Saturday, February 27, 2010

Why Reacting to the Market Might Be Good

An article in the Telegraph "Why cowboy Clint Eastwood always won his shoot-outs" runs counter to some of the marketing advice I have read.

(But it does corroborate my reasoning in Clear Thinking ), so I'm happy.

If I understand the Telegraph article correctly, it tells me that I should wait until the other guy (The Prospect) telegraphs (sorry!) his intention by consciously drawing his gun; my built-in reaction to that act will be much faster.

It this true when I am face-to-face with a prospect?

Absolutely!

When the prospect ambushes me with a problem, often enough I respond automatically with "Yes", or "I can do that!", when I have not really had time to analyze the request in any detail, and when terms like "TSX-V", "Working Capital" and "Market Cap" are being bandied about. Huh?

My reaction often enough comes as a surprise to the prospect who, rocking back on his heels, needs time to recover, and during that (literally) split-second, my mind has come up with a couple of good points that help me to start a conversation. After that, the hook is in.

Can this be truly how it works?

I guess so

Prospects don't usually ask us about a specific problem unless they have already established a position where they suspect that we might be able to do business.

If I stop a suit on the street and say "I can help you", I'll be dismissed as a panhandler, but by the time I've said "Hello" at a networking event and exchanged pleasantries, the suit will have formed an opinion of me.

React!

Most times it's the best tactic.

Friday, February 26, 2010

How Many Sales Did You Make Today?

Seriously.

I bet you answered "None". (If you read this at 7 a.m., I bet you made no sales yesterday)

Most of us don't make a sale each day, unless we run a flower shop or a sandwich shop.

So perhaps you think you are a lousy salesman because you didn't make sale this week?

Think again

Every time you change the way someone thinks, you've made a sale.

When you pass on a good idea and the other person nods and says "Gee, I never thought of it like that", you've made a sale.

  • Every time you say "Let's grab a coffee", and they do, you've made a sale.
  • Every time you say "Thanks!" and receive a smile in return, you've made a sale.
  • Every time you stand in front of a group and speak, you've made a sale.
  • Every time someone reads one of my blog articles, I've made a sale.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

When Networking is Bad for Me

So off I was to a large networking event - about 300 people packed into Estonia House for International Networking Day. I felt uncomfortable there, and left during the lunch break.

Some of the speakers were very good, although they got 20 minutes max; I can't fault the organizers for moving things along.

I made a couple of potentially good contacts, but not for any immediate earth-shattering project.

On the way home it dawned on me that some networking events, such as AIC , seem very fruitful, while some seem barren.

I think that the barren events are those that attract, in the main, people whose business is with one-man firms.

How to cope with a fellow who runs an office-cleaning service in the northern end of Etobicoke? He may have the contract to clean a few local branches of The Royal Bank, but chances are strong that he doesn't have the ear of the president, and yes, perhaps I could hop the stones to the president, but somehow I doubt it.

I come across as somewhat arrogant and pompous I know, but I suspect that there may be a rocky road between me and the president if I go via the candy-basket lady or the bottled-water guy.

I come away from some of the non-targeted networking events that while I might make a profitable contact, chances are slim compared to those at an AIC , CTN or STC meeting.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Avoiding the "Ouch!" of emails

I know you've done it too:
  • Clicking Send and forgetting to attach that file.
  • Clicking Send and forgetting first to save the attached file.
  • Clicking Send and forgetting to check that the attached file is the one you mean to send?
  • Clicking Send and forgetting to spell-check the attached file.

Here's the solution:

Don't click Send.

Simple, isn't it?

So obvious; if you don't Send, you can't Send an incomplete email.

If, like me, you have set your regular mail checker to check for mail once every 2 hours(*) then it will be a simple additive addictive step to issue, or Send, your outgoing mail at that time.

Here's how:

From now on, each time you click Send, say to yourself "Ouch!", and resolve to use Save (or Close) next time.

By the end of today, you'll be saving instead of sending.

And no one will know the difference.

Let's be honest: How many of your emails are truly time-critical(*)?

I thought so.

Let's continue being honest: How many times a month do you say "Ouch!" just after you've sent an email to someone you'd like to impress?

I thought so.

