rich. The pay off is seeing an idea grow into a viable business or taking an existing business and improving its performance. It is not uncommon for an entrepreneur to sell a business after it is successful because they do not have a desire to manage it and want to create another business. Or, they hire employees to manage it for them and move on to the next idea.

2. Tenacious

Entrepreneurs are tenacious and do not quit easily. They are constantly high on the thrill they get from seeing their idea become a reality and a huge success. They may be worried about income, etc., but push on knowing that everything will work out in the end and a business will be born. Their obstinate, focused manner drives them on because they can taste, feel, and see the final results.

3. Problem Solvers

Entrepreneurs are problem solvers. They are most effective when they are solving a problem with a team. They understand their limitations and seek outside talent to enable the solutions to be implemented. Entrepreneurs love to have someone else do the job for them while they continue to move forward with their vision.

4. Fearless

Entrepreneurs are not afraid to beg, borrow and steal (not really) the money required to bring their idea into fruition. The idea is a mistress and nothing is spared if it means the idea is being satisfied. They do not worry about security, health insurance, where the next $ is coming from because they KNOW this is the right thing to do.

5. Able to Manage Diversity

An entrepreneur is capable of juggling a million tasks at one time or makes sure he/she has hired or cajoled someone into juggling for them. Entrepreneurs are masters at manipulation. They can sell an idea to anyone talk them into being part of the team and make sure the idea becomes a reality.

6. Curious

Entrepreneurs are perpetual students. They are intrigued by concepts and better ways to do things and are constantly going to seminars to learn something new that can be applied to a business to make it better.

Bottom line, entrepreneurs have a desire for freedom, wealth, to make their own rules, to be responsible for the results of their activities, find a problem and turn it into a business, and to make a difference in the world. Their idea of fun is the creation of a successful business.

Take this short quiz and see if you have the traits of a successful entrepreneur:

1. Are you willing to spend all of your time birthing a business

2. Are you unemployable because you like to think and aren’t afraid to give your opinion

3. Are you prepared, if needed, to lower your standard of living until your business becomes profitable

4. Will your family and friends understand why you won’t go to parties, movies, events that appear to be in the way of your success

5. Have you owned other businesses and still feel driven to try again.

If your answer is yes to these questions you have a good chance of success. The key qualities are no fear, trust, focus and drive.

Listen to your gut and ask yourself: “Am I really ready to give up the secure life as I know it?” If you are, go for it.

Entrepreneurs Getting Free Government Start Up Business Grants – What is the Truth?

It can be incredibly stressful to start your own business; particularly if your budget is running low as you get ready to launch. The last thing you want is to get information which raises your hopes, only to dash them upon discovering that this information was inaccurate.

There are a lot of young entrepreneurs who are under the impression that they can get money from the government to start up their business. This is a misconception; no one (except maybe your parents) will give you money no strings attached – so don’t be taken in by anyone who promises you this. There are a lot of people out there who will tell you that they can do this, but be careful – you’re starting a business to make money, not pay it out to these unscrupulous operators.

If you’re an entrepreneur trying to get your business off the ground and your hope is that the government will help finance your venture, you need to know the facts:

1 – Small business other than non-profits are rarely able to get government financing; these funds are generally set aside for non-profits and other businesses which provide jobs in economically disadvantaged areas.

2 – Businesses which are engaged in new technology research and development can often get financing. However, if you are opening a Laundromat, you will not be getting a government grant to do so. These funds are typically reserved for the best and brightest in the scientific and engineering fields -research projects can receive grants of up to $100,000 and an additional $1 million for production

stemming from this research.

3 – Even businesses which are qualified to receive these grants cannot get them simply for the asking at any time. There are specific application processes for these grants which are time sensitive. If you miss the application deadline, you may have to wait until the next year or until a call for applications is announced.

4 – There is some hope of receiving government funding, but keep in mind that not all of this money is in the form of grants. There are small business loans which can be either a traditional interest bearing loan or matching grants with 25% of the cost being granted – the other 75% must be raised by your business. You will generally have to submit detailed reports of your business operations for tracking purposes when receiving these grants.

There are business grants on the local, state and federal levels – a good business plan can help your business to secure one of these loans. Your business plan should include a detailed description of how you will produce your product; provide your service as well as how you will market your business, among other things.

