Ideas To Deals

Weekend Long Run February 24, 2012

 

As I'm sure you can tell I love to run. I also love business. I honestly feel that running provides insights that can be used for business. These posts obviously use running terms and images but really are speaking about business and I think it works. This week I was hit by a blow to my running that provides a great lesson to small business owners. I'm not sure if I have mentioned it here but I have a bad knee. Not really sure what is wrong with it but I have had a problem since June and have tried to run through it, rest it, add extra support to it and medicate it all to avail. This week the wheels came off. I ran on Tuesday and actually felt pretty good but afterwards I got the point where I couldn't walk up stairs. I had no strength in my left knee and was in a lot of pain. Clearly maintaining the status quo wasn't going to work anymore. My body was telling there was a problem but I wasn't listening. I got away with it for awhile but eventually the messages my body was giving me became to much to ignore (at least to painful to ignore). I needed to change my plans and take proactive steps to address my knee issues if I wanted to keep running.  

Does this sound like your business? There comes a time in every businesses life cycle that it is important to listen to the cues that your business is giving you. Ignoring pain in your business is a bad strategy. Changes in your market, with your customers or the economy in general can not be ignored. Typically the problems just won't go away. Here are a few things you can do to keep your business running smooth even in uncertain times. (See what I did there incorporating running into that sentence?)

• Compare budget to actual results. This may seem like a no brainer but it is not uncommon for business owners to be focused on all the tasks of running a business and neglect a review of overall activity.
• Know and study the leading indicators for your business and industry. There are metrics that will show decline before it is to late. By understanding these you can take proactive steps to correct the situation before you can't make payroll due to declining sales.
• Always be improving. If you are always looking for innovative ways to meet your customers' needs instead of just trying to maintain you will more than likely react proactively rather than relatively.
• Get an advisory board. Whether you are an early stage businesses or an established business advisors can be of great help to you. Good advisors bring an outside perspective to your business and often see things you are missing. One point here...advisors are just that, advisors. Solicit and consider their advice but remember you are the boss and have the final say.

Now on to this weekend's business long run. Remember these are articles that I have come across this week that would be good to look at to improve your business. Obviously I am not running this weekend (or so you would think) but I am reading these posts:

This Tool Perfectly Crops Your Cover Photo for Facebook Timeline at Mashable ~ You know you want your Facebook cover photo to look good. 

Take our test to find the small business that's right for you ~ the E-Type test at USA Today by Rhonda Abrams ~ Self assessment is a critical part of the business building process. So what E-Type are you?

What Are You Willing to Do to Launch Your Business? at Entrepreneur Magazine ~ Everything takes longer than you think it will take when you are starting a business. This means you need to be prepared to do whatever it takes to make your dreams a reality.

Blogging for Small Businesses – Starting with a Bang at Famous Bloggers ~ Some solid steps to help in starting your business blog.

9 Steps To Success with Your Home Business at Women on Business ~ Working from home? It's pretty easy to get caught up in watching judge shows, Maury and Law and Order re-runs unless you heed this advice.

Be sure to get out and put in your mileage this weekend so you are ready for your business marathon.

Weekend Long Run February 17, 2012

 

I'm always inspired to post on weeks like this. I taught the first of our BizStartNow sessions and the second of our Successful Selling as well as had some solid small business consulting meetings. These kind of weeks really get me thinking about all of the things involved in building a business. However, it all starts with the customer. Whether you are launching a business or growing an existing business you must keep your customers and market at the forefront of everything you do. The challenge is that many of us get distracted by the shiny objects and cool tools/techniques. We think these are substitutes for serving the customer. Don't do that. Everything you do as a business owner should be about improving your business and this should be centered around the customer. Understanding your customer will allow you to make the correct decisions among various alternatives. Whether it is sales, service, staffing or staff training making sure you are focused on the customers' needs and wants will make you successful. 

 Now on to this weekend's business long run. Remember these are articles that I have come across this week that would be good to look at to improve your business. Starting to get pretty consistent with the double digit runs now. How about you? Are you pushing yourself to higher levels? This weekend I'm looking at 11 miles on Saturday and reading these posts:

The Karcher Group Acquires Social Business Strategies to Expand into Columbus at NateRiggs.com ~ Interesting story of Nate Riggs' journey from entrepreneur to corporate executive to having his business acquired.