(*) When I am working in "immediate mode" to resolve a client problem, I set my intervals to be 5 minutes, or just leave my mail programs running and check mail as soon as the client says on the phone "It's on its way".

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Social Not-working

Some of us have not grasped the bare essentials.

Visit www.ChrisGreaves.com for this image! Social_001.JPG

Here is a public web page for a professional who is actively seeking work, and an experienced guy at that, too.

Could be me.

But isn't!

Legacy COBOL systems - that's at least 25 years experience. Probably spent most of that time in a suit, dealing with suits.

And yet doesn't have the time to upload a sober shirt-and-tie head shot to the profile page.

Instead we get a facsimile of a 17-year old ear-plugged zombie welded-to-cell-phone phreak.

(shakes head). I don't know; I really don't know.

Monday, February 22, 2010

"Paint it Blue" is a Good Thing

Consultants love to gather in small groups and swap war-stories about clients, and the most popular one is the one about the client - we all have the same client apparently - who swears that they will be happy "if only you could paint it blue, and put a wheel on the left-hand side".

It doesn't matter what it is, but unless it is painted blue and has that wheel added, it will be a total failure.

Which is why good consultants write good acceptance tests and make sure that while they can volunteer to paint it blue, and put a wheel on the left-hand side, they can't be forced to paint it blue, and put a wheel on the left-hand side - a change to the specifications - without the client recognizing the extra cost involved.

But think again - by asking that it be painted blue, and a wheel be put on the left-hand side, the client is agreeing that the job is almost complete. This is the consultant's cue to ask "And will this mean that the project is complete?", and get sign-off on the job.

By asking that it be painted blue, and a wheel be put on the left-hand side, the client is stating that they remain comfortable with the project, and it is indeed shaping up to be the solution they perceived three months ago.

In short, the client is still engaged in the project.

The alternative is too horrible to contemplate, let alone to write about ...

Saturday, February 20, 2010

YouTube Hits

There is much that I do not understand. I'm getting used to it.

About 4 months ago (" Aiming for viral ") I made a short Camtasia video of Indxr, uploaded it to YouTube, and set the video in one of my Google Searches.

A few people on the blogs looked at it, I watched it a dozen times (marveling at my own ingenuity!), and there it sat.

For two-and-a-half months, each morning as part of my Daily Dose, I have observed it sitting there with "57 hits".

Today it shows "110 hits"; double the volume in 24 hours.

Who is watching it?

More importantly, what triggered this burst of activity?

Am I about to retire a rich man?

Who knows!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Sales Pitch

At the close of the seminar, I was addressed with the comment "That was a thinly disguised sales pitch", and I agreed.

I agreed - not to keep the peace, but because I firmly believe that every spoken or written dialogue is a series of sales pitches.

Think about it



When you relate something - anything - to someone - anyone - you do so because you want them to believe it.

  • "They just called our number; come on, let's go!".
  • "I'm not eating there; they have lousy service".
  • "Hi! My name is Chris, can we talk?".

Practically every sentence that leaves your mouth is a sales pitch.

Practically every paragraph I write is a sales pitch. This one certainly is.

If you spoke to anyone today, even if it's just to tell the cat "You have plenty of dry food", you've made a sales pitch.

If the cat believes you, you've made a sale.

Don't be afraid



You're really very good at sales.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Skype - a Novice's View

I make no apologies for this sounding like an infomercial, those 30-minute things they screen on TV on Sunday afternoons, or Monday mornings. I forget which; it's been so long ...

It IS information. I make no money by pushing Skype.

Skype burst into my consciousness about 4 years ago; a speaker at a networking meeting gave a talk on Skype. I seem to recall it involved a box which the other party (in South Australia) needed to have.

Soon the sales world jumped on Skype, and I began getting garbled telemarketing calls, garbled because THEY were using Skype/internet, and transmission from them to me was patchy. I had a landline, so from me to them sounded just fine.

Maybe they didn't know how bad they sounded, until I told them that I wouldn't do business with anyone who was too cheap to make a proper phone call.

Then two days ago a colleague 50 miles north from me (and hence long-distance charges) urged me to try it.

I'm Glad I Did



And I in turn urge you to try it.

