Do you care?

Today I went into a store to purchase a pack of gum. At the end of the transaction, I said, “Thank you.” The clerk’s response was, “Not a problem.” Am I the only one who hates that response? I mean, every single time I hear it, which is getting to be more and more frequently, I want to respond that of course it’s not a problem, it’s your JOB and you’re being PAID to do it! Whatever happened to phrases like “Thank you” and “You’re welcome” and all the Sir’s and Ma’am’s we used to be taught were just plain good manners? Whatever happened to businesses caring about their customers and treating them well so they’d return and buy from them again? In an age where common courtesy isn’t so common and quality customer service is non-existent, an easy way to set your company apart is to care.

I’m no stranger to being online. I signed onto the internet for the first time in 1997 when I was working at a university and the world wide web was still a novelty. I’ve also had websites before and learned a little bit of software so I could build one myself. However, I am new to the whole ecommerce bit and selling products from my own site instead of using a tool like an auction site or Amazon.

A long time ago, I learned the benefit of not reinventing the wheel, so when I was revamping and expanding my website I started looking at other folks’ sites and seeing what they do and how they do it and trying to figure out what might be a good fit for me. I’ve even signed up for a couple of “free offers” to get more information on the particular system the sender recommends. So far, I’ve been shocked, although I guess I shouldn’t be, at what passes for a quality product.

One person sends me TONS of emails. Now, I know that in the end they want me to buy something and I really don’t mind paying for a good product, but come on, at least make an effort to get it right. Mr. Ton O’Email (not his real name) seemed like a great find…at first. “Let me send you this free information” his site says. I think that sounds great, plus he was recommended to me by someone I know so I plug in my “Junk” email address, the one I use when signing up for contests, email responders, etc. My first email from him was full of “important” information telling me how great he and his products are and if I don’t believe him, just go to so and so’s site at such and such location and they’ll tell you, too! I click the first link. Site not found. Ok, so the web changes every day and no one can keep up with every little thing. On to link #2. It’s something completely different in a language I can’t read. From there, it was much the same, but with only 75% of the links touting his brilliance still in existence, I was less than impressed. So, I emailed him and said “Hey, Mr. O’Email, you might want to update your autoresponder emails because several of the links are bad.” No response. And again, I know folks can’t respond to all the emails they get, especially ones as wonderful and busy as he tells me he is. But that was about 5 months ago and another person I know signed up for his free information just a couple of weeks ago and everything was still the same. Needless to say, I never did spend any money with him.

Conversely, in my ongoing quest, I came across someone who actually acts like they care about you and want to help. Carrie Wilkerson, the Barefoot Executive has been an awesome help to me in the past few weeks. Yes, she still has products to sell, but the free information she gives is quality information. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for when I found her, but I purchased some things from her that are beneficial to me and my business.

So, what was the difference? I could say, quality products. Carrie puts just as much quality and thought into her free offers as in the items with a price tag. Her links work, when she says she’s going to send something, she does and her site is relevant/current. But to sum it up into one thing, Carrie cares and Mr. O’Email does not.

Mr. O’Email is just looking to make a quick buck from those he affiliates for and I’d be surprised if he has any sustainable ongoing business. I could be wrong, that’s been known to happen, but I kind of doubt it because lately his emails have been more frequent and more frenetic, almost pleading for me to come sign up for his latest deal.

However, I can tell that Carrie truly cares about the people she’s trying to help. Has she ever personally sent me an email that’s not most likely an “autoresponder”? No. Does she still have products to sell? Yes. But at the core, the heart of who she is, it comes through loud and clear – “I want to help you get to where you want to be. Yeah, I may have some tools that will make it a lot easier, but I also have a lot of good information just sitting here for you to make use of it.”

I love that.

Zig Ziglar said, “If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”

Do you care? At the core of who you are and what you’re business is about, do you care? Or are you merely trying to amass as many transactions as possible before you move onto something else? I don’t know about you, but I want to help people. I want to offer quality products and services to help people get to where they want to be. Long before I ever went into business for myself, I was already asking people about their dreams and aspirations and asking why they weren’t going for it and let’s figure out how to make it happen. It took me a long time to actually start putting a price tag on it because it was just something I loved to do, I didn’t really see it as a viable vocation in Middle Oklahoma where coaches worked with teams in things like football and basketball and such.