Your business plan will also give you a clearer picture of the viability of your business. After looking it over, you can decide if your plan needs some revamping – or if it’s time to go back to the drawing board altogether. This can save you a lot of time when you start up your business.

With the right information, your business will have a much better chance of securing financing – and of course, being successful overall.

Social Media 101 for Entrepreneurs

There is no denying that social media outlets are valuable tools to use in your marketing activities. However, the key to success for business owners is to sensibly plan the time they spend on social media.

You will need to consider the kinds of social media you will be using, what could be announced and how often to post. Pacing out social media activities avoids over-saturation of the market.

Keeping the content fresh can also be a challenge. Ask yourself: Is there a way to run a fundraising campaign for a worthy cause? Is your office willing to collect items for the food bank? Perhaps you have decided to set up recycling bins for items like batteries and light bulbs and returnable beverage containers that your clients can also use. Or perhaps your office can set up a contest. Maybe your work place has had some improvements or a new mural was painted on the building. Perhaps you can get a project happening with your contacts. Maybe you can put out an announcement for sales or discounts coming up.

Social media offers a great opportunity for your business to celebrate causes, fundraisers and community events that you are a part of. It is a great way to support those you network with, as you can celebrate their successes and contributions to the world as well. And of course you can use it to invite networking opportunities to keep conversations going with your contacts. Besides this, being supportive of community and charitable events tells your staff, suppliers and clients that you care about making a difference.

Quite often an idea for a social media campaign or a topic you’d like to cover will come to mind, but you don’t have time to follow-up on it just yet. Jot that idea down so that you can come back to it later. This way no opportunity is missed.

Before rushing out with random posts it is important to decide just how you plan to create excitement about each event and what you are expecting as a result.

Here’s another tip: Have a couple of documents on your desktop with social media blurbs you and your staff have created during brainstorm sessions. It will make your social media effort well-organized and it will be easy to post items during peak times of day.

So what are the best times of day to post? That really depends on who you are targeting – their age, their interests, etc. For business the best days to post on Facebook are Thursdays and Fridays between 11 AM and 1 PM (Pacific). 11 AM will bring in more shares, while closer to 1 PM will get more likes and link clicks. For Twitter, posting between 11 AM and 1 PM – during the lunch hours – is the best time. However, weekends shows 30% more activity on Twitter. Due to typical business activities during the week, the best days to post on LinkedIn are Tuesdays and Thursdays. The best time frames for scheduling LinkedIn posts are between 5-6:30 AM and 3-5 PM (Pacific). If you are using Google+, posts scheduled on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, between 7-9 AM are the most effective.

Regardless of what time frame you have decided to work with, and no matter how many social media outlets you wish to give a try, being on social media is rewarding. If you are on many different outlets and find the idea of managing them within a time frame overwhelming there are a couple of options for you. Assign a staff member (or pay your child) to perform this duty for you. Alternatively, schedule alarms on your cell phone to remind you to post on specific days. When you get very busy, there are numerous online services that allow you to schedule posts for automatic publication well in advance.

The way you use social media will vary depending on the medium (Instagram, etc.) and the kind of product, service or campaign you are currently working on, and the type of person you are trying to reach. Consider what time your target audience is online, how old they are, what they are doing when they are online, how long they are online and when they have the most interest or curiosity happening. Perhaps a customer survey can help you determine this.

By doing these suggested activities you’ll notice less time is spent on social media, and your activities are much more effective. For more business advice check out the Brummets’ book: Purple Snowflake Marketing, which provides valuable business advice for any service, product or book you write.

Could Celebrities Be Cutting-Edge Marketers – Leading Online Business Entrepreneurs?

“Where is The Future of Online Business –

Could Celebrities be showing mainstream business the way?”

Have Your Competitors ‘Caught On” and already Talking to Your Customers in this latest marketing evolution for Web Success? (And are they doing it Auto-matically and VERY Cheaply!) SO MANY Crucial Questions to answer… please read on.

The following Report is the Cover Story for “Australian Business Solutions” magazine“

YOU WILL DISCOVER HOW CELEBRITY MARKETING STYLES ONLINE LEAD ‘AUDIENCES’ TO WANT TO BUY RATHER THAN THE CONVENTIONAL BUSINESS APPROACH OF SELLING AND CLOSING. YOU WILL DISCOVER VALUABE, IN FACT ESSENTIAL INSIGHTS AND IDEAS THAT EVERY MARKETER, ENTREPRENEUR AND BUSINESS OWNER MUST NOW EMBRACE!”

