Guest Blogger, Ed Becher, Owner/Director of Training, MI Security Training
Can you imagine being the CEO of a train company, never knowing from one day to the next if you would have passengers or freight to haul? Never knowing how many cars you would need to add to the train. Not being able to tell the track people where you were going or when.
As a member of the SSBI Board of Advisors this is how we feel sometimes, never knowing if we will fill the cars we have on the track or if we are going to cancel the trip. We all live very active lives, with work, school, children, spouse or significant other, other networking groups; myself included in this; finding time for one more activity can be hard. But each of us has made a commitment that we wish to see our businesses grow and prosper. That is where SSBI comes in. We are the tracks and each of you is a rail car, full of experience, desires and expectations.
Now each of you is going‘Where the h*!@ is he going with this?’ SSBI has a variety of activities to choose from: Tuesday morning BANG, Thursday Biz Development, Round Tables, TGIF’s, Book Club and others. These are the stops along our railroad tracks to success. But here is where the scheduling comes in; we do not know how many cars are going to be on those tracks because no one lets us know. We have had to cancel many events lately; the Book Club this week, TGIF for October; because we have no idea who is going to be there or if it is something you desire or not. Much hard work goes into developing each of these events, from booking a room to setting up a guest speaker. Not all of the guest speakers are local; some have come from Detroit and other locations. For them to make the trip here on a Wednesday evening and have three people show after 12 have said “See you there” makes it hard for us to get quality speakers.
The average net user spends approximately 13 hours on the internet per week. For some of us that’s in one day. SSBI both sends out a calendar of events and has them available in hard copy at many events. Our Newsletter and web site show upcoming events, events for you to choose from and hopefully schedule to attend. To help the Board of Advisors and Nancy make things better for you, we ask two things: 1) Come to as many events as your schedule allows; 2) Let us know you’re coming. This makes it easier for us to plan and it adds it to your calendar.
Sometimes things happen that make it impossible for you to attend an event that you have sent an RSVP for, we understand that, but we would like to know that you are coming, not able to make it or even a “Sorry, something just came up and I have to cancel”. You would not know how many times Nancy has uttered to me, “I wonder where ________ is they said they were coming tonight, hope everything is OK” Yes she worries about each and every one of you.
So please help keep those trains rolling down the tracks to business success. Email Nancy and let her know you’re coming to an event and follow through, stop and succeed. I have sent out a challenge also -- $75.00 night out on me to the SSBI member who between now and January 1st attends the most events. Oh and Nancy and I are not eligible to win. SO come on, get on the tracks and grab that $75.00 off the mail pole at the next station.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Showing Commitment to the Growth of Your Business
It is really easy to believe that you're doing everything you can to help your business grow, but the economy is just not working in your favor. It is easy to sit back and complain that no matter what you do, nothing changes. It is easy to look at your calendar and say, oh yeah, there's a meeting tonight, but I'm really tired. I'll go next time. Any of these sound familiar? I know they do to me. My SO tells me all the time, do you have any cheese to go along with that "whine"? Money is tight for us all these days, and it seems that it is ever harder to get -- and keep -- customers; even when doing a great job providing the service or product that that customer came for in the first place. There's always going to be somebody cheaper, friendlier, more convenient, or something. What do we do to make sure that we keep our client base coming back?
In the SSBI Thursday, business development training sessions, I talk repeatedly about having to give your marketing time to work. Most marketing experts tell us that you need to have at least seven "touches" (different ways of communicating with and to your target market) before someone will even consider talking to you or using your business. You must have a commitment to your business and to your self (marketing, goals, values, etc.) in order to see any growth take place. This is why we're starting something new at SSBI.
It's all too easy to say, I've had a hard day, I just want to go home. Or, I really need to put some time in on this job. I'll catch up with meetings next week or next month. And then what happens? What happens is that there is a chain reaction. We start out with 30 people coming to a meeting; several decide not to go for some reason next month, and when a new person comes, they don't see a crowded room, so they think, why bother? OR -- we're talking about creating a budget and the bookkeeper who's part of the group doesn't come to that meeting and thus doesn't share some vary valuable advice. Everyone loses out.
