A check, a bank, and a cool girl

Don’t you just love a great customer service experience? As a backdrop to what happened to me recently, let me paint the picture of our summer here. We were in the middle of over 50 days of 100 plus degree temperatures, and absolutely not a drop of rain. Talk about setting some records! The heat was unrelenting and it is hard to stay cool when you are running back and forth to client offices, or doing errands.

So, on that steamy Friday I was pulling through the bank after lunch, on my way to another client appointment. (I remember it was a Friday because the bank tellers had on their “Got Money?” t-shirts.) I was depositing a check and getting some cash back for the weekend. When the little container came back to me through the bank chute – what do they call those things? – I took out my receipt and cash, and saw something else there. Lo and behold, it was a popsicle! I just chuckled and looked over at the teller. She was grinning and laughing and said, “It’s Beat the Heat” time. What a very small and inexpensive thing to do to add customer service. It was totally a surprise, and very welcome after weeks and weeks of heat and humidity. I was thrilled, needless to say, and thanked her and laughed, too.

I told many people about my experience that day and posted about it on Facebook. It made a big impression on me, and I suspect on many others that afternoon. I don’t know if that was just a one-day happening, but it will stay with ME for a long time.

So, think about how you can add over-the-top, unexpected customer service to your own clients. It doesn’t have to cost much or be extravagant. Sometimes it’s the little things that matter the most.

Tell me about your favorite customer service stories. We’ve all had bad ones…time to celebrate and brainstorm some “cool” ideas!

Watch Your But

Last month I attended the See Jane Succeed Live! event in Chicago, presented by Michele DeKinder Smith, of Jane Out of the Box fame. It was a fun break for me and completely worth every penny and minute that I spent. Going through some of the notes this morning I came across this great suggestion from Azriela Jaffe. She told the group, “Watch your but.”

What she meant was to watch where you put the word “but” in your sentences. For example: “Your speech was phenomenal but the room was too warm.” VS  “The room was too warm, but your speech was phenomenal.”  See the difference? What you put after the word “but” is what sticks. In the first sentence you leave with the impression of the warm room, in the second example, you leave with the phenomenal speech. Keep this little truism in mind next time you put a but out there!

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Whoa! Too long since last post. Business has been moving and shaking and I’m sprinting to enjoy every single minute.

Here is a cool thing that happened this week. I was asked to fill in at the 13th hour as the guest for a 30-minute talk show that is filmed on one of the college campuses  in town. It’s called “Coffee Break” and the host promised to send me a copy of the recording. I’ll let you know when I get it. The host wanted to know about my business and we talked a lot about social media. The show is picked up by one of the local cable networks, so if you are lucky enough to get that channel – you might just see me on the curvy couch! The whole thing was a lot of fun (except for the part where I was standing in my closet that morning wondering what someone wears to be a guest on Coffee Break.)

Home Based Business Ribbon Cutting

Walk with me now as I go back a couple of weeks. I am a member of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce and  recently they had a mass ribbon cutting for home based businesses. Plus they asked all of us set up a little “booth” so that others could mingle around and find out about our services. It was totally fun and I met some great new women business owners. Here is a picture of all of us cutting the big ribbon at once. That’s me in the front in the fuchsia suit. You can’t see it, but one of the ladies has a gigantic pair of scissors that was used to do the cutting. I’ve got a few other pictures posted in Facebook, too. Careful, <—- that one is scary!

There have been so many networking opportunities lately and I am joyfully fitting in as many speaking gigs and new client meetings as possible. The only cloud has been a rock dinging my windshield as I was tearing down the interstate this afternoon on my way to a meeting. Within 20 minutes the crack had spread about 6 inches on each side of the ding! (can you say new windshield?) AND, shortly thereafter the traffic came to a screeching halt and I inched my way only two miles in the next hour. Needless to say, the meeting was postponed.

Spring has solidly settled in here and all the flowering trees are full of delicate white blooms. My daffodils are bowing their yellow heads, and branches are starting to show little green buds. It seems way too early, but I am happy for the warmer weather.

Wishing you a FUN weekend!

The Best Time to Network

I’ve been to three networking events in the last week. One after work last Thursday, one over lunch yesterday, and one this morning over breakfast. You know that I love going to these – it might have something to do with eating, it might have something to do with getting out of the office, and it might have something to do with seeing friends and meeting new people! Does that make me a networking junkie?

As I was waking up early today and getting dressed for a cold winter morning (think suit, heels and hose!), it crossed my mind that maybe I don’t like the breakfast events so much! The upside is that I made several good contacts and was full steam ahead working by 9:30am. I was so glad that I went. The downside is the getting dressed up early part and driving downtown. It’s funny how I see some of the same people at almost everything. I wonder if they are networking junkies, too…

Last week my networking event was on the evening of the day the temperature dropped. I had been cozy inside my house until 4:45pm when I threw on some “networking clothes” and dashed out in the cold drizzle. You can probably guess the rest: a good time was had by all. Great new location, plenty of food, and drinks for those so inclined. One of the upsides is that I don’t have to cook- there’s food at the event. (“Honey, you are on your own tonight!”) Another upside: a great contact was made – (my goal is just one for each event.)