(WARNING: THIS REPORT MAY FRIGHTEN YOU… IT WILL DEFINITELY ENLIGHTEN YOU!)

There is a buzz around on the television news, radio, in the print media, at business networking groups and meetings and especially on the internet right now. There seems to be a shift of focus for how people look for products and services and then decide how they spend their money.

In terms of influence and power, the new way people search for products and services and make their buying decisions online could even rival the search engines. And it’s been said that this buzz could be the single biggest thing to happen in business since the industrial revolution!

Sounds over the top, but is there enough evidence (for you) to be a part of it too? And is this buzz a fad or could it be here to stay?

If you’ve watched TV news or listened to radio or brought a newspaper in the past 2-3 years, you will have noticed references to websites in both stories and advertising, where you can find out more – including how to get more information about a product or service and/or how to buy instructions. In more recent times nearly every news presenter, TV show host, journalist and celebrity are also promoting how you can ‘follow’ their lives, interests and activities online too – and it all seems to be centred around websites such as Facebook.com, Twitter.com, YouTube.com, Digg.com and more, collectively known as Social Engines.

Celebrities are using these sites to raise their profile, build their brand and most importantly, solidify their popularity and [hopefully] longevity in their profession and industry. AND, these sites enable their audience (loyal army of fans) to talk directly back to them. And this is at the heart of the buzz and current shift – and why it’s so very important you read on and learn more.

On the Social Engine Twitter.com, Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres have more followers (fans) than the entire populations of Ireland, Norway and Panama. Their brand awareness and popularity building is personal, although as that increases, so too does their value to corporations looking for product endorsements to drive their market penetration and increase their market share.

Sporting stars like celebrities have broadened their talent base too, becoming more entrepreneurial and business savvy, seeing their name, brand and product value increase, in many cases, to a higher income level than the actual core sporting talent. In other words, acting, playing a sport, being a comedienne or whatever is their core talent is no longer their only talent. They have embraced the concept of brand building (and protection), marketplace communications and conversations – opting for direct contact via sources like online Social Engines. Here they can touch far more people quicker and easier than say a traditional autograph signing exercise.

A true business woman, leader and entrepreneur, celebrity Oprah Winfrey instantly connects and updates a loyal army of over 2 million+ people that follow her on Twitter. Her power and influence is no surprise or revolution in itself, but her army of followers are able to directly provide instant feedback and ideas to her too -and marketplace feedback is a life blood to your business growth and long term sustainability. (Try ignoring it and see where your business goes.) Everyone wants to be heard and Social Engines give you, your business and your customers a voice.

A loyal army of followers can also provide a viral effect to disseminate information quickly too, meaning they can ‘spread the word for you’ if you ask them to – this can be particularly useful if you want to spread good news and conversely if your brand comes under attack via other mainstream media mechanisms or on the Social Engines themself.

Although it might be hard to fathom, could celebrity entrepreneurs like these be showing more traditional businesses how to connect, behave, build our brand, increase our marketplace value and build our business too using these Social Engines?

Is this a valid idea and model for mainstream business or not?

Firstly, the power of Social Engines extends far beyond Twitter.com alone. Some of the other leading Social Engine sites sprout some pretty impressive visitor and member statistics, as well as services.

Facebook.com – If it was a country rather than a website, it would be the world’s 3rd largest after China and India.

On Facebook there are more than 250 million active users and more than 120 million of them log on to Facebook at least once each day and more than 5 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide). The fastest growing demographic is 35 years old and older and within that, the fastest growing segment is 55-65 year-old females. Do people 35+ and women influence the buying decision for your products and services? This is worthy of your attention.

And there’s more… more than 1 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared each week on Facebook alone and more than 2.5 million events are created and advertised each month. More than 45 million active user groups exist on the site and more than 50 language translations of that content are available on the site. The people supplying all this content include business owners and professionals, some of whom are surely in your industry and probably your competitors. And if you think because you’re a localised business that this doesn’t count, you’ll find this statistic most enlightening- 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States.

All of those statistics are just for Facebook alone (source Facebook.com/press/statistics).

You can also purchase Pay Per Click and Pay Per Impression advertising on Facebook (and other Social Engines). They take your spend to a whole new level of value and ROI with their member data allowing you to display your adverts for keywords AND additional, specific demographics of the member base. For example you can display your advertising message to women, 55+ in Melbourne who are single. You can even target people specifically on their birthday with a relevant offer.