The mission and philosophy of SSBI is that people come because they WANT to learn, they want to share and they want to form a community. Yet, if they don't have commitment to the program, then everyone loses. Sure, life happens and we can't ALWAYS be a part of everything, but I'm asking you to stop and think, figure out how many (which meetings) you can commit to attending and then try your best to be there for those meetings. Not only will you be helping yourself, but you'll be helping others and passing on the good vibes to us all! We will be sending out a Commitment Letter soon. Please take the time to read through it, sign it and send it back. I think you'll find it helps with your focus and goal setting for your own business as well.
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Along those same lines, there are two challenges being given this month: the first comes from Ed Becher, of Michigan Security Training. He is setting forth the challenge to us all to stand up and be accountable to ourselves, our businesses, and our colleagues... For the person who attends the most meetings between now and the end of December, he will present a gift certificate to Martell's in the amount of $75.00. This is a great incentive for us all ... not only will we be meeting our colleagues and creating business relationships, we will be learning about great topics and perhaps winning a wonderful dinner out!
And the other challenge comes from me, Nancy. Since the benefits of this organization come from sharing with each other and becoming advocates for each other's business, we need to have members and new members, coming to all the meetings. From now through the end of the year, when a member signs up another member, they get a $10 gift card to Biggby Coffee. If they sign up two members, they get a $15 gift certificate to a local store; and if they sign up three members, they get a $25 gift certificate to Pasta Pasta downtown Kalamazoo. Pretty good deal for sharing something that people want to share anyway.
It really is all about all of us...marketing and growing our businesses takes time. It is not like we're Jeannie in I Dream of Jeannie. We can't just blink our eyes and have all the business we need. We have to study, learn, share and work our tails off to get ahead. And we need to have supporters and cheerleaders along the way. This is a great way to do that! Come on you guys, you just might learn something useful!
In the SSBI Thursday, business development training sessions, I talk repeatedly about having to give your marketing time to work. Most marketing experts tell us that you need to have at least seven "touches" (different ways of communicating with and to your target market) before someone will even consider talking to you or using your business. You must have a commitment to your business and to your self (marketing, goals, values, etc.) in order to see any growth take place. This is why we're starting something new at SSBI.
It's all too easy to say, I've had a hard day, I just want to go home. Or, I really need to put some time in on this job. I'll catch up with meetings next week or next month. And then what happens? What happens is that there is a chain reaction. We start out with 30 people coming to a meeting; several decide not to go for some reason next month, and when a new person comes, they don't see a crowded room, so they think, why bother? OR -- we're talking about creating a budget and the bookkeeper who's part of the group doesn't come to that meeting and thus doesn't share some vary valuable advice. Everyone loses out.
The mission and philosophy of SSBI is that people come because they WANT to learn, they want to share and they want to form a community. Yet, if they don't have commitment to the program, then everyone loses. Sure, life happens and we can't ALWAYS be a part of everything, but I'm asking you to stop and think, figure out how many (which meetings) you can commit to attending and then try your best to be there for those meetings. Not only will you be helping yourself, but you'll be helping others and passing on the good vibes to us all! We will be sending out a Commitment Letter soon. Please take the time to read through it, sign it and send it back. I think you'll find it helps with your focus and goal setting for your own business as well.
------------------------------------------------------------
Along those same lines, there are two challenges being given this month: the first comes from Ed Becher, of Michigan Security Training. He is setting forth the challenge to us all to stand up and be accountable to ourselves, our businesses, and our colleagues... For the person who attends the most meetings between now and the end of December, he will present a gift certificate to Martell's in the amount of $75.00. This is a great incentive for us all ... not only will we be meeting our colleagues and creating business relationships, we will be learning about great topics and perhaps winning a wonderful dinner out!
And the other challenge comes from me, Nancy. Since the benefits of this organization come from sharing with each other and becoming advocates for each other's business, we need to have members and new members, coming to all the meetings. From now through the end of the year, when a member signs up another member, they get a $10 gift card to Biggby Coffee. If they sign up two members, they get a $15 gift certificate to a local store; and if they sign up three members, they get a $25 gift certificate to Pasta Pasta downtown Kalamazoo. Pretty good deal for sharing something that people want to share anyway.
