How to Build Your Business During Tough Economic Times

I attend as many business programs as possible to help my business - in good times and bad - not only for me but so I can share what I learn with clients and others who are unable to attend for whatever reason. There's always an aha moment, a different perspective that makes me say "ahhh ... yes ... I know I'm supposed to do that ..." or "hmmm ... didn't think about that one ..."

Yesterday (Feb 24) I attended a free two hour program presented by Patricia Merolle of Winning Inc and the Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce (PACC). Patricia ran an energizing session about growing a business during tough economic times using a Self-Assessment Grid. Using the grid we (it was a full room by the way) evaluated how our time was spent during the day (paid time versus non-paid time), how mentally tough we are and who we have in our support system among other things.

My big moment was about scheduling 3 days in my calendar weekly: a buffer day for admin, a focus day (all days are focus days) to get work done and at least one free day when you shut off the computer, the phone and do other things not related to work. And it's that free day that I often forget about. Yes, I take a day off here and there, but for the most part I work 7 days a week, whether I answer email or not I'm at the computer working (to the annoyance of family and friends). According to Patricia, we should work 265 days not 365, and we should take vacations. I'm a typical entrepreneur - if I take days off and vacations I feel anxious - even though I'm not a brain surgeon or rocket scientist. I know that I can burn myself out, but I'm an entrepreneur! Entrepreneurs are like the cheer leaders of the business world -- always cheering and always optimistic, believing that we'll win no matter what ... burnout won't happen. Uh huh.

I also learned something else: I tend to think of networking as important but not as important as production, so when categorizing networking I put it into the unpaid category (being literal as I am). Patricia set me straight on that. It's pay time because it's helping you build your business, not helping you do your job. For me that means, research is unpaid time (I kind of knew that); networking is paid time (I didn't really think of it that way).

Patricia talked about customers and that not everyone will or should become a customer. She used a memorable acronym for this: swswsw - some will, some won't, so what. I think this is perfect for business and Web site traffic in general. So many people I talk to get upset when every single Web site doesn't contact them. There's a general perception that anyone that comes to a site should become a customer. The reality is, the Web site helps to pre-qualify site visitors so you won't waste valuable time with someone who never intends to do business with you, they are just kicking the tires.

Much more info was covered, too much for this blog, and I recommend local business owners attend one of these PACC sponsored meetings, or another meeting if you are outside the area. The Peabody Chamber is very pro-business and does a lot of different things to help support and promote their members. Patricia donates time to the chamber regularly and also runs other paid programs that members rave about.

Times are tough, and if you listen to the news they are going to get tougher. If you prescribe to the saying "when times get tough the tough get going", get out there and attend some of these programs, join a chamber and/or another organization that provides support, encouragement and ideas. I believe that everyone who attended yesterday's meeting left feeling inspired and more optimistic and I look forward to seeing these people succeed.

Twittering - is it worth it?

Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows you to post your up-to-the-minute updates – or “tweets” -- in real time. You can update others about your daily activities and keep track of what others are doing as well. It's like text messaging the world in 140 characters or less (spaces and punctuation included), or about a sentence and a half.

Most people I talk to are really, really busy and don’t see the value of this service, categorizing it as too much information (TMI). Others feel that those who “tweet” are all a twitter about nothing and don’t have a life.

I gave this a lot of thought – mostly because I too have thought of this as TMI. And it is, if people are talking about taking a coffee break, their shedding pet, a trip to the mail box, or other details that are, well, TMI even if you’re talking to the person. To me, that type of post is like someone talking out loud or thinking out loud – I block it out when they say it and I'll ignore it if they write it.

After getting past all the silly twitter status updates, I found some good ones that actually offered useful information. It was then that I realized maybe we marketers can make good use of this service.

I discovered that I actually know a few smart people who are using twitter as a social marketing tool. They write brief twitter updates with catchy titles and links that lead to more detailed information. Some name drop about famous authors and others. And that’s when I got to thinking about how I might be able to leverage this service in the same way for my business. Here's what I did for my first tweet:

I’m in the process of updating my Internet Marketing slide show that I’ll present on March 5th for Tech Month at The Enterprise Center in Salem MA in conjunction with the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (MSBDC) and I want to write more about what that presentation includes for my blog and my Web site later, but I’m not ready yet to write that yet -- I’ve got to run out for a dog walk.

Now, according to what I’ve seen other people post on Twitter, another person might tweet about that dog walk. Instead, I chose to post an update that I’m working on the presentation for March 5th and included a link to The Enterprise Center where people can get a snap shot of what the program is about. Thus, my twitter post looks like this:

Preparing for internet mktg presentation 3/5 at Enterprise Center: http://www.enterprisectr.org/workshopschedule113.html

I’ve now told the world about it and anyone who is following me, or will be following me, can see that information.

Does it matter? Is it worth it? Hmmm … let me think…

At this time, not many people I know are using Twitter (because they think it falls into the TMI category - and I once agreed with them about that). And because not that many people I know are using Twitter, not that many people are going to see it. It might seem like a waste of time. But I’d like to think that if the 3 people following me find it interesting, they might tell someone else. Even if that doesn’t happen, it helped me think about what to write for this blog post. (I could write about so many things, choosing one and keeping it brief is another post.) It helped me focus on a topic that many, many people ask me about – a topic that leads to long discussions over coffee. So in the grand scheme of things, and at this time, the process of tweeting didn’t take much time, so I didn’t loose much time, so I guess it’s not exactly a waste of time …

I’m an early adopter. I signed up for it when it came out and did nothing with it other than follow others and learn how not to twitter. I’m going to take the wait and see approach and keep trying – but only as I come up with things I think might actually be interesting. For example, I am really going to go take that dog walk right now after I publish this blog post, but I’m not going to tweet about it.

Federal Agencies Get Social About Peanut Product Recall

Federal Agencies Center for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration and Health and Human Services agency are providing the public an easier way to access information about the peanut related salmonella outbreaks. The FDA actually built a widget that lists the recalled food items throughout the country -- and the widget is on the CDC's Social Media site.

A widget is a small bit of code that resides on a Web site and is typically updated in real time - meaning that as more items are added to the list the widget will be updated too. This widget can be shared. Health agencies and providers - and anyone else for the matter - can share this information on their sites. And here's the widget so you can view the list and dispose of any affected peanut products, thus avoiding a food poisoning.

FDA Product Recall List
This widget can be shared and placed in your blog, social media pages and Web site if you are familiar with working in code or have a Web person who can do it for you. Just click the "share" button at the bottom of the widget, copy the code and insert in code view of your Web site.

The CDC and FDA also have a map widget showing the number of outbreaks and I was surprised to see that we have the 3rd highest count of salmonella cases in the nation here in Massachusetts. I live and work here and I haven't yet checked the household stock for the listed items, but I'll do that today and urge you to do so as well. You can view all the widgets at their site. Not everyone wants or needs these widgets, but if you provide health and public services or are associated with either, this is a great service to provide. Salmonella can be deadly at the worst; if we can prevent just one person from contracting a case of this nasty illness we'll be doing exactly what social media is all about: communicating.