YouTube.com – take a look at YouTube (which is owned by Google for good reason) – People are watching hundreds of millions of videos a day on YouTube and uploading hundreds of thousands of videos daily. In fact, every minute, ten hours of video is uploaded to YouTube -including promotional videos, education, product consumption/direction videos and client testimonials for business. Plus every video you add to YouTube includes a spot on the webpage where you can put a link back to your website. PLUS you can add these videos to your blog posts, making them more interesting to your blog readers on other Social Engines too (more about blogs in a moment).

YouTube’s user base is broad in age range, 18-55, evenly divided between males and females, and spanning all geographies. Fifty-one percent of users go to YouTube weekly or more often, and 52 percent of 18-34 year-olds share videos often with friends and colleagues.

And could this be the good reason Google brought YouTube? It’s the 2nd largest search engine in the world today, 2nd only to Google.com. If you want to connect with your marketplace on volume, this is worthy of your attention.

Twitter.com – let’s take a statistical look at that quickly too. Twitter’s footprint has expanded impressively in the first half of 2009, reaching 10.7 percent of all active Internet users in June with 83.1% of users over the age of 25. In July 2009, the Twitter website recorded 23,284,395 unique visitors – who else wants to be ‘front-of-mind’ to an audience of that size? Does your target market include people 25+? This is worthy of your attention.

Twitter has been described as the “Pulse of the Planet” given its instant, viral spread-the-word-to-the-world-instantly nature. It has boosted box office numbers and it’s killed them too, just ask the makers of the movie “Bruno” – overnight ticket sales dropped by more than half thanks to the frank and instant feedback from those that had just seen it. It was so quick too because 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices. People update anywhere, anytime – imagine what that means for bad customer experiences and you!

Do you let your customers walk away with a bad experience, only to stand out the front of your store or hang up the phone and blast their frustration and disappointment to hundreds, thousands maybe millions of people -in the ‘heat of the moment’?

The true power of Social Engines is not to be feared, it is to be embraced and when done well, you can influence large numbers of people in the ways you want them to know and represent you. This is worthy of your attention.

Understanding the nature of Social Engine participation is important and the question to answer is – What are people doing on these Social Engines? They are looking for ideas, insights, invites, offers, information, inspiration and conversation.

Savvy business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals are providing it all to them and at the same time, in a more passive or softer way than conventional advertising, promoting their business, building their reputation and ultimately getting more leads and customers to their web sites. These business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals are using resources within services like Facebook that include a Personal Profile Page, Business and Product Pages, Fan Clubs, Groups, Time-sensitive Events/Promotions, Classified Advertising (PPC) and more… and the really smart ones are sharing content direct from their website blog feed too (more about that in a moment).

Then there are sites like LinkedIn, a professional social network and directory of business owners and professionals who can communicate quickly and easily with one another. In a 2009 survey, 80% of businesses and companies who are members were using LinkedIn as a primary recruitment tool to find new employees. This is worthy of your attention.

On these Social Engines, people can say what they want about you and it’s uncensored. What do you do about it? Ignore it and hope the customers and prospects that really matter to you don’t see it? Should you take a proactive approach and start by monitoring what’s been said about you and then start providing your brand of information, insights, ideas and inspiration to your marketplace and control the information flow you want through them?

We are living in an era now where what happens in Vegas goes ON and STAYS ON YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook and more.

“Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, WORD of mouth has become WORLD of mouth.”

Love them or hate them, social engines are here to stay simply because ‘the people’ love them and trust others on them. Facebook and MySpace are among the most popular destinations on the web. And even though they can be extremely annoying, there is one inescapable fact: the most irritating thing about Facebook is the 200m-strong army of people who use it.

And here’s the final enlightening point- Social Engine participation has overtaken pornography as the #1 activity on the Web.

SO Do you get involved or not? And if so, how do you do it easily and cheaply but still ‘play the game’ like a Celebrity with a 2m+ loyal army of followers?

The reality is that even if you’re not involved, your customers and prospects AND competitors probably are – and they’re talking to one another, perhaps about you and without you so the sooner you start, the better chance you have to becoming both a part of the conversation and then lead it.

The answer for businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals is automation – this is the single biggest break-through strategy and tactic that very few people have worked out, including many larger corporations who are successfully using Social Engines but they are not leveraged with automation, also known as things happening ‘auto-magically‘.

