Sacrifice

What one thing would you like your grandchildren to know about your earlier days when you first started your business?  Those small business owners who live long enough may one day have the opportunity to personally answer that question.  What would you want your grandchildren to know?  A friend of mine, who also happens to be one of my clients, recently answered that question with one word:  "Sacrifice."

When I asked my friend what he meant, he said:  "When I graduated from school and started out on my own, my Mom told me 'You can play and pay later, or pay now and play later'.  I decided to pay now and play later."  He is now on the verge of "play later" and is actually achieving incredible things with his life.

A way of life for small business owners

How about you?  What did it cost you to get started?  I read last week that Steve Jobs sold his Volkswagen micro-bus and Steve Wozniak sold his Hewlett-Packard scientific calculator to start their new company.  Parting with their most valuable personal possessions to raise $1,300 was the beginning of a company called Apple.  You've heard stories like this before, and maybe you have your own story or you're living that story now.

Small business owners are one of the things that make America the incredible country it is - producing a product or a service for the public benefit, offering employment for others to allow them to provide for loved ones, building something that would not exist without their effort, intelligence and perseverance.  I tire of those who criticize small business owners as being "lucky" or "rich" and yet have no understanding of the long hours of sacrifice, the dark days when quitting wasn't an option, the additional time mentally working and worrying even when their bodies weren't on the job.  

Help is on the way

Like the McDonald's tag line "You deserve a break today", I believe that small business owners deserve encouragement, something that will help them achieve their goals.  Although I can't provide relief from the oppressive intrusion of our government at all levels or lift the burden of a challenging economy, I can point the way to a helping hand.

The utilization of Social Media is an opportunity that will benefit any small business, allowing it to survive long into the future, and thrive along the way.  I began exploring Social Media to encourage other Old Dogs like me to learn a few New Tricks to help their businesses and lives.  That's exactly what I'm doing with my friend who listened to his Mom's advice to "pay now and play later".  I'm helping him to continue his success and thrive with the use of Social Media.  His years of sacrifice will be rewarded by achieving his dream.  

What about you?

Thank you for sharing 137 seconds of your day,
Smitty 

Do What You Love

Despite the fact that my life is in a whirl-wind this week (having my Mom get through successful brain surgery - thank you, Lord - and twin sons delivered safely to PITT to start a second successful year, in the same week), I took a few moments on-line to learn about Steve Jobs.   Candidly, I'm not a long-time fan of Mr. Jobs and only have a superficial knowledge of his career.   He is a liver transplant survivor, which interests me because my son had a successful heart transplant last Thanksgiving.   I may take the time to read his biography, which is scheduled for release in November (nothing like timing the marketing of a book for the Christmas season).

The news of Steve Jobs' retirement as CEO of Apple shared headlines this week with an earthquake in Washington, DC.   His retirement created a rumble in the digital business world.  This headline piqued my interest, and my digital exploration uncovered a few "gems".   For example, here's a quote from Jobs:

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”
[Stanford commencement speech, June 2005]

My hope and prayer for you is that you are doing exactly this, that you are truly professionally satisfied by doing what you believe is great work.   We spend the majority of our days working, and life is too short to not be doing what you love.   I have been blessed to discover what I want to do when "when I grow up":   I love to help make the dreams of small business owners come true.   It may sound a little goofy, but that "in a nutshell" gives me tremendous professional satisfaction.

With young adults heading back to school, having hopes of attending a graduation ceremony in the future, I thought that it might be fun to share this commencement address from a Silicon Valley icon. May you be successful as you pursue your dreams in life.

Thanks for sharing 102 seconds of your day (plus 15 minutes),
Smitty

A Struggle Even A Century Ago

"Half the money that I spend on advertising is wasted and the trouble is that I don't know which half."    John Wanamaker (1838-1922)


Do you know which half of your advertising is wasted?  As a small business owner, you’re too busy wearing a dozen hats, fighting your competition, worrying about the economy, and managing employees to spend sufficient time considering the most effective way to market your business.  Even if you had the time, you’re so intimately involved in your business that it’s impossible to objectively see your business from "the outside looking in”, your customer’s viewpoint.  You’re left to rely upon help from salespeople trying to convince you that their media is the best choice for you and your business.  Under these circumstances, you’ve done an incredible job just keeping your doors open and maintaining your sanity.

Consider the conversation about a company's marketing from the video posted on this blog at the end of last week (Are You Wasting Money On The Wrong Things?  August 19. 2011): 

"Do they track the ROI (Return On Investment) of television ads?"   "No"
"Radio?"     "No"
"Outdoor?"    "No"
"Print?"     "No"
"Sports sponsorships?"   "No"

The truth is, many small business owners have no idea as to the effectiveness of their marketing and advertising efforts. 