There is a quick, single download from Skype's web site, and that, amazingly to me, is about it.

You get to key in your real name and your GMail address, a nickname or "handle", and you're in business.

Your correspondent knows how to find you and will initiate the first call; or you can search Skype's directory (I found a slew of relatives from my first marriage!) and start the call.

There is a share-screen function which I've used once, allowing me to watch what Michelle is doing on her computer, but rendering me impotent to stop her clicking where she shouldn't, unless I scream loudly enough and soon enough!

What It's Good for



IMHO it's good for long-distance chatty calls between friends and close colleagues.

I'd still not use it for business calls, except with peers. The client in NJ who writes cheques (to me) for thousands of dollars deserves my land line quality.

And any friend or colleague who tells me that transmission is iffy will get an immediate response from me that we switch to landlines.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Networking - Sit with Those Who Sit Alone

Attending a ½ day seminar, or an evening networking event-with-a-speaker is a chance to make new contacts.

When everyone seems to be engaged in chatting to everyone else (there are diagrams that show open and closed groups), look for the person sitting alone.

Chances are strong that they are shyer than you - that's why they are sitting alone and you are actively considering approaching them.

(Remember: to a three-year old child, a five-year old is an expert).

If no one is alone, then gravitate to the door and greet the next person that walks in.

You'll catch them off guard, and if nothing else they'll assume you are a "greeter" and they'll start to chat with you.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Caught Short - Again!

It's happened again. My schedule of visits is screwed up.

Monday was a public holiday in this province - not nationwide - so it didn't show up in my diary/planner. I had a busy week of visits last week, and so reckoned on using Monday morning to set up visits for Tuesday through Friday, with most offices closed, I could do no calls on Monday.

Tuesday morning everyone will be busy catching up on voice-mails and emails, and it is a short week, so chances of getting a meeting are lowered.

The time to set up meetings for this week was last week, or even the week before.

Setting up meetings on the Monday of the week is doomed.

I have to make a longer lead time.

I can use Tuesday through Friday to set up meetings for the next week, or the week after that.

Monday, February 15, 2010

How to Measure the Value of a Seminar

This item comes courtesy of a half-day seminar I attended this morning. To give you an idea of the full impact, I'll be prefacing all 13 items (!) based on today's notes with "VNT3" which is short for "Volume, notes, times, three", which is itself the topic of this item!

I'll explain.



You've been to a ½-day seminar. Registration 8:30 to 9:00; grab a coffee, a pastry, then try to shake hands with someone. Chat for ten minutes, swap cards, then sit down. Break at 10:30, more coffee, chat, swap, sit. At the end if you're lucky, chat, swap, got home.

Maybe you make notes. I do:



Relax, you don't need to read them, just to see that I have filled a page in my own curious shorthand and even more curious handwriting style.

So what?



The notes on the left are based, largely, on what was said during the presentation; notes on the right are ideas that popped into my head while the speaker carried on.

Both sides, left and right, are triggered by events that took place during those 3 hours in the ballroom. Add in one hour's travel each way, and we're looking at a five-hour investment of my time (" Management Measures ").

My notes, both columns, probably represent about 15 hours worth of stuff for me to wade through - not that I'll do it all -

"make a UW.DLL" is probably ten hours work, and I should just add it to a WhatFAQ list for an application.

"1/10 1 2 3 4 5 of 100" is a topic for a future blog item as are "can't predict the future?" and "be the last one to leave" and quite a few other notes.

"Rick: house sales" suggests that I put forward a demo Excel workbook showing Rick how we can predict the selling price of a house based on established prices of other houses.

And so on.

My point: You can measure the value of a seminar by comparing the cost (5 hours) to the number of hours of inspiration you derive from it, and that inspiration won't necessarily be related directly to the delivered material.

The "1 2 3 4 5"? I was counting up the number of Good Contacts I'd made at the seminar. Coffees and/or lunch down the road.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Marketing 101, 102, 103 and 104

From Michel Neray's " Essential message "

"No one will ever buy from you if they have never heard of you"

"That’s why the most successful among us are constantly marketing — writing articles, giving speeches, attending networking events, sending newsletters… being ‘out there’.".

