An Audio Version Has Been Prepared for Your Convenience Word for the week: Motivation Insight: Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it. Dwight D. Eisenhower ________________________________________________________________________ I selected that quote because I’m one of those people who believes motivation is self-manufactured.
I understand that many may disagree with me and I am the first to admit I’m not an SME or a subject matter expert on motivation …this is only what I’ve experienced during my lifetime. I watched the success of many small business owners and the common thread I’ve seen running through all of their accomplishments has been self-motivation. We’ve been talking about the similarities between physical fitness and database fitness and the root of being motivated stays steadfast in one’s own self. Meaning both physical fitness and database fitness take the same mental practices to accomplish your desired goals. When the primary thrust of your motivation is coming from an outside source, there is a possibility that a shift in that outside source could cause a shift in your motivation. When you manufacture your own motivation, (and it’s okay to use all of the tools in your box) there is no stopping you.
So the next time someone says to you…”You’ve really motivated me to ….” Do whatever, sure you can humbly take the credit, but know this deep down inside: you’ve only inspired them. The motivation (if they are truly motivated) came from within them. Now I’ll drop my disclaimer: This message is not intended to disrespect those who call themselves “Motivational Speakers”. Whatever it takes to launch your boat and keep it afloat works for me. So here’s the deal, if you’ve gained unwanted weight during COVID I may not be able to provide a solution, although I do have some referrals…on the other hand, if your database has lost weight and you need a Post-Pandemic Push to get you back into self-motivation, I can help. I’ve provided inspiration to lots of small business owners …or that’s what they’ve told me. I’ve seen them flourish and it’s a wonderful thing to see. Schedule a chat and let’s work it out together! Until then, it’s true… your database is your most valuable business asset!
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An Audio Version Has Been Prepared for Your Convenience This is Week 18 of Database Fitness Word for the Week: Process Insight: Trust the process. Slow progress is better than no progress. Don’t give up. – GymQuotes.co At times it may seem easier to take short cuts when trying to accomplish a goal. But soon you’ll come to realize that you did not actually reach the goal you had hoped for and then you’ll ask yourself … “What was the point of taking the shortcut”? I’m not saying that we shouldn’t save time, money and effort whenever it’s possible. What I am saying is, there are some steps in building your database that you do not want to bypass. Yet many business owners feel bogged down by the process that goes in relationship building or they simply underestimate the work that goes into creating a strong, enduring database. It’s easy to skip a step or two here or there, like overlooking a follow-up … or underestimating a potential opportunity or perhaps abandoning on a routine practice that has become seemly dull and unproductive. You should never give up. You should trust the process. You should take each step as if you’ve never taken it before and yet, if you blind-folded, be confident in your mind that you can take the next step. I understand, your process is unique to your business, but here are a few universal steps I hope you’ll always take as a part of the process: 1. Use all of the capabilities your CRM Database System allows. If you’re not certain on the best way to go with this, just visit our Database Fitness page and find some tips or schedule a chat to discuss ideas. 2. Get serious about driving people to your database. It’s best that they subscribe, but if they give you permission, that’s okay too! Just be sure to provide an easy way for them to “Opt-Out” or unsubscribe if ever they have a mind to. 3. Be consistent with sending out information. If you are haphazard in your communications then you cannot expect your potential clients to take you or your business seriously. Everyone is not intended to be your client, but everyone should know that you are serious about your business. That shows when you are consistent. 4. Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up. Remember you have provided everyone with an option to opt-out, so there’s no need to fear staying in touch; especially if you are confident that you are sending the right message to the right audience! 