Bill Gluth's Creative Business Strategy Blog

Energize Your Small Business With Love

For decades sales wisdom has pointed out that people do business with the people they know, like and trust. I agree but I’d like to add a missing piece to this puzzle.

People like to do business most with people they know, like and trust who LOVE what they do for a living.

The missing piece is true love of your work. When you love what you do, you and your business become magnetic.

When the Law of Attraction is mentioned, seldom does it convey this idea. When you love what you do others want to find out what you know. The want your secret for themselves.

Your potential clients will want to engage with you when given the choice between your company and another.

Loving what you do shows up before the sale, during the sale and in the depth of relationship you're able to develop with your clients. It's a genuine feeling that attracts new business consistently.

Focus on Just One Thing

In today's competitive sales and marketing world, gaining attention is often quite a challenge.

In interviewing independent professionals for my new book, Human Touch Marketing: the Sales Strategies You're  NOT Using Today, I am finding that the happiest and most successful professionals are those who have a very tightly defined niche.

For example, I ran into one person who is focused only on serving one specific not for profit niche. The energy of that focus is helping helping him gain attention in a crowded field of NFP experts.

Because he's focused on providing one service to one specific group of people his marketing message is heard over the crowd.

Niche focus will lower marketing costs, make gaining attention much easier and lead to sales lead generation success in less time than you may think possible.

Balance, Satisfaction and Profit With Freedom

When you started your small business, you probably imagined breaking free from the daily grind of a J O B. You pictured having more free time to do as you want, spend time with family and enjoy life more.

Then the realities of running a business hit you and before you know it you’re trading time for dollars, working 10 to 12 hour days – six or even seven days a week. It’s a grind that you quickly learn to dislike with a disdain so strong hate is often the first word that comes up.

Here’s why the bright future you desired turned into the toughest job you’ve ever had.

You built your business on the wrong platform. You probably thought solely about the business and its structure. You gave no thought to the outcome you wanted to create.

You can still change the tide but it will take some creative thinking.

If you’re like most people you want to:

Work for yourself so you have more control over your time; in other words you want to create greater life balance.

You want to do work that matters.  Whenever you help others gain what they want out of life you have greater work satisfaction than you can imagine. Most people get stuck in running a business instead of adding value to the lives of others, so this goal is never reached.

And you want to be paid well for the talents you posses. In other words you want to profit but have more freedom to enjoy it.

These are very common desires for people who go into business for themselves.

If you want balance in your life you need to build a career that provides time flexibility.

If you want satisfaction from the work you’re doing you must create something that enhances the lives of others.

If you want profit with freedom you will need to have a career where you are being paid for the value you actually create and not for the time you spend creating it.

Here’s the quickest way to turn the tide and begin making changes right now.

Start with your best case career scenario in mind. Write it down. I am talking about using the most powerful force you have at your disposal; your ability to envision, imagine and create a new reality with your thoughts.

Now consider what happened just before you reached that desired outcome. Then imagined what occurred before that and before that.

Repeat this backward planning exercise until you get all the way back to where you are today. Once you have that written down all you have to do is simply follow the steps or ‘plan’ you just created and move forward.

The secret is to follow the plan.

Always remember, when you create a business value that enhances the lives of others you will find the balance, satisfaction and profit with freedom you’re looking for.

If you need help making this change there is a great tool I use and recommend called Simple.ology.

When you visit this site you can take Simple.ology 101 for free. It will help you realize what you really are going after and show you how to create a framework to achieve it.

Taking action is the secret to creating lasting change. One small step can lead to amazing new discoveries. Try it. All you have to lose is the dissatisfaction you are feeling right now.

Your Consciousness Creates Your Small Business Results

I have the opportunity to work with wonderful companies and visionary entrepreneurs through the course of each year.

I also have the privilege of helping small business  owners who are stuck recover, build new sales and get on the path of success they so richly deserve.

The one thing that often strikes me is the difference between those who are successful and those who struggle to keep their doors open.

Success or struggle starts with on one vital factor.

That factor is the consciousness of the business owner. By consciousness I mean the holistic  view of the individual. It encompasses the body, mind and spirit and is dependent on the three working in harmony to create a desired outcome.

For example.

Body: The successful person takes time out of their busy day and week to nurture their body. The person who struggles does not have the time for self care.

Mind: Successful entrepreneurs are focused on creating a specific outcome. They leave all distractions behind. They plan for success and when challenges arise they think, “How can I solve this problem now.”

Those who struggle are hoping for the best with no specific outcome in mind. When problems arise they wallow in the challenge instead of looking for answers to solve it.

Spirit: People who succeed are aware of a higher power in their life, yet always know they create the results in their life every day through their words, thoughts and actions. They are in control of their life and daily journey and take charge of it moment by moment.

Those who lack success see it as elusive. Something that happens only to a lucky few. They don’t believe they can control the outcomes in their life. They think they will struggle so they often do.