Here's your homework exercise, each week for the next three months:

Once a week, no exceptions, do one of the following:

  • Write an article
  • Give a speech
  • Attend a networking event
  • Send a newsletter

Don't tell me you can't do that, because if you truly think that you can't do one of those things each week, then clearly you're not serious about marketing.

Write an article

This is perhaps the easiest thing to do. Start a blog (go to www.blogspot.com It’s free) and pick the best thing that happened to you this week, then write 200 words about it. Post it. You can come back and edit it later, for ever.

Give a speech

This is perhaps the easiest thing to do, but is perhaps the longest-lead-time. Before you can give a speech, you need to get invited to give a speech at a networking event, and that can't happen until you are known at networking events, so obviously ...

Attend a networking event

This is the easiest to implement, since all you have to do is show up, pay your $10 (sometimes), and start chatting with people (you aren't there to sell your product or service, you're there to get known to your peers).

Don't know where to go? No excuses. Check out AIC then email me to be invited as my guest. Honest!

Send a newsletter

This is the easiest thing to do once you've started Blogging. Your monthly email newsletter can be as simple as the best three or four items from your monthly blog, since you're Blogging on a daily basis by now. Of course, you will NEVER send unsolicited mail. Get caught once and you're on the blacklist forever (and no way of knowing it, or correcting it by email!). Ask if you can email two issues. And don't be offended by rejection. Some people just aren't into reading emailed newsletters.

Friday, February 12, 2010

It's What Friends Are for ...

Late yesterday, the phone rings. My colleague sounds awful, but who is going to tell her? Voice all husky and scratchy, and the words sluggish. I know she's not drunk. She is stretched to breaking-point with a problem, and it is the new laptop, the operating system, the mail program, the getting-it-started, the whole thing.

And now of course she is behind in her business - the business of phoning contacts, setting up meetings, emailing details.

"Stressed" doesn't describe it. I can FEEL it over the phone lines.

This morning it dawned on me, the nature of the real problem.

She started as a solo entrepreneur six months ago, after leaving an established position in a large airline company.

Six months ...

... It seems is too short a time to learn a basic truth for all solo workers - as soon as you hit an obstacle - phone someone.

Don't leave it for 10 days.

Doesn't matter who you call - they don't even have to have a clue about the problem, let alone the possible solution - just call someone and let them know that today, things are tough.

What?

You think that I don't have days like that?

I call my canoeing buddy Fred, and HE doesn't have a clue about VBA. Or I call Jim, and he has even less of a clue. Or David. Or Julia. Or Cheryl.

Not a long call; just long enough to make contact with another solo who, like me, has bad days.

Hanging on to it for 10 days doesn't do you any good, and FWIW it soaks up lots of my time when you DO call after 10 days of accumulated worry.

It's a tough lesson to learn when we are alone.

There is no IT department to resolve computer problems, no manager to suggest new avenues of approach, no co-worker who might have experienced a similar situation.

Reach out and network with a buddy.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

SEO on the Cheap

A call last night from a colleague, looking at a job to help boost rankings on a web site. Maybe bring in a Copywriter? Maybe DIY? What do I think?

I think that no one truly knows what makes search engines tick. I know that 37 people will come up with 37 different ideas.

I suspect that Google ignores keyword tags

I believe that Google runs for the benefit of searchers, and that Google doesn't have it in for me, the web page writer; is neither for me not against me. Just couldn't care less.

Only if my pages are perceived as having use to the readers will I rank high.

Therefore "Real Estate Toronto" isn't likely to do much for me; nor is "Excel Training Toronto".

My best bet is to ask Google what keywords are being used, and to build web pages that employ the serach terms people use.

You will notice in the previous paragraph a slip of my fingers while typing. I make that mistake five times a day - I'm not kidding. Some people can't spell milenium. Anyone who searches for a bokkeeper needs help, and that help could come from you - if you include "bokkeeper" in your web page.

So, What to Do?

"Management Measures", and if you aren't measuring, then you aren't managing.

Establish a dollar figure budget with the client: $250 for you up front, up to $300 if a copywriter is brought in. (If your client doesn't have the cash to play the game, walk away from the game, politely).

Work with the client and write the web page; do the best you, as readers (not writers) think you can. Upload the web page and monitor it with Google Search.