So, how about it? Are you giving your customers the best chair or hair cut or carpet cleaning or widget or whatever that you possibly can? Do. You. Care? If you don’t, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re struggling in this economy. Now, I know there are plenty of businesses that offer spectacular service and/or products that are still struggling but I’m not one to rail against the President or Congress or whomever under the guise of the economy. The economy goes in cycles. There are good years and bad years, round and round it goes; always has, always will. I’m a proponent of the fact that if you are wise in the years of abundance, you will more easily weather the years of leanness.

There are many companies that could avoid failing if they simply stepped up and set themselves apart by offering a quality product or service for a fair price. I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to pay more for something if it’s a pleasant experience. No kidding, there’s scientific proof that people don’t usually spend money for the it, they spend money for the experience and if the experience is good, they’ll come and repeat it.

Can your customers tell that you care? If not, you may want to figure out a way to reinforce that you do. Hearken back to a day of quality and service and take notice to how your clients/customers respond. Don’t be surprised if you start feeling better about life in general as well. I know that when I see the light of satisfaction spark in a client’s eyes it makes me feel good, too. More importantly, take note of how many start coming back more frequently simply because they know that you truly have their best interests at heart.

Happy entrepreneuring!

Katherine

Financing Your Business

Because of the economic turns we’ve had over the past few years, financing is more difficult to get than ever. The economic experts all seem to think that the new marketplace will continue to be cautious when it comes to lending.

The following are some sources for funds that can be used for your business needs:

1. Personal savings – Many start ups rely on savings to finance their business. This is the most cost effective source of funding but you need to use wisdom. Don’t put your family’s future in jeopardy by blowing through your life’s savings.

2. Bootstrapping – This is a method of self reliance that is also very cost effective. Money produced is poured back into the company to avoid the need for outside funding. This also means that growth has to be controlled so that costs can be controlled, which in my view, is a good thing. Uncontrolled growth can create a whole host of problems.

3. Family and Friends – Oftentimes, loved ones can provide funds for a start up entrepreneur. However, proceed with caution; these relationships are the most important in your life.

4. Small Business Administration – The Small Business Administration has a loan guarantee program where, if you’re approved, they will guarantee a portion of your small business loan.

5. Bank Loans – This is a more traditional form of financing. Bank requirements have become quite stringent and you may have to supply personal assets as collateral.

6. Investors – Securing funds from an investor is difficult, but not impossible. An investor will provide funds, either their own (angel investor) or those from a managed fund (venture capitalist), for your business. In return, they often expect not only debt repayment but also ownership equity in your business.

Happy Entrepreneuring!

Katherine

Getting Organized Means Working Smarter, Not Harder

There’s a popular online retailer whose tagline is “It’s all about the O.” That is very true when it comes to working smarter, not harder. “O” being – Organization. Being organized makes you more efficient and appear more professional, decreases stress, and increases your effectiveness.

Besides just the downside of the benefits listed above, being disorganized also severely impacts your productivity, costs you time and money. Let’s estimate that a bit to put it in real world terms. Experts estimate that the average worker spends an hour a day looking for misplaced items. Say your income is roughly $60,000 per year. That hour adds up to almost $150 per week. Almost $600 per month. And over $7,000 per year.

That’s $7,000 a year flushed. Gone. Buh-bye.

I know, I know, being organized is a PAIN! It takes discipline and follow-through, but how much pain does it cause you to lose $7,000 a year?

What could you have done with that $7,000?

Tips for getting and staying organized

1. Clean the slate. You’ve seen those organizational shows where they pull everything out of the house and make the people go through and sort it, right? To stay organized, you need to get organized.

2. Create Stacks. Once you have that stack of items piled up in front of you that you’ve been putting off dealing with, go through it and put it into 4 stacks:

Trash, Shred, File, Action Needed

The trash part is easy. Throw it away. Be careful not to throw anything away that has personal information, even if it’s partial like credit card numbers, birth date, medical information, etc. You’re better off to shred it. Better safe than sorry. You’ll be surprised at how much of the stuff you can just toss.

