Posts tagged as:

business development

You Get What You Pay For

February 1, 2010

Would you pay someone $2.25 for an “authentic” Rolex watch that typically costs $100,000+? Then why do we do this very thing in business? We work with vendors and expect to get a $5,000 product for $800. I understand; money is always tight in small businesses. To survive, we typically look for the best deals [...]

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Get Off Your Butt

January 14, 2010

Yesterday was session one of Business Building Boot Camp. Everyone had “ah-has,” including me. My friend and SEO specialist Matthew Egan, @imagefreedom on Twitter, wrote about his revelations in his post “Hey Mr. Big Stuff.” Among other revelations, the rest of the business soldiers (aka participants) discovered they have a few things in common: Perfection [...]

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You Be The Coach For Referral Fees

January 11, 2010

I was at a networking event and one of my friends (a small business owner) said: “Someone referred a client to me and they are asking for a 20% referral fee. I don’t charge for referrals. If you’re someone I know and I believe you will do a good job, I’m going to refer business [...]

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2010 What Ifs

January 6, 2010

A preview to my San Antonio Business Building Boot Camp, January 13, 2010: One of the things I love about Twitter is the ability to connect and speak with people I never would have met otherwise. This week I had the fortunate experience of speaking with two super-intelligent business owners: Patty Farmer of Envoy Mortgage [...]

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Resolutions Are Horse Feathers

December 30, 2009

Last week, Michael Long, aka The Red Recruiter posted this very interesting tweet: Everywhere you turn, especially at this time of year, there are a million posts about making and keeping New Year’s resolutions. Personally, I think most of it is a bunch of hooey like “visualize your success” and “strive for goal congruity.” What [...]

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It’s Easy To Be Extraordinary

December 21, 2009

I went to a Christmas bazaar and there was a table full of jewelry goodies. In fact, there were a couple of tables with jewelry goodies. But I stopped at this one because of the woman’s smile. She was engaging without being sales-y:  she asked about me, whether or not I was ready for Christmas [...]

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Purple Cow Prospecting

December 14, 2009

In case you have not read “Purple Cow” by Seth Godin, go get it – today. It’s about being remarkable, how to exceptionally market yourself, your products and your services. The idea is that in a field full of cows, if you’re purple, you’re going to stand out. Long-term business success requires more than purple [...]

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How To Create An Irrelevant Brand

December 9, 2009

None of us ever wakes up, looks in the mirror and says, “Today, my goal is to be irrelevant.” When you go to a networking event or a Tweetup you don’t introduce yourself by saying “Hi. My name is Rose Pineda. I’m a mortgage lender with Mortgages Are Us and I’m irrelevant.” Of course not! [...]

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Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein And Sheryl Crow

December 2, 2009

If you want to succeed, you better commit this quote to memory: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Now, you can decide if you want to be on “Team Ben” or “Team Al,” because no one seems to be quite sure if Benjamin Franklin [...]

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Vampires Friends And Sales

October 29, 2009

So I’ve got a couple of friends who are emotional vampires. Take “Sherry” for example. We started out as great friends! We’d laugh together, shop together, support each other and just hang out. Something started changing though. Sherry started having drama in her life. Serious drama. This happened, that happened and “it’s so terrible.” Over [...]

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A Little Sales Kick In The Pants

October 1, 2009

I do a lot of networking and relationship building and what I ask everyone (people I know and people I don’t) is “How’s business?” I do that because I care and because I’m really interested in their response. Most everyone I speak with lately has said that their sales are down. And not just down, [...]

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The Tattoo On Your Forehead

September 29, 2009

There are a lot reasons people get tattoos. For some, it is to have a memorial of someone they love. In other parts of the world, it is to demonstrate a person’s move from being a child to being an adult. Gang members get tattoos to show affiliation with a group of people. But most [...]

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Please Dont Like Me

September 17, 2009

This is one of my favorite scenes from the movie “Ocean’s Eleven.” This is where Rusty (played by Brad Pitt) is instructing the newbie Linus (Matt Damon) how to con the casino owner. Ever felt that way? Just like Rusty, well-meaning people in your life will tell you what you need to do to be [...]

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Could Should or Want (Target Market Part 2)

September 10, 2009

In my last post “Are You a Crystal or a Magnifying Glass” we talked through the importance of having a laser-focused, clearly defined target market for your products or services. The next step is actually defining it. News Flash Defining your target market does not begin with market research, demographic analysis or a business plan. [...]

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Are You A Crystal or Magnifying Glass™

September 8, 2009

There is a common theme emerging among my business coaching clients; it is a death knell that most fail to recognize. What are the symptoms of this downward progression? A sense of being overwhelmed Frustration that sales haven’t significantly increased, despite time and effort The inability to clearly and powerfully articulate what they do These [...]

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Is Your Picture Worth A Thousand Hits

September 2, 2009

I was on an excellent conference call Monday with Bill Boorman. The topic was, “how to get noticed in social media.” When I was asked what causes me to pay attention to someone on Twitter, my response was “the picture.” I’m not certain that answer went over well; perhaps everyone was expecting something a bit [...]

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The Fight Club Guide To Selling (Part 2)

August 11, 2009

Fight Club is one my favorite movies and stars Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. It’s pretty graphic at times, but the truth is there are some great lessons to be learned from it about life and believe it or not – about sales. Lesson 1 – It Takes Pain to Win “Without pain, without sacrifice [...]

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Things I Learned My First Year in Business

June 30, 2009

Not too long ago, I celebrated the anniversary of my first year as a business owner. I have been in the business world for many years, but this was a celebration of my independence, an affirmation that I have what it takes to do it on my own. My first year was a tough one. [...]

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Brand Building for Your Bottom Line – Burger King, Butts and Branding

June 30, 2009

Burger King, Butts & Branding Most everyone knows about branding in the context of commercials, brochures and logos. But in working with my clients, I have found there is a gap in understanding what professional branding is and how powerfully it impacts a business’ bottom line. So this is the first in a series of [...]

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How a Cat Killed a $5k Deal

May 20, 2009

What I’ve learned about cats is that most people either love them or hate them. Whether you love them or leave them, there is one thing we all must agree on when it comes to cats – they do what they want to do, when they want to do it. It’s called feline indifference. You [...]

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