For the record: the best time to network for me is lunch. I don’t have to set an alarm clock to make sure I get there, I can stick to my normal morning routine, and I don’t have to dash out at the end of a full day. Although, as you know, it’s something I do on a regular basis.

Some people don’t like going to any kind of networking event. It could be the dressing up part, although many don’t dress up. Guess I’m old school! It could be they don’t want to see friends and make new business contacts. Doubtful. It could be they don’t want to have breakfast, lunch or happy hour with friends. Again, not likely.

Do you like to attend networking events? Do you feel compelled to dress up more than jeans? What kinds of networking events do you prefer? And do you have a favorite time to attend them? Leave me some comment love!

Overcome Procrastination in Two Easy Steps

I am sometimes a procrastinator. There needs to be some kind of 12 Step program for that. Except I’d keep putting off going to the meetings, so maybe that isn’t such a good idea after all. What I have learned after all these many years is something my Mom knew about me when I was 10. I need some kind of deadline in order to fool my time clock so that I can just finish off my work in a speedy manner. What happens a lot is that I have a few days to accomplish something that will only take about 30 minutes, and I wait for a bit to start and finish the job. I put it off for so long that it makes me crazy to see it on my to-do list. And then when I actually do the task, it gets done in about half the time I expected and was no big deal. Then I berate myself for not getting it over with sooner. Can you relate?

Here’s the 2-step process I came up with. (Feel free to copy this!)

1. Put the activity or task on the calendar at a specific day and time.

2. When that time comes, sit down and do the work and don’t put it off.

3. Bonus step: Celebrate!

Hope that helps. Okay, I get that it isn’t rocket science, but when I put on my entrepreneur hat and realize that I am not going to love doing everything that needs to be done as it relates to running a business, then I am okay. I may have to put a little “carrot” out there in order to get it done on time. Like offering myself a cup of hot tea and a handful of chocolate chips for doing the job. But seriously, the only thing that really works for overcoming procrastination is just doing the job when it needs to be done. And then I feel a-MAY-zing at the end of the day when I consider all I accomplished, instead of feeling bad about rolling that job over and over again from day to day.

Gotta run…I’ve got to do a 10 minute job that I have been putting off for weeks days a while.  Why don’t you chime in and let me know that you’ve just finished something you have been putting off? I’m cheering you on.

Marketing Calendar Details

Today I am going to explain a little more about what kinds of information to put in your marketing calendar. I started talking about this in a recent post titled 2011 Marketing Calendar. In that post I talked about this being a working document that will have all your marketing to-do’s assigned to a date or week in the year. When you do your initial planning session, you may not have all the exact dates and events, but as the year progresses, you will be filling in more detail.

Here are the first things I put in: all my vacation days, holidays and personal time off. They go in a separate color so I know at a glance that those times are not available to do any marketing unless someone else is doing the task for me. Then I start putting in all of the other major events for each month. There should be something going on in your marketing calendar each month, whether you are creating something, offering something, or promoting something. Maybe you can come up with a theme for some or all of the months. I see a lot of people using non-traditional holidays for promotions, as well. Check out a sight like holidayinsights.com to get some clever ideas.

Creating your Marketing Calendar

Then start to fill in the calendar with all of the other categories of marketing activities for your business. Here is a list of things to add to the calendar:

• Events - you are attending, participating in, hosting, sponsoring. Networking events
• Newsletter - add your weekly, monthly, quarterly publish dates, and all of the critical dates leading up to publishing
• Blog posts – schedule when you need these written and posted
• Email marketing – do you send holiday greetings? reminders for sales? weekly event notifications?
• Article submissions – there may be lots of sites that cater to your target market that you could write “expert” articles for
• Social Media – create a one-sheet list of things to do each day/week when you visit your social networks for business. Maximize your time spent.
• Videos - just create some! Schedule the creation and publish time for each one.
• Advertising of any kind – PPC ads, Facebook ads, TV, radio, newspaper, local pubs, industry magazines. When are the due dates? When are you going to create the ad? Who is going to do the artwork/copy/filming etc?
• Press releases – use for all major events in your business
• Product launches -  there are a LOT of individual steps that need to be done. Get them all on the calendar so they don’t slip through the cracks.
• Joint Ventures – Set aside time to connect with good JV partners and come up with something to sell.
• Referrals - at least once a year send out a letter to your circle regarding referrals. Come up with something to offer for referrals.
• Post cards or other mailings – everyone loves getting real mail. There are a lot of inexpensive ways to do this. Check out Click2Mail and SendOutCards.
• Phone calls – an often overlooked and very effective means of connecting. In this world of computers, it’s nice to receive a real phone call!
• Mobile marketing campaign – investigate how you can use this in your business
• Speaking Engagements – extremely powerful marketing tool. Schedule time to connect with local businesses who may need speakers. Set a date to create the presentation, get several dates booked, and any follow up.
• Website creation or update – this is a big marketing tool. Make sure yours is up to date and represents you well. Schedule time to meet with your website person and get your copy updated.

