Core Business Solutions Advice

There once was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a climbing competition and the
goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A large crowd gathered around the tower
to see the race and cheer on the contestants. The race began.

No one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower.
The crowd began to call out... “That’s far too difficult!”, “You’ll never make it to the
top!”, “You will never succeed, the tower is too high!”

Sure enough the tiny frogs started to collapse one by one as the task became
too tough and the cries of the crowd began to affect them. Except those who
got a second wind and climbed higher and higher. The crowd continued to yell
out. “It’s too difficult, no one will make it!!” More tiny frogs got tired and gave up but
one continued higher and higher...

This one wouldn’t give up! At the end that one
tiny frog who made a big effort reached the top of the tower. Everyone wanted to
know how the tiny frog had managed it. A fellow contestant asked him how he
had achieved such a magnificent feat.

The winning tiny frog looked blankly at his fellow contestant and said that he had focused only on the goal - and didn’t hear the negative comments. The moral of this story...

Never let other people’s tendency to be pessimistic or negative take your dreams
and aspirations away from you! Always be POSITIVE. Focus on your goals when
people tell you that you should not try to fulfil your dreams.

BELIEVE and ACHIEVE!    Keep Your Eye On The Prize !
 
In the next few weeks I'll post another article to help business owners work "on" their business.


Until Next Time : Live Simply, Speak Kindly, Care Deeply, Love Generously and Live In The Moment

All The Best,

Walt Morey
Core Business Solutions
Executive Business Advisor Accredited by the Institute for Independent Business
http://www.corebizsolution.com/  

I hear this question many times per month: " Why should I use Social Media as part of my marketing strategy?" To me the golden rule in marketing should be 'People Buy From Those They Know, Like and Trust.'  Social Media platforms are just the place for people to get to know and like you and even trust your business. I don't think anyone can deny that Social Networking is big and only getting bigger. Social networks are going to become more important to any business operating on the Internet.

Over 85% of marketers claim the number-one advantage of social media marketing is generating exposure for a business.

Social Media tools like Facebook and Twitter can help you in three ways:

1. Building your status as an expert or guru in your business. This helps your prospects to know and like you and your business. You keep exposing your knowledge and expertise to all those who discover you on Social Media, many of which will be prospects for your product or service.
2. Social Media can drive traffic to your website. As your prospects go to your website from your Blog or your company Face Book Fan Page for more detailed info about your product or service a comfortable sense of trust develops as your website provides even more detailed information about you and your company.
3. Social Media can create back links to help raise your ranking on Google thus providing additional search engine optimization. 

So how big is Social Media at this point? Here are just a few brief facts to give you an idea:

• Since March 2010 Facebook tops Google in Internet traffic in the US
• Social Media is the #1 activity on the Internet
• 96% of the millennial (Y) generation [those born since 1980] is on a Social Network
• 1 out of 8 couples now getting married in the US met via social media
• If Face Book were a country its 500 million members  would be the third largest country in population behind India and China
• Fastest growing segment of Face Book is females age 55-65
• Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears have more Twitter Followers that the entire populations of Sweden, Israel, Ireland, Norway and Panama
• YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world
• Wikipedia has over 15 million articles and studies show its as accurate as the Encyclopedia Britannica...78% of the articles are not in English!
• 34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands-what are they saying about your brand?
• 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations, only 14% trust ads
• Only 18% of traditional ad campaigns generate a positive ROI

Because of Social Media 'Word of Mouth has now become World of Mouth' according to best selling author Erik Qualman in his book "Socialnomics".  In his book Qualman says "The ROI of Social Media is your business will still exist in 5 years." 

So Social Media is not a fad, it's a basic shift in communication. We don't have a choice on whether to use Social Media, the real question is 'How well will we do it?"

If you want more info on how to manage your Social Media Marketing campaign, I'd be happy to help you.

In the next few weeks I'll post another article to help business owners work "on" their business.

Until Next Time : Live Simply, Speak Kindly, Care Deeply, Love Generously and Live In The Moment


All The Best,

Walt Morey

Core Business Solutions

Executive Business Advisor Accredited by the Institute for Independent Business

http://www.corebizsolution.com

Dale Carnegie said “Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.”

Effective communication is essential in today's work environment. Good communication is as reliant on good listening as on coherent speaking. Here are some tips on how to be a better listener:

1. Look at the other person as they speak. Smile and acknowledge them as they speak. They will open up more as you provide a very positive and interested audience.
2. Ask questions as your conversation goes along. This will draw out more detailed information.
3. Don't interrupt the other person. Let them complete their thought before you jump in and provide feedback.
4. Don't change the subject unless the person speaking does. The more comfortable the speaker is the easier it will be for them to speak plainly.
5. Occasionally reflect back to the speaker what they said, in your own words. This tells the speaker you were listening and that you understand what they have said.
6. Express emotion with control. Try not to overreact to anything.
7. Respond appropriately by considering how you want the speaker to think of you.

Using the methods above can help you help others and be a better listener as well.

In about 2-3 weeks or so I'll review another subject designed to provide business owners with information they can use to help them work "on" their business.


Until Next Time : Live Simply, Speak Kindly, Care Deeply, Love Generously and Live In The Moment

All The Best,

Walt Morey
Core Business Solutions
Executive Business Advisor Accredited by the Institute for Independent Business
http://www.corebizsolution.com

It is official!  If you have a very tough decision to make - you are much better to 'sleep on it'.

A team of Dutch scientists has come to the conclusion that if you are making a simple and basic choice, like deciding which peanut butter to buy, then a conscious decision is better. However, these same scientists found that as the decision gets more complex and important, you're more likely to make a better quality decision if you 'sleep on it'.

A study in the journal "Science" gave the results of a series of tests which appeared to demonstrate that people who relied only on conscious thought processes tended to perform worse when decisions became more complex than those who were able to 'sleep on it'.  The research team explained that the problem with conscious thought is that the brain can only focus on a few things at the same time, which can lead to some aspects being given undue importance.

Lead researcher Dr. Ap Dijksterhuis said "The take home message is that when you have to make a decision, the first step is to gather all the information necessary for the decision. By going through this collecting process you begin to break down all the different parts of the decision as you think about each part of the information you need."

Once you have all the information, you have to decide and this is best done with conscious thought for simple decisions, but left to unconscious thought - to 'sleep on it' - when the decision is complex.
William Golding said  "Sleep is when all the unsorted stuff comes flying out as from a dustbin upset in a high wind."

Jonathan Schooler of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver told Science that "too much (conscious) reflection could be detrimental in some situations."

Strategic planning for a business involves many complex decisions that should be reviewed and thought through over time and this is why I explain to anyone who is doing business planning of any kind to understand that this 'is a process, not an event.' 

In about 2-3 weeks or so I'll review another subject designed to provide business owners with information they can use to help them work "on" their business.


Until Next Time : Live Simply, Speak Kindly, Care Deeply, Love Generously and Live In The Moment

All The Best,

Walt Morey

Core Business Solutions

Executive Business Advisor Accredited by the Institute for Independent Business

http://www.corebizsolution.com