5. Use your Website or your landing page with a fierce determination. Remember, you have no ownership on the social media platforms. Your business contacts must be in YOUR database otherwise they are not yours. I’d like to share even more tips with you about ways you can improve or enhance your existing process to meet new people, introduce your product or service and grow your database. I’d be pleased to meet with you on Zoom and show you first hand some of the features that can make a difference in your business. Schedule a chat with me to get started. And until next time remember…your database is your most valuable business asset. An Audio Version Has Been Prepared for Your Convenience This is Week 17 of Database Fitness Word for the Week: Believe Insight: Believe in yourself, take on your challenges, dig deep within yourself to conquer your fears. Never let anyone bring you down. You’ve got to keep going. - Chantal Sutherland I attended a virtual mentorship meeting recently, it was a lively encounter with participants from the small business arena and some people who are just beginning to consider the world of self employment. As the conversation progressed into some common reasons related to all of us on why we don’t always reach our goals, a universal theme began to surface: two words … the words “fear” and “afraid,” consistently reverberated around the Zoom Room. Fear and anxiety are natural emotions when it comes to stepping away from a traditional job to move into self-employment, or even moving to the next level in your existing business. The key is to not allow fear to immobilize you. Originally, this article was going to be entitled “Fear”. I changed the title to “Believe”, because I wanted to give power to the best weapon to combat fear … I decided to talk about the weapon rather than the weakness. The weapon … is to believe in yourself. We are all uniquely individual, I wouldn’t dare assume how you should handle moments of fearing to fail or fearing to take a chance at success. Indeed, this may not be an issue for you, in which case I hope you are mentoring others. But it has been for me and I could tell by listening to the discussions in that meeting, I could tell that many others share my experience. We are into helping you grow your Database, so how does fear and belief relate to Database Fitness? Surprisingly, in more ways than you can ever imagine.
First of all, bringing awareness about your business to people who may become your clients or your contributor, in case of a nonprofit, takes some thought, some planning and some action on your part. Fear can paralyze your progress in each of these areas. Fortunately, I have found that fear and belief cannot reside in the same abode. Don’t allow fear to block you from meeting the people you need to meet and building relationships with the people you want to serve. It takes belief in yourself and what you are offering to overcome anxiety and adversity. When you believe you have the solution to ease someone’s pain or fulfil their desire … when you truly believe that, then fear magically melts away. While we may not always know where the fear is coming from, we can always take control over how we handle the situation. We have control over what we fear and what we believe and the actions we take to make our beliefs reign over our fear. Agree or disagree? Is your database growing stronger with ideal clients? Let’s chat about solidifying your belief in your business and diminishing your fears in moving forward. Just follow this link. Until next time; as always, remember… In business, your database is your most valuable asset. An Audio Version has been prepared for Your Convenience This is Week 16 of Database Fitness! Word for the Week: Failure Definition: To be unsuccessful in achieving one's goal. Insight: You aren’t a failure because you haven’t found fame and fortune by a certain age. Whatever your dream is, it’s not too late to achieve it. – Nancy Hilleren Mclean Many small business owners have seen their dreams dashed against the rocks and cliffs of the COVID pandemic and for some it’s going to be a big job picking up the pieces, putting everything back together again. The main thing is to keep your dreams. Do not abandon your passion. Although messages of hope and inspiration are a constant and can be easily found, I wanted to send out this message today, especially to those who may feel exhausted and spent. If you’ve ever had the entrepreneurial calling, now is not the time to quit and now is not the time to lose focus on your dreams. Yes, you may need to put energy into a job that is not in alignment with your ultimate goals, but you should never abandon your dreams, particularly if you’re feeling that your age is a barrier. For inspiration, and evidence I’ve listed some well-known public figures who may not have been faced with a pandemic, but definitely experienced their share of challenges in getting their passion acknowledged by the world: At age 40, Vera Wang designed her first dress.