It really is all about all of us...marketing and growing our businesses takes time. It is not like we're Jeannie in I Dream of Jeannie. We can't just blink our eyes and have all the business we need. We have to study, learn, share and work our tails off to get ahead. And we need to have supporters and cheerleaders along the way. This is a great way to do that! Come on you guys, you just might learn something useful!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Body found after garage fire - Sturgis, MI - Sturgis Journal
Body found after garage fire - Sturgis, MI - Sturgis Journal.
On my way to work yesterday morning, I was listening to the radio and heard that there had been a fatal fire in the 69000 block of Elaine Drive in Sturgis. No names were being released pending notification of family. Well, the day before my father had had cancer surgery in Kalamazoo, and was at home in his house in the 69000 block of Elaine Drive. I immediately starting calling both house and cell phones but got no answer. I have never felt so helpless in my life. What should I do? I had business meetings all day long, but I had no way of knowing if my parents were okay or not. It was a horrific feeling. And I was at a loss to do anything about it. Making a split second decision to let business go for the day, I headed to my parents to make sure all was okay. Thank God, for us, it was. But for my parents' best friend and next door neighbor, life will never be the same. Her son's unidentifiable body lay in the burned out hull of the garage near what had been the front door. There were -- and are -- rumors flying everywhere about the cause. She will be haunted forever. Please say prayers for Jeff and his mom.
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Life happens -- no matter what you plan, life has a way of sneaking in on you and making it's own plans. There's no way that I could have ever predicted anything like what happened above, yet it did. But even though the world was a sadder place yesterday for people on Elaine Drive and the Messer family, the sun still came up and it was a beautiful day. The world continued spinning on its axis. And so we all do too. I think that's a good thought for small business owners at the moment. Life has given us some twists and turns that we have not planned; yet the world still revolves and life goes on.
We don't always get what we're hoping for in our businesses, but that doesn't mean we should just give up. We need to keep on going, and following our goals and our plans. A book I'm reading right now tells us that when we get on an airplane we know that we're going to get to our destination safe. But did we know that for 90% of the airtime, the plane would not be actually on target but would need to be relined over and over again to keep us on track? That's what we need to do with our businesses as well. There will be many zigs and zags along the way, but if we keep our goal in mind, we will arrive at our destination. There may be bumps and bruises, but we will get there and the victory will be all that much sweeter!
Never give up!
On my way to work yesterday morning, I was listening to the radio and heard that there had been a fatal fire in the 69000 block of Elaine Drive in Sturgis. No names were being released pending notification of family. Well, the day before my father had had cancer surgery in Kalamazoo, and was at home in his house in the 69000 block of Elaine Drive. I immediately starting calling both house and cell phones but got no answer. I have never felt so helpless in my life. What should I do? I had business meetings all day long, but I had no way of knowing if my parents were okay or not. It was a horrific feeling. And I was at a loss to do anything about it. Making a split second decision to let business go for the day, I headed to my parents to make sure all was okay. Thank God, for us, it was. But for my parents' best friend and next door neighbor, life will never be the same. Her son's unidentifiable body lay in the burned out hull of the garage near what had been the front door. There were -- and are -- rumors flying everywhere about the cause. She will be haunted forever. Please say prayers for Jeff and his mom.
--------------------------------------------------
Life happens -- no matter what you plan, life has a way of sneaking in on you and making it's own plans. There's no way that I could have ever predicted anything like what happened above, yet it did. But even though the world was a sadder place yesterday for people on Elaine Drive and the Messer family, the sun still came up and it was a beautiful day. The world continued spinning on its axis. And so we all do too. I think that's a good thought for small business owners at the moment. Life has given us some twists and turns that we have not planned; yet the world still revolves and life goes on.
We don't always get what we're hoping for in our businesses, but that doesn't mean we should just give up. We need to keep on going, and following our goals and our plans. A book I'm reading right now tells us that when we get on an airplane we know that we're going to get to our destination safe. But did we know that for 90% of the airtime, the plane would not be actually on target but would need to be relined over and over again to keep us on track? That's what we need to do with our businesses as well. There will be many zigs and zags along the way, but if we keep our goal in mind, we will arrive at our destination. There may be bumps and bruises, but we will get there and the victory will be all that much sweeter!
Never give up!
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