There are, of course, lots of other things you can be doing to market your business, but this should give you a good start. What questions do you have about creating a marketing calendar? I’m teaching a class locally tomorrow evening if you are in the area. Send me an email for details…

Lighting the Way

peaceful reflection by candles

First day back at work this year, and I’m looking forward to a year filled with clarity, peace, and fulfillment. Those of you who know me personally, know that last year was not the best of times. Through all we experienced, I learned so much about myself and my family. You have to walk through the fire to know what you are made of. Therefore, I’ve made some decisions about things to change this year and have bigger dreams and plans for my life and my business. In reflecting back upon 2010, I know that the fire was really just lighting the way for me.

After a crazy December, my New Year’s was pretty quiet. The “boys” went hunting for a couple of days and although I had planned to get a lot of cleaning and organizing done, none of that happened. Maybe a few loads of laundry, but other than that, I just enjoyed some needed alone time and did a bit of knitting while I watched lots of movies. My desk is still cluttered, noted by about half-dozen projects in different stages of completion sitting on my table.

2011 has BIG written all over it. I’m excited about the infinite possibilities and potential. I “get” myself a lot more and don’t think I will have the patience for a lot of what I just tolerated before. I’m wishing you a year full of potential and hope you will see the lights along the way, too.

2011 Marketing Calendar

The last two weeks of this year are dedicated to reflecting on the last 50 before them. I’m also gearing up for 2011 by getting a lot of things on my schedule that so that I can hit the ground running. One tool that is going to be important is my Marketing Calendar. Like many of you, if something isn’t written down, it’s not likely to happen because I will be thinking about other things! This lifesaving document will be with me at all times so I can know at a glance what I need to be working on each week to keep my business moving forward.

The calendar should be a working document and change as your business changes. I will be updating and evaluating mine each month or so, and know it will keep me organized and on track with my marketing to-do’s. During 2010 I watched people use a wide variety of marketing techniques and will try some on for size. Not all may be right for me or for my target clients, but I plan to try some new things to see which ones suit us.

If you are in the Shreveport/Bossier area, I invite you to come to my in-person Marketing Calendar class this year. If you are interested in a virtual class, leave me a comment as I will be scheduling one soon. And I’ll be offering some one on one time with those who want some assistance in getting their marketing calendars put together.

Here’s to a bountiful and joyous 2011!

3 Creative Ways to Express Gratitude

Last November I participated in the 30 Days of Thanks from my blog. It was a great opportunity for me to publicly express gratitude each day for all the wonderful blessings in my life. This year I continue expressing gratitude, and thought I would share some things that I do that might be interesting to know.

1. The ABC Game: Sometimes I get down in the dumps about what is going on around me. It might be a disagreement with someone, or just feeling sorry for myself. Often this comes upon me in the middle of the night when things really seem so much worse. (That’s not just me, is it?) Here is what I do- turn it all around and think of the positive things in that situation and play “The ABC Game.” I take whatever the scenario is. Let’s say I have less than happy thoughts about someone. I give serious consideration to the wonderful qualities in that person and run through the alphabet naming a quality that person has that begins with each letter. “She is adorable, beautiful, clever, dear, ebullient, friendly, gracious, happy…” and you get the picture. Sometimes I have to go through the alphabet a time or two. Or three. But by the end of the exercise I am content and feeling good about the person or situation.
2. Gratitude Journal: At night before bed, crawl up in bed with a pretty journal book and nice pen and just start writing what you are grateful for that day. Even if all you seem to be grateful for is that it rained that day and you didn’t have to water. Once you start writing you will find that you really have a lot of things to be grateful for. I did this for a couple of months and it made me sleep better, because by the time I was through with the exercise, I was feeling positive and full of, well, gratitude! Try to write 3 things each night. (Of course you know what happens next…more good starts to come into your life. It always does.)
3. Do something unexpected for someone: In today’s world we are busy and often don’t take the time to really connect. One of the key motivators in my life is spending time with family and friends, so I take time to do so. It might be a phone call to someone I haven’t talked to in a while. It may be a card or letter. Over and over I hear people say how much they appreciate me making the effort to stay in touch. And I know when someone calls me up or sends me an email out of the blue how wonderful it makes me feel. So, take some time to spend time with those you love. Maybe throw a little party for your friends that you LOVE being around. I’m talking open the chips, store bought dip, and something to drink. Tell each of them how much you enjoy their company and what you love most about them. It doesn’t matter if they don’t know each other. After going around the room, each person will see these new friends as the fabulous people that you see.

Go on now. Express some gratitude!