At age 40, Stan Lee released his first big comic book. At age 42, Alan Rickman gave up his graphic design career to pursue acting. At age 46, Samuel L. Jackson got his first movie role. At age 52, Morgan Freeman landed his first major movie role. At age 57, Kathryn Bigelow reached international success with The Hurt Locker. At age 78, Grandma Moses began her painting career in earnest. At age 78, Louise Bourgeois was first recognized as a great artist. I’m only mentioning a few here, in order to say you should…. Never tell yourself you’re too old to make things happen. Never tell yourself you’ve missed your chance. Never tell yourself that you aren’t good enough. Whatever it is that ignites your passion; keep adding kindling. And on the practical side, please keep building your database with people whom you believe in and those who believe in you. Communicate with them on a consistent basis. Don’t let them forget for one moment that you are still in the game. I have lots of strategies to help you attract the right people to your database. Let’s chat about the possibilities! Until next time; as always, remember… In business, your database is your most valuable asset An Audio Version has been prepared for Your Convenience Greetings and welcome to week 15 of DonPaul Marketing Moments! Word for the week: Ideal Definition: "satisfying one's conception of what is; most suitable." Insight: "Focus on the ideal people you want to ATTRACT to your business or organization, and they will come." - Christine Joy If the insight of the week puts you in mind of the phrase from Field of Dreams…”If you build it they will come”, let me clarify, right here and right now …. If that’s your entire plan, stop building! They are not coming. I’m not trying to be a negative force, but for many years and even today, unfortunately many small business owners are stuck on that phrase: “If I build it, they will come”, and this includes nonprofits. Here’s the thing: that’s just a phrase from a movie and that movie had a 15 million dollar budget. I have no doubt that if you have a 15m budget and you build something, someone will come, however …this message is for small business owners and nonprofits with great expectations but a slightly smaller budget. If you are still onboard, here are some questions that when answered with a “YES”, will most certainly ensure they will come. 1. Do you know your goals? Are they written? 2. Do you know how many new clients you need in your database to reach your goals? Have you set any time parameters? 3. Do you know how much income you need to make each month to reach/exceed your goals? 4. Do you have a plan in place to communicate with your audience on a consistent basis? 5. Do you have a plan in place to keep your audience engaged? 6. Do you seek advice/counseling/mentoring? Do you follow the advice you are given? If you’ve answered YES to all those questions (they are all about you and your business, so you should know the answers), go ahead and continue to build …and never give up! Your ideal clients will come! You can be sure of this because of your focus. It’ll be easier to identify your ideal clients and help them fulfill THEIR goals when you have laser focus on THEM and it’s easier to have laser focus on THEM when you have already defined your own goals. To the contrast, everyone is not meant to be your client. When you have a clear idea of your goals and stay focused, it’s easier to avoid spending time on mismatched people and keeping them in your database. So, when will your ideal clients come? When you can take your mind off “selling” and focus your attention on their pain, their problems and their desires, they will come. When you can easily explain to them how your solution aligns with their needs, they will come. When you show them time after time your unique value proposition, they will come, and they will stay! By the way, if you are still looking for answers to any of the questions I asked, perhaps Team DonPaul can help you prepare to say “YES” to all of them! Just schedule a chat with me and we’ll get started. Always keep in mind, your database is your most valuable business asset. Stay safe and stay blessed. Bye! An Audio Version for Your Convenience Word for the week: Timing Definition: (Noun) The choice, judgment, or control of when something should be done. Insight: “Timing beats talent, every time!” - Richard Kall Have you been looking at the progress you’re making with growing your database and wondering why more of your subscribers are not opening your messages? We all know there are many elements working together for a successful email campaign, but what about timing? What if you knew the best time of the morning, afternoon, or evening for each of your individual subscribers to receive your message? Wouldn’t that be a good thing? Let’s look at the definition I started with, which is “making choices, using judgment, and controlling when something should be done. But how can you know when your subscribers are opening their mail … and how can you control specifically what time a message you send out at 9am can reach subscribers who may be in different time zones? Well, there are some really cool “timing technologies” that can work to your advantage and we’re urging you to use them, if you’re not already doing so. The ability to deliver your messages at the best time for your subscribers to receive and open them, can give you an edge over all the other zillions of messages going into your contact’s email box. The two primary features I’m talking about here are:
