Does your business provide information in hopes of selling a product, or does it provide real value to showcase your business, product or service before the sale?
Let's face it, the web and the world are jam packed with information! Anyone can come up with catchy marketing copy and push it out to thousands or hundreds of thousands of people with the click of a button. Offering real value like a test drive is a lot more difficult. Thus, most companies’ marketing departments coast by – pushing out more and more info, but getting less response from a market overwhelmed and swimming in information. The companies spend more and more money, and their ROI just keeps dropping.
Today people expect to test drive your offers before they’re willing to commit to becoming your customer. The auto industry figured this out years ago. The software industry has set the standard for online marketing with "trials". Even infomercials offer a "no risk money back guarantee". Trials and test drives are becoming the norm because they create powerful marketing connections that add depth to your customer relationships. It doesn’t cost your business anything more to let people try before they buy and the gains put your business on the right side of the ROI curve – small investment, big return.
Putting my seven year old daughter to bed last night, I tucked the covers under her little chin. She is such a precious little person. As I leaned down to kiss her and whisper good night in her ear I saw her do what kids do. “I caught you,” I said and we had a good laugh as she pulled her little finger out of her nose!
It starts there doesn’t it? Habits that we learn. What is acceptable, what is minor, what is major. Somewhere between starting kindergarten and turning 10 we start forming the habits that will be with us for our whole lives.
By the time we’re adults, we’ve formed routines for everything, whatever they might be: coffee (my favourite 5am routine), alcohol, tobacco, working out, meditating, brushing our teeth or even checking our email… we are naturally creatures of habit and our routines become the paths of our lives. The more the habit affects our health, our time, our personal or professional life, the higher the stakes and the more serious the outcomes are for us and the people around us.
Posted by: admin in process flows, 1to1Real 2012 on
May 12, 2011
Are you too busy? If you answered “no,” read no further. This isn’t for you.
If you answered "YES!! LORD YES!!” like most people would, take solace in the fact that you’re not alone. Let me make a quick guess at what you to do to stay on top of your life. Does your day look something like this?
Wake up. Check email. Make notes of stuff to do - possibly in your notes program. Add a few tasks to your calendar. Recheck email. Send email. Send email with file attachment. Realize file is too big. Add file to your file sharing program. Finally send email. Recheck email. Open up CRM or contact management system. Think wistfully about breakfast. Drink coffee. Run out of house. Check email on Smartphone. Check voicemail. Make notes in Smartphone app. Get to office. Draw a diagram. Go to meeting. Handwrite notes. Respond to text messages during meeting. Run out of meeting. Check email. Check twitter. Check Facebook. Check LinkedIn. Respond to more text messages. Lunch meeting. Back to office. Check email. See paperwork on desk. Ignore paperwork. Check email for responses to emails sent before breakfast (coffee). Meeting with coworkers. Send email to coworkers with notes about the meeting you were just at. Check email. Send email. Recheck email. Go home! Use hands free headset on Smartphone to return phone calls while on the way home. See family. Eat dinner. Check email. Take notes from Smartphone app and transfer to notes program. Attempt to relax, pass out from exhaustion. Wake up…
Are you too busy? Do you have a rich fantasy life where you live in a magical world were you have time to do the things you HAVE to do, and the things you WANT to do?
You’re not alone. From busy entrepreneurs to hotshot company employees – from regular folks with hobbies to busy mothers trying to balance kids, chores and part time work… Everyone needs more time in their lives.
Unfortunately, the standard answer for this problem – step back, analyze your life, your business, your work and reorganize, prioritize and discover your efficiencies – seems a little daunting doesn’t it? If you’re already too busy and scrambling from task to task, when are you going to find time for navel gazing?!