Just yesterday I heard a great concept to ponder. Stop for a moment and consider this, “The student does less with more while the master does more with less.”

Mastering your life, success and happiness occurs through your conscious actions.

Become aware of the body, mind and spirit connection in your life. Use this amazing power to continue to create the success you enjoy now or use it to turn your life around completely in any moment.

Each of us only has ‘right now’ to work with. What you think and the actions you take determine your future. Realize this fact and then decide, “What outcome will I create with my consciousness today.”

It’s always your choice and there is also always help if you’re struggling and don’t know how to recover on your own.

Seth Godin Was Thinking About Compromise

In his blog today, Seth Godin had a very thought provoking message about compromise.

Seth point out  that we each have the choice of where we choose to compromise.

Given the choice of taking a 10% pay cut to market a product you believe in and love or adding 15% to your income by marketing Twinkies, which way would you go?

Great article that I highly recommend reading at http://tinyurl.com/ry5ruz

10-Ways to Ensure You Never Make Sales and Go Broke Quickly

It’s really easy to fail in business today. All you have to do is:

1. Lack true passion for your work and offer.

2. Make sure all of your sales and marketing messages are focused only on your business and never on your buyer.

3. Stay busy doing anything but create new sales today.

4. Let the fear of prospecting keep you locked into your office checking emails, filing or doing other work that does not directly create revenue every day.

5. Have a sales attitude of hunting instead of farming.

6. Treat clients as a bother instead of a friend during the course of a project. NEVER make a next sale recommendation as the project progresses.

7. After making a sale and completing the project forget about your clients because you just don’t have time to care about them now that they spent their money with you.

8. Realize that you already have all the information you need. You just don't have time to expand your knowledge horizons.

9. Ask a knowledgeable person for business growth ideas but fail to follow their advice.

10. Decide NOT to use this list as a self reflection tool to see where you might be going off track.

The Difference Between a Client and a Customer

When it comes to building a successful business, one key factor is your mindset about your view of buyers.

Some businesses (both large and small) view their buyers as a necessary evil, something that has to be contended with. Other, more progressive thinking businesses view buyers as the reason for being in business.

To help us develop the proper mindset, marketing genius and legend Jay Abraham spells out the difference between a client and customer.

He explains, the word customer means someone who buys goods and services from another. The word client means someone who is under the protection and guidance of another person.

For business to thrive, developing a client mindset is vital. If not, you are merely another commodity business competing on price alone.

Caring; U-Haul vs. Penske

I was looking into renting a truck to move some things recently. The two vendors of choice were U-Haul and Penske.

Both had Web sites that provided information and both had local offices to check out. That's where the similarities ended.

At the U-Haul office the wait was long. The people behind the counter did not really seem very interested in helping. Since renting trucks is not something I do all the time, I was looking for knowledgeable advice. That did not occur at U-Haul.

A stop at the Penske store was next. Inside, there were knowledgeable people who were engaging and  helpful.

I told them what I wanted to move and they made recommendations, checked to make sure the truck size I was looking for was available when I needed it and generally cared that the  move was successful.

About  a week later I received a call from Penske to find out if I had solidified my dates. I had and reserved the truck on the phone.

Penske's caring attitude, knowledgeable service and timely follow up created a sale for them. Lack of care cost U-Haul the business this time.

My guess is if I need to rent a truck in the future, I'll just head over to Penske and not even bother stopping at U-Haul.

Knowledgeable service and a caring attitude got Penske this sale, a blog post/word of mouth push and a sale the next time I need a truck.

Now think about your business. How can caring, industry knowledge and timely follow up create more sales for you?

Do You Lack the Confidence to Sell Your Ideas

A few years ago, I had a client who was very reluctant to network, sell or promote his work. He would say, “I’m an introvert, we just don’t do those things well.”

Then, one day, he had the opportunity to do work he had always dreamed of doing. He struggled to do the day-to-day work he had been doing while he studied and became certified in this new endeavor.

Once he was ready to go, he began promoting his new work like crazy.

He was engaging and passionate about sharing and selling the value his new business model provided. It worked well; he made the transition from what he disliked to what he loved in a surprisingly short time.

What changed? Only his mindset.

He felt trapped in what he was doing and as a result did not want to promote it. Once he felt like he had a real value to share he did so with conviction.

If you’re finding that sales is a chore, it may not be a problem with selling as much as a problem with the work you are actually promoting.

The Law of Purposeful Vision

The Law of Purposeful Vision states that one person with a great idea can move the masses into action due to the strength of their personal creativity, passion and message.

While there may not be an “official” Law of Vision, it’s important to note that creative ideas, delivered with passion and conviction will move people to act.

Take a look at your business today. What is the vision you express to people you encounter?

Are you on a mission to make an impact or merely someone who is moving through the world offering goods or services, like most everyone else?

Your mindset is the difference. If you’re dedicated to adding value to improve the lives of others you can move mountains.

Or you can settle for [whatever you do for a living] and never be heard. The choice is up to each of us every day.