There have been several posts

on this Journey of Building

a Business regarding Customer Service.

Customer Service, in my opinion,

encompasses many aspects of the business cycle.

And one of those aspects is building a warm and friendly communication base with the INITIAL  Conversation.

That was evidenced yesterday while shopping on line for an accommodation on our upcoming trip to visit son.

He mentioned there were two Motels nearby and close in price. Using the Search Engine I found the websites for both and read information and looked at the virtual tours, then picked up my FAVORITE communicator the telephone…

First call was answered by a FRIENDLY voice and I explained I was looking at the choice of two for a 5 night stay…
HER ability to engage in warm friendly and sincere dialog sold me on the spot. Even though the rate a slightly higher than the “other Place”.

If you are building your business and answer your own phone, consider how you answer and also how your answering machine message sounds.

(Sure hope you do not have Automated Phone Tree)

• Are you Friendly?
• Is there a smile in your voice
• Do you announce who you are or your company name clearly and with friendly authority?
• Do you begin to ask questions as to HOW you can best serve the caller?

These traits may seem old-fashioned in this modern day of automated messaging and “push button” to go here etc.. But it is amazing how many more customers are secured from FRIENDLY and sincere Conversation.

If you ever feel the need to stay in Mineral Wells, Texas, I highly recommend the Comfort Suites, just based on the pleasant experience I had with Sarah, Reservation Clerk Extraordinaire.

I will report back if my enthusiasm is at all dampened during my stay from POOR Customer Service, but somehow I doubt that will happen because if management is sharp enough to hire a young lady like Sarah, they probably have their “Ducks in a row”

At age 69, I assumed a 90 Day Challenge

this past week.

My business ventures have always presented

exciting Challenges and those Challenges have

been fairly easy to meet and conquer.

But since our change in lifestyle a couple years ago, I have become more sedentary, and I found myself with the

Not very pretty, May 2012

Challenge of getting more FIT. There seems a synergistic relationship between NOT felling well and gaining weight. My arthritis in feet and knees was affecting the comfort of walking and less walking affected by ability to stay slim.

The above statement is not a professional diagnoses, but my Doctor, of 30 years, suggested I try to focus on getting back into reasonable shape, for all of the obvious reasons.

There is another motivation: I have always been an entrepreneur and enjoy the thrill of creating success. It demands Focus and the application of Discipline. As my weight increased, I also was losing some of the Drive and Focus, so needed to complete lofty goals.

The old adage about a Healthy body brings a Healthy Bank account rang true. I was not finishing new projects in a timely manner and the income was flattening…..

Not a healthy occurrence in these time of inflationary prices for fuel and other business expenses.

Enough of the reason WHY I chose to assume the responsibility to myself of a 90 day Challenge. I am going to share it publicly:

This may not seem to be much of a 90 Day Challenge for some, but THESE are My Goals and they are for my edification, no one Else’s.

Just like setting up the battle Plan for a New Business campaign, I wrote my Plan of Action on paper and surrounded myself with a solid group of Mastermind Alliance partners.

And now it MY responsibility to APPLY MASSIVE ACTION to that Plan.

I will keep you posted.

I also want to thank www.aymangh.com for the 90 Day Logo

Networking and Network Marketing..

Are they two distinct subjects?

Or, do they blend together in a mutually

beneficial circumstance?

These ideas struck me while driving home from a Horse Show Announcing gig yesterday and had the pleasure of talking to someone  (Hands-free Car system) I had met several years ago and enjoyed mutually beneficial business relations.. We chatted for a while and caught up on what’s happening.

Then, remembering his real expertise in the Construction business, I started to mention an opportunity I had heard about recently from another acquaintance from another past business dealing. I began describing the opportunity and directed the conversation that this might be something that would fit into his current business briefcase. The conversation was exciting and we decided to get back with each other and I could share more detail though e-mail by pointing him to published data and websites etc.

When I arrived home, I immediately called the C.O.O. of the Company discussed and asked if they were still in the market for a representative in that part of the country……
The outcome seems to be developing into a mutually beneficial relationship with the two people, each of whom had a “problem” and I provided a possible solution.