When it appears (you know that Google has indexed it!), take the page and Google Search results to a Copywriter and ask them if, given the (measured) facts they think they can help you.

Negotiate a base fee for work, say $200 for a new page, and sweeten the pot with an additional $20 for every rung higher than YOU have reached. Everyone should be happy with a fee/commission on results system. (Dollar amounts may vary; don't stick to my $200/$20).

Since neither of you know what really works, it is a gamble.

But since you have put measurements in place, it's a Controlled Gamble.

You are not in danger of pouring money down the tube. You will stick within your budget.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Mailing Forms

I mean those on web pages where, to contact the web site owner, you first click on a "Contact" button, and then have to navigate a series of text boxes providing your name, email address and telephone number as well as typing in the text.

It's not typing in the text that bothers me - that's the creative act - it's the account details.

If the "contact" button would just send me straight into my mail client (Mozilla Thunderbird since you ask), my personal details are right there in my signature, at the foot of every email I send. My street address too!

Computers are good at doing boring and repetitive things; making me do something that my computer already does automatically goes counter to my calling.

On top of that, I just resent an extra hurdle/barrier between my question and your answer.

Not to mention the perceived attitude of "We'll answer your questions if you are prepared to do some leg work up front".

There are at least twenty other web-based services or products just like yours.

Or mine.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Surprise Value

From "Unweaving The Rainbow" (Richard Dawkins ):

"Information, in the technical sense, is surprise value, measured as the inverse of expected probability.".

To build an image of me as a person-worth-listening-to I must focus on providing listeners (and readers) with something-they-didn't-know.

  • Every email should have Real News Value.
  • Every presentation should be chock-a-block with novelty.

I suppose that my style of delivery - I move about a lot, and come up with entertaining analogies - helps differentiate me from your average clutch-the-podium speaker.

I hope that my daily blogs do something to make a change in the way you approach business.

If they don't, then you are probably not reading this anyway ....

Monday, February 8, 2010

In Praise of Unsafe Research

From "Nature's Numbers" (by Ian Stewart):

... goal-oriented research can only deliver so much. You have to be able to see the goal in order to aim at it. But anything you can see, your competitors can see too. The pursuance of safe research will impoverish us all.

In marketing I think this is called a "niche" - find an area undeveloped by others, and exploit it.

I look back on various applications I've written, and without a doubt, the most exciting ones have arisen from an original thought to "play" with computing technology.

I can make money when someone approaches me with a problem.

But I make the most money when I can respond with "I have a unique and cost-effective solution to that problem", and reach to take some of my inventory, stockpiled through R&D, off the shelf.

How about you?

No wait! There's more!



There is nothing wrong with goal-oriented research as a way of achieving specific feasible goals. But the dreamers and mavericks must be allowed some free rein too.

I'm proud to sign myself "Maverick", of Toronto.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

It's "No" for Sure, Unless You Ask




My friend and colleague Cathy Nesbitt of Cathy's Crawly Composters won the coveted Green Business Award from the Greater Innisfil Chamber Of Commerce.

Again.



To her the honor, glory and kudos.

To me the pleasure of watching her walk to the podium and accept.

Also a jolly good meal in good company at the dinner.

Cathy is a media phenomenon, and I watched her in action, after the awards, with a host of a TV breakfast show.

Within minutes she had parlayed a chance encounter into another series of appearances on TV.

If you don't know Cathy, it all looks so smooth, subtle, natural.

But I know Cathy as a self-assured, downright and forward individual, and she has been that way since our first contact (by telephone) eight or more years ago.(*)

I love gleaning bits of stuff from her fertile brain.

The title of this post is yet-another quote, tossed so glibly, but demonstrated oh so well by her ability to boost her business year after year.

"It's "No" for Sure, Unless You Ask ".

So true.

Ask.

The worst they can do is turn you down.

P.S. Visit Cathy's web site and ask her about the award!

(*) I had sent an email to eight worm suppliers, and Cathy was the only one to respond, and she responded within 60 minutes with a telephone call.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Entrepreneurs, Engineers, Scientists and Mathematicians

From "Nature's Numbers" (by Ian Stewart):

The entrepreneur's instinct is to exploit the natural world. The engineer's is to change it. The scientist's is to try to understand it - to work out what's really going on. The mathematician's instinct is to structure that process of understanding by seeking generalities that cut across obvious sub-divisions.

