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Monday Morning Motivators – June 23, 2008
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Enjoy your java with an eclectic collection of tips and ideas to use today and to get energized for the week ahead. Subscribing and unsubscribing at www.mondaymorningmotivators.com
“Everyone is ignorant at something. Stupid is doing those ignorant things.”
--Jon Keel, Improved Results
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Table of Contents
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1. PDCA – Linda Fayerweather
2. Smart Marketing: Teeny Riff on Dumb Marketing - Rebecca Booth
3. Transcending Your Conditioning - Pat Altvater
4. Everyone Kisses a Frog Now and Then – Paula Frazier
5. To Do This Week
6. Fine Print
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1. PDCA
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When faced with an obstacle or challenge, some business owners many take the ostrich approach (head in the sand) or doing what was done before. Both methods seldom lead to change or enhanced profits and never lead to planned change. The Lean approach still requires you to Plan, but that is where it diverges from the normal response. After planning, the Lean owner will actually Do the action. After the doing is the Checking to explore what worked, what didn’t and then Act on those results. PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) is a feedback loop that is repeated over and over. A simple feedback loop in any business will lead to Kaizen (small continuous improvements). With planned change, increased profits and raving fans will surely follow.
Copyright 2008 Linda Fayerweather
Planning IS Change
Changing Lanes LLC
www.ChangingLanes.biz
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2. Smart Marketing: Teeny Riff on Dumb Marketing.
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Upon returning from a 4 day adventure, my mailbox was brimming with letters, postcards and magazines all needing my attention. After 15 minutes, I came across a very smart looking and sounding newsletter that Linda Fayerweather’s client publishes. It’s called Office Cents: Tips to Make the Office Manager Look Good. The newsletter features Tim Pinkelman, CPA, owner of Accounting Center & Tax Services along with five other columnists/referral partners whom Tim trusts. The newsletter measures 8.5 x 14 inches tall and fits comfortably in a #10 envelope. There were 3 things that caught my eye with this newsletter:
• The niche focus of the newsletter
• The fact that Tim asked referral partners from a profit recovery service, a credit card merchant services company, a computer geek, a office machine/copier company and a financial advisor to participate in writing the newsletter.
• Each of the columnists had about 150 words to talk about something that an office manager would be interested in. And in the left hand column of each article was a copy of each writers’ company logos and contact information.
I consider this smart marketing at its best: focused audience, use of credible sources, smart design and short easy-to-read articles.
Now for my riff on Dumb Marketing. I’ve been a member of a national association for women communicators. You’d think they wouldn’t have made this simple goof: The sent me 2 copies of the same exact letter which talks about a national conference they’re hosting. I feel this is dumb marketing for 2 reasons:
1) The letter invitation devalued the conference all together. It wasn’t as “special” as a “by invitation only” event.
2) Couldn’t they have purges their lists for duplicates? Not only does it waste money, but it shows the reader that they don’t have their act together!
Copyright 2008 Rebecca Booth
Marketing Goddess
Imagine That!
419-855-3399
www.rebeccaboothmarketinggoddess.com
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3. Transcending Your Conditioning
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Whether we are conscious of it or not, we’re all conditioned to act in certain ways that eventually become automatic. Many times we feel the need to prove ourselves and compete with others, which keeps us feeling separate and disconnected.
Wayne Dyer suggests the following to keep our egos from being the dominant motivating force in our lives:
1. Whenever you are about to say something or act in a certain way, say to yourself “Is what I am about to say or do going to bring me peace?”
2. Meditate daily
3. Refuse to defend yourself to anyone; allow those that disagree with your perspective to have their own point of view
4. Trust in your inner wisdom; actively develop your intuition
Use these suggestions the next time you find yourself in a conflict situation.
Pat Altvater
Chief Wizard of WOW
www.transformationsinstitute.com
Author, Journey to WOW – Ignite the Power Within
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4. Everyone Kisses a Frog Now and Then
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Dear Monday Morning Motivators Readers – This is an article written by my long time colleague and friend Hazel M Walker. Enjoy!!!
Finding solid referral partners is like kissing frogs to find your prince or princess! You meet a person they match all of the following criteria.
• You have trust between the two of you
• They work with your exact target market
• They have influence with your market
• They must be willing to be trained as your Referral Partner
• They must be willing to train you to be their Referral Partner
• They must have the time and means to work the referral system
• They must have a developed and organized client/contact database
You spend time training your partner, you work to find them referrals, put them in front of all of your clients, promote them and even do business with them yourself and still nothing comes your way. You know that your partner has generated several thousand dollars because of your efforts; and you have not received one single referral coming back to you.
What’s the next step? It may be time to move on and find a new referral partner. Regardless of how much conversation and giving you do, you will soon conclude that you are just kissing a frog. Put the frog down, if it has not turned into your prince/princess by now, chances are good, it is the wrong frog.
Finding good referral partners takes time, work and some trial and error. Be sure you are working with people you trust, who have a giving attitude, and understand what it means to be a Referral “Partner”.
Copyright 2008 Hazel M Walker is a Master Trainer for the Referral Institute teaching business professionals how to implement the Science of Referrals. She is a member of the National Speakers Association and she is the owner of an award winning BNI Franchise, where she works with business owners to implement the power of referrals in their businesses. Hazel can be reached at hazel@referralinstitute.com
Paula Frazier is a referral marketing trainer, coach, consultant and keynote speaker. She is an Executive Director for BNI and part of a select team of Master Trainers for Referral Institute. Paula’s business networking articles have been published nationally. She is also acknowledged in the New York Times best seller, Truth or Delusion – Busting Networkings Biggest Myths. Check out #33, Delusion with a twist! Paula can be contacted at paula@referralinstitute-va.com
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5. To Do This Week
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According the Edward Deming, "What gets measured, gets done." Measure something in your business this week.