The conversation in the video continues to describe Social Media as being all about listening to customers and engaging your company with your customers.  Social Media is described as Word-Of-Mouth on digital steroids, and listening and engaging on Social Media will pay off dramatically in the long run.  The return on investment (ROI) of social media is that your business will still exist in 5 years.

In over two decades of working with small business owners, I've watched owners struggle to figure out the most intelligent ways to spend their precious dollars on advertising and marketing.  It's not easy, that's for sure.  But if you include Social Media in your marketing efforts, at least you'll still have the opportunity to struggle with marketing decisions five years from now.  Because you'll still have a business.  

Thanks for sharing 111 seconds of your day,
Smitty

Are You Wasting Money On The Wrong Things?

This clever video was created by Erik Qualman, an author and speaker known throughout the globe, and the person responsible for launching me into a passion for social media.  The video revolves around a conversation with a social media intern at a large company, but the message is even more important to small businesses that can't afford to waste money.  The wise owner will heed the message.

Will you?  (We'll know within the next five years)

Enjoy and thanks for sharing 131 seconds of your day,
Smitty

Your Unavoidable Habits

"In the future, people won't telephone a place, they'll dial a person," the salesperson informed me (during a conversation over 20 years ago).  I was contemplating the purchase of a "mobile" telephone, one that would be bolted to the floor of my car.  Then there was also the option of having a phone that I could carry around with me.  This version literally had a power pack about the size of a car battery. 

Although this is hard for my young adult children to conceptualize, I thought these options were terrifically innovative at the time.  I had spent years in sales looking for pay phones to make phone calls while on the road, and had grown up having to talk to a girlfriend on a phone anchored to the kitchen wall (while siblings and parents enjoyed listening in while pretending not to hear).

When was the last time that you paused and reflected upon the miracle of mobile "cell" phone technology?  Typically, we're all in the habit of taking this capability for granted.  Many today walk around with computers in our pockets, without giving it a thought.  The use of advanced telecommunications is a habit.

I remember receiving my first text years ago from a friend of mine who has created one of the fastest growing Apple apps, Swackett.  I looked at my first text and thought, "This is stupid - - it'll never catch on."  Today, millions have developed the habit of being able to walk with heads down and thumbs flying.  They have the habit of using text messages effortlessly, unthinkingly.

In a few short months, you'll think, "I can't believe I used to read a blog called Old Dogs New Tricks.  I'm so accustomed to using Social Media in my life and in my business that I can't believe it was such a big deal to get started."

Social Media will soon be a habit.  Like today's reaction to asking for a date while tethered to the telephone on the kitchen wall, very soon young adults will look at us in amazement when we say, "I remember when this business never used Social Media...."

Thanks for sharing 117 seconds of your day,
Smitty

"Psst, Buddy.... Got Five Bucks?"

I've got this crazy idea.  Despite what you hear on the news and read in the newspaper, there's still a ton of good people today.  After working with and for small business owners for roughly three decades, I also know this:  If you help a small business owner with his business, you're helping him with his life, because his business is wrapped up in his life.  And when you help an owner with his business and life, sometimes he's kind enough to share his dreams with you.  Putting these things together, I came up with a plan:

Allow me to explain.  My friend, who is also a grateful client because I help him and his business to succeed, cares deeply about some of the most forgotten and neglected children in the world.  No, I'm not talking about starving children in Africa (though these precious children are certainly tragically neglected).  My friend cares deeply about the forgotten, neglected children at risk right here in the greater Pittsburgh area.  Children who wake up in frightening conditions, spend the day in violent neighborhoods, and struggle to fall asleep in places that I know you and I wouldn't want to sleep.  My friend is generous, to a fault, in donating money to benefit these children.

My plan?  I created the Facebook page Donate And Smile and the website www.DonateAndSmile.com to help my friend to help these children.  I figure that there are enough good people around with caring hearts and $5 to help my friend with his dream.  The magic is that, if we can encourage enough people to do just a little, we can change our part of the world (and maybe eternity).  My friend, do you have 4 minutes and $5 to visit this site and help prove me right?

Sometimes making a living, feeding your family and helping small businesses succeed isn't enough.  For me, making other people's dreams a reality is what gets my blood pumping.  What works for you?

Thanks for sharing 125 seconds of your day,
Smitty 

    

Because I Had To Change

I can't help my friends succeed anymore, at least not the way I used to help them.

My friends who own small businesses used to pay me to help them to succeed by airing ads that were highly effective on Pittsburgh's Christian radio station.  The audience felt like they personally knew my friends, and everyone enjoyed a relationship built upon trust.  It was the perfect win-win.  We treated the individuals in the audience with respect, as thoughtful, intelligent individuals.  We also got the message right, in an appealing way that touched the emotions and just plain made sense.  Believe it or not, we were more successful in helping small business owners than the nation's oldest radio station, the very first radio station in America. 