In many cases, businesses are employing specialist online staff on top of web masters and advertising/SEO experts. With automation, you can do a whole lot for very little extra time and virtually no money.

HOW DOES IT ALL WORK?

At its essence or core are six words that will transform the way you generate leads and make repeat sales online – those words are YOUR WEBLOG FEED PLUS SOCIAL ENGINES.

A Weblog or blog as it’s more commonly known is a type of website or part of an existing website that allows you to add content as blog posts or articles and display them on your website – content like information, ideas, insights, offers, news, invites, images and more and you can create blog posts quickly and easily without ever needing to get a webmaster to do it for you.

There are over 200,000,000 Blogs online today and that number grows every day. Again, not all blogs and blog owners are equal, many are neglecting to include automation and leverage and integration with Social Engines so there are many nay-sayers about blogging, but that attitude is changing as more people are enlightened.

A Feed or RSS Feed as it’s more commonly known will distribute your blog posts well beyond just displaying them on your website. Feeds permit subscription to regular updates of your blog posts, delivered ‘auto-magically‘ via a web portal, news reader, or in some cases good old email. Feeds also make it possible for your content (information) to be packaged into “widgets,” “gadgets,” mobile devices, and other technologies as shortened or full length messages, which Social Engines happen to LOVE. Your Feed makes it possible to display blog posts just about anywhere on the web or web connected device and most importantly directly to the millions of people online every day.

That means a Blog with an RSS Feed can ‘auto-magically‘ distribute information you create about you, your business, your products and your services quickly and easily across thousands of sites on the web. And you only have to create your pieces of content once!

A blog is a powerful code (invisible to the human, non-techie eye) and every time you add content to an existing or new blog post, like you would add content to a word document, it is distributed around the web in seconds and is fed directly into the biggest marketplaces and communities of people online every day.

What makes a blog with a feed even more powerful is that it reaches the biggest sources of people (leads) online – who by the way are not just using Search Engines anymore to find out about products and services, they are also using the “Social Engines”. PLUS your Blog Feed can also ‘auto-magically‘ update Google and Yahoo about your site too, so you still stay connected with the Search Engines for no more extra work, or money.

Now if you’re anything like me, when I first heard about these Social Engines, I dismissed them as not being a viable business and marketing channel because they appeared to be for personal networking and friendship (and they are indeed used for those reasons). Whilst many businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals are using these engines and winning new business – only a handful are doing it easily and quickly, because most of them do not know about the power of connecting your Weblog RSS Feed and how it fits in with using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg and hundreds more Social Engines.

In my own experience, I was wrong to not get involved with Blogs and Social Engines sooner (like many business owners and professional managers still are) as my competitors began to build an edge I did not have with my marketplace, simply because I did not understand and connect these two key points about connecting your blog directly to Social Engines. If you want to find new customers quickly and easily and build better sales from existing customers:

  1. Your website must be a Blog with a Feed and/or include one as part of your website
  2. Your online marketing mix and strategy must include sharing your blog post information with people on Social Engines like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg etc.

And here’s why…

Your competitors have possibly already figured out that social engines are where they can connect with people who include your customers and potential customers because the Social Engines are where your customers and potential customers are going online – and they’re going to these Engines regularly and for long periods of time. And people are making buying decisions based on the conversation they are having and the feedback they are hearing.

Even if you [believe you] have no competition, you’re not connecting with your marketplace as directly and as easily as you can, if you are not using the true power of Social Engines. These online sources or marketplaces attract people 24/7/365, who stay for a while each time. How could you NOT promote you, your business and your products and services there?

Every time you add content to your blog, it is circulated out to many Social Engines, once you set up a FREE account with them… people at these Engines who have an interest in what your business offers then come to your website to find out more.

Here’s an example of how your website Blog, its Feed and these Social Engines work together. (Note this diagram also includes the two largest Search engines -let’s not forget them. Using your Blog and RSS Feed, you can ‘auto-magically’ update them too.)

At the centre of this relationship are your website blog and its RSS Feed. Every time you add content to your blog, the Feed distributes it out to the Social and Search Engines with a link back to your website. People on the Social Engines instantly see a summary of your blog post and a link back to your blog/website. If they are interested in you, they click on the link and follow it back to your website to find out more about you and move forward with you.