The  key element exhibited here was over the years I had developed favorable relationships with the parties and stayed in touch so there initial conversations went well because of the common bond of ME.

Does that make me special?

NO

Just shows how a Networker NETWORKS.
By the way, there is a comfortable “finders fee” involved, and the opportunity to offer expertise to the help develop the NEW relationship.

Over the past 50 years it has not been uncommon to receive 10% of sales, a percentage of future business etc from putting people together…..
BUT what is odd, that is NOT the motivation for developing solid relationships with like-minded people. It is just a belief that helping others and yourself at the same time is Fun and Rewarding lifestyle

The Network Marketing Arena seems

to be a bit different

The proponents of the Network Marketing System promote the need to develop relationships, but in my estimation, do not encourage or show the HOW TO develop that presence of being Known, Liked, and Trusted within  the market area (be a Networker)

A good friend Lindy Asimus just posted a unique article addressing that relationship building need with a provocative Twist!

Networking.

Who Loves Ya, Baby?

She emphasizes the need to truly develop solid relationships.

How does one capitalize on the skill set of Networking when they are involved in Network Marketing?

That takes some planning and execution of  skills that we all posses,  but may need enhancing.

Personally I feel two of the skills are the ability to Listen Effectively and being Sincere. We will discussing these two skills in  later posts, but for now you will enjoy our new book Active Listening. A copy is yours with the only string attached of being Pay with a Tweet.

 Remember to Share your thoughts below

in the Comment section

Yes, to your right is the Big Red “P”

for Pinterest

A person would have to have blinders not to see the explosion of Pinterest as the darling of the Visual Curation Sites on the Web today.

Pinterest has opened up a whole new venue for those addicted of sharing relevant information, in this case mostly Visuals. Statistics show in the United Sates, women are the predominate users creating boards expressing their “deepest” dreams of kitchens, the perfect getaway and whatever else one longs for.

Interesting side note from VentureBeat.com

Click Here for Infographic

Is Pinterest just a Big dream?

Why would a Business Mindset be interested in developing a presence here?

Well, if a good written strategy is implemented and the entrepreneur understands their MARKET demographics, Pinterest can become a VERY powerful Social Media Marketing Tool. There are simple steps to apply for the successful entree into the Visual World of Pinterest.

Lilach Bullock posted a somewhat controversial guest post by Dan Purvis post, regarding Pinterest, on her popular blog, Social-Able. I will let the discussion in the comments speak for themselves.

The bottom line is Pinterest has been GOOD to us and our clients generating traffic and converting some sales.

Click on the RED P in the right sidebar, visit our Board and comment. If anyone needs a an Invite to Join Pinterest, contact me with your e-mail address.

Does an Elegant Themed Website/Blog

really make a difference?

How important is the presentation

in attracting visitors?

Does it need to be “Elegant”?

Well, in reality Content is King and there many very successful sites that follow a plain format…
but when you combine a well designed, easily managed and attractive Elegant Theme to quality Content YOU are assured a winning combination.

As most of you know I am NOT a techie and have needed to learn, trial and error, over the past 7 years; with the exception of fantastic help from Mark Hultgren (AKA MKWeb). Because of the slow learning curve a lot of misdirection occurred and I missed some opportunities by not seriously looking at “premium” themes.

Before I go any further, I want to state that FREE themes, coupled with a serious approach and the dedication to BLOG regularly with quality Content will attract visitors and subscribers, but I noticed a difference in the speed that the growth occurred when I focused on  Premium Themes. It was explained to me that some scripts are built to Optimize better and so on..

Again I am not a techie, but I was pleased with results I have enjoyed using the Elegant Themes.

 What you get with Elegant Themes

Nick and his staff at Elegant Themes provide access to all previous Themes and access to all newly created Themes throughout the year, which seems to be a couple new themes each month. The annual cost of this service would be a Bargain at three times the price but you can lock in your subscription for $39.00 annually.

