BizCoachDeb's BizBuzz -

Posts Tagged ‘small business’

It seems innocent enough: go head to head against your competitors by mimicking their campaigns, saying similar things and trying to evoke the same kind of sentiment from the unsuspecting consumer. But no, it’s not so innocent, and it’s happening right now, in small towns and cities across the country, even my own Boulder, Colorado. This sneaky assault is happening right under the very nose of each and every purchaser, shopper and diner nationwide. It’s called “local-washing”, and it basically means corporations dress and talk the language of “we’re doing it local”, but in essence, it’s just a ploy. You can read more about it here in an article by Stacy Mitchell in Indy.com, where she discusses how national corporations are co-opting the idea of “local” in an attempt to have consumers believe they are local in everything they do. Right. Sure they are. Tell that to the small businesses across America who have shuttered their windows when the Big Box chain rolled into town or the tiny downtown business districts that report record vacancies because their tenants couldn’t hang on during the worst recession of our generation.   The rest of the story...

Today I was delighted to read a post that was a topic bouncing in my brain for some time. Karima-Catherine beat me to it , (and it’s all kind of awesome) but in essence, it relates to the plight social media professionals have when we get that email asking, “Can we grab some coffee so I pick your brain?”

How many times have you gotten that question? I believe this happens to all kinds of freelancers and other professionals. For me, it’s common, happening several times a week. For the price of a cup of coffee, the sender (maybe innocuously) thinks it would be great to sit and let me share my ideas, tools, and strategies. Suffice to say, I’ve gotten more tight-lipped and cautious about what I share, often just referring people back to the web. My insides want to jump about and share everything, but I can’t, or rather, I shouldn’t. Why? Because I have spent a small fortune in time and resources to become sharp and knowledgeable in the spheres in which I consult. As professionals, that’s our duty. If I share all I’ve learned in a free chit-chat, what would be left and what value have I placed on my work? Precious little.   The rest of the story...

Let’s hear it for meetings!!! Woohoo! Wait, why aren’t you all excited and bubbling with enthusiasm? Come on, it’ll be fun: We’ll catch up, talk about the kids,  what happened on Idol last night, what a ditz that Genevieve in accounting is…

The scenario above is the edict for some when it comes to meetings:  To them, it’s really a social forum that helps them feel a part of things, which is good, until it derails the initial intent of your meeting and you’re starting 15 minutes later than you wanted.  Some even belief that this  “face time” some how translates into actual results, as if the term “meeting” equals productivity. Sometimes it does, but often times it doesn’t. It’s not that meetings are unnecessary, because certainly they have a place in the grand scheme of GTD. Just bear in mind the point of the meeting:  unless your meeting accomplishes something right then and there, your meeting has actually failed. Don’t believe me?  Now be honest:   The rest of the story...

The most well-intentioned plans, the most heart-felt desires – they’re great.
That’s the fuel that can help things get done.

But that passion can also be blindingly detrimental, strangling the life from an otherwise excellent venture or project.

Sometimes your passion will get in the way of your success.
Sometimes your passion will paralyze you.
Sometimes your passion is actually setting you up for failure.

How, you say?   The rest of the story...

• By giving you the false hope that what you’re doing is the best way to do it.
• By allowing you to rationalize procrastination as “due diligence.”
• By helping you to stubbornly refuse seeking or adopting better tools or methods.
• By ham-stringing you with the thought that with a change, all your work will be undone.
• By making you dig your heels in because you didn’t come up with the idea first.
• By painting the illusion that it’s too hard to learn something new or better.
• By filling you with a fear that it will be too scary to make changes.

While many business owners are evaluating the impact of 2009 on their operations, I say this, savvy readers: Get your tail in gear; there is much work to be done and worrying about this last year is merely a distraction keeping you from your goals. There is no shortage of bad news, but you’re still standing-be grateful. Some luck could be involved, but to avoid becoming a statistic in the next decade, it’s time you prepared a plan of attack. I’ve compiled a brief outline of things to make you more profitable and fleet-footed in 2010:

To Do List: Use it, print it, churn it. There are nifty free ones and you’re big kid now; Google it and pick the one you’ll use. I like Tada.

Slash and Burn:If you’re currently providing a good or service that is not in demand, or has had waning interest from your customers, it might be time to can it. If it can be re-engineered easily or in a way that makes it sizzle, revamp it, however, don’t paralyze your business by overthinking it. Move on it or table it.   The rest of the story...