2016-06 JUNE
Apple’s Success Started with Passion and a Sale!
Even though it was filmed many years ago, you can still feel and see Steve Job's passion in this rare 1980 YouTube video speaking to a group about his ideas. As you listen, feel the transference of his enthusiasm.
It is very interesting to hear Steve talk about his plans and ideas concerning technology in the future. What started with an idea grew into truly revolutionary products and services along the way. We all know there were challenges – some camps really loved him and while others could not stand him – but in the end, enthusiasm carried the day.
There are many other examples of people in business, medicine, politics and the non-profit world who serve as models to grow ourselves, our businesses, and our communities.
What would be interesting is to know your success stories. What obstacles did you face and what did you do to overcome them that has allowed you to grow and become what you are now?
- By Coach Phil Gilkes
Migrate Facebook Followers Now to Opt-in Email Lists
If you use Facebook for marketing, there are new concerns about user engagement. Fewer people are posting updates about their lives and instead have moved on to sharing news, videos and stuff having little to do with themselves.
Why is this bad? Because sharing life events is the allure of Facebook that keeps users coming back. Facebook users may engage less frequently or move on to other platforms.
Because of this, consider migrating your Facebook followers to your email list. Here are some actions you can take:
- Embed a link within Facebook to opt-in to your email list, integrating with an email marketing system, such as MailChimp or others.
- Encourage followers to click on posts that lead to your website, and when they do, encourage them to opt-in to your email list.
- Use strong headlines to earn clicks. Build trust with credible content.
- Your posts are going to sink down the news feed quickly. You have a couple of options: Post multiple times daily or pay to play with sponsored posts.
- Consider creating a custom audience using Facebook remarketing ads.
- Reprinted with permission of Gary Hennerberg. Contact him at his consulting practice (http://hennerberg.com/) and have a look at his new book also: (http://www.customermindcode.com/).
Simple ways to de-hassle your organization
Author Verne Harnish says, “Recurrent customer and employee hassles cost your employees 40 percent of their time, not to mention what it’s costing your company in lost revenue and customers.”
Your employees’ hassles and your customers’ hassles are usually the same. Addressing them can be a huge opportunity for you and your business. There are five key actions you need to take to begin De-Hassling your Business:
1. Gather the Data: Be Encouraging, Be Responsive. Ask your employees a three-part question: “What should we start doing, what should we stop doing, and what should we continue doing?”
2. Handle the feedback. When you have the feedback, be responsive. If employees feel their feedback goes into a “black hole,” the feedback will dry up!
3. Report the Progress. Let your people know the issues are being addressed by providing them a status report.
4. Follow De-Hassling Etiquette 101. Be relevant. Be specific. Address the root problems. Focus on what, not who. Involve all affected, and never backstab.
5. Find Management Development Opportunities. Don’t do everything yourself. Use this as a way to help others grow in your organization.
You need to challenge, guide and provide meaningful tasks to people who are hungry for growth. This is an excellent opportunity for you to start a process that will allow you to work on your business rather than in your business.
This will provide you with employees who are assets, not liabilities.
- By: Mark R Steinke – Elite Business Coach/Area Representative
Focal Point Business Coaching of Pennsylvania
www.coachmarksteinke.com
The Law of Win/Win or No Deal
The Law of Win/Win or No Deal says: In a successful negotiation both parties are fully satisfied with the result and feel that they have each “won” or no deal should be made at all.
Consistent with your determination to enter only into agreements that preserve long-term good relations, you should always seek an outcome that satisfies both. Any settlement that leaves one party dissatisfied will come back to hurt you later.
When you are determined to achieve a “win/win” solution to a negotiation, and you are open, receptive and flexible in your discussions, you will often discover a third alternative that neither party had considered initially but which is superior to what either of you might have thought of on your own.
Although you’ve decided that you are only going to agree to a settlement that is satisfactory to both parties, you don’t have to accept any arrangement that you consider second best. With your values and your intentions clear, you are in a position to utilize every tactic available to you to get the best deal for both of you, one that assures that you both end up happy with the arrangement.
- from "THE 100 ABSOLUTELY UNBREAKABLE LAWS OF BUSINESS SUCCESS" – Brian Tracy
Safety Your Responsibility? Find out what you can learn from a Disk Jockey
What do safety supervisors have in common with radio disc-jockeys? More than is obvious. Turn on the radio any time and listen to the radio announcers. Really study what they do.
Every time an announcer turns on the microphone, everything that announcer says is recorded. Once per week, the supervisor works with the announcer in a coaching session. These weekly meetings are meant to improve performance, not condemn. Supervisors keep their announcers improving and don't allow any bad habits to form.
So why are safety personnel only talking to workers when they want to address a specific performance issue? Why aren’t managers and supervisors willing to talk about performance otherwise? Why does it seem like feedback only comes occasionally - unless employees are doing something wrong?
When you tweak performance in small chunks, little by little, performance improves. It works the same way in safety too. There is no need to overhaul the entire corporate safety culture to get a positive change in safety performance. Concentrate on the individual pieces that make up the jigsaw puzzle. Adjust the small, incremental performances first. Big-picture culture shifts will result.
- Kevin Burns is a management consultant, safety speaker and author. He believes that the best place to work is always the safest place to work. Kevin helps organizations integrate caring for and valuing employees through their safety programs. For more info and to reach Kevin, www.KevBurns.com. -reprinted with permission
As your business coach, this and other articles I send each month give you new points of view and deliver actionable advice and strategies for your business. If you are interested in discovering how new ways of looking and thinking about your business can make huge changes in sales, profitability and productivity, give me a call or email me, never any obligation. It could be the smartest call you make this year.
How to Get Your Phone Calls Returned Quickly... or Ever
Want to increase the likelihood of getting a prompt call-back when you have to leave a voicemail message? Here’s how:
- State your name slowly and clearly. If it’s a tough one like Zbigniew Brzezinski, spell it out so the recipient gets it.
- Give your phone number at the beginning of your message and at the end of your message.
Having to listen to a lengthy message multiple times trying to get the callback number makes your listener’s ears bleed, especially when it is delivered at hypersonic velocity. You know, those numbers that sound like: “gimmeacallat5558403973stension95631” with the last two digits enunciated at such a low volume a bat would get a hernia trying to hear them.
Say the numbers S L O W L Y in short segments so people can write them down like “705…555…55…55” your listener will love you for it.
Don’t make it hard for people to call you back. Take five seconds to do it right – you’ll be pleased with the results.
How to Perfect Your Elevator Pitch
In the event of an accidental meeting with someone important, you should be ready with a short, 30-second summary of what you and your company have to offer. Your succinct speech should quickly outline who you are, the products or services you provide, and your value proposition.
To make your speech powerful, introduce yourself and then point out a problem for which your company has a solution. Tailor the pitch to your audience’s needs by engaging them with a question. Focus on the unique value proposition which makes you and your company’s products and services stand out.
This is the time to spark an interest in your company – not an opportunity to sell something. Don’t include too much information or industry jargon. It’s okay to mention high-profile clients to build credibility. Leave your audience wanting to know more.
Practice your speech. You want to look and sound natural. Practice so you sound friendly and conversational instead of rehearsed. Convey your speech with confidence!
Many entrepreneurs, business owners, and salespeople rehearse and use elevator pitches to get their points across quickly. If you want to maintain a competitive advantage in your field, put these tips into practice for perfecting your elevator pitch.
– Andrew Phillips, FocalPoint International