Before you go any further and jump at this opportunity The Nanny State forces me to WARN you that when you choose to subscribe, Nick will make me a Gazillionaire by paying a Commission for referring you to this site. I have not been incentivized in any other way and PAY my subscription every year.

Here are some example of the different Elegant Themes I have used and those of some of our Clients:

Best Business Mindset

Best Business Social Media Services

We Build Barns MdBarnmaster-Virginia

Michaella Walker Horse Natural Training

Are you Content Marketing?

Because Content Marketing seem to be

where the action is.

Blogs and social media have dominated the Internet since I arrived 6 years ago and it was through the creation of a lot of Content, I was able to create a positive Marketing environment for my niche products. I believe the Blog Content is King

According to Chris Marentis in a Blog Post on D&B’s All Business Blog:
One SEO boosting technique we’ve found that does make a significant difference in search engine rankings is posting keyword rich, relevant, and recent content.

One company found this to be true by inadvertently testing it on their business. The company already knew that posting this type of content was an important tactic to add to its online marketing arsenal, but until dealing with a sudden and unexpected personnel shift, it didn’t know how much of an impact it really had on search engine rankings.

In August of this year, the company’s SEO report showed them ranking on the first page of Google for the majority of their 20 keywords. However, they dropped to the second and third page of rankings for the month of October. Why?

When looking at what changed, or what they’d done differently, they realized that the only change was the fact that they hadn’t posted the typical 20 – 30 monthly blogs and articles for the month of September because of a lag due to the personnel change.

Well, those of us who manage our own Business Blogs have no excuse really, except a lack of Prioritization of the importance of producing Content for our Business Blogs. If you notice the date of this Blog and the most recent behind it you will see this Blogger has been remiss and his traffic and sales reflected a lovely downward spiral!!

If you are having trouble gathering the time and energy to increase your Content Marketing drop me a line, and I will send you a referral to a young lady who helps me, at an affordable price, with Quality Original Content.

Another consideration for optimizing content is to write some White Paper’s and also produce fresh PDF Content, to be posted on such sites as Scribd.com and Slideshare.com

Article Marketing, in my opinion, has been overstated as far as gaining Quality Prospects to you Company and capturing a solid reader base and the search engines recently have seemed to discount these sites to some degree. Here is some great advice from Karon Thackston

It’s time to stop following the crowd.  Here’s my advice: instead of spending $300 for two dozen crappy articles, spend that money on one fantastic article. Carefully place that piece with websites that can get you in front of people who want your product or service then watch the magic of a quality article marketing campaign do its stuff!

The importance of Quality Content for marketing is even more pronounced in  Business 2 Businesses circumstances. I suggest you grab this PDF by Doug Kessler of Velocity Partners:

Content Marketing Notebook

Asking How Many Blogs Read weekly

was a question posed on

our Facebook Fan Page,

Best Business Mindset Alliance

The survey was prompted by the results of a study by
Hubspot and included in a Power Point Presentation.

Download Presentation Here

and look for graphs regarding Blogging habits

(Need Microsoft PowerPoint or Open Office)

The survey shows these results on How Many Blogs Read Weekly

Our survey at Facebook showed the majority read 5 Blogs or Less Weekly. Ever since reading the statistics from Hubspot and the impact of reading other blogs within my Niche, I have increased my reading regularly about 10-20 Blogs weekly.

This has helped me with Blog content ideas, a deeper understanding of what my Niche Markets are interested in and the opportunity to develop solid relationships with like Minded Business Persons, especially through the comment process.

As mentioned in previous posts, I subscribe to Blogs, usually found through setting up Google Alerts for relevant keywords, and then send them to My iGoogle Page, affording a quick Morning review of “What has Happened” in my areas of interest in the past 24 hours

If you want to Grow your Blog, enjoy traffic and engage others in your Passion, I suggest you up the number of Blogs Read Weekly

And don not forget to Comment on the posts interesting you the most, because You will find more people reading Your Blogs Weekly

Is there a difference between

an Opportunity Seeker

and an Entrepreneur?

An Entrepreneur

is one has possession of an enterprise, or venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome.

