Core Business Solutions Advice

December is the perfect time to set your goals for 2011.
A lot of people create excitement around new goals and ideas, but then those lofty goals more often than not, fall to the wayside. Why is this?

To begin with, let's look at the excuses we use to justify why our goals fail.

Ever notice yourself using these excuses?:

1- I don't have time / I'm too busy

2-I don't have enough money

3- It's (insert someone else's name)'s fault

4-It's too hard / harder than I expected

5-I'll do it later

6-I don't know how

7- It's just not "the right time"


Let's talk about setting goals. You have to be SMART about your goals.

SMART goals are:

S – Specific

M - Measurable

A - Attainable

R - Realistic

T - Timely


Here are some common business goals:

A- Make more money (how much?)

B-Generate more sales (how many more?)

C-Meet more people (how many? /How?)

D-Generate more leads (how many more and what are the demographics?)

What happens if you don't meet your goals? It's ok! Just take a realistic look at what happened, and set a new milestone date. Just don't go back to the excuse list!

If you don't respect yourself or hold yourself in high enough regard, why should other people?

Learn to keep your commitments to yourself first [Self integrity], and then you will be better prepared to deal with the commitments to others in your life -your clients, family, and employees.

Watch how others start regarding you when you take yourself seriously.
What if you really don't have time? Oh right...you're *different*. The truth is, that everybody has time for the things that are important to them. If you don't have time, then maybe it just isn't really a priority for you (and, that's OK!?). You probably need someone to help you, so reach out and get help.

If someone offered you a million dollars to do something you "don't have time to do," would you find time?

What is achieving your goals really worth to you? If you did achieve them how much better would your business and your life be?

Keys to accomplishing your goals:

1-Write them down [Planning, sound familiar?]

2-Tape them to your wall, or carry them in a notebook.

3-Look at them every day.

4-Tell other people - enlist others in helping to make you accountable.

5- Ask people for help - don't assume people know what you want or need.

Try being direct, it's a rare trait these days.


In conclusion - being SMART about your goals, is the key to achieving them.

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 said "you can't judge a book by its cover." But people do. It is the packaging
that sells it. The title and design of the cover will make all the difference in its
appeal. You can do the same to develop a big booming business with something called BRANDING.

Branding is the immediately recognizable "ah-ha there it is!" That is what you want
in your product and especially your business. People may see it as in a picture, or hear it in a phrase that
identifies the product or service as the one that focuses on them and their desires. Upon entering the brain
through the eyes, ears, or both, good feelings are triggered and drug-like chemical
reactions in the body flood all nerve receptors with desire for the product.

Branding is a form of mesmerism by easy memorization to your prospects, who
then become customers, because when they go to buy the product they think of
you. You get famous through branding. The brand is you, how you get known,
how you get success, and how you will get to charge more for what you have or
do. The jingle they cannot get out of their heads screams at them to buy and try
your product. It is a response, not a choice, because people know what they
know, and through branding what they know is your product.

Branding makes your product sexy, seductive, irresistible, and "must have."
Coming up with tactics for branding is your chance to be creative. Come up with
an overwhelming benefit of your business above what other businesses have and
make it catchy. Make it sing an opera, dance the twist, and sparkle like fireworks. This is what drives your
marketing into the minds and hearts of your market.
Be bold, be different, one-of-a-kind, outstanding, magnetic! Use branding to
be what only you can be and people will buy when you fill their need.

Here are some things people need:

• They need things FAST. 
• They need things that make them FEEL GOOD. 
• They need things that ELIMINATE  PROBLEMS. 
• They need things that ACCOMPLISH GOALS for them. 
• They need things that FILL VOIDS in  their life. 
• They need SECURITY. 
• They need to BE IMPORTANT. 
• They need GUARANTEED RESULTS. 
• They need LOVE. 
• They need BARGAINS. 
• They need HOPE. 
• They need RELIEF. 
• They need a FRIEND and ALLY. 
• They need to SURVIVE and THRIVE. 
• They need YOU to FULFILL THEIR DREAMS.

Satisfy any of these cravings once for your customer and you can add one
product after another to your business and the customer will buy. It will be
because YOU are the brand the customer has gotten to know with
fondness and learned to trust. Get personal with customers and keep in
contact.

          When Dave Thomas started doing commercials for his Wendy's Restaurants, the business revived
from its slowdown because people could see what a likable guy he was. Take what you do and present it to the public over and over in advertising and promotion and prove it in performance to your buyer.

Let's say your business fills the need in people to have what they want fast. Here
are a couple successful slogans that went far to brand these companies. For
Domino's Pizza - "30 minutes or it's free." For Federal Express - "When it
absolutely, positively has to be there overnight."

Such branding made an impact, made a reputation, and made sales. If you want
to establish yourself in business, you can have no better strategy than branding. It
is how cotton swabs become Q-tips, how tissue became Kleenex, how a copy
became a Xerox. Branding is what makes franchises so successful. You pay a lot of money for a
franchise because if you work at it, it is sure to work, because it is already
branded. McDonalds Restaurants are found worldwide as well as next door.

Brand yourself, your business, with the right ideas to motivate and excite, and
whenever people think of your product or service, they will think ONLY OF YOU!


Core Business solutions can help you Brand your company.


Remember: To get your business to the top, you must get off your bottom."

 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/

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