Big Hit Bits

How do You Ignore a Recession and Increase Sales?

By Chuck Sink

“How’s business?” What do you think about when asked how business is? That question makes me think internally. When I ask that question of people, the overwhelming majority answer in terms of what’s going on “out there.” They invariably point to tough times in the economy or external forces shaping their industry or the market in general. It’s as if their destiny depends on what others do first. Frankly, they should be the ones doing things FIRST!

Most people seem bent on waiting for conditions to improve or for “low hanging fruit” to ripen. How ‘bout some “stimulus” cash from our beloved leaders in Washington? How offensive to me that is!

Are we really so sheepish? Unfortunately, yes. Many people sound rather helpless when I listen to various excuses for lousy sales performance. Now I acknowledge that we’re in a pitiful economic period and that it has affected my attitude at times. However, I have not dwelled on the recession. Instead I have helped develop a vibrant brand and profitable business during the worst economic conditions in my 24-year business career.

Have there been periods of non-existent cash flow and even no paycheck? You bet!  Did I have a mortgage, 4 kids, breadwinner status, college loans, and no personal capital during all this? Yes! Was I afraid at times? Damn right! Did I panic? Almost! Did I give up and try to find a more secure job? HA! That’s no longer in my DNA.

Rather, what I did was focus on winning the business that I knew was still out there for the conquest. I’m going to share with you exactly how I did it. Please take notes!

The time-line begins in February, 2008 as the recession was starting to kick in…

1. First I believed that my family and I would be okay no matter what happened (I have deep faith).
2. I took a huge personal financial risk, although a well-calculated one.
3. I sacrificed some comforts.
4. In the early stage I got out and visited businesses – I cold called like the good old days and it worked immediately.
5. I started an online newsletter that is value focused and anticipated by readers.
6. I got involved in my market associations and began participating on committees, contributing experience-based knowledge and ideas.
7. I networked my butt off – there are opportunities almost daily if you look for them!
8. I kept developing my writing skill and used it all over the Internet. I now have “Google Juice.”
9. I embraced social media and now maintain a strong presence on Linked in, Twitter and Facebook.
10. I sought out quality people with whom to connect.
11. I focused on building relationships, not selling my stuff to anyone who’d listen.
12. I consulted freely to people who sought my professional advice.
13. I became involved with community and charitable organizations and contribute what I can.
14. I created and marketed a couple of educational and networking events.

Take note of the word "I" and notice "they" or "waited for" doesn't factor in.

Today I maintain consistency of effort in all of the above. I do so today with an aging body and less youthful zest than many of my competitors. Now, I’m one of the challenges “out there” that some of those competitors fear. They’re free to blame me and other go-getters. Don’t you be one of them! Instead, join me in developing your internal best practices for emerging at the top of your field.

You too can significantly grow your business right now if believe you can and are willing to work hard at it. In coming weeks I’ll unveil an educational framework that will help executives sustain consistent, long-term growth. It will be like no other!

The Guide to Effective Email Marketing

By Chuck Sink

I've become a proponent of asking questions over stating facts so here's my opener:    How many email contacts does your business have? How is the list compiled? Is it segmented by category? Do you have a consistent email campaign going? What is its frequency? Is the content relevant to every recipient? Does your audience anticipate hearing from you regularly? Does your email program generate new business for your organization? If not, why not?   I'll state unequivocally that email is the most effective marketing vehicle I currently use or have ever used. Here's why: It's personalized and direct. Recipients opt-in or opt-out - their choice. It supports dynamic text, pictures, animation, videos and links. It enables immediate response and calls to action. It has real-time reporting. It is completely traceable and actionable. It builds brand equity. It's very inexpensive! Thems your facts.   Are there any drawbacks? Not really. The only one I can think of is the commitment and diligence required to make it work. You have to keep delivering valuable content to your audience. For some, that's a tall order but it shouldn't be. Think about how infinitely more you know about your own product or service than the average consumer. Could you produce a valuable, interesting article or case study every month? That should be easy and you don't have to do it all yourself. Customers, co-workers, vendors, and other industry associates can provide content and will be happy to help if you give them due credits. (They'll love you for it!)   Beware. The wrong approach and/or tone will fail to produce desired results but that is true of all media. The right approach and tone will touch your customers and prospects in ways they will appreciate and continue to expect from you. Some will even call you up, reply with a request to meet, or place an order!   Let's examine positive and negative guidelines for profitable email strategies:   Yes, do this! Collect business-contact email addresses from every possible source such as networking, trade shows, conferences, daily email correspondence, articles, blogs, social networks, trade association directories, etc. (Important! Make sure you have a relationship, even if only a casual one, with the recipient or get their permission to receive your emails. You must also provide an unsubscribe feature by law.) Have a highly visible sign-up button on your website and offer "free subscriptions" to receive important information. Treat the list like gold and keep growing it. Back up the data! Categorize your lists especially if you sell in vertical markets. Think relevance! Give value based content that helps your readers/customers. Be consistent in frequency. More than once a week is probably too much. Less than once a month is probably too little. Find the balance based on your market. For me it's every 2-weeks and that seems well-received by my audience. Offer promotions ONLY SPARINGLY unless your audience demands them. Your promotions should ideally relate to the topic of your free value content. Choose Subject Lines very carefully. They often make the difference between an opened email or a deleted one. Use a professional email service like Constant Contact, iContact, Emma, etc. They provide all the authentication and anti-spam protocols as well as easy content management and design features. Most plans start at around $15/month for unlimited frequency of use. Manage your list. Check your delivery reports and cull bad or undeliverable email addresses. Add quality contacts as soon as you get them! Understand that it is an earned privilege to have an email audience. They can opt-out any time for any reason. It's your responsibility to keep them interested and wanting more. No, don't do this! Regarding lists, don't go for quantity over quality. Don't think that simply by virtue of a large contact list, you're better off. Concentrate on your target audience (decision makers) and avoid irrelevant or disinterested contacts. Do not SPAM! Don't just load up your list and blast out messages! That will harm your reputation and possibly blacklist your IP address. There may even be legal issues. Don't just self-promote! It gets old really fast and increases opt-out rates. Don't be unprepared for responses. Make sure your website links are supported and that you follow through on all inquiries. Be ready to serve! Don't let your emails look cheap and unprofessional. Avoid cheesy clip art and juvenile-looking fonts. Use a clean, easy-to-read template, crisp graphics and good photography whenever available. Bottom Line Email marketing is a privilege and a responsibility and that's exactly why it works! Virtually every organization and individual can successfully deploy email marketing when following that philosophy. If you aren't yet using this proven marketing tool, be aware that it is readily available to help your business starting tomorrow morning. Your competition may already be getting a head start. If you still have doubts, I have one more question: Why are you still reading this? Sorry, couldn't resist ;-)   If you have any questions or need assistance, give us a call and we'll help you get started or point you in the right direction.