Shred – easy, peasy. If you don’t own a shredder, this is one of the best investments you can make. And get a cross cut shredder. The old style strip shredders are pretty useless. It might take some time, but anyone who is patient enough can patch those strips together and have any information you thought was protected.

File – I have an ongoing file stack. I have some of those nifty stackable trays and one of them is specifically for filing. Then every Friday, before I close the office for the day, I file. It usually takes all of 10 minutes and then everything is in its place. If it’s not in the file, it’s in the tray. How easy is that? And 10 minutes is WAY doable…I don’t care who you are.

Action needed – I’ve found that this stack is usually fairly small. Either write them down in a list, or sort them in order of priority and schedule time to deal with them.

3. Make a to-do list. Taking a few minutes to write down the to-do’s of the day will help you to stay on task. You’ll also get a sense of accomplishment by checking items off when they’re complete.

4. Stay on top of it. I know, it may take an extra 2 minutes to sort through the mail as soon as it comes in, but those 2 minutes will save you having to repeat steps 1 and 2 again. Over and over.

5. Use your calendar. If you start using a calendar to schedule your time, you will be surprised to find out how much time you can find. I subscribe to several magazines and have time for reading them slated into my schedule.

There you have it. A few simple things followed consistently and your work world will be a much more organized, productive place, which for me, makes it a happier one, too.

Now…what can I use that $7,000 for?

The Waters of Time

I am amazed at how quickly time can run through our fingers. I recently had to have surgery and in the aftermath, I focused on what I HAD to do and wasn’t always able to do what I WANTED to do one of the things that kept getting pushed to the back burner were updates here. Before I knew it, three months had gone by and I realized that I had gotten lazy about managing my time and needed to get back on track.

Time is like water. Water can’t ever be completely controlled. We might throw up a dam and think it’s under control, but that’s when a crisis will happen and we’re faced with either a flood or a drought on one side of the dam or the other.

Finding the balance is tough, but crucial. If we hoard the water above the dam (worklife) so we can get a lot done, the land below the dam (homelife) will dry up and die. If we let too much water flow downstream, we don’t have enough resources above the dam.

Planning our time is the cornerstone of good time management. Otherwise, you’ll be like me and turn around and time has floated downstream without much to show for it. Over-planning is just as dangerous and you can start to feel like a slave to the calendar and resentful and when that happens, we start sabotaging ourselves.

So, for me, it’s back to a schedule, with time for work and time for family and a little bit of room to let the water flow and do its work in case Mother Nature sends me a rainstorm.

Your business’ secret weapon – YOU

We come into this world a unique creation.

But,

I’m sure all of us have a story about the day we realized that it wasn’t OK to be different. Maybe someone made fun of us wearing our rainbow colored tights every possible time we could sneak it past our mother. Or maybe we started wearing glasses at a young age and were gifted with the moniker of 4 eyes. Or maybe we liked books instead of sports. Or maybe we had curly hair that simply would not behave no matter what we did.

All it took was one finger pointing, one sing song taunt, one snickering laugh behind a cupped hand whispering in someone else’s ear with glances in our direction. We learn at an early age that blending in is good and standing out is bad.

A wise few buck the norm and cling to their individuality. But for most of us, the message is reinforced over and over. It’s impressed on us in grade school and high school and college. Even in the workplace conform to corporate cultures and dictates.

But,

When we decide to make the leap into owning our own business, it’s time to tap into our uniqueness again. We need to recognize our differences and turn them into assets and ways to connect with our clients on a deeper level.

We need to use our quirks and isms to help us stand out from the crowd instead of blending in with the other companies in our field.

Hold up a mirror to your life and find the things you’ve been trying so long to push down and start pulling them out – Every joy, every heartache, every guilty pleasure, every passion, everything that makes you smile or cry. Tap into the unique creation that you came into this world as.

Not only will you connect with your clients better, but you will find more joy in your work than you thought possible.

Happy Entreprenuring!

Katherine

Handbook for 2010

I’m usually pretty quick to hit the delete button on email forwards but today I was sent one that I thought was relevant to sharing with everyone. Simple but profound. Enjoy!

HANDBOOK for 2010

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don’t over-do. Keep your limits.
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time w/people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.