“Although we like to feed information to the Search Engines for free listings, the Social Engines outperform them in providing INSTANT, FREE traffic (people) to your website… meaning Social Engines host millions of people live online at any given time who are exposed to your blog post instantly… and not only will they follow your link back to your blog/website if they are interested, they also have the power to make your Feed ‘viral’ – voluntarily passing it on to their friends who in turn pass it on… and so on.

The Social Engines and the people on them help you grow your prospect and customer base quickly, easily and cheaply – you can’t get any cheaper than free!”

The Social Engines are places where people go to and stay at; whereas Search Engines are places people only pass through ‘in search of’ a final site destination. This is the major difference and the significant extra power you’re missing out on if you are not involving your business in the Social Engines. Remember though, the Blog Feed is vital to ensuring your participation is mostly ‘auto-magic’ otherwise participating in them could over run your day, your week and your life!

The Blog Feed allows you to ‘auto-magically‘ update the Social Engines, minimizing the ‘air time’ you personally allocate to this.

So, who’s already taking this seriously and using Social Engines as a powerful, quick, cheap and easy tool and media to generate free leads quickly too?

Firstly, no matter your business, products and services, you’ll find prospects and possibly existing clients already participating in these sites on a regular basis. You are bound to find your competitors there too, it makes good business sense to be present on an Engine where millions of people congregate, converse and seek out people with the products and services they require – someone in your industry is probably joining them and being ‘front-of-mind’ and it should be you.

Everyone that gets it commits to it. These world-wide companies, brands and industry leaders have dedicated resources to connect and cultivate relationships with prospects and clients on the Social Engines with reportable, measurable results:

Motor Vehicle Industry: Chevrolet, Ford, General Motors, Honda

Travel and Tourism Industry: JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, Luxor Las Vegas, Marriott International Hotels and Resorts, Carnival Cruise Lines, Hertz Car Hire

Sporting Teams: Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Portland Trail Blazers, San Diego Chargers

Entertainment: 92Y, The Travel Channel, ComCast, Marvel Entertainment, Direct TV, Pop Caps, TV Guide

Finance: Wachovia, H&R Block, Intuit

Retail: Best Buy, The Home Depot, American Apparel, Rubbermaid, Whole Foods, Zappos.com

Food and Beverage: Starbucks, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Popeye’s Chicken, Tastidlite, Kraft Foods (see Vegemite Case Study below)

Other Global brands: Dell Computers, EMC and Kodak – all benefitting by directly connecting with their target marketplace – whether that’s existing customers and/or potential customers.

Case Study:

Kraft Foods have taken an interesting Corporation-Consumer collaborative approach to product promotion and development using Social Engines. Here’s what they say about their social engine strategy:

For many of our strong brands such as Vegemite – we acknowledged that we are simply (proud) brand custodians and that the brand is owned by ‘the people’. We focused our first two years of social engine participation on simply listening and asking questions.

Two of these questions were:

  1. How do you individually like your Vegemite?
  2. If there ever was to be a Vegemite variation what would this be?

Recently Kraft launched their latest product “Name me” a vegemite plus cream cheese experience. Here’s how they are using Social Engines to develop it.

“This is a work in progress; we spent two years listening and now with the product on shelves the Kraft Communications team is engaging with Vegemite loyalists and cynics alike on the 12 top social engines. They are engaging and getting samples out on and off line- and encouraging debate on the new products. There are a number of Facebook groups sitting in the following camps: pro original, pro new flavour and anti new flavour.”

This is just one way Social Engines are helping businesses already to grow brand, product and corporate awareness. There are many other ways to use it too that can and do lead to direct and immediate sales. No matter the size of your business and marketplace, Social Engines, like the internet at large give you a level playing field with industry leaders like Kraft Foods and the others mentioned here.

Your website with a blog and feed will provide regular content to the Social Engines ‘auto-magically’. You need to support that by also visiting the main Social Engines and engaging people on a weekly basis, as it forms part of your marketing, CRM and all the other pay-offs mentioned previously.

Adding content regularly to your Blog Feed, ‘auto-magically‘ keeps you in touch and front of mind to millions of people around the world, on the Social Engines (and Search Engines) so they can access your business, products and services quickly and easily.

The buzz appears to be more than a fad so for your business it becomes not a question of ‘if’ these Social Engines are going to be a valuable marketing tool for business. Rather, the question now is:

“How quickly will you get your business on the Social Engines

… to Capture Your Competitors Clients too?”