Then, the communications world shifted.  Just like newspaper circulation and other forms of broadcast media, radio audiences declined.  My personal inclination is to spend most of my internal thoughts on the future, which served me well in this situation.  Within one year of my departure, the stock of the corporation that owns the radio station for which I once worked declined 90%.  (I worked with a bunch of incredible people when I was there, and I sincerely hope they are doing well)

What About My Friends Who Own Small Businesses?   

In a recent blog (Directions To Paradise, August 4, 2011), I used the term push to describe how traditional media "pushes" people to your small business, rather than the term pull to describe how social media can be used to attract individuals to your small business.  How you treat prospects and customers, even at initial engagement, is vitally important to success in the social media environment.

Who enjoys a heavy handed sales pitch on a commercial that interrupts their favorite TV program?  Virtually no one, and that is why many use a variety of methods to record TV programs and fast-forward through commercials.  Who likes it when "a message from our sponsors" interrupts their music listening?  Again, virtually no one, and that is why people change stations on the radio, or buy music Cd's or an iPod.  These methods of communicating with the public by interrupting their entertainment no longer have the desired impact. 

When I read Permission Marketing  by Seth Godin in 1999, I could see that radio stations and other practitioners of "interruption marketing" that try to "push" people to businesses needed to change their strategy.  Recognizing the obvious, I (and others) had to change.  Successful business owners at the dawn of the social media era began asking people for permission to engage in the communication.   

Change  

Social media is growing at a rate faster than mature bamboo plants in part because people are naturally relational, and they want to control and manage information on their own terms.  They have grown weary of attempts to "push" them into business relationships by interrupting their entertainment.  Individuals among the millions engaged in social media will be attracted to your small business if you respectfully engage them. 

Again, the way that you treat your prospects and customers is vitally important to your success.  The wise small business owner will adhere to the words of The Great Teacher and "do unto others as you want them to do unto you".    

Change.  Change your thinking, change your approach.  Change from "pushing" to "pulling".  Change from what used to work to what is working and will work in the future.  This will require you to change more frequently and quickly than a super model has to change outfits for repetitive appearances at a fashion show, but it will be crucial to your business' survival and success.

Because you, too, have to change.

Thanks for sharing 179 seconds of your day,
Smitty

Directions To Paradise

Think about it.  There are two types of prospects or customers.  Those who are fans of your business, who are open and receptive to your communication.  These individuals trust your "sales pitch", if you will.  The others, well, they take a little convincing.  You need to advertise to them, use third party referrals to verify your claims, maybe even offer a discount or something for free to get them to take a step in your direction.

Those who are open to your communication are attracted to your business and seek you out.  One might describe them as being "pulled" to your business.  Others you have to "push" to get their attention, sometimes with a strenuous effort.  Part of that "pushing" may be expensive, too.  Doesn't it naturally sound easier and more productive to pull people in who are leaning your direction, rather than to have to push them in the door of your business?

Push or Pull?

A number of experts say that traditional advertising can be described as an effort to push prospects to become customers, while the new media of social media tools pull prospects into becoming customers.  There's some truth to this.  Just as important, or maybe even more important, is how you treat your customers and prospects and what you say to them!  

If you use social media properly to engage your prospects and customers in a way that appeals to them as thoughtful, important human beings, while delivering the right message that falls sweetly on their ears, you will pull them into your business.  Prospects who are gently pulled into your business become customers who also share with their friends and loved ones.  This scenario is an absolute paradise for a small business owner  (please see my post: The Referral Engine, May 11, 2011).   

Here's the directions to Small Business Owners Paradise:

Begin at Treating Your Customers The Way You Like To Be Treated
Turn right on Clearly Communicate The Right Message
Travel on the Social Media Path as much as possible

(click here for Google Maps and enter "How to pull great customers into your business")

Thanks for sharing 108 seconds of your day,
Smitty

Green Eggs And Ham

You remember the books for children by Dr Seuss, don't you?  Sure you do.  How about that one titled Green Eggs And Ham ?  Although doing everything possible to avoid trying green eggs and ham, in the end the character in the story likes green eggs and ham once he actually tries them. 

So here I am, plate full of Google+ in hand, begging you to try (green eggs and ham) Google+ because I truly believe you'll like it when you do!

Here's some info about it, click on Google+: The Complete Guide on Mashable.  Email me at sboros@zoominternet.net if you need an invite to connect with Google+ to register your new account.  And don't forget to look me up on Google+ so I can add you to my Circles.  If you do, soon you'll be saying:

"Hey, I do like (green eggs and ham) Google+ !"

Thanks for sharing 39 seconds of your day,
Smitty