Category: Doing Business

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FAILURE! (or not!)

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Thanks to my friend Kaleigh Duffy for the reminder on failure. She wrote a great post on failure. About success. I applaud her for her leadership and spirit.

You Go Girl!

So you failed. Whatcha gonna do?

Go at it again, this time more prepared to fail faster, farther and better prepared for success!! There’s a slide of great quotes at the end of the video, but I’ll leave you with my favorite two: “If at first you don’t succeed…(you gotta watch the video)” and “Never let success get to your head, Never let failure get to your heart”

Need some business mentoring? Let’s chat!

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Getting started in Voice Over #6

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It’s a business!! Repeat this to yourself, “I’m starting a SEPARATE ENTITY called a business”.

Repeat this as often as you need to until you understand that sentence. Many people treat a business as a personal checking account backup.

IT ISN’T.

Your first, primary, most important, overarching job is making money for THE BUSINESS. Then, if you do, as the business manager, you decide what value you have and compensate yourself accordingly.

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Let’s talk brand extension

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Bud light has at least 13 products starting with the words, #budlight. #MountainDew, more than 33. If you took someone that loves BL and handed them a “Bud Light Lime-A-Rita” (one of SIX flavors)- would they recognize it as a BL? I don’t know BL, but I’m thinking “no” is the answer.

Same with the versions of MD. Code Red, Live Wire, Pitch Black, and my personal name, “White out”. One hopes this is about snow and not an office supply! So how are you extending your brand in a way that makes sense in your niche?

This week I started a service writing blogs and articles for those that need motorcycle and travel related content. We’ll see how that goes. After writing marketing and sales copy for years, I’m hoping to gain traction there.

What brand extensions can you think of?

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Customer service. They say its a dying art.

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Maybe. Maybe not. Especially in small businesses where the owner should be involved more, I’m seeing a lack of communication to the front line, customer-facing employee. Do they KNOW what you’re about? Are they “just” stocking shelves, or “just” cooking a burger, or “just” doing one of a thousand things because you said so? Or do they really understand the point of well-stocked shelves and ease of selection and how that effects sales? Do they understand that when a customer asks for something special and a “yes” is the answer, the customer actually then expects delivery on that promise?

My son and I ate at a local burger/bar the other night. I most always ask for (among other things) lettuce and tomato on my burger. The server kindly said, “We don’t do lettuce or tomato here. We find that not enough customers order to keep them fresh. I’m sorry, but we can’t do that.” Very kind and helpful. Obviously the point was that if you HAVE to have lettuce and tomato, we’re not your burger joint- and THAT is refreshing to me.

Simple enough. Knowing what you DON’T is often as important as what you do DO.