HOW TO GET STARTED

Here’s a checklist to help you get started with your new, exciting and FREE Social Engine Strategy:

1) Get a Blog website with a domain name of your choice OR if you already have a website, get a new sub domain or folder added called blog

2) Open an account with at Google, Feedburner, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, and LinkedIn.

3) Install an RSS Blog Feed and set up a Pinging list on it then add your Blog feed to the Search and Social Engine accounts you created in the step above.

4) Create content-rich education videos that can be added to your YouTube account and your Blog – that is then ‘auto-magically‘ added to your Search and Social Engine accounts.

5) Actively participate in or create new Facebook Groups, Events and Pages.

6) Make promotional videos about you, your business, your products, how you help and support people and upload them to your YouTube Channel then add them to your blog posts.

To really make this all work well for you, you need to know there is a big secret in succeeding with growing your business using Social Engines. You’ve read this far, so here it is: Social Engine success rest largely with you getting to grips with:

  1. Being a ‘face’ of your business and allowing people to connect with your ‘authenticity’ as a person ahead of a product, and
  2. the need to ‘listen’ to your marketplace, innovate with change to meet their ever-changing needs and then share information that will help them, rather than push product.

Millions of dollars are spent monthly with pay per click advertising on these sites and more millions are paid to ‘search engine specialists’ who supposedly help you reach number 1 ranking on keywords relevant to your business. It’s a fierce fight between serious players for top spots on search engines, both free and paid listings. An entire industry is built on it and around it. But you now know how to become a leader in your industry on the most powerful Social (and Search) Engines online today and how to do it Quickly, Cheaply, Easily and Auto-Magically.

In some cases, target market demographics may not be using Social Engines; therefore it would not be worthwhile. Consider these statistics when making your evaluation:

78% of consumers trust peer recommendations. Do you rely on 3rd party endorsements to build buyer confidence? If this is not a necessary part of your marketing and sale process, you may be able to ignore Social Engine Marketing.

Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like David Ogilvy – Listening first, selling second. Would your competitors be prepared to connect and listen to your prospects and customers directly to discover what they want, and then give it to them? If not, then you may be able to ignore Social Engine Marketing… and least for a little while.

The worst part is the first part. When you start, your ‘following’ could be small but that is far better than not monitoring what’s been said about you at all! The only way to change that is to get in the game!

Get started right now, before your competitors do -it’s the future of marketing your business online, because that is where the people you want as your customers are going online. It’s only a matter of time before someone in your industry emerges as the leader on the Social Engines – get you and your business front-of-mind first. Enjoy the experience and I’ll ‘meet and tweet you’ on the Social Engines of the World!

The 5 Most Dangerous Trends Facing Business Owners and Entrepreneurs Today

Trend #1 Fighting for Attention

The average consumer is bombarded with more than 4,000 commercial messages per day. And that number is even HIGHER for business owners.

Attention has become the scarce resource of the information economy. The advertising and information clutter only worsens when it comes to your email In-box, with countless hours wasted with spam.

More and more are joining the “Do Not Call” registry and many consumers are purchasing ad blocking technologies. Consumers feel they are constantly bombarded with too much advertising.

Trend #2 Customers Leaving You for Perceived Indifference

Why customers leave you…

1% Death 3% Move 5% Buy from a friend 9% Sold by a Competitor 14% Product Price

68% Perceived Indifference

Major global corporations now lose, and must replace, HALF their customers every five years. A typical company’s customers leave at a rate of 10 percent to 30 percent per year, and this number GROWS annually.

“Most companies spend their hard-earned marketing and sales effort attempting to attract elusive new customers when they probably have most of the business they will ever need sitting on their database.” – Jay Abraham

A typical business hears from only about 5% of its unsatisfied customers. Fully 95% just leave most will never come back.

60%-70% of the customers who complain to you will do business with you again if you resolve their problem. If they feel you acted quickly and to their satisfaction, up to 96% will do business with you again, and they will probably refer other people to you.

If you do a great job your customers will tell 2 people about it, where as if you dissatisfy a customer they will tell 22 people about it.

It costs five to six times as much to get a new (first time) customer as it does to keep a current one, and it takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for one negative incident.

Trend #3 Increasing Marketing Costs and Decreasing Effectiveness

It now costs 3 X more in 2008 than it did in 1992 to reach your prospective buyers. In 1992 – it took an average of 4 attempts to reach your buyer.