What/which am I?



Today I consider myself an entrepreneur, but for years my slogan has been "Changing the Way People Think". My university subjects were mainly mathematics and my degree is a Bachelor of Science.

I use the scientific method in my daily business and personal life.

Who doesn't use mathematics? (Although I use perhaps more than most people, a heritage of Mr. Brian Feld, who changed my life).

I know that I change the way people think - you're reading this, aren't you!

What are you?

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Time Out!

As a consultant you manage projects.

You manage the project that is built around your promise to deliver a service to your client.

You are happily responsible for scheduling time and resources to achieve the stated goal in the stated time.

You know who to work extra hard to achieve the goal to keep your client happy.

How Come You Don't Take the Weekend Off?

Could it be that you are incapable of managing two days of your own life?

  • How would your clients perceive your inability to manage your own life?
  • How would they feel about your ability to manage their business's life?

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Emergencies - why they don't exist

I am asked from time to time why I don't carry a cell-phone.

The answer is simple: My clients don't have emergencies.

I don't plan for them to have emergencies; I plan for them NOT to have emergencies.

I plan for them to be confident in coping with minor hiccups, and I respond to phone calls and emails as soon as I return to my office.

Of course, not having call-display helps; when the phone rings, I pick up the phone, so most would-be-emergencies are nipped in the bud.

Take a good look at your clients.

Have you made them strong and self-sufficient, or are you one of those parents who is reluctant to let "Little Johnny" leave home until he is over 40 years old?

Good parentage builds children who are economically viable by age 20.

Good service providers build clients who are self-supporting in all manner of day-to-day events.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Marketing to the Children

For once, not a diatribe against TV or McDonalds.

I spoke today with someone setting up a hand-holding service for seniors. Literally, sit with you in the doctor's office, tenaciously ask for clarification, comprehension of medication and, as needed, literally hold your hand as a genuine comfort in times of stress.

(I could use that service once a week!)

Early efforts to establish a market by contacting health-care centers have failed ("Oh, we already provide that" - but they don't really).

It seemed to me that such a personal service can grow only by word of mouth.

That means establishing contact with ???

Not with the seniors; they perhaps feel quite capable, or perhaps don't like to shed their independence. In some cases perhaps they are just too senile to make a decision.

I figured that it was the 60-year old children of the senior who would make the decision. But how to get the word out to them?

That brought us to churches, getting one's name mentioned by the local minister.

And that brought us to establishing a program of 60-minute seminars, hosted by a church geographically central to a group of churches; each church inviting members to attend.

Twenty minutes at the podium, 40 minutes taking questions.

Of course, one needs a professional business card, a brochure, a web page and a serious email address , but then, that will be pre-established.

Estimates vary but:


area pop pop/sq km
Tor 630 2,480,000 3,937
GTA 7,125 7,000,000 982

If we take the area of Toronto as 630 square kilometers, and imagine a set of squares 2 kilometers on a side, a church in the center of each square would have a catchment area of about 1.5 Km radius.

There must be 630/4= about 150 loci in Toronto.

150 seminars to present, each seminar with a catchment of 4*4,000=16,000 people, of whom perhaps ten percent are in the market for hand-holding services.

And so we are Off To The Races ....

What's The Point?

Sure, it's a great solution to a marketing problem, but more than that:

It's a great example of what happens when one entrepreneur chats with another entrepreneur.

Two heads are better than one.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Who Owns Your Calendar?

I heard this today: "The people I want to contact are those who own their calendar".

I had to think about it for a few seconds.

It is true.

It is true of Presidents, CEOs, CFOs and CIOs.

It is true of many "VPs of ...".

It is sometimes, but rarely, true of mid-level managers.

It is never true of end-users.

The people I want to contact are sometimes known as "decision-makers", sometimes "cheque-signers", but they always are entrusted with management of their own time.

That means that they are empowered to spend 15 minutes with me, if they decide it is worthwhile.

Or to let me know they choose not to spend time with me.

Who Else?

It is true of all solo entrepreneurs