Facebook Timeline Coming for Businesses at Spin Sucks ~ Are you ready for an upgrade to your "rental property" of Facebook? Timeline is coming.

4 Spring Cleaning Ideas for Small Businesses at Intuit.com ~ Not quite spring but never to early to spruce up your business.

The ultimate Guide to Mastering Pinterest for Marketing at Hubspot ~ Are you pinning? I'm not but I'm sure a lot of you are so you might as well make it work for your business.

For Bloggers By Bloggers » Three Questions That May Save Your Blog at Best Blogging Tips Online ~ Three quick tips that you should focus on beyond writing content.

That's my quick hit run for today (low mileage is better than no mileage). Be sure to get out and put in your mileage this weekend so you are ready for your business marathon.

Weekend Long Run February 10, 2012

Anyone else have problems spelling February? Probably just me. Moving on...

 

 

It's officially winter kids. Given that I still had a pretty fun week. I've been working on my passion, the Ohio Growth Summit (Save the date, May 24, 2012) I will admit the two best parts of the Summit for me is the planning and the actual event. The planning is cool because it is all about "what can be" and the event is the culmination of a lot of hard work (the sleepless nights aren't quite as fun). This week was particularly cool as I sat down with Mike Whaling and Keith Speers to get their thoughts on Summit content. I think we have some pretty cool and valuable things on tap that will definitely help you grow your business. Call for speakers coming out next week...stay tuned.

On another front I have another lesson from Carrie Wilkerson. As you know Carrie is my friend and my unofficial mentor. I say unofficial because there is no official mentor/mentee

structure here she is just so smart that listening to her makes me better. A perfect example is related to my running. I was struggling getting back in the groove and in a random twitter conversation something that Carrie said hit me and has helped with my training (see my post on this at MichaelBowers26two for details). Now she is not a big runner, although she is training for a 5K in March, and what she said wasn't anything specific but it's more about the way she thinks. She thinks like a winner. She is a success and hanging with her makes me better. 

 This brings me to my quick tip...Surround yourself with people that make you better. Don't try to go it alone. Having role models and mentors that you respect and will help you reach higher levels are critical. Distance yourself from people that are just going through the motions, they will drag you down. Remember, success begets success. Check out this quick video from Carrie on the power of mentors.

Side Note...I think I might be rubbing off on Carrie too. Lately she has been posting a number of comments on twitter relating to running and marathoning. Why, well several people around her including Stu McLaren, Paul Evans and of course me are in marathon training mode. I assume that it is only a matter of time until she is toeing the line for 26.2.

Now on to this weekend's business long run. Remember these are articles that I have come across this week that would be good to look at to improve your business. This weekend it is supposed to be pretty cold with wind chill temps around zero here in Columbus but I still have to get my run in. I am going to try to get 10 miles in on Saturday and read these posts:

Successful Guest Blogging Tips by Kristi Hines at Benjamin Beck's blog ~ An interview where Kristi gives you thoughts on successful guest blogging.

Finding Your Niche in Email Marketing: What Marketing Emails Are Best For You? on Bloggertone ~ Tara Horner discusses tips to find your nitch in email marketing.

CCAD MindShop incubator to help creatives succeed in business at Metropreneur ~ A local Columbus post hightlighting a new incubator program at Columbus College of Art and Design to support arts-related businesses.

The worst place to be when this sale is occurring is somewhere else. Don’t Let Your Client Decide On Their Own at The Sales Blog ~ Nothing I like more that a good old fashion sales post. Anthony Iannarino discusses how and when to follow-up after presentations.

5 Steps to Build a Better Blogger Outreach List by Heather Whaling at prTini  ~ Great tips that will help you build a blogger outreach list that will miximze effectivness.

Successful startup branding at Magnetic Look by Silvia Pencak ~ Great tips on understanding your customer and their needs that will lead to your proper branding.

OK that's it for today. I know it's cold out for most of us but be sure to get out and put in your mileage this weekend so you are ready for your business marathon.