1. Perfect Timing – This feature allows your messages to be delivered at the “optimal hour of the day” when your subscriber is most likely to see and open your emails. That’s right! The email database marketing system “looks” at the subscriber’s trends or habit of opening mail and delivers your message at a time that it is most likely to be seen and opened. 2. Time Travel - This feature delivers your email at a specific local time, regardless of where your subscriber is located! This is a great feature if you do business nationwide or globally! Depending on your operations, requirements and goals, these features can play a big role in increasing the success of your open rate! And we all know, no matter how much talent we put into content it all wasted if the message goes unopened. So now, we’ve come full circle with our insight from Mr. Richard Kall, who said “Timing beats talent, every time!” You’ve put a lot of talent into creating your content, and now you have the ability to let better timing help you make the most of it. If you want to learn more about putting Perfect Timing and Time Travel to work for you in your business …just follow this link to schedule a chat with me … at a time that’s convenient for you! Your Database is your most valuable asset. An Audio Version for Your Convenience Word for the week: Challenge Definition - an obstacle or a difficulty. Insight: “Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.” – Roger Crawford Call them what you like, obstacles, problems, hurdles, stumbling blocks …anyone who knows me has heard my favorite phrase: “watch out for the lumps in that bowl of oatmeal” …It doesn’t matter, we all know that challenges will crop up. Sometimes even when you have a plan in place, things don’t turn out as you expect, however when you do have a plan, things will always be better than when you don’t. Many downturns are looked upon as bad luck and when the universe is favoring us we often say it’s good luck. We’ve learned that “Good luck is the outcome of hard work”, and hard work has better outcomes when a plan is in place. Still, when challenges arise they must be handled. So how does that work in marketing when there are so many intricate parts involved? Here’s how some top marketing agencies list some of the most pressing marketing challenges for small businesses…see if you agree:
I’m sure you can identify challenges in some of these areas, and you may even have a few more, not mentioned here. I’ll repeat, the better plan you have in place for each these marketing tasks…the less likely you’ll face crippling challenges. I’m not saying you won’t face challenges…I’m just saying you won’t be crippled by them. Marketing challenges are common in business, but your company or organization is uncommon, it’s unique. If you recognize one or more of these areas as being your obstacle, problem, hurdle, or stumbling block, we are here for you. Set up a strategy session and you’ll come away with some practical and usable information to handle your so-called challenges and get you’ll on the right track to success. Your Database is your most valuable asset. An Audio Version for Your Convenience Word for the week: Mentor Purpose: A mentor may share with a mentee information about his or her own career path, as well as provide guidance, motivation, emotional support, and role modeling. A mentor may help with exploring careers, setting goals, developing contacts, and identifying resources. Insight: "A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself." – Oprah Winfrey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the great benefits in having mentors is the hope that comes with knowing someone has your best interest at heart. Another great benefit is knowing that you are learning things that you can pass along to help others. In today’s article, I’d like to pass along some tips from one of my mentors Daymond John … You may know him as the People’s Shark and he may be someone you are already following, but if not, I can personally attest to the information coming from him, being a valuable resource. Like many successful business owners, while he is constantly selling, he is also freely giving away useful advice and tools to help upcoming entrepreneurs accomplish their goals. Recently, I received a free infographic from Daymond that brilliantly and briefly lays out How-to for five essential actions in business:
As a mentor myself, I know this information will be helpful to people who are in business, starting a business or even thinking in that direction and I hope the mentorship in you will pay it forward and share.
Admittedly, you’ve probably seen some if these tips in the past, but this infographic is structured in a great way to be easily understood and adapted to help all categories, B2B, B2C, and even nonprofits reach their goals. So just follow this link to the infographic and the best of success to you, in all of your endeavors. Your Database is your most valuable asset. An Audio Version for Your Convenience Word for Week 11: Sell Definition: "...to sell is to provide something in exchange for money." Insight: “Approach each customer with the idea of helping him or her solve a problem or achieving a goal, not selling a product or service." -- Brian Tracy ________________________________________________________________ This is week eleven and I’m going to assume that you are meeting new people every day, online and off-line, and I hope you have a few people in your database by now. If not, you and I definitely need to chat! Your approach to selling can sometimes depend on whether you’re selling to individuals or to businesses. This conversation is geared primarily towards the B2C or business to consumer business owners. Everyone you meet will not become your customer or client. Indeed, some of them you do not even want for a client, but let’s look at some of those that you’d love to have come onboard. If they are not taking the action you want them to, then take a look at what you’re are doing and how you are doing it. What do I mean by that? Okay…here’s an example, if I ask a physical fitness trainer what she does for a living, she may say “I’m a physical fitness trainer”. Now if I ask her what she’s selling, she might say “I’m selling Physical Fitness Training.” But actually, that’s not true. And if she is marketing her services that way … and if you’re marketing your services that way, I’d say you both are leaving money behind. Why? Because what she’s really selling is the RESULTS of the Physical Fitness Training Services that she provides.