In 2008, it now takes 8.4 attempts. Therefore, ½ the results from the previous same efforts are commonplace.

As the popularity of Search Engine Marketing has increased, so have the costs of playing the game. Pay-per-click advertisements are being driven up in costs as the demand for online advertising space increases. Organic search engine marketing is a long-term, uncertain and often costly endeavor.

The recent postal rate increase is inflicting HIGHER COSTS on small publishers.

Newspaper advertising rates and Yellow pages advertising costs are also increasing.

Plus Brand Loyalty continues to decrease, changing from 56% in 2002 to just 39% in 2007.

Trend #4 Lagging Behind With Internet Technology

Now, more than ever… companies MUST utilize and actively embrace the newest technologies like: RSS Feeds, Social Networks, Blogging, Streaming Video, Webinars, etc.

Over 50% of internet marketers surveyed, are now utilizing or expect to pilot the following marketing channels because of recent market shifts: – RSS – Podcasts – Interactive Banners – Ads Within Online Video – User-Generated Content – Blogs – Social Networks

Most Small Businesses are racing to play catch-up with companies that are prospering with Web applications that establish interaction, dialog and deep connections with their Customers, Prospects, Employees and Partners.

The Internet has shifted the balance of power to the customer, and companies that fail to empower customers – risk losing them to competitors who are only a short click away.

Trend #5 Increasing Competition & Increasing Business Failures

We are in the midst of the largest entrepreneurial surge the world has ever seen.

Nearly 672,000 new companies with employees were created in the U.S. in 2005. That is the biggest business birthrate in U.S. history!

30,000 more startups than in 2004, and 12% more than at the height of dot-com boom in 1996.

96% of ALL businesses Fail within the first 10 years… 80% of those Fail within the first 2 years.

Many Reasons Include: Lack of planning, Poor management skills and Failure to seek professional assistance.

The next step…

Visit The Business Commandos website listed below and claim your FREE copy of Aaron Parsons best new book: “How To Make A Million Dollars In Your Business In 3 Years Or Less” and while your there find out How To Double Your Sales In The Next 12 Months with the Profit Acceleration Systems coaching program led by international award winning business growth expert Aaron Parsons.

Private Jet Detailing And Aircraft Cleaning Entrepreneurs Have Good News For 2017

The general aviation sector has been in the doldrums for quite a while. Some blame this on increased FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) regulations, much of which occurred after 9-11 to protect airports from potential terrorists, unfortunately these increased security requirements and increased regulations have stifled the general aviation (GA) sector. The economic crashes of 2000 and 2008 didn’t help, although in 2003 the economy was flying high thanks to Bush Tax Cuts and stimulus, then it hit a wall again and didn’t really do well until the run-up just before the 2008 crash.

The GA sector has only slightly recovered since then but not back to its 2003 highs. When Obama got elected he railed against Corporate Jets and Corporate Fat Cats which hurt jet sales and new aircraft sales. Remember when congress went after the Auto Makers for flying their corporate jets to Washington DC to beg for bailouts? Public sentiment against GA was at an all-time low.

All of this had hurt aircraft cleaners and jet detailers – it made it tough to make money, but it looks like things are changing and the number of GA Aircraft is increasing. This new Trump Administration is pro-Aviation unlike the Obama Administration. Cutting corporate taxes will also help GA and jet sales. It looks like clear skies ahead for those in the General Aviation services business.

There was a great article in AIN – Aircraft International News – December Edition titled; “UBS Bizjet Index Sees Post-election Surge,” by Chad Trautvetter posted on December 12, 2016 which noted the following facts; The new Trump Administration in the U.S. is widely seen as a positive, with 61 percent of those surveyed expecting the outcome of the U.S. presidential election to ultimately be positive for the business jet market, while 11 percent don’t see a positive impact and 28 percent are uncertain.

In fact the article went on to note that there was an increase of between 44-49% increased orders for private jets over last year. Many of those aircraft will be delivered by 2018, and the backlog will increase used aircraft sales and current new inventory. More aircraft certainly means more aircraft to clean and more new aircraft means more corporate detailing customers as well. Meanwhile, along with the fractional jet market, we see jet air-taxi services on the increase as well as Uber style aircraft ride-sharing plans smaller companies can buy into. All of this means the GA sector is ready to take off again and that’s good for business.

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