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Six Sets of Questions to Ask Yourself

(If you dare)

By Chuck Sink

My early working years were spent misguided by my own assumptions. I passed by obvious wealth-building opportunities without recognizing them. I blindly continued to struggle needlessly. Today I apply the brakes and change course when I'm heading in the wrong direction.

Here is a vital piece of advice for you if you feel stuck in neutral or missing out on the success of which you are worthy:

"If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn't need motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around." -Jim Rohn

Motivational speakers and coaches won't do a thing for you if you won't discover your own talents and offer them to a willing market. Perhaps more importantly, you must stop procrastinating. The best way to end procrastination is by scripting your character according to good purpose.

I spent many highly motivated years studying some of the best materials ever written on the subject of personal development and sales growth. I attended speeches and seminars, bought and listened to CDs, wrote out my goals and daily affirmed my future achievements. I worked very hard at the activities prescribed for success. But my achievements were temporary. I achieved spikes of success followed by demoralizing defeats and periods of lackluster performance.

Not until I discovered what my true motivations and talents were did I begin to experience sustained, measurable professional growth. I've been a talented writer all my adult life and didn't discover it until a few years ago. I wasted over 20 years leaving the talent dormant and under-utilized. I withheld value from the marketplace! Shame on me but you know what? This story is now integral to the value of my work.

Six to Fix

These six principles and sets of questions could have a high impact on your life and business performance. Dare you ask these questions of yourself?

1. Do you have the capacity to be completely honest with yourself? If you don't, you're doomed. Can you think about your own thinking and recognize when you are rationalizing your behavior rather than being an unbiased referee of your motives? The whole truth will set you free to accomplish your noblest goals!

2. Acceptance of people, places and things as they are, not as you would have them, opens deeper understanding of how the world works. Acceptance is not advocacy or approval. Do other people and situations disturb you often? Do you fret about injustice, politics, culture shift or coworkers? Focus on only those things over which you have control and leave the rest to divine providence. Try to accept this axiom: "Whenever I am disturbed, there is something wrong with me!" A very tall order, I know, but think about it. You are not the CEO of the universe! Temporary, justifiable anger is understandable and acceptable but holding grudges or harboring resentments is not. Revenge is never an acceptable motive because it is subjective and totally self-serving. Remaining angry at a competitor, customer, supplier or anyone else is bad business. You can't change them but they sure are affecting your thoughts and attitudes aren't they? Don't let them. Forgive them and let go or be dragged!

3. Script and build better character traits based on service to others instead of self enrichment. Is your character based on how good you look or how good you are? Can you believe that serving others is the only way to serve your own best interests?

4. Know what you're great at! Do you recognize what your unique, best-in-class talent is? What do you love to do? What tickles your creative imagination? About what do people compliment you the most? That is probably your key to a rich and happy life!

5. Get excited about what you know you can accomplish and apply the necessary discipline to keep yourself accountable for victories and defeats. Can you pull away from distractions and apply yourself to important work?Can you tell yourself the truth about whether you're procrastinating or moving ahead? Fact: procrastination is nothing but sloth in five syllables! You've got to get excited enough to look forward to working. It's called work for a reason but it will be fun if it's what you're best at!

6. Allow self-fulfilling momentum to kick in and turn a labor of love into labor you love. The brass ring of career success is looking forward to Mondays. Do you love your job? Is your work exciting, fulfilling and fun? Are you serving and making your customers better off?

Examine your beliefs and summon the courage to ask yourself these six sets of questions. You may save yourself years of disappointments. I'm finally experiencing the real meaning in the many great motivational books I've read: Nothing out there will get better until I do! Discover, fine-tune and build wealth with the tools freely given you at birth.

In the near future I will unveil an educational framework for sustainable organizational growth based on individualized moral imperatives. It will be the first of its kind that I know of. I'm especially interested in hearing from the audience on this idea.


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