An Opportunity Seeker:

Is a person that pursues an established opportunity, such as “joining” an MLM Marketing organization.

Coming on the Internet 6 years ago, I  chased links to some outrageous Headlines. Further research, of course, indicated there was very little substance in most of the Opportunity Claims. I was curious why the Time and energy was not spent seeking Entrepreneurs instead of Opportunity Seekers. Interviewed a few prosperous marketers and they disclosed no one really want to endure the journey to Entrepreneurial lifestyle, because it frankly takes WORK, some habit changes, and a totally different Mindset.

Some feel that the 92% of Opportunity Seekers  are involved with a company which provides their distributors a product owned specifically by the company, some training and discuss a seemingly smooth Journey to abundance, with little direction to the establishment of the Entrepreneur Spirit.

And the other 8% of  Marketers that are truly considered Entrepreneurs, achieve goals that many people could only dream of.

The following are some Traits found

in Entrepreneurs:

• An Entrepreneur possesses an overpowering need to achieve and tends to be very competitive against themselves
• They have the determination and dedication to follow through with commitments and they always appear confident and in control.
• the Entrepreneur also possesses a positive atmosphere. They are of the mindset “I can,” and “I will.”
• They are not afraid of failure because failure is not in their vocabulary nor is it an option.
• Entrepreneurs  are objective but have the ability to weigh risks realistically within the big picture.
• They have an uncanny ability to anticipate developments which gives them the edge on many competitive situations.
• Entrepreneurs seem to feel right from their gut, call it instinct.
• They are a resourceful group that possess excellent problem solving skills and are able to diligently work through obstacles as they occur.
• Entrepreneurs are excellent communicators and recognize how important clear and concise communication is to their success.
• They also possess a sound working knowledge of the business they are involved in.

Read More of these traits

Enjoy this Video discuss the Mindset of an Entrepreneur

Back a few weeks ago I posted a Book Review on Claire McGee’s inspirational book,

I Believe, Therefore I Am.

We were honored to have Claire on our Tuesday Talk Show, The Focus Society of Overachievers.
Her candor and enthusiasm reinforced the validity of this powerful self-improvement book.

In the past few weeks I have been practicing her “exercises” and enjoying the benefits of a more positive and focused business mindset.

Take some time from your busy schedule and listen to the interview, and if you haven’t already be sure to order a copy direct from the publisher below

LISTEN to Claire’s discussion of

I Believe, Therefore I Am

Download audio file (ClaireMcGee.mp3)

Order Your Copy

 I Believe, Therefore I Am

Today

Have you seen the WordPress Plugin,

PREMISE?

The powerful premium Plugin,

Premise is a Blogging Marketers

Gem.

Before you go any further this is a Product Review of a PROVED asset for any Blogger’s arsenal. I use it and have delighted in the results. Should you also decide to chose this valuable Tool, I will earn a commission….

Premise is an easy to use and massively educational resource is from Copyblogger Media for the WordPress.org Format The crew at Copyblogger haves always been on the leading edge of successful blogging material. It allows anyone to create

• Content landing Pages
  
• Sales Pages
• Opt-in Pages
• Video Opt-in Pages
• Thank You pages
• Tab Scroller Pages
  
• Pricing pages

All of this comes with over 1,000 preloaded Graphics, and the most powerful Copywriting Tutorials I have seen in the past 6 years on the Internet. The crew at Copyblogger have set up the Premise Plugin  default pages as tutorials so you can continually improve your writing skills.

The Premise plugin is offered in two series, one for a single Domain and one for the more aggressive Blogger who blogs on several domains. The price of either is worth every penny spent. Those of you professional Bloggers and coders out here may find this plugin a bit simplistic, but anyone not Born into Cyber World will enjoy the benefits of this Plugin. Of course there is no sense BUYING it if you do not intend on using it.

The Crew at 2 Gain Sales Matters was impressed enough to include this plugin on all of our subscriber’s Networked Blogs. The members have immediately applied this system to create high conversion Opt-in and Sales pages.

Grab this valuable

WordPress Plugin

PREMISE

Today

and share in the Benefits

Order Premise Now