Database fitness follows some of the same concepts When we say we help our clients attract an ideal audience to their database ... that’s really what we do. But what we are selling is the growth you will encounter, the invoices you’ll start to bank and the confidence you’ll experience in the knowledge that you are consistently reaching your goals. I hope you will seriously consider using this concept in your own business. Ask yourself how much better your customers will be after they start using your services. Let’s flip the coin before I go and take a quick look at the reasons your clients may not do well under your guidance….I’ll say one thing about that…the customer is not always right. If you develop a plan and the customer does not follow the plan … that is not within your control, but it is a great indicator that you may not have selected an ideal client. Selling to an ideal client will give both of you a feeling of value and importance. Just remember, you are selling the results of your services and the best you can offer your clients. Here it is in a nutshell. Separating what you do from what you sell takes a certain mindset. If you believe you need assistance in developing this approach, I’d like to help. Just follow this link to my scheduler and see how in just a few moments we can shed light on this topic. Your Database is your most valuable asset! An Audio Version for Your Convenience Word for Week 10: Productivity Definition: “ …. getting important things done consistently!” Insight: “Being productive is about maintaining a steady, average speed on a few things, not maximum speed on everything.” - JamesCare.com This should ring true for physical fitness enthusiasts because it makes perfect sense to develop certain aspects of your health and fitness routine and not try to build up your entire body all at once. It just doesn’t work. Well, being productive with Database fitness is the same. Your progress may seem infinitesimal in the beginning, however, by maintaining a steady, regular practice over a determined amount of time you’ll see stunning results. Fortunately, with Database Fitness you can develop a routine that won’t make your entire body hurt …although there can be occasional feeling of disappointment in your results, ….but don’t allow that to change your Database Fitness routine! Not unlike Physical Fitness, Database Fitness can wear you out pretty quickly if you don’t have a system to help guide you through the difficult patches. You don’t need a gym membership or an expensive workout machine to start improving your status in physical fitness. And the same goes for Database Fitness. While you will need a system of some sort (S.Y.S.T.E.M.) to Save You Some Time, Energy and Money …it’s really the way you go about building your database that produces the outcome you desire. You may already be familiar with the term Chunking when it comes to productivity. For those of you who may not be familiar with the term, in general, it means breaking down difficult or tedious tasks, making the job easier and more manageable. Here is just one tip to help you use the “Chucking” Technique in your Database Fitness Routines: If you have a weekly schedule to publish your newsletters, blogs, videos or whatever consistent content you’ve elected to share with your audience, then pick a topic that you know will be useful and create a full month at one time. That’s only four or five and you’re done! Just be sure to keep a reminder in place, to start the next series before you run out! I can hear some of you saying … “But Ms. P…I can’t find time to write one article, how am I going to find time to write four or five?” Well that’s the really cool thing … when you push yourself to do that bit extra and get it behind you… you’ll find that you’ve made time for other tasks that you never seemed to have time for in the past! Of course, everyone’s schedule and tasks are different, so if you’d like to schedule a chat with me and discuss some of the challenges, you’re having in trying to build your database, here’s a link! Let’s see if together we can find the right systems to help you gain more productivity in your day than you ever imagined! Your Database is your most valuable asset and Database Fitness = Database Growth |
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